Who Should Direct the New Star Wars?

Wow, a new Star Wars movie! This is probably some of most shocking and exciting news I have heard in a while! My first reaction was a little mixed, but the more I think about it the more I'm getting excited about it! My brother Myke blogged about this earlier and gave five reasons why he's excited about it, and I pretty much agree with him on all of his 5 reasons. (Especially the one about going to Midnight showings again!) You can read his post here.

Not sure if I am use to seeing these two names so close together yet, but I'm sure I will soon  enough. 

Now some people think that Star Wars should be done with films. They say that the sage is complete, that George Lucas is moving on, and so should everyone else. My thought has always been, why? People love Star Wars, and there will always be new books, comics, video games, and TV shows, so why shouldn't there be new movies too? Movies are my favorite way of entertainment so I couldn't be more happy that they are choosing to make more films. Star Wars was first envisioned as film to begin with so its only appropriate that it continues that way.

There's no turning back now George!

The main problem I saw with the prequels was that George Lucas was a great storyteller but not a great film director, or screen writer. Now that Star Wars is in new hands I am very optimistic that a good director and writing staff should be able to do great things with it. Disney has a done a good job so far with Marvel and Pixar so I feel that they should be able to do the same with Star Wars. 

With all that said I love to speculate, and I have been thinking about who I think would make a good director to continue the Star Wars saga. So here are a few of my choices. What do you think about them? Who would you want to carry on the saga? 

Brad Bird

Past Films: The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Brad Bird is the director of my two favorite Pixar movies. They are my favorites because they both have so much heart and emotion. They have characters that are fun and relatable, and as I watched those two films it really made me care for them. That is what I believe a new Star Wars film needs. Also he proved that he can direct live actors and  incredible action sequences with Mission Impossible. 

Gore Verbinski

Past Films: Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3, Rango 

I know many people didn't like the 2 and 3 Pirates movies (I for one did and you can read why I did here) , and they probably think Gore is not a good choice for a Star Wars film. But with that said all three of the pirates films were filled with action, romance, drama, humor, incredible special effects, and an outstanding soundtrack, and those are all elements that Star Wars needs. He did a great job at delivering those things, and with a good script I think he could make an epic Star Wars movie. 

JJ Abrams

Past Films: Star Trek, Super 8

With Star Trek and his tract record I think Star Wars would be in good hands with him. I doubt he would be considered because of his connection to Star Trek though.  

Alfonso Cuaron 

Past Films: Harry Potter 3 

The third Harry Potter film was one of the best of whole series. It was dark, but still kept the fun, and magical tone of the other films. Alfonso did a great job at taking over the series from another director and I think he could do it again with another series. 

Joss Whedon 

Past Films: The Avengers (nuff said) 

The thing that made him such a great director for Avengers was that he knew and appreciated the source material. Now he is going to be a long shot because he will be busy with The Avengers 2 (also coming from Disney), but I can dream can't I? 

David Yates

Past Films: Harry Potter 4-7 

Another Potter veteran, he proved that he could make a grand epic movie, and at the same time stay true to the characters. Some of the most powerful and emotional scenes are in the movies he directed, and I think he would do a great job of bring this talent to a galaxy far far away. (All though I was little disappointed with the overall battle of Hogwarts, so he may need some work on the battle sequences) 

Rupert Wyatt

Past Films: Rise of the Planet of Apes

I was really surprised at how much I liked this movie. Wyatt did a great job at rejuvenating a series that many thought was dead, and made it exciting again. He showed that he knows how to create great characters, and develop them. A new Star Wars is going need some good character development if they plan to introduce new characters, and Wyatt proved he knows how to do that. 

Well these are obviously just my opinion on who I think would make a great director, and I'm sure I'm way off, but its still fun to speculate! So what do you guys think about these guys? Is there anyone else I missed that you think would do a good job? 

Not another one of those singing shows!

I'm usually not a fan of reality singing shows, I feel like they have been very over saturated and they all try to copy each other and created fake drama. I have always been a pretty big pessimist towards these shows, but for some reason I decide to watch this season of X-Factor with my wife, and I am surprised to say that I have really enjoyed it. It’s been a fun show to watch (except I can't really stand Brittney Spears). It’s also been very inspiring at times. There was one man in particular that I really enjoyed. Check out the video below.

