#stephen brackett

[unproduciblesmackdown]

this interview now being unavailable is tragic b/c the truest highlight reel is the full thing

[thenerdsofcolor]

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: 'A Strange Loop'

I’m always wary when there’s any production lauded with so much critical praise and attention that I lower my expectations significantly, especially when they come straight from Broadway (I can’t help it, I’m fiercely proud of my local Los Angeles theatre community and the talents they offer). But after watching the Center Theatre Group‘s mounting of A Strange Loop at the Ahmanson Theatre last…

[genevieveetguy]

The Long Goodbye, Robert Altman (1973)

[fierrochase-falafel]

A 'The Lightning Thief' Musical Appreciation Post (and recommending a documentary-of-sorts)

Message to all you TLT: The Musical fans out there! Just watched the new documentary-of-sorts by Wait in the Wings about the production of TLT and its journey through from small 1-hour play for middle schools to (still underrated) Broadway production, and I cannot recommend it enough! It has interview excerpts from Joe Tracz, Rob Rokicki, Stephen Brackett and Kristin Stokes as well, and both Kristin Stokes and Chris McCarrell have praised it if that helps your expectations.

Always nice to see this musical appreciated online and elsewhere, in all its camp glory. To all the TLT musical fans out there who have also been here and treasured this show and the community surrounding it, perhaps the real lightning thief was the friends we made along the way. Always glad to have found this community :)

Quick message for Percy Jackson fans that haven't seen the musical yet: Well, you might be wondering what to do after you've watched the TV series and boy do I have the content for you. This is a great musical for anyone whose a fan of the books; having borne the brunt of negative expectations after the unspeakable movies came out, this musical still captured people with its fun charm and emotional core for good reason. The soundtrack is out everywhere pretty much, it might not be your kind of media but I'd still give it a shot (particularly if you're into musicals)! I know I haven't gone into much detail here about why this musical works, although I'd like to say more someday; if you want more information, plenty of people on Tumblr have said things about it and the video above does go into why this musical is/was so loved by fans of it. For now I'll just say that it is very genuine and heartwarming, taking the emotional core of the Lightning Thief novel and adapting it for the stage in a way that commemorates and stays true to the novel (even with references to the rest of the novels in there, such as a Bianca di Angelo cameo in the Lotus Casino!).

Anyways, quick post here, just another reminder to always appreciate the TLT musical. Cheers!

[cinematicfantasies-blog]

Movie: Halloween (1978 film)

Synopsis: On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith's Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.

Cast:

Donald Pleasence as Dr. Samuel "Sam" Loomis

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode

Nick Castle as The Shape (Michael Myers masked)

Tony Moran as Michael Myers – age 21 (mistakenly 23 in credits) (Michael Myers unmasked at the end of the film)

Will Sandin as Michael Myers – age 6

P. J. Soles as Lynda Van Der Klok

Nancy Loomis as Annie Brackett

Charles Cyphers as Sheriff Leigh Brackett

Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace

Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle

John Michael Graham as Bob Simms

Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers

Arthur Malet as Angus Taylor

Mickey Yablans as Richie Castle

Brent Le Page as Lonnie Elam

Adam Hollander as Keith

Robert Phalen as Dr. Terence Wynn

Sandy Johnson as Judith Myers

Peter Griffith as Morgan Strode

David Kyle as Danny Hodges

Trivia:

-From a budget of $300,000 over a 20 day shoot, the film went on to gross $47 million at the US box office

-John Carpenter's intent with the character of Michael Myers was that the audience should never be able to relate to him.

