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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Great article about Lucas and "Red Tails"

Discussion in 'Lucasfilm Ltd. In-Depth Discussion' started by Gallandro, Jan 17, 2012.

  1. Gallandro

    Gallandro Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1998
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine/george-lucas-red-tails.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
     
  2. G-FETT

    G-FETT Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 10, 2001
    Yeah, its an awesome interview.

    Two things really stand out;

    1. The "personal films" look like they might actually be on their way.

    2. This passage: ?Why would I make any more,? Lucas says of the ?Star Wars? movies, ?when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?? Makes it sound like the criticisms of the PT have actually really upset George. :(
     
  3. Gallandro

    Gallandro Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1998
    I figured this would happen at some point. Anything Lucas does at this juncture is met with knee-jerk criticism... heck just go over to the Clone Wars forum; it's become a weekly bash fest. The man cannot do anything right. Want to re-release the Star Wars films in 3-D??? Fans scream "Why did you start with Episode I!?!?!?" Blu-Ray??? "More changes?!?!?! We want the originals!!!" He will never satisfy the fan base.

    I fully expect if the Live Action series actually happens Lucas will finally and completely walk away from the Saga, and I suspect he will remain true to his word and that will be it for adventures in that galaxy far, far away...

    I really fear the end is near, but I'm eternally grateful for the 35 years of entertainment he has provided me.


    Yancy
     
  4. G-FETT

    G-FETT Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 10, 2001
    The irony is when he's dead, after a few years hardly anyone will have a bad word to say about him and his work will gain a new understanding.

    Thats the thing about genius's. We don't appreciate them until they've gone.
     
    obi-rob-kenobi4 likes this.
  5. Sinistron

    Sinistron Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jan 31, 2010
    Great piece. Thanks for sharing!
     
  6. Sword_Of_Goliath

    Sword_Of_Goliath Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 22, 2010
    Not a bad article.

    I'm very glad to hear he's going in the Coppola direction. Can't wait to see what he comes up with!
     
  7. Aytee-Aytee

    Aytee-Aytee Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2008

    Corrected.
     
  8. FRAGGLE_ROCKER

    FRAGGLE_ROCKER Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2010
    Lucas has been saying his "small, personal art films" line since he was working on the Prequels. Then after that came the next Indiana Jones, and "The Clone Wars", in which he has gotten more involved than he original intended, as well as the plans for a live-action show. He is older now though. As for STAR WARS (and even Indiana Jones) who can blame him for wanting to move away because of the criticism? First of all, why are people still holding out for more films? Who are they, people who don't get the reasons for Episodes I, II, III after IV, V, and VI? People who still cling to the idea of 7, 8, and 9?
     
  9. Sword_Of_Goliath

    Sword_Of_Goliath Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 22, 2010
    Yeah, but to be fair, so did Coppola, and he eventually did, and is soon to release his third "personal" film since 2007. Scorsese has been saying this for years and his movies seem to get bigger, not smaller.

    Lucas makes films he wants to see: what can be more personal than that? And he's produced many alternative/arthouse films, and continues to produce historical documentaries. I really don't care what he does, as long as he doesn't actually "retire." With all the crapola out there, it's always refreshing when he makes something.
     
  10. Darth Pipes

    Darth Pipes Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 12, 1999
    I don't know why Lucas's "No more Star Wars" films is even a story. He said 15 years ago during the release of the Special Editions that he wasn't going to do a sequel trilogy. It's very old news...kind of like when Gary Kurt reemerges every couple of years to say that Return of the Jedi was supposed to have a much darker ending. That was a news story four years ago, not now.

    Still, it's a pretty good article. I hope GL actually gets around to doing those smaller films. I'm very interested to see what else he's capable of as a filmmaker.
     
  11. Sword_Of_Goliath

    Sword_Of_Goliath Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 22, 2010
    I really think he's gonna do stuff like Russian Ark & Koyaanisqatsi, as he says, "non-linear, non-story" films. Yeah, this could be good. I think the PT & Red Tails took a lot out of him. He should take a break, enjoy his girlfriend, and come back strong with some crazy-ass, off-the-wall, pure cinematic experiments!
     
