Tag / Star Wars

by hutchwp

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (John Korty, 1984)

Revisiting the familiar forest moon of Endor but set prior to the events portrayed in Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, Ewok Adventures: Caravan of Courage brings back the popular Ewok characters from the third film in the original trilogy, including fan-favourite Wicket (reprised by Warwick Davis) in a family-oriented fun adventure. The plot revolves around the children of the Towani family – Mace and Cindel – who are marooned on Endor when their civilian craft crash lands and their parents are kidnapped by the evil giant Gorax. Teaming up with the Ewoks, they go on an adventure to rescue their parents and escape to safety.

The first thing that jumps out at you when you start watching this film is the low production costs. It retains a lot of the production team that were involved in the original trilogy, but the budget and time constraints meant it feels a lot more cinematic than we’d expect. Indeed, it was a made-for-TV movie and the resolution available in 1984 meant they didn’t need to worry about spectacular visuals. Crucially, George Lucas was on board as a scriptwriter and a producer, meaning the film doesn’t escape from the canon in ways that the Star Wars Holiday Special was unfortunately allowed to.

The main human characters Mace and Cindel are interesting. The former, played by a young Eric Walker, was clearly chosen for his similar appearance to Mark Hamill. This is a bit of a cheap shot and his character is a little whiny, meaning he’s never very likeable. His younger sister is portrayed by Aubree Miller, in one of only two films she ever made (the other being this film’s sequel, 1985’s Battle For Endor). She is far easier to like and the fact she is a young girl in a leading role was probably a decision based on widening the male-centric fanbase of the Star Wars universe.

There has been much debate over whether or not this film should be classed as part of the official canon. It’s a tough one to call. In my opinion, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be, though it is more complicated than you’d think. The sequel, in which the Ewoks begin to speak English, plants it after the events of Return of the Jedi. This one, however, is set prior to that film, meaning the timeline of events over the three films is pretty tight if they are canon. To be honest though, if they’re happy for Episodes I-III to be included then these should be. They’re better films.

Neither of the Ewok Adventure films are currently available on Blu-ray, though they did enjoy a double DVD release around ten years ago. They’re still freely available online to purchase, though occasionally the entire films are put up on YouTube and stay there until the rights holders realise and remove the video. I think they should be embraced with a full re-release, with proper restoration, commentary and extras. It’s a no brainer. It would be a popular release and would widen the popularity of two films that really aren’t bad enough to want to hide from the public.

These are nice options to watch on Star Wars Day this coming Monday. I’ve embedded the YouTube video below for ease of watching as a sample in case you wish to purchase.

by hutchwp

The Nerd Uprising

Back in the 80s and 90s, The Nerd was easy to spot. He (for it was almost always a he) was invariably skin and bones, very much into maths and computers, could probably code at least a rudimentary game on his BBC, had glasses and possibly long hair. He was single. He had acne. He was Screech from Saved by the Bell.

 

This was a great time to be a screenwriter of anything that needed to stereotype a nerd into the story. The stereotype was probably quite realistic, and there were so few nerds around it didn’t really matter if you upset them.

 

In the intervening years, however, having a home computer has gone from nothing to being the norm. It would be unusual to find someone under the age of 70 without access to some kind of computer at home. Computer literacy isn’t just a niche skill but a requirement of life.

 

At the same time there has been a prominent increase in the popularity of comic book characters, mainly through the string of highly successful superhero films. This led to a greater increase in comics and graphic novels themselves as people sought out the source material of their screen idols.

Finally, the popularity of video games has grown exponentially, with a different game and platform to suit everyone’s needs, from the experienced MMORPG gamer to those that want to play Kwazy Kupcakes whilst sat on the toilet. Whether we like it or not, almost everyone is a gamer of some kind. Indeed, the biggest market for video games is adult women, thanks in part to the likes of Farmville and Candy Crush Saga. [1]

The point is that everything we associated with nerds from 30 years ago is now a given of everyday life for the majority of people. More and more on nights out, especially with people I don’t really know very well, I’m confident that if conversation dries up I can strike up a conversation about the latest Marvel Studios film, or a big new video game, or some kind of off-mainstream television series. This is becoming my fall-back conversation far more than, say, ten years ago, when I would invariably go to football or another kind of mainstream sport. Just yesterday I was with some work colleagues, most of which I didn’t know, and we chatted for over an hour about the new Daredevil series (which I’m yet to see), Avengers: Age of Ultron, the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the new Mario Kart DLC. Sport wasn’t mentioned once and I don’t think it would have been welcome if it had been.

So, there’s plenty of growth in the nerd-themed markets to come over the next few years and I’m sure the various industries are planning ahead to make money out of them. Maybe Revenge of the Nerds will be remade in a few years as Revenge of the Jocks. Who knows?

[1] Women over 18 made up a 36% share of all video gamers compared to men over 18, who make up 35%. The above comment is only half-true too. Whilst Farmville and Candy Crush Saga have surely helped the over 50s category, I don’t see it being a large contributing factor to the 18-30s at all. I just don’t know many people in that age range playing these kinds of games – male or female – but I do know plenty of young and experienced female gamers who wouldn’t think anything of picking up the latest 1stperson shooter, a genre traditionally associated with male gamers. One of the big wins for this is the de-fragmentation of the market. Making a game specifically designed for men or women is soon going to be a thing of the past because the lines have become so blurred and you simply can’t stereotype gaming preferences by gender any more.

by hutchwp

Film review – While We’re Young (Noah Baumbach, 2015)

While We’re Young is the latest film from Noah Baumbach, following the recent critical successes of 2010’s Greenberg and 2012’s Frances Ha. The film stars Ben Stiller as established documentary filmmaker Josh, now struggling to find the inspiration and money to finish his current project, and Adam Driver as young aspiring documentary filmmaker Darby, who seemingly hits on endless streams of ideas without much effort. Naomi Watts and Amanda Seyfried also star as Josh’s wife Cornelia and Darby’s wife Jamie, respectively, though the men take centre-stage as the focal point of the slow-reveal story.