So a few reasons why I liked this was first off, it’s incredible that he was able to lose 400 pounds! I can't even begin to think how hard it would be to lose that much weight.

Second, I was very impressed with his wife. That woman has a lot of love and patience to put up with something like this. I feel like in the world today, were divorce is so common, you don't see couples work through issues like this together. This showed me that patience will go a long way.

It was a great reminder that love isn't always about the romantic things, but that it is something much deeper than that. It’s about being there and helping the ones we love through the darkest times in their lives, even if it means we may have to experience some of it with them. It would have been so easy for her to have left him when he started putting on weight, but you could see the love that she had that deep and lasting love for him.

This situation helped remind me that rather than running away from the problems a love one is facing, we need to accept them and do our best to help them overcome whatever they are facing. Our relationships won't be perfect and we will all make mistakes, and that it why we must always love each other.

I really liked how you could see the true, genuine love they had for each other. You could feel the gratitude and admiration he has for his wife, and you could feel the happiness and joy she was experiencing in seeing her husband achieve such a great accomplishment.

The whole thing was very refreshing to me, and it showed something that I feel we don't see too much in our media and entertainment. Now most of the shows isn't like this, but who would have thought one of those annoying singing shows would have some great value to my life?

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away.....

#1 Star Wars

List of Movies: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi

Why I love these movies: 

As you can see Vader has the upper hand, but
not by much!

When I was a kid, there were a lot of things that I liked, but there were two things that I absolutely loved; Star Wars and Batman! If I wasn't watching Batman, I was playing Star Wars, if I wasn't watching Star Wars, I was playing Batman. Now you can see why these two are my number 1 and 2. As I started making this list I knew that these two were going to be the top two, but I kept going back and forth between which one would be number one. Both had a huge impact on me as kid and growing up, but the more I thought about the more I came to realize how Star Wars really was my favorite. From day one I was pretty much destined to like Star Wars. I was born into a family that already had three boys, who were already obsessed with Star Wars. Being the youngest of the boys I pretty much had no choice.

I can still remember being a toddler watching these movies with my brothers and being in awe as Luke blows up the death star, or when Yoda uses the force to lift the X-wing out the swamps of Dagobah, and when Luke and Darth Vader have their final confrontation. These were some truly magical moments that really helped shape my imagination as a kid. But just watching the movies alone wasn't what made me choose Star Wars as my favorite.When little boys really get into something, what do they tend to do? They buy all the merchandise, which for us was all the toys! Remember those Sunday afternoons where you were totally bored out of your mind, well I never had those because I was usually playing some awesome Star Wars adventure with my brothers.

This is just a very small portion of our collection!

Whether it was with Lego's, micro machines, the action figures, or our own imaginations acting it out on the trampoline, there was always some kind of adventure to be had. This probably sounds like an obsession and I am sure at times it was, but for the most part Star Wars has always been a way that I have bonded with my brothers. This has always been something fun that brings us altogether. So as you can imagine Star Wars was a regular part of the Olsen household. I know my parents, who enjoy Star Wars but aren't the biggest fans, have probably spent countless hours wondering how did their children become such Star Wars nerds. I bet just when they thought we were going to grow out of it, they started releasing new movies, and the toy collecting, and the light sabers started all over again!

With the new films coming out the cycle of Star Wars hysteria began! As we got older we got more into the video games, and light saber battles in the back yard. We even came up our version of capture the flag; light saber capture the flag! (Its seriously the funniest version I have ever played!) When episode 3 came out I remember being a little hesitant to show my true colors about Star Wars, mostly because I just started high school and I was trying to impress girls. (I’m sure most girls probably wouldn't think it was very “cool” to have Star Wars action figures in your room) But I was lucky enough though to have three awesome friends in high school who liked Star Wars as much as me. Thanks Brendan, Jacob, and Rock!

Now let’s talk about the movies. I've been watching these movies my whole life, and I don’t think I have ever gotten sick of them. They are pure classic. They are the pioneers of blockbuster films. Before Star Wars there wasn't really the big summer blockbuster’s like we have now. After these films came the success of many of the other great movie series that I have talked about in these blog posts. Along with that these films paved the way for groundbreaking special effects. Countless others have used the technology that was pioneered in these films. They are truly revolutionary movies. I realized that if it wasn't for Star Wars I would probably have never became a nerd in the first place, and I probably wouldn't have grown to love movies as much as I do.

