Mr. Bungle

One of the Badassdigest guys is saying that Abrams simply didn't like Arndt's script, and yes, it's like a total do-over. This is how/why the rumors started that Abrams was thinking of backing out. The truth was that he wanted to do it, but was unhappy with the story. The other big takeaway here: no way is Summer 2015 happening.

Source here:

https://twitter.com/devincf

Big script news here. Arndt out, Kasdan and Abrams take over. I expect this will delay Episode VII until 2016, soonest Xmas 2015. At least we now know why there's been little in the way of news.

http://www.slashfilm.com/michael-arndt-off-star-wars-episode-vii-j-j-abrams-and-lawrence-kasdan-writing/

SilverWook said:

Was there ever talk about Sallah returning for Crystal Skull?

 

Yes. Rhys-Davies said in an interview (forget where but it was not that long ago) that he was offered a small appearance at Indy's wedding. I'm not sure if he even had lines. He said "Thanks, but no thanks." Thought it was sort of insulting to the character (it was).

Fortunately, I missed this scene in its entirety anyway as Indy IV was one of two movies I've ever walked out of. I'll take any one of the prequels any day over that horrendous pile.

I don't think GL ever got over Marcia/the divorce. And I think the sloppy changes to the original film are his way of flipping her the bird.

walking_carpet said:

digitalfreaknyc said:

Ewan got crap? He was fine.

That whole movie was a mess. It was like your dad telling you that he's taking you to the circus and when you get there, you witness a car-wreck.

 I meant to say - jake lloyd was happy to be on star wars - and so was ewan.

but they both feel differently now.

 

 

Don't lump McGregor in with Lloyd. While he's been critical about elements of the movies and admits the OT is better than the PT, McGregor's always been respectful and has said pretty good things about the "overall experience" and GL as well. This was actually posted to AV Club today: 

AVC: Right now, Haywire and Perfect Sense are both out in theaters, Salmon Fishingis coming out, the Phantom Menace revival is out. How are you dealing with the press demands for four films at once?  

EM: Luckily, I’m shooting something at the moment, so I have to kind of bear down, anyway. [Laughs.] ’Cause I don’t have time. I did a round of press for Haywire. Perfect Sense is a little film—they don’t have any money to publicize the film, really, so I’ve done a few phoners for that, but there hasn’t been a huge amount of press for that. And the Star Wars re-release, I haven’t been asked to any press at all for. I think it’s publicizing itself, because it’s Star Wars, y’know? 

AVC: George Lucas seems like, famously, someone who wouldn’t work well with your methods: He doesn’t like rehearsal or, reportedly, a lot of spontaneous exploration on the set. How did you work together?

EM: Well, you still have to make the characters real and in the moment, and that’s your job, so that’s always gonna be the case there. The technical aspect of the Star Wars films is difficult, because there’s no environment. A lot of the time, anyway, we were working on bluescreen sets or greenscreen sets where there’s nothing there at all, and oftentimes, no other actor to work with. Somebody’s just reading lines off the side of the set, and you’re looking at a tennis ball on a stick. So that becomes much more of a technical exercise. But at the same time, it’s still going in the movie, and it still has to be believable. But I like working with George. I like very much being part of the legend of Star Wars. It’s nice to be in that. 

This is great! I thought I was the only one who noticed these audio flubs in the DOTD BD. Anyone know why they happened in the first place? Censorship doesn't really make a lot of sense....

Can someone PM me a link to a torrent or something of this?

Some spin:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/21/star-wars-phantom-menace-rerelease-3d-box-office/

We’re doing 3D versions of all six films, one a year, starting in February of next year. We start with [episode] one and go all the way through six, totally chronological. One a year, if they work. If they don’t, then there will be just one [episode converted to 3D].

-Rick McCallum

I just don't know what constitutes "work".

Idiotic troll post.

SilverWook said:

 

It's sad that Clive Revill's credit is still there when he was replaced several years ago. You'd think the credit scroll would be the easiest thing for them to update if they're going to do keep doing this.

 

Wow....that is just...pitiful.

SilverWook said:

On a side note, has anyone found the 2D version playing near them?

I've only found one screen showing it near me, and it's one of those captioned presentations for the hearing impaired.

Actually, watching it in a CC presentation could be good for laughs. Some of the lines are much worse when printed right before your eyes.

Tobar said:

Mr. Bungle said:

Tobar said:

Wow. I took the time to write out a decent length reply to the article and it looks like they've deleted it. =(

Repost it here if you can.

I actually lost it when they did that. I think they deleted it because I linked to savestarwars.com. So I went ahead and rewrote it leaving that out. I think I did a better job the first time but this is pretty much it:

This article COMPLETELY misses the point. The issue isn't whether Lucas has the right to changes his films. It's about the preservation of them in their original form.

