The Making of Star Wars: in Concert

I had the opportunity to preview the half-hour behind the scenes making of Star Wars: in Concert that will broadcast on WLIW21 Saturday, October, 17 at 9:00 p.m. Below is my review:

Star Wars: in Concert promises to be a tour de force (puns intended) of Star Wars music, images and props. WLIW will premier a half-hour behind the scenes look at the creation of the live show. Star Wars: in Concert is like a rock concert for selections of Jon Williams’ music from all six Star Wars films accompanied by specially cut video footage from the movies performed by a full live orchestra and choir. Star Wars theme music has always been a blending of the cool and the classical. Music was as Lucas puts it, “one of the main legs that Star Wars stands on.” In fact, legend says when the first movie was completed—Episode 4 in the maddeningly illogical way Lucas produced the films out of order—the only thing he was really completely happy with was John Williams’ score. Star Wars theme music is instantly familiar to many people, even those who have never watched the movies. (Yes, I know, but they do exist.)


Called by the producer of the event, “a symphonic concert in a rock venue” this traveling show will be narrated by Anthony Daniels himself—what no C3PO suit? Williams chose sixteen selections that he felt identified the thematic musical thread throughout the films. John Williams is arguably one of the most successful and most popular movie theme composers of all time. The list of fantastic and fantastical movie themes you know because of him is long: Star Wars, Jaws, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Superman, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter to name a few.

The technical difficulties the producers had to overcome are highlighted in this show. The video editor timed scenes to the music selections and then a 100 piece orchestra and a 30 piece choir had to perform the selections live timed exactly to the film clips. Steve Cohen (no relation even though that's my father's name too), the show producer, points out the difficulty of getting them to “nail rhythmically” the timing live for the video.



In true Hollywood fashion and typical of Lucas productions every detail of the stage has been designed to match the Star Wars visual theme from the conductor’s podium to the laser lights. Star Wars: in Concert was premiered at the O2 Arena in London on April 10 and 11, 2009 and now is on tour.

This special is a good behind the scenes look at the difficulties in bringing together all the components to make the magic happen. To hear the music performed live and see the gigantic images on the screen along with the ability to really come up close to the film props will be an awesome experience and this video will certainly get you hyped up about it. Seems from this video special that it’s going to be an amazing production and I can’t wait to see it performed live.

The Star Wars in Concert half-hour broadcast will air on WLIW21 Saturday, October 17 at 9 p.m. Encore presentations air Saturday, October 17 at 9:30 p.m., and Sunday, October 18 at 8 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

One more thing. In Lucas’ revisionist mentality, there will be a premier during the live shows of a new, digitally created Yoda for the Episode 1 scenes that originally featured a puppet. I’m not attached to the Episode 1 puppet version of Yoda at all but I hope that he doesn’t then decide to go back to the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to replace Frank Oz’s brilliant original performance of Yoda. They were classic and still hold up surprisingly well, the puppet a well as the voice acting.

The Star Wars in Concert broadcast special also previews the exclusive exhibit of Star Wars costumes, props, artifacts, and production artwork -- many of which are leaving Skywalker Ranch for the first time -- that accompanies the concert tour, which will come to Nassau Coliseum on November 21.

Lucasfilm, STAR WARS™ and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

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Putting All The Elements In Iron Man

Jon Favreau appears in some of the most interesting places. I first remember seeing him as the heart broken pal of Vince Vahn in the quotable and cool film, Swingers. Then he showed up as host of a roundtable dinner and a movie show on cable television when cable television was still a distinct entity from other kind of television. (Remember that?) He had a gig as Monica’s ultra-wealthy boyfriend on Friends. Now he’s in the director’s chair in the much-anticipated Iron Man movie staring another guy who gets around Robert Downey Jr. (albeit in all the wrong ways, e.g. criminal court, jail, rehab, etc.)

The teaser trailer I spied last year was very promising. The effects were already looking pretty finalized; the cobbled together Iron Man costume that Downey makes initially is fantastically Steam Punkish looking (and a throw back to the original Iron Man in the comics). Downey has the role of arrogant, then redemptive Tony Stark down pat. And from the snippets I saw he pulls off blending a Tony Stark full off faux-melodrama and snarky comedy. I actually laughed at Robert Downey Jr. and not because he showed up before the judge in an orange jumpsuit the morning after getting busted for drugs. (Not that there’s anything at all funny about doing drugs. There is nothing funny about illegal drugs and going to jail—nothing! He. He.)

I worried about Downey in the same way I worried about Michael Keaton playing Batman but Downey seems to be wearing the characterization of wealthy arrogance like, well, it’s his own. But the new trailer gives us a peek into Tony Stark’s personality post-epiphany and he’s very convincing—I guess serving jail time will do that to a guy. Robert Downey Jr. just may nap a place in the pantheon of actors who brilliantly models a formerly 2D comic character into his own multi-dimensional role. Confidence is high.

