Showbits

Though this is slightly older news, I recently encountered a geek who hadn't heard, so for those who still don't know about it, here's a PSA:

Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are channeling their inner geeks with Robot Chicken: Star Wars, a special for Adult Swim.

The 30-minute stop-motion animation special, directed by Green, spoofs key scenes and favorite characters from the Star Wars universe, including the sci-fi saga's creator, George Lucas. It was done in collaboration with Lucasfilm, and Lucas is on board to voice the animated version of himself.

Additionally, Robot Chicken: Star Wars will feature Mark Hamill as the voice of Luke Skywalker in one sketch and a voice cast that includes Conan O'Brien, Seth MacFarlane, Robert Smigel, Malcolm McDowell, Hulk Hogan, James Van Der Beek, Donald Faison, Abraham Benrubi, Breckin Meyer and Joey Fatone.

The special… will premiere at 10 p.m. June 17 on Adult Swim, kicking off a best-of Robot Chicken marathon that will feature reruns of the Star Wars special at the top of every hour.

Story continues at the Hollywood Reporter. Watch the trailer at StarWars.com. And for those of you attending Celebration IV, the Star Wars convention occurring May 24 – 28 in Los Angeles, see Seth Green on a writers' panel.

Today, March 14th, marks the tenth anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Special Edition, the last in a series of re-releases that cleaned up the presentation of the twenty-year-old trilogy. The Special Edition did more than just modernize the three films' special effects, though (and I don't mean making Greedo shoot first). Before 1997, an entire generation had experienced Star Wars the only way it'd been possible: on the TV screen. Reinstating the story to the medium in which it was meant to be delivered — the big screen — gave millions of fans the opportunity to be reminded why they were drawn to this saga in the first place.

Read the rest of this entry at Computerworld.com »

My friend Dain informs me of this San Francisco Chronicle article suggesting that George Lucas plans to shoot the fourth Indiana Jones movie in 2007, with a spring/summer 2008 opening.

I'm unsure the working subtitle "The Ravages of Time" isn't meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Check out this picture of Harrison Ford:

He hardly looks any longer like the action hero we remember. Of course, if they could smooth out Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan's wrinkles for X-Men 3, then who knows where that Pandora's Box will end.  What do you think: is it time for Indy to pass on the torch? If so, will this be a "Son of Indy" tale? Should Sean Connery return to represent three generations of archaeologists? When should the story take place — 20 years after the last one?

I recently watched all three original Star Wars films for the first time since seeing them in theaters in 1997 (I bought the DVD set in the fall of 2004). But before watching episodes IV and V, I read the novelizations, as I also did immediately after episode VI. In any such converstion of media, the source material is almost always superior, and this was no exception: the books were vastly dependent on the on-screen action to detail what was happening. The most enjoyable novelization of the three was Return of the Jedi, which offered some useful insight into the characters' thoughts: Han Solo's evolution toward selflessness; Luke's struggle with the Dark Side; Vader's machinations against both his son and emperor. I had hoped for a bit more detail into Vader's final redemptive act, but none was forthcoming.

The only other movie novelization I've ever read was Attack of the Clones, which had numerous exclusive scenes (both deleted from the movie and created by the book's author). I guess I was hoping for a similar treatment from the original trilogy.

In related news, IGN.com recently posted its "Top 25 Movie Franchises of All Time". George Lucas had the winning entry, of course.