12. Star Wars (1977)

Code-name: C3PO

Writer/Director: George Lucas
Composer: John Williams
Type: Dramedy, Sci-fi Space Adventure

Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess Leia- Carrie Fisher
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Chewbacca- Peter Mayhew
Obi-Wan Kenobi- Sir Alec Guinness
R2D2- Kenny Baker
C3PO [human-cyborg relations]- Anthony Daniels
Darth Vader- (person) David Prowse (voice) James Earl Jones
Commander Tarkin- Peter Cushing

Notable Awards and Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
OSCAR- Best Sound
OSCAR- Best Film Editing
OSCAR- Best Visual Effects

OSCAR- Best Original Score

OSCAR- Special Achievement Award- Ben Burtt (for creating alien, creature, robot voices and sound effects)
nomination-OSCAR- Best Picture

nomination-OSCAR- Best Director- George Lucas

nomination-OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay- George Lucas
nomination-OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
Golden Globe- Best Original Score- John Williams
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Director- George Lucas
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Picture- Drama
Grammy- Best Album of Original Score written for TV/Movie- John Williams
Grammy- Best Instrumental Composition- John Williams
Grammy- Best Pop Instrumental Performance- John Williams
nomination-Grammy-Album of the Year- John Williams

Write-up:

A long time ago... okay, not really

On one of their first dates, my dad took my mom to see "Star Wars"... and he'd regretted it ever since :P to be fair, though, he will set through the movies with us anyway

It's probably her biggest obsession, which turned out to be contagious. But I also got her hooked on "Twilight" and other YA books and adaptations, so I guess we're even ;)

Plot

[I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't experienced "Star Wars"... but if you've been around for a couple decades, you seriously should have no excuse at this point

Potential Minor Spoilers Ahead]

"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."

Rebel forces are fighting against the Evil Galactic Empire. Among these rebels, Princess Leia of the planet Alderaan. After obtaining secret plans that could dismantle the empire's greatest weapon, The Death Star, she is captured by Darth Vader, but not before giving the plans to the droid R2D2. Together with his counterpart C3PO, the two droids take an escape pod, landing on the desert planet Tatooine.
After coming into the possession of Luke Skywalker, R2D2 quickly departs to find Obi-Wan Kenobi per Princess Leia's request, Luke and C3PO with no choice but to follow. Obi-Wan enlists Luke to come with him and hires smuggler Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca to transport them and the droids to Alderaan. Meanwhile, throughout this journey, Obi-Wan starts to instruct Luke in the ways of The Force, to become a Jedi knight.

CharactersFor so many, this movie (and its sequels) is all about its memorable characters.

Luke Skywalker has been living with his aunt and uncle this whole life and by this point, all of his friends have left to join the Rebels. Like many future heroes, he wants to trade his present circumstances in for a new destiny. He's eager to learn, but clearly has a lot of maturing to do.

Princess Leia was probably cinema's first sassy princess. Before her inevitable capture in the opening sequence, she at least attempts to take control of the situation beforehand. She also takes charge during her rescue and gives Han Solo a run for his money. It's also hard to forget her iconic "bagel" hairstyle.

Han Solo is our loveable scruffy-looking ("who's scruffy looking?".. sorry, wrong "Star Wars" movie) scoundrel. Between this movie and "Indiana Jones," my mom fell in love with Harrison Ford. Windows (Jay Baruchel) from "Fanboys" boasted the fact Harrison Ford played both these roles made him the best actor of all time.
Going by this film alone, we learn he's a smuggler working for galactic gangster Jabba the Hutt who lives life on his own terms. He's also not a bad pilot. It's also to his credit that when he claims he wants out of the main action, he always comes through where it counts. He commands the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca, a Wookie that happens to be his best friend. They'd been together for so long that Han Solo understands him (hmm... makes me wonder if the people behind "Guardians of the Galaxy" drew inspiration from that for the relationship between Rocket and Groot).

