New "Star Wars" Movie

[Cato]

So according to the reviewer (J. Morgenstern) in the Wall Street Journal...

... "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" flatters old and new audiences alike, and straddles generations with aplomb. "You're Han Solo?" asks the startled young heroine, Rey, after the gallant old guy has come aboard a battered old spaceship—the Millennium Falcon, of course—that she, a scavenger by trade but also a pilot, has chanced to purloin. (Rey is played, dazzlingly, by Daisy Ridley.) "I used to be," Han replies with a small, sardonic grin owned solely by Harrison Ford. Rarely have age and shining youth been juxtaposed more affectingly, but that's only one of many moments of grace in a movie that mines its resonant mythology while moving its story ever forward....

... (The sugar-free, spice-rich script for "The Force Awakens" was written by Mr. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt.) The Empire may have been vanquished, along with Darth Vader, but every age brings new threats and the current one is the First Order, a military junta with legions of Stormtroopers and its own incarnation of deep-dyed evil in Kylo Ren, an extremely bad guy played extremely well by Adam Driver.
On the other side of the gathering conflict are an accidental heroine and a reluctant hero, and they're both, in their respective ways, brilliant creations. The most significant thing about Ms. Ridley's Rey is that she is a she—a scavenger, yes, and lots more that we'll get to momentarily, but a heroine who carries on her slender shoulders the latest chunk of an entertainment megalith that has been mainly revered by boys.

Rey changes that almost instantly. She's a street kid in the trackless sands of a desert planet, an adorable hoyden in a simple skirt and tunic that give her a biblical look. And she becomes a woman warrior with the stylish ferocity of a kung-fu star, except that she does it without wires....

Mr. Morgenstern is usually hard to please, so this may be a good indication that the new film does not "suck eggs," as my mother used to say.

All kinds of nonsense (or is it?) on the Internet about plot points being revealed, e.g. Luke kills Han Solo, Luke is the new Darth Vader, etc.

Will you see it?  Some of my students bought tickets in October and things were sold out until Dec. 27th back then!  Supposedly half of all screens in America will be showing the thing.

[Super Blood Moon]

I'll see it because my wife wants to.

[Karl Henning]

I'll see it because my wife wants to.

That's exactly what I expected you to say 

[Cato]

I'll see it because my wife wants to.

That's exactly what I expected you to say 

All intelligent husbands agree to see whatever their wives want to see!  0:)    "Expand your horizons!" 

[The new erato]

All intelligent husbands agree to see whatever their wives want to see!  0:)    "Expand your horizons!" 

I'm watching it with my wife and two grown up kids expecting some of the old magic to reappear after those 3 pretty variable (to put it nicely) prequels. 

[Cato]

I'm watching it with my wife and two grown up kids expecting some of the old magic to reappear after those 3 pretty variable (to put it nicely) prequels.

The career and (apparently modest?) talent of George Lucas remind me of an untrained musician who comes up with the most beautiful melodies, but has little idea of how to develop them properly.  A musician with little inspiration, however, takes the other man's ideas and composes symphonies with them.

[The new erato]

He did one really brilliant mvie, American Graffiti.

[Brian]

The career and (apparently modest?) talent of George Lucas remind me of an untrained musician who comes up with the most beautiful melodies, but has little idea of how to develop them properly.  A musician with little inspiration, however, takes the other man's ideas and composes symphonies with them.

George Lucas is one of the very rare examples of an artist who created a great work but possessed no talent whatsoever. Quite frankly, the 1970s-80s Star Wars movies seem to have been great by mistake.

[Karl Henning]

George Lucas is one of the very rare examples of an artist who created a great work but possessed no talent whatsoever. Quite frankly, the 1970s-80s Star Wars movies seem to have been great by mistake.

That is as reasonable and as artistic a view as any 

[Todd]

George Lucas is one of the very rare examples of an artist who created a great work but possessed no talent whatsoever.

I disagree.  Lucas very clearly has immense talent when it comes to marketing and cutting advantageous financial deals.  He also was able, with the help of others, of course, to push special effects forward and helped create entire companies (Lucasfilm and Pixar) that allow movies of today to be made.  His use of special effects was and is visionary.  His not an auteur in the sense of Coppola or Hitchcock or whatever other great you choose, but he clearly had and has talent.

