Soooo..... Mickey Was In On The Merger All Along!!!

This is just too cool not to post. I was cruising over at the Star Wars blog where I came across an article by Pablo Hidalgo that deals with a certain little Easter Egg from The Empire Strikes Back. Ya see, Mr. Lucas has always been a huge fan of Disney (kind of ironic, no?) and was even in attendance the day Disneyland opened when he was just 11 years old. So when he was set designing the scenes at the end of The Empire Strikes Back that take place in Cloud City he strategically placed Mickey Mouse head shaped objects on what was supposed to be computer screen walls. Why did he do it? Because he loved him some Mickey. But it is all the more bizarre because last year Lucas would sell LucasFilms to Disney and the Mouse House is now in charge of the direction of the franchise. You can always find cool Star Wars related tidbits over at the official Star Wars blog, but you can see the appearance of Mickey in Empire after the jump...

'Unlimited Power': A Infomercial From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Fan films are really interesting to watch... sometimes they are horrible, sometimes they put our favorite characters into some awkward spots, and sometimes they are simply fantastic. Every year Lucas Arts sponsors a contest and declares a winner at the San Diego Comic Con. This past year's (2011) winner was Eliot Sirota for his entry entitled 'Unlimited Power'. While Eliot won the award over 6 months ago, the full embedded version only recently appeared online. Sirota chose to skirt regular conventions and construct an infomercial about a Jawa droid trading shop.  I think it is great, and any fan of Wall-E will definitely love it. If you like Star Wars, this is a fun change of pace. It's only 1 minute long, so take a moment and enjoy it today. The full video is available after the jump...

Now These Are The Kind Of Changes To Star Wars I could Get Behind... More Jek Baby!!!!

Jek Porkins occupies a special place in the heart of all true Star Wars fans. Luke's fellow X-Wing pilot is beloved by many despite the fact he is only on the screen for about 2 minutes... So the gang over at Hey Killer Productions decided to show Mr. Lucas how to really digitally re-touch something for the better. They released this clip that features more Jek... and we can't get enough!!! Check out the full video after the jump.

What a great video... so that's why Greedo shot first. Intresting....

Steven Spielberg Proves You Don't HAVE To Be A Douche (Did You Hear That George Lucas???)

Pay attention Douche Nozzle. This is how to NOT make people hate you!!!

I came across these wonderful quotes from superstar director Steven Spielberg in regards to digitally editing some of his classic movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark & E.T. for future editions. You see George... you can make mistakes and still redeem yourself. Listen to your boy Stevie... (See Spielberg's quotes after the jump)

Here are Steven Spielberg's comments on an upcoming Blu Ray version of Raiders:

This is the best I think it’s ever looked, because in preparation for the eventual release on blu-ray we had to correct the print again and get the original negative out of the salt mines, and then we had to do the separations, and basically the files, which are just amazing, with all the technology of today, without changing any of the movie materially, we haven’t removed anything, we haven’t added CGI, there’s no digital enhancements! It’s purely the movie you some of you may remember from 1981.

Wow... sounds like Steve has a good outlook on things. Now check out his regrets on digitally altering Raiders and E.T.:

 For myself, I tried [changing a film] once and lived to regret it. Not because of fan outrage, but because I was disappointed in myself. I got overly sensitive to [some of the reaction] to E.T., and I thought if technology evolved, [I might go in and change some things]…it was OK for a while, but I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T. [...] If I put just one cut of E.T. on Blu-ray and it was the 1982, would anyone object to that? [The crowd yells "NO!" in unison.] OK, so be it. 

Wow... you see that? Stevie not only makes fanboys all over the world happy by talking about "robbing people who love E.T. of their memories of E.T" but he also does so by NOT throwing Lucas under the bus and saying he wouldn't edit or not edit based on fan reactions. 

