Free Republic

6/4/08 - George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/clone_wars/

There are admittedly some eye-catching sequences in the production, directed by Dave Filoni (Nickelodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender"), from a script credited to Scott Murphy and TV animation veterans Henry Gilroy and Steven Melching. But the distinctive animation style eschews photorealism in favor of something more of a high-tech marionette look recalling Sylvia and Gerry Anderson's vintage "Thunderbirds" and "Fireball XL-5" '60s series. Unfortunately, that wood-carved appearance is all-too-fitting considering the less-than-fluid movement of the characters

Vote for him, Greedy Konservative, you must. It amuses me to no end the extent that the Kucinich Left will comingle fantasy and the real world. It goes far beyond the problems that some conservatives, such as John Miller, have had with being Teenage half-Orcs. While Miller personifies geekdom in a way that makes my highest level Cavalier-Palidan have to go back to the armory and re-sharpen his Bastard Sword, he knows well that he is wasting time on a game. He comprehends that he is indulging a hobby. Unlike Star Wars Creator George Lucas, he seems to grok the...

George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama. Lucas was in Japan on Wednesday to promote his latest film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," as Obama clinched the Democratic Party's nomination for president. "We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama," Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were. Obama, "for all of us that have dreams...

Today, at one past midnight, I have seen the latest Indiana Jones movie. Like many among you, I presume, I was a fan of that American raider travelling all over the world to look for treasures. A BIG warning : the latest Indy is absolutely AWFUL. This is the worst thing you can imagine. Actors are nuts, there are so many special effects even when Spielberg said he wouldn't use them, the screeplay is ridiculous. This is a nightmare, and I really encourage fans to boycott it. This is a shame, far away from the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Even...

There's a lot to enjoy about this fourth installment of Indiana Jones. It's fun, silly, adventure-filled and completely entertaining in ways we don't always get from movies these days, with the greatest parts coming straight from the marvelous imagination of Steven Spielberg. Plus, it's a summertime blockbuster that doesn't totally rely on CGI which feels practically old-fashioned — and I mean that in the best way possible.

September 25, 2007 -- A BIG-mouthed extra working on the new "Indiana Jones" flick has blown his fledgling movie career to smithereens by spilling the film's major plot points. Director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas made the entire cast and crew of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" sign nondisclosure agreements. But Tyler Nelson - cast as a "dancing Russian soldier" - gave an interview to his hometown newspaper, the Edmond Sun in Oklahoma, in which he revealed that: * Indy, played once again by Harrison Ford, and the Soviet army are both searching for a...

Fan of TheForce.net Helen H. writes in with this great info. "Just got back from this presentation at the Directors Guild of America. George Lucas was tonight’s guest speaker. Here, very briefly, are the highlights: Quote: “the future is in television.” That’s why he’s concentrating on an animated series and live action series, not features. Indy Jones Chronicles are currently being cleaned up, are having documentaries added to them and will be shopped as “films for a modern day high school history class.” He’s hoping they’re released on DVDs very soon. He’s very excited about the animated 3D Clone Wars...

GEORGE Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, is getting out of the movie-making business, saying that big-budget releases are too risky, that Americans are abandoning cinemas and that the future of film will be smaller-budget releases distributed over the internet.To Hollywood executives suffering declining audiences and revenues in the face of online and pay-per-view competition, the special-effects master may seem to have been seduced by the dark side. But, as ever, he is looking to the future. "We don't want to make movies. We're about to get into television. As far as Lucasfilm is concerned, we've moved away from the...

Posted: Wed., Oct. 4, 2006, 4:52pm PT Lucas: Let's get small Helmer sees shrinking pic biz By DAVID S. COHEN George Lucas has a message for studios that are cutting their slates and shifting toward big-budget tentpoles and franchises: You've got it all wrong. The creator of "Star Wars," which stamped the template for the franchise-tentpole film, says many small films and Web distribution are the future. And in case anyone doubts he means it, Lucasfilm is getting out of the movie business. "We don't want to make movies. We're about to get into television. As far as Lucasfilm is...

