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.

Indiana Jones And The Pandora's Box

posted by Tygrrius @ 10:10 PM

"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners."
--Johnny Carson

I was watching the Star Wars edition of Deal or No Deal on Monday night and kept looking for an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull commercial during the show. Since Indy is a Lucasfilm property, I figured it would be a natural. No trailer, though.

Deal or No Deal did at least offer up a fake Darth Vader (complete with a horrible James Earl Jones impersonation), a fake Chewie, a fake Artoo, and a real Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). There were also 26 Leia-inspired slavegirls, as promised in the promo. Contestant Brad Flinchum managed not to get too distracted by all of the eye candy, though, and walked away with $209,000. Not bad, considering that many Deal or No Deal contestants fail to quit in time. According to the show, Flinchum plans to use some of the money to renovate his basement and display his Star Wars collection.

So, anyway, I was watching some random show last night when an Indy commercial actually appeared. Much like the teaser trailer from a couple months back, the commercial was just kind of there. It didn't hype me for the movie at all, sorry to say.

I just tried to find it on the official Indiana Jones site, but that site always seems to crash my Flash player, even after just recently installing the newest version. I don't have that problem on other sites, just IndianaJones.com. Let's see, who else might have it. Maybe Yahoo. They have a TV spot, but not the one I saw. The one they had was marginally better, but nothing special.

I'd rather have a movie that's better than the trailers, than trailers that are better than the movie anyway. So, here's hoping. We'll find out in three weeks.

* * *

I've been trying out something called Pandora Radio over the last two or three days. It's a site that lets you set up a free, personalized Internet "radio" that streams songs not only by your favorite artists, but also by other artists that their Music Genome Project has identified as similar to your favorites. Due to licensing restrictions, the Pandora service is only available in the US.

You set up one "station" per artist. The cool part, though, is that you can then mix the stations so you can get a pretty good variety of music going. I've set up stations for about 40 of my favorite artists so far. The logic that picks related artists seems to work pretty well, too, as I've been liking most of the songs. Much better than a real radio station, let me tell you.

To satisfy the conditions of their music licensing agreements, it doesn't let you instantly replay a song or go to a specific song. But hey, you can't really do that stuff while listening to a real radio station, either. If you don't like a song, you can rate it a thumbs-down and it will skip to the next one. You can only skip so many songs per hour, again related to their agreements with the music industry. I've only hit this roadblock once, though.

At first I wondered why they called it "Pandora." Now that I'm addicted to it, though, I finally get it. Once you open this box, it's almost impossible to close it. Not unlike visiting here, right?

Aw, come on, you could've humored me. . . .

Elvis: Viva Las Star Wars

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:12 PM

"I'm the only human who can do it."
--Anakin Skywalker (on podracing), Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace

Could Elvis Presley have been a Jedi? We may never know, but he sure raced one like one. A few weeks back, I told you about a fun article over at the Elvis Today blog listing connections between Star Wars and Elvis Presley. That article reminded me of something I noticed about a year ago.

When I first saw Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace back in 1999, I remember thinking that the podracing sequence on Tatooine seemed a little familiar. At the time, there were rumors that it was based on the chariot race in Ben-Hur, so I chalked it up to that and moved on with life.

I'm a huge Elvis fan, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure out why the race seemed so familiar. It didn't hit me until I was watching 1964's Viva Las Vegas, Elvis' fifteenth movie, one day last year. Though some of these connections are admittedly a stretch, several of the similarities between the two races are quite striking.

In Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley stars as Lucky Jackson, a down-on-his-luck racecar driver who enters the Las Vegas Grand Prix race. The event takes place in the Nevada desert. Much of the Las Vegas economy is based on gambling.

In Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace, Jake Lloyd appears as Anakin Skywalker, a young slave who enters the Boonta Eve Classic podrace. The event takes place in the Tatooine desert. Much of the Tatooine economy is based on gambling.

The beautiful Ann-Margret appears as Elvis' co-star and love interest, Rusty Martin. (Incidentally, happy birthday to Ann-Margret today!)

The beautiful Natalie Portman co-stars as Anakin's eventual love interest, Padmé. I say "eventual" because Anakin is only nine-years-old in Episode I. The real romance for them doesn't start until Episode II.

As a variety of cars take their places on the starting grid, Elvis is a late entry.

As a variety of podracers take their places on the starting grid, Anakin is a late entry.

Elvis' main rival, who is favored to win the race, drives a red-orange racecar.

Anakin's main rival, who is favored to win the podrace, pilots an orange-red podracer.

Elvis' supporters take a helicopter to watch the race from the air above the desert.

Anakin's supporters take a viewing platform to watch the podrace from the air above the desert.

In his silver and blue racecar, Elvis concentrates as the race across the desert begins.

In his silver and blue podracer, Anakin concentrates as the race across the desert begins.

Elvis tries to catch up to the leader.

Anakin tries to catch up to the leader.

Elvis checks to the right, wearing a lightning bolt on his helmet. (This actually looks a lot like the TCB lightning bolt that Elvis would use as a personal emblem about ten years later.)

Anakin checks to the right, while a lightning bolt helps power his podracer.

Elvis' supporters watch the race with mounting dread.

Anakin's supporters watch the podrace with mounting dread.

Elvis finally begins to close in on the leader.

Anakin finally begins to close in on the leader.

Elvis pulls alongside the leader, who has a much bigger racecar than he does.

Anakin pulls alongside the leader, who has a much bigger podracer than he does.

Elvis' supporters can't watch, for they fear he will crash out of the race.

Anakin's supporters can't watch, for they fear he will crash out of the podrace.

Elvis' rival crashes and the rest of the field passes by.

Anakin's rival crashes and the rest of the field passes by.

Elvis' supporters celebrate as he takes the lead.

Anakin's supporters celebrate as he takes the lead.

Elvis wins the race!

Anakin wins the race!

And Elvis gets the girl! (Lucky marries Rusty.)

It takes another ten years, but Anakin eventually gets the girl, too! Anakin (Hayden Christensen) marries Padmé in Episode II.

