And how about an anti-Red Scare cover to round things out?
Star Wars: Clone Wars review roundup
Roger Ebert:
Has it come to this? Has the magical impact of George Lucas' original vision of "Star Wars" been reduced to the level of Saturday morning animation? "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," which is a continuation of an earlier animated TV series, is basically just a 98-minute trailer for the autumn launch of a new series on the Cartoon Network.
The familiar "Star Wars" logo and the pulse-pounding John Williams score now lift the curtain on a deadening film that cuts corners on its animation and slumbers through a plot that (a) makes us feel like we've seen it all before, and (b) makes us wish we hadn't.
San Francisco Chronicle:
The movie's tone will probably send original-trilogy loyalists over the edge, the final shove that sends their Hoth Ice Planet action play sets into exile on eBay. Meanwhile, children will thrill at the notion that the latest part of the saga was made especially for them.
So who's right? That's a more complicated conversation. "Clone Wars" looks fantastic, and the production bodes well for the forthcoming animated Cartoon Network series, which should be one of the more impressive kid shows in Saturday morning cartoon history. Dave Filoni, who directed "Avatar: The Last Airbender," was a good choice to shepherd the project, and the battle scenes have a vibrant and adventurous style. But the film suffers from the TV-to-feature transition, as if a couple of episodes were stretched and tweaked but never intended for theater exhibition. The visuals are worthy, but the big screen brings the movie's script shortcomings and pacing problems into sharper relief.
Chicago Tribune:
"Clone Wars" was executive-produced by George Lucas, who may be feeling a tad sheepish about the results. The film's purpose is clear. It is a full-length teaser for the forthcoming TV series of the same name. The animation style, according to Lucas and director Dave Filoni, owes debts to Japanese anime and manga and the marionettes of the old "Thunderbirds" series. What we see in this grinding bore, however, resembles photographs of woodcuts, moving herky-jerky, swinging their light sabers here and there while the battle sequences pound on and on and on and on and on, as surly young Anakin Skywalker and lippy young Ahsoka Tano trade the flattest exposition and the most witless witticisms in the galaxy. There's a Hutt in this thing by the name of Ziro with a voice like Truman Capote, and he appears to be a bit of a cross-dresser. There. You now know the most interesting thing about "Clone Wars."
Washington Post:
This one shucks off all pretense that "Star Wars" has a wonderfully universal appeal and instead unfolds with all the entertainment value of watching somebody else play a video game.
Lucas fulfills his lifelong dream of completely dehumanizing his space opera, replacing it with a digitally animated style that is somewhere between cartoons, Christmas specials and panoramic paintings on the side of a van. One thing is definitely intact from the most recent prequel episodes: From the first frame, all but the learned geeks in the audience won't know what the heck is going on.
Los Angeles Times:
Despite excellent animation, 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' fails with bad dialogue and plot machinations.
Has it come to this? Has the magical impact of George Lucas' original vision of "Star Wars" been reduced to the level of Saturday morning animation? "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," which is a continuation of an earlier animated TV series, is basically just a 98-minute trailer for the autumn launch of a new series on the Cartoon Network.
The familiar "Star Wars" logo and the pulse-pounding John Williams score now lift the curtain on a deadening film that cuts corners on its animation and slumbers through a plot that (a) makes us feel like we've seen it all before, and (b) makes us wish we hadn't.
San Francisco Chronicle:
The movie's tone will probably send original-trilogy loyalists over the edge, the final shove that sends their Hoth Ice Planet action play sets into exile on eBay. Meanwhile, children will thrill at the notion that the latest part of the saga was made especially for them.
So who's right? That's a more complicated conversation. "Clone Wars" looks fantastic, and the production bodes well for the forthcoming animated Cartoon Network series, which should be one of the more impressive kid shows in Saturday morning cartoon history. Dave Filoni, who directed "Avatar: The Last Airbender," was a good choice to shepherd the project, and the battle scenes have a vibrant and adventurous style. But the film suffers from the TV-to-feature transition, as if a couple of episodes were stretched and tweaked but never intended for theater exhibition. The visuals are worthy, but the big screen brings the movie's script shortcomings and pacing problems into sharper relief.
