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#1151 Re: Guns N' Roses » 11-18-2012 - The Joint, Las Vegas, NV » 703 weeks ago
. This I Love was another they just blew out of the fucking park. I don't know what Axl was feeling that night but he was just flat out screaming that fucker Rio II style, then showing off.
No kidding.
#1152 Re: The Sunset Strip » Why Gendy Tartakovsky should direct Episode VII » 703 weeks ago
This brings us to a curious point. During the filming of Empire, several sources (incl. Gary Kurtz) have suggested Lucas himself had a very hands-off approach to the good work of Irvin Kershner and his crew, whom were supervised by Kurtz. It's been said that the film is the most "human" (and, to the humor of his deriders, the most non-Lucas) of the series. While I doubt Lucas has ever admitted to have felt alienated by what Empire had become without him, he was sure to roll up his sleeves for "Jedi".
After the release of “Empire” (which was shaped by material left over from that first Lucas treatment), talk turned to a third film and after a decade and a half the partners could no longer find a middle ground.
“We had an outline and George changed everything in it,” Kurtz said. “Instead of bittersweet and poignant he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason.”
Han Solo was discussed of being killed off during the preproduction of 'Jedi', as well.
The issue of whether Harrison Ford would return for the final film arose during pre-production. Unlike the other stars of the first film, Ford had not contracted to do two sequels, and Raiders of the Lost Ark had made him an even bigger star. Ford suggested that Han Solo be killed through self-sacrifice.
[Screenwriter Lawrence] Kasdan concurred, saying it should happen near the beginning of the film to instill doubt as to whether the others would survive, but Lucas was vehemently against it and rejected the concept.
The discussed ending of the film that Kurtz favored presented the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone “like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns,” as Kurtz put it.
Kurtz said that ending would have been a more emotionally nuanced finale to an epic adventure than the forest celebration of the Ewoks that essentially ended the trilogy with a teddy bear luau.
He was especially disdainful of the Lucas idea of a second Death Star, which he felt would be too derivative of the 1977 film. “So we agreed that I should probably leave.”
- LA Times
Having lost his long-time collaborator, it's curious to think Lucas would then ask Lynch and another David (of all people!) to direct the film.
"A long time ago I was approached for one second to do a Star Wars movie, which at that time was called Revenge of the Jedi and then it became Return of the Jedi," Cronenberg told Digital Spy. "I was approached by Lucasfilm about that and it didn't take them long to realise that maybe that wasn't a good idea."
A lot of the design work and preproduction of Jedi would base on Lucas' (revised) story treatment and storyboards, so Lynch had a point. Lucas had, apparently, done a meticulous job in outlining the visual narrative of 'Jedi', and a bright young thing as a director might lend the film the same gleeful mojo evident in Episode IV. Maybe so.
#1153 Re: The Sunset Strip » Why Gendy Tartakovsky should direct Episode VII » 703 weeks ago
This same old song and dance went on even back in the day. 
"TIP: George Lucas got in touch with you because of "The Return of the Jedi" at that time.
Lynch: Yes. George Lucas got in touch with me at the same time Dino [de Laurentiis, producer of Dune] did, and I had to make an important decision. George was great. He's a living legend, but although I was really fond of him; I realized that his projects are entirely his projects, and I prefer to do my own.
TIP: You wouldn't have had the same creative freedom like when doing "Dune"?
Lynch: Absolutely not. In George's imagination the movie was already done. It wouldn't have made a difference with me doing it. It would have looked exactly the same.
TIP: Did you ever regret not doing it?
Lynch: No, I really don`t know how it became public that I was Involved, because I never told anybody."
#1154 Re: The Sunset Strip » Why Gendy Tartakovsky should direct Episode VII » 703 weeks ago
It'll never happen. Disney is gonna think arrogantly, and ask every big director in Hollywood who...
... is considered a fan favorite for whatever reason.
Most of them realize it's way too big an undertaking - and in their case, a potential career suicide, so they pass it up.
It would benefit from an unknown, someone who knows the lore and has chops for it.
Tartakovsky would be great, as he'd bring the Empire spirit of it all back.
Dave Filoni, the animation director of the other Clone Wars is said to be a frontrunner, btw.
#1155 Re: The Sunset Strip » Why Gendy Tartakovsky should direct Episode VII » 704 weeks ago
Have you seen Xombie: Dead on Arrival, by any chance?