Obi-Wan Kenobi will probably go down as one of the best mentors in the history of movies. He's someone you can respect without question, something that can also be said about his portrayer, Sir Alec Guinness. Rumor has it that the other actors were on their best behavior when he was on set. As for the rest of the time... let's just say they were more relaxed.

We have the dynamic duo of droids. R2D2 being the optimist to C3PO's worrywart pessimist, a staple throughout the Star Wars film series.

Then we have our villain, Darth Vader. With deep booming voice and imposing presence, how can one not be intimidated? Not to mention he has a whopping 12 minutes of screen time in this first film of the series. Perhaps this was George Lucas's homage to many great villains of cinema: the less we see of them and what they do with that minimal screen time, the more we fear them.Additional CommentsI don't remember when I first saw "Star Wars." I do know it was the unedited original version and it was on TV. When they re-released it with all the edits, we saw it in theaters for the re-release and it was pretty awesome. This is one of those great movies simply made for the theatrical experience. Those who saw it in the 70's for the first time, it must have been the biggest nerdgasm ever. For that time, the special effects had have been mind-blowing because their likeness had never been seen before.
The one negative that fanboys take away from the "special edition"... it erased the fact that "Han shot first" (citing his Mos Eisley cantina showdown with Greedo). Don't believe me? Look up footage from Jon Favreau at the San Diego Comic-Con promoting "Iron-Man" and listen for the cheers when he says "Han shot first."I know quite a bit of "Star Wars" trivia, but there's just too much for me to go into. Besides, my mom probably knows more since she's also read a lot of residual fiction the movie generated.

In my Greek Mythology class, we actually rewatched the movie because we were studying heroic journeys in myth and how George Lucas paid homage to them with the film.

John Williams is a regular collaborator of Steven Spielberg's, producing the best movie scores in the business. His "Star Wars" score with the London Symphonic Orchestra is probably my favorite cinematic source ever... and I can't quite explain why. It is just so epically awesome. It also has a great range of emotions that fits perfectly with every scene, almost like it's its own character in the film.

I won't go into all the sequels and prequels because that'd make this entry longer than it needs to be. But my mom and I saw the prequels in theaters the weekend they came out.

Homages and parodies are pretty much endless.
The best homage I can think of was "Fanboys," which I reviewed very early on in this countdown.
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/90-fanboys-2009.html
Sure, it might a gross stereotype that all Star Wars fans are men that never grew up, still live at home in their parents' garages (sorry, carriage houses) and quote the movies on a regular basis... but so what? The project was obviously done with love.
And "Spaceballs" as well
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2014/01/43-spaceballs-1987.html

[I highly doubt anyone has paid any huge attention to my countdown, but those who have should have seen this entry coming based on those two films... by coincidence, the "Austin Powers" movie I included spoofed a "Star Wars" quote in a moment that goes from serious to mocking in record time]As for parodies...
Robot Chicken has done all kinds of stuff regarding Star Wars, most is pretty ridiculous. Three sketches come to mind for me:
1) Emperor Palpatine talking to Darth Vader after the first Death Star exploded and more or less spends most of the exchange laughing at him to anyone else listening
2) the Mos Eisley scene where Luke gets into trouble with some locations and we see the subtitles for the creature that gets his arm cut off by Obi-Wan... let's just say they misinterpreted his grunting in the movie
3) [my favorite] George W. Bush has a dream that he becomes a Jedi Knight, does a few Jedi mind tricks, defeats Abraham Lincoln at the Memorial ("That'll teach you, George Washington!") and after he wakes up, he gets Tacos
...heck, I like it so much I got the link to share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfiaGungQsg

Then Family Guy got a hold of it....
Some of it is pretty funny, so much so that we got all the DVDs.
But there are still some issues:
1) other than the fact Cleveland is one of Peter's best friends, why he plays R2D2 instead of Lando Calrissian is beyond me, as is the fact Lando is played by Mort the pharmacist in black face when he'd already played a character in Episode IV
2) poor Meg! only got two small parts as creatures and no lines
3) casting Mr. Herbert the elderly gay pedophile as Obi-Wan does the late Alec Guinness a GROSS injustice... and don't get me started on the Dirty Dancing theme "I've Had the Time of My Life" being his last farewell to Luke :facepalm:

The best part, though, has to be Stewie as Darth Vader. If anything, it might appease the fanboys that were turned off by the end of Episode III.

