Another Star Wars fan film

OK, despite the fact that Papa George is still trying his hardest to ruin Star Wars for my generation, my last two posts have been Star Wars-themed, fan-created video clips. That tells me two things: 1) the fans still get what makes this whole Star Wars thing great, and 2) maybe it’s time for Lucas to let somebody else make the decisions.

This short, fan-created film tells the story of the dumped cargo shipment that earned Han that famous price on his head from Jabba the Hutt. In under 6 minutes, this production crew manages to out-do anything in the prequels and give the Clone Wars cartoon a run for its money. Special bonus points for finding a voice actor who’s a dead ringer for Harrison Ford circa 1977. More, please.

Adidas’ World Cup commercial

Star Wars™ Cantina 2010 / adidas Originals from Dominic Prevost on Vimeo.

I love soccer. I love Star Wars (well, at least the original trilogy). And I’ve invested so much money into adidas products, I should have a spot on the board of directors by now. So, on paper, this should have been the perfect ad. There’s even a cameo by Noel Gallagher, for cryin’ out loud. It’s like they tapped directly into my brain. But for some reason, the whole thing just kind of falls flat.

Maybe Snoop Dogg ruined it for me. Maybe soccer players and musicians are 100% the wrong people to ask to act in front of a green screen (I mean, Daft Punk have no lines, and they still look uncomfortable). Or maybe a mashup of so many of my favorite things could never live up to my expectations. Nike’s Write the Future ad works because it sticks to soccer. This adidas ad just feels like the creative team tried to cram a whole mess of crap into the pot, and it became a big steaming plate of WTF?

I can just imagine the meeting. “We got access to the cantina scene! The fucking cantina scene! Lucas never lets anybody mess with his stuff (other than himself, of course). What else we got? How about cameos from a California rapper and two English rock stars whose biggest hits were in the early 90’s! And, let’s get Daft Punk! They sort of look like they’re Star Wars characters. And Beckham’s injured, he’s not going to the World Cup, maybe we can throw him in there! And then let’s sprinkle a few more random people in the background and badly edit the scene to make sure this thing isn’t 8 minutes long. Perfect!” Ultimately, what does any of this mish-mash have to do with the World Cup? In the end, it just turns out to be a whole lot of wasted potential. Sorry, adidas. FAIL.

The Year of Pleasant Surprises

Obama aside, 2008 was a difficult year all around, and pop culture seemed to reflect that. I started working on some top ten lists to close out the year, until I realized that in most categories, I couldn't come up with more than three things that really impressed me. In fact, so much of what was produced this year was uninspired, uninventive, or just generally disappointing that it was almost a surprise when something turned out to be good. So, in recognition of that, here are my 12 pleasant entertainment surprises of 2008.

Wall-E. A kids’ movie about cutesy, animated robots that chirp and beep more than R2D2. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi story about a trash-collecting robot and his pet cockroach left behind on a over-polluted planet. A cautionary tale about the environment and the evolutionary effects of technology and lack of exercise. A sweet romantic yarn about a Hello, Dolly-obsessed loner who finally meets the woman of his dreams and crosses the galaxy to win her heart. Wall-E is all of these and more. Add in the fact that the two main characters barely speak any dialogue in the first 45 minutes except to repeat each other’s names, and you would expect this would make for a deadly boring, convoluted mess. Enter Pixar. If ever you doubted the genius of this studio, here’s all the proof you need. Wall-E is an incredible piece of moviemaking. So much is communicated through the smallest gestures, toots, whistles, and slight changes of expression that the lack of dialogue is barely noticeable. Hands-down, one of my five favorite movies of all time.

The Rhumb Line, Ra Ra Riot. An amazing mix of strong songwriting, catchy melodies, and driving strings made this my favorite album of the year. There’s a surprising amount of world-weariness for such a young band, and it gives the songs a lived-in feeling, even if you're only hearing them for the first time.

“Spiralling,” Keane. This track is so undeniably catchy, I almost forgive them for the bad 80’s synthesizers. OK, who am I kidding? The synths make the song.

The Dark Knight. I knew it would be good. I just didn’t know it would be this good. Total game-changer for all comic book films to come.

“M79,” Vampire Weekend. Imagine Graceland-era Paul Simon scoring a Wes Anderson flick. This song encapsulates everything that is great about VW’s debut.

Feed the Animals, Girl Talk. The most incredible mashup mix I’ve ever heard. So dense and complex in its use of samples that Wired devoted a full-page chart to breaking down one track from the album.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Proof that even Joss Whedon’s free time doodlings are works of genius (he wrote this to keep his mind fresh during the writer’s strike). Joss Whedon + Neil Patrick Harris + a musical about a supervillain’s video blog = comedy gold.

