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In the prosperous, optimistic days that followed World War II, Americans dreamed of a utopian future made possible by advances in technology. In this gleaming future, all menial labor would be performed by robot servants, sparking a new Renaissance as Americans found themselves unfettered from the need to work. But, during the counterculture movement of the 1960s and '70s, when many Americans began to distrust the government and other established institutions, robots and technology were increasingly viewed with suspicion and paranoia. Increasingly, visions of the future of human-robot relations tended toward the antagonistic, if not the apocalyptic, with the smarter, faster, stronger machines intent on supplanting human beings or wiping us out, altogether.
Whether you believe that we humans will always be able to keep our technology on a leash or you're of the variety that predict we will inevitably be challenged for supremacy of the earth by our humanoid creations, both of those future scenarios recently became closer to reality with the unveiling last month of the "world's most high-tech humanoid," a robot with lifelike features and expressions and working artificial human organs.
the future has arrived >> Posted 03.05.13 by BrentJS -
Last week, Disney and moviemaker George Lucas announced that the company had purchased Lucas' profitable LucasFilm Ltd. production company for $4.05 billion, While that affords Lucas a modest retirement from making movies (actually, he plans to donate most of the money to educational charities), Lucas also revealed that he had decided to hand over his Star Wars franchise to "a new generation of filmmakers," collectively blowing the minds of millions of Star Wars fans everywhere.
While creating Star Wars has given Lucas unparalleled respect amongst writers, directors, animators and movie audiences alike, it's been Lucas' "recreations" of those same movies, as well as work creating the prequel trilogy (that's Episodes I-III for you kids that watched them sequentially), that has made him the target of those same peoples' derision. Now that Disney holds the keys to Lucas' magic kingdom, we offer 10 things to expect from the new Star Wars trilogy.
read our 10 expectations then add your own >> Posted 11.04.12 by Ryan -
Unless you've been living in a cave, you've no doubt heard that George Lucas has sold his profitable LucasFilm Ltd. production company to Disney for billions of dollars, with plans of his Star Wars franchise being turned over to "a new generation of filmmakers," to use Lucas' own words. This is the second major acquisition by Disney, who also purchased Marvel Studios in 2009.
While Star Wars fans have spent the past few days pondering the changes that may come to their beloved fictional universe, Disney is already in victory lap-mode, creating a new video revealing where Darth Vader plans to go next now that his universe is officially owned by the House of Mouse.
watch the video >> Posted 11.02.12 by Ryan -
Mickey Mouse is now the proud owner of his very own Death Star.
In a press release today, the Walt Disney Company announced that it will acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. Up until now, the company has been owned outright by Chairman and founder George Lucas, and now Disney has agreed to buy the company for the price of $4.05 billion dollars. The biggest and most important piece of the Lucasfilm pie is the Star Wars franchise, and George Lucas addressed the issue of handing off such an important series.
For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime
More about the sale and Star Wars 7 Posted 10.30.12 by Mandy -
It's beginning to look as if we've seen Hollywood icon Harrison Ford don the tattered snap brim fedora of of Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones for the last time. In a recent interview with Collider, Frank Marshall, who produced both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, said that the fourth movie was his "last hurrah" and that, despite the tremendous success of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the fact that Ford said as long ago as September of 2009 that he, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas had all "agreed on what the fifth adventure will concern," the lack of a crucial plot device to propel the action (a "MacGuffin" in movie lingo) and Lucas' desire to retire may have sealed the fate of Indiana Jones 5 (working title).
I say, for me, [Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is] the last hurrah. I know that yes, we talk about it, but there’s no idea [for Indiana Jones 5], there’s no MacGuffin.
Marshall said that Lucas simply isn't that interested in making another Indiana Jones movie, citing the fact that he's "passing the baton" to his wife, Kathleen Kennedy, to run Lucasfilm for him.
Posted 07.27.12 by BrentJS -
So far, our look at David Hughes" Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? has focused on movies that remained stuck in "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. In our fourth and final chapter, we examine Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, one of the rare examples of a movie that spent years in Development Hell, but somehow managed to break free and find its way to the big screen (though many die-hard fans of the franchise wish that it hadn't), where it earned a place in Hollywood history.
