Star Wars Dweebing FIVE: Philosophy'ish (and odds-N-ends)
Fan dance
By DAVID HAFETZ, Wed., Jun. 8, 2005
In a patch of the galaxy not so far away, a disturbance in the Force menaced a band of Jedi knights camping in tents on a Manhattan sidewalk.
For weeks, these "Star Wars" zealots had waited in shifts outside the Ziegfeld Theater to be among the first in the universe to catch the latest -- and last -- film in the double trilogy. On "Revenge of the Sith" Eve, as they geared up for the final episode, the fans also faced a new prospect: the end. It was a bittersweet moment -- a time to bid farewell to wookies and droids, to wrap up a three-decade-long fantasy they have participated in since childhood.
Fans dressed in Luke and Obi-Wan costumes perform center sidewalk, pantomiming scenes as the original 1977 film played behind them on a white tent. Other fans, some wearing hats with Yoda ears, cheered.
Then, suddenly, tidings of galactic import raced through the crowd: General Grievous arrived, or rather the voice of General Grievous, actor Matthew Wood. Fans swarmed him like ewoks on a stormtrooper. They pleaded for a "spoiler" session as he tried to escape.
Final curtain be damned
And so the universe turned on West 54th -- and around the world, from campouts at theaters in Hollywood to a Royal Philharmonic Orchestra tribute to "Star Wars" music in London -- as George Lucas' many children prepared for life on Planet NoQuel. EDITOR’S NOTE: HAR HAR.
Yet somehow, no one seemed particularly despondent -- or ready to accept that the final curtain ever will fall on "Star Wars."
"There always will be something," says Steve Lorenzo, one of the die-hards who waited outside the Ziegfeld. "Even though it's the end of the movies, it's not the end of 'Star Wars.' " EDITOR’S NOTE: AMEN, BROTHER DWEEB! YOU TELL IT TO THE SCOFFING JOURNALIST!
Long ago, "Star Wars" fans emerged as a hardy lot -- true believers free from the effect of reality's tractor beam (or scathing critical reviews of the films). For years, Lorenzo and his otherworldy brethren endured torture waiting between films and weathered mockery that could wither Yoda's lightsaber. Geeks, they have been called. Fanatics. Dweebs. Nerds. EDITOR’S NOTE: DWEEBS, PLEASE.
The "Star Wars" men -- and they make up the majority of the films' fans EDITOR’S NOTE: DO YOUR HOMEWORK, FELLA. NOT MUCH OF A MAJORITY ANY MORE. PRETTY CLOSE TO 50/50 MALE/FEMALE THESE DAYS, BUB. -- take some of the worst hits. In a segment on Conan O'Brien's latenight talkshow (made famous as it was passed email to email across the Net), Triumph the Insult Comic Dog told a lone woman waiting in line to see "Episode I": "You can choose from all kinds of guys who have no idea how to please you." EDITOR’S NOTE: ALL THAT MAKES THEM IS GUYS. (THE STAR WARS THING HAS ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING).
Faced with such Earthling scorn, fans link arms and march on in their lovingly detailed costumes. They bond at conventions and in clubs like the 501st Legion, a worldwide group dedicated to dressing up in Imperial soldier finery,EDITOR’S NOTE: AND DOING MAJOR LABORS FOR CHARITY, BY THE BY. and the Royal Handmaiden Society, which emulates the robed characters loyal to the queen of Naboo. Some, like the members of the R2-D2 Builders Club, prefer the sound of the whizzing of little wheels.
A cottage industry of "Star Wars" fan films has sprung up -- works that are now spotlighted at an annual awards ceremony. Fans write books and songs. They obsessively collect merchandise and cover themselves in "Star Wars" tattoos.
"We all express our love for 'Star Wars' in different ways," says Josh Griffin, co-owner of massive fan site TheForce.net. "Everyone has a secret passion for 'Star Wars.' "
The official "Star Wars" Web site alone counts 4 million registered users. Jim Ward, a marketing VP at Lucasfilm, says that half of all Americans own a "Star Wars" video or product. EDITOR’S NOTE: AN AMAZING STATISTIC, IN THESE HIGHLY FRAGMENTED TIMES. (AND OF COURSE, SOME OF US OWN….UMM…MORE THAN ONE). "There's no phenomena like it," asserts Ward.
But as the Siths take their revenge, fans like Lorenzo still feel misunderstood. "It's really narrow to pigeonhole the 'Star Wars' crowd as freaks and geeks -- it's the easiest way to get a cheap laugh," says the 39-year-old, who works for a software company and joined the Ziegfeld line partly to help raise money for a charity, the Starlight Children's Foundation.
All walks of life
Lynne Lipton, the "line mother" in New York -- and perhaps better known as the voice of Cheetara on "Thundercats" -- calls her fellow fans "intelligent and wonderful."
Tariq Jalil, who directed 2001 "Star Wars" doc "A Galaxy Far, Far Away," says hardcore fans are addicted to the films' mythical themes and pop spirituality. "They believe there is a Force."
While the ranks of dedicated "Star Wars" heads still appear dominated by techies, there also are financial analysts, lawyers, journalists and doctors. TheForce.net's Griffin is a youth minister.
A female newspaper editor in Vermont recently "outed" herself in a column she hoped would shatter the myth that the "Star Wars" fan is a "greasy-haired, bespectacled adolescent male geek who has no life."
Not all "Star Wars" fans necessarily reside on the same side of the Force. Lucasfilm says that people under 25 prefer the new films, while older fans stick to the originals.
