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George Lucas To Quit Movie Business
CaroKann writes, "Variety is reporting that George Lucas is getting out of the movie business. Mr. Lucas laments that today's big-budget franchise films are too expensive and too risky. He believes American audiences are deserting their movie going habits permanently. Instead of making major films, Lucasfilm will instead focus on television. Lucas states that for the price of one $200 million feature movie, 'I can make 50-60 two hour movies' that are 'pay-per-view and downloadable.' Notably, he does not plan on distributing movies online, calling online distribution a 'rathole.'"
Three movies too late.
You know what rats do? They shit all over everything.
I'm looking right at you, Mr. Lucas.
Wouldn't that make all of us rats then? Is that a bad thing?
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
You should have quit while you were ahead, dude.
Wait, he's going to keep making stuff? Aw, crap.
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
The Man With No Neck: How I Survived Physical Deformity, by George Lucas (9 P.M. EST on Lifetime.)
Me thinks you were part of the problem, Georgie...how much did the last three of your films cost? Yeah.
Blar.
Once you've spent $100 million on a movie... ...what exactly do you get for the SECOND $100 million you spend?
paintball
... a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of sequels cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
Oh no... it's the future.
I think a general move away from Movies to TV Series's is a Good Thing. Don't get me wrong, I still think some stories will always work well when told over ~2 hours but think about The Lord of The Rings, for example. Could that have worked better as 13 1 hour episodes (on dvd, sans adverts!) or even 24 1 hour episodes? giving the viewer the opportunity to skip the (Two Towers Extended Edition equivalent) Faramir ep entirely if they like, allowing the director and producers the chance to span the three books better and such like. I probably think so, note I'm not talking traditional TV Series here, there would never ever be a LOTR season 2, for example, but so long as the production values (and therefore costs) were suitably high i see no reason why The Hobbit couldnt come out, not as a 3 hour film, but as a 6 part miniseries ... so long as the "marathon" option is available on the $NextGen DVD release for the nutters amongst us (myself included)
If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
Everyone retires or downgrades their career. Most of us even change gears once or twice. Nothing to see, move along.
Yeah, except he should have quit before Howard the Duck.
-- If we don't stand up for our rights, now, there will be no right to stand up for them later.
'I can make 50-60 two hour movies' that are 'pay-per-view and downloadable.'
But...
Notably, he does not plan on distributing movies online, calling online distribution a 'rathole.'"
I haven't been more confused since, well, about five minutes into Episode 1.
Nowhere does it say in TFA that he considers online distribution to be a "rathole." He DOES intend on distributing them online; he just wants to ensure that he has a potential market plan ready before he does so.
What about the next 3 Star Wars films? He could keep the "machine" moving forward and make three more. We're all tired of the prequels. Get someone else to direct the next three films, and he can spend $200M on each.
50 TV series! Bring back Firefly! He can spend his money there...and be a silent backer...ok, maybe not.
and not long ago he was saying he was going to make more independant like movies (art films) that he always wanted to... Though it might be interesting to have the rest of Star Wars told in a miniseries/tv show ala Battlestar Galactica (I love that show).
Hopefully someone else will downgrade who doesn't think my preferred distribution method is a rathole.
:)
How long before skymaker ranch is doing remakes of Seinfeld?
And lead the way towards producing movies with substance. Last I checked, his most recent blockbusters were anything but character driven. Special effects look cool once or twice, but good scripts and acting make us feel over and over again. That never gets old. _That _ is why I watch movies, and if the movie business wants to stay alive, that's what they're going to have to give us.
George dug his own grave here, now he's lamenting he has to lie in it. I just hope he realizes it's not too late. There's always room for movies like "Walk the Line" and "Signs". Neither had awesome special effects, but they were still a joy to watch.
...we find out that actually, the movie business is quitting Han So... erm George Lucas.
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
And there was much rejoicing.... Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He'll stop dickering around with whether Han Solo fired first or not? Or coming out with a revised Star Wars DVD box set every few years?
I have a bad feeling about this.
You say you want a revolution....
He called it "a" rathole, not "that" rathole. And he's right, for the moment.
Until all the DRM gets solidified (and legal downloadable larger-studio content won't happen without DRM, regardless of what anyone says) and the bandwidth to pull down large files reachs a larger share of the American populace I wouldn't waste my time either.
"liberty and justice for all those who can afford it"
In other news, Bob Barker is still hosting the Price is Right at the old age of 124 years old :-P
Is it just me or is it not going to upgrade to Vista in here?
So I run from the movies to TV in order to escape the crap produced by Lucas, and now he's following me there? Crap.
is truly inflammatory. It is horribly taken out of context, which makes you wonder if the submitter works for mainstream media because they love taking things out of context. The quote goes: We're trying to find out exactly where the monetization is coming from. We're not interested in jumping down a rat hole until such time as it finally figures itself out.
He is saying, "We do not want to rush into this and have the method we chose to enter the online realm explode on us." Online movie distribution is in its infancy. We have already seen the Wal-Mart/iTunes debacle. He is simply making a methaphorical statement to describe that they are being cautious, but he does not openly say, "Online distribution is a stupid."
So, this one again proves that you must always RTFA.
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
Quantity has a quality all its own.
'I can make 50-60 two hour movies' that are 'pay-per-view and downloadable.' Notably, he does not plan on distributing movies online, calling online distribution a 'rathole.'"
Don't worry Mr. Lucas, the guys here at BitTorrent got you covered!
For seven years I've felt a great disturbance in the franchise. As if millions of voices cried out with disgust. Then were suddenly silenced.
Cyrano de Maniac
There is much rejoicing.. Too bad he couldn't have quit three films earlier :p
Well that's somewhat hypocritical. What Lucas never seems to understand is that part of the charm of Episode IV was its relatively low budget production. Great movies don't need to be made with massive budgets. In fact all of the expensive computer graphics lowered the quality of Episides I-III. Concentrate on what makes a great movie: a great story. He seems to feel there are only 2 choices for movies he'd want to make, huge budget or no movie at all. Well if he only plans on spending a huge budget on any movie then he's already probably going to make something of lesser quality. He should go back to his roots and think about why people loved the first Star Wars movie he created.
Developers: We can use your help.
I'm a cinematography student, and i'm always quite sadenned when reading comments on slashdot about movies and tv.
Id therefor like to share some of my thoughts on this matter, as someone who will hopefully make his living in the industry.
One of the things that has always struck me as weird, are the comments that first bash the quality of movies, and then say they should make better movies instead. Well, firstly, if a movie is crap why would you even download it, and secondly, even if you wouldn't pay a sum of money to buy a DVD or see it at a theater, what right does that grant you to download someone elses work and property without permissions to do so?
There also seem to be quite a few comments on how new distribution channels (mostly perhaps the internet?) and advances in technology so to speak make the current industry irrelevent? Many people seem to think that perhaps a group of individuals are able to make movies on their own. This has ofcourse happened, in Finland for example there are the Star Wreck movies. But truth be told, i find the quality in these movies well below the commercial ones. Making movies costs alot of money, and requires alot of talent. DVCAM/DigiBeta/HD they all are good and cheap formats, but they fall way behind 35mm, and in many cases 16mm film.
People are quick to say that they want cheap/free movies, but when these are shown to people they start whining about the quality (or perhaps the elusive "film look") not being there. There are also ofcourse other considerations, color correction of for example DVCAM material can be a bit hard with only 256 colors per channel, and most usable and consumer priced editing solutions won't color correct material with better bit depth on colors. Using for example 2K DaVinci color correction station costs alot of money, and there are reasons why these are still used.
As far as distribution goes, most cinemas today still require film copies of movies. In the future perhaps HD will become more dominant becouse then you can have a digital distribution channel from the start to the end. But at the moment copies shipped to cinemas cost alot of money. I think the prices in Finland are around 2000-3000 per copy. This can be done alot cheaper in many countries, but in large countries as the US there surely are also more copies needed?
People on slashdot (yes i'm generalising) seem to scream about GPL issues. When a company uses GPL code and doesnt distribute the code all hell breaks loose. But at the same time, taking someone elses "art", be it music or movies, and distributing or copying it in a matter not intended seems to be fine? Now someone will surely post that these are legally not the same things, but in spirit i feel it to be the same. I have a feeling that most posters are simply trying to justify their copying of content that they don't have the proper rights to. If i'd make a short movie, and spent alot of time and money on it, i'd feel that i have the right to choose how it should be distributed. Many coders most likely feel the same way of their code. If i feel that it should not be free, then i think people should honor this, even if they think my movie is "crap" or that it's "information that wants to be free" or that the "law is flawed".
Everyone retires or downgrades thier career.
Lucas must be someone special as he's done both!
Yes, the movie marketplace is glutted with a lot of pseudo-scifi action films. The spectacular success of the first Star Wars trilogy was a large part of that happening.
It's interesting to hear him say this, and it will be interesting to see if he really means it. However, since I think George's point of view hasn't touched down on earth in a few decades, I dont think what he has to say really has much bearing on reality.
Craig Steffen
http://www.craigsteffen.net
On a very special episode of "Those Hairy Hobbits," Merry and Pippin disclose a long-kept secret relationship.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
The first $100 Million pays for the movie and the next probably goes right into someones bad habits (or poor business sense).
And if your very lucky you can make a down payment on the next rehab...
People want good stories, period. It doesn't matter if you spend $200 million on one piece of crap, or 50-60 pieces of crap, they're still going to be crap. Tell us a good story, and we'll pay you for it.
Dear Mr Lucas,
Stop burning my letters and direct my script for the Star Wars Kid movie. Failure to comply with this correspondence will result in your immediate expulsion from life.
Oh btw you can quit the film industry if you really really want.