Even though that is exactly what he is saying... he chose to keep it positive and defend the honor of the ORIGINAL FANS that made his early movies (and effectively Steven Spielberg himself) the epic successes they have become. Who cares if you can see a reflection or something doesn't look perfect? If we loved it then, we will love it now. I commend you Steven. now get them damn guns back into that childhood alien movie, will ya????  

More Proof That George Lucas Is A Douche...

Even though CCD was still on Summer break this past week, I received tons of emails from friends and associates wanting to know my opinion on even more announced changes to the original films by George Lucas when the new Blu ray versions of the entire saga came out. Given our past tumultuous relationship with Georgie Boy and the scummers over at Lucas Arts, I abstained from commenting about this latest ass fuck courtesy of Lord George to all his loyal fans. But I have uncovered an article on the 'Net that is sure to make you even more mad at Uncle George... (Continued after the jump)



... because way back in 1988 he actually testified in front of Congress ABOUT THE ALTERING OF FILMS FROM THERE ORIGINAL INTENDED STATE!!!

Check out Skinny George before he cashed all those huge motherfucking movie checks!!

Yup, you read that right... the guy who has been changing the Star Wars franchise every chance he gets actually testified before Congress on just how bad it would be for people to edit films from the past with new technologies. Thanks to the cool ass website Save Star Wars, we have the full speech for your viewing pleasure.

"My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation. I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.

Can you believe the balls on this guy? Wait, it gets better!!! 

 The destruction of our film heritage, which is the focus of concern today, is only the tip of the iceberg. American law does not protect our painters, sculptors, recording artists, authors, or filmmakers from having their lifework distorted, and their reputation ruined. If something is not done now to clearly state the moral rights of artists, current and future technologies will alter, mutilate, and destroy for future generations the subtle human truths and highest human feeling that talented individuals within our society have created.

How George? By having Vader scream "Nooooo!!!" like a pansy when tossing The emperor overboard   in Jedi, or having Greedo shoot first to justify Han killing him? Dick....

 A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history. People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society. The preservation of our cultural heritage may not seem to be as politically sensitive an issue as "when life begins" or "when it should be appropriately terminated," but it is important because it goes to the heart of what sets mankind apart. Creative expression is at the core of our humanness. Art is a distinctly human endeavor. We must have respect for it if we are to have any respect for the human race.

Notice how he uses the term "for profit" there when calling the defilers of films "barbarians". He is not merely talking about people who pillage public domain films that no one owns the copyrights to anymore... he is singling out ANYBODY looking to ransack a culturally significant film and make money on it. Who would do something like that???

 These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tommorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces," or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor's lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new "original" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.

Ha! Double Ha!! Triple Ha!!! The gall on this prick. Not only has his actions over the past twenty years completely contradicted everything he said in front of Congress, but it seems he used his speech as an exact blueprint on how to become a film pillager himself !!! "Engineers with THEIR COMPUTERS"... what a dick!

 
In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. 

There is nothing to stop American films, records, books, and paintings from being sold to a foreign entity or egotistical gangsters and having them change our cultural heritage to suit their personal taste.

Egotistical gangsters huh??? If the shoe fits...

I accuse the companies and groups, who say that American law is sufficient, of misleading the Congress and the People for their own economic self-interest.I accuse the corporations, who oppose the moral rights of the artist, of being dishonest and insensitive to American cultural heritage and of being interested only in their quarterly bottom line, and not in the long-term interest of the Nation.The public's interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work. There are those who say American law is sufficient. That's an outrage! It's not sufficient! If it were sufficient, why would I be here? Why would John Houston have been so studiously ignored when he protested the colorization of "The Maltese Falcon?" Why are films cut up and butchered?

Why the fuck is anybody gonna listen to John Huston? He didn't have crazy billions like you do right now George. And you could really do something now with all that money if you wanted to... really save the cultural relevance of Star Wars for future generations by simply doing one thing: Nothing!!!!   

 Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself. I hope you have the courage to lead America in acknowledging the importance of American art to the human race, and accord the proper protection for the creators of that art--as it is accorded them in much of the rest of the world communities."

 I hate George Lucas right now after reading this speech more then I ever did before. Most of you guys know me as a Lucas apologist... but no more! I don't condone your fucked up editing choices, but they wouldn't seem nearly as bad if you hadn't passionately ranted IN FRONT OF CONGRESS on how morally wrong they are!!! Fuck you George Lucas... fuck you up your stupid ass. Oh, and one more thing: I AM NOT BUYING YOUR FUCTARD BLU RAY SET BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED IN MAKING DARTH VADER SEEM LIKE A WHINY BITCH.... and because you are a dick!

 

The Media Response To Our Non-Star Wars Marathon Has Been Epic!!!

I have been placed in a state of awe at the amount of media coverage that our canceled Star Wars event has generated. One article that ran in the local Brooklyn Paper has snowballed into numerous other online publications, some huge ones such as The Huffington Post and Forbes.com, to cover the event through reprints of the story. It all culminated in a 3/4 page article in the NY Post (click here for the full article) on Friday. This has been really unexpected. I did not contact any media to complain about LucasFilms and/or the event in general. One local reporter showed up (Thanks Dan Macleod of the Brooklyn Paper) showed up to cover the event for a community newspaper and wrote an article that was scooped up by major media publications across the country. That is all pretty cool. If anything positive comes out of this, I hope that Dan can capitalize on this in his journalism career. Anyway, here are the links to the stories that we have come across floating online. If you guys know of any others, add them to the comment section below. Thanks again for all the support!!!

The Original Brooklyn Paper Article by Dan Macleod

Cal at the Cave of Cool Reacts

NBC/ The 20 (scroll down a bit)

IMDB News

Forbes

The Movie Blog

The Force.net

Huffington Post  

Star Pulse

Techdirt

Gigwise

MSN

Bay Ridge Talk Message Board

The Gothamist

Uproxx

Home Report News/Brooklyn Spectator

Toronto Sun

New York Press

Nerd Bastards

I Heart Chaos

Comic Book Movie

Crunch Gear

Omega-Level.net

Henderlicious

Ology.com

All Media New York

The Movie Blog

The Examiner


Dad's Big Plan

InMovies/Canada

Chris Kalani's Tumblr


Vlad TV

Index Hungary

Why George, Why? - An Open Letter To George Lucas

I have been a life long Star Wars fan. At 32 years old, there has been NO OTHER MOVIES that have had as much influence on my life as the Star Wars films. I have loved them since as long as I can remember. I have also had an extreme respect and admiration for George Lucas, creator of Star Wars. I have long felt in debted to Lucas and fellow crew for crafting such a classic series for me to be a fan of. I loved every second of the prequels for the simple fact that it was NEW Star Wars material, regardless of how it stacked up against Empire or Jedi. It didn't matter to me... I was just happy as a fan to have MORE.

A few months ago some of my friends and I started a movie night at a local bar in my Bay Ridge, Brooklyn neighborhood. We are a bunch of movie fans who decided to gather up on a Sunday night once a month and show some classic films. We charged absolutely NO COVER and just welcomed the chance to watch some great movies with fellow fans. Whats so wrong with that? When the events went well, we decided to undertake a bit of a ambitious project. We decided that on the Sunday of July 4th weekend we would hold the ultimate fan event for a Star Wars addict such as myself and view all six movies back to back... over 13 hours of Star Wars in a row!!! We planned on starting with Episode 1 at 1 pm on 7/3/2011 and weren't going to stop until around 3 am on 7/4/2011. I have never watched all 6 movies in a row, and I imagined that not many people have done this. So why not put together a viewing event for all my like-mind Star Wars fans, and once again do it with NO COVER WHATSOEVER!!! So we got to work....

