Pop Culture

JJ Abrams to Direct Star Wars VII!

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I’m not a huge movie-goer. (Having kids will do that to you.) But I am a big fan of the Star Trek franchise (my favorites being Next Generation and Star Trek VI), and I was very, very happy with how Abrams rebotted that series. He showed the perfect blend of deference to the spirit of the source material and willingness to craete something truly independent and new. I think this is an incredibly good precedent for the guy who now has the chance of rescuing my once-upon-a-time most-beloved franchise ever from the evil clutches of an amoral tyrant. I’m still afraid to get my hopes up too much, but it’s almost like having a possibility to get a piece of my childhood back. I’m psyched.

Abrams at San Diego Comic Con in 2010

The Wrap initially broke the news. Vulture quickly weighed in with a list of 7 things to expect from an Abrams’ Star Wars. The list includes some items (like big monsters and father-child relationships) that are a natural fit with the Star Wars universe and others that aren’t, necessarily, but certainly won’t hurt (mysterious boxes and people falling through / from the sky are apparently trademarks). (Read more about JJ Abrams and his work on Wikipedia or IMDB.)

The Wrap also mentions that the script writer for Star Wars VII is Michael Arndt (wiki, IMDB). I never watched Little Miss Sunshine,  but he proved with Toy Story 3 that he can enter a big franchise late and still leave his mark (for better). (I was pleased with both Brave and Hunger Games as well.) As far as I can tell, this is starting to look like a dream team, and my excitement level is slowly–very, very cautiously–continuing to rise.

Mormon Women Project: Tana Flowers

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I’m a big fan of The Mormon Women Project in general, and I particularly liked last week’s interview with Tana Flowers. Tana Flowers has a very famous husband (Brandon Flowers, you might have heard him on your radio), but appropriately this article is sincerely about Tana’s life, not an excuse to ask more about her rockstar husband.

Lots of snippets from the short interview stick out to me, but without a doubt this is my favorite: “Heavenly Father blesses women. We have sensors and we know what’s going on.” That describes perfectly my wife’s ability to always know when I’m up to something!

Tana’s life is a little unique–we’re not all married to spouses who get their pictures on the cover of magazines–but learning about how the two of them work through the difficulties and stress of their life has really general applicability. In any case, it’s an interesting read so go check it out.

Zack Snyder Rumors Show Extent of Star Wars Renaissance

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In an exclusive report, Vulture.com doubles down on their claim that Zack Snyder (director of Man of Steel and 300) really is involved in the production of a new Star Wars movie, but it’s not Star Wars VII:

Back in November, the Los Angeles Times reported that Man of Steel and 300director Zack Snyder said he had no interest in directing the hotly anticipated seventh Star Wars film. But Vulture has learned that while this may be specifically true — he won’t be doing Episode VII — it was a bit of misdirection: He is in fact developing a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm that is set within the series’ galaxy, though parallel to the next trilogy. It will be an as-yet-untitled Jedi epic loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 classic Seven Samurai, with the ronin and katana being replaced by the Force-wielding knights and their iconic lightsabers. (Go ahead, say it — you know you want to: “ … an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.” Felt good, didn’t it?)

Zack Snyder publicizing 300 at ComicCon wearing a gaming shirt. Man’s got some geek-cred, so that’s something.

Vulture cites an anonymous expert who claims that this isn’t going to be Star Wars VIII either. Instead of being any of the numbered sequences that tell the main story of the Star Wars universe, this is going to be separate, stand-alone project.

The fact that a project like that is already far enough along in the works to have a director attached is a good indication that the scope of Disney’s plans for the franchise are much, much bigger than just picking up where Lucas quit and carrying the series forward. My initial reaction? Thrilled excitement. It sounds innovative and a little artistic. What could be better than small, one-off pieces exploring specific aspects of the Star Wars universe? If the new movies are any good, then we’re not going to be able to get enough of them.

My second reaction? That’s a big “if”, and this could as easily be seen as a sign of just trying to cash out as opposed to showing us new perspectives on the world of Star Wars.

So here’s where I’m at now: the most successful franchise in the last couple of decades (off the top of my head, but I think it’s probably right) is Marvel’s Avengers, including all of the titles (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man 1, 2 and now 3) that tie into it. This must be the model for Disney, and it’s not a bad model to follow. Not only are they churning those movies out and raking in the dough, but they are doing it with high quality as well. Those are universally good–sometimes great–films. They are an exampl of corporate movie-making done right.

If the Marvel treatment is in store for Star Wars, I could be perfectly OK with that.