I dunno, Howard the Duck had better acting from Lea Thompson and Jeffrey Jones than anything in Episode 1-3.
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
He believes American audiences are deserting their movie going habits permanently Hmm, could it because there really isn't many good movies being made? George. George? Ya hear us George? # 1) Don't underestimate your audience, most people who go to movies want more than paper thin characterization. #2) Don't hype a movie just to get people to come, high expectations are seldom matched. Get this right and people will go to the movies...
Thank God! George Lucas really lost his way a while back. Obviously he still hasn't found it. He thinks that a big budget film is all about spending money on special effects and forgets that they story telling part is important too. There was even a Simpson's episode where they made fun of Lucas. Considering he voiced himself, he should have taken a hint. The last few films Lucas did left a lot to be desired because the plot and acting just seemed ho hum. Never mind the fact that making set of movies where people know how it's going to end is dangerous as hell. The only thing I was looking forward to was the possibility of the last three movies being made in the Star Wars series or maybe some of the books that fall in between the timelines being made into movies so those side plots could be explored. Of course Lucas dissapointed. I'm over Lucas. He can live out the rest of his days in a smelly cave for all I care.
Three words: Howard the Duck
think this joke needs to be retired.
"'I can make 50-60 two hour movies ..."
....
First movie - Major Sci-Fi hit, everyone loves it.
Second movie - Sequel to first movie, different mood, but lots of kudos.
Third movie - Sequel to second movie, die hards still like it, but things are getting old.
Fourth movie - First movie rereleased with "enhanced graphics" and "minor" tweaks to the storyline
Sixtyith movie - 33rd rerelease of the first movies with even more "enhanced graphics" and still more "minor" tweaks to the storyline.
More creative comments from the fellow who couldn't recall not recalling owning a droid before...
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.
My wife made an excellent observation the other day. Anyone else notice that TV shows seem to be far better than the movies that have come out recently? Last year, ABC's Lost and Desperate Housewives dazzled many viewers (ourselves included). This year, I've been really impressed by NBC's Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The writing has been quite good, although some may argue that it does degrade over time. Not to mention lots of the great shows on HBO, Showtime, and some of the excellent comedies that have come and gone (Arrested Development comes to mind). And keep in mind that most of these are original shows. TV is in a far better situation than it used to be just a few years ago, when everything had to be a "reality TV show".
This is in comparison to movies, where it seems like everything is a sequel nowadays, or some book->movie or TV->movie or game->movie port.
-- jchenx
Care to guess what it is?
Yep, http://www.hanshootsfirst.org/
Lucas has already achieved what he wanted.
He's grown a chin for each Star Wars film
Seinfeld: now with more Banthas!
Seriously, if the special effect overshadows the story line, you've lost. The first three Star Wars were great, not because of the special effects (which were good at the time) but because of the people. Not computer generated crowds, but real people; Not a fake looking Jar-Jar, but a real actor pulling strings or whatever.
Peter Jackson did a great job with LotR. There were lots of special effects, to be sure, but most weren't relly all that spectacular. It just that they came in second to the actual story line and acting. Gollum was believable because of Andy Serkis; Jar-Jar just looked fake, as did many other CG characters in Star Wars.
Stupid > tag ..
-- jchenx
Until he releases the un-edited original THX-1138 on DVD nothing he does is news worthy IMHO.
Say bad words about my book, in cold oatmeal, or I shall sue!
Are those the originals or does that number include the special editions, extreme special editions, and hyper extreme special editions? [ducks]
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
However, it's pretty clear that Hollywood is getting into a self-destructive cycle. Bigger movies, worse scripts, and ever-dropping returns due to too many OTHER forms of entertainment competing for your dollar. Yes, the SW Prequels and the Matrices and LOTR all made money... but in the past 7 years, how many summer mega-movies have bombed terribly? It's a much higher number, and most of them titles we don't even remember a couple years later.
What he's advocating IS the rational move. And if he can get a few more high-profile directors to join him, he could make a real difference in the industry. (again)
And it'd be terribly ironic (and Campbellian) that the man who basically invented the summer blockbuster would be the same man to end its death throws.
Bush: He's Liberal in all the wrong ways.
He says "I think the secret to the future is quantity," he says, and says "I can make 50-60 two-hour movies" for the $200 million cost of a Star Wars epic.
Now, it's possible to make good films on a low budget, but I doubt that it's possible to crank them out _quickly._ I have the idea he is not talking about 50-60 "American Graffittis" or 50-60 "Easy Riders" or 50-60 "CSA: Confederate State of Americas" or 50-60 "Wordplays" or even 50-60 "Kukla, Fran and Ollies."
Somehow I think it will be more like 50-60 "Captain Video and His Video Rangers" or 50-60 "Beverly Hillbillies" or 50-60 made-for-TV "movies." Schlocky junk that scratches the itch in some part of the brain to see shapes moving and hear voices. Junk that is not quite bad enough to motivate you to activate the muscles in the thumb that operate the clicker. Nothing that will stir up emotion... not even the degree of emotion generated by Jar-Jar Binks.
Will he actually make money at this? I don't know. And I certainly don't care.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Well, a lot of people have posted some good mockery of Lucas now. But, even though there's enough and it's gotten old, I'm going to come along some time later and post MORE mockery, mockery that's increasingly silly and boring and actually undermines your memories of the original, quite good, mockery.
And, uh, that was it.
Seriously, though, I think his remarks only go to show what was obvious anyway -- like much of Hollywood, he doesn't understand that people are more willing to pay for _good_ movies than for tired, conservative, big-budget rehashes. So he looks and sees that the market for T.C.B.B.R.s is weak -- and from that deduces that cinema is dead.
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
> Variety is reporting that George Lucas is getting out of the movie business.
Hooray!
> Instead of making major films, Lucasfilm will instead focus on television.
Crap!
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
I sense another Star Wars series coming soon... imagine Episode Two meets Dawson Creek.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
As crazy and unbelievable as it can get, "24" is still more fun than most action/thrillers to hit theaters these days.
As for gritty crime drama, "The Shield" pwns all.
Stuff like Family Guy and Adult Swim and similar shows are orders of magnitude funnier than most "comedy" films.
And then there's Battlestar and the Stargates, although Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain" is heading to theaters soon.
I second that completely! I would much rather see sequels to Howard than the prequels fiasco.
DVD(effectivly drm free),CDs,cassettes were all profitable without DRM. Copies often help the market.
Software is/was profitable without effective DRM.
People will buy online DRM-free content from official sites if it is available. It's quicker and cheaper (timewise) than hunting on questionable sites.
DRM, by nature cannot be solidified.
The current DRM model requires that DRM:
- be secret. This means that there is bound to be many incompatible formats.
- always changing. because the user is required to be given the decrypting mechanism to play. It is bound to be continuously broken.
Notably, he does not plan on distributing movies online, calling online distribution a 'rathole.
Translation: "Online distribution. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
When does Wookie Christmas 2 come out? In time for this holiday season? Can't wait!
when you can just keep re-releasing the ones you made 30 years ago multiple times?
If he doesn't make them downloadable, someone else will.
The Dark Side (MPAA) will attempt to retaliate of course.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
There have been a lot of films even recently that have done quite well with small budgets. One of my favorites is "Lost In Translation" which only cost $14 million, and movies have been done for a lot less than that which are still spectacular. Just because Lucas cannot tell a story without that much money doesn't mean it is impossible.
Monstar L
A good script costs a lot less than $200M. Maybe moviegoers wouldn't "change their habits" if the movie makers would take the risk of combining honest human emotion and dialogue with science fiction ideas and imagery. Maybe then my fiance wouldn't cringe every time I suggest watching Episode 3.
As someone who has been a guest at Skywalker Ranch, let me assure you that his smelly cave is well appointed with a state of the art Art-Deco themed screening theatre (freaking awesome btw), great weather, nice location, huge editing facility, top notch foley stage, and gilded with gold all around. Old George is retiring all the way to the bank. Geek Trivia, the foley work on the Simpsons was done by Skywalker sound, probably at the ranch on that famous foley stage.
Lucas has way too much money and not enough ideas. The format, be it TV or Features, won't change that.
yes. sadly some of the better stuff (Dead Like Me) get canceled for stupid reasons.
LOST, on Dagobah.
...
...
Yoda : "Statue inside what this is?"
Yoda : "On cliff stuck Jedi plane Hmmmmm..."
Apologies Jedi Masters... Native language mine Yoda speak not is.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
Yeah, yeah, don't let that light sabre hit you on the ass on your way out...
Seriously, though, I'd love to see more (at one time, at least) gifted directors do this. I've been thinking lately that a lot of series/miniseries on TV I enjoy a lot more than the relatively limited "two hour experience". In a miniseries, they have the luxury of time to develop the characters, etc. Some examples: HBO Deadwood, the A&E "Hornblower" adaptations, hell, the TV series Lost is excellent, which is basically a serial in the guise of a network show.
Obviously there have been stories that worked well in two hours, but I find I really enjoy the expanded stories afforded by TV. TV and the movies have pretty much achieved parity when it comes to quality.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
In Latin America many of the most popular TV shows are never meant to last year after year. They have a story arc that they are going to tell and they are progressing to that particular end. If the show is popular they might add more filler in the middle, if it isn't they might trim it, but it was born in order to die. This is very liberating for the writers because they can kill characters off or have them get married without worrying about the long term consequences for the show, since it is going to end anyhow. Also, there is a new one hour episode every night. I thought that the first season of 24 was a great showcase of how this format could work in the US, but then they had to go and have multiple seasons...
Anyhow, I've often thought that LotR would have make a very good novela, broadcast once a week for an hour, and intend to last maybe a year, and by that I mean about 50 episodes, not 20.
Lasers Controlled Games!