Democrat Lucas On Top again in Seesaw KY4 Race: In an election today, 9/19/2006, in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, Democrat Ken Lucas leads Republican incumbent Geoff Davis, 48% to 44%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Since an identical SurveyUSA poll released 8/10/06, Lucas, who represented the 4th District from 1999 through 2004, has gained 4 points. Davis, who lost to Lucas in 2002 but was elected in 2004 after Lucas retired, has lost 2 points. Lucas led by 9 points in July, trailed by 2 in August, and now leads by 4. The election is...

George Lucas has quite a Valentine’s Day treat for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Only four days after House Republicans lampooned their rivals with a “Star Wars”-themed film, the bearded sage of the “Star Wars” universe will make a rare Hill appearance today alongside Pelosi and House Democrats. At Friday’s House Republican retreat at Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a short video, produced by the National Republican Congressional Committee, depicted GOPers as the virtuous rebels, being pursued by “Darth Nancy” and her imperial henchmen, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Democratic campaign chief Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). But swooping in on his...

George Lucas’ Empire Gets Its Revenge N.R. Archive. Boston -- May 2005. The final act in the Star Wars cycle, titled Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, has laid bare creator George Lucas’ underlying left-wing critique of American Empire. For many Americans, the original Star Wars (1977), was an exhilarating portrayal of courage and heroic struggle against tyranny and an evil galactic empire (in that age, generally perceived as against Soviet imperialism). Indeed, for most of the 1980s the political discourse in our country over how America would meet the challenge of confronting a dying and desperate...

Welcome to The Jedi Council! For my ally is the Force... Verse:For my ally is the Force,and a powerful ally it is.Life creates it, makes it grow.Its energy surrounds us and binds us.Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.You must feel the Force around you.

Politics gets into everything these days, even "Star Wars." "George Lucas must be a Democrat," said our 15-year-old son as he arrived home from the opening day of the latest Star Wars movie, "Revenge of the Sith," a film with the unfortunate initials, "ROTS."Ah, The Force is strong in this one, I thought, echoing Darth Vader. For, without the benefit of any advance word or special Jedi abilities, our young Jedi easily detected the anti-Bush propaganda that some liberals, to their delight, and some conservatives, to their fuming outrage, allege is imbedded in Lucas' new flick. In keeping with today's...

Frank Oz provides the voice of Yoda in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 'Star Wars' earns $108.5 million in first U.S. weekend Sunday May 22, 3:03PM ET George Lucas' final "Star Wars" movie scored the second-best three-day weekend of all time on Sunday, but the Force was not strong enough to prevent overall ticket sales in North America from posting a year-on-year-decline for the 13th consecutive weekend. "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" sold an estimated $108.5 million worth of tickets for the Friday-to-Sunday period, taking its total to $158.5 million since...

I don't see why people are biting on the hook over Bush and the Evil Empire in Star Wars. Lucas is possibly mis-reading his feelings on the force.

"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" scored $50 million in first-day receipts at 3,661 theaters across the nation on Thursday, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations said Friday. The take handily beats the one-day record of $44.8 million set last year by "Shrek 2." "Sith" is distributed by News Corp.'s (NWS) 20th Century Fox film unit.

LOS ANGELES - Moviegoers flocked to the dark side in droves, giving the final installment of George Lucas' "Star Wars" tale a record-breaking midnight run. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" raked in an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings Thursday, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. That's double what the Oscar-winning film "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" took in during its midnight showings in 2003. The third film from director Peter Jackson's trilogy rang up about $8 million domestically from 2,100 midnight shows. "This is extremely impressive," said Paul Dergarabedian,...

For sheer lack of subtlety, the light-saber-wielding forces of good and evil in George Lucas's "Star Wars" movies can't hold a candle to the blogging, advertising and boycotting forces of the right and left. (Or left and right.) More a measure of the nation's apparently permanent political warfare than of a filmmaker's intent, the heroes and antiheroes of Mr. Lucas's final entry, "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," were on their way to becoming the stock characters of partisan debate by mid-Wednesday, hours before the film's opening just after midnight: The liberal advocacy group Moveon.org was preparing to spend...

George Lucas supposedly takes a slam at George Bush in his new movie, Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Will you see the film? Take the poll at Michael Medved's site.

CANNES, France - Without Michael Moore and "Fahrenheit 9/11" at the Cannes Film Festival this time, it was left to George Lucas and "Star Wars" to pique European ire over the state of world relations and the United States' role in it. Lucas' themes of democracy on the skids and a ruler preaching war to preserve the peace predate "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" by almost 30 years. Yet viewers Sunday — and Lucas himself — noted similarities between the final chapter of his sci-fi saga and our own troubled times. Cannes audiences made blunt comparisons...