So, there you have it. Evidence that the Force was with Elvis Presley. As for Anakin Skywalker, sure, he may have been one of the most powerful Jedi ever, but could he belt out songs like "Viva Las Vegas" and "What'd I Say"? I don't think so.

---

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Of Movies And Cubes

posted by Tygrrius @ 5:02 PM

"Thanks to my solid academic training, today I can write hundreds of words on virtually any topic without possessing a shred of information which is how I got a good job in journalism."
--Dave Barry (Dave Barry is from Mars and Venus)

I need a break from what I'm supposed to be working on right now, so I thought I'd come by and ramble on for a bit about nothing in particular.

It's funny, when this year started, I was most excited about seeing Star Trek XI, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Dark Knight, and Get Smart, in that order. Now, the list has almost turned upside down.

Star Trek XI was bumped to next year, so that's out of the running for now. The Indy IV teaser trailer seems to have deflated some of my enthusiasm for that movie. I'm still looking forward to it, just not as much for some reason. The death of Heath Ledger has dampened my enthusiasm for The Dark Knight.

That leaves Get Smart as my most anticipated movie for this year. All of the clips I've seen from this one, in both trailers, have looked fantastic. Both Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway seem to be taking the right approach to the characters. Who knows what I'll be doing three months from now, but I sure plan to find the time to have a seat in a theater that weekend to check this one out.

Of course, there is also the unexpected gift of Star Wars: The Clone Wars this year, but that animated movie just doesn't take the spotlight away from Get Smart for me. Besides Star Trek in 2009, a movie I'm really waiting for is the sequel to Superman Returns - maybe 2010.

* * *

Do you know that I have two, count them, two Rubik's cubes here on my desk? One is the standard version and the other is a miniature keychain version. Both share one thing in common, though: They are unsolved. They will likely remain that way, too, as the only reliable way I've found of solving a Rubik's cube is to disassemble and reassemble it. (Sure, you could take the stickers off and reapply them, but that's not a very elegant approach.) The only other way I've found is to work step-by-step through a solution book or site. It's a lot more efficient to just disassemble it, though.

I found that trick in a solution book I read when I was a kid. I also worked through the manual solution portion, but found the disassembly trick to be a lot more convenient. It all comes down to the fact that, when it comes to Rubik's cubes, I'm pretty much an idiot. I've never been able to beat the cube without cheating. I doubt that will change anytime soon. Maybe I should get one of those new 2x2 versions - but what if I can't even solve that? Better not to know.

The Film Frontier 2007 Christmas Gift Guide

posted by Tygrrius @ 4:57 AM

It's December already, so that means it's time for The Film Frontier's annual Christmas Gift Guide for the Star Trek, Superman, and Star Wars fans in your life.

Gifts for Star Trek fans

Star Trek: Academy-Collision Course by William Shatner and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens: Due mostly to school, which took away much of my leisure reading and blogging time, I've not finished reading this one yet. The good news is, I'm on winter break as of yesterday so look for a review soon. In the tenth novel of their team-up, Shatner and the Reeves-Stevens set the clock back to the 23rd century and we see the first meeting of Kirk and Spock prior to their time at Starfleet Academy. This is not to be confused with JJ Abrams' Star Trek Babies (AKA Star Trek XI), which hits theaters next Christmas.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan-USS Enterprise 16" electronic starship: For those of us who are not model-building experts, those frustrating days of attempting to align our warp nacelles while trying not to pass out from glue fumes are over. Continuing their "starship legends" line, Art Asylum has released a Star Trek II version of the USS Enterprise. Yes, technically the Star Trek II version of the ship could just as easily be called the Star Trek: The Motion Picture version, but Star Trek II is the superior movie, after all, and is celebrating its 25th anniversary. If you can't find the Enterprise at your local toy store, StarTrek.com has it a reasonable price. I have the Star Trek IV (or was it Star Trek VI?) version of the Enterprise-A by Art Asylum. It's not perfect, but it at least allows me to continue procrastinating on that Polar Lights Enterprise-A model kit currently sitting in my closet.

Star Trek: The Original Series-Remastered 10-disc set: All 29 episodes of the 1966-1967 first season of the original Star Trek are presented in remastered, high definition format with new special effects. For most, this HD DVD/DVD combo set is a budget-buster, but it is certainly worth buying if you can squeeze it in. On the plus side, this new set has led to massive price reductions on the unaltered episodes released on DVD back in 2004. In fact, you could actually buy your favorite Star Trek fan all three unaltered seasons for about the same price as this one remastered season. Take your pick, as both incarnations feature Star Trek at its best.

Gifts for Superman fans

Action Comics and Superman comic book subscriptions: Though it seems it will be years before the next Superman movie, keep up with his monthly adventures in Action Comics, Superman, and other titles without the hassle of visiting a comic book store. The DC Comics subscription service delivers issues to your door only a couple weeks after they arrive in stores and at less than cover price.

Superman vs. Doomsday Collector's Action Figure Box Set: These action figures of Superman and Doomsday are sculpted to look like the comic book art from The Death of Superman, a reprint of which is also included in the set. Be warned that there's also a Superman: Doomsday action figure set floating around out there with the figures sculpted to look like the awful 2007 direct-to-DVD movie.

Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition 14-DVD set: This is the one holdover from last year's list. Since it completely sold out last Christmas, Warner Home Video re-released this set in May of this year. You can still find it in stores now. It includes Superman Returns, all four Christopher Reeve Superman movies, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, and tons of other features. Value-priced at well under $100, this is a must-have for all Superman movie fans.

Gifts for Star Wars fans

Star Wars stamps: This year, Star Wars finally joined the ranks of Superman, Star Trek, George Washington, Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan, and other legends. Star Wars imagery now graces official US postage stamps. Choose from a sheet of 15 different images or a sheet of 20 Yoda stamps. Both should still be available at your local post office, or order online from the United States Postal Service.

R2-KT action figure: Sales of this action figure, which honors a young Star Wars fan who passed away in 2005, benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation. Click the link to read more about the story behind R2-KT. The limited edition figure is still available from Hasbro's online store.

