Tag: a new hope

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The fourth is with Spike TV this week

“Contrary to what you’ve just seen, war is neither glamorous nor fun. There are no winners; only losers. There are no good wars, with the following exceptions: the American Revolution, World War II, and the Star Wars Trilogy. If you’d like to learn more about war, there’s lots of books in your local library, many of them with cool gory pictures.”

I doubt this Bart Simpson quote is what they had in mind, but Spike TV is celebrating the ultimate result of the first with an airing of the third next weekend. Which is to say, look for a Star Wars movie to air each night leading up to July 4 – beginning tonight at 6pm with The Phantom Menace.

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The fandom minute: Ewoks, Webbies, Vader, Death Star BBQ, Wedge (fake,) and lists

For the budding anthropologists in the room… McSweeny’s has Yub Jub Means “Devour the Weak:” An Authoritative Study of the Ewoks From the Field. (Also noteworthy, though not Star Wars: Selections from H.P. Lovecraft’s Brief Tenure as a Whitman’s Sample Copywriter.)

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Flashback: The original Star Wars script

Mystery Man on Film devoted yesterday to a repost that I’m pretty sure I linked before… But it’s still worth a second look. The premise, if you will:

Let it be said, my friends, that the early drafts of Star Wars should be a rich source of encouragement to every aspiring screenwriter the world over – because they royally sucked.

And they do. One example: Annikin Starkiller punches the princess in the face. Sure, she’s a hell of a lot more Vespa than Leia at this point, but… In the face. Oh George, no.

Read on for a compare and contrast of the scripts from 1974 and 1977. The difference is nothing short of amazing.

If your trainwreck syndrome is strong, you can find many of the early drafts at the Jedi Bendu Script Site.

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MTV takes the saga out for Memorial weekend

IMAGE: Episode IV

In their ongoing quest to air anything but actual music, MTV will be showing all six Star Wars movies throughout the holiday weekend. (Hey, at least it’s not The Hills!) According to StarWars.com, it will go thusly:

  • Saturday, May 23: The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
  • Sunday, May 24: Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
  • Memorial Day, Monday, May 25: The Empires Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Check MTV’s schedule (in EST) or your local listings for times.

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TCM picks Star Wars as one of their 15 most influential movies of all time

You WILL buy this Falcon playset...

The cable channel Turner Classic Movies turns 15 this month, and to celebrate they’ve named the 15 most influential films of all time. The list also includes Citizen Kane, Metropolis, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Psycho – but, for once, no Godfather movies. Star Wars is the latest film on the list, and one of the biggest moneymakers… Which is precisely why it’s there! Merchandising, baby.