Wow, this guy really knows how to endear himself to the 20-35 year old techie demographic.
One could easily say, and support the claim, that his last 3-4 movies emerged from a far smellier, darker place than his aforementioned 'rathole'.
"I have an odd craving to whisper about those few frightful hours in that ill-rumored and evilly shadowed seaport of dea
Just take a brief look at all the crap hollywood is turning out these days; remakes, recycled plots, terrible casting...etc. The risk wouldn't be so high if the market wasn't flooded with shit. Every week I look at the movies and think, if I was 13 and wanted to get out of the house I'd see that, but...
As far as lucas goes; yeah the last 3 Star Wars sucked, but they only sucked to true fans of the Star Wars series, which we wouldn't have had without him.
Me thinks you were part of the problem, Georgie...how much did the last three of your films cost? Yeah.
It's hard to tell this early, after all he's only released them once so far. Maybe after the 3D versions you'll be able to get a good estimate of how much they cost to make overall.
If the OP had the reading comprehension abilities of a fifth-grader, he would not have written that sentence. What TFA actually said:
So Lucas did not say that he won't be distributing online, just that he won't be doing it until there's a settled market in place.
It's a trap!
Movie theaters are only becoming a worse and worse deal, due to constantly-increasing greed from studios who demand more and more money to run a movie, and to the simple fact that the prices are rising faster than the salaries. Salaries haven't kept up with inflation in the US for over a decade. So, as the cost increases, and our ready cash decreases, we have less disposable income. It's $25 tops for a brand spanking new-release DVD, and it's $24 just for three people to go see a movie once. If you have two adults and two children it'll cost you something like $30 to get in, and a good $5 per person for snacks that would cost you maybe $2 per person at home. Not to mention that movie theaters are full of inconsiderate people who I frequently have to say rude things to in theaters to get them to stop being fuckballs. I try to be polite though, for instance "how about a nice tall glass of shut the hell up?"
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
After the 1989 release of the third Indiana Jones movie, there was a ten year hiatus in feature films until SWTPM in 1999. (Except for some Indiana Junior TV things) I was under the impression the tremendous advance in CGI, particularly Jurassic Park, stimulated him to do the second trilogy.
I suspect if a new and improved way of telling stories comes along we'll hear from George again.
Despite his recent directed movies, Lucas is a great executive producer (Remember Indiana Jones). TV mostly sucks this days and I prefer to give Lucas a chance instead of suffering another Fox/E!/MTV reality show/comedy. /.
Even if all goes to shit we can always flame his work here on
I hear he's producing, scriptwriting, and directing, Season 4 of BSG.
Best Slashdot Co
Am I the only one who sees the irony here? This is the guy who invented expensive, overhyped blockbusters.
And if he thinks he knows how to make good TV shows, he's deluding himself. (But then, he's good at that.) Until everybody has a 30-inch plasma, TV will be driven by storytelling and acting, not by the whiz-bang thud and blunder Lucas is known for.
Everybody has a favorite "overrated filmmaker" and Lucas is mine. Even before the prequel fiasco, Lucas had worn out my patience with hackneyed storytelling, childish plots, and an excessive dependence on special effects. He owes his success to two things: he's good at "mining the archetypes" (which is fancy way of saying "rips off old films that most of his audience has never seen") and he's good at satisfying the brainless moviegoer who just wants a cinematic carnival ride.
"Everyone retires or downgrades thier career. Most of us even change gears once or twice. Nothing to see, move along."
This means he won't be making more Star Wars movies. You and some former owner of a mod-point have a funny definition of "nothing to see here.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, I liked Episode II a lot. See my review. People thought Episode III was about Bush, but Episode II laid it all out more clearly a year before the Iraq war. Episode III was like a latter-day Bond movie -- a non-stop roller coaster formulaicly cobbled together from bits and pieces of all the previous movies -- temporarily sweet, but shallow. Even Episode I has value -- it has the best light sabre duels.
He is in the business of squeezing every last dollar out of those original three star wars movies, by releasing and re-releasing all kinds of bastardized versions until even his biggest fans start hating him.
By the way, Lucas should not complain how expensive movies are, he is mostly to blame for this. His new star wars movies were an example of everything that is wrong about expensive movies. They were completely unimaginitive and boring, and the only thing that made anyone want to see them was the sheer ammount money thrown on the screen (as well as the money spent on advertizing).
If you make a good movie, people will see it even if it is not super expensive.
If Lucas or anyone else can produce 50 tv movies for the price of one Hollywood blockbuster, that would seem to say that Hollywood is bloated and inefficient in how they get things done. That, not web distro, is the real rathole.
Et In Arcadia Ego
Wow, I had no idea Lucas was involved in that travesty. Apparently he was just the executive producer. Which means he threw some money into the project but had absolutely nothing to do with it otherwise.
I think LucasFilms needs to try its hand at TV soaps. He needs 2 tv series one fantasy with all the fanstay elements that everyone loves, and atleast one scifi series one of which should be Star Wars. I like Star War's the movies, but after some one pointed out the amount of Star War's books and other Star Wars content that they have, I'm inclined to think that LucasFilms has plenty of material for 2-3 StarWars series. I hope that some one forces Lucas to watch B5 and take their little lessons before doing his own thing. I'm not the only one that would love a 5 season Star Wars arc that has interlocking story arcs.
I'm hoping that he will avoid the mini-series and too many made for TV specials though I do see where if he wanted to try alot of different things that he could through TV specials. One thought that really is interesting is that I could see Lucas starting a Star Wars TV series and pushing his budget special effects to the limits far more than he thought possible.
Let's also remember the lesson of Dr. Who. Plot first; special effects second! He should be able to cheaply produce something that both pushs the limits and is fun to watch.
You don't need to spend $200 million to mae a great movie. Lucas himself proved that in the 70's with the original Star Wars costing like 4 million or something.
Hollywood have lost sight of the fact that what makes a great movie is not expensive special effects. the movie industry in the US is failing because its dominated by the big hollywood studios, who, just like the 'popular' music industry, continually produce formulaic mindless crap.
There are lots of excellent movies done on relatively shoestring budgets by independent companies, but they never get into general circulation because the big boys have a monopoly at the theatres.
Nooooooooooo!!!!
If he really believed what he said he would be producing new content instead of further milking the Star Wars cow year after year with new "never before seen" editions of the films and new games and merchandise. Successful tent pole pictures and franchises are money magnets and will continue to be for years to come because when they hit, they hit big.
Lucas may never allow another new Star Wars movie to be made (and I'm skeptical about that in the first place) but if that proves to be the case guess what happens as soon as he kicks the bucket? We'll be getting 7, 8 and 9 with an entire CGI cast.
And there was much rejoicing.
Actually if you RTFA he doesn't say no to online distribution. He just admits he doesn't understand it, "We're trying to find out exactly where the monetization is coming from. We're not interested in jumping down a rat hole until such time as it finally figures itself out."
More like until he figures it out. Either way, he apparently realizes the distributors (iTunes and whatnot) are making all the money, and not the producers. I'd have to agree with him that at this time online sales of movies aren't making anyone rich (besides iTunes).
Now he can focus on the Jar-Jar Binks TV Movie to show the world how great an actor Jar-Jar is. Perhaps establish that Jar-Jar Talk Show.
We could all use more of Jar-Jar... NOT!
I gave up on movies a long time ago.
The tickets are too expensive, the food is too expensive, and that crap called "The Twenty" which is a bunch of commericals for coke really pissed me off.
Not to mention some idiot is always talking on his cell phone during the movie.
I'm perusing the comments here on slashdot about this article. And I am not really impressed by the quality of discourse on this subject.
It seems like a lot of people are busy trying to yell at Lucas for going too heavy on the effects and not writing a good enough story. Let's say this is true, that the story writing was actually bad in the prequels (cant prove it to me though), and that the problem with it was NOT that the actors were shooting most scenes in front of a green screen and having a difficult time reacting (imagine if Dagobah had been all CG instead of an elaborate set in a London soundstage, how silly would Mark Hamill have looked then?)
What Lucas said about ratholes is linked to his not knowing how to get paid for online distribution. It's a simple enough question if you're a filmmaker, or a musician. "How does the money get from the consumer to me?" He uses a big word...monetization. He's asking how does a producer get paid. Gotta get paid, yo. Until somone can answer that question he feels it's a rathole.
And yeah, he's looking at the industry's current state and considering how much money and quality the Sopranos, Galactica, Lost, Firefly, Desperate Housewives, and looking back he's looking at Clerks, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction. He's realizing that low budget good stories with high quality actors are the way to go. He's realizing that people will be patient with a good story.
Just because he called your bitorrent addcition a rathole doesnt mean he's wrong. I'm sure he's so sorry he hurt your feelings.
1) With a smaller budget, hopefully we won't get swamped with special effects that really aren't needed for quite a few scenes.
2) With 50-60 movies instead of 1, it means that Lucas won't have time to write/direct/edit them all, which means that there might be some talented people brought in to produce these new Star Wars ventures.
3) With 100+ hours of film, maybe we can actually see some of the backstory of some of the more minor characters that have always interested me. There may be hope for the Star Wars saga yet.
Ninjas use italics.
Mr. Lucas and other Hollywood "luminaries" should really try to wrap their heads around the real reason that theaters don't have the same draw that they used to... The. Movies. Suck. The American public has had it with the same inane writing, rehashed story lines, actors who couldn't emote their way out of a paper sack, lame directing, and special effects masquerading as a plot. Observe the market forces at work. Your product sucks, and we're not buying it. Wake up, pay attention, make a movie *worth* seeing. With that said, good riddance George. And by the way, Han shot first!
Kramer fired first!
He intends to devote his time fully toward releasing new versions of the original Star Wars. Wait until you see who shoots first THIS time.