One of the best things about Star Wars is its perfect story of good vs. evil. I love how it explores the dark and light sides of the force and shows the effects of what happens when you give into the dark side or the light side. The best example of this would be the comparison of Luke and Anakin Skywalker. Both of them were placed in difficult and dangerous situations, both were tempted by the Emperor, but they both reacted differently. Anakin gave into the dark side, and experienced a life of misery, death, and enslavement. His freedom was gone, and he merely became the Emperor’s pawn. Luke was faced with these same temptations, but was able to overcome them, and achieve victory, happiness with his friends, and most of all, he was free. He was not bound to a life of misery like his father. To me that is what makes this story so great. It shows these two sides so well, and it has helped me to see the wisdom and satisfaction in choosing the good side, and to not yield to temptations. To me this is a story that is worth telling, as well as one that we should all be reminded of again and again.

Star Wars films are not perfect, but for me they are the most enjoyable films, and I never get tired of watching them, for all the reasons I mentioned and so much more! They take us to new worlds, the show what pure adventure is, they show the power of doing what’s right, and they created something incredible that people both young and old can enjoy together.

Watch this, and then try and say your not a Star Wars fan! I dare you........It's impossible!

Favorite Film: Empire Strikes Back

There he is, wearing Han's clothes.

What an amazing film. Its hard for me to pick my favorite Star Wars movie, but this one seems to never let me down. If there was ever a perfect film out there I think this may be it. This film has action, romance, humor, confidence, emotion, excitement, and an incredible story. This movie has amazing balance that creates a mood that makes it almost impossible to not enjoy.  Harrison Ford is at his best in this film as Han Solo. He’s funny charming, intense, and he’s the guy that everyone wants to be. I mean Lando even wears his clothes at the very end of this film! 

Now he's trying to steal his girl!

Another great thing about Han in this one is that we start to see a change him. In the first one he’s is all about the money, but here we see a Han, who while is still trying to save his own skin, is really starting to care about this whole rebellion thing. Along with that he starts to have feelings for Leia, but despite these changes of priority and feelings he is still able to keep his swag, and gives some of the best lines of this whole movie. Take for example when Leia tells him she loves him, all he has to say is “I know”. There is a lot of character development, but they were still able to keep the traits that made these characters great in the first place.

Darth Vader is at his best in this film as well. He frightening, but at the same time you can start to see hints or his humanity. You get to see a little bit more of the man behind helmet. The final duel is one of my favorite duels, and it ends with probably the greatest plot twist of all time! “No Luke, I am your father”. Another thing that I love about this film is that it introduces three of the best Star Wars characters Yoda, Boba Fett, and Lando Calarssian. These three characters brought wisdom, mystery, and charm to the series. With scenes of intense space battles, thundering music, and great character fun I will never get tired of this film!

The next on my list is Return of the Jedi and this is a very close second. This and Empire Strikes Back work together so well, and you can't really watch one with watching the other. Empire is the film where the bad guys win, but with Jedi we are able to see the triumphant victory of good guys. This film teaches us that no matter how bad things, if we press forward and stick to morals, good will always overcome, no matter what the odds are. One of the best aspects of this film is the climactic duel between Luke and Darth Vader. It is the most emotional and dramatic fight of the series, and it concludes the story of Darth Vader perfectly. Vader is final able to overcome the Emperor's hold on him, and find some kind of redemption. He is able to see his son, and know that he did not completely fail in his life. He was able to do some kind of good. 

Along with that it has my favorite space battle out of the whole series. This battle seems to feature almost every ship that had been created in the Star Wars universe up to that point. The scenes in Jabba's palace are also some of the most fun scenes in the whole series. We get to see a whole lot of awesome bad dudes all in one place. The Han Solo and Lando scenes are also some favorites as well. “Look at you. A general, huh?” I also love the scenes on Dagoubah. Yoda's death scene is one of the saddest of the whole series. Yoda leaves the world not knowing if good is able to overcome the dark side, as well as Luke being left alone as the only remaining Jedi. Its a great scene, that makes Luke's quest even more difficult to achieve. I could go on and on with reason of why I love this movie. Overall like The Dark Knight Rises, this is a very satisfying ending to the greatest saga of all time!