[Cato]

I disagree.  Lucas very clearly has immense talent when it comes to marketing and cutting advantageous financial deals.  He also was able, with the help of others, of course, to push special effects forward and helped create entire companies (Lucasfilm and Pixar) that allow movies of today to be made.  His use of special effects was and is visionary.  His not an auteur in the sense of Coppola or Hitchcock or whatever other great you choose, but he clearly had and has talent.

That talent is obvious: he may have the talent of spotting talent in other people, and letting them develop their ideas to the fullest.

He is not an auteur in the sense of Coppola or Hitchcock or whatever other great you choose, but he clearly had and has talent.

True!

[Gurn Blanston]

I disagree.  Lucas very clearly has immense talent when it comes to marketing and cutting advantageous financial deals.  He also was able, with the help of others, of course, to push special effects forward and helped create entire companies (Lucasfilm and Pixar) that allow movies of today to be made.  His use of special effects was and is visionary.  His not an auteur in the sense of Coppola or Hitchcock or whatever other great you choose, but he clearly had and has talent.

I agree. Nice to see someone else say it.

[kishnevi]

The career and (apparently modest?) talent of George Lucas remind me of an untrained musician who comes up with the most beautiful melodies, but has little idea of how to develop them properly. A musician with little inspiration, however, takes the other man's ideas and composes symphonies with them.

I see him as the "musician with little inspiration".  The original trilogy is very much a blend of tropes familiar from classic westerns and samurai films,  cast into the mold of space fantasy.

Which perhaps explains why the second trilogy was a failure.

This applied to his scriptwriting abilities.  What Todd said about his other talents is true.

[Karl Henning]

I see him as the "musician with little inspiration".  The original trilogy is very much a blend of tropes familiar from classic westerns and samurai films,  cast into the mold of space fantasy.

Which perhaps explains why the second trilogy was a failure.

This applied to his scriptwriting abilities.  What Todd said about his other talents is true.

Yes.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Not sure it's going to be loud enough. Knock yourself out, nerds. 

[71 dB]

Lucas is a visionary genius. His teachers were amazed by his talent when he was in USC. In the campus he was a legend, whose student films were awaited events. It takes a genius to create Star Wars. It seems most people don't understand Lucas at all.

[The new erato]

It seems most people don't understand Lucas at all.

Maybe Lucas doesn't understand most people. One thing is sure, he is no Kubrick!

[Karl Henning]

Lucas is a visionary genius. His teachers were amazed by his talent when he was in USC. In the campus he was a legend, whose student films were awaited events. It takes a genius to create Star Wars. It seems most people don't understand Lucas at all.

I guess only the people who think Lucas is a genius understand Lucas.

[lisa needs braces]

I was going to stay out of this thread because I remember how sensitive some people who are excited about this new film got when J.J Abrams was criticized in the last thread about this movie. And here I find Lucas being criticized when it's J.J Abrams who is undoubtedly a more sinister and cancerous force in Hollywood, a mediocrity who covers up his lack of writing and directorial skills with panache and momentum and for some bizarre reason keeps getting to helm juicy properties. Critics are saying the same things about this new Star Wars film as they said about the recent Star Trek films, which is "yea, it's pretty good..."

Do you fondly remember the recent Star Trek films? That will be the new Star Wars in a nutshell, good or bad.

[Cato]

I was going to stay out of this thread because I remember how sensitive some people who are excited about this new film got when J.J Abrams was criticized in the last thread about this movie. And here I find Lucas being criticized when it's J.J Abrams who is undoubtedly a more sinister and cancerous force in Hollywood, a mediocrity who covers up his lack of writing and directorial skills with panache and momentum and for some bizarre reason keeps getting to helm juicy properties. Critics are saying the same things about this new Star Wars film as they said about the recent Star Trek films, which is "yea, it's pretty good..."

Do you fondly remember the recent Star Trek films? That will be the new Star Wars in a nutshell, good or bad.

The script is credited to three people, Abrams, Michael Arndt, and Lawrence Kasdan: given such a collaboration, it is probably well nigh impossible to determine who might be responsible for a good idea, or for a bad idea....given the egos in Hollywood.  I suppose we will eventually discover how they collaborated.

Arndt has some good ( Toy Story III) )and not so good movies ( A Walk in the Woods ) to his credit, and Kasdan of course worked on Star Wars V, VI and Raiders of the Lost Ark along with many others good  ( The Big Chill ) and not so good  ( Grand Canyon ).

Who knows?  I will not see it for several months because of the crowds: maybe late in February on a cold Tuesday night!   0:)