Finkployd
Lucas has singlehandedly solved the 'problem' of illegal pirating of movies, all by himself: Episode 3.
Make a movie that sucks badly enough, and nobody will pirate it, George.
-Styopa
Too bad he didn't make that decision before he defiled the Star Wars franchise with the prequils.
I think too many people lack respect for Mr. Lucas. Honestly his movies aren't that bad. And in my opinion he really started something with the original Star wars...of course he could never do as well on later ones. But then again I don't think hardcore fans really gave him a chance. George was also involved with Indiana Jones, while he didn't direct he was responsible for the story which was a very good one. And last time I checked writing for film is still in the industry. I'm sad to see him go, I think he still has some good stuff to offer although maybe this move works better for him. In fact for those of you who only know Lucas by Starwars should broaden your horizons.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000184/
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. ~Albert Einstein
In the article, Mr. Lucas says that quantity is the future, and that this will be a revolution in the industry. I don't agree. This will actually be a devolution. Hollywood studios, in their "Golden Age" in the first half of the 20th century, used to pump out tons of films with really small budgets with many of them superb films. If they really want to see financial and artistic success, they will absolutely return to this production process, but this would require them to force actors back into the contract system, which to me, wouldn't be a bad thing. Unless Thomas Mapother IV ends up at my local cinema in fifteen different movies a month, in which case, it won't do a thing for the business...
What?
I tagged this "thinkofthechildren".
George needs to focus on small things anyways to get back into really finding out what writing is all about again. Small stories, small cast and one on one direction. Make a bunch of those types of stories and try most of all to make a connection with his audience and maybe even a connection back to himself. Luke gazing towards the twin suns on Tatooine longing for something better for himself and wondering if he will ever find it or just rot away the rest of his years just like his Uncle Owen. This is what I'm talking about it. Universal themes that even the average John/Jane can relate to. That was the magic of Star Wars and not the special effects and politics. Movies are about real characters in conflict and when you take away the real you might as well take away the character to. I have hope for George and hope he limits his budget and cast and finds people he has never worked with before on both sides of the camera and gets rid of the yes men and gets back to story telling. Only then....
Morality, filters both ways.
Mine! Or I will help you not.
BTW, The new season of Battlestar Galactica premieres tomorrow night on Sci Fi! :) Check out the webisodes on http://www.scifi.com/ today. They update you on what happened between the two seasons.
Hmmm. I seem to have digressed. What was I going on about again? Oh, yeah, Star Wars was NOT a "low budget movie". Anyway, who cares. Watch Battlestar Galactica tomorrow night. :)
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
I was watching television the other day and had a pretty big revelation. Have you noticed, at least lately, that television shows are a lot better than the movies that have come out recently? Let's think about it for a minute here. Last year, ABC's Lost and Desperate Housewives had 140.3 million viewers. This year, I've been really impressed by NBC's Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The writing has been quite good, although some may argue that it does degrade over time. Not to mention lots of the great shows on HBO, Showtime, and some of the excellent comedies that have come and gone (Arrested Development comes to mind). And keep in mind that most of these are original shows. TV is in a far better situation than it used to be just a few years ago, when everything had to be a "reality TV show".
This is in comparison to movies, where it seems like everything is a sequel nowadays, or some book->movie or TV->movie or game->movie port.
Ya get where I'm going?
We want more Jar-Jar!!!
Right after episode VI
It is pitch dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Lucas NEVER does ANYTHING without wieghing the profits first. If he calls internet distribution a rathole, you can bet your house he's signed a mega-million dollar deal with a distribution house. When the Dist. House starts sending his material down the 'Net, you can be sure he'll recant along the lines of "the internet is much more mature now".
Here will be an old abusing of God's patience and the king's English.
I think many series devolve because they become afraid to have the characters grow and change. Since nothing new is happening, all they can do is repeat things
Well that's not always true...
Many "light hearted" series (Xena.. Hercules.. come to mind) go "deep" and "dark" after a few seasons.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
So we can have some more high quality Star Wars television like the The 'Star Wars' Holiday Special.
I've been waiting decades for Lucas to make Part 2 of the 'Star Wars Holiday Special'...
Some improvements to make it more "filmable": -Y.T. replaced by talking small furry woodland creature -The middle movie of the trilogy devotes most of its running time to a really-fascinating love story between Hiro and Juanita -References to Enki, religion, glossolalia, etc. removed -Rat Things replaced by small furry woodland creatures
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Should have stoped after the first one. Must admit, the hairy walking dog was the only thing that gave it any substance.
I, for one, welcome our "tired joke"-retiring overlords!
Need know star RM pic!
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
Is it just me? I was agreeing with this guy, but then every single one of the shows he listed were awful in my opinion. I mean AWFUL and not worth watching whatsoever.
I like: 24, The Wire, The Shield, Venture Bros, Prison Break, The Office, Stargate (both), Battlestar Galactica, The Dead Zone, Blade the Series, Weeds, My Name is Earl, and some of the Law & Orders, some of the CSI's, but not CSI Miami, that sucks worst of all.
Just my opinion, but it was striking to me how diametrically opposed our preferences were. Deperate Housewives???
Hollywood needs to wake up. Yes, people are losing interest in movies for a long list of reasons.
1) Expensive. Not just the ticket cost, but the cost of food is unbearable now.
2) Less on story, more on special effects. Don't get me wrong, I really love special effects. But, there are a ton of movies with nothing BUT special effects, the plot is just trash.
3) Cell phones in movies really drive me nuts.
4) People who won't STFU in movies are worse. I can't tell you the last time I went to a movie and DIDN'T have some jack off yelling, laughing with his friends, standing up, etc. The movie theaters don't do jack about it these days also.
5) I am not amused about going to a movie, and hainvg to sit through 2 coke commericals, 4 car commericals, 2 fandago commericals, 1 about the snack bar, 1 about not using your cell, 2 commericals about the internet being evil and then, we finally get to the previews. The previews are my favorite part of the movie experience. Now, I am so annoyed by this point I can't even enjoy them.
6) Movie studios are tossing out good movies, and replacing it with quick easy to make movies that can line their pockets with quick green cash.
7) The bathrooms are like the bathrooms in Grand Central station. You don't wanna use them.
Looking at all the above, I can very well see why people want to download movies (legal or illegal). Personally, I would rather wait till I can buy the DVD, or download it from iTunes or what not. I have a very extensive DVD collection of well over 500 DVDs. In the past 5 years, I think I have seen 8 movies in the theater vs the few hundred DVDs I have purchased.
Hollywood now reminds me of what the postoffice was crying about when E-Mail first started to become popular. Then will learn to adapt, or be crushed and put out of business along the way.
Ok, so now that that is out of the way. On to George Lucas quiting the movie business. Good, its time. I enjoyed the last Star Wars, he should leave now while he made a good movie. If he tries to stay around, things will go down hill very fast. Steven Spielberg is a good example of this, that bastard should have quit a long time ago. His movies now are trash.
until (succeed) try { again(); }
"YYYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!"
**sarcasm** I can hardly wait! **sarcasm off/**
Controlsa. Altsa. Deletesa.
YES, That pissed me off to no end. That was a damn good show! Damn Showtime
That and they cancelled Carnivale which was just starting to get good too. Damn HBO.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
just keep telling yourself that.
Am I the only one who was thoroughly unimpressed with Heroes? I realize one must suspend disbelief for scifi (its the hallmark of the genre), but when it comes to the characters and what motivates them I expect some realism. The invulnerable cheerleader, her character makes absolutely no sense... she's worried she'll be branded as a freak and yet goes out her way to film herself doing plain freakish things. Thats just pisspoor character development. The guy who has a brother running for political office runs into his HQ and starts babbling that he thinks he can fly... seriously? They didn't try to hint he was retarded ever. Would anyone behave that way? As for Lost I'm not sure how I feel anymore... it has me up and down thinking its good then thinking it sucks. I'll probably watch all of this season anyway. I just finished watching "Dead Like Me" of course I became a fan after hearing it was cancelled, but at least there were two seasons instead of just one.
He hasn't been a part of the movie business since 'A new Hope'. His Empire of companies aids the industry of today. So he'll continue to draw a paycheck and any credit he had as a great film maker in my opinion is gone. He really did 'sell out'.
But that's just my opinion.
[J]
Those of us who lived through those times might remember when directors were critisized for spending too much money on their films as that was seen as a sign that too much emphasis was being placed on sets, stars, and other things besides the story. I remember Steven Spielberg being interviewed on Dick Cavett. When asked about the budget for his upcoming movie (ET: The Extraterrestrial), he was reluctant to talk about it because he feared some complaints and he gave the humorous example of using a multi-colored bedspread and being critisized for production values that were too high.
What George Lucas did give us was the dreaded sequel. Give him credit for that, but don't rob Steven Spielberg of credit for the summer blockbuster. Jaws had people waiting in lines around the block and dwarfed even "The Godfather". It was an impressive accomplishment.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
"Lucas states that for the price of one $200 million feature movie, 'I can make 50-60 two hour movies' that are 'pay-per-view and downloadable.'" What in that statement makes people think no more movies? Lucas did not say he was quitting the movie business he said he was pretty much cutting out theaters. He is right to do so. The theater experience is not what it used to be and costs have skyrocketed. What middle income family can afford 100 bucks for the movies every weekend? Assuming its a typical family of four tickets alone cost an average 35-40 bucks. When you throw in drinks, popcorn, candy and parking your at 100 or more. Hopefully we won't see too many rehashes of old work but some new and original stuff. I'm sure he is still capable of brilliant work.
WTF?
All the repeats will be 20% new content.
After those three crapholes that were Star Wars #1, 2, & 3, and esp. after dreaming of Jar Jar Bniks, he should get out of the movie making business, because, sadly, he's lost it anyway.
