Today’s strip pretty much reflects my reaction to the news last week that J.J. Abrams would be directing the first of the new Star Wars films. At first I was all shocked and outraged and then when I thought about it I was just kinda… meh. Even after bringing up the news to a couple friends the conversation only lasted a few minutes before we moved onto another topic, when previously (i.e. pre-Prequels) this news would have prompted hours of heated discussion. Now, I’m not sure if I’m just burned out on all the Star Wars news of late, or the safe and unexciting Abrams announcement bummed me out or that maybe I’m *gasp!* just kind of bored with Star Wars right now (gods forbid) but for whatever reason, this new set of Star Wars films hasn’t lit the fanboy fires within me. Maybe it’ll take more leaked info to come out. Maybe it’ll take the first trailer to be viewed. Maybe I’ll have to be in the actual theater waiting for the Fox Disney logo to come up and the opening crawl to appear. But right now, I’m more excited by what Marvel’s doing with its expanding universe than what’s going on with a galaxy far, far away, and I would’ve considered that crazy talk a few years ago.
So how ’bout you BOTreaders? Excited about J.J. Abrams? The new films? Wait and see? Meh?
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I’m happy to say the merch I’ve been teasing is now available in The BOTshop! New greeting cards and tees plus a $5 Valentine’s Day discount code! Details here.
No, you’re not the only one who went through the sine-wave “aaaah!-ooooh-ehhh…” thing. Though really, Abrams has a decent chance of getting this one right. We’ll be watching his career with great interest.
glad to hear this is a somewhat common reaction, Del Spaig! that the script for Episode VII is already written gives me hope (J.J.’s writing partners leave something to be desired in most cases) since i think he’s pretty good with action and technical stuff. not sure who i would’ve gotten excited about, but Alfonso Cuarón and Brad Bird were at the top of my list!
and check you out: you just achieved the Shades of Firsting! wear them well – these will help you pick up your visual scanning:
😎
Sweet shazbot – first comment?
nanu nanu! the Shades are yours, Del Spaig!
http://jefbot.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif
Sweeeet.
Doggone it! I refreshed and I refreshed and then I gave up hope. CURSES!
I’m interested to see how J.J. takes the next film of Star Wars. I hate to say it but I’m not anywhere into the films as I once was (not that I was a die hard fan) but after watching his reboot of Star Trek I have some hope for the sequels, so long as certain annoying characters aren’t involved…
heh. yeah, the strip went up a bit later than usual tonight, TCG! but what are you doing awake still? isn’t it like, 3am where you are? 😛
i did like what J.J. did with Star Trek but the script is pretty horrible (red matter? Spock being exactly where Kirk lands on the ice planet? Scotty being within walking distance from there? Nero?), which seems to be the track record with his projects. (was so excited about Super 8 until i actually saw it.) he’s very interested in the “mystery box” as he puts it, not so much with story and character.
and, yes. let’s hope there’s no jar jar equivalent in the new series!!!
I’m at work. Night shift four nights a week. Yes, it’s 3 here. Deal with it. 😛
aaiiieee!!! work at 3am!?? yikes! although i can’t really say anything since JEFbot’s my job now and here i am uploading jpegs at 2am…
more power to ya, TCG! 😀
Totally agree with del spaig. But what i really want is to see a movie about the Sith. Fuck those skywalkers. They had their chance of glory. Fixating our focus on the skywalkers is borderline stalkish behaviour. Lets see a proper movie on the darkside. Also JB, i hope u will get an audition for this new star wars movie. Even if this movie turn out bad i will go and see it just to see u.
DUDE. thanks for reminding me to make sure my agent submits me for anything even remotely close to my type. and if i get a part, you guys will be the first to know!
and i agree with you – i kind of wish Star Wars would move on from the Skywalkers but now that the first and second trilogies dealt with them, it seems like they have to round out the trio of trilogies with ’em before they can move on. we’ll see.
