Thanks to our friends at Club Jade for bringing this to our attention. You can skip ahead about 3 minutes and get to the juicy parts.
I’m sure the story will have changed drastically, but in this, Mark Hamill seems to imply that Luke will be coming back as a ghost? That’s what I got out of it anyway.
If nothing else, we need to be prepared for rumours about the story coming out of every corner of the galaxy and we need to take them all with a grain of salt. Chances are good we won’t know much about the story for a long, long time. And when we do find out, it’ll be much more easily identifiable as true.
What is true, however, is that George Lucas told Mark Hamill about this project both during the original trilogy era, and last year when he had lunch with Hamill and Carrie Fisher to tell them about the new trilogy.
As news becomes available, trust we’ll report on it.
After the mess of racing Tomorrow Never Dies through production and ending up with a good looking but ultimately silly movie, Bond producers wanted to get back to basics and create a James Bond film that pulled out all the stops. For the most part, they may have succeeded, though they certainly committed many missteps.
On paper, the film seems brilliant. The villain, played to perfection by Robert Carlyle, is a terrorist known as Renard who survived an assassination attempt by MI6 and has a bullet in his brain that allows him to feel no pain. For his part, he’s working to irradiate a major city in order to benefit a corporation who wishes to be the exclusive pipeline of oil across vast swaths of land. It’s everything people need to see: greedy financial sectors plotting to harm the Earth for nothing more than a profit margin.
Unfortunately for them, James Bond is on the case.
So, without further ado, I will open the floor to the other robots:
Swank-Mo-Tron: I’ll be honest, I’ve not been a very big fan of this movie since it came out. When it did come out, it felt too long, overly-plodding, and I had a hard time getting over Denise Richardson as a nuclear physicist. But watching it again I’ve softened on it quite a bit. It’s still far too long, but there is a lot to love. Aside from Richardson’s “Christmas Jones” character, this might be the most straightforward and dramatic of Brosnan’s films.
Citizen-Bot: I was enthralled from the opening sequence. If anything, I like this movie more than it deserves. It is long, but there’s some good elements to like in here. I was in. Until Christmas Jones showed up, who sticks out like a sore thumb. . .
Swank-Mo-Tron: I want to talk about the pre-credits sequence, because this is, in history, the longest in any Bond film ever. I was a theatre projectionist when it came out and everything was still on film and I used to count reel markers and I was alarmed and unsettled when I watched the film for the first time and the opening kept going and going and going, and we hit the first reel marker before we hit the opening credits. The boat chase went on way too long, especially since we’d already seen a thrilling negotiation and escape at the Swiss Bank, but it brought us to a place I really liked. Bond, dangling precariously from a hot air balloon by a rope, chasing a woman who would rather blow herself up than face the wrath of the film’s villain. I loved how Bond wounded himself on his way down, breaking his fall on a building, and how his hurt shoulder continued to play a part of the story through the film.
Citizen-Bot: I love that opening sequence, which, ironically, I got to see twice on opening night because the projector broke in my first screening right after the opening credits, so we got to go into the next showing. So I got it twice the first time around and loved every second: the set-up in the Swiss Bank, a secret assassin who refuses to kill Bond, a bomb plot against MI6, and then a boat chase down the Thames in Q’s “fishing boat” that makes Live and Let Die look like a child’s duckie regatta.
I also love some of the other action set pieces. For the first time since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, I think they did a good snow chase scene. The flying snowmobiles was so over the top that it just became fun.
Swank-Mo-Tron: I appreciated the Stockholm syndrome plot between Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) and Renard, but I didn’t need it so blatantly spelled out by Bond. The motivations of all the characters actually seemed well played in this film, and the plan is sound, though it’s basically Auric Goldfinger’s. Thinking about it, these guys need to get a new playbook.
Citizen-Bot: Yeah, Bond plots really needed to start branching out. Part of the downside, and what adds to the plodding of this film, is the need for everything to be spelled out to the audience. It was like after Tomorrow Never Dies came out, they focus group tested it and too many people said, “I don’t get it.” So they felt the need to be overly expository rather than just tell a good story and let the sheep get lost if they needed to.