I read an article about how "The Nine", which premiered last night after "Lost", was actually a movie treatment before the creators decided to make it a TV series. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.
I'll bet there'll be a new version that shows Vader killing the Jedi of the Jedi Temple only in self-defence (somehow??*), prompting people to wear "Vader killed them in cold blood" shirts and demanding a vintage release straight from the original DVDs.
At this point Lucas (100 years old) claims he can't find any working DVDs, but he has the blu-ray edition and sells it for a ridiculous price.
*There's probably a better example of something that could equate with Han shooting Greedo first in the new trilogy, but I never watched the new trilogy very intently, for obvious reasons (it sucked).
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
In Soviet Russia, joke retires YOU!
If fate makes you a motorcycle, you become a motorcycle.
I agree the quality of many new shows is very high, but tv series almost never have a satisfactory conclusion. They either get cancelled premeturely before they can be wrapped up properly, or they get such high ratings that the networks insist they get dragged out forever... the worst example being the X-Files. I fear Lost is heading that way too.
I'm really surprised that no one is taking on the one season as a 16-22 hour movie format. I would think this would finally be an opportunity to make a movie with the depth of a good novel.
To be good though, it needs a decent, well thought out conclusion.
..Studio 60..
....
Yeah, I caught the first episode of that
So the premise is, a Hollywood writer/producer team, timingly out of work for 18 months, conviently gets offerred jobs at a TV studio, a disgusting business in their eyes, to fill in for an anchor who went all 'Network' on live TV and started blasting his producers, America, television, etc...
Just to get this straight, its a TV show, about a TV studio, that makes TV Shows.
This, my friends, is the DEATH OF TV CREATIVITY. Like Hollywood, TV Entertainment has now hit rock bottom. Turn off your TV, put down your remote, pick up a book, log on to the Internet, or go jogging, cause there is NOTHING, aside from The Daily Show and Colbert Report, that is left worth watching. And FYI, those are the only 2 News shows I watch on TV. Yes, I consider THOSE News shows. I don't care to watch the propoganda on CNN/FOX/MSN...
Here endeth the lesson......
Lucas is really a production designer who also writes and directs. He's a great production designer, but a terrible writer. If he makes a $20 million movie, someone else had better write it.
Sometimes, in acting classes, students are tortured by making them do a staged reading from a Lucas movie. Without all the special effects and an industrial-strength symphony orchestra, it falls flat.
Lucas is really the world's leading second unit director.
"Second Unit - To hell with dialogue, let's blow up something."
Second - While the "Silver Screen" and its smaller relative "The Tube" have some differences (format, resolution, audio quality and the overall environment), they are essentially the same thing - moving pictures with speech. Now, in terms of cost to produce product, quality of product, ease of delivery to target audience . . . "The Tube" wins hands-down, especially with the coming implementation of digital transmission, HDTV, etc.
FInally - Mr. Lucas has shown great savvy in the past, demonstrating that he has an excellent grasp of the nature of his profession (his fame and bankbook are adequate proof of this assertion, I think). I've heard of George Lucas - the same cannot be said of his many critics here. There's a point in there somewhere: disinterring it is left as an exercise for the reader. I don't believe he would have his current ambivalence toward internet distribution of his work if there were a clear path for him to profitably ply his trade there.
This joke has gone long past retirement. It's now dead but not buried. The chubby-faced necromancers keep animating it and giggling as it attack villagers and small pets.
So why is it that it costs about 50 times to make a "movie" as it does for a TV show? How much is special effects, and how much for actors, and since it's the same companies who make TV shows and movies, where is all the rest going?
Where's a real cost analysis (and where do the folks who pushed the DMCA come into this)?
mark
I thought he got out of the movie business in 1999. Welcome to the 21st century /.
He just spent $350 million a year ago on a new headquarters in the Presidio area of San Francisco. It has 865,000 square feet as a data center for render farm, file servers and storage systems. Thats a ton of money and equipment for doing cheap side films...
I don't know about that. Several years ago, the movies were really starting to disappoint me, but this year and the end of last really came out with a lot of good (and in the case of this year, promising) films. If not necessarily IMDB "8 out of 10" films, then most certainly entertaining films none the less. Hollywood seems to be figuring out how to create movies which are entertaining for all ages and genders - again, like they used to. I'm thinking of stuff like the Pirates of the Carribean films.
As for television? Well, let's just say I've historically not watched much of anything, except for Law and Order and L&O:SVU, and only then on rare occasions. Now? Well, for the last three weeks I've been religiously watching Jericho, as I did Lost. Both are/were great shows, but unfortunately due to how they string you along with each episode, they can only last so long before they start getting either "crazy" as Lost did, or become soap-opera-like. Fortunately, I think Jericho has the ability to maintain this 'string you along' attitude indefinately due to the situation into which the characters are thrust.
As for Lucas, I think he's doomed as a TV producer. He's just a shitty director and writer. I hope he's only involved in the production side of things - then maybe they'll have a chance. He's always been fortunate, except for the second Trilogy, to be arround talented people who fix his problems for him. Maybe his luck will return.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
the online distribution method, currently exists as a grass-roots movement.
apple is the only company willing to participate, and only because it sells hardware for them.
the market should be consumer-driven the way every economics professor describes it.
but when you have the industry buying laws and terrorizing citizens, you can't help but see a rathole.
The slow push of broadband is a result of the media cartel and their "bandwidth breeds piracy" mentality.
bandwidth could breed business if they ever unstuck their collective head from their collective ass long enough to fill the gap in content distribution.
Maybe George Lucas wouldn't have to spend 200 million on a special effects film if they could stop spending so much on promotion of these movies.
Consumers want what they want. It's clear that we want an uncrippled DVD quality movie that we can buy over the internet, and watch on anything we own and even burn it to DVD.
But the media cartel wants to control how we use their product. it is a product isn't it? copyrights don't protect products do they?
A new congress of the American People needs to enact new laws regarding digital content. The existing laws aren't applied appropriately.
Don't think for a second that this move by lucas isn't directly related to the internet.
Movies are no longer a sound investment for him. The ROI would improve if the promotion budget were cut to a quarter of what it currently is.
They would be a sound investment if he set the trend for online distribution.
There is so much money to be made. The media cartel just refuses to compromise on DRM.
Content is culture. Culture is shared. Content is business. Business is the market. The market dictates the culture. Culture dictates the market. Culture dictates the market. Culture dictates the market.
The media cartel is trying to hold onto its despotic business model by any means necessary.
They're using their grammar skills there.
I was wondering when he'd get back to his roots http://www.bluntproductions.com/extras/starwars/st arwars.htm
(Now I gotta go check YouTube and see if someone has uploaded this gem. Ah, memories.)
And in summary... "Screw you guys, I'm going home"
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Hehe, nobody doesn't distribute online. You either distribute online voluntarily (and make some money) or involuntarily (and don't). Of course, you could make your money by suing schoolchildren, but why not cut out the middleman lawyers and do the smart thing by giving people what they want?
Hey! I'm only fourteen ...
Sickly 'n' thin
Tried all of my life
Just to grow me a chin
It popped out once
But my dad pushed it in
Why did he hurt me?
He's my next of kin
He's a mex-i-kin
I'm lonely'n' green;
Too small for my shirt
If Simmons was here
I could feature my hurt
Scared of the future
Hope I don't grow
I know nobody likes me
'Cause everywhere I go
They say NO
They say NO
They say NO
Now I am older
Got a place in the town, babe
Got a chin on my shoulder
'N' it keeps growing down 'n' down 'n' down
I'm horny 'n' lonely
'N' I wish I was dead
Why am I livin'?
I wanna be dead instead
That's right, I said
I wanna be dead instead
Now dig this:
I wanna be dead
In bed
Please kill me
'Cause that would thrill me
I wanna be dead
In bed
Please kill me
'Cause that would thrill me
Thanks,
FZ
Agreed, good observations! TV was in serious need of a revamp, reality was a temporary distraction at best. With the shows you're mentioning, it's getting a lot better. I just hope they don't do what some shows do (The Simpsons???) and go on forever long past the time when any creativity is in it (a danger in prison break... how long can they keep them running?). It's hard to get the formula right. There's something to be said for short-runs (Cowboy Bebop, shows don't HAVE to go on forever), but death before its time is also a shame (Firefly). Shows like 24 are interesting too. Yes, one central character pretty much, but a completely different story arch every season. All in all, yes: it's getting a lot better and I won't be going to see "the grudge 2".
He's only out of it until he decides to come back. /yawn
rooooar
You're forgetting the sound - primarily the music. Music is what makes or breaks a film. It can make a mediocre film good, a boring film epic, a great film bad, a sad film scary, or a scary film funny. Music can completely alter one's perception of the filmed material, emotionally and even intellectually.
For instance, look at the (arguably) best composer in the 2nd half of the 20th Century, John Williams. Let's look at some of the greatest films, and indeed the greatest Trilogies of all time: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Superman, Jurrasic Park, Harry Potter - and a couple others I can't immediately think of. Then, if you look at the single, non-sequeled films he's composed for, the picture becomes much more full: Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Far and Away, Amistad, JFK, The Patriot, War of the Worlds... all very successful, popular, or well-done films, largely on their own merit sans-music, but not without the influence of the music itslef.
If you doubt me, look at the Star Wars special features (ie 'the making of' stuff). They've got some scenes sans music, just with some camp "laser" special effects. It's difficult to watch without imagining John William's soundtrack playing in the background, and the cheezy sound affects help. Now imagine the whole film wiht some cheezy late-70s disco or something like that - which, IIRC, was what Lucas was originally going ot have. Good movie worthy of a sequel? I think not.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
After those theatrical abortions he called movies (Star Wars I, II, and III) and the bastardization of IV and V I say, "Good riddance!"