Director STEVEN SPIELBERG wept at a premiere of pal GEORGE LUCAS' final STAR WARS movie EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH. JURASSIC PARK film-maker, Spielberg was so moved by the eagerly-awaited conclusion of the sci-fi saga, he burst into tears at its screening last week. But he's unashamed by his tears, insisting fans will also cry at the end of the film, because its moving conclusion marks the end of Lucas' epic story. Spielberg says, "I saw it about a week ago, and it's absolutely amazing. "It's the best of the last three episodes. It's the best way you could...

Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ][ kerry spot home | archives | email ]INSERT YOUR FAVORITE ‘LUCAS TURNING TO THE DARK SIDE’ JOKE HERE Over in the Corner, Jonathan Adler links to Jason Apuzzo’s skeptical reaction to some George Lucas praise for Fahrenheit 9/11. It’s a free country, and Lucas can make whatever films he likes, and put in whatever subtle or not-so-subtle political messages he likes. But I can’t be the only one who finds a stunning disconnect between the messages of Lucas’ films and the decisions he’s actually made in his life and work. Let me...

"StarWars.com divulges some fairly fascinating news in their interview with "The Making of Revenge of the Sith" author J.W. Rinzler: Steven Spielberg helped put some sequences together? "As George [Lucas] explains in the book, he gave Spielberg a few scenes to play with at the animatics stage: a bit of the Mustafar duel, and Yoda's duel with the Emperor, along with a couple of others. How much of Spielberg's contribution made it to the final film, only Lucas or Spielberg could say, particularly as George revised and reinvented every scene in the film so extensively in editorial."

MUMBAI: Even as the concluding part of the Star Wars saga - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - is set to release internationally on 19 May, its creator George Lucas has announced plans to make two television series based on his blockbuster movies. The first would be a live-action show featuring some of the minor Star Wars characters, which Lucas would direct himself. The second show will be a 3-D animated series, which follows the success of the existing animated series Clone Wars series (that airs on Cartoon Network in India). The live-action series will cover the period between...

When Lucasfilm Ltd's Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith comes to cinemas this year, audiences will see the first Star Wars movie shot using Fujinon E Series digital cinema-style lenses, which brought new levels of efficiency and flexibility to filmmaker George Lucas and his crew. The HAe3x5 (5-15 mm) and HAe10x10 (10-100mm) E Series zooms were used to capture Revenge of the Sith, the final instalment of the Star Wars saga, along with E Series prime lenses (with nine fixed focal length lenses on the set) and C Series HAc13x4.5B-10 (4.5-59mm) lenses. Star Wars: Episode III marked the...

The sixth and final Star Wars movie may not be suitable for young children, film-maker George Lucas has said. He told US TV show 60 Minutes that Revenge of the Sith would be the darkest and most violent of the series. "I don't think I would take a five or six-year-old to this," he told the CBS programme, to be aired on Sunday. Lucas predicted the film would get a US rating advising parents some scenes may be unsuitable for under-13s. It opens in the UK and US on 19 May.

The leader of a Catholic watchdog group announced today that the formation of a clergy misconduct review board, while a good idea, would merit “no credibility” if it failed to include his organization on its committee. Stephen G. Brady, president of the Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. (RCF) cited RCF’s investigation of former Springfield, IL Bishop Daniel Ryan in his organization’s ability to bring truth to the investigation. “RCF has been the only organization or individual with credibility in investigating Ryan and the clergy of this diocese since 1995,” Brady stated. “While the diocese repeatedly denied allegations against Ryan and belittled...

Just heard on O'Reilly that a supporter for an Oscar nomination for Michael Moore's crockumentary is George Lucas. You'd think this guy would know better!

      Home  |  About  |  Campaigns  |  Contact  |  Friends  |  Press  |  Search  |  Email List Before you explore any other pages on our site– RCF's Newsletter, A.M.D.G. Guest Book / Feedback Read our philosophy statement How to become a member Make a donation Past news items Search our site Contact us  Bishop Lucas On December 14, 1999 Bishop George Lucas was installed as Bishop of the Springfield Diocese in Illinois. Lucas replaced Bishop Daniel Ryan who resigned one week prior to the filing of a lawsuit that named him as an active homosexual who had engaged in...