Swank-Mo-Tron: One thing I do love are winks and nods back to the history of the series. Even the title refers back to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the family motto of Bond’s family. And, other bots, correct me if I’m mistaken, but is this the first time Pierce Brosnan Bond owned the “Commander” rank? I really like that. I can’t tell you why, but when someone calls him Commander Bond, it brings a smile to my face.
Citizen-Bot: I love that little flair, too. It’s the only thing that makes his traversing of a Russian nuclear submarine plausible, though. Otherwise it might be like, “Really? He just conveniently knows which torpedo tubes to take where? And how to run a naval nuclear reactor?” I guess because my grandfather was in the Navy before being recruited into the OSS and then the CIA, it always rings true to me that the intelligence and the military game kind of overlap, so I love that as well. (Love you,Grandpa. Miss you.)
Swank-Mo-Tron: But how can we discuss this film without talking about the awfulness of Denise Richardson? Was she attractive and worked well as a Bond girl? Yes. But not this Bond girl. She just did not fit what needed to be an intelligent, nuanced role. And Brosnan is eyeing her like a lecherous wolf the entire time. He has no respect for that intellect because it isn’t really there.
Citizen-Bot: And really? “Christmas” Jones? And for the payoff of several bad puns at the end. I think this Robot Chicken sketch says it all. It would’ve been better if her name had just been Ivana Humpalot or Chesty McGee or something. And why in the world was she a nuclear scientist? I mean, it makes a tiny bit of sense in the plot, but not really. But my real problem with this was not Denise Richards (who I prefer to think of as White She-Devil from the vastly underrated Undercover Brother) but the one scene where she and Bond speak Russian to each other. The sad thing is? Denise Richards speaks more passable Russian than Pierce Brosnan. I seriously wanted to yell at the screen a la Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade “IF HE IS A RUSSIAN SCIENTIST THEN I AM MICKEY MOUSE!!!’ Cover- blown. I half expected him to start plotting how to take down Moose and Squirrel with Natasha. Gaaaaahhhhh.
But in the end, how I feel about Christmas Jones is how I feel about the entire movie: pretty to look at, kind of fits in the Bond universe if you don’t think about it too much. And it really appeals to the lowest common denominator in me.. Which is too bad. Because what could have been really great was instead just a mostly passable action popcorn flick.
We talked before about Robbie Coltrane as Valentin, and he’s back in this movie. I really liked his reprise of the role from Goldeneye and glad they brought him back. He works well as a foil for Bond and contributes to the plot in ways few other characters could’ve. He’s the perfect frenemy for Bond.
And we would be completely remiss if we didn’t pay some tribute here to the final performance of Desmond Llewellyn as Q, who died in a car accident just a month or so after the release of the film. My Bond-o-phile roommate and I went back to the theater and re-saw it after hearing of his death just so we could shed a tear at his, “Always have an escape route” quip and the passing of the torch to John Cleese (obviously a transfer to MI6 from the Ministry of Silly Walks). “Now pay attention 007. . . “ These words are as iconic to me as “shaken, not stirred,” and Llewellyn was a great sport in these roles. He really held the cohesiveness of the franchise together, even when the actors around him playing Bond changed. Nobody does it better.
Swank-Mo-Tron: Overall, this isn’t a great Bond film, but it’s better than a lot of them. It has some great action sequences and Brosnan is finally given some challenging things to do. The only things that bring it down are it’s excessive running time and Denise Richards. 2.5 Martinis.
Citizen-Bot: For once, we’re on the exact same page. I probably like this movie more than it deserves. But it was more fun than Tomorrow Never Dies and certainly better than Die Another Day. What can I say? At the end of the day, I love Christmas, and I love Garbage. 2.5 Martinis.
The latest episode of The Clone Wars, “The Gathering,” sees a group of young Jedi padawans travelling to Illum under the tutelage of Master Yoda and Padawan Ahsoka.
The episode is incredibly straightforward and certainly aimed at the younger segment of the audience, but there’s so much to love for the older fans as well. The young Jedi are taken to the crystal cave on Illum and, in a very “Well of the Souls” like moment, the sunlight hits a crystal and melts an ice door leading into the caves. Yoda and Ahsoka send the younglings into the cave to look for their own, unique lightsaber crystals. Each of the younglings has a character flaw that they’ll have to overcome before they can get their crystal and find their way back before the ice door freezes.