What? U havent ask ur agent to sic on them? Dear omnissiah. Go bot go. Id still watch it even if u turn to jar jar. Thats how badly i want to see u succeed
you’d still watch even if i was jar jar!!? awww… true dedication, man. thanks! (let’s hope i at least get to audition. heheh.) my agent understands me well enough to know that i’d want to be in Star Wars but it couldn’t be a bad thing to give him a nudge. 😉
A little nudge, whip, paddle and watersport can encourage any agent greatly.
i’ll keep that in mind.
I feel ya, when Disney bought LucasFilms there was a few minutes of discussion but now, everyone has moved on and no one cares :/. It’s just another franchise now, as sad as that is. And the movie industry and the people who own it want to make money. And with a name like Star Wars, they’re going to sell tickets regardless.
that could be it, dj – i’m sure we’ll get better stories and better treatment of the Star Wars brand with Disney at the helm, but it just seems… i don’t know. more corporate/less special without Lucas being completely in charge? don’t get me wrong: i think this is a good thing, but i’m just not blindly excited like i used to be. 😛
Abrams tends to invoke time travel paradoxes and shrug them off. (i.e.: Lost and Fringe finales) So, I’m worried he’s going to delve into the next generation of Skywalkers, and eventually have Grandson Skywalker team up with Daddy Jedi Hermit Luke to go back in time and kill Anakin before he becomes Vader. But it’s not the paradox that worries me.
It’s the fact that Episodes 1 – 3 will still have happened in our memories.
heh. true that, E. A. Setser – Eps I-III are the real travesties here. and don’t even get me started on Lost. it’s what has totally jaded my opinion of Abrams and co. (well, that and Alias and Star Trek and all the other projects they’ve been involved in.) i haven’t watched the end of Fringe yet (still catching up) so no spoilers! at least the script is already written for VII so we don’t have to worry about his writing team, unless he brings them in to doctor it. *shudder*
Dramatically speaking, the end of Fringe was awesome. But the science fiction aspect was way too deus ex machina.
I know about as much about Star Trek as I’ve gleaned from George Takei’s facebook page. Maybe that’s why I thought the first Abrams Star Trek movie was pretty alright. He at least explained the time travel paradox with the concept of separate timelines.
With the size of the cast in Star Wars, Joss Whedon would be a better choice. He’s good at developing multiple characters together.
agreed – Joss has a proven track record with big casts (Avengers, Buffy, Firefly.) afraid his tone would be a little too clever and jokey for Star Wars but i’d have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps, but his tendency at quips and snark could work well. They’ve always tried to integrate comic relief into the Star Wars movies, and it’s always fallen flat with badly placed punchlines and poor puns. Plus, he’s good with the dialogue in general and one-liners that don’t sound corny. Heck, there’s an entire website and facebook page dedicated to Captain Mal quotes.
true dat.
Please do not kill me. I have not seen the star wars movies. I understand the story and as fantasy and science fition fan, I hope to one day see them. I have to say meh on the whole director thing.
The third panel gave me sort of a “you just divided by zero you have doomed us all” feeling.
One does not simply divide by zero!
you should definitely check them out, DAS. if you can, see the original versions before Lucas messed ’em up with all the silly CGI. and yeah, that third panel was something snapping in bot’s head. possibly his love for Star Wars??? NOOOOOOO!!!
Dude, I would follow JJ into the depths of hell. I know a lot of people would have rather seen Joss, and maybe that’s true, but look, anything has to be better than the prequels (which I refuse to see – I’m claiming control over my life after what Phantom Menace did to the things I loved).
no doubt J.J. will make a good film, Kate. i do trust him as far as spectacle and pace are concerned, it’s just kind of a boring choice to me. but, yeah – as long as he doesn’t “Phantom Menace” us, it’ll be fine! 🙂
an article I read stated the source of the news was unreliable. I’m still holding out hope that it is only a vicious rumor. I haven’t read anything from Disney announcing it so…I’m still hoping. Only because there really isn’t anything that I have really enjoyed that he’s done. I have LIKED things and I have HATED things. That’s not a scale of enjoyment for a director to make me excited that he has the job…
exactly, theBean – he just hasn’t made anything truly great that i’ve seen. before things come out (i.e. Star Trek, Super 8, Mission Impossible III) his projects look amazing and then when i see ’em i’m like, wha?? but yeah, Disney has finally confirmed.