Chicago Tribune:
"Clone Wars" was executive-produced by George Lucas, who may be feeling a tad sheepish about the results. The film's purpose is clear. It is a full-length teaser for the forthcoming TV series of the same name. The animation style, according to Lucas and director Dave Filoni, owes debts to Japanese anime and manga and the marionettes of the old "Thunderbirds" series. What we see in this grinding bore, however, resembles photographs of woodcuts, moving herky-jerky, swinging their light sabers here and there while the battle sequences pound on and on and on and on and on, as surly young Anakin Skywalker and lippy young Ahsoka Tano trade the flattest exposition and the most witless witticisms in the galaxy. There's a Hutt in this thing by the name of Ziro with a voice like Truman Capote, and he appears to be a bit of a cross-dresser. There. You now know the most interesting thing about "Clone Wars."
Washington Post:
This one shucks off all pretense that "Star Wars" has a wonderfully universal appeal and instead unfolds with all the entertainment value of watching somebody else play a video game.
Lucas fulfills his lifelong dream of completely dehumanizing his space opera, replacing it with a digitally animated style that is somewhere between cartoons, Christmas specials and panoramic paintings on the side of a van. One thing is definitely intact from the most recent prequel episodes: From the first frame, all but the learned geeks in the audience won't know what the heck is going on.
Los Angeles Times:
Despite excellent animation, 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' fails with bad dialogue and plot machinations.
Pop links
The Archie Comics superheroes--The Shield, Steel Sterling, The Fly and the like--are set to start appearing in DC Comics' Brave and the Bold soon. In preparation, Newsarama provides a primer on who all these guys are. And you can get a lot more info here.
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The Fortress of Fortitude presents a cool old Secret Files of Doctor Drew by the great Jerry Grandenetti.
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The Fortress of Fortitude presents a cool old Secret Files of Doctor Drew by the great Jerry Grandenetti.
is offering the "James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set" for $95.99, a 67 percent savings.New Star Trek movie posters
I believe this is the complete set of character posters released so far for the J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" flick. Nice graphics.
Book collects Stan Lee's Soapbox columns
Any self-respecting Marvel Comics fan is gonna want this:
For the first time ever, ALL of Stan Lee's groundbreaking, legendary
“Stan's Soapbox” columns from 1967 to 1980 are collected in one
edition, published by The Hero Initiative. Stan’s Soapbox: The
Collection will be available in both comic stores and bookstores
everywhere in November, 2008.
The Soapbox columns will even be presented in a historical context, so
you can immerse yourself in the flavor of the day, and get a sense
what was happening right outside Stan's window when he penned 'em.
Some are poignant, some informative, some touching, and some funny.
But they're all memorable! In addition, a bountiful bevy of celebs
also write about their most memorable columns, including:
• Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada
• Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige
• Former Marvel Editor in Chief and comics historian Roy Thomas
• And a vast variety of great names from the fields of comics,
literature, politics and academia.
For the first time ever, ALL of Stan Lee's groundbreaking, legendary
“Stan's Soapbox” columns from 1967 to 1980 are collected in one
edition, published by The Hero Initiative. Stan’s Soapbox: The
Collection will be available in both comic stores and bookstores
everywhere in November, 2008.
The Soapbox columns will even be presented in a historical context, so
you can immerse yourself in the flavor of the day, and get a sense
what was happening right outside Stan's window when he penned 'em.
Some are poignant, some informative, some touching, and some funny.
But they're all memorable! In addition, a bountiful bevy of celebs
also write about their most memorable columns, including:
• Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada
• Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige
• Former Marvel Editor in Chief and comics historian Roy Thomas
• And a vast variety of great names from the fields of comics,
literature, politics and academia.
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