This is my 999th World Of Blackout blog post (albeit with a little judicial editing over the years, admittedly). The 1,000th post will be my (first) review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and both of these are milestones which seemed almost unthinkable a few years ago. The post-count isn't necessarily of significance in itself, but I didn't want that particular entry to be a moaning review of whatever sub-standard comedy the studios have quietly pushed out in the gap before The Star Wars Film lands. So as I'm obsessed with both Star Wars and cinema in general (as you, dear reader, are well aware), this seems like as good a point as any to reflect on how we got here ~ on the eve of The Force Awakens.
For a long time I didn’t think I’d ever get to see a new Star Wars film in what had become my local picture house. Although, how many of us did? Prior to 2004, my nearest options for the cinema were either Oxford or Reading. Both feasible for occasional visits, but more than just a casual stroll away.
So, around that time, I was getting feverishly excited about the upcoming (and at that time, final) Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith. But the new cinema was in its planning stages as part of a larger development, and even I knew that it wasn't going to be ready for May the following year. This wouldn't affect me watching Episode III in a cinema, of course, but I was quietly resigned to the fact that my local wouldn't be showing any SW movies, notwithstanding potential re-releases or anniversary showings. May 2005 came and went, the Sith got their revenge, our new cinema opened its doors in 2006, the Cineworld Unlimited card was subscribed to shortly thereafter, and I haven't looked back since (as you, dear reader, are well aware). Having a cinema within walking distance of my house was still going to be a good thing, indeed.
Then in 2007, something awesome happened. A new Star Wars film was announced. The Clone Wars, the upcoming animated TV series taking place between episodes II and III, was due to be launched with an accompanying springboard-movie. It wasn't one of the 'Saga' episodes, and it would be markedly different from its live-action counterparts, but it was still technically a new Star Wars film. Now, me personally? I loved Clone Wars because of its differences, not in spite of them, and ultimately it's an excuse for me to spend more time in The Galaxy. The Clone Wars movie flopped spectacularly, of course. Partially because it was three episodes of the TV show edited together as a single unit, and didn't have the pacing or scope of a film as a result, and partially because it was being distributed by Warner Bros, who appeared to have no idea how to market a Star Wars product. The Clone Wars lived out the rest of its lifespan (121 episodes) on the small screen*1. But hey, I'd seen a Star Wars film in my cinema.
Then in 2011, something intriguing happened. The 3D re-release of The Phantom Menace was announced (and received with the level of general enthusiasm I've come to expect since 1999). But as you've already gathered, I love The Phantom Menace. The release wasn’t grand enough to warrant a midnight-screening at my local (I caught that elsewhere), but they showed the film in their regular programme. The 3D project flopped spectacularly, of course. Despite the logical starting point to the remastered saga being Episode I, audiences weren't generally convinced and the series was quietly side-lined (although the 3D-completed Eps II and III have since been screened at conventions ). So despite having already watched a couple of SW movies in my local, it looked like I wasn't destined to see Luke Skywalker save the galaxy within a mile of my house, after all.
Then in 2012, something magical happened. Star Wars Episode VII was announced. Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, including its many properties and subsidiaries, resulted in a rekindling of the Star Wars saga which was possibly the most seismic event to the timeline since the Prequel Trilogy; possibly moreso given that Uncle George had handed the lightsaber permanently over to Kathleen Kennedy, so wouldn't be the writer/director/overseer influence he'd been previously.
But this time... this time there'd be a new Star Wars film; an actual new, actual Star Wars, actual film; a brand new Star Wars film featuring characters we love but where we don't know what's going to happen next; a new Star Wars film which could not possibly be passed over for midnight-screening status in a year where Fast & Furious and The Hunger Games sat on that platform. And no, Cineworld didn't disappoint. Of course they didn't, they're 'my' cinema.
Which brings us to where we are now. In a few hours time, I'll have watched a new Star Wars movie for the first time, in my local cinema. In a few hours time, I'll have watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the Galaxy Far, Far Away will have expanded again. In a few hours time, I'll see Episodes I to VI in a different light, whether the retcons and ramifications are large, small or barely even hinted at…
In a few hours time, it all changes.
And moving beyond Episode VII, who knows what lies ahead? Other than lots more Star Wars, obviously. Which I'm absolutely fine with. Obviously. The as yet untitled episodes VIII and IX are on the way, as is Rogue One and the Han Solo and Boba Fett standalone flicks. Star Wars Rebels continues apace on the small screen, and you know that this is just the start.