#1156 Re: The Sunset Strip » Why Gendy Tartakovsky should direct Episode VII » 704 weeks ago
Season 2, with longer episodic running times, turns into a thing of beauty. Any Star Wars fan should see it through, regardless of whether they've seen the subsequent series or the Prequel Trilogy. It's that good.
MWM, Genndy's doing fine business-wise nowadays. His new feature-length animated feature, Hotel Transylvania, is currently in theaters and is making a killing at the box office. His career is secure. The caveat here may be his artistic side - while Clone Wars shows true talent, Hotel Transylvania has been criticized for playing it a bit too safe when it comes to kiddie entertainment.
Hopefully, HT will prove to be an intermediate work for Tartakovsky. His new short film, Goodbye Mr Foot , should provide a good barometer on that.
Time will tell.
#1157 The Sunset Strip » Why Gendy Tartakovsky should direct Episode VII » 704 weeks ago
- apex-twin
- Replies: 13
"...who?"
Genndy Tartakovsky.
Um... He did 'Clone Wars'. No, the other one.
The series was produced by Cartoon Network Studios in association with Lucasfilm Ltd., and was aired both online and on Cartoon Network in 25 chapters from 2003 to 2005. The first two seasons, comprising Volume One, were produced in a two to three minute "micro" format, while season three was produced as fifteen minute episodes making up Volume Two.
Both volumes were later released on home video edited as feature length films. It was ranked 21 on IGN's Top 100 Animated Series list.[1] Entertainment Weekly ranked the series 20th out of 25 of the best science-fiction films or television of the past 25 years (1982–2007).
1. The 'Clone Wars' microseries (2003-5) is the most rewarding Star Wars film since 'Empire Strikes Back'.
Hands down, the ewoks did away a lot of what could've been a beaut. Many still lament the exit of Empire producer Gary Kurtz as Lucas' initial 'jump the shark' moment.
Clone Wars sets in between 'Attack of the Clones' and 'Revenge of the Sith'. It goes on without funny aliens, awkward romantics, or much meandering of any kind.
2. Best space/lightsaber/gun/Force fights since 'Empire'
During the series, Anakin gets to show some bad-ass piloting and he go head-to-head with a Sith apprentice, whom Count Dooku has recruited in an impressive sequence. She makes Darth Maul pale in comparison.
Sometimes, we just follow individual teams of troopers, their helmets on throughout and their communication down to military hand-signals. The corker is that even these guys become rootable, when away missions keep getting worse in the vein of 'Black Hawk Down'.
Make no mistake, the numbers of the clones are daunting, and combat can take most impressive scales. Mace Windu has to improvise and do freestyle with the Force for a good deal as he sees his army turning into minced-meat, some hundreds of guys at a time.
3. It has an absolute Star Wars 'feel' to it, in a 21st century way.
Clone Wars does all the right moves to show that, yes, it's connected to the New Trilogy. It respects the canon, striking the Empire -like balances in the emotional bits, delivering the character moments without getting sappy.
The villains are highly imaginative pastiches from all over the map, with one episode featuring bio-mechanical droids on hoverbikes wielding spears... think a Star Wars update on George A. Romero's 'Knightriders', and you have an idea of the left-field adversaries.
The lopsides are that, given Clone Wars began its life in a two-three minute episodic format, Volume One has the pacing of a videogame. While always interesting and the eyecandy is there, character development is a bit on the slim side. On the other hand, having Anakin and Obi-Wan pop up gives us them fully-fleshed characters to spice up the narrative.
I doubt Tartakovsky will be asked. The industry buzz is that Dave Filoni, the man who got to make the second Clone Wars, is to get the job.
Tartakovsky will just have to make due directing a new version of Popeye, set to come out in 2014.
But we'll always have the riveting Clone Wars, another missed opportunity by the Lucas Empire.
#1158 Re: Guns N' Roses » Chinese Whispers - The Secret History of the New Studio Album » 704 weeks ago
...Or this one?
One more and we'll have a line 
#1159 Re: Guns N' Roses » 11-07-2012 - The Joint, Las Vegas, NV » 704 weeks ago
The main issue with TWAT, for ME, is the intro on the album with the Pitman-esque noises that, literally, bring me down and I lose all the interest in the song.
Oh, always liked them.
A matter of taste, naturally.
#1160 Re: Guns N' Roses » 11-10-2012 - The Joint, Las Vegas, NV » 704 weeks ago
She didn't.
Cold shoulder, making Beta appear a bit like a twat.
At least, that's what I recall from Russ' story.
