This trailer is by far my favorite. We see Arya in disguise, get some great dialogue and a peek at a few action sequences.

If there can be one man other than George Lucas who we can say defined the shape and look of the Star Wars galaxy more than any other, it would very easily be Ralph McQuarrie.

His paintings established the look of the Star Wars universe and all of its inhabitants, bringing them to visual life for the first time.

Even those early paintings that only vaguely resembled the final product were works of such fine art that they are as recognized as the films themselves.

Who of us didn’t have at least one McQuarrie painting hanging on our bedroom walls as kids or teenagers? I had more than a few and I’m sure you had a couple as well.

At Star Wars Celebration V, I made the time to spend well over an hour in the display of his artwork and I said then, and I’ll say again now, that it was one of the most impressive and awe-inspiring displays of art I’d ever seen. Even just the work scribbled in his notebooks was something to marvel at.

It’s not quite fair to just talk about his contributions to Star Wars, though. He designed the looks of movies and shows like the original Battlestar Galactica, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. In fact, he came up with the biblical illustration of the Ark in Indy’s bible that he shows to the men from the Government.

His work will live on, but it’s still sad to see a man of his talent go.

For his part, George Lucas released the following statement yesterday upon news of Ralph McQuarrie’s passing:

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of such a visionary artist and such a humble man. Ralph McQuarrie was the first person I hired to help me envision Star Wars. His genial contribution, in the form of unequaled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph’s fabulous illustrations and say, ‘Do it like this.’

“Beyond the movies, his artwork has inspired at least two generations of younger artists—all of whom learned through Ralph that movies are designed. Like me, they were thrilled by his keen eye and creative imagination, which always brought concepts to their most ideal plateau. In many ways, he was a generous father to a conceptual art revolution that was born of his artwork, and which seized the imaginations of thousands and propelled them into the film industry. In that way, we will all be benefiting from his oeuvre for generations to come. Beyond that, I will always remember him as a kind and patient, and wonderfully talented, friend and collaborator.”

There is a more complete slideshow of his work on StarWars.com.

First, I would like to comment that I never, ever want to watch this show on Cartoon Network again. Not for any other reason than my schedule forced me to download the iTunes HD version of the episode and the staggering quality of the animation and detail and lighting in HD caused me to rethink my need for cable completely.

Everything looked better, cleaner, crisper, I didn’t have to put up with commercial breaks and, in fact, they even took out the black spaces where commercials would go so it felt like a 22 minute movie.

There’s nothing against Cartoon Network, specifically, but this show is just too good to watch on TV, with all their stupid lower thirds running and the obnoxious commercial breaks, and in an inferior picture and sound quality. The $2.99 on iTunes is a small price to pay for the marked difference in quality.

Now if only they could sell it on iTunes to coincide with the first airing on US television.

On to the specific merits of Bounty, this was a very mature episode as far as the filmmaking was concerned. There were very specific story and character touches, particularly for Boba Fett and Ventress, that spoke volumes. But the filmmaking was mature in that it didn’t draw too much attention to them. Did anyone notice that Boba was using his father’s pistols on the job? Or the simple idea that he’s slowly taking on the traits of his father one bit at a time. He’s overcompensating with his bravado, but doesn’t feel man enough to take on the mantle of his father, but uses his pistols as the smallest act of remembrance. But that Boba is dead now, his head cut off with the helmet falling to the ground in just the same way Jango’s did in Attack of the Clones. He’s been humbled by this experience with Ventress.

Ventress on the other hand is confronted by her listlessness and her need for a goal and through this job she’s able to find herself. Will she be financing her quest for revenge? It’s anyone’s guess.

But as we move into the next episode and see the return of Darth Maul, we’ll see how involved she is.

Or maybe I’m just reading too deeply into all of this. Either way.

As for the rest of this episode, it was truly fantastic. The lighting effects, the costumes, the new creatures, the sets, everything. This was another episode that raised the bar on quality. Even the animation of background characters (that Jawa? the Eeopies? the denizens of the Cantina?) was beyond what I would have ever expected from this show as I sat in the theatre and watched the first movie all those years ago.

This animation universe has finally gotten to the point where it feels “lived in” and real. I truly believe they can do anything now. And they’re getting more and more ambitious to the point where every episode of season 6 may well make our heads explode.

Another thing I loved about this episode was the use of the sense of motion… From the space elevator to the platform (which reminded me of a level in Shadows of the Empire), this episode felt as though it was whizzing by at the speed of light.

And did I mention the space ninjas? This episode, more than any other, was a total homage to all of your favorite Kung Fu movies. The fight choreography was very, very sharp and had a lifelike quality to it that let you feel the body blows. When Dengar (Simon Pegg) hits guys and blows them up, you feel it. When Ventress executes people, there’s a visceral reaction.

This whole show is truly short format filmmaking at its best and it really needs to start winning some awards for the effort.

The people behind the show are truly cinematic storytellers and artists of the highest calibre.

Three new clips from The Clone Wars.

They’re pulling out all the stops as we get closer to the season finale and the return of Darth Maul. It seems like they’re pulling shorts right out of Seven Samurai in the beginning of that first clip.