The Making of Star Wars book by J.W. Rinzler: An in-depth account of the making of George Lucas' 1977 classic, Star Wars. Features many never-before-published interviews conducted prior to the movie's release. This is the definitive look at the movie that started it all, and a must-have for Star Wars fans that enjoy going beyond just watching the film.

In Search Of . . . Sci Fi Channel

posted by Tygrrius @ 4:18 PM

Wow, seems like forever since I've had time to work on the site. I was in a minor car accident last week that sidelined me from the computer for a bit. Let's just say that a minor accident can result in a major pain in the neck.

On the plus side, I was able to use some of my non-computer time vegging out in front of the TV watching digital cable. The price of digital cable dropped within a dollar or two of our standard cable rate so we finally took the plunge. We also sprung for the HD package while we were at it. It's nice to be using our HD television to its full advantage after owning it for over three years. It is not without coincidence that the classic Star Wars trilogy first hit DVD just over three years ago, I might add.

Anyway, the hookup was so simple for digital cable that parts of it refused to work. We had four service calls in three days. And six different boxes. It does work now, though. They even threw in free DVR for awhile. Yeah, I know it's a trick. Get us hooked on it for free and then take it away until we pay. Still, it's pretty cool. No more missing Star Trek: Remastered by forgetting to tape it in the wee hours of the morning!

The Sci Fi Channel still eludes me, though. For years, my cable company didn't offer it at all. Finally, the Sci Fi Channel arrived (I may have even written a letter, I used to do that kind of thing). It wasn't long, though, before they made it exclusive to the digital cable package.

About five years ago, I moved across town. On this side of town, Sci Fi Channel was still part of standard cable. I was back in! Again, it was short-lived. The cable provider from the other side of town bought this one, and moved Sci Fi over to digital only.

So, finally, I have digital cable and . . . still no Sci Fi Channel. It seems Sci Fi Channel was bumped up to a higher package of digital cable than we have. I am quite certain that were we to upgrade to that package, Sci Fi would move yet again.

Oh well, it is not meant to be. Most of the shows I wanted to watch on Sci Fi Channel I own on DVD these days anyway: Star Trek, Twilight Zone and Buck Rogers. I still wouldn't mind flipping by an occasional episode of The Incredible Hulk or Knight Rider, though. Just for old time's sake.

Speaking of Star Trek, I can hardly believe that I'll be watching Star Trek: The Menagerie in a movie theater in just a couple of days. It'll be great to see Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley together again on the big screen. Star Trek movies just haven't been the same without that trio. I don't think we can give them enough credit for the greatest series ever.

Will Pine, Quinto, and Urban be able to recapture that magic for a new generation? Let's hope they check out Star Trek: The Menagerie for a look at how the masters did it.

This Contest Cannot Be Decided By Our Knowledge Of The Force

posted by Tygrrius @ 4:53 PM

Those of you who pay attention might note that this entry is coming a bit later in the week than normal. I usually try to publish Proverbial Galaxies on Sunday or Monday. I have class on Mondays now, though, so it's becoming more and more difficult for me to find the time.

So, you'll get a Tuesday entry this time around with no promises of what day the next entry will escape. I have another problem, too, though. For the first time in a long while, I don't have a topic for today's post.

When I started this blog way back when, one of the first things I did was write down 26 topic ideas so that I would have a year's worth of topics to fall back on in case nothing came to mind on a particular posting day.

The only flaw in my plan was that I promptly lost the list. It was an incredible list, too. Full of all sorts of wonderful topics of the kinds you never read elsewhere. I, of course, was not able to re-create this list. It is lost forever to history.

Instead, I made a new list of so-so topics and it has managed not to get lost. I've only pulled it out once or twice, though, as I usually think of something to write about just in time. But not this time.

So, let's see what we have here from the list of ready-made blog topics....

"Write about an old TV show that really should become a new movie or rebooted TV series." The answer is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, but I don't feel like writing about that today. Would require a lot of thinking and argument building. Next.

"Write about the top lightsaber battles in the Star Wars saga." Hmm... maybe. Doesn't require a lot of effort or research. Can be written at one sitting. We have a winner.

Top lightsaber battles. Yeah, I'm a geek. I've admitted this before. I don't mind telling you that. These are the kinds of things I spend time thinking about.

Before I can determine the top lightsaber battles, though, I'll make a list of the key battles from each movie. I'll go in release order, just because my brain works better that way. When it's working at all.

Star Wars (1977)
Well, just one battle here. Obi-Wan versus Vader. Compared to later productions, not the most exciting lightsaber duel but it does earn extra points for being first. (Related: Star Wars: Unaltered DVD review)

Star Wars: Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Again, just one battle here. Unless you count Luke in the cave tree versus the Vader apparition. But I don't. Luke versus Vader in Cloud City is easily the best lightsaber battle of the classic trilogy and a real contender for best ever. (Related: The Empire Strikes Back: Unaltered DVD review)

Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of the Jedi (1983)
I don't count the Luke versus Jabba's henchmen stuff as a lightsaber battle. Granted, I loved this sequence as a kid. I reenacted that skiff battle on an old couch with the cushions thrown off many, many times. I haven't done that recently, though. Been at least a week. Again, we have Luke versus Vader in the end, this time on the Emperor's new Death Star. Though this does feature my favorite Star Wars lightsaber (Luke's green-bladed one, with the hilt similar to Obi-Wan's from Star Wars), the Death Star battle just wasn't as compelling as the one from Empire. Part of the reason may be that it was confined to the throne room. (Related: Return of the Jedi: Unaltered DVD review)

Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999)
As we get into the prequel trilogy, the duels start getting harder to keep track of. I'll probably leave some out. In The Phantom Menace, the first real saber vs. saber action we get is Qui-Gon versus Darth Maul on Tattooine. It's so brief that it's barely worth mentioning, though. Later, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan double-team Maul on Naboo. Say what you will about The Phantom Menace, but you have to give credit to the brilliant "Duel of the Fates" lightsaber battle. For me, this proved that Star Wars was back in a big way. (And yes, I could probably split this battle into several smaller ones but though geek I may be, I'm just not quite that anal.)

Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones (2002)
In Episodes II and III, it seems the lightsabers are nearly always ignited. The key battles in Attack of the Clones, though, are Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Tyranus (Dooku) and, of course, Yoda versus Tyranus. The Obi-Wan/Anakin portion is reminiscent of my problems with Return of the Jedi. It's just not all that compelling, again I think because it's so confined to the hanger deck. It's interesting to see how Yoda uses a lightsaber, but I just can't classify his duel with Tyranus as one of the best ever. (Related: Attack of the Clones movie review)

Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith (2005)
(Related: Revenge of the Sith movie review) Lots of saber battles here. Let's see if I can remember the main ones...

Obi-Wan and Anakin versus Tyranus: With its epic space battle, Revenge of the Sith had the best opening since, well, Star Wars, and it culminated in this top-notch lightsaber battle in which Anakin showed his dominance. Just writing about this movie makes me want to go watch it again...but, blah, it's not scheduled for awhile. And I've actually been sticking to my schedule.

Obi-Wan versus Grievous: Another exciting battle, though General Kenobi makes quick work of the cyborg.

Mace versus Sidious (Palpatine): Yeah, and some other Jedi, too, but they are killed so easily that they might as well have stayed home. I was hoping for a bigger battle here, I have to say, especially after seeing Mace's work in Star Wars: Clone Wars. Hard to complain too much, though, given the bounty of lightsaber battles offered in Revenge of the Sith.

Yoda versus Sidious: The lightsaber portion of this battle felt like a rehash of Attack of the Clones. There's only so much a little CGI green guy and a CGI old guy can do. Then they started throwing the senate pods around and never got back to the lightsaber battle proper.

Obi-Wan versus Vader: This, of course, was the lightsaber set piece of the movie. The legendary battle I'd heard so much about since I was a kid. Surely, it would fail to meet my expectations, yet, somehow, it exceeded them. "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you." Easily the best lightsaber battle of Revenge of the Sith, but how does it rank within the saga?

Now, after carefully considering each of the above lightsaber battles from all of the Star Wars movies, I offer you my ranking of the top three lightsaber battles of all time.

#3
Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan versus Maul, The Phantom Menace

#2
Luke versus Vader, The Empire Strikes Back

And the #1 lightsaber battle of all time
Obi-Wan versus Vader, Revenge of the Sith
Really, there was no contest here. Beautiful sequence.

Agree? Disagree? Don't care? Feel free to click the Comment link below and let your opinion be known to dozens of readers!

Besides, you might say something that will inspire a topic for next time as I just used up one of my backups. And I really don't feel like writing about Buck Rogers yet.

Lunchtime On Memory Lane

posted by Tygrrius @ 1:56 PM

The official Star Wars site recently ran a great article about the first Star Wars lunchbox, which hit store shelves 30 years ago. The metal lunchbox from Thermos was actually one of the first available pieces of Star Wars merchandise.

In 1977, I was still three years away from entering school, so I never owned the Star Wars lunchbox featured in the piece. Still, it brought back memories of those early school days. You see, I used to love "Back to School" shopping and one of the main reasons was selecting a new, metal lunchbox each year.

My very first lunchbox, for kindergarten, was Peanuts. This was 1980, though the design itself dates back to the 1960's. Here's the best picture I could find of one online. As far as I've been able to tell, the 1960's version had a predominantly yellow background on both sides of the box. A 1970's version had a predominantly red background on both sides of the box. If I recall correctly, mine had red on one side of the box and yellow on the other. The cartoons were the same, though, on all three variations.

I can actually remember my first lunch in kindergarten. I was all ready with my Snoopy lunchbox and thermos. I had already practiced eating out of it once at home. But the freshly prepared home lunch being placed into the lunchbox and then eaten immediately wasn't a true test, as I was about to find out.

I remember being quite disappointed on that first real lunch. My ham and cheese sandwich tasted funny (I had never eaten one at room temperature before). And my cherry Kool-Aid in my thermos was...ick...warm. As awesome as those lunchboxes were, the thermoses never seemed to be very good at keeping things cool.

I unfortunately don't remember all of my lunchboxes in order, but I'm pretty sure the next one was Popeye. I think it was for 1st grade, though it may have been for the second semester of kindergarten. Much like reading cereal boxes in the morning, these colorful lunchboxes provided much entertainment at lunchtime.

In 2nd grade, my lunchbox was The Muppet Show. I was catching this classic show in reruns and loved it. I had grown up watching Sesame Street, so The Muppet Show was a natural fit. Plus, I always hoped that I would see that episode with Luke Skywalker, Artoo, and Threepio again. (Incidentally, season 2 of The Muppet Show was recently released on DVD. The Star Wars episode was season 4.)

I've mentioned before that I loved video games, especially Pac-Man. Somewhere along the line, I had a Pac-Man lunchbox. If I had to guess, I would say 3rd grade. I even had a Pac-Man board game, which involved a lot of marbles but didn't waste as many quarters. Though it may sound like an anachronism, the Pac-Man board game was actually a lot of fun.

Remember Heathcliff? That other orange cat. I even had a Heathcliff lunchbox at some point. This was probably when I was watching the afternoon version of his cartoon. "Heathcliff just won't be outdone, playing pranks on everyone."

Incidentally, though a fan, I'm not a lunchbox collector or expert. For more information be sure to check out Lunch Box Pad, which appears to be the definitive online resource on the subject.

You may notice, that's five lunchboxes so far and no sign of Star Wars, Superman, or Star Trek. Those lunchboxes were elusive when I was a kid! I never found a Star Wars lunchbox until 3rd or 4th grade, a plastic one for Return of the Jedi.

Plastic really was the ruination of lunchboxes. By 4th grade, all of the metal ones were gone and replaced by their inferior, plastic counterparts. I can remember one more lunchbox before I started brown-bagging it, and it was plastic, too, for Masters of the Universe.

But a sticker slapped on the side of an otherwise generic plastic box just wasn't the same as the intricately detailed lunchboxes of the past. Another American art form was gone, and school lunches would never be the same.

My Kind Of Town

posted by Tygrrius @ 6:02 AM

Of all places to run into Artoo Detoo, I never thought it'd be Chicago's Navy Pier. My wife and I were in the Chicago area last week on vacation and, sure enough, the little astromech droid was there, too. It looks like he's seen a lot of action.