To make Robert Downey Jr.’s real redemption happen on screen (who I believe appeared briefly on Ally McBeal some years back before a return trip to the slammer) director Favreau must have either A) Given him some great direction or B) Let Downey go at it whole hog, which again is probably great direction.

Generally I hate comic book movies because we fans have to suffer through the origin story which is either presented in a ridiculously simplistic fashion to get it out of the way quick or done to try to play off ultimate drama, which aggravates us because its blasphemy. Walking the fine line of an origin story is extremely difficult, especially for a well-known character like say, Spiderman and Superman—both of which were done brilliantly combining both elements I presented above and making it work. My personal opinion is that Batman (Tim Burton version) and Batman Begins (staring Mr. Moody himself Christian Bale) both equally handled that character’s origins, though many debate me on the former. Marvel has had a run of bad luck amid their successes. Fantastic Four (both movies) missed the mark entirely making it much too family friendly and the Hulk, Ghost Rider and Spiderman 3 all went horribly wrong. X-Men got it right, if only because there was no need for any origin stories and because of Bryan Singer’s genius at handling characterization, which you can also say for his Superman Returns.

In an interview I swiped off the net somewhere but neglected to reference in my notes Favreau was asked about the budget of the movie. His answer was, “I feel like there's never enough money no matter how much money you have…” You know, this guys a good director and all but I have to admit that he may have taken that answer from me. I mean anyone who’s anyone knows I’ve been saying that for years.

He went on to say that the reason is that “because you're always trying to put more on the screen than you've got.” As opposed to George Lucas, who has so much that he puts everything on the screen. I think the point here is that it’s good to have a budget and work within the scope that you are given. In general movies that start blowing budgets out of control tend to be overwrought, embellished garbage instead of scrappy, full-of-hear films. Of course we’re talking about relativity here. (Not the Einstein type of Relativity which I generally capitalize, it’s the Ben Bernanke type of relativity, like when the head of the Federal Reserve says that he’s using billions of tax payer dollars to increase liquidity in the financial markets like it’s no big deal—that kind of relativity.) Lord of the Rings costs mega bucks but looked scrappy and cool, whereas The Phantom Menace was just the Hollywood version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon—it looks nice on the outside but has no substance, all fluff.

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New Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull Poster

Just got an email from Paramount. The new Drew Struzan poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is on the official site!

CLICK HERE TO SEE INDY, MARION, AND MORE ON INDIANAJONES.COM

The movie will open May 22nd, 2008.
http://www.IndianaJones.com

Also on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/indianajones
And MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/indianajones

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HD-DVD versus Blu Ray

I am referring to the article that I blogged below about HD-DVD versus Blu Ray.

Personally, I will not be switching to either format any time soon. I will be one of those who waits until I can download the movie and then archive it on a Hard Drive. But I think Sean Cooper is missing one piece of the puzzle. I would want a format that I could save a movie on portable media (HD-DVD probably) and archive it or take it with me so I can watch it on my TV.

I do not think that "On-Demand" or Movie Rental Downloading to a set top box (like what Netflix is proposing to do) are anywhere near ready. I guess I will have a long time to wait. Maybe it's a generational thing but I like the feeling of actually owning the physical movie rather than the "file" on a hard drive only. Or worse yet, the ability to watch a movie anytime from my TV just because I bought the viewing rights. Perhaps a backlog of older movies can be sold on a subscription basis like where you can buy the right to view any movie from Paramount or MGM's library of movies from before 10 years ago for a fee per month, I might try that. Or If Netflix can make it so that I can have the movie and access it anytime until I choose another movie similar to the current DVD service if their library is as extensive as it is now, I might buy into that. But download times for HD movies have to become faster or it will not be worth it.

Basically if I buy the latest Star Wars movie, I want to watch it anytime I want unrestricted like I do now. I don't want network logjams, server outages or corrupted files to get in the way. When my popcorn is ready my movie better be ready.

L.S.C.

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Hello. My name is Lon. And I'm addicted to Netflix...

As many of you know I am a huge fan of Netflix. It is one of the few (very few) services I will promote on my blog that I don’t get paid for. One of the reasons I love it is because it’s one of those ideas that is so elegant the universe just had to think it up eventually. Think of those by-mail music-ordering clubs from Columbia House or BMG? Remember those? When you would pick off a selection of cassettes that you wanted, ten for a penny? Then the company would send them to you in the mail. If it wasn’t for the fact that the remaining contract was so absurdly expensive, those could have ruined my music shopping experience forever.

Let me ‘splain.