One of them must overcome selfishness, another a reliance on technology, another patience, and the like. Perhaps my favorite was the Ithorian padawan who had to overcome his fear in a Temple of Doom-like cave. The story was by the numbers, but very fun.
Seeing different aliens as much younger versions is always something I enjoy seeing, especially when the Clone Wars team can manage to pull it off so adorably. And who didn’t love that moment in the opening with Plo Koon finding a young Ahsoka?
The animation and lighting for this episode was stunning. Lowlight situations (as one would find in a cave) always seem to be the most visually fascinating.
Whenever we get episode arcs that are on the lighter side, they seem to be followed up with something much darker, so I can’t wait to see what comes next. But for the time being, I’m going to enjoy all the time we can get with the younglings.
Perhaps the thing I loved most about this episode, though, is the exploration of Jedi mythology. We were given the briefest of glances of Illum on the Tartakovsky show and seeing it adapted into a much more full view of what Jedi in their prime went through never ceases to fascinate me. It’s very much a child-like version of Luke’s test in the cave on Dagobah. I really enjoy seeing faint echoes of what we’ve seen in other iterations of Star Wars, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the arc.
Since this week was one of comics’ mystical “fifth week” weeks, that means there were a lot of annuals this week. Sure, it put a strain on my wallet (comics aren’t cheap, after all), but that won’t stop me from giving you my totally uninformed and off-the-handle reviews of them! So here are my Guy Reactions to the books I read this week!
Archie Comics Super Special #1: Nice Christmas-themed magazine with 2 caveats. Don’t like previous digital only stories being touted as new, and the sections where readers are talked to are filled with too much “OMG LOL” crap to try and appeals to the young crowd.
Superman Earth One Volume Two: I hated this book so much, I can’t contain my rage in a single gut reaction. This isn’t Superman. This is “The Mopey Blue-Balled Avenger”.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual #1: “Eastman. He came out of the East to do battle with the Amazing Rando!” MST3K quote aside, Eastman’s solo work is still great. Glad to see it.
Star Trek #14: I always worry the stories in this book will be invalidated by the next movie, especially when minor characters are fleshed out. I hope not in this case. Keenser is cool.
Superman Family Adventures #6: John Henry Irons becomes Steel and fights a villain infused with Kryptonite and saves the day. Hi-jinks ensue. Also: Ma Kent doesn’t take crap from Solomon Grundy.
Action Comics Annual #1: John Henry Irons becomes Steel and fights a villain infused with Kryptonite and saves the day. Hi-jinks ensue. Superman Family did it much better, though. Also: abrupt Atomic Skull origin!
Aquaman #13: Aquaman is full of big, vengeance-y talk, and then backs off. Black Manta, on the other hand, while still a bad guy, has a legit reason to hate Arthur. Also, Orm might be bad! Never saw that coming!
Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1: I like this kind of annual. A complete story that’s a bit lighthearted, but still quite enjoyable.
Batgirl Annual #1: Absolutely stunning art. Also, this made me enjoy New52 Catwoman, so that’s something going for it.
Captain Marvel #6: I did not see that coming. I’m not entirely sure the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff makes sense, but I really enjoyed it. You should read this book.
Justice League Dark Annual #1: I bought this because of Frankenstein. If you like Vertigo, you may like this book, I suppose. Weird to include Amethyst though, when we don’t know her full deal yet.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #15: This was pretty good, Slash is back, but the writing and art makes him more like Tokka than Slash, in my opinion. But still, freaking Slash!
Ame-Comi Girls #8: Anime Wonder Woman has no tact for an “ambassador”. Jade/GL shows up and is Chinese. Good on ya, I guess. Anime Star Sapphire’s costume is even more ridiculous than the mainstream one.
AvX Consequences #4: They should rename this series “Talking heads in a prison with vaguely interesting vignettes on the side”, but that’d take too much space on the masthead.
A+X #1: Holy crap! Comics made in this decade can be unabashedly fun! Also, time travel shenanigans are always a plus for me. Captain America vs. Nazi Sentinels!
