Today I watched 7 minutes of unauthorized footage of Return of the Jedi being filmed in California in 1982 by someone named Jeff Broz. I have no clue who he is. I get the feeling he worked on the set or maybe he just snuck in one day and started recording.
The footage isn't that great. By that I mean, nothing of note happens. The scenes being filmed take place on Tatooine as Jabba is about to execute Luke, Han and Chewie by throwing them into the Sarlacc Pit. In the movie, this is very exciting. In real life it involves a lot of wires, large animatronic puppets, and a lot of standing around. There are no close up shots, no interviews with the cast or crew, just wide screen shots that look like they might have been captured through a barbed wire fence on a really windy day.
This "film" made me realize there are limits to my obsessions. As a die hard fan of the first 3 movies I've sat through my share of painful experiences in the name of Star Wars; Jar Jar, Jake Lloyd, and of courses this-
I'll sit through just about anything that has the SW name attached to it, but I draw the line at 7 mins of grainy footage of Boba Fett being tossed around on a mini-crane like Mary Martin in Peter Pan. I'm not offended by it, it doesn't bother me, I'm just not interested. I've reached the edge of my interest in Star Wars and it's this film.
I found this while googling SW pictures. This falls well into the realm of Star Wars things I like:
Happy Fat Tuesday! Whatever that means. I'll have to look up the meaning of this whacky, booze filled day.
I'm really enjoying looking up the history of holidays/traditions. Most of the time it's about what I'd expect but it's been fun taking in the new information. I'll be able to recycle the knowledge year after year; the gift that keeps on giving!
Today's documentary came on recommendation from my friend Heather. She traveled to Estonia a few years ago on a school choir trip, and learned all about the country's rich history and love for singing. She let me borrow a couple of " The Singing Revolution".
The film details the long, painful history of Estonia as it suffers through the Soviet and Nazi occupation for decades. Pogroms, genocides, oppression and strife fill Estonia's history. But throughout it all the Estonian people are able to preserve their way of life and heritage. And they do it through song. Apparently the whole country loves singing; it's been their thing for hundreds of years. So the film shows how the people use song and concerts to protest for their national independence. Pretty inspiring, to say the least.
What I learned: A lot about Estonian history. Before this I could not have placed Estonia on the map let alone told you about their relationship with the rest of Europe. Like a lot of smaller Eastern European countries, Estonia served as a whipping boy for the Soviets for many many years, crippled by the failing government and threatened by its abusive regime. For a few years surrounding WWII the power shifted and the Nazis took control, but (surprise surprise) things weren't any better. Eventually the Estonians regained power and democracy reigned.
What I liked: The first half of the film is easily one of the most inspiring tales I've ever heard. A peaceful country is invaded by tyrants and thousands of citizens are killed and shipped off to Siberian death camps. All forms of national pride and unity are outlawed; no Estonian songs are permitted, no flags can be flown. But the people don't take the oppression lying down; they fight back. Instead of guns and knives, the Estonians use their words and their arts to spread their story around the world. Massive choir concerts, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, are performed, and Estonian pride is blatantly displayed despite being against the law. Inspired by the acts of defiance, the people grow more and more bold, demanding more rights from their Soviet oppressors. Soon a cultural revolution has transformed into a political one, taken from the streets to the capitol buildings.
What I didn't like: ...And that's when the movie took a turn for the boring. While the first half was full of uprising in the streets, the second half is how the country fought the laws and politicians that were oppressing them. 90% of it is footage of old parliament meetings and press conferences from the 80's.
It's kind of like Star Wars: the original 3 films were about hope and pure goodness triumphing over pure evil, but the later 3 movies were about senate sub-committee meetings and votes of non-confidence. Pretty anti-climatic.
Senates: Where all good ideas come to die
If you want a feel good movie about the power of people and art, this is for you.
Here's the trailer:
Like I said my friend let me borrow a copy of the movie so I don't know where it's available online, but if you search hard enough, you can find anything online.
In honor of Phantom Menace returning to theaters this weekend, I watched a Star Wars doc.
Unlike most die-hard SW fans, I don't posses the complicated love-hate relationship with George Lucas. In my eyes, he made the films, they are his ideas, so he can do what he wants with them. Are the prequels bad movies? Yes, very bad. But that's his choice to make bad movies. Fanboys don't have the right to keep Lucas from doing what he wants. Mainly, keep making a sick amount of money.
Pictured: A ruthless, cold blooded egomaniac. And Bobba Fett.
It does show how much the SW story has impacted America, pop or otherwise. These movies have become so much of people's lives they become defensive when the films are modified, or sullied by sub-par prequels. It's not just a defense of the movies, but of the larger cultural landscape they are a part of.
While fanboys are worried about the legacy of SW, this documentary examines its past; influences, references, and inspirations. George is interviewed at Skywalker Ranch by journalist Bill Moyers.
What I learned: I didn't realize how much of the film pulled from traditional, well known folk lore. A lot of Greek and Roman mythology influenced the film and its characters. I had heard theories about SW being influenced by mythology but it was cool hearing it straight from the source.