I'm not sure why people think the iTunes Music Store makes Apple any money at all. Most of the money goes to whoever licenses the music. Apple provides the service to A) sell hardware (iPods with ~40% profit per unit, iTV?, mini?) and B) prove the feasibility and gain acceptance for digital distribution. Here are two of the big reasons for why the content from the iTMS has such low margins for Apple. They have the means and the motivation.
Motivation: As with all new products, Apple wanted iTMS to become popular and accepted. For any new technology to successfuly enter a market or create a new market, price and perceived quality are usually the most important factors. A cheaper better mouse trap with a pinch of good marketing will usually do well. Therefore Apple has an incentive to keep price as low as they can go.
Means: It is CHEAP to distribute digitally. Therefore Apple CAN sell for cheaper than the legacy content distribution moguls.
Note as evidence for at least the movies and TV episodes the recent Walmart vs. Apple articles, the articles usually contain some analysis that shows Apple undercutting Walmart's prices even though Walmart is selling new release DVDs at a loss! Trust me when I say that if anyone sells for less than Walmart (even if the products are not exactly the same), their profit margin is minimal. Then for music, even though this is not the greatest source, it's just one article of many that tell about the pennies made per song purchase on iTMS.
I've not seen it, and I wasn't too impressed with the premise. However, my wife saw an episode and she said she was horrified how gore-filled the show was. Just grotesque stuff like heads being rotated around backwards - things you'd find in a horror movie - and on prime time television, none the less. That's pretty sick and wrong, in my opinion.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
good, he sucks!
24
But you're right - it would be nice if there were more series that had the vision to stick to a beginning, middle, and ending. I would think that audiences would dig that. They seem to with 24, anyway...
to spend $200 million on a movie. If you want lots of effects and star name actors then spend it. However, movies can be made cheaper and still be entertaining. So if George wants to get into the "story" more than the "action" then so be it but I don't know why he is complaining apart from stating the obvious.
My boss is looking into releasing some videos to iTunes and he said it is very favorable to the producers and not iTunes. He said the cut is 70% to us. Sounds like a great deal for a place with high traffic.
Can I bum a sig?
I guess no one told him that his movies already ARE freely downloadable...
Saving the World: One Drink at a Time
Most people would assume the candy to be poisoned or otherwise tampered with. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that you need to use another analogy. Especially with the Spinach debacle so fresh on everyone's mind.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
Now that you mention it, it might be best not to taint it, but to leave the lingering aftertaste with The Last Crusade
But then you'll miss the Star Wars Christmas Special!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
He just financed the movie. It's not like he played a role in any part of it.
Though I suspect the duck costume is one of the rejected Ewoks' appearance costume.
So be glad he chose the Trebbles looks rather than the quacky character.
Your faith in George Lucas is your greatest weakness. He has long served the Dark Side. Look at your lunchboxes and action figures. Are they the work of a master filmaker? Don't you feel the hate swelling inside you?
I see you looking the the Episode I-VI: Special Edition Anamorphic DVD Edition in the limited edition Jar Jar binks shaped titanium collectors box on Amazon. Take out your Return of the Jedi credit card and buy it!
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
"George Lucas, movies are irrelevant."
when they were really saying
"George Lucas movies are irrelevant."
The wonderful thing about TV and especially the introduction of cable, is that there's a lot more variety now. Funny thing how most of the shows you mentioned, I don't care about at all. (I've had my fill of cop shows, thankyouvermuch)
As for Desperate Housewives, it's something my wife started watching when there was a lot of attention to it last year. I naturally caught some episodes in the background, and have to admit that it's quite the comedy at times. And yes, it's very much like your typical soap opera, only much better for some unquantifiable reason. I suspect there might a lot of other husbands, like me, that got sucked into the show and don't want to admit it. (Or maybe I'm just strange)
-- jchenx
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2005/20050427l. jpg
/* No Comment */
Meesa gonna miss Georgie. Reely!
- Tash
There's a difference between what someone CAN do and what someone CHOOSES to do.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
I just used my last mod-point. Otherwise I would do it myself.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
I love the man for Star Wars, but he's the director equivalent of Christopher Lambert - The quality of his end product can be directly negatively correlated with how involved he was in its production, e.g. the 2nd (5th) and 6th (3rd)installments of the Star Wars saga were handed over to professional screen writers and were far superior to anything else he's made. As far as the rathole comment, it's not surprising coming from a person who leans on the special effects crutch like a literary amputee. Adieu to you, George.
to put it in the words of the venerable Skywalker: NOOOOOOOO000000oooooooooooooo.............
disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
She took my eggs.
That stagnancy was built into many shows because a gimmick was the bait to watch a show. For instance, Gilligan's Island or I Dream of Jeanie.
I Dream of Jeanie died in the rating after Jeannie and the Captain were married, even though it represented character development. This type of thing happened often enough that characters avoided changing the show because they learned not to mess with a successful formula - that's why relatively recent shows like Married with Children and Cheers are essentially the same thing week after week.
Some may scoff at these as old time and simpleton shows, but are things like CSI or House any less formulaic? It seems that the main Dr. in house always has a dying patient, with some never-before-seen-case or incurable disease, a few twists, and saves him in the end of the day, 99% of the time. A little bit of background allowing character development/drama is thrown in, as well as a few subplots.
I would even say South Park does this to an extent but they are better off as the creators/writers feel no need to keep any real longterm continuity.
But mostly I'm interested in seeing long interesting universes being built over many episodes, I hate it how great books/series that if rendered directly to film would require days on end of projection, tend to get mashed down into a couple hours. Maybe he can fund lots of creative people to make cool stuff and get them started on their own careers. Anything besides redoing Star Wars over and over again for new generations and media formats! Only good can come of it. Recently I looked into digital distribution.. I heard there are about 20 theaters in Japan and 60 in korea (I may have forgotten the numbers exactly) with high def, you deliver prints by inserting a hard disk and turning a key. More theaters like that will be cool. Um, that and waiting for led displays on the other walls and ceiling, pretty please George? :)
From last November. Lucas explains how theater divisions haven't made money for several years, it is a loss leader for DVD. And DVD will be replaced by an iTunes like app. Article
Lucas notes it costs 1/6 to make a digital print.. and for big movies a non-digital print is $20-30m. Article
I'm curious if slashdotters would pay for a streaming or downloadable movie as opposed to a DVD and what would be reasonable to them in terms of payment method and price. I'm considering releasing some video and movies in U.S. and elsewhere and am curious about whether there is a market.
"Notably, he does not plan on distributing movies online, calling online distribution a 'rathole.'" And he also said he'd never release the original trilogy on DVD. And now he has... in various different incarnations.
To heck with George Lucas! For all I care, he can get brent! He must be joshing if he thinks that getting out of the business makes him even-steven for that whole prequel debacle. Besides, when is the last time he won a best picture award? He couldn't even win a tony.
Love,
Dave
Today George Lucas, tomorrow, Uwe Boll...
Maybe one day the theatres will be safe for moviegoers once again!
My biggest gripe though isn't that they're putting out movies that aren't worth $5, it's that they're charging $15-20 to go see them, and you don't even get a DVD for that price!
Every time I take my kids to the movies I always make it a point to embarrass them about the cost. My son always begs me, "Please dad, not this time...", but I always do it anyway.
When they give me the bill, I always say, "But I didn't want to buy it. I only wanted to watch it."
Just wanted to 2nd the mention of "Venture Bros". This may be one of the funniest shows on TV.
For those not familiar: imagine a hybrid of the old "Tick" cartoon with "Johnny Quest", played late at night, marketed to potheads.
Need I say more?
barack to the future?
I am always extremely cautious when looking for new ways to distribute any kind of meth.
Lucas owes us 7, 8 and 9. How can he in good conscience quit before delivering movies that we have waited a lifetime for. The whole notion that Star Wars 7, 8, and 9 won't make money is pretty ludicrous. AR
I for one welcome our chubby-faced-necromancers-who-keep-animating-dead- jokes-and-giggle-as-they-attack-villagers-and-smal l-pets overlords.
Someone needs to rewrite history, and have Lucas make this decision *before* he remastered Episode 1.
Have you read my journal today?
BTW, nowhere in my post did I say whether I liked or disliked any of the movies. I was making a point about summer blockbusters and their origins.
Anyway, since I got such a rise out of you with my comments I thought I would make another. This time I will call "Fried Green Tomatoes" a piece of unadulturated shit. I'm picking on "Fried Green Tomatoes" simply because I think it's something you would like. :)
Oh, yeah, for the post below yours: yes, I am your Grand father. Not only that, but I'm one of the few who remember that at one point when George Lucas was writing Star Wars he was "inspired" by "True Grit" and made Luke Skywalker a girl.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
Notably, he does not plan on distributing movies online, calling online distribution a 'rathole.'"
GRR... It's like closing the door and hiding in a dark room, trying to believe whatever you want to believe.
Well, you can stay in your 'rathole', Mr. Lucas, while we will be left with only one choice how to watch your releases on out home entertainment systems, that are not connected to any broadcast channels.
there is no issue with my network
They do most of the back-story and interiors in LA, and they end up flying people back and forth.
:)
Just watching the extras on the season 2 DVDs last week, and they mentioned that practically ALL shooting on Lost is done in Hawaii. The scenes of Charlie in England? Shot in Hawaii. Apparently it took a hell of a long time trying to find anything remotely "English" architecture-wise on the islands. Also, the lack of right-hand drive cars caused them some trouble - so they created entire outdoor sets with every sign written backwards, then flipped the film so that everything looked OK.