This is an excellent film with an intelligent theme. As is often the case with films about filmmaking, the central characters are extremely rich in backstory and well-realised. Ben Stiller himself is an actor, director, producer and writer (his last feature as director being 2013’s admirable The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and I’m sure he drew on his experiences to add depth to his character. He brilliantly paints the frustrated picture of a man desperate to stay true to the values of filmmaking whilst at the same time reacting in disbelief that nobody else wants to follow that same journey with him. It’s yet another example of Stiller at the top of his game and it’s a shame that the box office receipts for his more serious roles are inevitably dwarfed by those of, for example, the Night at the Museum franchise.

Naomi Watts and Ben Stiller co-star in While We're Young

Naomi Watts and Ben Stiller co-star in While We’re Young.

Both couples give the impression of aspiring to live out of their own time and the emotional plot devices are driven by the fact that the elder couple is far less comfortable trying to fit in with the younger generations than vice-versa. For Darby and Jamie, attempting to remember a morsel of information they’d forgotten is the source of great fun; they are determined to avoid becoming reliant on modern technology when it is to the detriment of thought-provoking discussion. Conversely, Josh and Cornelia are much quicker to jump onto their tablet device to find their answers as they would rather find the solution as quickly as possible. This was initially a clever role-reversal to aide character development, though it becomes a key part of the plot further down the line (and one which I won’t go into here).

One of my favourite aspects of the film is the excellent soundtrack. James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem fame) provides the original score and has compiled a playlist of original songs, including Paul McCartney and Wings, David Bowie and Haim. The song choices mix the old and new in a way that underlines how little the musical landscape has changed, but it also serves to reflect the dovetailed lives of our four main characters. The songs sit side-by-side with one-another and the particular choices are all artists that would be deemed fashionable by the Topshop generation, either in a serious or ironic way.

It is a critical time in Adam Driver’s career. Regardless of whether the upcoming Star Wars films are successes or flops, it is inevitable that the careers of the main stars will be defined for the foreseeable future by such a massive franchise. Both Driver and his co-star Oscar Isaac have been rapidly adding to a varied list of assured performances in the last year or two, though less has been happening with John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, who are being touted as the main stars. This could potentially be seen as a risky strategy. Driver can be happy that he can add this excellent performance alongside his roles in Lincoln and Inside Llewyn Davis as prime examples of his acting ability. Oscar Isaac is already well-established with plenty of huge roles under his belt. Time will probably prove that this was a wise move for their post-Star Wars careers.

This film is highly recommended and should be sought out if you get the chance. You simply can’t argue with such an intelligent script, especially when it’s delivered in a package like this.

While We’re Young is on general release at cinemas in the UK now.

by hutchwp

Upcoming Crowdfunded Films Preview Part Three: Elstree 1976

Elstree 1976 charts the lives of ten people who were featured in some way in the original Star Wars film. This includes people we know already: David Prowse (the body of Darth Vader), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Paul Blake (Greedo) are all involved. There are also a few people who were extras only, including one who was in the film for less than a second. They didn’t realise at the time but their involvement with the film would come to define their lives, something that they have forever been associated with and can’t get away from, whether they like it or not.

This film promises to find out their side of the story, through a series of interviews with all of them and footage of them at conventions, giving a side of the story never seen before. The filmmakers are keen to stress that this is not just a film to provide Star Wars fans with loads of new stories about the making of the film. I think this is a wise move – the stories have been told so many times and if you’re really interested in that side of things you probably have all of the various DVDs and Blu-rays with their respective bonus features.

It will instead fell the stories of the forgotten men, those whose lives are now ruled by a seemingly inconsequential decision to take up a lowly paid job as an extra. Judging by the trailer, some clearly enjoy it whilst others detest the fact that their best way to earn money is to play into the hands of the geeks who desire their autographs.

elstree1976

It doesn’t promise to be a laugh-a-minute, but rather a humorous and sometimes painful look at the lives of people who otherwise never get any attention. Jon Spira – who has already proven himself as an excellent filmmaker with the much celebrated 2011 music documentary Anyone Can Play Guitar – has spent months and months getting deep into interviews with his ten subjects and judging by the updates there’s plenty to go on, with editing and post-production beginning in earnest in February 2015. As documentaries go, this is bound to be quirky but I predict it will find a wide audience if the momentum can keep building, especially with its release schedule set to coincide with Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens next year.

Elstree 1976 is set for release in November 2015.

by hutchwp

Film review – Star Wars Episodes I-III (George Lucas, 1999-2005)

I have a special guest reviewer for the Star Wars prequels, which were released to much fanfare and equal amounts of dismay from 1999 onwards. It’s my fabulous wife, a week after our wedding day!

I say review. It’s more of a quote. Here goes…

“The prequels are to Star Wars what Crocs are to shoes. An abomination.”

If you wish to remind yourselves of said abominations, they are available as a complete box set with butchered versions of the original trilogy now from here.

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