lucas the father of the altmanesque multi character movie?

Started by tpfkabi, April 22, 2003, 09:20:48 PM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

soixante

I certainly think that George Lucas deserves the AFI award, if only for Graffiti and the first Star Wars.  But they should also honor Robert Altman and Woody Allen.
Music is your best entertainment value.

pete

I think Lucas should totally pay for child supports to Nashville.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

modage

Quote from: soixanteI certainly think that George Lucas deserves the AFI award, if only for Graffiti and the first Star Wars.  But they should also honor Robert Altman and Woody Allen.
for Empire and Jedi respectively.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Myxo

Charlie Rose

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

GEORGE LUCAS
Filmmaker

cine


MacGuffin

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

life_boy

Does anyone really care what Lucas does after Star Wars?  Hell, I stopped caring, oh.....around May 19th, 1999.  

Perhaps I'm not ready for the Star Whore to molest me with his Phantom Penis.

RegularKarate

What if he made another American Graphitti or THX-1138?

Copalla said that once Lucas was done with all this Star Wars business, he'll probably make a great film.

picolas

i thought he was done with all this Star Wars business for over two decades and then the special editions made him do the preqs.

Myxo

Quote from: picolasi thought he was done with all this Star Wars business for over two decades and then the special editions made him do the preqs.

..and in another ten years he'll make 7, 8, 9 and resurrect a few careers.

life_boy

Quote from: RegularKarateCopalla said that once Lucas was done with all this Star Wars business, he'll probably make a great film.

I'm sure a number of us are still waiting for Coppola's post-Godfather/Apocalypse greatness.  

Make no mistake, 1972 to 1979 was a great run (four towering cinematic achievements back to back to back to back), but where the hell are the goods after a run like that?  How can one simply fade away into mediocrity after something like that?  A number of directors never get back to what they once were, but they still churn out some decent flicks.

Myxo

Quote from: life_boy
Quote from: RegularKarateCopalla said that once Lucas was done with all this Star Wars business, he'll probably make a great film.

I'm sure a number of us are still waiting for Coppola's post-Godfather/Apocalypse greatness.  

Make no mistake, 1972 to 1979 was a great run (four towering cinematic achievements back to back to back to back), but where the hell are the goods after a run like that?  How can one simply fade away into mediocrity after something like that?  A number of directors never get back to what they once were, but they still churn out some decent flicks.

Bram Stoker's Dracula was great..

Rainmaker wasn't bad either.

Myxo

I love Charlie Rose' first question..

"You've only directed five films. How come?"

- "Yeah. Five films in 35 years. But you've gotta remember, I've produced alot in that time too!"

MacGuffin

Star man
George Lucas reflects on his early days, becoming successful and the next phase of his career.
By Stephen Galloway, Hollywood Reporter

Until he was involved in a 1962 automobile accident, George Lucas dreamed of being a race-car driver -- but that was before he attended film school at USC and became the acclaimed director of 1971's "THX 1138" and 1973's "American Graffiti." Today, Lucas' reputation stands above all on 1977's "Star Wars" and its sequels and prequels, a franchise that has transformed the entertainment industry. The American Film Institute's 33rd Life Achievement honoree spoke recently with The Hollywood Reporter's contributing editor Stephen Galloway about "Star Wars" and how he sees his future now that the franchise's final installment, "Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," has been released.

The Hollywood Reporter: How did you envision your career before the car crash?
George Lucas: I wanted to be a race-car driver or work in cars, (but after the accident,) I decided to go back to school. I went to junior college in Modesto (Calif.) and got very involved in social sciences, (and) I was going to go to San Francisco State to get my degree in anthropology. I was also trying to get into Art Center College of Design (in Pasadena) to become an illustrator and photographer. (Meanwhile,) a friend of mine was going to USC and thought they had a cinematography school; I applied, got in and was surprised to see there was a film school -- I didn't even know there was such a thing. When I got there, I fell in love with film.

THR: How great was your awareness of film before you attended film school?
Lucas: I grew up in Modesto, (but) as soon as I could drive, I would drive up to San Francisco and go to underground film festivals and watch very abstract, avant-garde films. It wasn't until film school that I started seeing historical pieces like (1941's) "Citizen Kane," (and) I was very interested in (Federico) Fellini and (Jean-Luc) Godard. I also liked Richard Lester and (Stanley) Kubrick and (1964's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"). I thought I was going to go into documentary filmmaking, so I had a tendency to like (movies) that were more documentary-oriented, but (Akira) Kurosawa made a very big (impression), especially (the 1956 U.S. release) "The Seven Samurai" -- I was blown away by it. Right from the get-go, I said: "I love this. I've found my passion."

THR: How autobiographical was your second film, "American Graffiti"?
Lucas: I spent a huge amount of time in high school and college cruising the main street of town (because that was) the main source of entertainment, but (the film) also comes from my anthropological interest: I had studied mating rituals and things like that. One thing I found fascinating was that the U.S. was the only place where people used cars (to date members of the opposite sex); usually there was a town square -- that's how people would meet. Here, it was done in cars -- it was a remarkable American tradition that had disappeared by the time I made the movie in 1970, when sex, drugs and free love had taken over. It disappeared after the hippies and came back after the film.