Batman Li’l Gotham #1: This was a fun little story. It’s probably for the best that it isn’t weekly though. I don’t want the charm to wear off.
Rocketeer – Cargo of Doom #3: While it feels like this issue took forever to come out, The Rocketeer with a ray gun versus dinosaurs? Shut. Up. And. Take. My. Money.
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16.1: Hey, it’s another story where an Ultimate Spidey’s identity will be exposed! The twist? This one is compelling and worth your time!
Well, we have officially moved into the Brosnan-era of Bond, so that means I can actually take a crack at one of these “30 Days of Bond” reviews! Today, we are looking at Tomorrow Never Dies – what I feel to be a fairly solid entry into the Bond series, but one that fans have mixed feelings about.
I want to start with the opening sequence of this film, as despite the rest of the movie’s issues I have always thought this was a great opening. We find 007 attempting to take down a techno-terrorist because we Americans messed up and allowed him to get his hands on a piece of our technology that he plans to use for his terroristic means. The reason I like this opening so much is the tension at MI6 between M and the General as Bond carries out his mission. The General wants to carpet-bomb the whole area to ensure everyone is taken out, but M is insistant that her man that’s already on the ground can get the job done. Of course, military men are overzealous – missles are launched, and Bond escapes by the skin of his teeth. I recall being much younger watching this and finding it to be exciting as hell; Bond is frantically taking on a small army, but he is in danger from his own people who want to accomplish the mission. Of course he escapes by the skin of his teeth because he knows how to fly a fighter jet.
After Goldeneye, I think most everyone was ready to accept Brosnan as the new Bond, and in this film his performance continues to define “his” Bond. He’s of course suave, cool under pressure, and always willing to bed the ladies. One stand-out in this film for me however was the introduction of Paris Carver (Teri Hatcher). Not only is she the wife if the villain of the film, but we also find out that she is an ex-girlfriend to James. To be honest, her character is pretty flat, but for me it provided to little more insight to Bond as at one time he was quite in love with this woman. Upon her untimely death we see a side of 007 that isn’t shown terrible often – he realized that by reigniting a love affair with this woman he put her life in immediate danger, ultimately making him responsible for her death. While it’s nice to see this humanity in a super secret agent, my gripe here is he is distraught for about 5 minutes, and while it’s brought up again later in the film, the impact doesn’t seem to land full force.
The villain of this 007 outing is a bit different than your standard Bond villain fair. We have a media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce). Yes, a media mogul. Kind of lacks the pinache of just some crazy super villain hell-bent on taking over the world with giant lasers, but in a lot of ways this actually worked for me. First off, he seems a bit more realistic – okay, yes, he has a giant circular-saw-submarine, but his idea of inciting war between countries and being able to capitalize on that isn’t terribly far-fetched. And don’t let the fact that he’s a media mogul fool you, he has the capacity to be sadistic as any ne’er-do-good out there, as seen by his employment of lethally efficient assassins, and henchmen trained in the art of sadistic torcher designed to keep the victim alive as long as possible. Carver may never rank among the top Bond villains for anyone, but for this film he works well enough.
Our Bond Girl for this film, aside from Paris Carver (come on, no cooky Bond Girl name?!), is Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) – a Chinese spy on the same mission as bond. She’s not our “typical” Bond Girl as she can certainly take care of herself and issomehowable to resist Bond’s charm. While she serves a purpose in the film, she seems to be more trouble for Bond than she’s worth. Yes, she ends up coming in handy, but every time I watch this film I can’t help but think “Man, this would probably be so much easier for him if she wasn’t around!”. That said, Wai Lin probably has the same thoughts about Bond. For me, I just never really care much about that character and feel she is pretty forgettable.
Finally, I can’t talk about this film without mentioning Desmond Llewelyn. Unfortunately, this would be the second-to-last time that we saw him play Q as he passed away a little over a month after the release of The World Is Not Enough. He was spry as ever in this film in this iconic role and was able to pass the torch to R (John Cleese). Even at the age of 85 he held his own with Brosnan as they sparred over 007’s immaturity and penchant for destroying his gadgetry as the two tended to do. I think he had some final great comedic moments in this film such as when he attempted to show Bond how to use the remote controlled BMW. In this film, Q’s retirement is alluded to, and perhaps in an unknowingly fitting moment, he provides some final advice to Bond, “Always have an escape plan.” as he lowers through a trap door.