And apparently there's also a secret war going on between Seth McFarlane and Seth Green... listen to the commentary in Luke & Darth Vader's final lightsaber fight, it's pretty vicious.

As for the whole Star Wars vs. Star Trek thing... all I gotta ask is why Star Wars fans don't have a cute nickname like Trekkies to call themselves?
Just saying...

Coming Next Week

first, gotta say a few words for Richard Attenborough.
I only knew him as Mr. Hammond in the "Jurassic Park" movies, Kris Kringle in the Mara Wilson remake of "Miracle on 34th Street."

Also one of those great actors who took a turn in the director's chair and did a pretty damn good job of it. "Gandhi" starring Sir Ben Kingsley earned him Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. He also directed Robert Downey Jr. in "Chaplin," his first truly respectable role that earned him his first Oscar nomination.

Which brings me to #10 on my countdown: my favorite Charlie Chaplin film.

Again, I say I put this list together a couple years ago, but I couldn't ask for a better lead-in than paying tribute to one of Hollywood's last great figures.

RIP Lord Attenborough

EDIT: Relevant nonetheless, apparently I forgot how to count backwards...
I am up to ELEVEN... which got me forever hooked on reading and watching book-to-movie adaptations

43. Spaceballs (1987)

Code-name: Yogurt
"Yogurt, Yogurt, I hate yogurt! Even with strawberries!"

Writer/Producer/Director: Mel Brooks
Type: Comedy spoof, Sci-fi
Music: John Morris

Cast:
(In Order of Appearance)
Dark Helmet- Rick Moranis
Colonel Sanders- George Wyner
Princess Vespa- Daphne Zuniga
Dot-Matrix (voice)- Joan Rivers
King Roland- Dick Von Patten
President Skroob- Mel Brooks
Lone-Star- Bill Pullman
Barf- John Candy
Pizza the Hutt- Dom DeLuise
Michael Winslow as himself
Yogurt- Mel Brooks

Write-up:

After spoofing westerns with "Blazing Saddles," Frankenstein films with "Young Frankenstein," and historical epics with "History of the World- Part 1," Mel Brooks decided to take it upon himself in the late 80's to spoof the next big thing in movies: "Star Wars."

I caught part of the AFI roast for Mel Brooks last year and George Lucas did an intro into this movie, describing his world of "Stars Wars" and capped it off by turning to the camera to say: "...and this is what Mel Brooks did to it."

In a nutshell, that's what the movie is.

[Plot]

The Spaceballs, led by Dark Helmet (a shorter, somewhat goofy version of Darth Vadar) and Colonel Sanders, have a devious plan to take the supply of fresh air from the peaceful planet of Druidia. This involves capturing Princess Vespa and holding her for ransom until King Roland relents.
Their timing for this plan seems to be perfect since she decided at the last second to run away from her wedding to the dull & boring Prince Valium. Her droid maid-of-honor Dot-Matrix reluctantly comes along.

As Spaceball One threatens to abduct Princess Vespa's ship, King Roland contacts Lone-Star and his mawg (half-man, half-dog) co-pilot, Barf, offering them payment for the return of the Princess.
They agree because they owe a million Space-bucks to notorious gangster, Pizza the Hutt.

Lone-Star and Princess Vespa begin their journey back butting heads, but grow to like each other as time goes on. They crash land on a desert planet (like Tatooine) and meet with Yogurt, the keeper of the Schwartz. Lone-Star gets only a couple lessons about the Schwartz by the time Dark Helmet captures the Princess... resulting in a rescue mission, a final light saber-esque showdown, defeating the bad guys and our crazy couple end up happily ever after.

[Hilarity Ensues]

Before I paid attention to writers and directors, I knew Mel Brooks as a comedic genius. He makes various genres approachable, balancing homage with social commentary and pop culture references. And when he's acting, he likes to play multiple characters and usually comes the closest to breaking the 4th wall of all the characters in his films.

