If it's Vaughn, I'm satisfied.

I came out of both Kick Ass and First Class thinking that they were expertly directed films and far better films than their material provided.

If anything, I believe Matthew Vaughn could get every ounce of greatness out of Episode VII.

I'm a little iffy on Matthew Vaughn. I didn't care much for Kick-Ass but X-Men First Class was a solid flick and as great as it is to see Bryan Singer return to the X-Men films, I really wanted to see Vaughn's take on Days of Future Past.

The thing that gives me some reassurance should Vaughn get the job is that he doesn't seem like the most stylish or flashy director. He just knows how to shoot action and direct actors with craft and competence.

Here is video of what Flemyng said:

http://thefilmstage.com/news/matthew-va ... isode-vii/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/post-george-lucas-star-wars-394910

I don't like the sound of that at all. The focus should be on making Episodes VII, VIII and XI the best movies they can be before diverting attention to the spinoffs.

Good find. Now I honestly don't know what to make of Vaughn's involvement. I wouldn't say Flemyng exactly spilled the beans on Vaughn directing Episode VII but was just carrying on for the sake of answering the reporters' questions.

EDIT:

Club Jade collected some quotes from Mark Hamill at the premiere of his new flick:



http://clubjade.net/?p=44730

http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/for-career-suicide-nothing-beats-the-web/



http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/david-fincher-latest-name-in-the-mix-to-direct-star-wars-episode-7-jon-favreau-reportedly-chasing-the-job-20121130

"Hell-no-Fav-reau-we-won't-go-hell-no-Fav-reau-we-won't-go-hell-no..."

Seriously, after failing to make anything lively out of Cowboys and Aliens, how would anyone think that he's capable of taking on this job. By all accounts he was engaged on that gig, with James Bond and a fully engaged and collaborative Indiana Jones and the thing just sits there like a lifeless lump of shit. He couldn't even get a spark of energy out of the action sequences. It's EXACTLY what I worry about with the new trilogy - not...BAD exactly, just...lifeless and forgetable.

My vote's for Fincher. My favorite of all the rumored directors by a long shot. I mean, Favreau and Vaughn? Talk about low standards.

Fincher's films (perhaps with the exception of Alien 3) have a kind of formal elegance and restraint that's very reminiscent of the style of the PT and the best parts of the OT.

Yes! A thousand times yes!
Although I can also see him either turning it down or not getting it because he has now become a great director who can do whatever he wants and be as tough as he wants to be. He pours his entire life into each film he makes, and is a notorious perfectionist, but that might not be what Lucasfilm and Disney want or need, what with the 2015 release getting closer by the month.

I like Fincher but isn't he too dark and adult for Star Wars?

Except that everyone seems to want them to abandon PT and only use OT as an inspiration.

While I like Fincher, I feel like he (and Del Toro for that matter) would put too much of their personal imprint on the films. In turn, I would rather he do a stand alone movie rather than an episode from the Skywalker saga.

I've only seen one Favreau film - Iron Man. Based on that movie, it's seems that he's a competent director if the script is good.

I disagree. Watch Cowboys & Aliens.

I honestly don't know why Gore Verbinski isn't talked about more as a possible candidate. I mean on paper the guy seems like the most obvious choice: Disney loves him, (Pirates movies and The Lone Ranger this coming summer) he has a proven track record and he worked with ILM on their first feature length animated flick Rango.

I'm not sure they need any of these guys mentioned. They need someone who isn't jaded by the current state of the industry and the last 20 years when everything has been so horrible (in my opinion). Someone inspired. Younger, less experienced, more daring and ambitious. Like Spielberg and Lucas were when they made their greatest films in the 70s and 80s and inspired so many others. Not like today when everything is so manufactured.

Movies these days are overproduced, hollow, soulless and loaded with too much CGI. My worry is that whoever they get in that director's chair will be bound and regulated by "the system". That what we'll get will be reminiscent of all blockbuster type films these days. I can't even tell them apart anymore. Transformers, superheroes, Pirates of the Caribbean, Twilight, Avatar, Star Trek 2009, which everyone except me and 10 other people don't like, etc. All successful, yet there's nothing really special about them. It's all such dreck.

There's a great opportunity here to right the many wrongs of the prequels and show everyone how it's done. Yet, I can't help but think. Could anyone ever make a film in the league of the original Star Wars, Empire or even Jedi? Aside from money and a fanbase, what's the point in even trying to milk this franchise with feature films anymore? It's just making sequels for the sake of making sequels...and money. Not like in the 70s and early 80s where we got some defining sequels where the filmmakers (and studios) took risks and we ended up with radically innovative, wildly entertaining, daring and enduring films like Empire, Temple of Doom, Wrath of Khan, Godfather Part II, etc.