[ivorygarcia]

2023 Reading Journal

The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett

The King's Spinster Bride by Ruby Dixon

The Cargo by John Hundley

Three Part Dead byMax Gladstone

The Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane

The Nemesis From Terra by Leigh Brackett

Prince Lestat by Anne Rice

The Stoneheart Bride by Kati Wilde

Pretty Bride by Kati Wilde

The Midnight Bride by Kati Wilde

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice

Liches Get Stitches by HJ Tolson

The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn

Taken to Voraxia by Elizabeth Stephens

Broken by the Horde King by Zoey Draven

The Galactic Rejects by Andrew J. Offutt

The Man Who Loved Mars by Lin Carter

Taken by the Horde King by Zoey Draven

The Darkness on Diamondia by by A.E. Van Vogt

The Seeds of Time by John Wyndham

Throne of the Horde King by Zoey Draven

Teacher's Pet Wolf by Kati Wilde

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Chains of the Sea by Robert Silverberg

Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria by Lin Carter

Beyond Control edited by Robert Silverberg

Quest for the Future by A.E. Van Vogt

Currently Reading: Deep Space edited by Robert Silverberg

28/52

[holysanctum-a]

ACTIVE MUSELIST.

STEPHEN KING UNIVERSE

eddie kaspbrak

beverly marsh

richie tozier

patricia uris

audra phillips

ben hanscom

stan uris

carrie white

sue snell

wendy torrance

danny torrance

AVATAR SERIES

ronal of the metkayina

neytiri of the omaticaya

tsireya of the omaticaya

WEDNESDAY 2022 / THE ADDAMS FAMILY SERIES

wednesday addams

enid sinclair

xavier thorpe

tyler galpin

bianca barclay

morticia addams

pubert addams

pugsley addams

ophelia frump

deborah jellinsky

STRANGER THINGS

steve harrington

nancy wheeler

eddie munson

robin buckley

chrissy cunningham

tammy thompson

jane ives hopper

will byers

jonathan byers

joyce byers

angela russell

alexei volkov

erica sinclair

lucas sinclair

max mayfield

dustin henderson

tina coleman

carol perkins

mike wheeler

eden bingham

suzie bingham

gareth hill

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

house of the dragon;

rhaenyra targaryen

alicent hightower

ser harwin strong

helaena targaryen

mysaria

alys rivers

H20: ADD WATER

cleo sertori

rikki chadwick

emma gilbert

isabella hartley

MONSTER HIGH

cleo de nile

abbey abominable

spectra vondergeist

robecca steam

laura dracul

jinafire long

torelei stripes

clawdeen wolf

c.a cupid

lagoona blue

ghoulia yelps

scarah screams

rochelle goyle

katrina de-mew

viperine gorgon

venus mcflytrap

gigi grants

SCREAM

sidney prescott

tatum riley

charlie walker

kirby reed

HALLOWEEN

laurie strode

annie brackett

lynda van der klok

allyson strode

michael myers

judith myers

ANOES 2010

nancy holbrook

quentin smith

kris fowles

gwen holbrook

AMERICAN HORROR STORY

zoe benson

violet harmon

madison montgomery

misty day

brooke thompson

montana duke

UNTIL DAWN ( adapted from canon. )

emily davis

ashley brown

jessica riley

sam giddings

beth washington

THE QUARRY ( adapted from canon. )