It doesn't matter if President Skroob is the leader of Planet Spaceball, he's still a goof and a bit of an idiot. Who else would have 12345 as the combination on his luggage?
I especially love the comment during the villain comeuppance sequence.
"I can't make decisions! I'm the president!"

Yogurt is more like the movie's embodiment of Mel Brooks than Yoda. His business on his desert planet is merchandising "where the real money from the movie is made." Everything from Spaceballs the Lunchbox to Spaceballs the Flame-thrower.
(Ironically, George Lucas's one stipulation for this movie's creation is that none of these products are actually made to expand the Spaceballs brand outside of the movie).
And of course, we have the classic Mel Brooks utterance of a fake sequel:
"God willing we all met again in 'SpaceBalls 2- The Search for More Money.'"

Like with a lot of my favorite comedies, the hilarious lines can come at any time and take on a number of forms.
The first line sets the perfect tone. After 3 minutes of Spaceball One going across the screen, Dark Helmet approaches the camera and removes his helmet to reveal Rick Moranis underneath.
"I can't breathe in this thing!" so he goes back and forth between speaking with the helmet on and with it off.

What's even funnier is that the villains are sometimes more interesting and hilarious than our heroes, which is mostly Lone-Star and Princess Vespa butting heads.
Michael Winslow (of "Police Academy" fame) makes a cameo as a Radar Technician who makes all the sound effects for the jammed radar... and of course, it's literal jam and Dark Helmet knows that only Lone-Star would dare "give him the raspberry[ jam]."
There's a scene where Dark Helmet is playing with Spaceballs action figures where he ends up making out with the princess and Colonel Sanders walks in on him.

Probably the best part is when Lone-Star and Dark Helmet meet and his introduction is this:

"There's something you don't know about us, Lone-Star. I am your father's, brother's, nephew's, cousin's former roommate."
"What does that make us?"
"Absolutely nothing. Which is what you're about to become."

I don't remember exactly when or how I came across this movie, but it was something my aunt/godmother and her family loved and it transferred to us. Every time it comes on, my sister and I get a good kick out of it... another one of those "line-for-line" movies where we could almost put it on mute and fill in the words ourselves... almost.

# 90: Fanboys (2009)

 


Code-name: Lucas Spoof

Director: Kyle Newman
Type: Sci-fi/Comedy

Cast:
Windows- Jay Baruchel
Eric- Sam Huntington
Linus- Christopher Marquette
Hutch- Dan Fogler
Zoe- Kristen Bell
Trekkie/Roach- Seth Rogen

Cameos include:
Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, William Shatner, Jay (Jason Mewes) & Silent Bob (Kevin Smith)

Write-up: 

(beware of ample spoilers, both of this movie and the Star Wars films in general)

Also, if you happen to be a fanboy yourself, feel free to leave a comment, whether it's professing your love of this movie, the franchise it's promoting or what have you.

Not is this movie a guilty pleasure (of which I feel ZERO guilt for loving), but it's also a hidden gem. We came across it randomly on a ShowTime channel a couple of years ago and being huge Star Wars fans in my house, we just couldn't look away. The characters knew their stuff inside and out, fit all the memorable quotes into their dialogue and you really saw the love there. The director in the DVD extras did call this movie a "love letter" to the Star Wars franchise.
It also happens to be one of many fanatical obsessions my mom & I have in common, something occasionally shared by a couple of my aunts. 

In order to fully appreciate and reap the benefits of enjoyment, I'd solely recommend this movie to Star Wars fans and those who just go crazy for all these nerd.
That being said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to Trekkies because there's an extreme bias against them... for Trekkies who loathe Star Wars, there is an extreme likelihood they will take offense.

As for myself, my only experience with Star Trek is the 2009 film and I'm open to an education on the franchise. But I'm definitely for Star Wars through and through.
My story about why I'm a Star Wars fan... that's best saved for another time. But I doubt you'll find another group of guys with this degree of craziness.

