Summer Break

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:15 AM

"Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another."
--Anatole France (The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard)

As I've mentioned here before, I've started taking classes at night to complete my degree. Summer session started on Tuesday, so I am back in class again.

I also start a new job on Monday. I'm looking forward to embarking on that new adventure, even if I am a little nervous.

Work and class will take up a lot of my time this summer, so my updates here on The Film Frontier will become even more sporadic than normal.

I definitely plan to keep this site going, though, as I truly enjoy the chance to write about things I love. Keep tuning back in and you'll eventually be rewarded with some new content. I am also thinking about making some more changes. I want to further streamline some things, and expand others.

I always have fun here on The Film Frontier, but sometimes I have to step away and take a break from it. This is one of those times. Have a great summer, everyone.

Defending George Lucas

posted by Tygrrius @ 7:14 AM

"When you do a movie like this, a sequel that's very, very anticipated, people anticipate ultimately that it's going to be the Second Coming. And it's not. It's just a movie. Just like the other movies."
--George Lucas on Indy IV

My Proverbial Galaxies post today is in response to CinemaBlend.com's Editorial: Play It Again, George.

With a new Lucasfilm release on the way later this month (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in case you've been living under a rock), George Lucas bashing has begun in full force. The excellent CinemaBlend.com site yesterday released the above editorial by Rafe Telsch, assistant editor, which claims that Lucas is a "menace to fandom." I encourage you to read the entire editorial before reading my response, which includes snippets from Telsch for clarity.

Telsch: "While Lucas is a fantastic idea man, most of his decent contributions have been to filmmaking as an industry rather than as a filmmaker himself. Take away Star Wars (the best of which came from other writers and directors) and Indiana Jones (which Lucas produced and came up with story ideas for, but didn’t actually write), and you’ve got a very small library of films Lucas is responsible for."

Telsch wants us to buy into a number of huge assumptions here. Did the "best of" Star Wars really come from other directors? There have been exactly three directors in the live-action Star Wars movie universe. Lucas directed four of the six films. Irvin Kershner directed The Empire Strikes Back (1980), while Richard Marquand directed Return of the Jedi (1983).

Many fans, and I count myself among them, consider The Empire Strikes Back the best Star Wars movie. For me, it's almost too close to call versus the original Star Wars (1977), directed by Lucas. Perhaps Telsch is onto something, though. However, for his point to be true, Richard Marquand's Return of the Jedi must also be better than the original Star Wars. That race isn't even close.

The Empire Strikes Back is always brought out as an example of Lucas' Star Wars concept working better in the hands of others. Yet, many of the same people who want to give Lucas none of the credit for The Empire Strikes Back want to give him all of the blame for the perceived problems of Return of the Jedi. Ranking the prequel trilogy against the originals is difficult, but I would say that two of the Lucas-directed prequels are better than Return of the Jedi.

Did the "best of" Star Wars really come from other writers? No matter which Star Wars movies you consider the best, the answer is no.

Lucas wrote the original Star Wars. Lucas wrote the story for The Empire Strikes Back, while Lawrence Kasdan provided the main screenplay. Lucas wrote the story for Return of the Jedi and co-wrote the screenplay with Kasdan. Telsch apparently counts Return of the Jedi as part of his unnamed "best of" Star Wars, since it is one of only two movies that Lucas did not direct, so Lucas' contribution to both the story and the screenplay is notable.

Lucas wrote The Phantom Menace (1999). Well, nobody's perfect. However, even The Phantom Menace has some good stuff in it, overlooked by those obsessed with hatred for Jar Jar and young Anakin Skywalker. I don't think any fan counts this film among Star Wars' best, though, so we'll move on. Lucas wrote the story for Attack of the Clones (2002) and co-wrote the screenplay with Jonathan Hales. Lucas wrote Revenge of the Sith (2005), considered by many fans to be the best of the prequel trilogy.

So, where are Telsch's mysterious "best" Star Wars movies that Lucas did not write?