Many older fans were deeply disappointed by the first two prequels but watched the movies over and over anyway. The "Star Wars" saga has become almost critic-proof -- and fan-proof.
Still, fans have gone against Jedi master Lucas. They savaged "Episode I's" CGI character Jar Jar Binks -- and, in doing so, some believe, got Lucas to limit his screen time in subsequent films. EDITOR’S NOTE: NOPE. I DOUBT THIS. AND JAR JAR…FOR ANYONE WHO WAS NOT SNIPPING AND WAS PAYING ATTENTION…SERVED AN IMPORTANT, AND RATHER TRAGIC PURPOSE IN THE FILMS. HE WAS THE ONE IN AOTC WHO WAS MANIPULATED INTO INTRODUCING THE ARMY-FORMATION ACT WHICH WAS ONE OF THE FIRST BIG LEAPS DOWN THE DARK PATH AND INCREASED POWERS FOR PALPATINE. HE WAS A SWEET INNOCENT WHO WAS PUT IN A VERY SAD POSITION BY THE EVIL GUY HIMSELF.
"(Lucas) is at a point where he's making movies for himself," says Tim Hatcher, who goes by Qui-Gon Tim in fan circles. "But he may be responding subconsciously." EDITOR’S NOTE: I DON’T THINK UNCLE G CAN HEAR THE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD, TIM.
Lucasfilm's Ward rejects any such influence. "The fans have no impact in the sense that (Lucas) is listening to them and altering the film. George Lucas makes the films he wants to make." EDITOR’S NOTE: AS IT SHOULD BE.
Some fans speak of the last episode as a "cathartic" experience that gives closure to their childhood, with tears shed at screenings. Still, it seems unlikely that fans are done with the Force -- or vice-versa.
In this galaxy, conventions and merchandizing appear destined to go on, as does online gaming. It seems "Star Wars" fans don't fade away -- they just dress up.
"Someone always is going to have a sci-fi party and need 100 stormtroopers," Qui-Gon Tim says.
As long as Lucas has his fans, and fans have Lucas, there's always a New Hope. EDITOR’S NOTE: OH GO TAKE DRUGS OR ROB LITTLE OLD LADIES, IF YOU’R GOING TO BE SUCH A SNARKY CYNIC. LEAVE US DWEEBS TO OUR NOBLER PURSUITS. (NOT THAT YOU WOULD EVER UNDERSTAND…..)
June 10, 2005
Closure overrated with Deep Throat and Darth
By Gregg Kilday
The psychological concept of closure is one of those squishy ideas that achieved a certain vogue during the psychobabble of the '70s Me Decade. Originally used to describe how patients resolve conflicting emotions, it became a prescription for any unresolved situation -- from a tragic event to the breakup of a fleeting relationship.
Loose ends -- no matter how trivial -- inevitably created a demand for closure.In recent weeks, two of the most influential movies of the '70s -- 1976's "All the President's Men" and 1977's "Star Wars," or, as it has come to be known, "Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope" -- have been treated to a kind of closure of their own. But as emotional resolutions go, the two denouements couldn't be more different.
By an accident of history, the man who came to be called Deep Throat, the shadowy whistle-blower who plays a sort of deus ex machina in Alan Pakula's "All the President's Men," stepped forward to reveal himself just as George Lucas was releasing the final chapter in his "Star Wars" saga, in which the reasons for Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader are finally revealed. EDITOR’S NOTE: I GOT CONFUSED IN THAT SENTENCE FOR A MINUTE. I THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT TO TELL US THAT GEORGE LUCAS HAD BEEN REVEALED AS DEEP THROAT. GO ON AHEAD WITHOUT ME; I’M GOING TO RE-READ THIS PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH.
From the beginning, one of the strengths of "All the President's Men" -- which producer Robert Redford began developing even before the book on which it was based had been written -- was that it didn't pretend to have all the answers. As it follows Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who stumbled on to the Watergate scandal, William Goldman's screenplay takes a reporters'-eye view of the slowly unraveling plot to bug the Democratic Party headquarters. Although Pakula's camera occasionally looks on omnisciently -- there is a famous shot looking down from the dome of the Library of Congress -- the movie doesn't try to answer every question it raises and finally stops short of describing President Nixon's ultimate downfall.Still, now that Mark Felt, then the second-ranking official at the FBI, has stepped out of the shadows to proclaim himself Deep Throat, the major mystery of the movie -- which has jumped to No. 27 on Amazon.com's list of current DVD sales -- is finally resolved. There is an added satisfaction that the casting of Hal Holbrook as the gray-haired Felt looks almost prescient. Yet, as he made the talk-show rounds last week, Woodward cautioned that even today not everything is known about the Nixon White House's abuses of power.
Coincidentally, as Lucas unveiled his final "Star Wars" installment last month at the Festival de Cannes, he revealed that the space opera's underlying political concerns -- how a republic turns into a corrupt empire -- owes a debt "to the Nixon years and the Vietnam War." But that was never the central mystery of "Star Wars."Instead, at the end of 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back," Vader uttered the famous line, "Luke, I am your father." Although fans debated whether that was a bluff or the truth, the matter was mostly cleared up three years later in "Return of the Jedi."
Now, more than two decades later, Lucas returns to describe Vader's origins in even greater detail. Unlike "Men," which connected the dots without ever attempting to take readers or viewers into Nixon's inner sanctum, "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" ranges across the galaxy in its efforts to offer both a macro and micro explanation for Vader's fall from grace.