max brinly

emma mountebank

ryan erzahler

kaitlyn ka

jacob custos

abigail blyg

nicholas furcillo

pansy parkinson

lily evans / potter

narcissa black / malfoy

hannah abbott

ginny weasley

andromeda black / tonks

nymphadora tonks

zhang qiu

daphne greengrass

astoria greengrass

luna lovegood

fleur delacour

marlene mckinnon

dorcas meadowe

mary macdonald

molly weasley

katie bell

lavender brown

tracey davis

millicent bulstrode

susan bones

cedric diggory

helena ravenclaw

angelina johnson

alicia spinnet

parvati patil

anne sallow

sebastian sallow

poppy sweeting

adelaide oakes

charlie weasley

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS

spencer hastings

allison dilaurentis

aria montgomery

hanna marin

THE HUNGER GAMES

klatniss everdeen

primrose everdeen

clove heidenriek

annie cresta

johanna mason

finnick odair

peeta mellark

MARVEL

jean grey

emma frost

gwen stacy

mary jane watson

peter parker

clint barton

pepper potts

kate bishop

anna marie

DC

harleen quinzel

selina kyle

pamela isley

rachel roth

june moone / enchantress

bruce wayne

barbara gordon

dick grayson

jason todd

harvey dent

TWILIGHT

isabella swan

jane volturi

rosalie hale

alice cullen

CORPSE BRIDE

emily petterson

victor van dort

victoria everglot

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

sally hardesty

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

dana polk

jules louden

HOCUS POCUS

sarah sanderson

winifred sanderson

mary sanderson

alison blythe

dani dennison

emily binx

FEAR STREET SERIES

sam fraser

deena johnson

simon kalivoda

sheila greene

hannah miller

sarah fier

corky corcoran

annie greene

becky hemmings

will goode

ziggy berman

cindy berman

joan kutcherson

alice gallagher

BRIDE OF CHUCKY

tiffany valentine

THE CRAFT

nancy downs

AQUAMARINE

aquamarine brown

GREASE

sandy olsen

betty rizzo

marty maraschino

frenchy conrad

THE OUTSIDERS

marcia smith

cherry valance

MYSTERY INC

daphne blake.

dorothy blake.

daisy blake.

delilah blake.

dawn blake.

velma dinkley.

sally mcknight.

dusk davenport.

luna reynolds.

HALLOWEEN TOWN

marnie piper

sophie piper

scarlet sinister

THE BLACK PHONE

vance hopper

finney blake

griffin stagg

donna

billy

THE WALKING DEAD & GAME

maggie greene

beth greene

judith grimes

sophia peletier

carl grimes

clementine

carley

RESIDENT EVIL

rebecca chambers

jill valentine

claire redfield

leon kennedy

ada wong

sherry berkins

donna beneviento

bela dimitrescu

daniela dimitrescu

cassandra dimitrescu

CHARMED

piper halliwell

phoebe halliwell

prue halliwell

paige matthews

parker halliwell

p.j halliwell

tamora mitchell

kat mitchell

chris halliwell

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES

lux lisbon

bonnie lisbon

mary lisbon

therese lisbon

cecilia lisbon

DEAD BY DAYLIGHT

jane romero

lee yunjin

feng min

kimura yui

the onryo

the ghostface

the huntress

dwight fairfield

meg thomas

nea karlsson

claudette morel

kate denson

mikaela reid

the legion: julie kostenko

the legion: susie lavoie

the legion: joey campbell

the spirit

the nurse

the plague

zarina kassir

élodie rakoto

david king

adam francis

the pig

the trapper

the hillbilly

the doctor

the wraith

felix richter

jake park

the trickster

heather mason

yoichi asakawa

lisa garland

the executioner

alessa gillespie

SILENT HILL

maria

mary sunderland

jodie mason

harry mason

VALORANT

viper

sage

jett

neon

skye

reyna

fade

killjoy

raze

STARDEW VALLEY

haley

alex

jodi

leah

sam

abigail

maru

shane

EMH

vinnie.

jeff.

jessie.

jessa.

steph.

MISC

rouge the bat — sonic universe

princess peach — mario universe

princess daisy — mario universe

princess rosalina — mario universd

barbie — barbie cinematic universe

abigail hobbs — hannibal ( soloblog @fawneyes )

veronica sawyer — heathers

lydia martin — teen wolf

allison argent — teen wolf

malia tate — teen wolf

faye chamberlain — the secret circle

martha may whovier — the grinch

rose cotter — smile 2022

jennifer check — jennifer's body ( pre-succubus. )

anita lesnicki — jennifer's body

colin gray — jennifer's body

layla williams — sky high

magenta hui — sky high

gwen grayson — sky high

penny lent — sky high

ginger fitzgerald — gingersnaps

patrick bateman — american psycho

sarah miller — tlou

dina — tlou

shauna shipman — yellowjackets

jackie taylor — yellowjackets

jade west — victorious

tori vega — victorious

cat valentine — victorious

elijah — midnight scenes : from the woods.

virginia — sons of the forrest.