The second clip has all the atmosphere of a western and it seems as though they’ve finally come close to replicating the look of the original Cantina. I know at Comic-Con last year, Joel Aron was excited to get his hands on the blueprints of the set to replicate it more faithfully. It looks like they’re getting there.

From the press release:

This week, in “Bounty,” an aimless Asajj Ventress joins a team of bounty hunters under the leadership of young Boba Fett. On an alien world, they undertake a dangerous but profitable mission that tests the limits of their skills, and the strength of Asajj’s character.

Dengar – one of the bounty hunters seen in the company of Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back – is coming to The Clone Wars, and actor Simon Pegg (Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead) is playing him in this week’s episode.

“Bounty,” airs at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, March 2nd on Cartoon Network.

If you don’t want to see this movie, there has got to be something wrong with you.

It’s Andrew Stanton from Pixar (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) is directing it. The books are amazing.

Watch it. Know it. Love it.

These are, hands down, four of my favorite movies. They always bring a smile to my face.

I have every iteration of these that have come out (from the ones I got on VHS as a promotion from McDonalds all the way to the latest DVD) and I’m happy to be getting them this year on Blu-ray.

From the press release:

The man with the hat is back – and looking better than ever! The world’s favorite globe-trotting archaeologist is, at long last, embarking on his greatest adventure – when The Complete Indiana Jones Blu-ray Collection comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home Media Distribution. The Complete Indiana Jones Blu-ray Collection will be excavated in the fall of 2012 and will include all four of Indy’s thrilling adventures, using the highest possible high definition picture and audio presentation – along with a “best of” collection of documentaries, interviews, featurettes and a few new surprises.

You can preorder the set on Amazon now.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Simon Pegg has been tapped to voice Dengar in this week’s episode of The Clone Wars.

“Dengar is one of the elite,” Pegg tells EW. “If you’re on Darth Vader’s bounty hunter speed dial, you are the best in the galaxy.”

It’s a little shocking to me, given his disdain for the prequels that he would agree to bring a classic era character into the prequel era, but stranger things have happened.

From his twitter feed:

Being Dengar doesn’t change the way I feel about the prequels but then the prequels couldn’t change the way I feel about the original three.

— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) February 29, 2012

They also have a lengthy clip of Dengar in action on Friday’s episode.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Lucy Liu will be playing Watson in the CBS version of Sherlock they are calling ‘Elementary’ which will star Johnny Lee Miller (Dexter, Hackers) as Sherlock Holmes. 

I have nothing against Lucy Liu but this show seems destined to fail. Bringing Sherlock to NYC takes away one of his biggest assets which is an encyclopedic knowledge of everything in London. Now they could be having him be a completely NYC version of Holmes which I still think is bullshit. Holmes is distinctly British, moving him to New York just doesn’t make sense to me. Is Mycroft going to now be CIA or DHS? Now we know Miller can be American, he is great in Dexter but which is he going to be?

Watson being a woman isn’t something I’m terribly against either, if Holmes was also a woman. The Watson-Holmes connection is a huge part of the story and having them not be the same sex will create problems. CBS will most likely try to make it some kind of romantic story. Also how will she be an Afghanistan combat medic?

Everything about this show just seems like they are taking the Sherlock Holmes I know and love and shitting all over it. There is no need to Americanize everything.

Once my awe-induced boner subsided I watched the trailer 3 more times, it got better each and every time. What an incredible tease. I know this is the 3rd trailer they’ve released, and I’ve died of nerdy excitement every time, but in my opinion this beats any teaser I’ve seen yet. Nick Fury facing off with Loki, Thor battling Iron Man, and a giant flying snake thingy heading to the center of town to fight the whole crew. Every character looks spot on, even Scarlet Johansson who was god awful in Iron Man 2 might do okay. Who am I kidding she’s still going to be dry and awkward and completely CG for all of her combat. Her aside I’m so absolutely jersey-shore style pumped for this movie. Your thoughts are welcome below.

Here are some shots from the trailer

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Lots of rumors have been flooding the internet. We finally have gotten some real quotes from Dan Aykroyd via The Telegraph regarding the status of Ghostbusters 3:

At this point it’s in suspended animation. The studio, the director Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis feel there must be a way to do it, but Bill Murray will not do the movie.

He doesn’t want to be involved. He’s got six kids, houses all over America. He golfs in these tournaments where they pay him to turn up and have a laugh. He’s into this life and living it. I know we’d have a lot of fun [but] I can’t be mad at him. He’s a friend first, a colleague second. We have a deep personal relationship that transcends business and he doesn’t want to know.

Bill Murray’s involvement was also brought up. Will he come back? Will the movie have a CGI version of Venkman as a ghost? Let’s see what Dan said:

We’re not going to do a movie that exploits the franchise. The script has to be perfect. I’m the cheerleader, but I’m only one voice in the matter. It’s a surety that Bill Murray will not do the movie, however there is still interest from the studio.

Well there you have it. The studio is still pushing for a third movie, but the original cast is already falling from the roster. Can they make a movie without Peter Venkman? I think so. And I imagine the studio feels that way. While this is bummer news, it’s probably about time it happened. Now Dan and Harold can move on with a script that doesn’t involve Bill Murray.