Just my two cents and rant for the afternoon.

It's two-fold: yes, this is mostly a business venture but it's also a creator surrendering his creation to the ages. I think someone interviewed in the People VS. George Lucas documentary drew comparisons between Lucas and Lewis Carroll, basically stating the Carroll's decision to allow Wonderland to be interpreted by so many so early on in that story's life has been one of the main reasons that particular story has endured. I mean there have been countless different takes on Alice in Wonderland over the years, some certainly better than others, but the sheer volume of those interpretations has managed to keep the original alive and evergreen for each new generation to re-discover and reinterpret. This is why I'm probably more excited about the films following the sequel trilogy rather than VII, VIII and IX.

Was the failure Favreau’s fault or was the wacky premise doomed to fail from the beginning?


I will be surprised if Disney turns this project over to a fresh-faced director who hasn’t delivered on a big budget film in the past. It doesn’t seem like that’s been their MO in the past and they’re going to want to maximize the chance that the first film in their expense new franchise satisfies general audiences (right out the bat).

I think production design is where the “freshness” will come in. No one is ever going to top Ralph McQuarrie. But, there’s got to be some talented individual out there who is itching for the Star Wars challenge. (Consequently, I’m impressed by Filoni and company’s ambitious art direction for The Clone Wars series.)

As whole, I’m starting to resign myself to that fact that the next director will do something that seems really un-Star Wars like (in Lucas terms) with at least one of the next films. It will make me think “that doesn’t really belong in Star Wars” or “this director doesn’t appreciate the true meaning of Star Wars at all.”

I’m also coming to realize that if there are some creative missteps with the next movies, there will be a group in the fan base ready to scream “I told you Disney would fuck this up.” Or, “I told you they should have gotten director ‘A’ instead of director ‘B.’ Let’s start a petition to get this guy fired before the next film.” (They’ll be the new Lucas-Ewok-SE-Jar Jar-Christensen gang rape spiel.)

All of these things are okay. For me, the most exciting part of this deal is the idea that Star Wars is now a living franchise much like Batman or Bond. Yes, the product will inevitably be diluted by overexposure and some wonky creative choices. But, at some point, a whiz kid or group of whiz kids are going to come up with an exciting new approach that’s going to make everyone look differently at the mythology. So, I’ll be okay if there are some slip-ups with the next three episodes. I’ve got a lifetime’s worth of Star Wars films to which I can look forward.


Yep. It seems that the sky’s the limit.

Oh, the script was undercooked, but he still took a picture with James Bond and Han Solo teaming up to shoot aliens and manged to make it boring.

I haven't seen C & A yet. How is it boring?
I have a friend who is a high school English teacher, and she told me that most of her recent flock of teenage students think Star Wars is boring. All 6 of the movies. Totally boring. And these aren't stupid kids, either. They are advanced placement, college-bound Seniors who like to read, write and who like good literature. One of them actually said, "Star Wars is stupid, nothing happens, they talk too much, there's not enough action, it's boring..."

That scares me.

Videogame generation.

The fact that kids actually like Twilight says enough about the state of teenage entertainment. I don't care what these kids think: I care what I like.

It ebbs and flows. Those kids in high school were likely a little too young to really be interested in/affected by the prequels during the first go around but I can't tell you how many young kids I see whenever I go to Disneyland, shopping malls or what have you that are wearing Clone Wars shirts. They're nuts about Star Wars. Those are the kids that are going to lose their minds when VII comes out.

18 year olds now were born in 1994. You could argue that was the target age group of the prequels.

The prequels have no clear target audience. They'll be very juvenile one scene, have kids in spaceships and with lightsabers to appeal to 8 year olds, go over the heads of kids in the next scene with political babble, then have vicious murders and a burning human in lava. There's no clear audience and it's not like just everyone can enjoy them like the originals. We've been trying to come to terms with this for many years now. It's not even that Lucas had complete creative control, massive budgets, modern technology and was surrounded by yes-men. Unfortunately, George had kids and became a reclusive out-of-touch old guy. He fucking got old and wasn't great at making movies anymore.

This.

It doesn't sound like these kids would enjoy Twilight.
However, a lot of teenagers think they're too col for kids' movies. How many of the original fans stuck to their fandom once they were too old for playing with toys and hormones kicked in? Even Kevin Smith admits he was somewhat disappointed in ROTJ and only came back to Star Wars later. A lot of love for the original trilogy is based on Gen-X nostalgia.

Kids in spaceships and burning man in one movie? When was that?



Lucas had been an independent filmmaker who financed his own movies from 1977 until the Disney buyout. Starting with TESB, he always had a final word. It's true he had more collaboration on TESB and ROTJ so some of his weaknesses are less visible (but still present), but it's not like anyone could really say no to him.