They are nerds in every sense of the word, all the stereotypes intact. Their very lives revolve around these movies. Windows owns a comic book store. While it's not well highlighted, Linus has dozens of collectibles, including Pez dispensers, in his room. Hutch still lives in his mom's garage (sorry, it's a "carriage house," as he reiterates throughout the movie) that has comics and posters plastered all over the walls. He also owns a van with a movie poster decal on it with an R2 unit on the roof and it's, get this, complete with Light Speed.

...Well, it has turbo boosters on it, but it's not recommended if you're trying to escape the cops trying to pull you over for speeding.

They generally lack experience with the opposite sex with the exception of their friend Zoe, who we quickly learn has a thing for Windows. Meanwhile, he's recently become preoccupied by his online soulmate "Rouge Leader" who describes herself as a cross between Sarah Michelle Geller and Janeane Garofalo... blissfully unaware of Zoe wanting him more than a friend.

Then there's Eric, who is the only one who tried to leave his fanboy ways behind in an attempt to "grow up." But as we see throughout this movie, nobody ever truly stops being a fanboy.

So, what would be the ultimate for a group of Star Wars fans to make a great movie? 
A road trip to Skywalker Ranch!

It isn't just for the sake of doing a road trip and it isn't just because these guys are dying to see "Episode I: The Phantom Menace." (The movie is set in 1998, six months before the movie comes out).
Now that I think about it, I feel kinda bad for putting it like that because one of the characters is actually dying. Supposedly Linus has cancer, they'd tried everything to treat it, but nothing has worked. Furthermore, this road trip helps reunite Windows, Linus and Hutch with their buddy, Eric, who they more or less lost touch with three years prior.

They supposedly mapped the trip out years ago and have finally decided, for Linus, that they should take a shot at this so they can become legends in the realm of fanboys.

Part A of the plan: meet with Rouge Leader, who has valuable information who can help them get inside to find the rough cut of the movie.
Minor setback: Windows goes to meet her and she turns out to be a 10 year old girl.

But after passing a series of questions posed by her uncle, ultimate fanboy Harry Knowles, they arrange to meet with his guy in Vegas who has the stuff they need.
The password is, get this, "Scruffy Nerfherder"

Part B: meet the "Scruffy Nerfherder" in Vegas

On the way to Vegas, however, an attempt to evade the police goes terribly array and they get arrested. Zoe arrives to bail them out and ends up coming along for the ride.
It's at Vegas when the truth comes out about Zoe's true feelings. It's funny how that happens in Vegas, especially when it takes an escort to see it. 

As laughable predictable as everything is, you enjoy every minute of this ride.

Trekkies come in a couple of times, being the butt of the jokes. Two of these encounters involves Seth Rogen, the second of which lands him in a confrontation with himself.
(His other character, Roach, is the pimp behind the two escorts that "pick up" Hutch and Windows. He happens to be a Star Wars fan, complete with tattoos, which includes one of Jar-Jar Binks... Star Wars fans, feel free to groan on this one).

No matter what the setbacks are, whether it's Eric's dad wanting him to return home to take over the family car dealing business or Linus's condition landing him in a hospital, they do make it into Skywalker Ranch.
And of course it is everything a fanboy would dream it would be. (I'd call it Nerdvana except that that's recently been trademarked by the TBS series "King of the Nerds").

Security does get a hold of them eventually, but after passing another series of tests (deeming them to be true fanboys, between their knowledge of the Star Wars franchise and lack thereof of women), George Lucas gives the okay (over the phone) for Linus, and only Linus, to see the movie.

And as one can predict, the movie ends at the midnight premiere of the movie with everyone in costume.
Then the ultimate kicker, the final line.

Eric: Hey guys, what if the movie sucks?
[screen goes to black]

Cameos: 

Billy Dee Williams plays a judge at the county jail that busted the guys for speeding.
His name: Judge Reinhold. 

Carrie Fisher is the nurse at the hospital. She first asks where the guys are heading, insisting that they should stop the trip because Linus is very sick. But she lets them through when they try to break out, with the following exchange:
Linus, after kissing her, says "I love you."
She responds, "I know." 

Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith appear as themselves in what seems to be an obligatory cameo that has NO bearing on the plot whatsoever. Windows sees them while waiting for a gas station restroom. We're put under the impression that Kevin is putting his buddy up to some risque business to get money to get their car fixed... fill in the blanks.

and the ultimate: William Shatner is the "scruffy nerfherder." Sure he has nothing to do with the Star Wars franchise, but I think most nerds go crazy for him in general because he IS Captain Kirk.
He really sells himself with the reassurance "I'm William Shatner, I can score anything."

As for the cast, most of them are general unknowns unless you dive off the mainstream.

Jay Baruchel is probably the biggest name of the four guys and he's probably the most adorkable actor I know. Love him in everything I'd seen him in (with the exception of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" where he plays the exact opposite of his generally awkward characters).
Dan Fogler, I'd never seen before, and probably only one other time... in a TV series that didn't take off.
Christopher Marquette was Joan of Arcadia's boyfriend, Adam, the role I'll always associate him with because he rocked it.
Sam Huntington, I actually saw YEARS ago as Tim Allen's son in "Jungle 2 Jungle," and in recent years, he's played a werewolf in the SyFy series "Being Human" (after maybe 5-6 shows, I lost interest... boredom struck one time too many).

Kristen Bell, for whatever reasons, is an actress I'd never been able to take seriously. Most of it is because of the roles she generally takes, but some might be a little bias on my part because how she looks. The blonde hair with her in particular promotes a "dumb blonde" stereotype that couples with the ho-hum characters she plays. 
Sarah Marshall was very 2-dimensional, but there's a few other things about that movie I don't care for in general. On the other hand, her character in "When in Rome" who came from the same place as far as stereotypes go, but I rooted for her all the way. Maybe it's just because there's a charm to sub-par chick flicks like that where the plot is thin, predictable and rests on its lack of laurels.

But in "Fanboys" as Zoe, she is awesome. She's feisty, a bit of a fangirl and, I don't know, my gut tells me that the brunette wig is a good look for her. Whenever I watch it back, I see Zoe more as a living, breathing character here than an actress playing a role. And of course I gotta add she's got good taste in men.

Further Comments speaking as a Star Wars fangirl:

I'll leave it as this.
I love the Star Wars franchise in general and like many other fanboys and girls, my allegiance resides more with the original trilogy than the prequels. With me, it's more of just a love for the story and the characters a lot more. Plus, you can't really go wrong with the original anything.

However, I didn't become aware until years later that a lot of fanboys didn't care for the prequels. In fact, some of them believe they let down what was otherwise an untouchable franchise. 
I'm probably one of the few people on the planet who liked Jar-Jar Binks as a source of comic relief and I kinda hated it when they made him more serious in the next couple movies.
"The Phantom Menace" I liked a lot, but after that, I'm not quite as lenient. 

Personally, I find the romance between Anakin and Padme a little forced. I still find the chronology between episodes I and II a little hard to follow. 
How much older IS she than Anakin? Meanwhile, he aged at least 8-10 years and she looks exactly the same (except for the fact she's not wearing as much makeup in the later movies).

Then of course all of the fanboys went berserk at the end of the series when they turned Darth Vadar into a complete wuss with his epic "NOOOOOOOOOO!!." (Again, I had to hear from heresay that that moment was the ultimate buzz-kill for Darth Vadar's following).

My mom personally objected to how Padme ended up dying of a broken heart. 
Supposing Nostalgic Critic or one of his brethren were to tell their take of that development, they'd say something like: "screw my kids, my husband doesn't love me anymore so I don't want to live" 

Me personally, in recent retrospect, I personally rejected to Samuel L. Jackson getting offed in Episode III. I mean, the dude is the ultimate bad-ass, and he gets killed by a dude that was more or less manipulated into committing his murder? 
C'MON!

So, if you're a fanboy and you like what you read, or want to use this as a platform to put down your favorite nerd-errific quote, feel free.