But the more Lucas searches for the answers, the more his elaborate explanations fail to satisfy -- for many, all that talk of "midichloridians" is one step too far.
Closure, it turns out, is often just out of reach. EDITOR’S NOTE: WELL…PSYCHOBABBLE BEING WHAT IT IS….I DON’T THINK MOST OF US NEED CLOSURE. IT IS MORE A MYTH EVEN THAN THE STUFF FROM JOSEPH CAMPBELL. WHAT WE WANT…AND WHAT ROTS ACHIEVED….IS A THRU-LINE. A THREAD THAT PULLS THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER. AND MORE THAN THAT, THE NUANCE OF HUMAN MOTIVATION AND FOIBLE THAT MAKE THE ENTIRE SAGA RE-BORN WITH A VERY NEW PERSPECTIVE. (AS FOR THAT MIDCHLORIAN….AND IT’S CHLORIAN, NOT CHLORIDIAN, BY THE WAY….CRACK, DOES HAVING MITOCHONDRIA MAKE THE MIRACLES THAT MAKE UP OUR LIVES LESS STARTLING AND ROMANTIC?)
Lex Luthor Feels For Vader
June 09, 2005
Darth Vader isn't the only misunderstood villain in pop culture history. In this very galaxy, there was yet another baddie who didn't make life too easy for the good guys either -- Lex Luthor. As Clark Kent's nemesis, Lex Luthor on "Smallville," actor Michael Rosenbaum spoke about his feelings about iconic villains, comparisons between Anakin Skywalker and his character as a young Lex Luthor, and his ultimate appreciation for Star Wars while he attended a special screening of Revenge of the Sith at Skywalker Ranch.
When talking with Rosenbaum about his role as a teenage Luthor and the choices his character makes that will eventually shape his destiny, it's easy to see the parallels form between his character and the headstrong Skywalker.
"It's this tug of war with this kid who's a lost soul to begin with," Rosenbaum explains. "He's trying to be good, but he knows what he's doing is wrong. Sometimes people have to make these pivotal decisions that change their lives. Obviously, the character of Lex Luthor I'm playing on 'Smallville' is having similar issues. He's destined to be the villain against Superman, but he's trying everything he can to be the good guy. I think that's what Anakin is trying to do. He knows what he's doing is wrong; he feels remorseful. And there's a point when you see this guy who's struggling with his feelings and his emotions with these difficult choices, and then there's this complete transformation in not only the way Anakin looks, but also his eyes -- he's dead behind them. He's given up. He thinks that the Council doesn't trust him, or like him and won't give him a chance. "
"On 'Smallville' my mother is killed and we don't know how she really died," Rosenbaum continues. "And who is my father? Lex and Anakin both have these traumatic things that happen to them, and yet people see them and think they're monsters who deserve what they get. But then you see the story of Darth Vader in this film and you really feel for him. You know he's a bad guy and he should be locked up, but at the same time it's not so simple. " EDITOR’S NOTE: YES, VERY SIMILAR DICHOTOMY. AND VERY SIMILAR EMOTIONS WHEN WATCHING THESE TWO GUYS STRUGGLE WITH THEIR INTERNAL DEMONS. (AND KNOWING THAT THEY BOTH WILL FALL, AND BREAK THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM…AND RUIN THEIR OWN LIVES IN THE PROCESS). MUCH MORE INTERESTING….AND TRAGIC….THAN A BLACK-AND-WHITE BAD GUY.
As an actor, Rosenbaum says he can appreciate the skill and acting performances of the cast onscreen, especially that of Hayden Christensen who both mentally and physically transformed for the role of Darth Vader.
"I got to meet Hayden, and he's the nicest guy I've ever met," Rosenbaum says. "Which is weird because in real life he's this nice, passive innocent kid, and then I see him in the film and he is so intense! It's a very organic performance. Ewan McGregor is also brilliant. And when Natalie Portman cries, I really feel for her. I feel for every one of these characters."
As a long-time Star Wars fan, Rosenbaum isn't shy about showing off his fan pride. On a recent episode of MTV's "Cribs," he showed off his pride-and-joy Master Replica lightsaber by turning on the switch and giving an impromptu demonstration. And at the special MTV TRL screening of Revenge of the Sith, Rosenbaum could be spotted around Skywalker Ranch and in the Stag Theater wearing his Lucasfilm robe, incognito as his own brand of Jedi.
"For the last hour of the film I was hysterical," Rosenbaum confesses. "I was wearing the robe in the screening -- which by the way was a huge hit. I thought people would think I was a nerd -- which I am a giant nerd -- but everyone was coming up to me asking where I got such a cool robe, including Elijah Wood!"
EDITOR'S NOTE: MICHAEL ROSENBAUM, UNCLE G, AND FRODO!
So it's no surprise that seeing Revenge of the Sith with his fellow actors and George Lucas himself in the audience was a bit overwhelming for Rosenbaum.
"There were so many emotional moments in this movie for me," Rosenbaum admits. "When Yoda dropped his cane and felt the disturbance with the Jedi, I got sad. But it really hit at the end of the film when we all realize that it's only 20 years from that point when it's all going to start again with A New Hope. I was five years old when A New Hope came out in 1977. I saw it with my mom and now 27 years later, it's all over! All the loose ends were all put together. And it was just overwhelming. Luke and Leia being born. And Anakin becoming Darth Vader. All those things you just dreamed about. " EDITOR’S NOTE: ANOTHER REAL-LIFE DWEEB….NOT JUST PLAYING ONE ON TV!