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the final installment of Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?.
Part 4: Keeping Up with the (Indiana) Joneses >>
Posted 03.26.12 by BrentJS -
ReelzChannel Celebrity Rundown
Whitney Houston's body has arrived at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, NJ, after being flown from LA on Tyler Perry's private jet. RadarOnline reports that management at the Beverly Hilton asked the LA County Coroner to delay removing her body until after Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party, because it would've been "insensitive for the van to be driven out with her body as limos were pulling away with the A-list guests."
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In the wake of Houston's death, concern for her 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina was so high — it was reported on Monday that she was suicidal — that even President Obama was praying for her, as White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday, "I know that his thoughts and prayers are with her family, especially her daughter." Father Bobby Brown told People that she is recovering with his family, including her siblings.
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Kate Upton's Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover leaked on Monday, and the New York Times examines Upton's unorthodox path to supermodel stardom, which all started with this YouTube video of her doing the "Dougie" at a Los Angeles Clippers game.
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Hugh Hefner says he's very disappointed that his son Marston Hefner allegedly beat up his Playmate girlfriend Claire Sinclair, which prompted her to get a 3-day restraining order against him.
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TMZ reports Lindsay Lohan has not paid her 2010 tax bill of $140,203, a year after being late paying Uncle Sam $93,701 for 2009.
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Talk show host Glenn Beck finally started a cause we can all get behind, ranting against George Lucas and saying he should be "tried for movie crimes" for what he's done to the Star Wars franchise and for producing Red Tails.
Posted 02.14.12 by reelz -
George Lucas is bringing his Star Wars saga back to big screen again, starting today with Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace 3D. While the plan is to re-release the entire franchise in 3-D, the Blu-ray versions released last year allowed Lucas to frustrate fans with more alterations, particularly to Return of the Jedi (now Ewoks blink and Darth Vader yells "Nooo!" before tossing the Emperor to his doom) and Phantom Menace, which will see the puppet version of Yoda replaced with a CGI one instead. During a recent interview with THR, Lucas explained why he decided to add a digital Yoda.
We tried to do Yoda in CGI in Episode I, but we just couldn’t get it done in time. We couldn’t get the technology to work, so we had to use the puppet, but the puppet really wasn’t as good as the CGI. So when we did the reissue, we had to put the CGI back in, which was what it was meant to be.
lucas discusses han vs. greedo >> Posted 02.10.12 by Ryan -
Now that Red Tails has proven to be a moderate success (the $58M project has grossed $22M in its first week), George Lucas can go back to focusing on his real bread and butter — Star Wars (any profit Lucas makes from Red Tails will be just chump change compared to the fortunes Star Wars continues to bring in for him).
Lucas is now doing press for his upcoming 3-D re-release of Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. In a video with Entertainment Weekly, Lucas talks about his experience making Episode IV - A New Hope.
Lucas recalls shooting the first Star Wars as "painful" and "unpleasant."
We never had enough time or money and we were always compromising on everything and it was a difficult experience all the way around.
watch the TV spot for the 3-D re-release of Phantom Menace Posted 01.27.12 by Chris -
Are you a Star Wars but moaning about the fact that George Lucas is re-re-releasing the entire Star Wars sage in theaters starting next month with Episode I - The Phantom Menace? Not interested in paying to see a movie you already own VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray? (But it's in 3-D!!)
Well, there's a new version of Star Wars that odds are you haven't seen and there's no price for admission.
Star Wars: Uncut was made by hundreds of fans, each who made a 15-second cut of the movie.
The Emmy-winning project, yes, Emmy-winning, is the brainchild of 26-year-old Casey Pugh. In 2009, Pugh cut A New Hope into 473, 15-second clips, and asked fans to recreate those clips, creating something that transformed into a patchwork quilt of Lucas' epic sci-fi movie.
You can watch the Director's Cut of Star Wars: Uncut, all 2 hours and 4 minutes of it after the break
watch the movie in its entirety >> Posted 01.23.12 by Chris