I was rather amazed. Even the scenes from Iraq were supposedly shot in Hawaii. I got the impression that they fly everyone out to the islands for a week at a time for ALL filming. Still very expensive.
Now imagine how the scriptwriters have been forbidden to try any outdoor winter scenes in the flashbacks
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Variety is reporting that George Lucas is getting out of the movie business. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
HAHA I got insightful and informative and I was WRONG. Man you mods suck! :)
It's worse than that. The patient always crashes at :15, :30, and :45 in each episode, and may or may not crash a fourth time at the conclusion. You can set your watch by it.
Thank. God.
You mean on CW. In case you don't know, UPN merged with WB Chanel
And I can prove it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Exhibit 1. Mansquito.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
shudder
And if online distribution is a rathole, then sign me up with the rats. I live in a college town in the midwest, online distribution, facebook groups and other internet tools are the only way some local bands are getting the word out at all besides flyers and word of mouth. I am an uncool, unhip, middle-aged guy, but even I can see that online tools can be useful for selling and distributing content in some situations.
The rat known as Snowtide. Any spelling or grammatical errors are deliberate traps for the grammar police.
I actually LIKED "The French Connection". A better Gene Hackman movie from the 70s was (no, not "Superman") "The Conversation". "The Conversation" was directed by "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppolla and was well recieved, though it did not make as much money. :) "The Conversation" is playing periodically on The Independant Film Channel. It also stars some guy named Harrison Ford, and some chick who would go on to star in some crappy sit-com, spun off from another sit-com based on life in the US circa the 1950s. :)
Also, I would NEVER state that "movies prior to Jaws were crap". That would leave out excellent movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of my all-time favorite movies. HD Net movies premiered a High Definition version of 2001 over the summer. If you have access I strongly suggest you try to catch a repeat.
In short, my original point is that the "summer blockbuster" was started by Steven Spielberg with "Jaws". There were SOME successful big budget movies prior to Jaws, but not ALL of them were released in the summer. It was AFTER "Jaws" that studios started saving large budget movies for summer release instead of releasing them during the Thanksgiving holidays or other periods during the year.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
In other words, he sees online distribution as the wave of the future, but for once they plan to wait for other people to work out the kinks in the model.
At first glance, this seems odd, since Lucasfilm has traditionally been early adopters and innovators, technologically. ILM has been inventing new SFX techniques since the original Star Wars. Then there's THX sound, or the digital "filming" and projection they did on Attack of the Clones. But when you think about it, it's been with cinema technology that they've pushed the envelope. Holding off on online distribution isn't a tech decision, it's a business decision.
Sorry to say that but the golden country for tv shows currently seems to be the UK, recent stuff like green wing, coupling, the new dr. who, ultraviolet (the series not the junk movie) and probably a bunch of other stuff I have yet to discover comes as close to quality television as it can get. Britain sometimes has a period where they produce top quality content which never make it over the pond neither to mainland europe nor to the US, and currently it seems to be again in such a period.
George Lucas has been out of the movie making business for some time now.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
We're using the word "blockbuster" and I really don't think that word conveys the original posters meaning. I know for an absolute fact that there were "blockbusters" prior to Jaws. Obviously Gone With The Wind was a blockbuster of a movie and it dated back to the 1930's. There have always been a few blockbusters in almost every year.
His comment about Jaws was more about how that movie was more than that. it was the first film I recall being almost like a ride. It was like the first of it's kind. Seeing it was less of a going to the movies experience and more like going on a roller coaster or walking into a haunted house. It was something of an event. Star Wars of course took this to a whole new level and in my opinion Die Hard did the same thing years later. Jaws was the first of it's kind though. It was the dawn of the "Action/Special Effects Era Blockbuster"
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance . . .
It's about damn time. The only movies he has written, directed, and/or produced that I would ever watch a second time are limited to the original SW trilogy, Indiana Jones, Willow, and perhaps Labyrinth. Basically everything else he has ever done has been crap. Nevermind his holier-than-thou attitude when it comes to dealing with people (so say various associates who have worked for Lucasarts).
On the upside to his retirement, at least we won't get anymore date-rapist looks from Anakin (see Eps 2 and 3), or any more fart jokes (Ep 1).
"Lucas said, without a great deal of enthusiasm."
When have you ever seen this fat, talent-vacuum of a man ever express the slightest trace of enthusiasm?
Im fairly certain sure the art department of the original trilogy must have based that bored blubbery glazed over look of Jabba the Hut on George Lucas.
"Cleopatra" is another movie that made lots of money but just didn't do for it's audiences what Jaws and later movies did. As you stated, there were lots of movies that made lots of money, but few movies that transformed the movie going experience into the event it became after that.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
I think you're just cherry picking the best of television and the worst of movies. Pound for pound I'd say the amount of rubbish is equal. Movie rubbish being more obvious because of the marketing dollars behind it. For every Heroes or Studio 60, there's two or ten Joeys or Yes Dears.
And while the shows you mentioned are certainly much better than many dramas that have come before them, I think they're nothing compared to what's being done on premium cable. HBO especially.
Movies > Cable > Broadcast TV.
The big networks just can't afford the risk.
On an unrelated note: I wonder which one Ryan O'Neil thinks better of today.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
This means my most cherished childhood memories will stop being raped and sold back to me at an insane price. Yay.
THANK YOU GEORGE!
Howard the duck *shudders*
I definately agree that Lost gets awfully close to "jumping the shark" at times. Still, I'm already hooked and invested a lot of time with the show and its characters, so I'll be watching the entire season.
I agree that Heroes definately has its stupid, tacky, non-sensical moments. But for some reason, I'm still stoked that there's a show about mutants on primetime TV that's being treated seriously. It helps that I was a huge comic fan growing up.
-- jchenx
Yes, George Lucas was the executive producer of Howard the Duck, a bad adaptation of a good Marvel comic from the '70s. Lucas didn't write or direct the movie, but it's routinely trotted out as an all-trumping condemnation of his filmmaking acumen, a textbook example of why he's so lousy. Admittedly, it's not a good movie (though I confess to guilty affection for it), but I think the routine citations of this one movie by people who somehow simultaneously ignore the considerable number of better movies for which he served in exactly the same capacity is a bit unfair.
Lucas takes a lot of drubbing for Howard the Duck from his many critics, but those same people never seem to mention his involvement with, oh, say, Labyrinth... or Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters... or Tucker: The Man and His Dream... or Latino... or Twice Upon a Time... you get the idea. Of course few/none of those movies, good or bad, are really his in the way THX 1138, Willow and the Star Wars, American Graffiti and Indiana Jones movies are; the lion's share of the credit and/or blame for those others should go to their own writers, directors, etc., and for the most part, that's what happens. Hardly any of Lucas' executive-producer-only credits ever get mentioned in discussions about Lucas, except for Howard the Duck, easily the most ridiculed and poorly-regarded movie in that otherwise mostly-praised selection.
That's not to say he hasn't done plenty with his own actual creations to earn derision, of course. There's plenty of stuff to lament about the Star Wars prequels (and special editions), not to mention Radioland Murders, as much as it pains me to say so. That said, I do think there's more than enough to criticize him over re: his own movies without dragging other people's movies into it that he had some relatively marginal involvement with.
Which is quite different from Shatneritis; which the person lives in his own world. Lucacemia in fact is where the afflicted person believes that EVERYONE lives in HIS world.
Never monkey with another monkey's monkey.
A common belief, and almost always incorrect. The executive producer has either earned that position by financing the greatest portion of the production *or* by being a high-level producer at a studio that has given him or her a great deal of autonomy to green-light productions based on their prior track record. In either case that person will virtually *always* have the final say on almost every element of the production from cast to story to crew members to soundtrack, ad nauseam. The only two exceptions to that rule will be 1) if the exec is so trusting (or naive) that they say "here's a check for $30,000,000. Do whatever you want. Seriously, go nuts!" or b) the exec has hired big-name talent who insist on a complete creative control clause in their contract. Either of those cases are rare. Think about it. Would *you* put millions of your dollars (or dollars of your employer) on the line with absolutely no input into where the money is going?
(ps - I thought *exactly* the same thing until I got into the business.)
(pps - Lea Thompson = r0wr!)
Or 30,000 pornos. He could get those on pay-per-view also.
Jar Jar Binks
Fabio Aquotte
Rathole? My home this is!
SPOILER ALERT! STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST EPISODE AND DON'T WANT SOMETHING GIVEN AWAY
On the one hand, she has this ability that she wants to explore. She's walked into fire, jumped off various things, impaled herself, mangled her hand, had her head turned 180 degrees, etc. Yet she's always fine afterwards. How far does she have to go to hurt herself?
Conversely, she's a 16 year-old high school student. She seems to like being a cheerleader (remember her defense of cheerleading when her dad put it down) and she feels she would probably lose her position as a cheerleader (and the popularity perks that come with it) if everybody knew of her abilities. That's why she didn't speak up when the other girl took credit for saving the fireman.
So at the same time, she's mortified and fascinated by her abilities. Think of early Spiderman comics and Peter's conflict with being the unpopular nerd while, at the same time, being the popular superhero. Also think of the kids from "The Incredibles"--they have these superpowers that they can't use.
She shares her abilities with the school geek because (a) he's a nerd and probably isn't freaked out by the whole "superhero" thing and (b) he's an unpopular kid who gets the bask in the glow of being around and seen with the popular girl (remember the line, "I'll talk to you tomorrow--in public"?) The filming is, again, part of that high school thing. Perhaps it was his idea--I don't remember.
And the fact that her father is being set up as the chief villain means that, at some point, there's going to be an interesting confrontation there--especially since he knows his adopted daughter is one of the people he's searching for. How he got the tape remains a mystery, of course...