Group Picture! What a good looking bunch!

Following Jedi, the next best is A New Hope. In 1977 the world was introduced to the greatest cinematic epic, as well as one of the greatest one of the stories ever told! A new phenomenon hit the world, and it is still going on 35 years later! Were it not for this film, we would not have the incredible movies we have today. We owe so much to this film. The thing I love about this movie is that it introduced us to the galaxy far far away. It was the film that introduced us to light sabers, the Millennium Falcon, the force, Jedi’s, the dark side, Storm troopers, Darth Vader, and so much more! Can you imagine a world without those things? I know I sure can’t. 

One thing I loved about this movie was the characters of Luke and Han. They are two totally different people, but they are forced to work together and eventually become friends. Han is the big shot pilot and smuggler that has seen adventure. In a way he’s all the things that Luke wants to become. Luke is the noble hero that wants some kind of adventure. He wants to leave the desolate planet of Tatooine, and found out more about who he really is. I think that is something that we all can identify at some point in our life. The best scene in this film comes though when Han comes out of nowhere save Luke’s butt, and give him the shot to blow up the death star.

Now onto the prequels. For starters I actually enjoy these films. I recognize there are many flaws in them, but overall they are very enjoyable films, especially Revenge of the Sith, which is my next favorite Star Wars film. I absolutely love this movie! I actually almost made this my number 3. The reason I didn't was because there are a few scenes that have some cheesy lines, but besides that it’s an amazing film. This movie has the best light saber fights, as well as the most of all the series. There is Anakin vs. Dooku, Obi-wan vs. Grievous, Palaptine vs. Mace Windu, Yoda vs. Palaptine, and the epic battle of Anakin vs. Obi-wan. These fight scenes alone make this movie awesome, but then there’s the incredible opening space battle, and the wookie battle on Kashyyk.

This video is pretty awesome! The quality isn't the greatest, but the content and music make up for that

With great action, this film is also the saddest, darkest, and most emotion one of the series. Even though I knew it was coming, the scenes with the deaths of Jedi are truly some tear jerking moments. “Master Skywalker there’s too many of them, what are we going to do?” Poor younglings L Starting with the murderous death of Mace Windu, and the betrayal and death of the all the Jedi, this is one of the most heart wrenching and frustrating scenes I have seen in any movie. Every time I watch it I always think if only Anakin had let Mace kill Palpatine then everything would have been okay (but then we would have the awesome original trilogy so I suppose it had to be). For me this was a very satisfying and amazing film. I feel like it redeemed the other flaws in the Star Wars prequels. It does an outstanding job of showing the tragic downfall of Anakin Skywalker. It shows that almost immediately after giving into his temptation of dark side, his life really starts going downhill.

Another reason I love this film is because it reminds me of the end of my sophomore year of high school. When this movie came out it was all my friends and I would talk about. I remember a few weeks before it was released we all went to Wal-Mart and bought fake light sabers. For the next few weeks we left them in my car, and had frequent battles with them. When we went to the midnight showing and we all had them hanging on our belt loops, and we would challenge complete strangers to a duel. Later on during the day another buddy and I choreographed a whole fight, and we performed it front of the whole theater before the movie started. (We were they pretty much all day waiting, so we had a lot of time on our hands). When I think back on all the fun times I had in high school, that day had to be one of the best! The rest of that summer was full of light saber battles with my brothers and friends. I know I sound like one of the biggest nerds ever, but I don’t really care because I made some awesome memories that I will never forget.

Here we are a few weeks later performing our famous fight at a talent show. 

Now my least two Star Wars films are obviously Episodes I and II. Before I get into them though I want to say that I realize there are a lot of flaws with them, but I don’t really want to get into too much detail with the flaws I want to focus more on the things I like about them. I recently read a blog post by the Mormon Movie Guy. He reviews movies from a Mormon perspective. Being a Mormon myself I have really enjoyed reading his reviews. A while back though he posted a blog post about why he likes the Star Wars prequels, but why he will never love them. I don’t agree on everything with him, but for the most part I think he hits it right on the nail of what some of my complaints are. I thought I would include a link in here because I think that it really explains well some of my view points as well. (Also if you want, you should like his page:) Here is the link: Mormon Movie Guy: Star Wars Prequels Review

Now on to the rest of my reviews.

