Gonzo and Kermit as Stormtroopers!
Super 8 Super Bowl trailer captures Amblin’s wonder years!
Nowadays it’s very rare that a movie trailer elicits a sense of enigmatic wonder, which was commonplace during my formative cinema-going years! The last time I got goosebumps was watching the teaser for Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E.
Within 31 seconds JJ Abrams (Star Trek) and Steven Spielberg’s (Jurassic Park) Super Bowl TV Spot has distilled the creative impulse behind my childhood ambition to embrace storytelling technology…
A mise-en-scène that transported me back to the first time I saw Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in the theatre, not long after I’d suffered a serious head injury at Primary School; two movies that have profound familial significance; Star Wars received special mention at my mother’s funeral service.
Super 8 embodies why I ♥ movies! Watch the Super Bowl TV Spot here.
Tyler Stout’s Star Wars original trilogy posters
Exclusively revealed on UGO, Tyler Stout completes his Star Wars poster series and immortalises the original trilogy for Mondo.
Mixed feelings about the overcrowded art style. What do you think?
Mondo’s Star Wars original trilogy posters will be a limited print run of only 875 copies including a further 275 for the variants.
Follow Mondo on Twitter for the “on sale” announcement which will be sometime in the afternoon on Friday, December 31st.
The Empire Strikes Back inducted into the Library of Congress
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) has been named a cultural icon and is heading to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry to be preserved. A posthumous tribute to its director Irvin Kershner who died this year. This is an extract from Kershner’s interview with Vanity Fair; celebrating The Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary:
“I wanted very much for the film to succeed because I knew that George was spending his own money on it. I think the critics felt that they were going to see an extension of Star Wars. In other words, they wanted another Star Wars. I decided that the potential was much greater than a rerun of Star Wars. When I finally accepted the assignment, I knew that it was going to be a dark film, with more depth to the characters than in the first film. It took a few years for the critics to catch up with the film and to see it as a fairy tale rather than a comic book.”
Succeed he did and then some. The Empire Strikes Back is regarded by most critics as the best Star Wars film and introduced a generation of film goers to the concept of tragedy. The heroes are left beaten and dispersed. You can read my musings here. It’s worth noting that future director David Fincher (The Social Network) was employed as a matte artist at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Fincher’s movies are known for their darkly complex narrative themes.
The creator of Star Wars didn’t miss out. George Lucas’ 1967 student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB, also made this year’s list.
The library will preserve its own copies in cold-storage vaults at the Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center near Culpeper, Va.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This is my final post of 2010! I would like to wish you all a fantastic festive period, whatever you may be doing, and wish you all the best for the New Year.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Star Wars - Starring You!
“What better way to celebrate Empire’s 30th anniversary than to allow fans to become part of the story,” said Bill Gannon, Director of Digital Media at Lucasfilm Ltd. “JibJab’s inventive technology allows us to experience Star Wars in an all-new way. It’s really a great partnership, and we are thrilled with what they’ve done with the Saga; it’s lots of fun.”Star in Star Wars today!
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