Star Bored

George Lucas and the horror that is the second trilogy of Star Wars films did not assuage my love for the original trilogy. Sure, Jedi isn't a great movie by any means, but it still wasnt a horrible film that had some truly great and iconic moments. A New Hope is an amazing piece of popcorn, action/adventure, serial storytelling. The Empire Strikes Back is often cited as the greatest sequel of all time, an argument that can be made quite plausibly and one of the earliest experiences I can remember in a movie theater. I fell in love with this trilogy at an early age, and it is part of what gave me a slavish obsession for cinema, so it takes a whole hell of a lot for me to turn away from it as a fan.

It may have happened though. I may have finally just completely reached the nadir of my ability to handle anything else related to Star Wars. And no, it wasn't that George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney. For about three decades now, the principle difference between Lucasfilm and Disney has been a set of big, round ears and a couple of theme parks. In basically every other way, they've been the same. Consider that Pixar started out under Lucasfilms roof and then made the migration to The Mouse, and that Disney has had a number of Lucasfilm rides in their theme parks. If you're out there getting all pissy over the Disney move now, you're at least twenty years too late. You should have found your scruples earlier.

So, if it wasn't The Mouse becoming Darth Vader's new master and it wasn't that abomination that was the second trilogy, what could possibly have made me decide that just maybe it's time to let it go and just cut the cord with all things Star Wars? It's the absolutely insane reaction from the nerdhood in the film press. As someone who has spent many years now, pouring over the details of upcoming projects, tidbits from behind the scenes, stories of studio strife and the general commentary of the internet film press, I can say that of all the insanity I've seen, and that hasn't been an inconsequential amount, I've never seen anything as ridiculous as this.

Bits and Pieces 11/22/10

Netflix is starting to offer a subscription option for streaming only. DVD isn't dead and gone yet, but this could be yet another example of the move in that direction. The New York Times had a piece on it.

With Black Friday coming, Amazon has a load of deals for film geeks of every stripe. /Film has a good list and a whole set of links. 

Harry over at Ain't It Cool News has compiled his usual list of noteworthy weekly releases. A Criterion Edition of Night of the Hunter is probably my favorite pick of the week. For anyone out there who hasn't seen it, Robert Mitchum's performance was the precursor to and foundation for basically every famous, fan favorite movie villain that's followed, from Norman Bates to Hannibal Lecter. Mitchum's performance is both so charismatic and so creepy that whether you really like his character or you really hate him, you feel badly about it. It's impressive, a great movie worth checking out and paying Criterion price for the quality image and extras.

Neil Blomkamp, writer/director of the awesomely impressive District 9 seems to have a new project going on. There's a viral video showing up in this months iPad edition of Wired Magazine. Bloody Disgusting has gotten their paws on a copy, which is worth checking out. I don't know what it is, but it looks interesting, and considering how superb his first outing was, chances are I'll give this a shot.

/Film has a few other stories worth noting. Disney has apparently signed a deal with Gore Verbinski (director of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the American version of The Ring) to finance a Verbinski directed version The Lone Ranger, with Johnny Depp attached to star. Good old Johnny boy seems to make quite an impression on his directors. Is this the beginning of another collaborative relationship along the lines of Burton/Depp? I guess we'll see. Johnny Depp is definitely a talented actor, but The Lone Ranger? I also have to ask, do we really need another Lone Ranger? We can hope it will be good. This may be of limited interest to most people, but Gael Garcie Bernal (who perfectly played a pre-revolutionary Che Guevera in The Motorcycle Diaries) is attached to play boxer Roberto Duran. If you're a casual boxing fan, like I am, Duran's story is an interesting one. Even if you know or care nothing about boxing, it could make for very good cinema. Also, Warner Brothers is doing something extremely unseemly. They are in the process of developing a reboot of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, without the creator of all of the original characters, and who was the creative engine behind the popular television series that fans are still dying to see a film based on. Joss Whedon certainly isn't hurting for work, as he's been tapped to write and direct The Avengers (possibly the biggest cinematic undertaking in the medium's history), but he did respond to Warner Brother's running off with his baby. Does anyone remember the last time someone tackled this property without Whedon to keep it balanced? It was a big, steaming, stinking pile of turd. Good luck with that Warner Brothers, for all of our sakes.

And then there is this... a surprising find and important find. One of the original 35mm prints of King Kong has been found. There's some speculation that this found gem may include the lost "spider pit" scene. Ain't It Cool News has a good piece on it, and so does Dread Central.