"RE: Defending Episode I" By Ryan Bradley

Review of “Defending Episode 1”

I do not think that one can state that the releases of the prequels are simply of cash-cowing. In this regard I agree with the claims made be Mr. Slight. These days we are seeing more and more of our beloved movie icons, Rocky Balboa, Rambo, Indiana Jones and the Star Wars prequels, attempting to make one last stand in world of Hollywood; Are these all acts towards money grabs? or is it a simple case of bringing back our childhood heroes and giving them a new aged feel? I believe that if an honest effort has been put in to revitalizing the original then it is not simply a case of mooing for money.

So, did George Lucas try to avoid this and is Adam Slight’s support of Episode 1 justified. George clearly did attempt to add a modern twist to the classic films that have been the root of nerd wet dreams for over 30 years. This attempt grants these prequels the right to a in a galaxy far far away. The question of whether the methodology of the new films was successful utilized has raised much debate in the realm of critics, nerds, movie lovers and scholars. I must say that the defense laid out by Adam is relatively legit with a few degrees of error.

The cinematic experience that Episode 1 provided is nearly up to par with it predecessors as almost every shot in the movie counts. Lucas’ success in this matter has lead me to often catch myself smiling with glee at different points in the movie such as the Darth Maul battle. Criticism for the over use of special effects is completely unjustified. Advancements in the movie industry have made the techniques of the classic trilogy completely obsolete. Had Lucas not tried to spice up this new movie with some new special effects, I’m almost positive that he would have be scrutinized for his lack of film integrity and inability to adapt with the times. The cinematography is combined beautifully with special effects and he does not completely rely on the CGI.

The worlds and characters of the star wars universe are explored and presented with ALMOST no error. The set design the new worlds such as Naboo and old worlds like Tatooine stayed true to the beauty of the old movies as one gets a perfect feel for the atmosphere of the setting of interest. For example, Mos Eisley is still the place where “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy ones” as seen in every shot in the city like the conversation with Sebula or the inclusion of the Hutts. The characters are also presented in such a manner where it is easy to understand how each is related to one another, the mysteries linking them all and all of their motivating forces behind their actions. Many of the character interactions exemplified in this movie are evident throughout the distinct social history of our real world. This cinematic connection used by Lucas allows the viewer to fall in love with every aspect of the worlds and immediately understand the complex relationships linking them all.

This being said, I cannot fully support Adam’s claim “To condemn Jar Jar for his silliness would be to put one’s self at risk of ethnocentricity”. This is not a matter of ethnicity by any means of the definition. Had Jar Jar been a goofy human, he would have still taken away from the overall cinematic experience. I could write a whole essay on reasons why Jar Jar Binks is the worst thing in any of the six films. “I Spack” “Ooh mooey mooey I love you!” “whatta meesa sayin'?”; four of the 100 lines that Jar Jar Spacks in the movie that makes me want to tear up every time I hear him say something. Least we forgot “How wude!” x 20. Big Boss Nass and Captain Tarpals were strong characters and the gungans clearly are a mighty race. What really bothers me about Jar Jar is that Lucas seemed to forgot that “cute and loveable” characters that supply comic relief yet still have a crucial role in the plot have no place in the star wars universe. Ewoks USED to be the most hated things outside the old republic until this Binks character came along. I can assure you, the fact that I wish Jar Jar’s face got burnt of in a power coupling is in no way for ethnocentric reasons. (My distaste for the ewok race may in fact be, but that’s a whole different story).

A final problem with the movie as well as Adam’s critique is in the podrace scene. I realize that this is a crucial scene in terms of the plot, but its easily 15 minutes too long. I have also watched the Ben Hur clip and do think that the similarities between the two is a clever and I also recognize that the chariot race in Ben Hur is long. However, Ben Hur was an extra 100 minutes long in total, thus it had time to pull something like that off as the viewer clearly was sitting down for an epically long movie. I love star wars and everything that it stands for but the length of this podrace and its lack of connection with the rest of the series makes me almost struggle to keep interest.

Adam accurately defended this movie for all the right reasons despite my two above objections. There are other things that I agree with that I do not need to touch because of the excellent arguments deployed (ie. The dialoged of the movie—“Sand storms are very…. Very…. Dangerous” is not exactly A material but its stays true to the classics). If you did hate the first episode, I also encourage you to fire up your vcr, sit back, mute the Jar Jar scenes and give it at least one more shot. Don’t look for reasons why it’s not as good as the original three. If you must compare, look for similarities between the two and, I promise you, it will not disappoint. I look forward to the next two analyses and the coming discussion revolving around my future claim that Episode 3 is the most star warsy out of the three. We shall cross that Great Pit of Carkoon when we get there.