With a wave of his hand, Telsch then dismisses the entirety of Lucas' contributions to the Indiana Jones franchise. Apparently coming up with the story of each of the films is not "writing" in his eyes.

Telsch's suggestion that we simply ignore ten of Lucas' biggest contributions to movies, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, is ludicrous. That's like saying, take away the Pietà, the statue of David, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and Michelangelo did little for art. Or, take away all of his recording sessions, concerts, and TV appearances, and Elvis Presley did little for music.

Telsch: "Sure, there are some classics in there like Willow and American Graffiti, but you’ve also got the independent studio killing THX-1138, Radioland Murders, and Captain EO to contend with."

Telsch's argument begins to make even less sense here. For Willow, Radioland Murders, and Captain EO, Lucas "only" wrote the stories and executive produced, but these movies apparently count in the Telsch world while the Indiana Jones films, for which Lucas made similar contributions, do not.

Telsch: "Basically, if Lucas hadn’t been responsible for Industrial Light & Magic, his name would be considerably less legendary. You can’t deny the industry effect his special effects company has had, but most of that is because of the artists involved with that, not because of Lucas directly, but only as the guy who hired the right people."

Again, Telsch's ease of dismissal here is fascinating. Now we must ignore six Star Wars movies, four Indiana Jones movies, and Lucas' groundbreaking special effects company to comply with the narrowing parameters of his argument. As a contributor to one of the best movie news sites on the net, Telsch should know that great films are all about hiring the right people.

Telsch: "But Lucas does have Star Wars as a huge accomplishment, although it’s probably not too much of a stretch to assume that someone could eventually have come up with something similar."

Telsch finally gives a bit of begrudging credit to Lucas for his masterpiece, but then claims someone else "could" have done the same thing "eventually." No matter how Telsch spins it, there would be no Star Wars without George Lucas. Star Wars provided inspiration for countless others as well, and there's no real way to measure Lucas' influence.

Telsch: "Sure, they may not have had the radical approach of capitalizing on the franchise’s merchandising – something Lucas pretty much originated. Unfortunately, that same approach quickly led to movies that were more about generating characters to cash in on instead of solid storytelling."

First of all, I don't blame Lucas for making as much money as he can off of Star Wars and anything else he creates. Just because we bought lots of tickets doesn't mean we own the franchise or the man. I, for one, am glad for all of the Star Wars merchandising from when I was a kid. Star Wars action figures, playsets, and other toys were part of the experience for me.

Second, exactly which movies is Telsch referring to here? His implication seems to be that the first Star Wars movie had solid storytelling (oh wait, but Lucas wrote and directed that one!), while its merchandising success quickly led to a focus on cashing in by The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I thought The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were Telsch's "best of" Star Wars movies, though, since they are the only two Lucas didn't direct?

Telsch: "You may have noticed solid information on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is hard to come by. Even rumors seem to disappear quickly from the Internet. This is no mistake, my friends. This is the long arm of Lucas stretching out and attempting to remove anything that may spoil his film before it has its day. [. . .] Meanwhile, rebel websites who try to run anything unofficial are threatened with being shut down (been there, done that)."

Finally, the real motivation behind Telsch's attack begins to appear. Telsch is annoyed that there is not enough official information being released about the new Indiana Jones movie to satisfy him. He's also upset that Paramount and Lucasfilm protect their interests by going after sites that release unsanctioned images, footage, and information.

Telsch doesn't like the "keep the details secret" marketing approach of Indy IV, so he wants to tear down someone he just told us had little to do with the franchise. Let's face it, Lucasfilm and Paramount don't "owe" entertainment sites or fan sites anything about this movie. How Lucasfilm and Paramount choose to handle marketing of the film is up to them.

Telsch: "Lucas has already started making his apologies, stating in interviews with Steven Spielberg that everyone is bound to be disappointed because the expectations surrounding the film are so high."