In a way, however, it doesn’t really matter. The fact that I’m typing this many words about it shows that they’ve already got me hooked.

Pictogram Movie Posters

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See a collection of movie posters for famous movies based on pictogram representations of their plots. The posters range from the humorously simple:

Did they really need a title for this one?

To complexity that might be a little confusing if you don’t remember the movie pretty well:

I think I understand all of this one, but it took me a minute or two.

Check out the full list here.

If You Must Watch the Star Wars Prequels…

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Quick backstory: I was in middle school when I heard about the prequels and, too young to know any better, I spent the next few years in breathless anticipation. (Yes, years in breathless anticipation. It’s a miracle I survived, but I had Magic: The Gathering to tide me over.) When tickets for the first movie came out, I got my sleeping bag and hopped into line in position #5. I played Star Wars Trivial Pursuit in that line and I won, in that line. So yeah, I’ve got my Star Wars credentials.

Then I watched Episode I in the theaters six times, willing myself with fervent desire to enjoy the films. I couldn’t.

Then I went on my mission and let the go.

I have watched some weird iMax version of Episode II that apparently skipped several bits and I did end up watching Episode III because, you know, might as well. Both were pretty terrible, and I’d essentially given up on the entire franchise forever. (The only Star Wars novels I like are the Timothy Zahn ones, and I haven’t played any of the video games since the 1990s either.)

But with the announcement that Disney has purchased Star Wars and there are going to be some new films, I’ve allowed a faint flicker of hope to be rekindled. I’m not exactly excited, but I’m not pretending Star Wars doesn’t exist any more either. I want to give Disney a chance, but I also don’t want to get my hopes up.

So, now that I”m reading articles on Star Wars again, here’s a good article about the “correct” order in which to watch the series if–for some reason–you insist on watching the prequels: IV, V, II, III, VI.

I’ll let the article explain the reasoning  behind that order, but I’m pretty convinced. My kids will be ready to watch the movies in a couple of years, and this is probably the order we’ll watch them in.

Bonus: did you know these exist?

Painstakingly recreated by fans, these are 720p versions of the original theatrical release. I must have them, unless Disney does us all a favor and releases 1080p restored versions from that vault of theirs.

I did not.

One of my Favorite PA Comics

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I didn’t keep up with my Google Reader feed over the last week, so I missed out on a lot of my usual webcomics until I started catching up last night. So, even though it’s from last Friday, I didn’t see this one until yesterday. And it’s a classic.

If you play Call of Duty (any of them, really), you’ll recognize this!

It’s not quite my all-time favorite, but it’s close. I think I might get a printed version for my cubicle at work (along with a little sticky note to avoid getting in trouble.

Oh, and if you’re curious, this is my all-time favorite PA comic. I even bought the hoody. (Not a euphemism.)

Mormon Eclecticism vs. Pop Art

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A Motley Vision has an interesting piece asking whether Mormon bands that “clean up” pop songs are expressing a genuine Mormon aesthetic or corrupting the artistic vision of the original artists. The prototypical example, of course, is Clean Flicks. Before being shut down due to law suits, Mormon families could purchase their very own censored editions of popular movies. I think the problem with that approach is that it treats the moral content of art as more or less equivalent to after-market car products: you can add on or take off what you like in discrete chunks. In reality, however, the “bad parts” of movies that Mormons might find objectionable are embedded into the narrative. So on that front, I think the effort to try and reclaim pop art can be essentially a lost cause.

On the other hand, there’s no denying the awesomeness of this song:

And that makes me wonder if another side to the issue is a kind of authentic Mormon eclecticism: taking  what we love and claiming it as our own. Spoiling the Egyptians, one might say. And as far as the artistic vision of the original creators: as long as you’re not claiming the work as your own or copying it wholesale than we’ve got a happy coincidence of Mormon  eclecticism and art-as-remix.

And that might be the real difference between the song above and Clean Flicks. Instead of trying to give you a sanitized version of the original, they’re taking what they like best and making their own art with it. Not only am I OK with that, I think it might even be something to be proud of.

Snark and Testimony: Funny Mormon Gif Roundup

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I’ll let you check out this page for the full list of amusing gif’s (which you’ll find funny even if you’re not a Mormon), but I’ve got to paste my favorite here:

When you and your spouse make it through all three hours of church.

Seriously, 3 hours of Church might have made sense in 19th century Utah (what else were they going to do in that desert anyway?), but in the 21st century it strikes me as cruel and unusual punishment. Can’t we just alternate Sunday School and Relief Society / Elders Quorum? I’m a Gospel Doctrine teacher, and I’d be Ok with that…