We visited Navy Pier with her parents on an ideal day. The temperature stayed in the low 70's with no humidity. There were beautiful blue skies and white clouds. The pier is a definite must-see, and not just for Artoo. From there we took a thirty-minute skyline boat tour on Lake Michigan, which was an incredible way to view the city.


From the tour boat, I snapped some pictures of the back side of Navy Pier with the city as a backdrop (above), and of the Sears Tower (below).


Later that day, we visited the Sears Tower Skydeck. Since it was such a clear day, there was about a one-hour wait to get up there. The line setup was mass chaos, but it's worth the annoyance to see the spectacular views from the skydeck.


Between Navy Pier and the Sears Tower, I took over two hundred pictures in total that day. I think my finger must've gotten stuck on the button. There was just so much that I wanted to capture. It was a perfect day, one I will never forget.


I've only spent about eight days of my life so far in the Chicago area, so I'm certainly not an expert. My wife and her family are originally from there, though, and they tell me there are certain things I always must do when visiting. All of them seem to involve eating. Yes, they know me well.


You have to eat at Portillo's. They have delicious Italian beef, Italian sausage, and Chicago hot dogs. Fortunately for us, some of their stuff can actually be imported to where we live. One thing that doesn't ship here, though, is what I always seem to order when I'm there: the Combo Beef & Char-Grilled Sausage sandwich. I guess they don't allow that one out of Chicagoland.

And if that's not enough, be sure to get a big scoop of ice cream at Oberweis. When my in-laws told me this place had the absolute best ice cream, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. Sure, they were right about the whole Portillo's having the best beef and sausage thing. But I really love ice cream.

So, I went with her dad and grandfather to Oberweis and, sure enough, I had the finest scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. That was a fun day, too, probably my favorite of the trip. Her grandfather taught me how to play poker and proceeded to beat both me and her dad pretty handily at it. Fortunately for us, we were only playing for pennies.

Still hungry after ice cream, then why not wrap up your stay with a big slice of sausage pizza from Home Run Inn? The whole "Chicago has the best" theme continued there. And yes, Home Run Inn does indeed have the best restaurant pizza. Ever.

After all that eating, I was a little worried I wouldn't fit back on the sardine plane to get home. Of course, it turns out that being stuck in Chicago wouldn't be such a bad thing. At least I'd never go hungry.

A Lot Of Simple Tricks And Nonsense

posted by Tygrrius @ 7:32 AM

As much as I love Star Wars, it's sometimes hard for someone my age to truly comprehend how much the 1977 film revolutionized movies. After all, I was barely two years old when Star Wars hit theaters 30 years ago this weekend.

I am, then, a lifelong member of the Star Wars generation. I lived through the quake and aftershocks of Star Wars, but did not witness the prior movie landscape firsthand.

Though Star Wars certainly blows me away to this day, my perspective is a bit skewed in that many of the movies I grew up watching were influenced by Star Wars in some way. For me, Star Wars was not a new high water mark for movies. Instead, it was the measuring stick.

I envy those who had seen enough of that prior landscape to know they were witnessing history the first time they watched Star Wars. From the quiet, fairy tale intro of "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . ." to the main theme that blows you back in your seat as the title and crawl set the stage, and, finally, to the small Rebel ship over Tatooine pursued by an enormous Imperial star destroyer that soon dominates the entire screen, the first moments of the film perfectly set up the entire Star Wars experience.

Thirty years later, there are now six Star Wars movies. But I still say the opening of the 1977 film is the best by far. The only one that even tries to come close, as far as visual impact, is 2005's Revenge of the Sith with its spectacular battle over Coruscant.

On simple terms, what makes Star Wars so extraordinary is that all of its separate elements form a greater whole. Take away the John Williams music and replace it with, say, Jerry Goldsmith, and the movie flops. What's Star Wars without the brilliance of John Williams?

Recast the film a bit, replace Carrie Fisher with Jodie Foster, or Mark Hamill with William Katt, or Harrison Ford with Kurt Russell, and Star Wars flops. What's Star Wars without the chemistry of Fisher, Hamill, and Ford?

Take away all of the spectacular effects and replace them with average studio work. What is Star Wars without that opening scene, without the Millennium Falcon racing through hyperspace, without the tiny X-Wings and Y-Wings assaulting the planet-sized Death Star?

Take away one of these or other key elements and Star Wars is just one of hundreds of long-forgotten science fiction & fantasy films.

Instead, George Lucas brought it all together, part innovative genius and part luck. After that summer in 1977, movies were never the same. And for that, our galaxy is forever in his debt.

Honest, I Don't Live In My Parent's Basement

posted by Tygrrius @ 12:01 AM

A few months ago, I read an interesting interview with Michael Thau, by Dharmesh over at Superman Cinema. One of Dharmesh's comments has been in the back of my mind ever since.

He watches the first Superman movie only once a year. Every December 24 at 3:35 PM, to be exact. The timing is so that he'll be done in time for Christmas Eve dinner around 6 PM. Limiting his viewing of Superman to once a year is to sustain the magic by not completely memorizing the entire movie, he says.

He touches on an issue that all of us franchise fans face, whether we're talking about the Superman, Star Wars, or Star Trek movies. We love watching these movies so much that we, of course, tend to watch them often. Dare I say, far too often?

I probably watch The Wrath of Khan, The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars, Superman, The Voyage Home, The Undiscovered Country, Return of the Jedi, and Superman II three or four times a year each. I just love these movies, so it's hard to resist indulging in them whenever possible.

While they still have their magic, it is true that my experience is never quite as fun as when I do take a bit more time off between viewings. I think it was Harve Bennett who mentioned that if you eat turkey every day, Thanksgiving doesn't seem so special anymore.

With that in mind, I decided to make a year-long schedule for the movies of The Film Frontier's key franchises, to make my watching them feel like events again. By a sheer stroke of genius, I mean, pure coincidence, each movie weekend occurs just before anticipated publication dates of this blog.