"Defending Episode I" By Adam Slight

As the Star Wars franchise continues to grow well into its 31st year I seem to sense more and more cynicism towards my beloved saga. While the original trilogy unquestionably introduced dramatic technical innovations to cinema, it’s the new prequels that get the brunt of public criticism for its apparent cash-cow qualities. With a new TV series on the way and a CGI remake of the Emmy-award winning series Star Wars: Clone Wars to hit theaters this summer it is difficult for many to take the Star Wars Universe seriously anymore (if it’s really meant to be all that serious to begin with).

At the forefront of the Star Wars cynic’s arsenal (aside from the mind-numbing 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special) is undoubtedly Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. While I’ve always proclaimed my unconditional love for the six installments I must admit that even I have kind of shoved Episode I aside. After watching it recently though, I would like to attempt the impossible. It is my hope this evening to defend Star Wars: Episode I.

While George Lucas’ ability to direct has always been questioned (remember, he only directed A New Hope before he did the prequels, and Indiana Jones was co-directed with Spielberg) I would like to express my support for his direction of Episode I. As I watched the film I couldn’t help but distinguish that beautiful 70’s cinematography that made Lucas and his pals (Coppola, Spielberg, Scorcese etc.) so big. I even feel that Spielberg has dropped a lot of these qualities. This punctuated style I find is strong in Phantom Menace, especially in the scenes on Tatooine (and the classic scene transitions). At points I even felt like I was watching a kind of interstellar The Godfather. The podrace, which I also often hear complaints about, is almost a perfect shot-for-shot tribute to the famous chariot race in Ben Hur. So while Lucas is often labeled as a money-grubbing hack, I’d say the cinematography in Episode I harkens more to an auteurist style of the past than that of a special-effects vehicle such as 300 or the later Matrix installments.

Another credit I give Lucas is his ability to flesh out refreshing anthropological worlds and cultures. While I do believe that he gets a lot of help from development teams as far as design goes, I do know that Lucas’ input is heavy and he always has the final say. The cultures in Episode I are the strongest of any in the six films, in my opinion. The five most prominent in the film are the Nubians (Queen Amidala and her crew), The Gungans (Jar Jar and his folk), the “scum and villainy” of Tatooine, the delegates and Jedi of Coruscant, and the Trade Federation baddies. I found that while these were all fantastic and alien, they were all rooted in a mixture of real human cultures. Through this Lucas is able to mesh “the other” and “the familiar” creating other-worldly groups that we are still able to identify with. While the Nubian culture I find resemble a mix between the ancient Greek and that of Venice, the Gungans seem to be a mix of aboriginal Australian and Jamaican. The crime lords of Tatooine are a sort of American-Italian lot and those of Coruscant are a kind of privileged, Evian-drinking, Upper-class. While seemingly semi-stereotypical, the importance is not the resemblance to specific existing cultures but that they are distinct. It is this diversity that helped me to reconcile my differences with Jar Jar Binks. If you’ll notice, the Gungans all have their silly tendancies, not just Jar Jar (The Gungan captain says “It’s ouch time” before the final battle, and their Boss has that wacky loose face-skin). To condemn Jar Jar for his silliness would be to put one’s self at risk of ethnocentricity. I’m not saying you’re a racist if you hate Jar Jar Binks. I’m just saying that one must understand the difference of his culture to understand him. It is also this philosophy that allows me to actually enjoy the Coruscant politics.

I would also like to make the claim that Star Wars: Episode I is the most “Star Warsy” of the prequels. The film was made at a time before the true CGI explosion of the 21st Century. Much of the film is still set, prop and model based. The explosions and destruction were still fundamentally born from reality as were the vehicles and sets. Yoda and a lot of the aliens are still muppets. And while some of the CGI is primitive, this flaw almost makes the film more aesthetically pleasing as too often do we see distracting CGI these days. Speaking of distracting CGI, the big space battles in Episode I still remain conceivable, unlike the opening of Episode III, which is just mind-boggling. Here is a battle from Return of the Jedi, compared to Episode I (not bad) and then Episode III (still cool, just not as "Star Warsy"). As the prequels progressed into Episode II and III Lucas became more dependent on CGI and CGI Artists in directing the action of the film. The end battle in Attack of the Clones follows a completely different style than any installment before it.

One may also note the dialogue of the film. Many complain that it is too clunky. Any such critic obviously has blindly fond memories of the original trilogy. For example, which Star Wars do you think this line from: “But I was going into Tashi station to pick up some power converters!”. That’s right, A New Hope. So as you can see, Episode I follows a prominent Star Wars tradition of barely-speakable dialogue. While we don’t have Harrison Fords talking about bouncing into supernovas, Episode I has a much similar Star Wars flare in its writing. The film’s dialogue (and actor-blocking) seems to take the approach of the epic films of the 50’s. And while John William’s composing has seen better days, Star Wars: Episode I is the only prequel with 100% original music (That’s right, II and III steal complete tracks from Episode I).