Attack of the Clones came out when I was 13, and at the time I saw it this was my absolute favorite film. Since then I have really been able to see its flaws, but despite them I still really actually enjoy this film. For one this movie has one of the best all-out battle sequences out all the films. The last 40 minutes of this film is pretty spectacular. It was the first time we saw the clones in action. It was the first time we saw multiple Jedi in one huge battle, and it was the first time we got to see Yoda yield a light saber. The first time I saw Yoda ignite his light saber I couldn't help but cheer for excitement, but as you can imagine when a 13 year old boy is going through some changes in his life, his voices tends to do some strange things. I have heard from numerous people who went with me to see this movie that my voice fluctuations was their favorite parts of the movie.

No matter what my voice sounded like though I didn't care because I was finally seeing one of my favorite characters of all time kick some butt! One of the more touching and well done scenes in this film is Anakin’s sad reunion with his mother. This scene gives us one of the first glimpses of Anakin’s tragic future and it sets forth his path to the dark side. The music in this film is also amazing. I think it is one of John Williams’s best scores. For me where this film went wrong was the romantic scenes and the dialogue. I’m not usually the most picky person when it comes to dialogue, but even for me it can get pretty bad.

My least favorite of this influential series is The Phantom Menace. Like the other prequels though I still have a soft spot for this film. I was only 10 when it came out, and of course as a 10 year old I loved it. I actually saw this movie about 8 times in the theaters. I know they didn't get a lot of things right in this movie, and most of us are all aware of them, but I want to talk about what’s good in this movie. For me that was Obi-wan Kenobi, Qui-Gonn Ginn and Darth Maul. These three characters, as well as a few others, are what still make me really love this movie. The light saber battle between the three of them in the end was one the best fights of the whole series. It was the only time we got to see someone fight with a double bladed light saber. Honestly though, the actually movie isn't really why I still enjoy this movie. Just like Sith and Clones, this movie reminds me of my childhood, and the excitement of seeing a new Star Wars movie in the theaters. It reminds me of the nights driving to all the toy stores trying to collect all the new action figures. Most of all it reminds me of the great childhood that I had, and how I was able to share it with my three older brothers. When I think of this movie I always have a flood of memories of these good times.

Final Rankings:

Favorite Moment: 

When Darth Vader kills the Emperor, and sacrifices himself for his son. I love this scene because we finally get to see Vader overcome the dark side. He is able to break free from the chains that had bound him for so long. It helps remind me that no matter what we, or someone else has done, we can still overcome the mistakes that we make in this life. It will be long and difficult, but it is possible. Along with breaking free from the enslavement of the dark side, Darth Vader finally is able to realize what he should have a long time ago. If you really want to save others from death, you should be willing to sacrifice yourself first if you truly love them. Vader I think finally realizes this and is able to save his son and the whole galaxy by destroying the Emperor. I also love this scene because it shows how Luke never gave up on his dad; he always knew that there was good in his father. Even in this moment of pain he still as faith that there is good in him. For me this always reminds me that people are not always lost causes, and we shouldn't give up on them, no matter how far off they have gone. Now put in the awesome music, and this scene packs one emotional punch!

Favorite Quote:

 “Do or do not, there is no try”-Yoda

Favorite Character: Han Solo

Favorite Villain: Darth Vader

Favorite Supporting Character: Yoda

Favorite Supporting Villain: Boba Fett

Prequel Favorite Character: Obi-wan Kenobi

Villain: Darth Maul

Supporting: Mace Windu

Supporting Villain: General Grievous

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day for most people these are just movies. They won’t have any real impact on world. They can’t physically save us from world hunger or cure cancer. But for me there were able to make a difference in my life. They helped influence me to try and do good, by showing me the outcomes of both good and evil. They provided me with entertainment, and help expand my imagination. They brought me closer to other people, like my family. They helped me make new friends, which I still have today. They provided me with memories that will last me the rest of my life. For some reason I was able to relate to these movie in way that really helped influence me for good. Some people relate to books, others relate to music, or sports. It’s different for each person. Movies are something for me that lately I feel like I can relate to the most. So, for me they are more than just movies, they stories that not only entertain me, but also help me recognize important life lessons. 

Well this is it, these are my favorite movie series. Thank you to all those that read and followed along! What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? What are some of your favorite movie series?