THR: Did you expect "Graffiti" to be such a success?
Lucas: No. It was a very low-budget film, the studio (Universal) was not particularly happy with it, and it took a while for us to convince the studio (to release it) as a theatrical film, not a TV movie. At the time, it was pretty remarkable in being a low-budget movie that made over $100 million (at the domestic boxoffice).

THR: If Universal didn't like "Graffiti," then it was hardly surprising that it passed on "Star Wars." How did it end up at 20th Century Fox?
Lucas: I had a deal at both Universal and United Artists, and they didn't want it. (Fox executive Alan Ladd Jr.) had seen "American Graffiti" and said, "I figure you're a talented guy, (but) I don't understand the story you're trying to tell me." I had this idea about funny robots and kids running around, and they shot laser guns -- not something you would look at and say, "This is a great idea!" I finished the screenplay, and (studio executives) still didn't understand it. Laddie said, "I read the screenplay and it doesn't make any sense to me, but I think you are extremely talented and I want to see this made."

THR: You have been credited for having enormous prescience in asking for sequel and merchandising rights. Why?
Lucas: The two things I insisted on with "Star Wars" were the sequel rights and the licensing. It wasn't that I just got it outright; we shared it. The other (perception) is that somehow I was smart -- (but) I wasn't. I had written three ("Star Wars") screenplays, and I swore to myself I would get the other two made somehow; the assumption was that the first (movie) would tank and (Fox) would hold up (the sequel rights). In terms of licensing, all I wanted was to get some promotion for the film; (I thought), "I can get some posters and T-shirts and sell them at science fiction conventions." It wasn't until (1980's) "The Empire Strikes Back" that we had a real licensing program, and even then that was really experimental.

THR: When you began in the industry, you were closely associated with a group of filmmakers who seemed to tilt at the studio system, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma. Do you still identify with that group?
Lucas: Oh yeah. We started out in the industry together, (and) we all helped each other -- and still do. That particular group (is now) called "postmodern" cinema because we were educated (in film), as opposed to growing up in it. We all loved movies; we all know a lot about movies, about the technology of movies. We were the first generation of film students to make it into the industry; of that group, everybody has produced everybody's pictures; it's very incestuous. We've all been able to become independent of the system, (and) even though there are different levels of independence, we all work from our hearts -- there wasn't a "director for hire" from that group.

THR: Do you see similar themes among your movies?
Lucas: No, we're very individual. I couldn't make a Marty Scorsese picture or a Francis (Ford) Coppola picture in a million years if I tried, and they couldn't do "Star Wars" -- well, Steven might, and I might be able to do (1975's) "Jaws," but I don't think I'd want to. Steven, Ron Howard and I are the closest in temperament and aesthetic, but even so, we do have very different aesthetics.

THR: Those other filmmakers have kept on directing, but you chose not to for two decades. Why?
Lucas: I had the 20-year gap because I finished (1983's) "Return of the Jedi" and I had a daughter. I had just gotten divorced, (and) I was raising my daughter and felt that was the most important thing -- and I was going to spend my time raising her. Then I adopted other children and spent 15 years raising them. At the same time, there was another aspect to it: Because of the divorce, (Lucasfilm) was in difficult financial straits. To straighten out the company and get it solid without "Star Wars," without me producing product for them, I basically ended up getting a job where I could go to work at 10 or 11 (a.m.) and come home at 4 or 5 (p.m.).

THR: But your rap is that you do not like directing.
Lucas: It's no secret that I whined about directing because it's hard work, (but that) doesn't mean I didn't like it. I still like to direct -- it's my main interest -- but I do like to experiment with things. Producing is a way of sometimes being able to oversee things and still have a life. When I decided I was going to come back and direct, I had to decide whether I was going to do the prequel to "Star Wars" or my own films. I figured if I didn't do "Star Wars," then I'd probably never do it: I was 50 years old at the time, and it was a 10-year project and I now had the technology to do those projects.

THR: What's next after this "Star Wars" film? Will there be others?
Lucas: No, there won't.

THR: Are you making another "Indiana Jones" installment?
Lucas: We're working on it; the writer (Jeff Nathanson) has just given us a new script. I'm also working on an animated TV series, "Clone Wars," which we've done little bits and pieces of and are going to try and do as a half-hour show. And we're going to do a live-action spinoff TV series of "Star Wars," an hour drama, (but) not with the main characters. I'm also producing a film about African-American fighter pilots called "Red Tails," and then I'm working on my own little personal films -- I have put aside some money to do what I want to do. I am doing that once I have everything else sorted out, which will take a year or 18 months -- not really designed to make money, but for me to enjoy myself.

THR: Do you have your next film in mind?
Lucas: No. Over the years I got probably dozens of them (that) I have to dust off and figure out which ones still inspire me. I have set the money aside ($20 million-$30 million a movie), enough to keep me going for 10 years; if I make a movie a year, it will take me 10 years to get (through it), and then I'll be 70 or something. And if I still have the ambition then, I'll go to a studio!
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

grand theft sparrow

Would he just fund Megalopolis already?! For Christ's sake!