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

mason wheeler — stranger things

spencer harrington — stranger things

priscilla munson — stranger things ( affiliated with @slaymetal )

kevin watson — stranger things

avonna-leigh millicent lane — stranger things ( affiliated with @hauntingh0ur )

ember riley smith

haerelian — affiliated with @seirsenes

cordelia syphe

princess saereliette of alryia — stardew valley

thorn winters — resident evil : village.

oleander sykes carson — pyreford mystery series.

marisol renatta lora — pyreford mystery series.

seraphina holly-grace saddler — pyreford mystery series.

marilyn victoire ophelia blackwell — fandomless with verses in teen wolf, stranger things and IT.

lauren richter — dead by daylight.

legion : bambi ( beatrice dane ) — dead by daylight.

milana renee van der kamp — stranger things ( affiliated with @jedova )

lorelei koen — the last of us.

isabelle walker — until dawn.

matilda greaves — emh / scream.

princess helanys — elden ring.

rosalind wilson — apocalypse based.

marina james — sons of the forrest.

[craftysoulexpertpainter]

John Carpenter's Halloween-The Night He Came Home-A novel (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/26512392-john-carpenter%27s-halloween-the-night-he-came-home?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=jjclemons1999 Robert Helliger. October 2, 2013. On Halloween Eve, 1963, six year old Michael Audrey Myers continues the terror of his ancestors by going on a rampage in the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois with a butcher knife. Fifteen years' later, on Halloween night, 1978, aged twenty-one, Myers escapes from the Mental Hospital for the Criminally Insane, and continues his spree when he stalks 17 year old babysitter Laurie Strode, and her friends...as Myers' Psychiatrist, Doctor Sam Loomis, hunts the evil force known as "The Shape", with the help of Sheriff Leigh Brackett. The new novel version of John Carpenter's horror classic by Robert Helliger. Rated R for strong, bloody violence, strong sex scenes, strong drug use, strong coarse language, and strong, adult themes. Warning: FOR READERS 18 YEARS AND OVER. FOR JOHN CARPENTER, JAMIE LEE CURTIS, P J SOLES, NANCY LOOMIS, CHARLES CYPHERS, AND DEDICATED TO THE LATE DEBRA HILL, DONALD PLEASANCE, AND MOUSTAPHA AKKAD, and TOMMY LEE WALLACE, AND DEAN CUNDEY, AND IRWIN YABLANS, and NANCY STEPHENS, NICK CASTLE, AND TONY MORAN.

[politicsarecool2]

“These sayings/insults are incredible gems from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words! I hope you delight in them as much as I have. 😅♥️

1. "He had delusions of adequacy. ” Walter Kerr

2. "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill

3. "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow

4. "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”-William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

5. "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

6. "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.” - Moses Hadas

7. "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain

8. "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde

9. "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.” -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

10. "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.” - Winston Churchill, in response

11. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here” - Stephen Bishop

12. "He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” - John Bright

13. "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb

14. "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson

15. "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. - Paul Keating

16. "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” - Forrest Tucker

17. "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” - Mark Twain

18. "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” - Mae West

19. "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde

20. "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination.” - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

21. "He has Van Gogh's ear for music.” - Billy Wilder

22. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But I'm afraid this wasn't it.” - Groucho Marx

23. The exchange between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

24. "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln

25. "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E. Leonard

26. "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed

27. "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon) —Robert L Truesdel”

From FB

Unknown MP on witnessing Winston Churchill fail to wash his hands in the members WC after urinating .."At Eton, we were taught to wash our hands!". Winston .. "At Harrow, we were taught not to piss on our fingers!" 🤣

More…

“Dorothy Parker reviewing a book

This book is not one to be tossed lightly aside but hurled with great force.

Parker on Margot Hemingway

Who broke he leg

She broke her leg by sliding down a Barrister.

Margot Asquith to Jean Harlow - who always pronounced the T at the end of Margot.

“ no dear the T is silent - as in Harlow.

Dorothy Parker and a rival were heading towards a door

“Age before beauty “said her rival motioning DP to go first

And Pearls before Swine said DP and she sailed through the door.

Disraeli was once asked the difference between a misfortune and a Catastrophe

He replied

If Gladstone were to fall into the Thames that I suppose would be a misfortune

But if someone were to pull him out that would be a catastrophe.

French Catholic ambassador took the English Protestant ambassador to a gallery and showed him a painting which he knew would enrage him

A painting of Christ with the French King on one side of Christ and the Pope on the other side.