Funny, I think I just said that. And not just Han Solo, but Han Solo engaged in the project like he hasn't been for (with one exception) a decade or more. IM on the other hand gets by basically on RDJ's charisma. Notice that the whole thing falls apart in the third act once you take him out of the picture (replacing him with CGI IM) and Favreau needs to deliver the action finale - he can't do it. He has TOTAL control as he's working in CGI, and can't deliver even an interesting looking fight. Now look at CvA, yes the idea is goofy, that's why it should be a frigging slam dunk for popcorn entertainment. It's COWBOYS. Fighting ALIENS. How is that not even an Asylum-level of entertaining? Hell, he even managed to quote Indy's tank jump, pretty much verbatim, from LC and make it boring! It's unfortunate, because he seems like a genuinely nice, fun, very VERY bright guy (just watch how Ford opened up with him - Ford is a guy who clearly doesn't suffer fools, and seems to LOVE this guy), and personality-wise, this is who you'd love to see helming SW. He's just such a pedestrian, uninspired director that should not be allowed anywhere near this project.

Now, how is CvA boring you ask BS? Well that's a whole essay in itself, but I think can be reduced to Jake Lonergin is so badly underwriten that Craig just comes across as a blank slate. Strike that, a bland slate. Then there's never a clear idea about what the aliens want (yeah, yeah, Gooooooolllllld, but why? And if they can just blast the bejeesus out of humans, why do they need to study our weaknesses?), so there's never really any stakes we understand or care about. Also, Ford's entire reason in going after the aliens is his son, who's a useless asshat we are told to hate from scene 1. We therefore have NOTHING invested in him finding his boy (oh god, I just realized SOMEONE TOOK HIS FAMILY(member)...why, Harry, WHY?!). The design work feels like stuff we've already seen a thousand times before (apart from the extra arms, which are used to zero story effect, and frankly make so little biological sense (as they inadvertently expose ALL OF THE ALIEN'S INTERNAL ORGANS) that they're stupid instead of frightening. The photography is weak, and manages to take the expanse of the West and make it small and flat. It also fails to find any interesting angles on the alien technology. Again, this is stuff that was designed, and should have been designed with at least a couple of hero angles in mind. If it was however, they managed to miss them in the camera. Finally, Favreaus editing pace is just....off...somehow. It's never jarring, but it never creates any momentum either. The film is, as I've said, not bad exactly. It's too inert to actively be bad. It's just a giant waste of everyone's time, money, and talent.

Dude's not a recluse, we used to see him around the mall from time to time when we lived in Marin. There's this...odd idea that people got about him - he doesn't like people, hides up in the ranch (mmm..not any more than you hide out in your office). Really not supported by anything - he's, by all accounts, always been quiet, he's been very clear about not living in LA or being beholden to a studio, doesn't really do galas, and doesn't seem to particularly want his life covered in the tabloids, but other than that...? One of the interesting thing I read his daughter (the writer, not the MMA one) said is that she reads this stuff about her dad and just doesn't recognize the person people are describing.

Now, getting old...hmmm...okay, I'll bite - what about the OT do you think is peculiar to him being a younger man when he made those? Don't get me wrong, despite the facinating, operatic, yet believeable story Lucas wrote, I think the execution on the PT was a disaster - he botched just about everything that wasn't purely visual (because, holy shit does he still have an incredible visual mind!), but he did that on SW too - look at some of the rough cut that's surfaced - Richard Chew saved that film from looking exactly like the PT. Forget Marcia, she didn't edit a whole lot of the movie. Richard Chew is the guy who managed to save SW. This time, instead of an innovative, brilliant editor he had...the sound guy...a friend who owed George his carreer, who got to pick what kind of wipe to use (apparently they were out of 'star', 'clock', 'diagonal', and 'side', and only had 'ass' left in the toolkit. HI-O!!!). And then he didn't have director's duties again until RotJ, where the same, stilted, mouthfull dialogue reappears. What I'm saying is that in this case it's not age, he's ALWAYS been this filmaker.

The rough cut of Star Wars wasn't by Lucas. It was another editor they hired to save time. Unfortunately, he messed up and was let go, and George, Marcia and Richard Chew had to do the cut themselves.

I agree the editing of AOTC suffered because of Burtt.

"The essence of Star Wars" -

I don't find this series of YouTube videos very insightful. Lucas' and Kennedy's attempts to define or explain Star Wars in this particular video come off as ridiculously pedestrian and far too vague for people supposedly running the show. That's not to rob Lucas of his occasional eloquence, but they should really just stick to making the movies (Kennedy, anyways).