You're right, though. So far I haven't been all that impressed with the rest of them. Hiro, at the moment, is little more than comic relief. As for the rest, most of them are dealing with "Gee, I think I there's something wrong with me" which gets a little bit tedious.
Ladies and gentlemen, Exhibit 1. Mansquito.
Yes, but at least the movie doesn't try to hide the fact that it is fiction.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
It's nice to know that good old Mr. Lucas is just as much "in it for the money" as everyone else in that industry...
My first thought was that he's found a match for his talent in directing and script-writing in made for TV movies.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
"Lost" is a great example (and, I suppose, "Desperate Housewives", though I don't watch it). ABC was one of the least-watched broadcast networks. They tried doing the same stuff the other networks were doing. That didn't work. So they tried something new and different because, after all, what did they have to lose? Worked out pretty well for them.
okay, okay, fair enough...point taken...although, I really did not like "The French Connection"...I think because I perceived it to look like it was cheaply made, i.e. lots of bad editing, bad really fake blood and gunshot wounds, bad and annoying accompanying score...although, I'll have to see put "The Conversation" on the netflix list...now, I dunno how I could forget 2001...
anyway, back to your original point on the "summer blockbuster", me wonders, by the time that summer of 1975 came around, the oil embargo fears were receding, we were pretty much done with Vietnam, all that 60s protest shit had abated...that by this time, the populace itself was ready for brainless, but yet v. entertaining movies...also, I wonder, since Jaws was actually a movie with a summer setting, whether that added to its allure...and of course, after it obviously was a hit, did the marketing machine in Hollywood latch on to the "Summer Blockbuster" theme and ram it down the populace's thrat, hmmmm
Of course today, the movies that have made the most were released during the T-day to Christmas season...i.e. the LOTR series, Titanic, Passion of Le Christ (actually, this was Winter)...
I have always strongly maintained that Jar-Jar (and the Gungans in general) wouldn't have been the appalling mess that he was, if only George had done what he did with all the other aliens, and given them a language of their own.
I didn't even mind the clipped english they spoke to outsiders, but to speak it amongst themselves too?!? George, what the hell were you thinking!
I have to admit to being someone who enjoyed the prequel movies, even if I found EP. 3 a little "rushed", but then it almost had to have been to merge it with the already existing Ep. 4. Having said this (emphasis mine), I can see why people feel the way they do about these movies. Methinks George might have been better off career wise, if he had left the sleeping behemoth alone, and made a movie about something else entirely.
Does anyone else feel the need to point out that Lucas (and Spielberg) was (were) pretty much responsible for the birth of "big-budget franchise films" in the first place?
I know I'm not typical, but I've abandoned TV, probably permanently (I haven't had a TV for a few years now). I almost never go to the theater, either, but I still rent movies from Netflix. Maybe the lesson George Lucas should have learned is to make *good* movies on a smaller budget. It's ridiculous that hit movies have to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. My guess is that too many people are involved and they're throwing too much money at special effects. Scale down the productions and let the story carry the movie instead of the effects.
Like I know more than George Lucas does about movies...
-Rich
You do know that Lucas had very little to do with Howard The Duck, right? All he did was loan his mate a bit of money and to return the favour he put Lucas' name up as Executive Producer.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
I read somewhere that the premise of the show is eventually going to in a direction similar to the X-Men movies; that is, the public finds out that there are people with special abilities and shows how they have difficulty accepting it. I think this is very interesting and I'm excited to see how this show evolves.
I like it a lot so far.
Every Star Wars year was a financial loss for ILM, sometimes resulting in layoffs, while the non-Star Wars years were spent recouping those losses.
The company was formed in the 70's and only now is Hollywood trying to play catch up. Its called an investment, and Lucas is laughing his way to the bank when movie studios come to him on their knees begging for ILM's decades of expertise.
Obviously, good ole George read this press release: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/ menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?vgnexto id=6573d3b8b0c3d010VgnVCM100000ac0a260aRCRD
(please ignore the terrible site design...it makes me wanna barf)
Long story short, the TV market grew 1% this year. I don't think this qualifies as "a trend that more people are watching tv than movies." These sorts of statistics do prove a move by consumers from movies to TV?
However, in purely non-scientific terms, I think there is a trend in quality among some TV shows. Witness Battlestar Gallactica, for example. But moving to a different medium won't improve the quality of your product, George.
Howard the Duck had the lovely Leah Thompson in it... So no, he shouldn't have quit.
If we'd have been really lucky he'd have quit before Phantom Menace, sparing us from Jar Jar.
Still, Lucas won't be stinking up the big screen ever again. Excellent!
Hey Howard the duck was awesome man! :-}
> calling online distribution a 'rathole.'
Is this a new P2P service?
Take some of the cash you're blowing on the special effects and use it to hire writers who are willing to try something new and interesting. You know, like writing a compelling story instead of scribbling about some idiotic teenage puppy love. Star Wars should have looked like more than what was pretty much just high-tech high school drama and fights.
I read a quote from George a few months ago. He said that following Star Wars he was going to concentrate on making more artsy, challenging films. Personally I was really looking forward to that stuff. I love THX 1138 and I'd love to see Lucas make another picture like that. TV...now that's a true rathole. Wake up, George!
"War makes me sad." - Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4Potdpjhw
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
you laos see mo be getting more balls and guts on tv. i am a cinephile and director [wannabe at the momen.i produce small stuff ]
torture, jingoistic foreign policy has consqequences. iraq war - 24
torture, prejudie, modern life, the environment etc. iraq war - lost
governments are evil, families are tenuous - invasion.
surface - all good
threshold.
where are the movies|? smae place they were during vietnam.
and surface?
threshold?
invasion was deisgned to appeal to women believe it or not. which i liked.
No of course I understand that as the primary investor they are going to have input. But also as the executive producers usually have their fingers in many pots they don't spend much time worrying about the day to day operations or actually directing the film. I'm sure they get the chance to yell at the director from time to time. But sometimes when the final product is just this bad, I assume they have to say f it, there is no fixing this, just put it out and hope to make some money back.
I think it's Lea Thompson. But your right, she is quite a dish. Wow Wee...
Why does everyone hate on Mansquito so much. I thought it was a decent, low-budget, made-for-TV monster flick. Pretty good for a bad movie.
Mansquito was certainly better than most of the crappy 'suspense' movies whose only claim to Scince-Fiction is that the background mattes supposedly render a spacestation or Mars-caves or something and otherwise have nothing to do with the story.
I'll take guys in rubber monster suits over their normal Made For SciFi pablum anytime. Methinks the Mansquito haters didn't actually watch the movie, or don't have a reference point for the other far crappier (and boring!) Made for SciFi movies.
{ - Generic Guy - }
I confess: I was wrong about that. Sequels existed before Star Wars.
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
How could you have missed "The Conversation" and have an account on Slashdot? It's about TECH GUYS who build surveillance equipment and spy on people. These guys were "hackers" before the term was invented.
If you have seen "Enemy Of The State", look for the old picture of the Gene Hackman character. That's a picture that I would swear came from "The Conversation".
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
You might like to know that the person whose head was rotated backwards was shown to be just fine afterwards. Invulnerable, but not super-strong maybe? Odd, definitely.
I'm going to dissent on most of this. Not just on the value of the Star Wars prequels (I loved them) but on the whole 'state of movies' in general. First, with Star Wars. I admit that when I first saw Phantom Menace I was disappointed, but after watching it after seeing the next 2 it was vastly better, seeing it in context. The trilogy was, true, loaded with awesome effects (which I don't have a problem with) but it's the whole Annakin/Padmé relationship, and a number of other, more subtle themes that make the trilogy as much as anything. As for movies today being all bad, I totally disagree. There have certainly been ones I didn't enjoy, but nobody's ever going to be pleased by everything coming out. A lot of the big-budget, visually-oriented stuff (King Kong, Batman Begins, etc.) has been outstanding. The only thing I agree with on the budget issues is some of the less obvious choices. Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, that kind of thing, you can see why it would cost so much; but I really don't understand why some of the comedies, dramas, police stories, etc. are costing 65 and 70 million nowadays, even when they are really good. I'm a fan of the big epics, but I don't understand why people think that's all that comes out nowadays. Fifteen years ago, would March Of The Penguins or Whale Rider have been getting wide releases? I think the main reason the 2000s have been a tremendous time for movies (although other periods have put out lots of great stuff too) is that all the different 'genres' or 'styles' are being well represented (well most of them - Westerns and Musicals, for example, are still rare, but there's more of them than they were for a long time) instead of just focusing on 2 or 3 subgenres for a couple of years, then switching to 2 or 3 different ones for a while, and so on. Let's look at just a small cross-section of what's come out in the 2000s: the Star Wars prequels; Lord Of The Rings trilogy; Rabbitproof Fence; Gothika; Spirited Away; Superman Returns; Millennium Actress; An Inconvenient Truth; House Of Sand And Fog; Phantom Of The Opera (2004); 4 Inyong Shiktak (aka The Uninvited); Freddy Vs. Jason; Identity; Underworld and Underworld Evolution; Lilo & Stitch; Spirit - Stallion Of The Cimarron; The Eye; Showtime; 13 Going On 30; The Notebook; Winged Migration; X-Men trilogy; Amélie; King Kong; Solaris (2002); The Exorcism Of Emily Rose; The Lake House; Whale Rider; Unspeakable; Dinosaur; The Village; and I could go on for a long time. The point is, there's a ton of stuff for every taste out there, from all over the world. Not everybody's going to like everything on the list above, but the point is there's so much to choose from coming out now. If you don't like some of the stuff you've been seeing, take a chance on some different titles; you might be pleasantly surprised. And I, for one, hope Lucas eventually changes his mind and does a couple more movies. I think he's still got some great stuff left in him.