Without missing a beat the English ambassador thanked him for the informative tour and said

I always knew that our Lord was crucified between two thieves but until now I never knew their identity.”

[bookclub4m]

Episode 180 - Pulp

This episode we’re talking about the fiction genre of Pulp! We talk about aliens, Mounties, sleuths, and vigilantes as discuss what counts as pulp and what doesn’t!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

Zenith Rand, Planet Vigilante by Richard Tooker

The Aliens by Murray Leinster

“All the Colors of the Rainbow” by Leigh Brackett

Republished in The Future is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin edited by Lisa Yaszek

The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Vol. I edited by Rakesh Khanna, translated by Pritham K. Chakravarthy

Sally the Sleuth by Adolphe Barreaux - Forward by Tim Hanley

Scarlet Riders: Pulp Fiction Tales of the Mounties edited by Don Hutchison

Planet Scumm - Issue 15: Major Arcana

The Battle of York by James Stoddard

Other Media We Mentioned

Two-Fisted Library Stories on itch.io

Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers by Lee Server

Sensuous Science Fiction from the Weird and Spicy Pulps edited by Sheldon Jaffery

McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories edited by Michael Chabon

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (Wikipedia)

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Wikipedia)

Links, Articles, and Things

Episode 179 - Battle of the Books 2023

The Fantastical Pulp Art of 1960s and ’70s Mexico

Two-Fisted Library Stories on itch.io

The Shadow (Wikipedia)

Pulp collections available online:

The Pulp Magazines Project: “an archive of all-fiction pulpwood magazine from 1896-1946”

The Pulp Magazine Archive at Internet Archive

Weird menace (Wikipedia)

Episode 19: Weird Fiction (not “New Weird” as Matthew says)

Sauron (comics) (Wikipedia)

Betty Ross (Wikipedia)

Heritage Minutes: Sam Steele

Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz

15 Pulp Novels & Anthologies by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

Adios Muchachos by Daniel Chavarría, translated by Carlos Lopez

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

Bad Men and Wicked Women by Eric Jerome Dickey

Four Bullets for Dillon by Derrick Ferguson

The Green Lama: Scions by Adam Lance Garcia

The Banks by Roxane Gay and Ming Doyle

A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes

Blind Corners by Jemir Robert Johnson

It Came from Del Rio by Stephen Graham Jones

The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction edited by Rakesh Khanna, translated by Pritham K. Chakravarthy

Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Annie Tucker

Once Upon a Time in Afrika by Balogun Ojetade

One-Shot Harry by Gary Phillips

Black Pulp II edited by Kimberly Richardson

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, August 22nd when we’ll be talking about books and other media we’ve recently enjoyed!

Then on Tuesday, September 5th when we’ll be discussing the format of Lyric Poetry!

[picolin]

A Strange Loop

(Preview)

by Michael  R. Jackson

dir. Stephen Brackett

2023年6月22日 Barbican Theatre

マイケル・R・ジャクソンの2019年作品。2020年のピュリッツァー賞演劇部門、75回トニー賞のベストミュージカル賞受賞。『ライオン・キング』上演中の劇場でアッシャーをしている「ブラックでビッグでクイア」な主人公が、自らのミュージカル作品を完成させるべく奮闘するが、自分の脳内のさまざまな声や両親に阻まれてなかなかうまくいかない。タイトルはホフスタッターの『ゲーデル、エッシャー、バッハ』で言及された「不思議の輪」から。

NYのオフ＆オンBWのプロダクションのトランスファー。美術（Arnulfo Maldonado）の美術はそのままで、6つの「思考」というか脳内の声を象徴する6つの穴のあいた壁を使った演出。最後の方にちょっと驚きの展開もある。ジェン・シュリーバーの照明は紫を基調とした色とスポット照明の使い方がうまい。

