georgec

Shane Carruth's Upstream Color played to great reviews at Sundance. As a fan of Primer I'm excited to see his long-awaited follow-up.

I'd love if a character in SW VII finds The Journal of the Whills. Full circle.

In society this is deemed abnormal and weird:

But this is perfectly normal and acceptable:

CORRECT!!!!

WRONG!!!

Warbler said:

I am out of this thread. 

I want to see a black lightsaber. It absorbs all other lightsabers.

Gaffer Tape said:

I admit, though, to being a bit wary over Abrams simply because I thought Trek 09 was a pretty bad movie.  Still, like others have said, I feel that was more because of the writing:  its story was sophomoric, needlessly nonsensical in almost every conceivable way, and went nowhere.

Kind of like Armageddon?

;)

(for those not aware, J.J. wrote the Armageddon screenplay)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, while in theory one would not know what kind of SW film a director will do, with JJ Abrams I'm strongly inclined to say I have a decent idea. And again not in a bad way. Regardless of story, I think from ST to Super 8, we have a solid idea of how JJ does sci-fi.

JJ really does embody many aspects of filmmaking from whom I presume are his two idols, Lucas and Spielberg.

ST 09 was the prequel Lucas never made!

SilverWook said:

Think back to the movies Lucas watched before selecting Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand. Would you come away from Eyes of Laura Mars or Eye of the Needle saying that's the guy to make the next SW film?

That's just the thing, though - those picks were daring and perhaps unexpected. The Abrams pick is just the opposite. It's a fine pick, but not particularly intriguing.

If they had picked Affleck or Colin Trevorrow, for example, then people would really be talking and buzzing about what they think the film would be. Instead all we have is lens flare jokes and SW/ST mashups.

Finding out Abrams is directing Star Wars is like finding out Roland Emmerich is directing an end of the world movie, or Scorsese is directing a gangster movie. Nothing wrong with it, but just not interesting or daring.

And I think Abrams felt the same two months ago. He knew that having worked on Star Trek meant it would very, very difficult for him to also do SW and keep the franchises as separate and distinct from one another as possible. But apparently Kennedy, Lucas, and Spielberg were able to convince him.

^ I think people more or less have confidence in Abrams as a director.

For me, it just seems weird having the two major "geek" franchises having been rebooted by the same guy. I just want to see more variety, but from this perspective the Abrams pick feels too obvious and conservative.

My understanding is that ST 09 was disappointing to many Trek fans because it didn't really have the deeper, more thoughtful aspects of ST and sci-fi in general. I think I said this already, but ST 09 in terms of execution and style was more or less what I think many of us hoped the SW prequels would be.

SW isn't really sci-fi. SW is an action-adventure-drama that takes place in outer space. Nothing really in common with ST other than the inclusion of aliens, spaceships and such.

I guess given the above, I don't feel very curious about how the Abrams SW film will turn out. I think it will be quite good. But my interest isn't piqued. I don't mean to be negative.

It's like the Ben Stiller monopoly on comedy in the mid 2000s, or the recent Judd Apatow monopoly on comedy. When one person has his/her footprint on most of the major works in a particular genre, it just starts to all mesh together and feel indistinct. Each work feels the same as the others. Same jokes, same visual tricks, same actors, etc. It's boring.

All the photoshops of SW+ST characters, or SW+Disney characters, or SW+ST+Disney characters, etc. are kind of funny at first, but then you realize that is actually what's happening. Each franchise is losing its individuality. It's all blending together.

Maybe that's a pessimistic view. I don't know.

Official statement.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/01/26/j-j-abrams-officially-named-star-wars-director/

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/60553

J.J. Abrams will direct Star Wars: Episode VII, the first of a new series of Star Wars films to come from Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams will be directing and Academy Award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay.

“It’s very exciting to have J.J. aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie,” said Kennedy. “J.J. is the perfect director to helm this. Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience, and will bring that talent to create an unforgettable motion picture.”

George Lucas went on to say “I’ve consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller. He’s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn’t be in better hands.”

"To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor,” J.J. Abrams said. “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid."

J.J., his longtime producing partner Bryan Burk, and Bad Robot are on board to produce along with Kathleen Kennedy under the Disney | Lucasfilm banner.

Also consulting on the project are Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. Kasdan has a long history with Lucasfilm, as screenwriter on The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. Kinberg was writer on Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Abrams and his production company Bad Robot have a proven track record of blockbuster movies that feature complex action, heartfelt drama, iconic heroes and fantastic production values with such credits as Star Trek, Super 8, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, and this year’s Star Trek Into Darkness. Abrams has worked with Lucasfilm’s preeminent postproduction facilities, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, on all of the feature films he has directed, beginning with Mission: Impossible III. He also created or co-created such acclaimed television series as Felicity, Alias, Lost and Fringe.

Word.

Maybe JJ will let Jett name creatures in the new movie like he did in the prequels.

I recall the word "Gungan" came from young Jett.

Not sure about moon landing hoax stuff, but this still creeps me out:

ST 09 was the best SW prequel.

The more I think about this, the more I'm convinced that this is as conservative as you can go for selecting the director. J.J. will certainly make his decisions and make the film in the way he prefers. However, I think Lucas and Kennedy wanted Abrams because they more or less know exactly what they're getting with J.J. (not in a bad way).

I just can't see J.J. doing anything spectacular with this. Entertaining, fun, etc. - sure. But I can't help look at Abrams as a company man in this situation.

Bingowings said:

So it's more of this then?

 

More like more of this:

georgec said:

Fixed for Abrams announcement.

captainsolo said:

Safest choice likely from multiple perspectives.

But not likely innovative or daring.

Now it all depends on how the script turns out.

Exactly. A safe, marketable decision.

But an interesting or exciting one? Not to me. And I don't mean to say I think the film will be bad. I just don't think that, as a director, JJ will bring anything "innovative or daring" to the table. It doesn't have me interested to see what the movie will be. I'm thinking, "Oh, him? Okay, I think I know what the movie will be like." And I ain't talkin' 'bout lens flares.

Basically, this kind of fuels my cynicism from the initial Disney announcement. JJ feels like a choice made for marketing and name-dropping purposes. Then again, if he hadn't done ST 09 maybe I'd think differently.

Either way, the movie will make a lot of money. That's all that really matters.

This is a boring choice for me. ST 09 was good, but I don't see Abrams directing SW VII that much differently.

It just feels odd that the two biggest sci-fi franchises will have been revived under the same director. As a filmgoer, I want to see different directors doing different movies, not one guy doing them.

JJ has a monopoly on directing sci-fi!

It's J.J.

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Star-Wars-Episode-VII-to-be-directed-by-JJ-Abrams/topic/15121/

Done deal.

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2013/01/24/j-j-abrams-set-to-direct-star-wars-episode-vii/

http://collider.com/j-j-abrams-star-wars/

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/j-j-abrams-to-direct-new-star-wars-movie-for-disney/