yeah…I just read on StarWars.com about JJ Abrams. I think it will be interesting though that he will have directed both Star Trek and Star Wars. Though, I know lots of Star Wars fans and NONE of them hate Trek, so that whole schism seems made up to me, but funny!
it is pretty crazy that he’ll have directed Star Trek and Star Wars. not to mention Mission Impossible III. any other franchises he wants to take over?
Meh.
I’m just curious if they’ll do what they did with John Carter… which was okay.
i thought John Carter was better than all the bad hype that led up to it, but yeah: it wasn’t great. and why they changed the title from John Carter of Mars which sounds awesome (or even A Princess of Mars, the book’s title) and into something super generic is beyond me.
Oh my god. I forgot about the DISNEY logo! Ugh, they better not use the one with tinkerbell flying around the castle or I’m leaving the theater.
Alright, I won’t leave. I’ll just cross my arms in defiance.
that’s going to be soooo weird to not hear the Fox fanfare and logo before a Star Wars movie, Bill Murphy! preparing myself now.
Meh, what’s the worst he could do?
he won’t ruin it, Jiro Maeda, and i’m sure it’ll be fine as long as they keep him and his writers away from the script. just a hard choice to get excited about.
and, hey – new avatar!?
I’m excited, I liked what he did with Star Trek and most of his TV work has been above average. Never really got into Lost or Alias but I recognized them as good shows. I really enjoyed Fringe for a while but stopped watching it for some reason.
But, I enjoyed the heck out of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. If he brings that kind of fun and excitement to Star Wars I’ll be very happy.
i loved Lost and Alias until their finales, TPC! i swear, JJ (and his writers) just don’t know how to create a satisfying story, they’re just very good at set up. Star Trek was good as a dumb action film, but not really in the spirit of old school Trek. which is fine. i enjoyed it in the theater, but it just fell apart whenever i stopped to think about what was happening. Ghost Protocol was a lot of fun, but he only produced it: Brad Bird (who i would’ve much rather seen helming Star Wars) directed that one!
Didn’t he direct one of them? I can’t get IMDB in work so I can’t look it up!
yeah, he directed part III, which i actually thought was pretty good but Ghost Protocol was better. 🙂
I honestly don’t really care. It’s mostly because I’m not expecting a filming masterpiece or anything and I’m also not really keeping up with any of the news related to it aside from what is posted here and one or two other sites. I might go see the new Star Wars when it comes out, but, like I said, I’m not keeping my hopes up.
i’m feeling the same way, Fijiman, and i think that’s the problem: i’m just not excited right now. and that’s weird for me. heheh.
Well it is better to go into it with low expectations and end up coming out completely amazed than going in with high expectations and coming out severely disappointed.
true that. my expectations were SOOOOO high for Episode I, it just made the disappointment that much greater.
I actually avoided this news for as long as I could…the story broke and I went “hmm…Disney hasn’t confirmed it yet…I can pretend this isn’t happening.” This is also, by the way, basically my stance on the live-action Bleach movie Warner Bros. keeps insisting is going to happen.
And then over the weekend I got caught up on my RSS feeds and, sure enough, Disney actually had confirmed it.
whaaaaat??? live action Bleach, JOE!? hmm. i’ll have to keep an eye out for that. remember how they kept teasing us with live action Akira, too?
Yeah…WB seems to talk a good game (hey, remember back when they kept hyping up a friggin’ TON of DC films?), but they seem to have trouble following through on their promises. I’m kind of at a “I’ll wait until pictures start leaking out” phase of distrust with the studio is what I’m getting at.