I concede that Lucas does seem to have become rather gun-shy after being roasted for The Phantom Menace. No matter who you are, not every movie you make can be a winner. However, if your name is George Lucas and you make a mediocre to good movie that disappoints vocal fanboys, watch out! Even Lucas cannot be totally immune to the unfortunate hatred spewed at him over The Phantom Menace. I'm sure the over $430 million it raked in at the box office in the US alone helped ease his pain, though.

If Lucas takes on a "they will be disappointed" stance as a defense mechanism prior to the release of Indy IV, I can forgive him.

Telsch: "Just in case Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has what it takes to please fans, Lucas is keeping a witch hunt going for anyone who might spoil his picture."

So, is Indy IV Lucas' picture now? Why do I have a feeling if Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull turns out to be a great movie, Telsch and those like him will give all of the credit to director Steven Spielberg? However, if Indy IV turns out mediocre or worse, they will shift the blame to Lucas. And, again, why shouldn't Paramount and Lucasfilm protect their interests?

Telsch: "Our inquiries have led to the possibility that this machine wasn’t just the typical studio wheels grinding, but a Lucas-led hunt to keep information off the net [. . . ]."

Secret "inquiries"? Finding a "possibility"? Who's leading the witch-hunt now?

Telsch: "If Lucas truly wanted to keep his movie a secret, there are ways to go about doing that. [. . .] Michael Bay managed to keep a lot of spoilers about Transformers off the Internet without too much cyber-bullying [. . .]."

Oh really? Then why did CinemaBlend's own Josh Tyler complain about Paramount's legal tactics regarding Transformers leaks? For instance, see:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rant-Hollywood-Kills-What-It-Can-t-Control-5142.html

and

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Look-Optimus-In-The-Eye-4344.html

Lucas wasn't involved on Transformers, so the common denominators for it and Indiana Jones are Paramount and Spielberg. Telsch needs to rethink his arguments.

Meanwhile, I'll continue enjoying Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and George Lucas' other contributions to the art of filmmaking.

Of Wrecks And Radios

posted by Tygrrius @ 12:35 PM

"I don't care, I'll wreck as many cars as I need to."
--Kyle Busch, May 2, 2008 (one day prior to the wreck heard around the nation)

Just a couple of follow-ups to entries from last week. I mentioned Kyle Busch's wrecking of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., on Saturday night and called for Fox Sports to bring some new talent to the broadcast booth for NASCAR events. One thing I didn't really get into was Denny Hamlin's involvement in the situation. Hamlin led something like 384 of 400 laps before one of his tires went down and he lost the lead. He also stayed on the track, apparently hoping to ride it out since the event was almost over, as he continued to lose positions.

Earnhardt, Jr., meanwhile, assumed the lead and pulled away from Kyle Busch and had a pretty good lead built up, one second and growing over Busch. Apparently hoping not to lose a lap, Hamlin stopped his car on the track long enough to draw a caution flag, and then quickly motored to pit road for fresh tires. NASCAR agreed that Hamlin only stopped to bring out the yellow flag, so they penalized him two laps. I originally attributed this as a dunderhead move on Hamlin's part, no doubt due to his being upset at losing a race that he otherwise dominated, so I didn't really get into it in my post.

However, I read some posts by other NASCAR fans the next day that shed new light on the incident for me. Hamlin and Busch are teammates, both race for Joe Gibbs. I didn't even think about that! By drawing the caution, Hamlin not only potentially benefitted himself (though negated by the penalty), but also his teammate Busch.

Hamlin's caution fake effectively erased Earnhardt, Jr.'s growing lead and put second-place Busch within striking distance. Whether intentionally or not, Hamlin set up the disaster to come.

Busch ultimately wrecked Earnhardt, Jr., sending him to a fifteenth place finish, but the end result for Busch was the same as it would've been if he'd raced Earnhardt, Jr., clean: second place. Innocent bystander Clint Boyer motored past both of them as the wreck occurred to take the lead, which he managed to hold as third place Mark Martin distracted Busch long enough for the race to finish.

