George Lucas | The Movie Rat

BAM Best Picture Profile: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)

Posted on December 25, 2013 by bernardovillela

Each year, I try and improve the site, and also try to find a new an hopefully creative and fun way to countdown to the unveiling of the year’s BAM Awards. Last year, I posted most of the BAM Nominee and winner lists (Any omissions will be fixed this year). However, when I picked Django Unchained as the Best Picture of 2012 I then realized I had recent winner with no write-ups. I soon corrected that by translating a post and writing a series of my own. The thought was all films honored as Best Picture should have at least one piece dedicated to them. So I will through the month of December be posting write-ups on past winners.

NOTE: The 2001 winner was covered extensively in a very long series starting here.

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)

Basically I will here, as I have done with a few of these posts, synthesize not only my writings on the given film, but also discuss my personal history with the film. And understanding where I’m coming from with both Star Wars and the prequels is key to at least cutting me a stone if not understanding and agreeing with what I say here.

Here’s a brief intro to my history with Star Wars and why I didn’t even think I’d like this one that much in the first place:

I saw the Star Wars prequels first. Having never felt the urge to see the originals, and then hearing about the prequel concept which was popularized, if not invented by, Lucas – I wanted to watch the movies in the story’s chronological order. So I waited until 2005 to see the original trilogy. After having seen The Phantom Menace I just didn’t get the appeal, but I stuck it out and went to see Attack of the Clones and then I got it – Star Wars – Episode II: Attack of the Clones is awesome. The Phantom Menace was just not that good at all and it never will be no matter how many times I watch the film. Star Wars – Episode II: Attack of the Clones won the BAM for Best Picture in 2002 (BAMs are my personal movie awards – look out for those here next year).

So allow me to continue what I discussed with regards to Invalid complaining about the prequels in general:

Here’s where my watching the series knowingly in chronological, so far as the narrative goes, order starts to factor in. This is one of the most over-debated and over-analyzed aspects of the entire saga. You can like or dislike it as you please, but I really don’t see the point in getting all up in arms about this point, when you have so many you could possibly choose from. Granted you implement things in the prequel trilogy that don’t follow through to the original and it removes an element of mystery but how much does it really detract? Furthermore, to parlay the filmmaker point above, it was introduced when the prequels were very much Lucas’s design, as concessions may have been made later on, so clearly he had it in mind. So it may not fit your vision but it fit his. Essentially, if one if offended by the very notion of the prequels they ought not waste time on this factoid. Conversely, if this is your biggest issue with the series that’s not so bad or you’ve blown it way out of proportion.

I later realized I probably saw snippets of them growing up, but that’s not really seeing them. And having seen these first things like midi-chlorians which were later introduced are easier for me to stomach as a “late-series” change.

Now while I will always defend Jake Lloyd from the lynch mob, I agree The Phantom Menace is no great shakes. However, a few things bear considering: the first is that if you think there are problems with that film he’s one of the very small ones, there are others. Next, oddly enough, and my brother and others in his generation are a testament to this; Lucas really did make that one for kids. In essence, he always did, at least to the kids in adults. Over the years while no new follow-ups emerged the legend ballooned, the grandiosity, importance and gravitas foisted upon the series by fans sky-rocketed.

To such an extent that when I saw The Phantom Menace, with no prior frame of reference, I was like “That was OK, but I don’t see what the big deal is.” When Attack of the Clones came out – that’s when I started to see what the big deal was. The 2002 BAM Awards are a testament to that.

While you can sit there and write-off the awards as a newfound fanboy heaping love on his new pet if you want some things are separate from the film that were awarded merely on technical and artistic merits of the work done. Williams’ scoring in this film remains one of my favorites in his canon; arguing against ILM on a Lucasfilm project is folly; cinematography in CG-heavy films does matter (perhaps the Academy was a bit misguided in choosing Avatar to recognize that notion, but it does). And wooden dialogue or not this film does move wonderfully and has great situations and is a bifurcated tale of romance and political intrigue. It plays much closer to its serial film roots here.

It’s also a film I’ve revisited very often since I saw the original films and given the chance to do this year over again I doubt I’d change my mind.

Film Thought: Why I Balk at the Megaticket Experiment

Posted on August 19, 2013 by bernardovillela

Not too sound too much like a get-off-my-lawn-type but I did have a few thoughts on the recent Megaticket trial for World War Z.

Now, as much as possible, I will separate these thoughts from my thoughts on the film itself.