Oh, the good news is they did cancel the Akira remake amid much nerd backlash.
once i heard they wanted to have “New Manhattan” replace “New Tokyo” and caucasian-ify the cast for Akira, i was out. 😛
Im SO on the news about SW that its not even funny.
When Disney bought it I was Unease. Then I heard script should be written by THE Timothy Zahn of THE Thrawn trilogy and was like: YAY! There may be hope yet!
When I first heard they aproached JJ Abrams for directing it and that he turned it down I was like: You rock, man! All big franchises should not be directed by same guy, point is to be original self not to look for similarities between them.
Now I hear that Script is in hands of a movie fairy tales writer and JJ Abrams took it in the end and Im getting worried more than ever before.
i’m with ya, Maryz – it almost seems greedy to take on Star Trek and then jump ship to Star Wars before the second installment even comes out! (Star Trek: Into Darkness better be good.) i can’t fault him, though – i know his heart was never into Star Trek (he said he never watched it as a kid) and Star Wars is such a cool playground – but yeah, the decision has left me a bit cold. at least the script has been written and we can take some comfort in knowing Lawrence Kasdan (writer of Empire Strikes Back!!!) is supervising VII and writing VIII and IX.
Supervising… such interesting word. Ok, mister supervisor we hard your input and now were gonna do it our way anyway.
heh. yeah, hopefully LK will have enough clout to do more than just supervise but we’ll see.
Think they have potential, and I’m sure we’ll be more excited when the trailers start showing up. However, if Abrams uses too much of his signature “shaky cam” and lens flare, I might need an intermission. My eyes and head start hurting from too much of that stuff. My eyes and head hurt during the last trilogy of prequels, but I think that might have been because of Jar Jar, young Skywalker, older Skywalker, big noisy lizards ridden like horses, etc. 😉
ugh. yes, let’s hope he doesn’t bring “shaky cam” to the Star Wars universe, coolhand! i can deal with the lens flare if it’s done in moderation. 🙂
I honestly don’t know enough about him to care one way or the other (I actually had to Google him). For me it will come down to actually seeing the movie and deciding if it is any good.
Love the new variant of the Quality Time tshirt. :o)
at this point i think i’ll do the same, Shanna – i can’t really get excited by the choice of director so i’ll just have to hope he makes something exciting when the movie finally comes out.
and glad you like the new design! hopefully i’ll have some pics of the actual tees soon. 🙂
I’m kinda unfazed by the announcment. I don’t really pay attention to the names of directors big or small. I just wait for the first trailer.
I used to do that, too, but after a while, you start picking up on signature styles. On the one hand, it’s kinda cool to flip the channels to a movie and know who directed it before you know what movie it is. On the other, it’s disenfranchising to see all these big names that have a signature style.
Michael Bay: boobs and explosions
M. Night Shyamalan: low lighting, quiet dialogue, plot twist
James Cameron: everything on a grand scale
J J Abrams: time travel paradoxes, bright flashes in dark scenes
Stephen Spielberg: any action drama with a “90s” feel to it
Joss Whedon: character-centric with lots of in-fighting
Guillermo Del Toro: creepy, eccentric, and probably in Spanish
Er, should be more specific. Big names that have a signature style that they use over and over again.
Also, I forgot about Quentin Tarentino: f-bombs, inanely exaggerated combat, ethnic stereotypes, and ego-masturbation
i also like knowing the directors i like so i can catch up on their previous stuff and eagerly anticipate their upcoming projects!
i can’t remember a time that i didn’t want to know all that behind the scenes stuff, GB! probably cuz i’ve always wanted to work acting/writing/directing/editing/special efffects/whatever in the entertainment industry.
I think that I’m going to wait for a trailer or two before I pass judgement. And even a that I’ll be waiting for the DVD before I actually see it. (Assuming that DVDs are still a thing when it comes time for the movie to come to stores…)
heh. yeah, DVDs might be completely replaced by streaming video by that time, r61.
