Tobar

Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson

Ugh, trying to slog my way through this one. The characterizations are really hit and miss. Luke is pretty well developed and sounds authentic. Lando fares pretty well too. But man, Han and Leia are written so terribly in this.

Han acts like Han for the most part but doesn't sound like himself at all. Leia is apparently a terrible mother who banished her children away to some secret planet while she focused on her career. Later when Han disappears she shows no concern whatsoever and is even mad at him for doing so.

Meanwhile, Wedge Antilles the hero of the Rebellion that helped take down both Death Stars is relegated to a demolition crew?!? And then there's the constant references to events from the terrible Dark Empire comics. About the only decent thing that's come out of this is the character Kyp Durron.

I like the premise of the book but the execution leaves a lot wanting. If the book had just focused on Luke's journey to rebuilding the Jedi Order it would have been a lot better off.

zombie! Welcome back man. =)

I think you guys are really underestimating the production team. There's a good chance it'll be dumb but I think it would come in the form of new ideas. I don't think they'd rehash things that heavily.

Anyway, this next bit of news is sourced from that ever reliable bastion of movie news the Latino Review. ;)

Rumor: Episode VII Script 2nd Draft Description

That all sounds disturbingly plausible.

The only important Heather there is, was. ;P

Leonardo said:

Or how about when mexican people complained that Speedy Gonzales had been taken off the air, because white people were worried they might offend mexicans?

 Speaking as a Mexican, I'm still upset about this. Speedy was awesome. 

Stan Lee's original cameo

Huh.

So the fundraiser Ady linked ended on May 17th 2013, while the one that I had found was launched on May 31st 2013.

The fundraising campaign he started only managed to raise a little over 800 dollars of the 20,000 dollar goal.

I'm not sure about the fate of the film but he did manage to turn the road tour into a documentary. You can watch the trailer for it here.

No idea about the release date for that but I would sure like to see both someday.

It was announced awhile ago that these are original shorts. 

I don't even...

From the comments section of this article:

"I highly recommend YOU do some research at SaveStarWars.com and OriginalTrilogy.com before making unfounded claims"

The problem with doing "research" there is that they are just a bit biased on the whole situation. They would have you believe the SE's are vile and substandard and a desecration.

One of the major reasons why the SE's exist is because the film stock FAILED. If the film stock had been stronger then all the restoration they had to do to save it wouldn't have been necessary. In part because it was such a disaster is the reason why the SE's came about. Even then Lucas was only interested in a few fixes at first but spurred by Dennis Muren and FOX's willingness to foot the bill (to get the prequel distribution)many more changes were added.

Of course their is so much misinformation about the SE's and the myth that it was "All CG" which of course is nonsense. It was CG plus models, miniatures, mattes, live action shooting etc. Much of the SE's was restoration going back to the original film elements and recompositing them to match and surpass the originals like the Hoth sequences where the matte lines and see through the frames of the speeders.

I would love for the "original" originals to come out with all their flaws and dated look so that people could see what they really were like. They were great for their time but they are dated and the visual language of film has moved on. I expect that if the theatrical versions ever do come out I expect that they will be akin to official versions of the DE's to make them as people remember them not as they actually were.

Star Wars Rebels - "Not What You Think" Short

Harmy said:

Here's a more polished version of the Introducing the DeEd doc:
http://uloz.to/xDwpUt87/01-introducing-the-deed-wp2-1-mp4

I cropped it and resized to 720p to make the file size smaller, as it is still just a demo and the sound is still very much temporary and there may still be some tweaks to the video (I'm still open to suggestions here, guys).

 Shaping up great.

The example of the drowned out sound effects isn't very effective. I think it'd be fine to cut that segment out as the Krayt Call example does a good job of demonstrating that the soundtrack has been tampered with.

During the interview segment, I'd recommend either leaving out the scrolling sample of your thesis or waiting until you say thesis on screen before just showing the cover page of it. As it is now the thesis fades in and distracts the viewer as they try to figure out what that is before you first mention the paper.

Lastly, I think that last logo before the end could use sound to give it some punch.

Other than that, I think it's very informative for the layman and I look forward to seeing the rest. =)

Does the forum text suddenly seem smaller to anyone else?

This board sure has a short term memory. =P

A GLIMPSE INTO YOUR NIGHTMARES...

CatBus said:

Which really indicates the need for a term for people who call themselves Star Wars fans, but who aren't in fact fans of the Star Wars trilogy, since the term "Star Wars fan" is already taken by those who are.  Too many Star Warses.

 What about...Annies?

You could call fans of the trilogy Old Bens. =P

So I've been rummaging through some of my old junk today and stumbled upon the dust cover for the novelization of The Phantom Menace. I thought I'd share the blurb I found on one of the folds:

In barren desert lands and seedy spaceports...in vast underwater cities and in the blackest depths of space...unfolds a tale of good and evil, of myth and magic, of innocence and power. At last the saga that captured the imagination of millions turns back in time to reveal its cloaked origins—the start of a legend—the story of Star Wars.

Based on the screenplay by George Lucas, this novel by master storyteller Terry Brooks probes the depths of one of the greatest tales of our time, providing rich detail and insight into the minds and motives of the characters—and shedding bold new light on Lucas's brilliant creation.

Johnny Ringo said:

Just got back into it. It's good fun but the pacing is very slow and a lot of the story progression requires characters to be complete morons some of the time.

 Funny, that's been my experience with THE STRAIN so far. Also based on a book.

Edit: Just saw this week's episode. While the idiotic tendencies of characters was toned down it was still there somewhat.

On the plus side, the pacing seemed improved and it looks like things are about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Star Wars Rebels - "Entanglement" Short

Justified (2010- )

This show caught my interest when it first started to air. I caught the first couple of episodes but then was distracted and never got around to picking it up again. I finally did and have been watching an episode a day for a while now.

The first two seasons were strong but then season three hit and I thought the show had jumped the shark. The parallels between the lives of Raylan and Boyd had reached comical levels. I kept with it though and season four quickly redeemed the series and it's been running strong ever since.

The promo I've linked above is also the best I've ever seen for obvious reasons. =P

Don't forget to give us a full report once you've shown them ESB!

Harmy said:

I hope so too. But to be honest I'm not thrilled by the possibility of them mixing up with the Avengers - I like this as a separate story.

 They'll be getting at least one sequel before they supposedly team up in Avengers 3.

The post-Avengers sequels have kept each character's story contained and based on their previous solo film. There might be a reference to the Avengers but it's kept to a minimum. The only exception to that was Tony's PTSD becoming a big story element in IM3.

So I don't think there's too much to worry about if/when they do crossover.

walking_carpet said:

OTOH, In the SE, you get Obi-Wans Krayt scream that now sounds like someone pretending he is Tom when his tail is set on fire by Jerry.

 You know, you might be on to something...

If anything it might have a light 2001 vibe.

A whole slew of new TV spots were just released:

Star Wars Rebels - "Tough Guy" TV Spot

Star Wars Rebels - "Tyranny of the Empire" TV Spot

Star Wars Rebels - "Something Big" TV Spot