A local artist named Tommy Lombardozzi created an awesome flyer featuring the Death Star orbiting over the Verrazano bridge. I started a blogspot website to provide everyone with information for the event. I started a Twitter feed to help get the word out. We printed up 5,000 flyers to hand out around NYC and help spread the word for what was going to be the most epic Star Wars viewing ever held. We started all of this way back in May. We devoted much time and effort into making this event a success for true Star Wars fans around this city, and we did it so that it wouldn't cost anybody 1 dollar. No cover, no mandatory drink minimum. No monetary requirements whatsoever. Everything was going great. That is until July 1st.

I was going through the final motions for the event when I got an email at around 5:30 pm on my phone. It was an email from the Anti-Piracy unit of LucasFilms and in a PDF file. In the letter it talked about taking down websites containing copyrighted LucasFilms images and how we can't show the movies if we plan on charging admission to get in (you can click here to see the full letter). What? How can this be? I was shocked and confused at the same time... my phone immediately began ringing off the hook. The bar owner immediately said we needed to cancel the event. My partners were wondering what we should do in its place. While all this nonsense was going on, I only thought about one thing: I can't believe this is happening right now!!!!

I couldn't understand why this was happening... but not because I am dumb or do not understand what copyright infringement is. I couldn't believe this was happening because I was acting as a complete and total fan of the films. I was only trying to promote a local event that was completely FREE and celebrating the love I have for Star Wars. But here is the thing that really bothered me: They said they went on these websites and saw all the promotion material, yet they accused us of all types of things that weren't true. If they had gone to these websites that were started, they would have seen FREE EVENT plastered on everything. No admission at all. Not only that, but we were offering drink specials and food in order for the event to be more economical. No required purchases to watch... just things to make day easier. You wouldn't even have to leave the screen for a second to get refreshments. This is a plus, no?

I was even more disgusted with LucasFilms. I know they are a huge conglomerate that makes billions of dollars... but why do they make billions of dollars??? Because of fans... fans like me. You would think they would celebrate something like this. I didn't set out in this event to make money. That wasn't my goal. My goal was to watch all 6 Star Wars films in a row. I wanted to look around the room and see a bunch of people mouthing the words to some of the greatest Sci-Fi films ever made. I wanted to see people's awesome (and not so awesome) costumes. I live for this geek shit... and this was going to be the geekiest thing I could ever imagine. I just wanted to support a franchise of films that I have loved my whole life. I never expected to be blindsided by their corporate arm, mere hours before the event was to take place. What kind of bitch move was that?

I would have been mad had I gotten this email a few weeks ago... but at least I would have been able to respond. At least I could have contacted LucasFilms and tried to make the event work. Instead I got a letter with three typographical errors that attacked me for my intentions to do something I never intend on doing (charging to see the movies). I got a letter that asked for a response on July 8th even though the event was taking place on July 3rd. I got a letter that showed that LucasFilms does not care about their fans... its all about the money. And while I am not naive enough to make believe that I didn't know LucasFilms was about the bucks, I did think they would have liked something that promote 6 films they have already made hundreds of billions of dollars off. Nope. I was wrong.

So from here on out, I am done. No more arguing about Lucas getting a bad rap for his character choices and decisions to make the prequels. No more caring about all 6 movies as touchstones of memories in my life. No more indoctrinating my son in everything Star Wars for the sake of having him feel the way I have felt for so long. I'm done. And you know why? Because George Lucas doesn't give a flying fuck about us. About a true fan. About lifelong admiration and respect. The reason why he doesn't give a fuck about these things is because they can't be regulated or spent like the dollars he covets so much. That's all Mr. Lucas cares about.