As many have pointed out, it’s fairly ironic that this trial occurred about a month after Steven Spielberg and George Lucas spent quite a bit of time speculating on the future of films, and Spielberg made the observation that moviegoing in a theatrical setting was heading the way of the Broadway musical becoming cost-prohibitive for the average consumer. This ticket hit half the $100 bogey he set.

And this is what the $50 got you:

included a ticket to a 3D screening of the movie on June 19, two days before the film’s release; one HD digital copy of the movie when it becomes available; one pair of “World War Z” custom RealD 3D glasses; a full-size limited-edition movie poster and a small popcorn

My first issue is that if you look at the cost per item, you’re about breaking even but reserving the right to own everything right away (They claim $75 in value. If that’s true they’re overvaluing the glasses and digital copy to me). However, you get no soda and you get no physical version of the film.

I’m not going to say I’d never parttake in a megaticket experience (the early screening is likely the most enticing in this now/future film culture that exists). However, if I were to do it I would more likely shell out the money for a DVD/Blu-ray combo and a title that was pre-sold to me.

I honestly still have issues believing World War Z was pre-sold to anyone. Yes, the novel had quite a following, but it was widely reported that this was an adaptation in name only. So for something say like Star Wars: Episode VII, I might consider it. Otherwise it’s going to take me a while to get on board.

The inclination is already for the studios to forgo risk-taking, if we, the movie-crazed minority, will jump at the opportunity to give up even more cash per head than we already do we’re further ensuring the studios’ business plan and endangering theatrical attendance.

Not too be overly-alarmist but it’s not hard to foresee the slippery slope this could lead us down. Make sure we don’t redefine what an event film is. Some releases may be worth this treatment but not most, and certainly not all.

Once Upon a Time in the 80s- Special Effects (Part 3 of 17)

Posted on January 17, 2013 by bernardovillela

Note: This is a recapitulation of a paper I wrote in film school. It will be published here in installments. This is part three you can read part one here and part two here.

The 1980s were marked by the emergence of the computer into mainstream American culture. The increasing accessibility and availability of this tool made its impact on the entertainment industry in a very powerful way. In 1984 one of the most famous commercials of the year was Apple Computer’s ‘Big Brother’ a play on Orwell’s 1984. While unlike the 90s where computers would soon come to reside in well over half of America’s households, and the science fiction aspect and the improbability of the device was demolished; they were becoming a much more practical tool.

The key in revolutionizing computerized effect lay with one man. In 1977 George Lucas formed Industrial Light and Magic to create the effects for Star Wars. Working out of Marina County California his company soon started to work on effects for many films. Their first heavy volume of releases was in 1985 with Back to the Future, Cocoon, Explorers, The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes which with ‘The Stained Glass Man’ had the first fully computer generated character. The rest was history in 1986 comes Aliens which took the computer generated character to the next level and it’s been an ongoing game of “Can You Top This?” ever since.

The fact that the special effects craze came about in the late 70s and grew exponentially in the 80s is like kismet. This was a decade that was jam-packed with action films but also had an abundance of fantasy films still around. This new technology opened up possibilities for narrative never before seen and they were used, for example, a journey inside a human body in Innerspace. The kind of film that was in demand with the American public was also the kind of film that was well-suited to the new special effects technology.

Before the apathetic generation-x-ridden 90s when films of social dementia disguised as poetry like American Beauty would run amuck, the 80s was a decade riddled with myth and fantasy, here’s a sample: The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Neverending Story, Legend, Dark Crystal, Back to the Future, Flight of the Navigator and so on. Escapism being a large part of the cinematic formula coupled with the youthful audience allowed for these advances and this type of storytelling which is only recently beginning to creep back into being.

The shift away from fantastical storytelling that occurred in the mid-90s and lasted until about 1999 in a way has impeded the progress of CGI. While in some films it blends in perfectly and is breathtaking in others it sticks out like a sore thumb. Sure, there are films and studios that will be cheap, but had there been more constant works the floor of marginally acceptable CGI would’ve risen. The man who is always breaking the glass ceiling of CGI excellence is George Lucas, and he says he tries to push other directors with every film he does, hopefully people will follow suit.