That way, if I don't have an idea for Proverbial Galaxies on a given weekend, I can always just write about whichever movie is on the schedule. You see, I not only offer little resistance to temptation, but I am also quite lazy, uh, busy so it's nice to have a fall-back plan.

So, here's my movie-watching schedule. Just in case you want to play along at home.

May 25, 2007
Star Wars (1977) [Unaltered]

June 4, 2007
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) [Director’s]

Weekend of June 22
Superman (1978) [Theatrical]

Weekend of July 6
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Weekend of July 27
Star Wars: Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back (1980) [Unaltered]

Weekend of August 3
Superman II (1981) [Theatrical]
[I'll probably watch this one out of sequence, though, as I've not yet reviewed the Special Edition DVD. Depends on whether or not my procrastination holds out until August.]

Weekend of August 17
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) [Director’s]

Weekend of August 31
Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of the Jedi (1983) [Unaltered]

Weekend of September 14
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Weekend of September 28
Superman III (1983)

Weekend of October 12
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Weekend of October 26
Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999) [Extended]

Weekend of November 9
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Weekend of November 23
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Weekend of December 7
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Weekend of December 21
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) [Director’s]

Weekend of January 4, 2008
Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones (2002) [Extended]

Weekend of January 18
Star Trek Generations (1994)

Weekend of February 1
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Weekend of February 15
Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005)

Weekend of February 29
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Weekend of March 14
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Weekend of March 28
Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Weekend of April 11
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
[I plan to be "sick" and unable to watch movies this weekend. Otherwise, I might really get sick.]

Weekend of April 25
Superman Returns (2006)

Weekend of May 9
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

I will tell you right now, though, that I don't have the willpower of Dharmesh. The first time a friend or family member wants to watch one of these movies out of schedule, you can bet I'll cave in. Or if a Special Extendo Ultra Director's Cut is released of one of my favorites, yeah, I'm not waiting til the scheduled date to watch it.

On the other hand, this schedule is a bit optimistic in that real life has a way of interfering with such plans. That's one of the reasons I generally chose to schedule by weekend rather than specific date and time.

Though I was tempted to schedule Superman for 3:35 PM on Christmas Eve, just to see what it was like.

Star Wars: The Fandom Menace

posted by Tygrrius @ 12:48 AM

We are rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars to movie theaters in 1977. It is an important milestone, for movies, pop culture, and, let's face it, many of our own lives.

When Revenge of the Sith was released a couple years ago, completing the saga, there was a lot of talk about a possible re-release of Star Wars to theaters in 2007 in a special 3D format. The other five films were to follow at the rate of one a year.

I must be honest, the whole 3D thing didn't really thrill me, but if that was the ticket to seeing Star Wars in the movie theater again, then I was all for it.

The attention of George Lucas soon shifted to the new Indiana Jones movie, though, and a full-length Clone Wars animated series. The Star Wars 3D release has been pushed to the backburner and likely won't happen for several years, if at all.

The loss here is not so much being able to see Star Wars in 3D, but being able to see Star Wars in its 30th anniversary year where it was meant to be seen: in a movie theater. And not just one showing in one city, but in wide release across the world.

Back in 1997, for the 20th anniversary year, all three films were re-released in "Special Edition" format and brought in shocking amounts of money at the box office. I won't debate the merits of the Special Edition changes here, but I honestly don't think making them or not making them would have affected the trilogy's re-release revenue.

People love these movies, and would pay to go see them again and again whether or not they were changed. Though I might grumble a bit, I would be thrilled to be able to see even the 1997 version of Star Wars, the 2004 version of Star Wars, a 3D version of Star Wars, or any other version of Star Wars that Lucas would care to put together for a major re-release in May.

But the "big announcement" of such an event just doesn't seem to be coming. It's looking more and more like the Star Wars 30th anniversary will focus instead on three events:

1.) Celebration IV: Kind of a Trekkie convention for Star Wars fans, taking place in May in Los Angeles. Will probably be a great event but, let's face it, most fans won't be able to make it there.

2.) The Star Wars US postage stamps: We've covered this a bit here on The Film Frontier, but this doesn't seem to have really inspired other fans all that much. A check of the vote tally reveals only about 128,000 votes cast so far. That's actually a surprisingly small number since the online poll has been open for nearly three weeks. There's still over a month to go, though, so perhaps there'll be a strong surge near the end.

3.) The Force Unleashed: A Star Wars "event" spanning various media: a video game, a novel, action figures, etc. This is pretty much a replay of the Shadows of the Empire marketing campaign from back in 1996. There'll probably be a graphic novel thrown in there, too. You know the drill. This one takes place between episodes III and IV. Shadows of the Empire never really did anything for me and I don't consider The Force Unleashed a suitable replacement for seeing Star Wars in theaters again.

The lackluster sales of last year's release of Star Wars: Unaltered on DVD probably did little to help this cause, nor the cause of the long anticipated ultimate edition/complete saga DVD set. I still have a small bit of hope for that one, as Christmas 2007 DVDs have not been fully announced as of yet.

Lucasfilm is making a huge mistake by not pushing out some version of the original Star Wars to movie theaters this year, though. It would've been one of the top grossing movies of the year, I guarantee it.

Incidentally, for you bozos who boycotted the Star Wars: Unaltered DVD releases, you should do yourselves a favor and pick these up now. Thanks to your efforts, the DVDs are still available in many stores and at a reduced price. The picture and sound quality is not as bad as you've been led to believe. If you stayed away because of that, you were duped.

As for me, I'll be watching the unaltered Star Wars on May 25. Unfortunately, it just won't be in a movie theater. You can't win 'em all.

The Film Frontier's Related Articles

Superman Returns II: The Wrath Of Zod?

posted by Tygrrius @ 6:16 AM

Last time, on yet another exciting entry of Proverbial Galaxies, I began tossing around thoughts and concepts for The Man of Steel, the 2009 sequel to Superman Returns. All of this is pure fan speculation. And now, the conclusion. . . .

Besides updating the Superman suit a bit, the most controversial aspect of Superman Returns was the introduction of Jason White, the five-year-old son of Lois Lane and Superman. For those just looking for a mindless action flick, he was nothing more than another Jar Jar Binks or young Anakin Skywalker.