For those who don't believe that Joe Gibbs Racing and/or Toyota has Fox Sports in their back pocket, I point out that Fox's articles about the incident at the Richmond race, including one titled "Kyle Busch: Public Enemy #1," mysteriously disappeared from their website on Sunday, replaced with a week-old article about Kyle Busch winning at Talladega. Their comment blogs, including at least 20 pages of mostly anti-Busch and anti-Darrell Waltrip remarks, were suddenly gone, too. Some of those have returned, though heavily edited.

Anyway, as I said on Saturday, though the wreck was deplorable, the instant cover-up by Darrell Waltrip and company in the booth is what annoyed me most. People attribute all of the criticism of Busch and Fox Sports to "Junior Nation" but guess what, he's not my favorite driver.

I respect Dale Earnhardt, Jr., but my favorites are Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton, and Juan Pablo Montoya. I'm not a card-carrying member of Junior Nation, but I still think he was robbed on Saturday (which happens) and, more importantly, that Darrell Waltrip continues to do a disservice to NASCAR viewers. I'm sure he'll continue to make excuses next weekend as well.

* * *

I'm still having fun with Pandora Radio, the Internet radio music service, so I created a public station in case any of you would like to hear what I'm listening to these days.

Ty's Without A Song Radio

I've also added this as link in the sidebar of The Film Frontier's Site B backup blog. You will have to create a Pandora login to actually hear the station, but it's free and easy to do. Plus, that will let you create your own station in case my selections are not to your liking.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back On The Racetrack

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:53 PM

"You win some, you lose some, you wreck some."
--Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

Ah, the frustrations of being a race fan. The worst part tonight, though, was not just watching a fad-of-the-week driver like Kyle Busch wreck a class-act like Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was giving his competitor plenty of room to race with just laps to go at Richmond International Raceway. The worst part was hearing driver-turned-commentator Darrell Waltrip trot out another round of apologies for his new favorite son, Busch.

Waltrip was one of the first NASCAR racers to drive Toyota, in the Truck Series as his career was winding down. As far as I can tell, Toyota still has him in their back pocket, though. His brother Michael's 2007 startup team is also Toyota.

In the main Sprint Cup series, Busch started driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs this season, you see, so he's suddenly become a favorite of Darrell Waltrip - known in the racing world as "Jaws" because he talks too much.

That nickname really hit home tonight as Jaws had to not only make the weekly excuse for his brother Michael's lousy performance, but also once again Busch.

How many times this season has Jaws proudly told listeners how much Busch has "matured"? Apparently, all you need to do to "mature" in Jaws' eyes is start driving a Toyota. While the Joe Gibbs team has found success with Toyota this year, the Michael Waltrip team, which was implicated in a cheating scandal out of the box in Daytona last season, continues to lag behind. If there's any justice in the racing universe, Waltrip's Toyota will remain at the back of the pack - or even better, off the track completely.

But I'm getting off track here myself. The real purpose of this quick rant is to complain about Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR, particularly having to hear Jaws make excuses for Michael Waltrip and Kyle Busch at each and every race.

Jaws' fellow commentator Larry McReynolds was actually brave enough, briefly, to speak up tonight and point out that he found it disturbing that Busch's tires were turned in the direction of Earnhardt, Jr.'s car as the wreck began - implying that the action was deliberate on the hothead Busch's part. Busch, who likes to call himself "Rowdy" Busch after a character in the 1990 Tom Cruise racing flop Days of Thunder, of course claimed that Earnhardt, Jr. came down and caused the wreck, though the video evidence just doesn't support it.

After McReynold's statement, Jaws and his puppet, commentator Mike Joy, quickly came to Busch's defense. Jaws does a pretty good ventriloquist act, making Joy sound like he's talking without moving his lips. Larry Mac quickly retracted his statement as well. Wouldn't want to make Toyota or the Gibbs team upset, since they apparently sponsor Fox Sports based upon the amount of coverage they receive of late.

