Fresh Loaf

DRESSED TO KILL: Linus (Chris Marquette, left) and Zoe (Kristen Bell) hydrate after a long day of role playing.

For a certain breed of dedicated, Jedi-robe-wearing, Boba Fett-imitating aficionados of George Lucas’s sci-fi franchise, Kyle Newman’s Fanboys is the most eagerly awaited film since Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. And we know how well that turned out.

Fanboys takes the 1999 release of Menace, the first new Star Wars film in 16 years, as a generational tipping point, particularly for four Lando-quoting friends in their early 20s during late 1998. When Linus (Chris Marquette) reveals he’s dying from terminal, unspecific cancer, the foursome road trip from Ohio to California, intent on breaking into Skywalker Ranch to see a rough cut of the film.

First scheduled for release in August 2007, Fanboys became an online cause celebre when the Weinstein Company reshot the film to cut out the downbeat cancer subplot. The fans struck back (in part by threatening to boycott last summer’s Superhero Movie) and the sickness storyline was restored. The cancer subplot unfortunately proves mawkish and contrived, but at least it helps justify behavior that would otherwise be illegal and stalkerish.

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This year marks the 30th anniversary of “The Star Wars Holiday Special,” which CBS broadcast on Nov. 17, 1978. I saw it for its original broadcast and have seen it since, but it’s the kind of bizarre pop aberration that’s so strange, it’s easier to think of it as some kind of elaborate hoax (you know, like the fake moon landing) than an entertainment that people created on purpose, with sincerity. Recently I described it to my friend Tim, and explained that while it features cameos from most of the major characters and actors from the original Star Wars, it primarily focuses on Chewbacca’s family — his wife Malla, his father Itchy and his son Lumpy — as they prepare to celebrate the Wookie holiday of “Life Day.” Simply naming the special’s “human” guest stars – including Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Jefferson Airplane and Harvey Korman in three roles – had Tim doubled over in laughter.

“The Star Wars Holiday Special” was broadcast only once in the United States and a few other times in Europe, and has never been released on VHS or DVD. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, particularly Ebay and Youtube, it has resurfaced, to the chagrin of everyone involved. I personally can’t watch it without the protective filter from RiffTrax, as demonstrated in this sample:

But what is RiffTrax, you may ask?

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The Cartoon Network goes back “not long ago, in a galaxy not far enough way” with “Robot Chicken: Star Wars, Episode II,” the second all-Star Wars themed episode of the animated comedy series. Created by actor Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, “Robot Chicken” uses stop-motion animation — frequently of familiar action figures and product tie-ins — to lampoon pop culture. In 2007, “Robot Chicken’s” its first wide-ranging goof on the Star Wars franchise earned the some of the show’s greatest acclaim, and even an Emmy nomination.

Airing Nov. 16 on Adult Swim, “Episode II” offers more sketches and “one-liner” gags about Jedi, the Galactic Empire and even the maligned Ewoks (who someone escaped direct assault the first time around). In addition to comedy voice talents like Green and Bob Bergen, the special features cameos from Star Wars alumni, including Carrie Fisher and Ahmed Best (the voice of Jar-Jar Binks). Billy Dee Williams offers a particularly amusing lampoon of his own performance as Lando Calrissian. Part of what makes the “Robot Chicken” treatment so amusing is the way Green and company have such a good grasp on how to mock George Lucas’s iconic characters. Middle finger gags, for instance, prove hilariously “wrong” in a context of robots, Sith Lords and space stations. Evil Emperor Palpatine comes across like the most jerky, exasperated boss imaginable, while bounty hunter Boba Fett is like a cocky braggart at a sports bar. This new promo gives a taste of how the show treats Darth Vader.

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Here are some of the titles that come out on DVD today. For more, see Matt Brunson’s View from the Couch column tomorrow.

“Batman” the Complete Animated Series

Bourne Trilogy

Chill

A Christmas Story

“Futurama” Bender’s Game

Get Smart (more…)

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Perhaps the best thing you can say about Star Wars: The Clone Wars (reviewed here) is that it’s not as bad as 1980’s “Star Wars Holiday Special.” It’s certainly the worst theatrical film with the name “Star Wars” attached to it and represents a hyper-leap backwards for the Star Wars prequels of the past decade.

The prequel trilogy, namely The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, qualify as one of the most reviled pop culture franchises in modern memory. Aggrieved fans on-line describe Phantom Menace, in particular, as a national trauma and loss of innocence in terms better suited for the Kennedy Assassination. They’re unquestionably deeply (if decreasingly) flawed films encumbered with misguided comedy, tin-eared dialogue and robotic performances. If you only knew Natalie Portman’s work from these films, you’d think she was one of the worst actresses of her generation.

Yet despite the flame wars against creator George Lucas’ prequel trilogies, they actually contain underappreciated virtues. I actually prefer Revenge of the Sith to Return of the Jedi, the final chapter of the beloved original trilogy. (Incidentally, here are 50 Reasons Why Return of the Jedi Sucks.) In addition to the generally gorgeous CGI designs of alien planets, space ships and creatures, prequel trilogy deserves a little more credit that it gets — and certainly doesn’t deserve The Clone Wars as a send-off:

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Remember The Clone Wars? Those pitched interstellar battles between Count Dooku’s separatist forces and those of the Galactic Republic? Yoda and the other Jedi leading armies of identical clones against those remarkable ineffectual battle droids? Anyone? Bueller?

Perhaps you’ve repressed memories of the past two Star Wars movies, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but George Lucas is betting you haven’t. On August 15 he’s releasing a CGI animated feature film called The Clone Wars, which takes place between Attack and Revenge. Some Star Wars actors, including Christopher Lee, Anthony “C-3PO” Daniels and Samuel L. Jackson will even reprise their roles by voice. To whet your appetite for more clone-based fare, Wordsmith Books hosts an author appearance by Karen Traviss, who has written the hardcover adaptation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Traviss will be at Wordsmith at 7:30 p.m., July 30, and Wordsmith encourages fans to come dressed in costume — so if you want a chance to Beta-test your outfit for next month’s Dragon*Con, here’s an opportunity.

Incidentally, The Clone Wars movie works as a lead-in to a new CGI series called, of course, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and scheduled to debut on Atlanta’s Cartoon Network on Oct. 23. These clones sure know how to replicate themselves…

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