As a sort of final sidenote, I’d like to point out that a Sheryl Crow fan I am not. However, I can’t help but love the hell out of the Tomorrow Never Dies theme – it might be one of my favorites, and I will probably be lynched for typing that out considering some of the great soundtracks that have come from Bond films of the past. But there, it’s out there now.
Tomorrow Never Dies probably doesn’t find its way into anyone’s “Top 5 Bond Films” list, but it’s a solid entry in my book. Perhaps I am a bit biased since Brosnan is the Bond I grew up with, but the film moves at a good pace with some great action and chase sequences that include a remote controlled BMW being “parked” off the side of a parking garage and Bond and Wai Lin sliding a motorcycle under the spinning blades of a helicopter. After watching this film for a fourth time for this review, I can honestly say I am entertained every time.
I am going to give this film 2.75 Martinis with a Twist of Lemon out of 4. The film loses points for the less-than-exciting Bond girls, lack of creative names, but makes up for it with some great action and a unique plot for our hero to foil. The twist of lemon is for the sequence in which a henchman fires an RPG at Bond’s remote-controlled BMW, which simply passes through the already shattered front and rear windows to strike a tailing car. That part kills me every time.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn wraps up today with episode 5, and wow what a way to lead into Halo 4. This episode has emotional ups and downs, lots of action, and cool nods to Halo fictions fans. The 2nd of this series was grim with everyone dying save for the cadets, yet by the end I didn’t feel any sadness, just excitement for Halo.
Master Chief really shined in this episode. His movement and actions were great, and I loved that there were deep thudding sounds when he was running. He came across like the heavy yet agile tank he is which really showed during the epic Hunter battle. I really did not think we’d see anything to that extent, so color me impressed. Its subtle, but one of the best nods to fans is the brief monk chant heard after the Hunter is defeated.
Both the sound effects and visual effects continue to be awesome in this episode. I hope you’ve watched while wearing headphones or some decent speakers like I recommend in the review of episode 1 as I think it the extra depth really adds to it. The visual effects for weapon fire, the Hunter itself and its fuel rod cannon fire are quite stunning against the black night, though the plasma grenade explosion during the Warthog drive was a bit underwhelming.
The ending Pelican flight scene felt awkward to me the first time I watched and I wasn’t sure of its meaning. After a 2nd watch it didn’t feel as weird though I don’t fully understand it. I believe it was to show the Spartans are human too and for the cadets to realize this while they stared in awe. Of course Master Chief kept his helmet on while everyone looked and waited for him to remove it but he was still busy keeping guard. Including Fred and Kelly was a nice touch though I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity there to show them fighting alongside the Chief and for them to have more then a few seconds worth of screen time.
When the news of a Halo movie was going around several years ago, it never really interested me. I worried it’d be done poorly and not live up to my expectations. I felt the same way for Forward Unto Dawn. I’m not sure what I expected of the web series, but it definitely surpassed them in every way. In a way, this was the Halo movie, at least in the way Master Chief is portrayed. A hero, but not the star. The video games are great to experience through his point of view, but I think he works better in film as a supporting character so that his mysterious and stoic personality is kept. Still, I’d love to see what Steward Hendler and friends could do with even more time and money. I’d want to see more set pieces, a wicked bad ass suit for Chief, and a lot more Covenant.
I do have a few gripes with the series. I feel it took too long for the invasion to start which left us with too little time with the Chief. I also felt the impact of the invasion didn’t quite hit the mark. How were the cadets the only survivors? How did the Covenant wipe out an entire planet in less than an hour? Why didn’t we see more Covenant? I wish these things had been different or stronger, but it hardly detracted from the experience for me.
I really enjoyed Forward Unto Dawn and I’m really looking forward to viewing it a one fluid experience and in higher quality when the Blu-ray comes out in December. I’m really excited for what this means for Halo and I think it was a great way to lead into Halo 4. I wonder if future if any other studios will attempt something similar to this scale in the future and I wonder if we’ll see more live-action Halo in this format. I hope so.