As far as the on-track incident goes, as disgusting as it was, that's racing. What goes around comes around, and Busch will get his.

What's more disturbing, though, is the ongoing annoyance of having to listen to Jaws and team in the booth every week. Why can't Fox Sports do like Fox News and present "Fair and balanced" coverage?

Personally, I'd prefer the option of somehow turning off the commentary all together, while keeping the other sound effects going - a "Crank It Up" channel, if you will. Barring that, I think it's about time Fox Sports varied its coverage a bit. NASCAR ratings have been falling lately, Emmy win or not, and I think booth burnout is part of the problem.

Why not vary who covers each race? Sure, let Jaws and team cover a few, but why not make other teams as well and rotate them?

For instance, I think Krista Voda would do a great job in the booth. I'd much rather hear her than a puppet like Mike Joy. Fox, and the other networks that cover NASCAR, need to think in new ways instead of always sticking with old stand-bys like Jaws and Joy.

There are other well-spoken former drivers out there. Get Jaws out of the booth and let's hear from them. Rotate Jaws out and bring in Dale Jarrett, the son of the man who was arguably the best NASCAR commentator ever, Ned Jarrett. Unfortunately for former champion Dale Jarrett, he spent his last races before retirement at Michael Waltrip racing, meaning that he wasn't competitive. But hey, there's a Toyota connection so maybe Fox Sports will let him in. I'd much rather hear him than Jaws these days.

While Larry McReynolds is the least annoying of the three, I would say the same should go for him. Build each booth team as a separate trio, so McReynolds would rotate out with Jaws and Joy and some other former crew chief or other NASCAR insider would take his place.

My real preference, though, is the "Crank It Up" channel. Then viewers would be able to opt out of the spoon-feeding from Jaws and company.

None Of The Above

posted by Tygrrius @ 10:13 AM

"Why is it when there's trouble we're the ones that get into it? I mean, there's a bar full of people and we're the only ones in jail."
--Monty Brewster (Brewster's Millions)

You know, I can probably trace my love of movies back to my grandmother. It must be something in the blood. When I was a kid, she worked the box office at the movie theater. Each summer, I'd get to see a few free movies when she'd let my little sister and I up into the balcony of the theater for a matinee show.

One of those movies was Brewster's Millions, starring Richard Pryor. This was 1985, so I already knew Pryor from Superman III a couple years before. In the movie, which also featured John Candy, Pryor had to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million.

One of the ways he spent some of that money was by running a political campaign urging people to vote for "None of the above." The Film Frontier is all about escapism, so I usually try not to get too political here. However, the current slate of US Presidential candidates reminds me of Brewster's Millions again and again. "None of the above" sounds like a better and better choice.

Of course, theaters are totally different now. Balconies are gone, screens are smaller, and the teenie boppers at the box office are nothing like my grandmother. I miss her, and I miss those days.

* * *

I've kept up with the double-posting over to The Film Frontier's "Site B" backup blog. It's actually cool to see all of the news, reviews, and PGX postings intermingling instead of being on separate pages like they are on the main site. It doesn't take much to amuse me, though.

The backup blog currently only goes back as far as April 2008. I'm going to start filling in back-posts to Site B, though. It'll take awhile, as there are over 400 postings to cover, if you can believe that.

* * *

Speaking of the good old days, do you remember Little Debbie's Spice Cakes? They stopped making them years ago. They were always my favorite, which is probably why they had to stop production.

Because I'm just that kind of guy, I actually checked with McKee Foods, owner of Little Debbie, about their missing Spice Cakes not too long ago. They advised me that they were discontinued due to low sales and suggested I find another favorite Little Debbie snack. Sorry, that's not going to happen!

Maybe someday, McKee's marketing department will wake up and see the potential goldmine of a campaign based on bringing back Little Debbie's original snack cake - even if "for a limited time only."

I'd buy the stores out and freeze them for posterity ("I was saving that Spice Cake!"). Until then, my favorite will have to be "None of the above" as far as their current selections go.