just when you thought it was done

[orbsonb]

The best parts of the original Star Wars movies are that they're crisp, fun adventure stories with heroes you can root for, dynamic characters who draw you in, and scary evil villains. All that stuff is naturally capitvating for kids, so of course the movies are going to be hugely popular with the preteen crowd...but that doesn't mean they have to be designed to appeal specifically to kids. i think some of the best "children's" entertainment works on multiple levels for different age brackets - the Hamlet connections in The Lion King, the apocalyptic visuals of the original Land Before Time, the "grown-up" thematic concepts behind stuff like Calvin and Hobbes and Adventure Time. you don't have to pander to kids to make a movie they'll like.

i'm willing to bet more kids these days know who Luke and Han Solo are than know who fucking Padme or Qui gon are. they're not memorable characters. no kid likes Jar Jar! i was eight when Episode One came out and even I knew he was fucking stupid. kids see through that shit.

 

[Kafka]

Whoa. I was 8 when the first episode came out as well, doesn't seem like that long ago

 

[neal]

Calvin and Hobbes is the best ever

 

[Talking Backwards]

The biggest, most important news to know is that Disney may already have a screenwriter for Episode VII (and possibly Episode VIII and IX too). Screenwriter Michael Arndt, who wrote Little Miss Sunshine, cowrote Toy Story 3, and cowrote next year's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, has turned in a 40-50 page treatment for Star Wars Episode VII that includes the roles of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. That doesn't, however, mean that Arndt necessarily has the job, although he may at least be credited for "story" if elements of his treatment are eventually used.

That story also mentioned that Arndt's treatment would be crossing the desks of directors Brad Bird (The Incredibles), J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), and Steven Spielberg (does anyone need his credits listed?). For certain, many director's names will be mentioned before someone is actually signed, and indeed, in the same week, we heard that Zack Snyder, Quentin Tarantino, and the aforementioned Steven Spielberg all denied interest in taking over from George Lucas. Another name that got mentioned this week was Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass), but that's probably mostly just because he recently dropped out of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past (which was probably because he's directing Mark Millar's The Secret Service for 20th Century Fox).

Finally, going back to Leia and Han, both Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford commented this week about returning to their roles (answer: of course, and maybe, with the Bill Murray Ghostbusters 3 clause)

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tra...chup_mark_wahlberg_to_star_in_transformers_4/

I was wondering who in the hell they would get to play Luke, Leia and Han. The original actors aren't dead or anything (obviously), but they are either pretty fucking old now, or very out of shape (not that they could not prepare for the movie, but have you seen Carrie Fisher? No bikini for her!). I also wouldn't be able to watch Mark Hamill without waiting for him to bust out the Joker voice.

I'm also wondering whose bright idea it was to ask Tarantino. Love pretty much all of his movies, but no way in hell could he possibly do Star Wars without sploitin it up.