Waging 'Wars' on foreign soil
By ANTHONY D'ALESSANDRO
Wed., Jun. 8, 2005
As the veterans of foreign "Wars" will attest, the overseas box office for the first "Star Wars" trilogy never hit galactic heights -- at least compared with its domestic take. It's a shocking piece of B.O. trivia considering the saga and sci-fi successors like "E.T" alerted studio execs that the foreign market was an essential component of a tentpole's blueprint.
Though episodes four through six broke records in major territories, their foreign take only equaled 63% of their domestic run. Some distributors attribute the shortfall to the weak international exhibition infrastructure of the late '70s and early '80s in places like Latin America and Asia. However, B.O. history shows big pics of the day were already surpassing their domestic runs. James Bond films were surefire overseas hits: In 1979, "Moonraker" reeled in an overseas gross that was 200% of its domestic haul.
With the new "Star Wars" trilogy, Lucasfilm and Fox Intl. have achieved their goal of having foreign exceed domestic. The overseas B.O. for "The Phantom Menace" repped a stellar 113% of its domestic take; "Attack of the Clones" 109%; and "Revenge of the Sith" is close to 100% through June 1.
Much of the groundwork for the record-breaking runs started with the reissues of the original trio and the global marketing plan for "Phantom."
"We knew with 'Phantom' that we could achieve a certain level of box office based on core male fans," says Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's prexy of distribution and marketing. "We wanted to grow the brand over time with a new generation of fans, so we talked to kids in an aggressive way as well as women." EDITOR’S NOTE: SEE….WOMEN! SOMEONE WHO MARKETS SCIFI TO WOMEN! (I FEEL BOTH USED AND LOVED, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. AND YES, THIS IS NORMAL IN MY RELATIONSHIPS. BUT THIS TIME IT IS USED AND LOVED BY UNCLE GEORGE!)
While an array of merchandising partners had kids hooked with items ranging from shampoo to action figures, Lucasfilm targeted women through the glossies -- typically not associated with the saga's marketing machine. Other femme-aimed promotions included museum tours of the pic's costumes and an Yves Saint Laurent makeup line inspired by Queen Amidala. EDITOR’S NOTE: DRAT. I MISSED THAT MAKEUP PRODUCT LINE.
While the marketing campaigns for the original trilogy were tailored for each territory, the new trio benefited from brand awareness. As such, Lucasfilm employed a global print campaign, designed by Drew Struzan. The universal hook for "Sith" is that it is the final "Star Wars" film and it reveals the origins of Darth Vader, who is at the center of the new campaign.
While "Phantom" was rolled out gradually overseas from summer into fall, the last two "Star Wars" pics were global events, opening day and date with domestic, and posting record bows.
Ward points out that the company was impressed by the franchise's worldwide resilience after the back-to-back video releases of the trilogy in 1995 and 1997, each wave selling more than 30 million units globally.
One of the prime territories that evolved for the franchise was Eastern Europe. When "Star Wars" first unspooled abroad, Fox Intl. sidestepped the Eastern bloc exhibs since they were notorious for buying prints at a flat fee and copying them. With the cinema boom there, the new trilogy drew a faithful following.
The grosses for "Clones" dipped an average of 36% from "Phantom" in Western Europe, Latin American and Asia, but Eastern Europe remained unchanged in its B.O. for each ($14 million). Russia's grosses have steadily climbed, with $2 million for "Phantom," $5 million for "Clones" and $8 million for "Sith."
Japan has always been the saga's highest-grossing territory outside the U.S. Former Fox Intl. prexy Jean Louis Ruben -- who oversaw the original trilogy -- knew the Japanese would swoon for the pic's samurai themes and Kurosawa influences. The franchise has amassed nearly $300 million there.
While most of Western Europe and English-speaking territories always have been keen for the saga, Italy has been the most difficult market, mostly because sci-fi doesn't play there. EDITOR’S NOTE: BECAUSE???? "Menace" and "Clones" posted grosses of $13 million and $8 million, respectively, and are outranked by the country's highest-grossing sci-fi fave "The Matrix Reloaded" ($17 million). The $3.5 million Italian bow for "Sith" is considered weak for a summer tentpole. Last year, "Spider-Man 2" and "Troy" opened to $9 million and $6 million, respectively.
STAR WARS BY THE NUMBERS
EDITOR’S NOTE: IMPRESSIVE….MOST IMPRESSIVE
MERCHANDISE
Amount generated worldwide from the first "Star Wars" in 1977: $500 million
Amount generated by Lucasfilm worldwide to date: $9+ billion
SPECIAL EFFECTS AND SOUND
ILM and Skywalker Sound 2004 revenues: $275 millionSource: Variety
PRODUCTION COST
"Star Wars": $10 million
"Revenge of the Sith": $115 million
MARKETING
Cost to promote the first two waves of "Star Wars" in April-July 1977: $4 million
Cost of marketing "Revenge of the Sith" in 2005: $95 million
EDITOR’S NOTE: BUT HOW MUCH OF THIS WAS ANCILLARY….PEPSI PROMOTION, FOR EXAMPLE?
FIRST DAY GROSS
"Star Wars"; May 25, 1977: $254,809
"Revenge of the Sith"; May 19, 2005: $50,000,000
STAR WARS DVD SALES
"Phantom Menace": $340 million
"Attack of the Clones": $250 million
"Star Wars Trilogy": $232 million
VIDEOGAMES
LucasArts' 2004 annual revenue: $100 million
Estimated No. of videogames sold since 2001: 9 million units
Source: NPD and Variety
By DAVID HAFETZ, Wed., Jun. 8, 2005
In a patch of the galaxy not so far away, a disturbance in the Force menaced a band of Jedi knights camping in tents on a Manhattan sidewalk.