As the primary election approaches there are three contested House primaries on the Republican side and a Senate primary. I am looking for opinions and policy positions. Senate Incumbent George Voinovich vs. John Mitchel OH-10Ed Herman vs. Bruce Cobbledick vs. three others This is to me the most interesting race. This is Dennis Kucincich's districts and his presidential run has been an embarrasment making him vulnerableOH-13 Robert Lucas vs. Dan Ortega (no website found) This is Sherrod Brown's district. As of now, Sherrod looks strong but it's still important to put up the best candidate. This is my district and...

There's plenty for fans to talk about this weekend, as footage shown at the private meeting goes very public. We have received countless reports of this, along with countless links to the video. Earlier this week, the retail decision makers and the marketing team from Lucasfilm played show and tell. Big deals have been made but before the ink could dry hot footage of the event ends up online. Plenty of action from The Duel is revealed, including moments where the two Jedi put their sabers down for a second and use the fists and feet. The montage is set...

A man who has spent a career reading and writing the news now wants to make the news. Media personality Nick Clooney shocked Kentucky's political establishment and breathed life into a wounded Democratic party with his announcement Monday that he will run for Congress in Northern Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District. Clooney, 69, is a 30-year resident of the Ohio River city of Augusta, 40 miles east of Cincinnati. He wants the seat now held by U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, a Boone County Democrat not seeking re-election. "I understand this is a very important seat nationally, but that can't be my...

Parents file lawsuit over Star Wars video Humiliation forced Quebec teenager to drop out of school, document says By TU THANH HA From Wednesday's Globe and Mail MONTREAL — The parents of Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager who became a celebrity this spring after classmates posted on the Internet a video of him mimicking a Star Wars character, allege that their son was so humiliated by the experience that he had to get psychiatric care. The revelation is made in a lawsuit his parents have filed against the families of four classmates they accuse of maliciously turning their son into...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Democratic Rep. Ken Lucas says he will seek re-election next year, backing out of his term-limits pledge. When he first ran for Congress from Kentucky's 4th District, Lucas promised to serve no more than three terms. He won his third term last November, narrowly defeating Republican newcomer Geoff Davis. Lucas, 69, the lone Democrat in Kentucky's congressional delegation, said the political climate for term limits has changed. "While I still believe that public service is a calling that is temporary, these are not ordinary times in America and I cannot in good conscience step away from my...

Kentucky CD # 4 10/16/2002 Lucas (D) 54% Davis (R) 43% Undecided/Other 3% Data Collected 10/13/02 - 10/15/02 Geography Kentucky CD # 4 Universe 625 Likely Voters Margin of Error 4.0% Client WCPO-TV Cincinnati

To: My Fellow Democrats in the United States Senate From: Tom Daschle, Majority Leader Subject: My review of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. I know many members of this august body joined in at the special viewing of George Lucas’s latest installment in his Star Wars saga, a fantasy of such epic proportions that we labeled Reagan’s SDI with the same title, though the old coot took it in stride and still managed to bamboozle Gorbachev with it. Perhaps Gorbachev got confused and imaged AT-AT Walkers coming over the Arctic Circle. No matter, that’s Gungan flux under...

CNN's ticket out of Lucas land ... The day after CNN's Connie Chung did a live show from "Star Wars" auteur George Lucas' famed Skywalker Ranch, CNN was asked not to attend a "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" press junket on the property. The Insider's tipsters said CNN was tossed off the ranch, but CNN says that's an exaggeration, that there was "no physical removal" of anyone, that there was a "conversation" and that "as conversations like that go, it was fairly cordial." The tipsters also say that what apparently rubbed Mr. Lucas the wrong way was that Ms....

Connie Chung and a CNN crew were barred from a press junket on the property of George Lucas Skywalker Ranch, north of San Rafael, CA. after Chung, in a taped introduction to an interview with Lucas that appeared on CNN on May 7(Chung) Referred to Star Wars:Episode 1 The Phantom Menace as a 'disappointment,' Then alluded to charges that Jar Jar Binks character represented racial stereotyping Electronic Media Magazine reported Monday.The trade publications 'Insider' column commented:'At CNN, the stance is that Mr. Lucas expected a one hour love letter and a wet kiss in return for the access CNN was...