It’s time again to get ready for an all new arc from The Clone Wars, this time we’re seeing Yoda and his shepherding of the younglings. For many, their favorite part of Attack of the Clones was Yoda and his interaction with the younglings and now we’re getting a few episodes full of that.
It seems as though, at this point, everything is business as usual on The Clone Wars front in the wake of the Disney buyout. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Here’s the breakdown for this episode:
Ahsoka escorts a group of younglings to Ilum, where they will learn from Yoda and undergo a crucial rite-of-passage: the construction of their lightsabers. They grapple with both physical and inner challenges as they face the dangerous task ahead of them in “The Gathering,” airing this Saturday, November 3rd at 9:30am ET/PT on Cartoon Network.
Episode Trivia:
The opening prologue trailer to the episode features a rare flashback to before the Clone Wars, when Plo Koon discovered the baby Ahsoka Tano on an undisclosed planet, and brought her into the Jedi Order.
The notion of lightsabers being powered by mystical crystals find their roots in the “Kyber crystal” concept in the early draft scripts of Star Wars, a mystical gem said to amplify the power of the Force.
The symbols denoting the balance of the light side and dark side first seen in the realm of Mortis are visible in the temple entrance on Ilum. The markings that lined the halls of the Father’s Monastery on Mortis are also found within the Ilum temple.
This episode introduces a Jedi youngling symbol worn as a patch on the students’ cold weather gear.
The crystals are colorless until the young Jedi holds it, upon which it becomes attuned to the Force-user. This appears to be what governs the colors of Jedi lightsabers.
And in this next clip, does anyone else get a Raiders of the Lost Ark/Well of the Souls vibe? I did…
There are many, many unknowns regarding the new Star Wars films. One thing we do know is that George Lucas will not be directing, something that hasn’t happened since The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Since we’re all fans of movies and of Star Wars here at Big Shiny Robot!, we thought we’d put together a list of 5 directors that would be perfect for the job.
So, in no particular order:
1. Brad Bird – Brad Bird might be one of the most gifted visual storytellers of the last generation. Cutting his teeth on The Simpsons, Bird had one of the most significant feature film debuts with The Iron Giant, a classic animated film that ranks better than most of Disney’s entire animated repertoire. Then, he stepped in at Pixar and delivered The Incredibles, a smart and stylish take on superheroes, Ratatouille, which he directed from someone elses story and made uniquely his own and caused tears for something as innocuous as a food critic tasting a dish. He’s proven himself in the live action world as well with someone elses franchise, making what might have been the best of the Mission: Impossible movies. He has experience in animation (essential for any Star Wars film), live action (and we do mean action), and the heartfelt under currents required to tell an engaging story.
2. Alfonso Cuaron – Cuaron directed what many believe to be the perfect Harry Potter film. It was a dark, atmospheric film whose structure was a well-oiled machine. He took child actors capable of only the most wooden acting and brought them to life and set them down the path that would carry them through the rest of the Harry Potter films. As a visual stylist, his work on films like Children of Men and Great Expectations proves that he can shoot drama and action with equal aplomb. But the relationships between his characters are just as important, take Y tu Mama Tambien as an example. Cuaron could bring a unique vision and style to the Star Wars universe and it would be well crafted and the actors would have an excellent resource to rely on.
3. Edgar Wright – Edgar Wright is a director who, try as he might, just can’t get the notice he deserves for the movies he is making. He’s crafted some of the finest films of his generation, well executed and planned, and inherently re-watchable. From his collaborations with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, all the way to his work on Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, he is a deft hand at taking the given genre and using all of its conventions to defy expectations. And he’s already in the Marvel stable, working diligently on Ant-Man. Which, to be honest, is probably the only reason he’s completely out of the running for Episode VII. But there are still two more films. It would be an out of the box choice, for sure, and get Edgar Wright working on something perhaps right out of his comfort zone.
4. Steven Spielberg – Thanks to his impressive list of movies still deemed as classics and his long relationship with George Lucas, Spielberg seems an obvious choice to turn to. Many might balk at their last collaboration, but Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was pitch perfect for the sort of movie it was emulating, full of tried and true moments of adventure that could have only happened in an Indiana Jones film. The imagined thought of Spielberg doing full blown Space Opera in the Star Wars universe has all of us very excited.