For weeks, these "Star Wars" zealots had waited in shifts outside the Ziegfeld Theater to be among the first in the universe to catch the latest -- and last -- film in the double trilogy. On "Revenge of the Sith" Eve, as they geared up for the final episode, the fans also faced a new prospect: the end. It was a bittersweet moment -- a time to bid farewell to wookies and droids, to wrap up a three-decade-long fantasy they have participated in since childhood.
Fans dressed in Luke and Obi-Wan costumes perform center sidewalk, pantomiming scenes as the original 1977 film played behind them on a white tent. Other fans, some wearing hats with Yoda ears, cheered.
Then, suddenly, tidings of galactic import raced through the crowd: General Grievous arrived, or rather the voice of General Grievous, actor Matthew Wood. Fans swarmed him like ewoks on a stormtrooper. They pleaded for a "spoiler" session as he tried to escape.
Final curtain be damned
And so the universe turned on West 54th -- and around the world, from campouts at theaters in Hollywood to a Royal Philharmonic Orchestra tribute to "Star Wars" music in London -- as George Lucas' many children prepared for life on Planet NoQuel. EDITOR’S NOTE: HAR HAR.
Yet somehow, no one seemed particularly despondent -- or ready to accept that the final curtain ever will fall on "Star Wars."
"There always will be something," says Steve Lorenzo, one of the die-hards who waited outside the Ziegfeld. "Even though it's the end of the movies, it's not the end of 'Star Wars.' " EDITOR’S NOTE: AMEN, BROTHER DWEEB! YOU TELL IT TO THE SCOFFING JOURNALIST!
Long ago, "Star Wars" fans emerged as a hardy lot -- true believers free from the effect of reality's tractor beam (or scathing critical reviews of the films). For years, Lorenzo and his otherworldy brethren endured torture waiting between films and weathered mockery that could wither Yoda's lightsaber. Geeks, they have been called. Fanatics. Dweebs. Nerds. EDITOR’S NOTE: DWEEBS, PLEASE.
The "Star Wars" men -- and they make up the majority of the films' fans EDITOR’S NOTE: DO YOUR HOMEWORK, FELLA. NOT MUCH OF A MAJORITY ANY MORE. PRETTY CLOSE TO 50/50 MALE/FEMALE THESE DAYS, BUB. -- take some of the worst hits. In a segment on Conan O'Brien's latenight talkshow (made famous as it was passed email to email across the Net), Triumph the Insult Comic Dog told a lone woman waiting in line to see "Episode I": "You can choose from all kinds of guys who have no idea how to please you." EDITOR’S NOTE: ALL THAT MAKES THEM IS GUYS. (THE STAR WARS THING HAS ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING).
Faced with such Earthling scorn, fans link arms and march on in their lovingly detailed costumes. They bond at conventions and in clubs like the 501st Legion, a worldwide group dedicated to dressing up in Imperial soldier finery,EDITOR’S NOTE: AND DOING MAJOR LABORS FOR CHARITY, BY THE BY. and the Royal Handmaiden Society, which emulates the robed characters loyal to the queen of Naboo. Some, like the members of the R2-D2 Builders Club, prefer the sound of the whizzing of little wheels.
A cottage industry of "Star Wars" fan films has sprung up -- works that are now spotlighted at an annual awards ceremony. Fans write books and songs. They obsessively collect merchandise and cover themselves in "Star Wars" tattoos.
"We all express our love for 'Star Wars' in different ways," says Josh Griffin, co-owner of massive fan site TheForce.net. "Everyone has a secret passion for 'Star Wars.' "
The official "Star Wars" Web site alone counts 4 million registered users. Jim Ward, a marketing VP at Lucasfilm, says that half of all Americans own a "Star Wars" video or product. EDITOR’S NOTE: AN AMAZING STATISTIC, IN THESE HIGHLY FRAGMENTED TIMES. (AND OF COURSE, SOME OF US OWN….UMM…MORE THAN ONE). "There's no phenomena like it," asserts Ward.
But as the Siths take their revenge, fans like Lorenzo still feel misunderstood. "It's really narrow to pigeonhole the 'Star Wars' crowd as freaks and geeks -- it's the easiest way to get a cheap laugh," says the 39-year-old, who works for a software company and joined the Ziegfeld line partly to help raise money for a charity, the Starlight Children's Foundation.
All walks of life
Lynne Lipton, the "line mother" in New York -- and perhaps better known as the voice of Cheetara on "Thundercats" -- calls her fellow fans "intelligent and wonderful."
Tariq Jalil, who directed 2001 "Star Wars" doc "A Galaxy Far, Far Away," says hardcore fans are addicted to the films' mythical themes and pop spirituality. "They believe there is a Force."
While the ranks of dedicated "Star Wars" heads still appear dominated by techies, there also are financial analysts, lawyers, journalists and doctors. TheForce.net's Griffin is a youth minister.
A female newspaper editor in Vermont recently "outed" herself in a column she hoped would shatter the myth that the "Star Wars" fan is a "greasy-haired, bespectacled adolescent male geek who has no life."
Not all "Star Wars" fans necessarily reside on the same side of the Force. Lucasfilm says that people under 25 prefer the new films, while older fans stick to the originals.
Many older fans were deeply disappointed by the first two prequels but watched the movies over and over anyway. The "Star Wars" saga has become almost critic-proof -- and fan-proof.