There are many more points that I could elaborate on: how Anakin is actually cool and not annoying (from a certain point of view), how Episode I has DARTH MAUL and how the Jedi seem to be in their most perfect Jedi state in this film alone. I just don’t want the point of this testimony to be lost in a sea of fandom. So while you people can continue to bash Episode I, I’d strongly suggest re-watching it with a new outlook and the above things in mind. It could be possible that Episode I is only enjoyable after immersing one’s self into endless pondering over what Star Wars really is, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. You may begin to feel as I do: that The Phantom Menace has aged like a fine wine…or blue milk. Whatever.

Doc Halen/Aspect Ratio

Its been awhile since I've updated but its been hard to find time. Between school and working on inConsequence (as well as newly released Smash Bros. Brawl) its been difficult to sit down and write an entry.

First of all, it hasn't really been officially announced until now, but its an interesting development. I was able to nab some of Doc Halen's time and he agreed to do a little voice over at the beginning of inConsequence. If you're not familiar with Doc, he's one of the esteemed DJ's for Ottawa's classic rock radio station Chez 106. I emailed and asked if anyone would be interested, and 3 days later I had the recording on my computer ready to go. It sounds pretty awesome too!

Also, I figured since there's nothing really new Shmah-related at the moment that I'd just promote a blog by another dude I know. Aspect Ratio is a cinema blog by a TA (Ben Wright) I had last semester. If you're interested in some kind of contemporary theory for cool stuff like Lost, Jurassic Park etc. you might want to check it out.

"Boing!" and the Many Sounds of Video Games

On March 28th I'll be making a presentation as a part of the 2008 Undergraduate Film Studies Colloquium at Carleton University. My presentation is called '"Boing" and the Many Sounds of Video Games'. Its based on an essay I wrote for a Film Soundtrack class semester. Basically I'll be talking about how video modern video games are very similar to film except that video games allow the audience to control the film. This interactivity inspires sound designers and music composers to experiment with their work in ways that give the audience partial control over the soundtrack of the game. Designers and composers also try to find ways that they can incorporate the viewer into the world of the game. In my presentation I'll be drawing on examples from Super Mario Galaxy, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the Medal of Honor series and new technology such as the Wiimote, Guitar Hero series, Rockband series and educational incorporative sound tools. I'll also touch on several theorists who have written on similar topics.

The presentation is March 28th, 4-7 pm in room 435 in St. Patrick's building at Carleton University.

I'm presenting with 3 other undergrads:

Chris Schultz: Presenting on fact and fiction in the movie Adaptation
Jenn Huzera: Also presenting on sound design...from the movie Rear Window by Hitchcock
Kira V.: I have yet to talk to her

There is also a Q&A session as well as wine and cheese after the presentation. And then I'll probably go out that night too so you're welcome to join me. If anything it would be worth going to see Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess blasting on the big screen for a few minutes!

Promos? Maybe.

As you may or may not have seen, I just put a promo video up for our upcoming project that I've referred to in the past merely as "that sci fi movie". Its called "In Consequence" now. Anyways, I'll probably be making a bunch of promos kinda showing different aspects of the filmmaking process but I'm not sure yet. I used tags such as "hot chicks" and "hanna montana" on youtube so I'll probably get a bunch of pervs and 13 year old girls watching the video. Bad combo.

Hotel: Dead Mystery

The date was February 17th and my sister Kelly and I were bored out of our minds in a small hotel in Amherst, Nova Scotia. We produced the video Hotel: Dead Mystery (found exclusively on the Shmah Films facebook group page). The video has suspense, mystery, dames and gumshoes. I suggest checking it out.

On Monday Jamie Leclaire and I went to see Ottawa native Lee Demarbre's "The Dead Sleep Easy" (www.thedeadsleepeasy.com). Very cool and stylish movie that to me resembled Robert Rodriguez stuff but with Demarbre's own stylistic tweaks. I'm not sure when its out on DVD or anything but I suggest if you have the chance to watch it (especially if you're from the Ottawa-area) to go give it a shot.

Funeral Bouquets for Me

Hello!

Before I get to the meat of this post I'd like to comment on how relatively boring the Oscar's last night were. I mean Jon Stewart was pretty funny but he didn't really do any special segments aside from the Oscar tribute to binoculars and Oscar tribute to bad dreams...and then there was the pregnant thing...but these pale in comparison to some of the past comedy acts (this of last year's "A Comedian at the Oscars". Aside from that there just wasn't anything really interesting going on. Last year also had that cool presentation of Spielberg/Coppola/Lucas to Martin Scorcese. Either way, I made 25 cents betting on winners against Andrew. I just thought of something. Wouldn't it be sweet to have Conan O'Brien host the Oscar's? He probably did...or probably will some day. I also laughed when they undermined dozens of artists and film pioneers who passed away in the "dead" segment by over dramatizing Heath Ledger's clip at the end...who...like come on...hasn't really made anything THAT good.

I was just posting to promote a little short film by a friend of mine Evan Woods. The link is...here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxpawmJ_1p8. Its called Funeral Bouquets for Me. It has no affiliation with Shmah Films but I thought the movie was cool. He uses old archived footage with footage that he shot and made this concise and cool movie.

OVER AND OUT