Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
The first press screening of Revenge of the Sith took place last night, and reviews are coming out today… The Associated Press is first on the scene and they say it’s definitely not for kids.
Maybe soon we’ll hear about something other than the violence? More pressing screenings are reportedly being held tomorrow, so there will no doubt be a flood of reviews this weekend. And then my head will explode. Or something. Thank god I’m not spoiler-free.
Potter fans can relax – Daniel Radcliffe says he’ll be back as Harry for the Order of the Phoenix adaption. And since there’s only one book to film after that, odds are good he’ll be back book 7 as well. Assuming Rowling doesn’t linger over the writing too much, that is.
Boing Boing reports that a Q&A with George Lucas in Wired magazine has made an inpact on conservative bloggers. Apparently mildly criticizing Fahrenheit 9/11 makes one a frothing Michael Moore fanboy. Who knew?
Steven Spielberg had a bit to say about Revenge of the Sith on a London radio station today:
Christian O’Connell: Stephen have you seen the new Star Wars?
Steven Spielberg: I saw it about a week ago, and it’s absolutely amazing. It’s the best of the last 3 episodes, it’s the best way you could possibly imagine for George to finish it off, it has a tremendous ending. It’s very dark — you’ll cry at the end. It’s wonderful.
Again with the crying…
Also, for those keeping track, the soundtrack came out today. If you buy it at Target or Walmart, you can download one of two exclusive tracks. From Target you get the radio edit of Battle of the Heros; from Walmart, an interview with John Williams. Not sure about how it works with Walmart, but I bought mine at Target and got a download code inside the case. And don’t forget the bonus DVD!
‘Serious’ SF writers don’t like Star Wars. Well, that’s a shocker.
The music video that was shown at the Opening Ceremonies of Celebration 3, “A Hero Falls“, is now up for public consumption. This video and 15 others will be on a DVD included with the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack.
Hollywood.com has an interview with George Lucas about ROTS, Indy 4 and converting theaters.
The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster. Fake celebrity blogs are a dime a dozen on the internet, but this one is actually good. Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes both. Some of the in-universe spelling won’t past a fanboy inspection, but dare I say, there is actual heart and thought being put into this blog. I urge you to read the entry on the battle of Hoth. For the more serious-minded among you, try the story of the Royal House of Trime. You will not be disappointed.
Kevin Smith, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg discuss Star Wars and Revenge of the Sith. For seven pages. Well, they do bitch about the Special Editions for a bit. But there’s some interesting stuff:
Empire: Is there something about Star Wars that makes us talk about it, 28 years after it came out? What is it about Star wars that promotes that fanaticism and makes people like yourselves reference it?
Simon: Basically, for the likes of us, it’s because of what it meant at the time. Star Wars isn’t just about the film, it’s about what it was at the time. It changed cinema, it changed us. Nothing else can do that now. The Phantom Menace was never going to do that again, because the surface of cinema had changed so much.
Edgar: Yeah, punk rock can’t happen twice. It was never going to have quite the same impact.
Kevin: And it’s mythology, it’s someone adding to your mythology. Imagine if, 30 years after the death of Christ, somebody was like ‘Christ Part II – the saga continues…’
Simon: Every saga has a beginning!
Needless to say, there’s some heavy duty spoilers.
Meanwhile, MSNBC Entertainment editor Denise Hazlick lays out what she’d like to see in the movie. It’s all speculation though, so I won’t comment on the spoiler levels.
Wondering where the “Thank the Maker” buttons at C3 were from? It’s these guys – ThankYouGeorge.com. Their goal is to get 1,000,000 signatures to present to George Lucas. You can help them out with a link or posters, share your story, or ordering buttons or a t-shirt to show your appreciation for the creator of Star Wars.