I think good movies aren't about the message. They're about the medium - the unique and engaging qualities of the art form. There are plenty of films about friendship, romance, betrayal, science-fiction, fantasy and father-son relationships. What sticks about Star Wars is how it's done, the artistry that's worth a thousand million words.

EDIT: The pair could just be playing the PR game, talking fluff and keeping their more sincere, measured ideas close to their chests. That probably makes the most sense.

Yeah, this video series seems to descend deeper into fluff with each one. I had been hoping that they were building up to something, but at this point, I'm not so sure...It is kind of strange that the next (and final) part won't be online 'til December 31st, especially since they shot this a couple of months ago. It's tempting to attach some significance to it coming out on New Year's Eve, though--maybe the official announcement of the director(s)? Who knows.

My guess is it'll be an announcement of who the cast of characters will be (whether or not it's original trilogy characters, who will be playing them or whatever).

Yeah, there's not a whole lot being said in these videos, and they are edited all to hell. First they said these would continue weekly, now it's nearly a month before the last 3 minutes of nothing? I too think they already have a director, and are waiting until New Years Eve for the big reveal.

It could be a hologram, too. I wouldn't mind seeing Ewan again. His work in the PT is seriously underrated.

The rough cut highlights the problem though - it shows us what Lucas actually put on film. It's talky, carries no rythm, is full of rediculous dialogue... It's just that in the rough cut most of it's actually there onscreen, whereas Chew carved the fat away, restructured scenes, hell even paragraphs, to make the dialogue flow better. It's the PT all over again, except no one suggested to George that alot of this crap had to go.

Oh, and Burtt getting musicless sequences? WORST. SW. EVER.

Because that duel between Vader and Ben is so bad...

/sarcasm

Those are some of my favorite moments in each of the 6 films.

Why do I have no idea what you guys are talking about?

The rough cut of almost every film looks and feels like an unfinished product. That's why directors direct and editors edit. There is tons of shit on the cutting room floor of some of your favourite movies that is cringe-inducing shlock. So I think your line of reasoning on this is pretty silly.

A good editor can completely transform a film, which is why so many top notch directors typically have a go-to guy that works with them on most of their films (Spielberg-Kahn) and why great editors are high-demand guys.

You know all this, so why you choose to ignore it just to serve your "George Lucas is a horrible filmmaker" agenda is beyond me.

That said, Ben Burtt did not deserve to edit AOTC. Iit was a terrible decision by George to do his friend a favour and give him the gig. He did enough damage to the film (arguably all three films) as a Sound Editor, let alone being in control of the final cut. The way John Williams' score was butchered was particularly unacceptable.

STAR WARS EPISODE 7 Director May Be Announced In January; Pre-Production Begins Next Spring

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ ... s/?a=71300

^Good. His style wouldn't suit Star Wars. He can't keep the camera still, he's like a child with a new toy.

Or lense flares!

...so much for thinking that this video series was building up to some grandiose finale:

Lucas/Kennedy Chat part 5

Yeah, that was all very nice and sweet... Now WHO'S THE FUCKING DIRECTOR?!

So, we know now del Toro also turn the directing job down. Something I find interesting: now that Nolan is doing Interstellar and Robopocalypse has been indefinitely delayed, Spielberg suddenly has an opening. I know both he and GL have denied it, but the timing is suspicious...

JP4.

Steven Spielberg Will Not Direct Jurassic Park IV

I also think that Spielberg is still in the running. At the time of his first rebuff, I thought his statement was a protective move for Lincoln. If he affirmed that he was in the hunt, he and the cast of his new well-made film would be overwhelmed by Star Wars conjecture throughout their media tour. I expect him to continue with his “definitive no” response through the end of awards season.

His refusal could also be a negotiating tactic for a higher salary. Even though Spielberg is set monetarily, the added funds could be funneled back to DreamWorks. Meaning, he could get rival Disney to indirectly fund a portion of DreamWorks’s next feature. I’m sure that he and Katzenberg would find no end to the humor in that move.

Since Lucas got little to no flack for his retraction, I doubt that Spielberg would take much heat either. Plus, he could always say that he had a change of heart after reading Arndt’s outline (or treatment or 1st draft).

While I’m posting, I should make an adjustment to my post from yesterday. Previously, I stated that the female Skywalker would be Anakin’s granddaughter. Since there is no indication on the time frame for episode 7, it's indeterminate whether the female is a third generation Force sensitive Skywalker or simply an heir from a time period decades after ROTJ. (After all, Luke may only show up as a Force Spirit.)

I would also like to double down on my endorsement of Jennifer Lawrence. She and The Hunger Games recently won a lot of People’s Choice Awards (which speaks to the popularity of herself and the series). Today, she received her second Academy Award nomination in two years. Not bad for a 22 year old.