Not sure about that, but Blu-ray discs and players are finally creeping toward getting into the down-market price range ($60-$75) that DVDs occupied in the late-’90s/early-2000s; so I think that DVD players may go the way of the VHS player (at least the stand-alones) either by the end of this decade or the middle of next as the content providers and manufacturers decide that the technology has become obsolete and stop going to the expense of making them.
we’ll see how long blu-ray can last since streaming’s coming on so strong. hopefully long enough to buy the Hobbit Trilogy and next Star Wars trilogy on, as i do think BDs look amazing. since i hear the next XBOX and Playstation are gonna have blu-ray tech in ’em, maybe that’ll prolong the format a bit.
I’m mostly just curious to see what the new movies will bring to the table.
that info might actually get me excited again, 52pickup. i hear Disney has already approached Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, which would be enough on the table to pique my interest.
The worst thing I expect from this is for the audience to be blinded every time someone flicks on a lightsaber.
heh. beware lightsaber flare, Soul Man!
I’ve been a fan of Star Wars for decades and following the EU since ’91 so honestly I’ll wait until the first trailer or pics hit the net. I have a feeling based on his track record, romance won’t suck, effects shouldn’t suck and storyline should be good.
let’s hope those first pics and trailer blow our minds, matt! until then… hmmm.
I’m not all that excited about the new Star Wars. But if Harson is in it, I might see it. (:
yeah, if he’s in it and has that old Han Solo spark again, that’ll be enough to get me excited, Nat.
and check out your new avatar! i dig it! what’s the story – don’t tell me you got bitten by one of the undead???
Whoops Harrison* I feel like a dunce.
It’s neat, huh? (: You try to help someone out and it bites you in the Butts.
ha! 😀
Well, as die-hard fan of the Original Trilogy, I cultivated a deep and outspoken hatred for the “Episodes”. I was quite thrilled about the news that Lucas is not allowed near my beloved universe any more.
The combination of writer Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), Lawrence Kasdan (Empire and Return) and Abrams (the last Star Trek was the best Star Wars in years and he is an outspoken fan of the Trilogy) might actually lead to decent Star Wars Movie.
When I heard “Abrams” I did not think of Star Trek first, but of Super 8 and I thought “that could work”. When he can resist shaky cameras and excessive lensflaring, I think Abrams might just rekindle my love for the franchise.
glad to hear you’re excited by the choice, Lars! wish i could feel so comfortable. but, like you mentioned, the team behind him is so good (especially Arndt and Kasdan) that Abrams would have to do something crazy to mess it up. (like bring kurtzman and orci on to mess with the script.)
I just hope they return to the more earthy style of the Trilogy. I am so tired of polished CGI effects – never could beat a good model shot and physical effects. As mediocre the the movie was, the model shots in Prometheus lookes so absolutly awesome. I want a Star Destroyer like this! 🙂
i’m with ya, Lars – less cgi, more practical sets and effects for the new trilogy!
Never was a fan of Star Wars… I was perpetually “meh!” about it. So I’m definitely more interested in Marvel’s movies. For instance, Ironman 3 trailers look great. 😀
yeah, i’m pretty excited about Iron Man 3 too, Formel! especially since Shane Black’s helming the franchise this time out. (love his last team-up with Robert Downey Jr., Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.)
I was kind of excited to hear JJ Abrams was directing. He’s an interesting director, and I think he’s going to turn out to be a good choice.
i used to love J.J., GG11, but the stuff he’s put out over the past few years has left me pretty cold. i’m sure he’ll do a competent job and bring a lot of visual coolness to the film and maybe that’s enough.
I don’t as of yet have an opinion. Because I haven’t seen Toy Story 3 either.
TS3 was good, Anime fan, but TS2’s still my favorite.
I just realised, Jefbot’s the only one I’ve ever heard use “meh” before. I like it. As for the Star Wars directing, “meh” is an adequate description. We’ll hafta be the judge of that when it comes out.
yeah, and hopefully that judgment will be a good (or great) one, Lor! *fingers crossed* as for now… meh.