Still, fans have gone against Jedi master Lucas. They savaged "Episode I's" CGI character Jar Jar Binks -- and, in doing so, some believe, got Lucas to limit his screen time in subsequent films. EDITOR’S NOTE: NOPE. I DOUBT THIS. AND JAR JAR…FOR ANYONE WHO WAS NOT SNIPPING AND WAS PAYING ATTENTION…SERVED AN IMPORTANT, AND RATHER TRAGIC PURPOSE IN THE FILMS. HE WAS THE ONE IN AOTC WHO WAS MANIPULATED INTO INTRODUCING THE ARMY-FORMATION ACT WHICH WAS ONE OF THE FIRST BIG LEAPS DOWN THE DARK PATH AND INCREASED POWERS FOR PALPATINE. HE WAS A SWEET INNOCENT WHO WAS PUT IN A VERY SAD POSITION BY THE EVIL GUY HIMSELF.
"(Lucas) is at a point where he's making movies for himself," says Tim Hatcher, who goes by Qui-Gon Tim in fan circles. "But he may be responding subconsciously." EDITOR’S NOTE: I DON’T THINK UNCLE G CAN HEAR THE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD, TIM.
Lucasfilm's Ward rejects any such influence. "The fans have no impact in the sense that (Lucas) is listening to them and altering the film. George Lucas makes the films he wants to make." EDITOR’S NOTE: AS IT SHOULD BE.
Some fans speak of the last episode as a "cathartic" experience that gives closure to their childhood, with tears shed at screenings. Still, it seems unlikely that fans are done with the Force -- or vice-versa.
In this galaxy, conventions and merchandizing appear destined to go on, as does online gaming. It seems "Star Wars" fans don't fade away -- they just dress up.
"Someone always is going to have a sci-fi party and need 100 stormtroopers," Qui-Gon Tim says.
As long as Lucas has his fans, and fans have Lucas, there's always a New Hope. EDITOR’S NOTE: OH GO TAKE DRUGS OR ROB LITTLE OLD LADIES, IF YOU’R GOING TO BE SUCH A SNARKY CYNIC. LEAVE US DWEEBS TO OUR NOBLER PURSUITS. (NOT THAT YOU WOULD EVER UNDERSTAND…..)
June 10, 2005
Closure overrated with Deep Throat and Darth
By Gregg Kilday
The psychological concept of closure is one of those squishy ideas that achieved a certain vogue during the psychobabble of the '70s Me Decade. Originally used to describe how patients resolve conflicting emotions, it became a prescription for any unresolved situation -- from a tragic event to the breakup of a fleeting relationship.
Loose ends -- no matter how trivial -- inevitably created a demand for closure.In recent weeks, two of the most influential movies of the '70s -- 1976's "All the President's Men" and 1977's "Star Wars," or, as it has come to be known, "Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope" -- have been treated to a kind of closure of their own. But as emotional resolutions go, the two denouements couldn't be more different.
By an accident of history, the man who came to be called Deep Throat, the shadowy whistle-blower who plays a sort of deus ex machina in Alan Pakula's "All the President's Men," stepped forward to reveal himself just as George Lucas was releasing the final chapter in his "Star Wars" saga, in which the reasons for Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader are finally revealed. EDITOR’S NOTE: I GOT CONFUSED IN THAT SENTENCE FOR A MINUTE. I THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT TO TELL US THAT GEORGE LUCAS HAD BEEN REVEALED AS DEEP THROAT. GO ON AHEAD WITHOUT ME; I’M GOING TO RE-READ THIS PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH.
From the beginning, one of the strengths of "All the President's Men" -- which producer Robert Redford began developing even before the book on which it was based had been written -- was that it didn't pretend to have all the answers. As it follows Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who stumbled on to the Watergate scandal, William Goldman's screenplay takes a reporters'-eye view of the slowly unraveling plot to bug the Democratic Party headquarters. Although Pakula's camera occasionally looks on omnisciently -- there is a famous shot looking down from the dome of the Library of Congress -- the movie doesn't try to answer every question it raises and finally stops short of describing President Nixon's ultimate downfall.Still, now that Mark Felt, then the second-ranking official at the FBI, has stepped out of the shadows to proclaim himself Deep Throat, the major mystery of the movie -- which has jumped to No. 27 on Amazon.com's list of current DVD sales -- is finally resolved. There is an added satisfaction that the casting of Hal Holbrook as the gray-haired Felt looks almost prescient. Yet, as he made the talk-show rounds last week, Woodward cautioned that even today not everything is known about the Nixon White House's abuses of power.
Coincidentally, as Lucas unveiled his final "Star Wars" installment last month at the Festival de Cannes, he revealed that the space opera's underlying political concerns -- how a republic turns into a corrupt empire -- owes a debt "to the Nixon years and the Vietnam War." But that was never the central mystery of "Star Wars."Instead, at the end of 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back," Vader uttered the famous line, "Luke, I am your father." Although fans debated whether that was a bluff or the truth, the matter was mostly cleared up three years later in "Return of the Jedi."
Now, more than two decades later, Lucas returns to describe Vader's origins in even greater detail. Unlike "Men," which connected the dots without ever attempting to take readers or viewers into Nixon's inner sanctum, "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" ranges across the galaxy in its efforts to offer both a macro and micro explanation for Vader's fall from grace.
But the more Lucas searches for the answers, the more his elaborate explanations fail to satisfy -- for many, all that talk of "midichloridians" is one step too far.