Starting about Junior High School I began to become a music connoisseur. Before that, I listened to all types of music and I loved it all, but some recessive music gene kicks in around 12 or 13 years old. I see it in my own son. I’d get lost in Record World for hours just browsing the music categories. Back then it was all about records. I could flip through hundreds of records mentally listing those I thought looked interesting. It was a history lesson in vinyl in every bin. I’d look at the album art, the liner notes, and the song lists… If I had a question about one of the artists, I’d seek out one of the sales associates and ask questions. Like some in the fine art community peruse the galleries, I was a music browser. I had to be discriminating because I had very little dough to spend. If my purchase wasn’t careful, I’d end up with a clunker, so I took my time. Not to say I didn’t go out on a limb once in a while. Some albums I bought just because of the cover art.

This was how I discovered The Cult, Billy Idol, Metallica and others before ever hearing them on the radio or in my clique. I was a shopper. My mother could get in a whole season’s worth of clothes shopping at the mall and I would still be only halfway through the store when she came to retrieve me. Record World was like a built-in babysitting service.

When I got a little older I began to discover the joy of reading. Around high school, I added another addiction to the mix: Books. This was before Borders and Amazon. I could only get my fix at B. Daltons or Walden Books. They were the perennial favorites. There were small local bookstores but being the suburban teen that I was, my life revolved around the modern town center, the mall. A trip to the mall would have to include an hour in each store, which I could do very easily. Again, having to be very discriminating, my purchases were of very choice books.

You would think that as the years passed I would outgrow this little addiction. Not true. As a matter of fact, with the passing years, my browsing grew. When I got my license, I could drive myself to any record or bookstore I liked and spend hours just looking around. Still, to this day, if I step into a bookstore or music store I know that I am not getting out of there in less than an hour if I’m not in a hurry. It’s like a time vortex. Those stores sucked hours from my life. I walk out, blinking in the painful sunlight, like some cave creature, pasty and waif-thin from my sojourn into the heart of my addictive darkness, with a plastic bag of music or books to add to the ever-growing pile. My junk is media.

Ever since I saw the original Star Wars, I was hooked on movies. Not just Science Fiction but every type of movie. Adventure, Romance, Drama, it doesn’t matter. I love films. But, until a few years ago, collecting movies was just too daunting a task to take on so I relied on rental places for my fix. I could, again, get lost in a local video rental store or Blockbuster just as easily as in any book or music store.

The trifecta of entertainment bliss: Movies, Books and Music. Ahhh, heaven.

I never got into buying and collecting movies on VCR tape like some other people. I just found tapes unwieldy and not easy to categorize. Too fat, too clunky, to plastic-y and just too breakable. Then G-d invented DVD and I was a changed man. Where before, my movie collection consisted of the original trilogy of Star Wars and the Queen-soundtrack Flash Gordon, now I was free to collect at will.

And I did.

My DVD collection is not as impressive as others, but it is better than average. Only, something was different. $9.99 movie bins, I could handle, but if I wanted to collect whole seasons of my favorite shows, well, that was just too damn expensive. I mean, how can I justify spending seventy bucks per season for Quantum Leap? Or Star Trek? What about all the shows I missed, like Babylon 5 or Stargate? The only moderately priced television show, of which I own every episode of every season, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But after spending hundreds of dollars on that, I was tapped. I couldn’t do it anymore. How can I watch TV if I can’t pay the electric bill? It was a conundrum.

Then came Netflix.

This was a lifesaver. The selection of movies and television shows is immense. They almost always have anything I want and they have the newest releases right away. Boy do I sound like a commercial. But it's true. For a small fee per month I have unlimited viewing. The mail service is exceptional and I never have to wait more than two days for a film to be shipped to me. It has destroyed the thrill of browsing my local Best Buy or Circuit City. I used to enjoy shopping in those places. Now I find myself, sitting in the parking lot wondering why I was about to go in. If I don’t have a specific reason to be there, a specific item I need to pick up, what's the point? My DVD browsing days at the brick and mortar stores were over.

But the best part of the Netflix service: The Queue. This is a great idea. I have literally hundreds of movies queued up. Hundreds! Probably more than 300! I surf their site for movies anytime I think or hear of one I’d like to see and queue it up. The queue is god. The queue is king.

Long live Queue.

And if I get a movie that I didn’t particularly like, I just return it and I don’t feel like I wasted my money. There has never been a service that is matches my love and addiction to browsing for titles with my diversity of tastes and selections. Imagine the same thing for other media. Imagine a place where for a very tiny fee you could go in and take out books, read them and then return them. Not only that you can get new ones as soon as you return the old ones. More than that, the selection is virtually unlimited. Can you imagine a place like that?!?!?!?

L.S.C.

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