5. Joss Whedon – Again, with Joss being busy elsewhere for Disney, working on Avengers 2 set to release the same year as Episode VII, it’s hard to see how he could do this film, but he could certainly be eyed for Episodes VIII and IX. For many, the problem with the Star Wars prequels was the lack of a smart mouthed Han Solo character, and what better director could there be to bring that verbal sparring back to the saga? With Whedon’s ability to give us the heartfelt deaths of characters, he’d be perfect for the middle chapter of the new Star Wars trilogy. And The Avengers proved he knows how to deal with a massive cast and keep a balanced film in the context of a massive action adventure/science fiction epic. That and everyone feels the same way about him as they did about George Lucas in 1980.
But there’s another option…. NONE OF THE ABOVE:
There are just as many compelling reasons why we should be looking to “none of the above.” Most of these directors are too busy or too expensive. Some of the best Science-fiction franchises have a long history of bringing in capable directors with something to prove (case in point – Irvin Kershner for Empire, the entire Alien franchise is basically new directors. And we’ve seen with The Clone Wars show that new blood is good for Star Wars. In that spirit, we’ve put together this list of directors that might not be thought of as highly as the above directors, but we think they are no less capable.
So, here are five directors no one else will suggest but we think could be perfect:
1. Rian Johnson – The director of Looper and Brick should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind for a new Star Wars film. Given the creative consultation of George Lucas and a strong guiding hand, Johnson could create a wonderfully complex Star Wars film, dark, heady, and moody, but with a strong grounding of fine cinematic structure and excellent acting. And it would almost certainly bring us Joseph Gordon-Levitt into the Star Wars universe.
2. Neil Blomkamp – Did someone say District 9? And Elysium has many of us all sorts of excited. He’s obviously good with sci-fi and action, tells a hell of a story, and can do things on a low budget that look like they’re much more expensive. He also seems incredibly adept at doing what science fiction does best: tell us stories about current social problems without beating us over the head with meaning. While we never want Star Wars to lose that sense of the universal heroic journey, adding in some social commentary beyond the mention of a cantina patron selling “death sticks” could be interesting.
3. Dave Filoni – Though he’s never proven himself with a live action feature, as the supervising director of The Clone Wars, Dave Filoni has shepherded in a new era of Star Wars that even the most ardent of prequel haters love. He’s been apprenticing under Lucas for the duration of the series and at Celebration VI, Lucas made mention of the fact that he was training the new generation. We might see it with Filoni. Under his guidance, The Clone Wars has proven he has the chops to take the more serious side of Star Wars with things like The Umbaran Arc, the lighter side with episodes like Bombad Jedi and anything starring the Droids, and the mythological side, with the Mortis trilogy. I don’t think it would be any trick for him to transition to live action… And if he’s not in the running for the movie, he should be in the running for the live action TV Show.
4. Duncan Jones – Moon might be one of the great underrated science fiction films of the last ten years. It was small and visually stylish, just like Lucas’ fantastic THX-1138. His handling of Sam Rockwell proves he’s got what it takes to pull a performance and that movie is just dripping with style. It also proved he can work with special effects, with all of the Rockwell clones in single shots. His next project, an untitled bio-pic of Ian Fleming sounds as though it could be fantastic (especially reading stuff like this) , but wouldn’t you rather see him doing a Star Wars film with the ingenuity he brought to Moon?
5. Joe Cornish – “Attack the Block” might be much darker than any theatrical Star Wars release, but captures the spirit perfectly. Kids are present but are never precious, great action, cast of unknowns (mostly), and his CG team was brilliant and understated. Even on its low budget, this film was hailed as a kick in the pants to its genre.
Tell us what you think. Are our picks way off base? Did we miss someone you’d really want to see on there? Does Swank-mo-tron need to write an entire post about why Christopher Nolan would be the worst choice ever?
After License to Kill hit screens in 1989, the Bond franchise went into unintentional hibernation, thanks to litigation over film rights. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists had a plan to keep Bond in the collective consciousness as well as introduce the super-spy to a younger audience (well, kind of). The product of that little brainstorm is James Bond Jr.