  12. Darth-Seldon

    Darth-Seldon Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    May 17, 2003
    Great article, George is still the rebel against the studios.
     
  13. FRAGGLE_ROCKER

    FRAGGLE_ROCKER Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2010
    Unlike with Coppola though, Lucas's smaller films will still get a lot of press and box office focused trolls monitoring every move and hanging on every blurb.
     
  14. Sword_Of_Goliath

    Sword_Of_Goliath Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 22, 2010
    Ha ha, let's hope not, maybe he'll make stuff so off the map it'll lose these people completely, and they can spend the rest of their natural lives complaining about Jar Jar, "I hate sand," Han shot first & the nuked fridge :)
     
  15. JEDI-RISING

    JEDI-RISING Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 15, 2005
    they'll be in the retirement home. 'nurse..do you...want to ...hear how...George Lucas...ruined my life..because..he didn't make...movies the way i had..it in my head?"
     
  16. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    Let's correct this a bit.

    Lucas releases SEs on DVD
    Could we have the originals on DVD?
    Lucas will never satisfy the fan base.
    Sure he will. We're just asking for a nice copy of the originals.
    Lucas releases subpar decade-old laserdisc transfers

    Could we have the originals on DVD in DVD quality? Sorry we left out that clause last time, we figured it was obvious considering that every other release of comparable prominence and even most crappy obscurities meet the bare minimum of anamorphic DVD resolution.
    Lucas will never satisfy the fan base.
    Well, he COULD...
    Lucas releases the SEs on Blu-Ray
    Any chance of getting those originals? We know it would cost money to do the transfers, but there's a 20-year-old movie called "Frankenhooker" that's made the jump to blu-ray because somebody thought they could make a profit. Surely three of the most famous and popular films of all time would be able to recoup the transfer costs and then make a tidy profit on top?
    Lucas will never satisfy the fan base.
    No! Really! We've basically just been asking for one thing for going on a decade now...
    Lucas releases the SEs in 3d
    Is there a better way to explain this? We're honestly not interested in the SE versions, no matter whether it's Blu-Ray, 3d, Smell-o-vision, whatever. But we still really would love the O-OT, if you ever get around to it.
    Is there nothing Lucas can do to satisfy this fan base???


    To put it another way:

    Welcome to Burger World.
    Hi, could I have one of your delicious hamburgers?
    No, but you can have a veggie burger. We don't make hamburgers any more.
    Why not? I can see the meat patties in the fridge behind you.
    How about a veggie burger on a pretzel bun - everybody's serving burgers on pretzel buns now? It's too expensive to make a hamburger.
    No, I'm right here offering to buy a hamburger, which would be great on a pretzel bun, by the way, since that's now the standard for burger presentation. Heck, I'd even pay a little more than what you're charging for the veggie burger. I really like the old hamburger.
    Nah...I've got it! You can have a veggie burger soaked in Pepsi?
    Pepsi? I wouldn't even want a regular burger like that...no, but I'd still like a hamburger, please. It'd be easy for you to produce, you'd make a bunch of money - the only real reason not to do it would be if you're nursing some sort of petty spite towards the people who think the old hamburger tastes better than your new and "improved" veggie burger...
    Why are you being so hard-to-please!?
     
  17. Sword_Of_Goliath

    Sword_Of_Goliath Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 22, 2010
    Classic!!
     
  18. Sword_Of_Goliath

    Sword_Of_Goliath Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 22, 2010
    No, it's more like being invited to someone's home for dinner, accepting the invitation, eating a full meal, then berating the host for years afterwards that it wasn't really what you wanted to eat, and complaining bitterly to everyone you meet every time they mention "dinner." Be thankful for what you have, and if you don't like it, move on. There are way better things than SW out there. Forge a deeper more meaningful connection to something else, and you won't feel that biting disappointment anymore. Make new memories. Let go of the past, it will only poison the present & ruin the future for you.