The computer generated image is one of the few things from the 80s which was expanded upon in the 90s. The technology has some very practical uses such as digital stunts and extras. With this technology the director’s vision can more easily be realized where as if something doesn’t exist the way he sees it can be created. This is one of the 80s lasting legacies. When we’re looking back upon this decade we, of course, can’t forget some of the films that came out of the decade, but we must also remember that filmmaking was forever changed in this decade because ‘Special Effects’ became a term that we could apply to almost every film. A new cinematic tool was beginning to be fully realized and is still being perfected to this very day.

Footnote and Work Cited:

1. The Empire Strikes Back won an Academy Award for Special Achievement in Special Effects. The following year it was a category at the awards, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Drangonslayer were nominated.

 2. Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones Dir. George Lucas. Feat. Hayden Christiansen, Ewan Macgregor, Natalie Portman, Christopher Lee. 2002, 20th Century Fox. DVD extra features.

BAM Award Winners: Best Director

Posted on January 1, 2013 by bernardovillela

So both here and in Best Cast there was some revisionism over the years, however, rather than try and readjust things I’ll just let things stand where they are at current.

The Best Director category is an interesting one because it is usually, in the mind of many, inextricably tied to the Best Picture winner. There is a certain logic to that, however, they are two rather different awards when you boil it down. In Best Picture you pick the story and the production. In Best Director you are picking a visionary and the architect of a production. There are times when the direction of a film will outshine its narrative or overall impact or a story that is wonderful but handled with a rather invisible hand that allows splits to occur.

I have six such splits in 1997, 1998, 2005, 2012, 2015, 2020 and 2022 none of which I was hesitant at all about.

2022 Steven Spielberg The Fabelmans

2021 Jason Reitman Ghostbusters: Afterlife

2020 Sam Mendes 1917

2019 Jordan Peele Us

2018 Bo Burnham Eighth Grade

2017 Andy Muschietti It

2016 Gareth Edwards Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2015 George Miller Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad-Max-Fury-Road-Tom-Hardy-George-Miller

2014 Daniel Ribeiro The Way He Looks

The Way He Looks (2014, Strand Releasing)

2013 Gavin Hood Ender’s Game

2012 Bela Tarr The Turin Horse

2011 Martin Scorsese Hugo

2010 Christopher Nolan Inception

2009 Spike Jonze Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are (2009, Warner Bros.)

2008 Tomas Alfredson Let the Right One In

2007 Timur Bekmambetov Day Watch (Dnevoy bazar)

2006 Richard E. Grant Wah-Wah

Richard E. Grant's "The Wah-Wah Diaries"

2005 Ingmar Bergman Saraband

Ingmar Bergman on the set of *Saraband* (Sony Pictures Classics)

2004 Jacob Aaron Estes Mean Creek

2003 PJ Hogan Peter Pan

2002 George Lucas Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones

2001 Steven Spielberg Artificial Intelligence: A.I.

2000 Julie Taymor Titus

JULIE TAYMOR PRESENTS BOOK OF HER FILM 'TITUS'

1999 M. Night Shyamalan The Sixth Sense

M. Night Shyamalan on the set of *The Sixth Sense* (Hollywood Pictures)

1998 Steven Spielberg Saving Private Ryan

1997 Neil Mandt Hijacking Hollywood

1996 Lee Tamahori Mulholland Falls

The 5 Most Invalid Star Wars Complaints

Posted on May 21, 2012 by bernardovillela

With the recent release of Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace in one additional D that has never before been seen there were bound to be many new articles that wrote upon the first film (chronologically) all over again.

Now, it’s been well-documented that fans and critics alike didn’t have much regard for Jake Lloyd’s interpretation of Anakin Skywalker and this was reiterated in the new articles. However, what struck me as a I read a new piece on old news was that, even in Episode One, much less the entire series, there are far more bothersome things that those of us who are fans can nitpick about. So, since fandom breeds nit-pickery whether one likes it or not, I have decided that there needs to be some priority set to this nitpicking. Namely, the focus will be on things ought not be nitpicked when you think about it.

I have asked Joey Esposito and Tom Sanford V to contribute their own lists as they are bigger die-hards than I, I’ll link to those when they’re up. I provide a sort of detached-weirdo perspective as the first time I truly saw the trilogy was in order in 2005 after I had seen Episode 3.

So enjoy (or become enraged by) my opinions below.

