Yay Or Nay: Star Wars Edition

With the recent sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, there is much to celebrate. Namely:

1) Director JJ Abrams did a great job already shepherding a beloved franchise into reboot mode with Star Trek in 2009, and seems poised to do it again in May with Star Trek: Into Darkness.

2) Abrams knows how to keep a secret, a minor miracle in this Internet age. We still don't know what role Benedict Cumberbach will be playing. Will it be Khan? Will it not be Khan? I don't want to know until I sit down in the theater on opening night. And that's the way it should be. Hopefully Abrams will be able to keep up the veil of secrecy up until 2015.

3) Abrams has proven himself able to get actors in his films to express emotions, something that George Lucas was never quite able to accomplish, so focused was he on creating his (albeit) groundbreaking technical wizadry. And JJ is likely to make a filming decision, shoot it, and stand by it, improving on Lucas's inveterate tinkering. Jeez, are the original editions of the original 1977-83 trilogy even available anymore? I highly doubt it.

Now for the dark side (cue Darth Vader):

 At its best, Disney is a Magic Kingdom. At its worst it is a sausagelike marketing machine that spits out many permutations of prized properties. Imagine with me, if you will:

  1) The direct-to-DisneyDVD and BluRay exploits of Boba Fett and Yoda.
  2) Ditto for A Jar Jar Family Christmas, with accompanying ice show coming to an arena near you.
  3) While they're at it, how about a DisneyDVD/BluRay Special Anniversary Edition of the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, complete with optional Wookie subtitles.

And last but not least...

 4) Hello, My Little Friend, a musical revue starring C3-P0 and R2D2, now playing in the Orlando and Anaheim theme parks

May the Force be with the Mouse!

MTMG

Could Spielberg and Lucas Be Just Like Us?

I find it stunning that Steven Spielberg would admit to his distaste for Indy 4's alien finale, only shooting it out of respect for George Lucas, his producer and best friend. Even though the two had heated pro-and-con arguments. But I have to give Spielberg credit for owning up to, and defending, his opening for that film, which involves Indiana Jones, nuclear perdition, and a flying refridgerator, which he now considers "silly".

I also wonder if his newfound candor would apply to some of his other films that didn't go so well.

Just imagine...

"Those damn comedians ruined my vision for 1941!"

Or...

"I knew Always was going down in flames as I shot it, but I was in a romantic mood so I thought, 'what the hell'. And Dreyfuss said that at least the shoot was going faster than the one for Close Encounters!"

Just a thought.

MTMG