American Graffiti ain't a poke in the eye, either.
post #51 of 297
7/30/08 at 10:31pm
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Seriously. How many feature-length commercials must he projectile vomit onto screens before he steps back and assesses the damage he's doing to once beloved franchises? As many as people are willing to pay to see, apparently.
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| “I’m only going to produce Red Tails — we have a black director — but then I think I am going to direct some more, make some esoteric films that have a personal significance.” |
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Originally Posted by Cornelius Cardew
But still, I can see why he wouldn't take grown men who dress up like spacemen with no sense of Irony very seriously.
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from the interview...
“I’m only going to produce Red Tails — we have a black director — but then I think I am going to direct some more, make some esoteric films that have a personal significance.” wtf |

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What percentage of his career / his life would you say Lucas has spent on Star Wars? All things considered, he's the biggest Star Wars geek of them all. I don't lose any sleep over any of this, for the record. Challenging the integrity of ole Georgie sure seems to set your panties on fire, though, Greg.
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What percentage of his career (shit, his life!) would you say Lucas has spent on Star Wars? All things considered, he's the biggest Star Wars geek of them all. But challenging ole Georgie's integrity as a filmmaker sure seems to set your panties on fire, Greg.
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First of all, the original Star Wars movies were made to make money. Sorry if that busts anybody's precious little bubble. He didn't make them for the sole purpose of making lonely children smile.
Secondly, he doesn't owe anybody anything for his billions of dollars. You paid to see a movie, you saw a movie. You paid for an action figure, you got an action figure. Transaction ended. Thirdly, if the worst thing he ever does as a human being is make some bad movies, fine. Stop acting like he's making the world a worse place. Go watch some good movies and get the fuck over it. Plus, I think a lot of the reason that these grown men get so pissed off is that Lucas doesn't even take Star Wars itself as seriously as they do. To him, it's a space opera, and it's just supposed to be fun. To them, it's like Zen Buddhism. They want it to guide them. |
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Every film geek should defend Lucas. If it wasn't for him we would be nowhere near our current state in special effects. Not yet anyway.
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I think the word "film" in your statement may be inaccurate. Lucas did a lot to advance the ability to do Geek Properties, but I think in terms of the BIGGER PICTURE of films, if you will, he's been a negative influence.
I don't think intentionally and I don't blame him really but, the summer model and blockbuster model that he and Spielberg ushered in hasn't been good for the art side of cinema. If we are merely talking business, then it's more debatable. While it's true that they were a huge boon to the industry the bubble is starting to look like it's going to burst. Lucas did get Raiders of the Lost Ark made, so he'll always be fine by me. |
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I can understand his point of view. Raiders was much easier to make from a creative point of view. He created Indy and came up with the story (with Philip Kaufman, but who remembers him in this story anyway?), got Lawrence Kasdan to script it, and Spielberg to direct it.
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It's your tone. Plus, you tend to defend Lucas a lot on the boards. That's your perogative, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me if we're talking about his post-1989 films. It's okay that we disagree on this subject, though.
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My problem is that there are directors out there who have made nothing but bad movies, but they get a pass. People would rather reserve their hate for somebody who made some good movies, then later made ones they didn't like. That's fucked up, and I don't understand the perspective. Apparently, it's better to have been awful from the beginning than to have gone downhill. How does that make sense? |

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Plus, I think a lot of the reason that these grown men get so pissed off is that Lucas doesn't even take Star Wars itself as seriously as they do. To him, it's a space opera, and it's just supposed to be fun. To them, it's like Zen Buddhism. They want it to guide them.
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Greg David, Chud's resident voice of reason.
I love the fact that someone's trying to patiently reason why the Lucas backlash is irrational and certain people are taking it as a personal attack. I think the reason a lot of us come to Chud is to find intelligent discussion and get away from stupid memes like 'Lucas raped my childhood' |
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He hardly hurt the smaller "art" film community in any way other than making sure they arent being released in the summer no more. I can live with that considering how much he has contributed to the other side of the argument.
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I would have to agree that Lucas is overhated (as is Indy 4, I believe, and even the prequels to a degree), but what is obnoxious about his work in the last decade is exactly that attitude of not taking it seriously. I'm not saying everyone should treat Star Wars as some sort of holy writ, but it should be damn important to the people actually working on it. That's what seperates a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer from a show like Charmed.
I don't think Lucas is greedy for cash. He could buy a studio himself if he wanted. I just think he's somehow decided that art and commerce aren't opposing forces, but one single thing. Pushing for the Mutt character to be shoe-horned in Darabont's script, which was working fine without him, and now pushing for a film series about him probably felt like artistic decisions to Lucas. But they're horrible, and have much more to do with extending the franchise until it's gasping for death. The emphasis on effects wizardry over storytelling and multitudes of characters created to make cool action figures are the same deal. Yeah, Lucas gets overhated, and by everyone, not just fanboys. But he shit all over franchises beloved by far more just geeks, and that stings much more than a shitty new Mummy movie. |
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I don't defend Lucas. I try to bring a sense of fucking perspective to the wailing of all these people who are convinced that some sub-par Star Wars movies make Lucas a pernicious influence that's causing the decline of western civilization.
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Of course they're art. I don't mean to drag the thread straight into some sort of "What is art" hell, but cinema is an art form, thus, they're art. And who wouldn't consider one or both of those for any list of great achievements in the cinema?
I was never much of a Star Wars guy at all, really, but the cultural resonance of Star Wars is undeniable, as is the disappointment in Lucas's later output. He tarnished something everyone loved, and it could be argued, took something that made the fans feel special and made it, and by extension them, lame. Naturally, people are going to hold it against him, more than he deserves, probably. But he's also got a half billion dollars, so I can't begrudge people their my-childhood-was-raped parties. |
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*Exceptions: 1) I might enjoy Temple of Doom more than you do. Though I admit it's been a few years since I last watched it. 2) I've got plenty of problems with Return of the Jedi, but I still find it more watchable than any of the Prequels.
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Umm Spielberg is not an auteur, he doesn't write any of his own scripts.
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Lucas, Kasdan and Spielberg all sat in a room and hashed out the story amongst themselves, then Kasdan went away and scripted it. If you read the making of Raiders, there are story conference notes where you can read Spielberg adding many of the good ideas that ended up in the movie.
Lucas is delusional. |
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Actually, if you can get ahold of the entire transcript (it pops up on eBay occasionally,) you might have a very different opinion. I'm certainly no Lucas apologist but I have to say, he comes across like a fucking genius in the transcript, whereas Spielberg is coming up with most of the clunkers, seemingly more interested in slapstick and goofy sight gags. In the transcript, Lucas has an amazingly clear vision for the character and the series, and pretty much runs the show in the story conferences, even breaking the structure and action beats of the film(s) down mathematically. I'm sure the excerpt used in the Making of RAIDERS book was very carefully selected to make everyone look good.
In any case, the entire document is a fascinating, educational read and reveals greater insight into Lucas and Spielberg's working relationship and contributions than anything else I've ever seen. And when you get a peek at THAT Lucas at work, you end up truly regretting his absence all these years but fully admiring that he was once a master storyteller. Seek it out. |