5. The Alternate Versions

This one is the last on my list because I agree with the fans right to complain about the alternate edits with new effects and the like with a caveat: namely, and this is a theme with me, if it really enrages you that much don’t buy them. I know I’m sticking with my DVDs for the time being. While I agree with the director’s right to change his film if he so pleases, I would prefer it if Lucas treated Star Wars like Spielberg treated E.T., meaning the original, unaltered version was always available and the new stuff was optional. I went to see the new E.T. but that was the only time, every other time the original has been just fine by me. So, yes, you have a right to complain about this switch, however, if you keep buying every release it’s falling on deaf ears. Therefore your options are one of two: hold out or get over it. None are great I grant you, but it’s the sad truth.

4. Midi-Chlorians

Here’s where my watching the series knowingly in chronological, so far as the narrative goes, order starts to factor in. This is one of the most over-debated and over-analyzed aspects of the entire saga. You can like or dislike it as you please, but I really don’t see the point in getting all up in arms about this point, when you have so many you could possibly choose from. Granted you implement things in the prequel trilogy that don’t follow through to the original and it removes an element of mystery but how much does it really detract? Furthermore, to parlay the filmmaker point above, it was introduced when the prequels were very much Lucas’s design, as concessions may have been made later on, so clearly he had it in mind. So it may not fit your vision but it fit his. Essentially, if one if offended by the very notion of the prequels they ought not waste time on this factoid. Conversely, if this is your biggest issue with the series that’s not so bad or you’ve blown it way out of proportion.

3. The Prequels In General

I alluded to this above but there are some who never got over the prequels happening in the first place. That’s fine. The original films are still there and if you watch those on an endless loop for all of eternity and never watch the prequels, would you still feel dirty knowing they exist? I wouldn’t. Now, even having seen the prequels first and then racing home to finish the series that night I won’t say the prequels are better, however, the concept was new to me when I first heard of it so I figured: “Why not watch it in order?” Today I think my appreciation for the saga and for prequels in general are heightened for it. Yes, I saw the prequels first, and yes, The Empire Strikes back is my favorite, and yes, The Phantom Menace is my least favorite, but in a lot of ways it functions like A New Hope does as a prelude to what’s to come.

2. Writing

People started to pile on to Lucas’ screenwriting seemingly only from 1999 to 2005 when seeing the new ones and then retroactively casting aspersions on his prior works. I can’t defend him in some areas but he knows his style and he jokes about being the “master of wooden dialogue.” He’s not Woody Allen or Joseph Mankiewicz or any of the greats, he knows that but he also typically writes his script in milieus he knows and where his style can flourish: Sci-Fi and adventure tales structured like serials, at least 10 films he had a hand in creating are in this vain (Star Wars and Indiana Jones) they emulate the style down to visual transitions and what I prefer to refer to as functional dialogue. However, suddenly when there are movies of his forthcoming some are not excited to see he is to be mocked and ridiculed? It’s exactly the same as what he’s always done. It worked then and it worked when the films rolled around again, the difference was in the receptiveness of the audience more so than the prowess of the artist.

1. Acting

Star Wars ain’t Shakespeare. Some actors will flail about. I don’t usually excuse actors I know to be talented from struggling with flat roles they seem uninterested in but it does happen. The fact of the matter is, I can ignore sub-par acting if I like the story enough. It will detract from it sure but rarely does it single-handedly ruin a film. Furthermore, as implied above, the saga might not embolden every actor. Sure, Harrison Ford did great things as Han, however, it’s right in his wheelhouse and his range is not the most vast to be honest. When dialogue has always been functional (I think we all know the story of the argument Ford and Lucas had on the set of the original about writing and saying things) and some actors can’t find themselves as well in that world, suddenly in the fourth film you’re going to pile on to a kid? I’m not going to say Jake Lloyd was the greatest thing since sliced bread but he did become the whipping boy for all that ailed The Phantom Menace in the eyes of many. Even I, who marginally liked the film, can pick many issues with that one and Lloyd is nowhere to be found on my list.

Essentially, due to fan outrage about the concept of the prequels existing and their dissatisfaction with the end result a child’s life was ruined, and yes I will go so far as to say potential was thwarted. You can’t tell me that Portman and Christiansen were always on point or that it ranks amongst Sam Jackson’s best works. As much as I’d like him you’d rattle off a bunch of Ewen MacGregor films before getting to the prequels. And if nothing else convinces you to absolve Jake Lloyd maybe this will: Did you like The Sixth Sense? I am assuming that you are a human being reading this and the answer is yes. Well, Haley Joel Osment is just one of those who auditioned for the role of Anakin but was not selected. So you can thank Jake Lloyd for The Sixth Sense if nothing else. Then feel free to troll on elsewhere, if you so please.