What I liked: My love for Bill Moyers grows and grows. Not only is he an outstanding journalist, but he's an amazing interviewer. As someone who follows interviewers like most people follow athletes, I have learned to tell who is invested in the conversation and who is just phoning it in. Moyers if firing on all cylinders; asking good questions, keeping the pandering and celeb. worshiping to a minimum, injecting just the right amount of personality to keep things interesting but not distract from the interviewee.
Keep playing it cool, Billy.
What I didn't like: I wasn't that impressed with Lucas. I have only seen a few interviews with him in the past. As one of the most hated figures in nerd culture, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt before forming an opinion of him. Instead of coming off as cocky, conceited, or out of touch, as most of his critics condemn him for, I just found him kinda of boring. I thought he'd discuss more about the cultural inspirations for the films, and instead spent more of the time talking about what was inspiring him personally while he was writing the story. Interesting, but not what I was looking for.
I go to the theater with very low expectations. I haven't seen Phantom Menace in like 5 years, for a reason; it's the worst of the prequels. But like every fanboy, I don't have a choice; I have to go. They could fill the seats with razor blades and sneeze on my popcorn but if Stars Wars is in the theaters I have to go.
Don't know what else to post here so I'll include Imperial March on a Tesla Coil:
Well it was bound to happen; I've watched a doc I didn't understand. I knew eventually I'd reach a film that was over my head or full of information I couldn't relate to. I just thought it'd take more than 3 weeks to reach it.
First off, I have to take issue with this film's name. It lured me in with its Star Wars reference and then did not deliver. It had nothing to do with it. At all. (I just want to stress how disappointed I was).
What it was about was stars and energy and space. Beyond that, I was lost. My scientific education stopped around sophomore year of high school, once I learned I was too tall to be an astronaut. After that science lost all importance to me.
What I liked: The parts I could follow were very interesting. In the 1950's American scientists believed that the Soviet Union was testing nuclear weapons on the moon. Why they were so worried I don't know. Anyway they started examining heat and energy sources in space and instead found readings that were way more powerful than any bomb could produce. The rest of the film explores the different theories about what's causing these power surges.
What I learned: "If you took all the stars in all the galaxies in all the quasars and everything in the universe and put them all together in one point at the distance of a gamma ray burst it would not be as bright as the gamma ray burst." A mind-blowing quote. If you took everything that is and put it together, it's still not enough??
What I didn't like: I didn't dislike any of it, it was just too advanced for me to follow. It assumed I knew more than I did about basic science, using words like 'gamma rays' and 'neutrons' freely.
All in all, not a bad film. I wish they hadn't got my hopes up about Star Wars, but you can't blame them for sensationalizing it a bit. If you are more scientifically minded than I, I bet you're get a kick out of it. In fact, I bet you'd make fun of me for my laughable lack of basic science-knowledge. Anyway you can watch it here: http://freedocumentariesonline.org/the-death-star/
Till I get smarter about science, I'll just stick to They Might Be Giants Songs for all my science needs:
I didn't do anything today except eat chili and watch documentaries. Not too shabby. In the last 2 days I've eaten 10 bowls of chili. Is that too many?
Today I watched 'Building Empire', a fan made doc about The Empire Strikes Back. I'd heard about this a few years ago and never watched it. It was just as good as I expected.
Leave it to a documentary to ruin the magic
Part of a series (1 for each of the 6 films) this one focuses on the 2nd film, providing behind the scenes footage, early drafts of the script, and commentary from the director and actors. The film runs chronological to the film, adding info and trivia as the film progresses.
What I learned: A good deal, considering I'm a pretty big Star Wars nerd already. All the Hoth scenes were filmed in Norway, where the average temperature was 27 below. The Emperor was conceived as a cross between Nixon and The Wizard of Oz, which makes total sense to me. And the guy who played Darth Vader (David Prowse) didn't know Vader was Luke's dad till he watched the completed film in theaters.
What I liked: A great deal of it. I really liked that it was layered on top of the movie, kinda like pop-up video, so you learn this stuff as you go, and you still feel like you're watching the film. I appreciated hearing from the directors and technicians about how difficult a lot of the scenes were to construct; it makes me appreciate them more. This doc taught me how little I understand about filmaking. The fact that it's shot in multiple locations, and never in order, is still somehow mind blowing to me. Every movies shot that way so I don't know why I'm just thinking about it now- something I knew but never realized I guess. It just seems like it'd be so confusing to do it that way.
What I didn't like: If I had to pick something, I guess it'd be that most of the commentary and notes were too technical for my taste. They focused on how the special effects were done, and that's all over my head. Conversely, I was really hoping to hear more about the creation and evolution of the characters, and how they came to be. I think have never watched the official SW documentaries that come with the films so I imagine that's the kind of stuff those cover.
I'm excited to watch the other 5 films sometime, especially the new ones to see what they have to say about them. You can watch them on youtube.
And here's a well-edited video that always makes me laugh.