     
  19. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    It's really not. But if you think "invited to someone's home for dinner" is really a good way of describing Lucas putting a movie on the market, here's the somewhat more accurate version.

    -It's like being invited to someone's home for dinner and enjoying a wonderful meal.
    -Some time later you're asked back for another meal, but there have been some recipe changes and it's not quite as delicious as it was the last time. You ask the host if you could try the original recipe again.
    -Next time you're asked back the recipe is changed even further, to the point where some parts are genuinely unappetizing
    -Finally it gets to a point where you receive a dinner invite and say, "Not if you're still experimenting, thanks, but I'd still love to taste the original recipe again!"

    Of course, even this version of the analogy is bonkers because it fails to account for Lucas's ample compensation every time someone "eats" his "dinner".
     
  20. Jedi_Ford_Prefect

    Jedi_Ford_Prefect Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2003
    Ignoring the fact that some people are probably enjoying some of the "experimenting" with the recipe, wouldn't it be kinda rude to "ask the host to try the original recipe again"? I know if somebody asked that to me, they probably wouldn't get any further invites.
     
  21. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    Well, that's where - as I mentioned - Goliath's analogy falls apart.

    If someone was just offering you a dinner out of the kindness of their heart, then sure, it would be supremely rude.

    But that's not the case with Lucas and Star Wars. It's much more like my fast food analogy above.

    Or if we must stick with the dinner party, it's a dinner party where everyone chips in to pay for the cost of food and cooking supplies. In that case, it wouldn't be rude at all for a guest to request a preferred recipe and/or opt out if the recipe isn't to their liking.
     
  22. Jedi_Ford_Prefect

    Jedi_Ford_Prefect Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2003
    It seems rude in each case. Why bother getting upset that McDonald's doesn't serve the McRib all the time, or that you can't order breakfast after a certain time? You go to a restaurant, you're playing by their menu. Don't like it-- too bad.

    Case in point. A few years back there was this great pan-Asian restaurant in Manhattan I used to go to every now and then, with a killer hot & sour soup, a great array of sushi and the best General Tso's chicken I've had anywhere. Then, one day, I walk in and order, and am told by the waiter that they've changed the recipe of their General Tso's to make it more health conscious. Okay, I say. I'll try anything once.

    Well, turns out it sucks. You can't really make a health-conscious version of breaded fried chicken in a sweet sauce loaded with MSG without sacrificing any of the various unhealthy things in it. So from then on, whenever I went, I didn't order the General Tso's. I'd just order soup and sushi, instead. I wasn't going to ask them to fix their original recipe, or complain about it.

    As for the dinner party thing-- as long as you're asking someone else to do the cooking, you also have to accept a "no" answer to specific requests and not consider that to be rude, too. Don't like the dish? Then volunteer to cook something yourself, next time.
     
  23. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    You overlooked the other option - go to a different restaurant.

    I don't see what's rude about letting someone know, "I'd be glad to buy that thing you used to sell if you start selling it again, but I'm not buying this other thing."

     
  24. Jedi_Ford_Prefect

    Jedi_Ford_Prefect Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2003
    Never minding the fact that it is rude (don't like it, don't order it-- no need to rub it in their faces), you're basically asking for a little Tyler Durden addition to whatever you order next time you go there (or, they'd just ask that you leave).

    And yeah, you can go to a different restaurant if that one dish was the only thing you thought was worth ordering. In my case, I was happy with just getting something else. If everything had been changed, then yeah, I'd eat elsewhere. But I wouldn't feel obliged to tell them I wouldn't be coming back until they changed their menu back to the way I liked it.
     
  25. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    At every business for which I've worked (and the way I'd run my own business), if we're losing a customer then we ABSOLUTELY want to know why. Especially if there's a fairly simple fix we can make to get them back.