Even now, even before I've read the new BBFC card, even before I've seen the famous yellow logo receding into the starfield, The Force Awakens has the feeling of going home. Going home for the first time…
*1 With the exception of a few special screenings of stitched-together 'event' episodes, but these were one-offs at (or organised by) Lucasfilm, not general-release movies.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Unless otherwise stated, photos and videos appearing in this blog post are for informational and reference purposes only, and no ownership of copyright is claimed or implied by World Of Blackout. The intellectual and physical copyright of such material belongs to its creators and owners.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Yeah five times. Don't act so surprised, princess... Besides, there are some big movies coming out this year, and I don't want them to take the repeat-viewing crown from SW, now do I?
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
I expect you think it's all done digitally over here at Blackout Towers. Afraid not; these little guys start their lives as pencil sketches.
Oh, and I suppose I'd better rate the film... *shrugs*
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
You know how much I love this film, as I've made no secret of it. I've done a retrospective of the movie here, a review of the 3D version here, and a nitpick that covers all the released versions here.
So I've drawn you a picture.
Bit bigger? Oh, okay then.
The film?
But you knew I'd say that.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
There'll probably be a few of these, seeing as how I said I'd document each visit to the cinema. I've written about how much I love The Phantom Menace here, and I've reviewed the 3D transfer here.
As much as I love TPM (and I do), and as much as I love the new digi-Yoda (and I do), I've got to vent a little on two things that LFL haven't fixed...
• Obi-Wan's hair braid in the 'another pathetic lifeform' sequence...
There are other (very brief) flip-shots in the film, but this is a fairly lengthy one. With dialogue. It's not enough that Ewan's face looks different in mirrored shots (as do most people's), but he's got a distinct fucking braid. Now I don't mind that it was there in 1999, or even so much that it made it to the DVD transfer. But every frame of this film has been optimised for HD and then for 3D, and still it's been left in. I don't want LFL to flip the entire shot, just move the braid.
It'd make sense for the blade emitter to be a hollow cylinder; they are on all other lightsabers. It just seems a bit sloppy to give Ray Park props for the wide-shots without that detail. Again, slightly sloppy in 1999/2001, but completely sloppy in 2011/2012.
Those two aren't deal-breakers, but they've been noticable since 1999. Just sayin'.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
I'm a little lost for words here, largely because I can't objectively review a film I've loved for the last thirteen years, but also because you, dear reader, have already made up your mind about going to see The Phantom Menace in the cinema.
Most people don't like The Phantom Menace. I'm not most people. I've written about why I love it here, so the rest of this post will be about the 3D conversion…
I'll be honest, I wasn't holding up much hope. The only time I'd seen the tPM3D trailer in actual 3D, it's so fast-cut that you don't really get any sense of depth, and I was worried that the conversion on the film would result in the decoupage-effect. Real-D is a system that works best for animation, not live-action (however CGI-enhanced it is), and movies that have been converted to the format from a 2D shoot are notoriously ropey.
With the best will in the world, 3D really is just a gimmick; not a reason for going to see a film in the cinema, just an enhancement. If it's done well.
In my humble and often misguided opinion, The Phantom Menace falls into that category. I liked the 3D; there's plenty of it and for the most part it works very well (although I couldn't get on with the Otoh Gunga underwater sequences). A common occurrence with conversion is that in the quieter scenes, you can lift up your glasses and the image on the screen isn't actually 'three dimensional'. tPM is constantly in 3D at some level, which I appreciate. It gives a sense of depth to all the scenes and isn't overbearing. And because the movie was made without people waving things at the screen, there's only one moment that looks deliberately 'Ooh! 3D!'
The standout sequence in the movie is the podrace. I've never been a fan of that, so anything that can make me actually enjoy it has to be good, in my book. The final saber fight looks great, but not really because of the enhancements. Most of the movie wasn't really shot to accentuate the extra dimension, so there's not a lot you can do about that.
At this point, I don't know if the 3D version will get a home release, and it's too early to tell if this experiment has been successful enough to get Attack of the Clones released at this time next year. I guess we'll see.
Ultimately, this project means that I can go to the cinema and see Star Wars again. That's all I want. I don't mind that it's in Real-D, and I wouldn't mind if it wasn't.
What can I tell you? I love Star Wars. But you knew that already.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
Thursday 15th July 1999.
The Carlton Cinema, Wesgate-on-Sea.