The show was Produced by UA and Murakami/Wolf/Swenson, who is best known for the original TMNT cartoon. The premise is that many of the offspring/younger relatives of prominent government officials around the world are to attend Warfield Academy, a heavily fortified school meant to educate and protect. If you ask me, that would actually make it a prime target for bombing by the bad guys, but again I’m not a member of S.C.U.M. (Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem).
Anyway, because the show is set up in this way, you can get a nice mix of characters, many of which coincidentally happen to be related to some famous Bond characters. Of particular note are Gordo Leiter, son of Felix, and requisite surfer/party dude. Also in the cast is Horace “I.Q.” Boothroyd III, grandson of Q, who may be even more brilliant than his famous granddad.
Of course, Bond (any Bond) is nothing without his villains, and young James definitely has his fair share. In addition to newcomers like Doctor Derange, Walker D. Plank and Ms. Fortune, we have a slew of returning characters from the original films as well such as:
Auric Goldfinger: He appeared in a few episodes and looked pretty good for a guy who got sucked out of an airplane at 20,000 feet.
Oddjob: Returning as Goldfinger’s henchman, Oddjob’s run in with the electric fence has scrambled his fashion sense, trading his bowler for a top hat and his sleek black suit is exchanged for a purple and green jogging suit with a gold chain that says “OJ”.
Dr. No: Apparently boiling to death just changed his skin to green, like every other Asian villain in 90’s cartoons.
Jaws: After Moonraker, Jaws has appeared to get a literal steel jaw as well as teeth.
Nick Nack: Pretty much relegated to a sidekick of a sidekick, Nick Nack and Jaws are usually paired together like a homicidal Laurel and Hardy.
Although it only lasted for a year, the show made quite an impact, making up it’s own little merchandising empire. Aside from the 65 episodes produced, the show also spawned a toy line, a 12-issue series from Marvel comics, and video games for the Nintendo and the Super Nintendo. The show itself was filled with Bond-isms. James Jr. is witty, and quite the charmer, I.Q. has some crazy gadgets that work both practically and for comedic effect, and the Bond Jr. girls have appropriately punny names (appropriate for a kid’s show, that is). Where else could you find names like Bunny Slopes, Lotta Dinaro and Marci Beaucoup?
When it comes to the aforementioned tie-ins, the comics fared much better than the video games. While starting out as simple adaptations of TV episodes, the comics eventually started telling original stories, culminating in a final issue bash where young Bond has to face all of his villains!
The games? well, they were either were nigh-incomprehensible claptrap, or just plain boring. If you can get through these videos, you’re a better man than I, Gunga Din!
The legacy of James Bond Jr. was felt after the film series re-started with Pierce Brosnan. For instance, one of the villains from GoldenEye, General Ouromov, actually appeared in this show first, with much the same motivations. The longest lasting impression though is probably the gadgets invented by I.Q. that found their way into the films, such as the remote controlled car, and various watch gadgets like the grappling hook.
Unfortunately, the show is pretty much forgotten today, and is not available for purchase, but thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can watch the first episode below. I’ve also included some of the official design sheets used in the show’s production for your perusal. Enjoy!
We have had some pretty cool convention sketches this week and I hope you have been enjoying them as much as I have. I started off this special batch of Halloween sketches with one from The Zombie Nation’s Carter Reid and thought I would cap it off with one more from him.
This sketch comes from Nicole, who at this year’s World of Horror convention, had Carter sketch her a zombified version of Batgirl. The sketches Carter does at these conventions are, as you can see, pretty sweet; however, you don’t have to track him down at a convention and stand in line to get one for yourself. All you need to do is head on over to www.thezombienation.com and, for a measly $20, you can commission one from Carter. You can even shell out a bit more and get a zombie portrait of yourself! While your at the site, check out his web comic, The Zombie Nation, as well as other fun stuff in his store including bookmarks, posters, stickers, and decals. Hell, even sketch pads. The prices are reasonable so what are you waiting for?!
And as always, if you have a convention sketch you would like to share drop us a line at: editor@bigshinyrobot.com