I'll tell you one thing.... the Trekkies would never be treated like this by the Roddenberry estate. Their fandom is celebrated and part of the reason why the franchise has been so successful for all these years. they are rewarded for all the love they show Star Trek and the fan events they put together. They are not shunned. They are not threatened. They are revered. I don't need to be worshiped by Lucas for my fandom of his product... but it would be nice to be looked at as an asset instead of a liability. Maybe I have spent to much time wondering about Wookies & Jedi's anyway. Hot green chicks with lackadaisical morals are more fun anyway, and say what you want about William Shatner but at least he wasn't a pussy like Luke... and George Lucas for that matter. So in closing I say this: FUCK YOU GEORGE LUCAS. You won't get another dollar or any matter of respect from me again. I know you won't miss me... but knowing what you and your company think of people like me, I won't miss you dickbags either.

Mike DeVito
Cultural Compulsive Disorder

We Got Served!!!!!

Due to some legal hub bub I have been hesitant to publish this CEASE & DESIST letter I received from LucasFilms in reference to our planned 2011 Brooklyn Star Wars Marathon. We received the letter at around 6 pm eastern time on Friday July 1, 2011. This left us only 2 BUSINESS HOURS to contact LucasFilms and try to come up with a way to comply with the letter and still have the event. They were still open (it was only 4 PM west coast time).... but did they call us back? Nope. Did they email us a response? Nope. They sent out their threatening letter at the absolute last minute possible despite the fact that we have been advertising for this FAN EVENT for over 3 months. Sad. Here is the letter that destroyed our event in it's entirety. I will be writing a response letter to Lucas & his company later on today. Thanks to all of you who came out and still partied with us real Star Wars fans in spite of Emperor Lucas trying to stop us.... it could have been epic, but we still made it fun!!!

George Lucas Strikes Back: The Real Story Of The Last 20 Years

You have to watch this awesome faux trailer for the movie "George Lucas Strikes Back". The gang over at Slick Gigolo have produced an awesome snapshot into what really happened to George Lucas over 20 years ago and lead to the prequel Star Wars films. This is great:



That is amazing. Oldboy references, the beard and glasses, getting the old gang together (Short Round is a grea addition to the team), and the digs on the prequels make this a funny video. See Joe Esq... the whole thing was a conspiracy!!! You can love George Lucas again! Hooray!!!!!

So That Explains His Beard....

Check out this awesome George Lucas as Chewbacca T-shirt 'George's Secret' from Split Reason. It will run about 20 bucks, but a very cool and original take on the Star Wars characters is well worth it.

Irvin Kershner, R.I.P. - 1923 - 2010

A true legend amongst filmmakers passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Irvin Kershner, director of The Empire Strikes Back, succumbed to the lung cancer he had fought for 3 years. Kershner was handpicked by George Lucas to follow up Star Wars, and all he did was make one of the greatest movies of all time. Empire is not just the best Star Wars movie, it may be the best space opera/sci-fi movies ever... EVER!!! The Hoth scenes, Yoda, Han & Leia, Luke finding out that Darth Vader was really Daddy Vader... c'mon man, there is nothing that comes close. Here is what George Lucas had to say about his friend and collaborators death (as per E! news):

"The world has lost a great director and one of the most genuine people I've had the pleasure of knowing," Lucas said in a statement sent to E! News. "Irvin Kershner was a true gentleman in every sense of the word."

Billy D. Williams called Kershner "... a mountain of a man" upon hearing about his death. Film critic Roger Ebert further cemented the legacy of Empire when he gave this review back in 1997 during a re-release of the film:

"It is because of the emotions stirred in Empire that the entire series takes on a mythic quality that resonates back to the first [movie] and ahead to the third," critic Roger Ebert wrote in a four-star review, published upon the sequel's 1997 re release. "This is the heart."

Kershner also directed Never Say Never Again, which brought Sean Connery back to the role of James Bond, and Robocop 2, the sequel to the Paul Verhooven classic. All in all, he was a talented filmmaker and all Star Wars freaks should commend him, because one must face facts: If Kirshner would have fucked up Empire, the franchise would have been over. Thanks to him, its 30 years and still going strong. You will be missed sir. Thank you for my favorite Star Wars movie ever. Good luck on the journey you have ahead.