Closure, it turns out, is often just out of reach. EDITOR’S NOTE: WELL…PSYCHOBABBLE BEING WHAT IT IS….I DON’T THINK MOST OF US NEED CLOSURE. IT IS MORE A MYTH EVEN THAN THE STUFF FROM JOSEPH CAMPBELL. WHAT WE WANT…AND WHAT ROTS ACHIEVED….IS A THRU-LINE. A THREAD THAT PULLS THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER. AND MORE THAN THAT, THE NUANCE OF HUMAN MOTIVATION AND FOIBLE THAT MAKE THE ENTIRE SAGA RE-BORN WITH A VERY NEW PERSPECTIVE. (AS FOR THAT MIDCHLORIAN….AND IT’S CHLORIAN, NOT CHLORIDIAN, BY THE WAY….CRACK, DOES HAVING MITOCHONDRIA MAKE THE MIRACLES THAT MAKE UP OUR LIVES LESS STARTLING AND ROMANTIC?)
Lex Luthor Feels For Vader
June 09, 2005
Darth Vader isn't the only misunderstood villain in pop culture history. In this very galaxy, there was yet another baddie who didn't make life too easy for the good guys either -- Lex Luthor. As Clark Kent's nemesis, Lex Luthor on "Smallville," actor Michael Rosenbaum spoke about his feelings about iconic villains, comparisons between Anakin Skywalker and his character as a young Lex Luthor, and his ultimate appreciation for Star Wars while he attended a special screening of Revenge of the Sith at Skywalker Ranch.
When talking with Rosenbaum about his role as a teenage Luthor and the choices his character makes that will eventually shape his destiny, it's easy to see the parallels form between his character and the headstrong Skywalker.
"It's this tug of war with this kid who's a lost soul to begin with," Rosenbaum explains. "He's trying to be good, but he knows what he's doing is wrong. Sometimes people have to make these pivotal decisions that change their lives. Obviously, the character of Lex Luthor I'm playing on 'Smallville' is having similar issues. He's destined to be the villain against Superman, but he's trying everything he can to be the good guy. I think that's what Anakin is trying to do. He knows what he's doing is wrong; he feels remorseful. And there's a point when you see this guy who's struggling with his feelings and his emotions with these difficult choices, and then there's this complete transformation in not only the way Anakin looks, but also his eyes -- he's dead behind them. He's given up. He thinks that the Council doesn't trust him, or like him and won't give him a chance. "
"On 'Smallville' my mother is killed and we don't know how she really died," Rosenbaum continues. "And who is my father? Lex and Anakin both have these traumatic things that happen to them, and yet people see them and think they're monsters who deserve what they get. But then you see the story of Darth Vader in this film and you really feel for him. You know he's a bad guy and he should be locked up, but at the same time it's not so simple. " EDITOR’S NOTE: YES, VERY SIMILAR DICHOTOMY. AND VERY SIMILAR EMOTIONS WHEN WATCHING THESE TWO GUYS STRUGGLE WITH THEIR INTERNAL DEMONS. (AND KNOWING THAT THEY BOTH WILL FALL, AND BREAK THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM…AND RUIN THEIR OWN LIVES IN THE PROCESS). MUCH MORE INTERESTING….AND TRAGIC….THAN A BLACK-AND-WHITE BAD GUY.
As an actor, Rosenbaum says he can appreciate the skill and acting performances of the cast onscreen, especially that of Hayden Christensen who both mentally and physically transformed for the role of Darth Vader.
"I got to meet Hayden, and he's the nicest guy I've ever met," Rosenbaum says. "Which is weird because in real life he's this nice, passive innocent kid, and then I see him in the film and he is so intense! It's a very organic performance. Ewan McGregor is also brilliant. And when Natalie Portman cries, I really feel for her. I feel for every one of these characters."
As a long-time Star Wars fan, Rosenbaum isn't shy about showing off his fan pride. On a recent episode of MTV's "Cribs," he showed off his pride-and-joy Master Replica lightsaber by turning on the switch and giving an impromptu demonstration. And at the special MTV TRL screening of Revenge of the Sith, Rosenbaum could be spotted around Skywalker Ranch and in the Stag Theater wearing his Lucasfilm robe, incognito as his own brand of Jedi.
"For the last hour of the film I was hysterical," Rosenbaum confesses. "I was wearing the robe in the screening -- which by the way was a huge hit. I thought people would think I was a nerd -- which I am a giant nerd -- but everyone was coming up to me asking where I got such a cool robe, including Elijah Wood!"
EDITOR'S NOTE: MICHAEL ROSENBAUM, UNCLE G, AND FRODO!
So it's no surprise that seeing Revenge of the Sith with his fellow actors and George Lucas himself in the audience was a bit overwhelming for Rosenbaum.
"There were so many emotional moments in this movie for me," Rosenbaum admits. "When Yoda dropped his cane and felt the disturbance with the Jedi, I got sad. But it really hit at the end of the film when we all realize that it's only 20 years from that point when it's all going to start again with A New Hope. I was five years old when A New Hope came out in 1977. I saw it with my mom and now 27 years later, it's all over! All the loose ends were all put together. And it was just overwhelming. Luke and Leia being born. And Anakin becoming Darth Vader. All those things you just dreamed about. " EDITOR’S NOTE: ANOTHER REAL-LIFE DWEEB….NOT JUST PLAYING ONE ON TV!
