ST Master Filmmaking Team announced! JJ now writing the script

Hell yeah it does! I might even go to the midnight showing for that one!

 

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/notyetamovie/news/?a=89873

 

Ohio does have some pretty sweet tax credits for the film industry now. Not to mention Avengers and Captain America 2 filmed in Ohio. Maybe he's scouting the salt mines or Metroparks as potential locations.

Althoug it's kinda hard to picture him at the ABC

 

Personally I do feel that the scenes between Pike and Kirk is not as memorable as many of the mentor-student scenes in the Star Wars movies. The scenes between Qui-Gon and Anakin, the scenes between Luke and Obi-Wan as well as the scenes between Luke and Yoda are great scenes that showcase the wisdom of a wise and old master.

Lucas for all of his energy and enthusiasm, is a very philosophical person, and was able to convey a strong sense of philosophy in all of his movies. In all of his movies, even in the prequels, philosophy has always been major aspect of all the Star Wars movies. I personally enjoy the series because it mixes various eastern philosophy with western story telling tradition.

Abrams in all of his productions that I have seen always make me feel he is a person that is able to create a sense of teenage energy in his films, but it doesn't seems like he is a person who can balance that out with serenity. Serenity is something that you can see in all the Star Wars movies, but it is something that is lacking in all the shows and movies produced by Abrams.

Michael Arnt in his interviews and discussion about Star Wars seems to understood the importance of having serenity and mysticalism in the Star Wars movies. When I hear that Arnt have left the team due to creative differences, I fear that it might be due to Abrams not being able to grasp how important that is for the next episode of the Star Wars movie. That is the problem I have with the new Star Trek movies. It's all about action and offers very little breathing space for the audience to contemplate about philosophical views of the characters.

 

Agreed. You mentioned a sense of serenity, and I feel that is so, even with the action sequences in an odd way.

The main thing is an unabashed naivete and lack of self consciousness. Sometimes in J.J.'s movies I feel like I'm watching an exercise in cinematic storytelling rather than listening to a story.

Or maybe that's just me being too conscious of it. I would say Oh to view it like a kid Again....but the Prequels captured it for me so I know it's not just cynical adulthood.

And then I really think it really is a magical something of George's character. Lightning in a bottle....

 

Well said.

George is special because you know, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. (And they're not.)

 

It seems to me there is a tendency in the Hollywood crowd to try and boil it down to a method, and that's why so many movies are so samey nowadays.

Perhaps I am getting too philosophical about it, but the magic of Star Wars in some way is George's love of the thing for *itself*.

And his detached attitude toward it, in a twist of irony.

 

I don't know that I agree that he's detached even now. SW has always been his baby.

 

Captain America 2 filmed outside my window.
It was the uptown one by Case. Either way, they're both good bars with good people, why not?

 

MI:3 is one of the most underrated sequels of all time. It's so relentless and dark, and it has the best villain of the series as well.

 

I quite agree with everything you wrote. Abrams has a very frenetic energy to his films that can be rather overwhelming. Everything's always being powered through as fast as possible and it can be a bit exhausting. I agree with you that Lucas does a much better job of showing memorable relationships and infusing them with tenderness that Abrams often lacks. At least, in my opinion.

You point out serenity and mysticism as two important factors in Star Wars films and I would agree that these are areas in which Abrams has been lacking, particularly serenity. I think you hit the nail on the head when you point out that he doesn't give the audience nearly enough breathing space.

That said, I'm still optimistic because while I think Abrams has major hurdles to overcome, I don't think he's hopeless when it comes to quieter more intimate moments.

I agree with what some others here have posted in saying that I sometimes get a sense of artificiality from Abrams that I never have with Lucas. What I mean is, Abrams always seems to be going through the motions with his story-telling and following a very strict set of conventions in how he does things. The result, in my opinion, means that you can never really be swept away by his films because you're always aware of the underlying artifice. Lucas, although he follows the hero's journey precisely at times, has a strangeness to his films that gives them a more fantastical and transporting sense, in my opinion.

Take the opera scene from ROTS with Anakin and Palpatine -- Lucas could have gone with something more traditionally associated with opera, but instead, he envisioned the sphere of water with aliens swimming through it. And not only does this have underlying thematic ties (creating life) but it is also something bizarre but, at the same time, commonplace for our characters. Or Lucas' predilection for cute aliens and robots is another example.

With Abrams, I brought up the deleted scene earlier because I thought it was a good example of him having wonderful material to work with and then shooting himself in the foot by getting rid of it and leaving action scenes in. Because not only did the removal of that scene change the audience's perception of Kirk's character and the Kirk-Pike mentorship (as I brought up before), but it removed the tie of McCoy being the older brother that Kirk lost. When he's suspended, McCoy's about to walk away and leave Kirk behind but then he stops and comes back to get him -- doing the opposite of what Kirk's brother did when he was a kid. But that rather nice, subtle relationship tie can't existed without the deleted scene still in.

And sadly, I don't think Abrams has Lucas' acuity for visual touches to make up for it.

 

How would you all characterize Arndt's involvement? Do you think he got the ball rolling and Abrams/Kasdan are polishing up and building on his work or are they making changes to some of the very foundational stuff he established? I think it's the former because it sounds from what Jett Lucas has been saying that this is a very collaborative effort and Abrams knew early on key aspects of the script.

Let's talk about Mr. Arndt..

 

Here is an interesting article about Arndt, and abrams

http://universe.suvudu.com/post/arn...abrams-on-arndts-departure-from-star-wars-vii

 

What's to talk about? He worked on the script, and then he didn't. We've gone over pretty much every possible iteration of WHY he left since it happened; based on what little we've learned, we've covered everything there is to cover. We're not going to know anything more until they choose to tell us, and until we do, what's the point of going over the same old news?

 

False. There is so much more to discuss.

2. What was his favorite childhood toy?
3. What’s the best present he ever gave someone?
4. What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to him in elementary school?
5. If his house was on fire, what’s the first thing do you think he'd grab to save?
6. What’s his dream travel destination now that scripting duties are over?
7. When he was little, what do you think he'd dream of being when he grew up? A screenwriter perhaps?
8. What’s one of his favorite books/movies?
9. What was his worst job?
10. What’s the best advice anyone ever gave him?
11. Growing up, what was his favorite board game?
12. If he could live anywhere, where would you think it would be?
13. What was his best birthday ever?
14. What’s the bravest thing you think he's ever done besides writing the Episode VII screenplay?
15. What’s the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to him besides getting this gig?

 

I've been there, I was just joking.

Seriously though, the salt mines under Lake Erie would make a pretty sweet environment for a Sith Crypt

 

The Salt Mines of Kessel?

 

I like it

 

That does sound interesting and visually sound.

 

and a terrain we haven't seen before

 

Yes no more deserts!

 

I like the phrase "visually sound." That's clever.

 

Rick Carter interview on Episode VII design http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=111625

 

Very cool!