For me, Jay-El was far from the ruination of the movie. In some ways, he may have been its most important element. Bryan Singer's instincts were right, for the character adds a whole new dimension to Clark and the overall mythology.

Though Clark may have temporarily lost his romantic connection to Lois, the two are now irrevocably attached through their son. Not only does Jay-El bind Clark to Lois but he also binds him to Earth, even stronger than his ties to Martha Kent or Lois. His human son makes him one of us.

Of course, Jay-El also presents Clark with a new vulnerability - in many ways, even greater than that of Kryptonite. Luthor had obviously surmised Jay-El's heritage by the end of the movie. He evacuated that yacht very quickly after learning of Jay-El's handiwork, after all.

Since only one Superman movie has not involved Luthor (he's kind of like Star Trek's Klingons in that regard), he will likely return for revenge in The Man of Steel. On the surface, the kid seems like a much easier target and Luthor may try to use him to manipulate and control Superman.

Though this is not spelled out anywhere as far as I've seen, there is some evidence in Superman Returns that Kryptonite affects the half-human Jay-El a bit differently than his father. My interpretation is that exposure to the rock actually revved up Jay-El's latent superpowers for a bit, rather than weakening him. This could prove to make things a bit tricky for Lex if he thinks he can contain Jay-El with Kryptonite.

However, the movie in general should downplay Jay-El's powers. As much as I like the concept of the character, it could easily be overdone into "Superman . . . and Son!" We saw a bit of his powers in Superman Returns and I'm sure they'll pop up somewhere in The Man of Steel, though hopefully not as a convenient plot cheat.

But let's not have him flying around, or even leaping through cornfields just yet. There'd be a huge mistake in going overboard to make him a Superboy type character. Keep most of those powers dormant and not accessible at will. And don't grow him up too quickly by rapid-aging him into a teenager, as Hollywood is prone to do. He should be about eight-years-old next time, if I do my math correctly.

Jay-El seems to already have the whole Clark is Superman thing figured out, not to mention some sort of psychic bond with his father. In the subplot, I'd like to see those areas explored a bit more.

Jay-El is a great character that should not be ignored. Nor, however, should he be over-emphasized. The trick will be finding the right middle ground. I have confidence that Singer will pull this off, much like he did in Superman Returns.

But what of the movie's villains? I've already mentioned that I'm sure Lex will be in it, but obviously it's also time for Clark to take on a superpowered villain this time out. I'm hardly the first fan to call for this. Bryan Singer has hinted at it. Even Brandon Routh is hoping for it.

But who should this supervillain be? Let's take a look at a rogue's gallery of potential adversaries.

General Zod

It is tempting to bring back a popular villain like Zod, the leader of the Phantom Zone criminals from Superman and Superman II. However, giving in to this temptation would be a huge mistake.

Some criticized Superman Returns for being little more than a remake of 1978's Superman. Structurally, there may be some merit to a comparison of the two movies but overall I disagree. Using the villains of Superman II in the Superman Returns sequel would serve only to add massive amounts of fuel to that fire, though.

As I said last time, The Man of Steel needs to firmly establish its own identity away from the Reeve/Donner/Salkind movies this time out. Resurrecting Zod would destroy any such chance of that.

Instead, bring in a supervillain who has never graced movie screens before. There are many contenders, any number of whom could be effective.

Doomsday

Unfortunately, I have to eliminate Doomsday. To do justice to the original comic book story, Clark would have to die. We just went through all this business in the last movie of getting him back, so let's leave Doomsday out for now. If the Doomsday story is ever presented in a live-action form, it should be a trilogy of movies -- which would be a tough sell. A variation of the Superman vs. Doomsday tale will appear in an animated, direct-to-DVD movie later this year.

Mxy and Bizarro

I'm also going to dismiss Mxyzptlk and Bizarro. While they may work in the comics and animated versions, neither character would play very well to modern movie audiences. The only way these characters could work would be in brief cameos, but certainly not as the key villains.

Darkseid

Thus far, the Superman movies have essentially existed as their own island. One doesn't get the impression that the rest of the DC Universe is out there. While Darkseid is potentially a fantastic choice of supervillain, I'm not sure he would work as well within the otherwise normal context of these films. Perhaps save him as the key adversary of the Justice League movie, as long as Clark gets a key role in the film as well.

Metallo

A supervillain whose time has come for the Superman movies, Metallo would offer room to show off modern effects and present a formidable opponent for Clark. No matter the villain, what The Man of Steel needs is a massive battle to make Superman II look like an opening act. For that, Metallo may be the perfect foe. Just as long as he's not played by Scott Valentine.

Brainiac

Brainiac has taken on many forms over the years, which would allow Singer plenty of creative room - especially given modern effects technologies. This would also allow for at least two super battles, an earlier one in which Superman appears to win before Brainiac reinvents himself to wreak further havoc in an altered and even deadlier form.

Of course, I've only scratched the surface of Superman villainy here. These are the marquee villains, but other worthy candiates could include Mongul, Imperiex, or even Parasite. This time out, given the scope of the Superman movie universe to this point, Brainiac or Metallo are the way to go.

* * *

Have you voted for your favorite Star Wars stamp yet? An e-mail address can vote once every 24 hours, so I imagine a lot of my fellow fans out there have already voted dozens of times each by now.

Me, I simply picked one stamp and voted once on the first day. In a sense, this vote is not that important. All of the stamps will be available for purchase together, no matter which one wins the vote to earn a solo sheet.

The winner will likely boil down to Darth Vader, Yoda, or Boba Fett. After much consideration, I didn't vote for any of those stamp images, though.

For me, the most important aspect of the stamp release is to honor the 1977 film. Yoda and Boba didn't appear in the original movie, of course, and the Vader stamp image appears to be from The Empire Strikes Back.

Wanting to stick with the first Star Wars movie, this cut my choices from 15 to 8 (the Falcon, Luke, Leia and Artoo, Threepio, Obi-Wan, Chewie and Han, the X-Wing, and the Imperial Stormtroopers).