First off let me state that I am in no way a Lucas basher. I appreciate what he's done for the industry and the fact that he gave us the original trilogy in the first place. What I and others like me take issue with is the fact that this man who claims to champion the cause of film preservation neglects to do the same for his own films.

The boycott of the blu-rays and (though there really weren't any for) the 3D release of TPM were done in the hopes that if they flopped Lucas would finally feel the need to preserve and release the original theatrical versions.

What's that you say? They released the theatrical versions on DVD in 2006? Why yes they did but that release was terrible. They were included as bonus discs tacked on to the previously released 2004 SE set. That would have been fine if they had been properly restored and presented but instead of that they literally just slapped laserdisc masters from 1993 on the discs and called it a day. Those transfers of the films are TERRIBLE. They're riddled with artifacting, aliasing and they didn't even bother to make them anamorphic.

George and some fans still don't seem to get it. All this controversy would end if they just released the original theatrical versions in comparable quality to the latest SE release. All we want is a release of the films that are up to today's home video standards. That's all.

Well stated. And when you break it down to that very simple point (and when you highlight film preservation), Lucas ends up looking like the childish one, not the "obsessive fans". 

The GOUT release definitely succeed for GL in that it did exactly what he hoped it would do: displease the people who wanted the OUT, and misinform everyone else. I cannot tell you how many comments and articles I've read online that state "Lucas released them on DVD and still that was not enough for you losers. You just need something to complain about." Infuriating.

Honestly, I don't give a crap about the prequels (I don't think TPM is as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and I actually thought ROTS was, for the most part, very satisfying). Unfortunately, people's disdain for them gets lumped in with the goals of savestarwars.com, and it really hurts the cause.

Tobar said:

Wow. I took the time to write out a decent length reply to the article and it looks like they've deleted it. =(

Repost it here if you can.

It wasn't a strong opening, but I definitely wouldn't call $23M dismal considering it's 1) barely 12 years old, 2) widely available on home video, and 3) considered by many to be the worst film of the franchise and by some to be one of the most disappointing films of all time. 

Believe it or not, this is, in fact, churning up more interest in the UOT. I just looked at the thread discussion on AVClub.com about this and there are people discussing Harmy's Despecialized Edition.

Idiotic comments like this are only making him look more and more stupid.

none said:

GL in public videos:

at Disney world 2000: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdOpnvJbjc0

at McDonalds 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3399oR0fIs

Love the one of him at McDonald's...on Christmas Day. WTF.

There's a thread discussing this story on AVClub:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/george-lucas-says-han-never-shot-first-you-were-ju,69159/

Anyway, someone on there reminded me of this: 

So glad that he cleared up the "confusion" regarding Greedo. What a f*cking lunatic. And his comments on BLADE RUNNER....Jesus H. I'm really without words. He's just a loon. A rich and powerful LOON.

TMBTM said:

Lucas on Oprah's Next Chapter:

http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahs-next-chapter/First-Look-George-Lucas-on-Oprahs-Next-Chapter-Video

 

Not the full show for now, but interesting little videos.

His gut is lookin' HUGE!

He's locked in chains in Lucas's basement.

SilverWook said:

Manos The Hands of Fate on Blu Ray. This is actually happening now, although not from Criterion. You get the idea. ;)

This is fantastic. I love that someone took the time to do this. I also love fake Criterion covers.

I have mixed feelings about this being restored. It's such a hideous piece of crap, I almost prefer that it rots. I've also never watched it without the MST3K gang. I'm not sure I could unless it was in a theater with other people or something.

I haven't posted here in a few months, but I was just watching the Blu-rays as a loaner from my co-worker, and happened to put it on as background as I was re-assembling my sound set-up....

...and I looked up during the re-done Mos Eisely scene. My God. I looks so atrocious in 1080p. Maybe I didn't notice it before, but when the ronto bronto-burger (or whateverthefuckitscalled CG dino it's called) jumps up, the CG mattes in the background there are totally static. It literally looks like George has re-CG'd standees. Standee jawas, standee dewback...there's a man on the right not even moving. It's probably just leftover CG from the original '97 SE, and it's never been recomposited or anything. Oh, but George remembered to add the CG rocks. GREAT.

Sorry if this has already been violently addressed. I feel so embarrassed for this release. I really am. Ugly boxes, ugly presentation....and I really think he secretly hates the early movies. Thank fuck I never bought this fucking crap.

SilverWook said:

 

I think Sy went off to powder her nose in the other scenes. Didn't she show up on the sail barge later?

No.

And according to Wookieepedia, she was serving as a double agent for Jabba before he died. Who knew?!

TV's Frink said:

 

LexX said:

Everything beats Jedi Rocks.

Apparently you've never heard Friday.

 

"Friday" > "Jedi Rocks". I can laugh at "Friday", especially the video. Ain't nothing funny about "Jedi Rocks".