Waging 'Wars' on foreign soil
By ANTHONY D'ALESSANDRO
Wed., Jun. 8, 2005
As the veterans of foreign "Wars" will attest, the overseas box office for the first "Star Wars" trilogy never hit galactic heights -- at least compared with its domestic take. It's a shocking piece of B.O. trivia considering the saga and sci-fi successors like "E.T" alerted studio execs that the foreign market was an essential component of a tentpole's blueprint.
Though episodes four through six broke records in major territories, their foreign take only equaled 63% of their domestic run. Some distributors attribute the shortfall to the weak international exhibition infrastructure of the late '70s and early '80s in places like Latin America and Asia. However, B.O. history shows big pics of the day were already surpassing their domestic runs. James Bond films were surefire overseas hits: In 1979, "Moonraker" reeled in an overseas gross that was 200% of its domestic haul.
With the new "Star Wars" trilogy, Lucasfilm and Fox Intl. have achieved their goal of having foreign exceed domestic. The overseas B.O. for "The Phantom Menace" repped a stellar 113% of its domestic take; "Attack of the Clones" 109%; and "Revenge of the Sith" is close to 100% through June 1.
Much of the groundwork for the record-breaking runs started with the reissues of the original trio and the global marketing plan for "Phantom."
"We knew with 'Phantom' that we could achieve a certain level of box office based on core male fans," says Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's prexy of distribution and marketing. "We wanted to grow the brand over time with a new generation of fans, so we talked to kids in an aggressive way as well as women." EDITOR’S NOTE: SEE….WOMEN! SOMEONE WHO MARKETS SCIFI TO WOMEN! (I FEEL BOTH USED AND LOVED, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. AND YES, THIS IS NORMAL IN MY RELATIONSHIPS. BUT THIS TIME IT IS USED AND LOVED BY UNCLE GEORGE!)
While an array of merchandising partners had kids hooked with items ranging from shampoo to action figures, Lucasfilm targeted women through the glossies -- typically not associated with the saga's marketing machine. Other femme-aimed promotions included museum tours of the pic's costumes and an Yves Saint Laurent makeup line inspired by Queen Amidala. EDITOR’S NOTE: DRAT. I MISSED THAT MAKEUP PRODUCT LINE.
While the marketing campaigns for the original trilogy were tailored for each territory, the new trio benefited from brand awareness. As such, Lucasfilm employed a global print campaign, designed by Drew Struzan. The universal hook for "Sith" is that it is the final "Star Wars" film and it reveals the origins of Darth Vader, who is at the center of the new campaign.
While "Phantom" was rolled out gradually overseas from summer into fall, the last two "Star Wars" pics were global events, opening day and date with domestic, and posting record bows.
Ward points out that the company was impressed by the franchise's worldwide resilience after the back-to-back video releases of the trilogy in 1995 and 1997, each wave selling more than 30 million units globally.
One of the prime territories that evolved for the franchise was Eastern Europe. When "Star Wars" first unspooled abroad, Fox Intl. sidestepped the Eastern bloc exhibs since they were notorious for buying prints at a flat fee and copying them. With the cinema boom there, the new trilogy drew a faithful following.
The grosses for "Clones" dipped an average of 36% from "Phantom" in Western Europe, Latin American and Asia, but Eastern Europe remained unchanged in its B.O. for each ($14 million). Russia's grosses have steadily climbed, with $2 million for "Phantom," $5 million for "Clones" and $8 million for "Sith."
Japan has always been the saga's highest-grossing territory outside the U.S. Former Fox Intl. prexy Jean Louis Ruben -- who oversaw the original trilogy -- knew the Japanese would swoon for the pic's samurai themes and Kurosawa influences. The franchise has amassed nearly $300 million there.
While most of Western Europe and English-speaking territories always have been keen for the saga, Italy has been the most difficult market, mostly because sci-fi doesn't play there. EDITOR’S NOTE: BECAUSE???? "Menace" and "Clones" posted grosses of $13 million and $8 million, respectively, and are outranked by the country's highest-grossing sci-fi fave "The Matrix Reloaded" ($17 million). The $3.5 million Italian bow for "Sith" is considered weak for a summer tentpole. Last year, "Spider-Man 2" and "Troy" opened to $9 million and $6 million, respectively.
STAR WARS BY THE NUMBERS
EDITOR’S NOTE: IMPRESSIVE….MOST IMPRESSIVE
MERCHANDISE
Amount generated worldwide from the first "Star Wars" in 1977: $500 million
Amount generated by Lucasfilm worldwide to date: $9+ billion
SPECIAL EFFECTS AND SOUND
ILM and Skywalker Sound 2004 revenues: $275 millionSource: Variety
PRODUCTION COST
"Star Wars": $10 million
"Revenge of the Sith": $115 million
MARKETING
Cost to promote the first two waves of "Star Wars" in April-July 1977: $4 million
Cost of marketing "Revenge of the Sith" in 2005: $95 million
EDITOR’S NOTE: BUT HOW MUCH OF THIS WAS ANCILLARY….PEPSI PROMOTION, FOR EXAMPLE?
FIRST DAY GROSS
"Star Wars"; May 25, 1977: $254,809
"Revenge of the Sith"; May 19, 2005: $50,000,000
STAR WARS DVD SALES
"Phantom Menace": $340 million
"Attack of the Clones": $250 million
"Star Wars Trilogy": $232 million
VIDEOGAMES
LucasArts' 2004 annual revenue: $100 million
Estimated No. of videogames sold since 2001: 9 million units
Source: NPD and Variety
posted by QOTD (the Queen of the Dweebs) at 9:35 AM
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