Star Wars: Beloved by Gingrich AND Pelosi
May 01The History Channel is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of a lil’ flick called Star Wars with a two-hour special on May 28, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed.
In this special, such “luminaries” as Tom Brokaw, Nancy Pelosi, and Newt “Evil Incarnate” Gingrich comment on the Star Wars films. If you’re like me, you have been LITERALLY SLOWLY DYING from not knowing what Newt “Satan’s Spawn” Gingrich thinks of Star Wars, so at long last, we can sleep easy.
Then, we wake on Tuesday morning and initiate the suicide pact bestowed upon us by our Martian overlords.
Here’s my favorite part of the hype-soaked press release, though:
The special makes the argument that Star Wars’ intensely compelling stories—borrowed from diverse traditions, from Greek mythology and American westerns to the Bible and even Vaudeville—compel us to explore some of the biggest questions of our time. STAR WARS: THE LEGACY REVEALED explores that view through interviews with politicians, academics, journalists and critics, who all weigh in on the creations of George Lucas. The special shows how seldom a movie can make us laugh and think about our role in the universe—which may be why it has stood the test of time.
So, wow. When the prequels first bombed, these were stories for kids:
“The movies are for children but they don’t want to admit that. In the first film they absolutely hated R2 and C3-PO. In the second film they didn’t like Yoda and in the third one they hated the Ewoks… and now Jar Jar is getting accused of the same thing.”
Now, of course, we’ve come full circle again and Lucas is claiming the title of “modern mythmaker” and “Joseph Campbell’s bitch.”
Let’s just call these movies what they are. Two shitty ones, two good ones, and two classics. You know which is which.
Shit I Read (April 30, 2007)
Apr 30Action Comics, Amazons Attack, Helmet of Fate: Zauriel, Wolverine, and a crusty old issue of The Joker.
Shit I Read for April 26, 2007
Apr 26Back in the day, I wrote regular comics reviews for a fledgling pop culture website and for usenet under the pretentious title “Four-Color Critiques.” I had aspirations to model myself after a Randy Lander or Elayne Wechsler-Chaput. My “output” lasted for several months, at which point I got sick of it.
Let’s see how long it takes me to get sick of it again. Random, capsule-ish reviews of the comics I read every week (though not necessarily the comics that came OUT that week), posted every Thursday. And it WILL post every Thursday, whether it’s done or not–I’m setting the timestamp now.
That’s right–another comics reviewer on the web. Oh, joy.
This week: Catching up on Detective Comics, 52, and more, plus a few oldies-but-goodies, Star Wars and Transmetropolitan. In alphabetical order, cause I know that’s how you like it, sweetie poo.
Random Spitting & Pluggage
Apr 24Rick Berman is writing a tell-all book about his years in Star Trek. I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THAT FUCKING THING.
James Cameron’s Avatar will cost $195 million to make. I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THAT FUCKING THING.
I have a pair of new reviews up at ComicBloc, one of them under my real name, the other under my super-secret pen name, “Matthew.” I HAVE ALREADY READ THESE FUCKING THINGS.
Don’t forget, either–my novel Unconventional is now available. Buy it in softcover, or enjoy it as a free PDF download. Also visit Alert Nerd Press, our new publishing arm…or rather, finger, since it is quite a small appendage at this stage.
13 minutes, 47 seconds
Apr 21That’s about when the Raiders of the Lost Ark march first soars, in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
I noticed it because I’ve been thinking that what precedes it ranks among the best things both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have EVER done.
I don’t know that there’s a more note-perfect, clever, intricately paced action sequence, anywhere, in any other movie. The only competition would probably be something from the Star Wars films, or another Spielberg production–they are, after all, the masters.
We are jaded, hateful geeks, and so it is easy to snark upon both of these men, who many say (including me) have stumbled well past their prime. (Lucas, moreso than Spielberg, IMHO.)
And yet, there was a time when they could craft exquisite gems out of an old showtune in Mandarin Chinese, a tiny vial of green liquid, and a big rolling gong.