“Viva La Vida,” Coldplay. Yes, this song is overplayed. Yes, it may have been plagiarized. Yes, the album as a whole is so-so. No, I don’t care. It’s still impossible to get out of your head.

Iron Man. Not as gritty as The Dark Knight, but still a hell of a lot of fun. Favreau took the source material seriously, and Robert Downey Jr. was born to play Tony Stark. I went in with high expectations, and they were all met.

Lyle Lovett at Red Rocks. I maintain the belief that all Red Rocks shows are automatically 10% better simply because of the venue, but Lovett didn’t need the help. Despite the fact that I hardly knew any of his music, I was enthralled. Lyle is a true entertainer, and his band is top-notch.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson. This book was recommended to me almost simultaneously by my mom and Stephen King, which is strange, but also a testament to its appeal. The variation on a locked-room murder mystery (in this case, it’s a locked island) kept me turning pages all the way to the end...which I really enjoyed, despite it’s non-Hollywoodness.

Alpinisms, School of Seven Bells. Former Secret Machines guitarist Ben Curtis teams up with twin sister vocalists to create a new genre: atmospheric New-Age indie rock. This album is a gorgeously dense creation, full of layers and textures. Yet when I heard the Bells play an acoustic set on KEXP recently that stripped away all the effects, the songs held up.

“The Greatest Man That Ever Lived,” Weezer. Rivers puts on his Freddie Mercury hat and writes a 21st-century “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Good luck not singing along with the chorus.


Biggest disappointments of the year:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Thanks for ruining yet another beloved franchise, George.

Chinese Democracy, Guns N’ Roses. We waited 11 years for this? It’s obvious Axl has a frustrated Stephen Sondheim hiding inside him. I just wish he wouldn’t put the G N’ R name on that stuff.

Less than 100 people showing up for Matthew Sweet’s October show at the Fox Theater. That’s just sad.

“You’re a... teacher?” “Part-time.”

Summer movie season, here we come. Ahead of its release on Memorial Day weekend, the first trailer for Indy 4 (OK, fine—Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Blech. That title sucks.) made its way to the InterWeb this week. As expected, it looks action-packed, and I appreciate the willingness to crack jokes at the expense of Harrison Ford’s age, but there’s a few things that worry me. I’m remaining cautiously optimistic, but that shot of a car chase along the edge of an obviously CGI-created cliff is concerning. One of the greatest things about the original trilogy is that the locations were always real, and the stunts always looked like they could actually happen. George Lucas’ obsession with computer-created movies better not ruin this franchise too.

But as long as this movie remains firmly focused on Indy as the main character, and doesn't just become a setup to extend the franchise with Steven Spielberg’s boy-crush Shia LeBouf, I'll be happy. Something else that makes me happy is that Karen Allen’s character Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark is back. You can see her briefly in one shot, but she’s such a great character, I’m surprised they didn’t play up her return more. Maybe in the next preview.

A long time ago (well, 30 years, anyway) in a galaxy far, far away...

WARNING—This post has a higher-than-normal amount of nerd content. Not for the faint of heart.

As you may have heard, it’s the 30th Anniversary of the theatrical release of the original Star Wars—back when it was an unsullied masterpiece, not the bastardized version Lucas pushes on everybody these days. Apparently, there was a big celebration in L.A. this weekend. Lots of geeks in costumes and so forth (see above)—sounds like a lot of fun. Anyway, the anniversary has provided an opportunity for all kinds of random media outlets to jump on the bandwagon—I mean, a History Channel special? Seriously?

But there is one special treatment that has me excited. Robot Chicken is one of the shows in Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup. It’s the brainchild of Seth Green (you may remember him as Scott Evil in the Austin Powers movies) and one of his buddies. Basically, the show skewers the nerdier aspects of pop-culture through short sketches using stop-motion action figures. Sounds weird, I know, but trust me—it’s ridiculously funny. I love the show, not least because they’re usually making fun of a lot of my favorite things and using toys I played with as a kid to do it. Clever. Anyway, Robot Chicken is doing a Star Wars special in honor of the anniversary, bringing their trademark humor to bear on George’s epic universe. It premieres on June 17th, and they’ve got a trailer posted on the website. Hi-freakin’-larious. I can’t wait.

Light Of Day

About flippin' time, George. September 12 will be a banner day for nerds and purists everywhere. Official word from Lucasfilm here.

SOUNDS
The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions, Seu Jorge