People were standing up to leave from a sold-out performance. I can't say I noticed their mood or reaction, that didn't matter. @ReedyP and myself didn't move from our seats. We glanced at each other, a wordless agreement that we were there until the end. After that, our attention was still focused directly ahead of us. The music played, very new and yet beautifully familiar in its sweeping style, while a list of names was displayed. Each of these people had a part to play in what we'd just witnessed. Each had contributed enough to be named on-screen; not that I could comprehend the individual tasks, as the sum of their parts had just overwhelmed me.
Finally, with less than twenty people left in the auditorium, the music ended and the screen went black. Then… one more thing. A sound familiar to millions all over the world; the inhale then exhale, a single breath, of Darth Vader's ventilator. This prompted another look between myself and my BFF. We stood to leave.
The other patrons who were also leaving were chattering away about what they'd just watched, but still an unspoken acknowledgement hung in the air that a simple 'oh, I quite enjoyed that' wasn't going to do it justice. We left the building by one of the side-exits the staff had opened, and walked to where Reed had parked the car a couple of streets away. He unlocked the doors, and we got in, closed those doors and gave our honest and detailed opinions on the movie we'd just watched...
So, I don't know if anyone in the surrounding area heard the two grown-men in a car shouting for 30-60 seconds and stamping on the floor, but if they were close enough to see the fist-bumps and the hugs, than they definitely would have. No-one interrupted us, anyway. After the whooping and the manhugs, what followed was a gushing about Star Wars Episode I which has generally continued, I kid you not, to this very day.
I love The Phantom Menace. There, I said it.
Pointing out that there's a massive lazy backlash against the prequel trilogy has become almost as cliched as the backlash itself. I genuinely have no problem with people who didn't like the film from the word go, it's more the ones who waited until their contemporaries started shouting about The Emperor's New Clothes (pun intended), and haven't stopped banging on about it since.
It's a common belief that the press/fan retaliation against The Phantom Menace was instant, with outraged reviews and disgusted fanboys turning their noses up at the movie the world had waited sixteen years for. The fact is, hand-in-hand with the overall media coverage, TPM got a fairly good reception for its cinematic outing. It wasn't until it hit the VHS market that columnists had had time to reflect and think of things they really didn't like. I won't trot out the usual laundry-list of complaints that the film garners; some I've already covered in this series of posts, and you know the rest anyway.
There are aspects of tPM that I don't like. I can deal with them because I know why they were put there, whether I agree with the decision or not. In much the same way that you overlook the foibles of your loved ones, because they're your loved ones.
As the aesthetic value of art is subjective, no film is perfect (sorry to break that to you). Luckily, most people realise that, and most of tPM's detractors have used their 1999 disappointment as the motivation to break into film-making themselves. They've since produced many, many films which have been more successful and critically acclaimed than tPM, and which have had a greater lasting legacy on the digital film industry and cinematic art in general.
What? Oh, right.
I've found the best (well, most interesting) way to counter the negative verbal assaults against tPM is with discussion. Lots of people have been more than happy to tell me that they thought tPM was awful, but very few have been able to explain why they think that (just saying 'Jar-Jar' isn't an answer, sorry to break that to you, too). And I'm not talking about requiring an in-depth critique to validate their opinion, I've genuinely heard "well it just is, isn't it? It's not like the old ones".
They're absolutely right. tPM isn't like the old ones. No film produced today is 'like the old ones', not least because the audience in 1999/2011 isn't the same as in 1977. It's difficult to re-capture the groundbreaking influence that ANH had, especially as back then there weren't hoards of fans ready to clumsily dissect it with their blunt expectations (not all clumsy, just most).
But at the Robins Cinema in Durham in 1978, there was a four year old boy, mesmerised in a darkened auditorium as huge yellow lettering raced away from him, and he was introduced to an entire galaxy full of people to love, people to fear and endless adventures to be had. At Westgate in 1999, with barely a smattering of spoilers, that boy felt exactly the same. It was like going home. Part of me will always feel at home in the GFFA, no matter how much it expands. Or maybe because it expands.
And you know it's not just me. Star Wars (including the prequels, sorry to break that to you. again.) has a massive multi-generational fanbase. The younglings loved tPM because they went in there with no baggage. They were swept up in the ride just as I was. This was their entry point into the GFFA, to tales old and new.
In 2012, tPM will be released in cinemas again.
Many will see the galaxy for the first time, and even more will visit the cinema to return to it.
To the part of me that will always, proudly, be four years old; Star Wars is home.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Photos and videos appearing in this blog post are for informational and reference purposes only, and no ownership of copyright is claimed or implied by me. The intellectual and physical copyright of such material belongs to its creators and owners.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