Star Wars contributed immensely to movies, but its most groundbreaking feat was the unbelievable special effects. Wanting to honor the people who worked on those original designs and effects, my choices were quickly narrowed down to the Falcon and the X-Wing.

A tough decision, to be sure. I've grown to love the Falcon almost as much as I love the Enterprise-A. The best Falcon scenes are in The Empire Strikes Back, though. It is the X-Wing that shines in Star Wars, so that's the one that earned my one and only vote. It has no chance of winning, but c'est la vie.

It is still hard to believe that Queen Amidala and Darth Maul will have US postage stamps. Or that a marketing image from a 2005 movie will appear on a stamp just two years later.

What's missing from the big Star Wars anniversary celebration? Find out in two weeks by returning for another high-impact entry of Proverbial Galaxies, brought to you by the number 30.

The Film Frontier Holiday Gift Guide

posted by Tygrrius @ 10:52 PM

You know, I had a streak going for a few years where I had all of my Christmas shopping complete before Halloween. Those days are long gone, though. In the last three or four years, I've joined the rest of mankind in shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

While I do approximately half of my Christmas shopping online now, I still like to make an effort every year to get out there with the masses and visit actual stores in person for the rest of it. As to why I like to do this, I have no idea. Once I get to those stores, I often begin to question my own sanity.

Today, I made a vain effort to finish my shopping. I braved the horrible traffic, got run over a couple of times by the same lady in a card store (she was eighty, so I couldn't really do much but give way), but somehow survived. Other than picking up a box of milk bones for JS (who hopefully isn't reading this), I managed to accomplish very little in the process, though.

As I returned home, defeated, I at least came up with a topic for today's Proverbial Galaxies: a holiday gift-giving guide for the film frontier fans in your life.

And by "film frontier fans" I don't really mean a fan of this site, as that would not prove to be a very useful guide since we have no fans. I'm instead referring to people who are fans of Star Trek, Superman, and Star Wars, which are our key topics and do have fans. Lots of them.

I'll also have a gift of sorts for our readers (both of you). Something unprecedented in the nine-year history of The Film Frontier, something no other science fiction site is bold enough to do: the first-ever, never-before-seen, Film Frontier holiday recipe! (Now, I really hope JS isn't reading this--mostly because I don't want him to quit the site out of sheer embarassment.)

Gifts for Star Trek fans

Star Trek: Captain's Glory by William Shatner and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens: In a time when most Star Trek novels seem to have hit the same wall of mediocrity that toppled the Rick Berman era, a Shatner/Reeves-Stevens book is most welcome. This is the ninth novel in the trio's adventures of James Kirk.

USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Hallmark ornament (2006): Celebrate Star Trek's 40th anniversary in style with a finely detailed reproduction of Captain Kirk's original USS Enterprise. Comes with a great display base, no need to actually hang this on your tree and risk damage. Pressing a button on the base lights up the ship and, unfortunately, plays a pretty bad version of the theme song. Still, a fantastic-looking ship!

Star Trek: The Complete Animated Series 4-DVD set: All 22 episodes of the 1972-1973 Saturday morning cartoon series. Notable for being the last Star Trek production to make it to DVD and unofficially filling in the final two years of Kirk's first five-year mission.

Gifts for Superman fans

Superman: Up, Up & Away! graphic novel: One of the best-written Superman stories ever. Even better than the Superman Returns movie, which I loved!

Superman Returns: Special Edition DVD: Bryan Singer's take on the superhero brought the Man of Steel into the 21st century in a big way, without forgetting his roots. Terrific movie, a real-must have for any Superman fan. Be sure to get the 2-disc special edition, in order to see the excellent 3-hour Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns documentary and deleted scenes.

Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition 14-DVD set: Why stop at Superman Returns when you can get bonus-feature-packed versions of all of the Superman movies? Plus, it is much cheaper to buy them this way than individually.

Gifts for Star Wars fans

Sculpting a Galaxy: Inside the Star Wars Model Shop by Lorne Peterson: In the tradition of Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects, except focused totally on Star Wars, this book is full of wonderful pictures.

Star Wars: Unaltered DVD: Every Star Wars fan should own the 1977 version of the first movie of George Lucas' saga. Back when it was just Star Wars. None of this Episode blah blah blah stuff. A real nostalgic treat. Also includes the 2004 version, with enhanced visual effects and additional scenes.

The Star Wars Poster Book by Stephen J. Sansweet and Peter Vilmur: This 2005 coffee table book contains many full-page pictures of some of the beautiful (The Empire Strikes Back Style "A" by Roger Kastel) and not so beautiful (just about anything by Drew Struzan) Star Wars posters from the saga's first 28 years. I'm hoping for a Volume 2 in 2007. There are still many more posters to go! ***And now, as promised, my gift to you. Incidentally, if you do not celebrate Christmas, please feel free to substitute your favorite day of winter, holiday or otherwise, in the recipe name. The rest of the recipe should still work the same and be just as tasty.

The Film Frontier's Merry Christmas Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter
¾ cup sugar
1¼ cups brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups Hershey's milk chocolate chips
¾ cup Reese's peanut butter chips

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs in large bowl until creamy. Slowly beat in flour mixture. Stir in both varieties of chips.

Roll teaspoons of dough into ¾-inch balls and place on baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Yields about 72 cookies. Serve warm with a tall glass of cold milk, while watching your favorite movie. And try not to eat them all. Unless it's Christmas Eve and your name is Santa. In which case, feel free to eat them all. You've earned them, buddy.

"Star Wars," Tarantino Style

posted by Tygrrius @ 10:58 PM

There's a lot of junk out here on the Web, but every now and then I run into an opinion or a piece of information that really sticks out in my mind as being worthwhile.

A few months ago, I stumbled across just such a posting on starwars.com's message boards. It recommends a particular first-time viewing order for the six Star Wars movies.

Traditionally, there have been two schools of thought on the proper viewing sequence for the films: Saga Order and Release Order.

Saga Order
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Episode IV: A New Hope
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

For first-time viewers, Saga Order has a number of flaws. Though I feel it is not nearly as bad as many seem to think, The Phantom Menace is certainly the w