いつかBWにかかるミュージカルを書くという大きな目標を持つが、いかんせんシャイで思考を止められないアッシャーの性格もあり進行しない、というwriter's blockを扱った作品群（コーエン兄弟の『バートン・フィンク』など）に分類されるミュージカル。自分のアフリカンのゲイであるという属性にこだわるべきか、タイラー・ペリーっぽいゴスペルミュージカルがいいか、「内なる白人女子」の存在を許しているのはまずいのでは、という、どっちかというと自己の思考と外のイメージの齟齬について延々と考えを巡らせる前半は特に「はてな匿名ダイアリー」を読んでいるような気分になる。それが、特に信仰に厚く同性愛を神に背く罪だと考える母親からの圧力からブラックシットコム（『Fairview』のようだ）からゴージャスなゴスペル調に展開する。本当にとっちらかっていること自体が魅力になっているという独特なミュージカルである。USにおけるアフリカンの文化と宗教、ゲイカル���ャーのリファレンスが多くてUSならでは感も強い。とはいえ、冒頭の『Intermission Song』のイントロからもわかるように『カンパニー』からの影響が強いようにも見えなくもない。

[buzzdixonwriter]

George Lucas Is A Lousy Storyteller, Episode Two

As noted, Lucas alone never rises as high as he does with collaborators.  He’s been extremely fortunate in his career to have been in the right place and the right time and to have struck alliances with numerous creators who possess a far better story telling sense than him.  Walter Murch, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, Stephen Spielberg, Ron Howard, and the aforementioned Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck.

But he bungled the Star Wars franchise at the very beginning, demonstrating he lacked insight into the reason his film became such a huge success.  He started on an enviable high note, but instead of sustaining it he immediately set to work sabotaging his own concept.

Lucas changes his own history repeatedly, ghosting people whom he feels have failed him (such as Jim Nelson, the original associate producer of Star Wars who took the fall for budget and schedule overruns) or else stand up to him creatively (viz. Irvin Kershner, the legendary “last man to say no to Lucas” who overruled his boss to shoot the famous “I know” line in The Empire Strikes Back that delighted audiences, a situation Lucas never allowed again). 

Star Wars began life as the (hopefully) first script in a proposed film series, with Lucas recruiting Alan Dean Foster to write both the novelization for the movie and an original novel, Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye, to serve as a low budget sequel should the movie falter at the box office.

It’s long been speculated that Foster also did an uncredited re-write on the first Star Wars movie but he has formally denied this and so we will take him at his word and just say for once in his life George Lucas actually wrote a good screenplay.

But when the first film became the biggest hit of all time, Lucas forgot about moving the story forward and instead concocted a grandiose scheme that would involve four sets of trilogies with a standalone movie between each trilogy for a total of 19 movies.

This was a mighty high aim in 1977 (though Marvel and Eon Productions have proved it can be done).  It would have been a challenge had the original Star Wars been the first film in the series, but instead Lucas retconned it to be the first film in the second trilogy, with the first three to be filmed after episodes IV / V / VI were complete.

Again, this might have proven workable, had not Lucas decided the Star Wars saga would be about the ultimate dysfunctional intergalactic family.

Oh, no.  No, no, no, George.

Audiences responded as strongly as they did because they’d been primed and waiting for Star Wars all their lives.  From Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon to Lost In Space and Star Trek, they’d been given a taste of what glorious space opera could be, but instead of focusing on the whiz bang and daring-do that makes that sub-genre popular, Lucas opted to focus instead on Darth Vader’s lifelong hissy fit.

Here, let me say it out loud:  The success of Star Wars occurred despite George Lucas, not because of George Lucas.

It occurred because comic books and video games and novels and animated series and fan films gave the audience what they really wanted.

Lucas infamously bragged that when he sent the first draft of what became Episode I: The Phantom Menace to fellow directors and screenwriters, they all told him it was perfect and not to change a word.

The only way to get more smoke blown up an ass would be to set fire to a donkey’s stall.

The Phantom Menace unravels like a tyro’s screenplay, with numerous scenes ending on some variation of “I can’t think of anything else to say so I must ask you to go now” (hint: It’s called” CUT TO:” George). It’s far from the worst script ever written, but lordie, it sure ain’t a good one, much less a great one.

And Lucas, despite the boffo b.o. stung by audience reactions, proceeded to change plot points for succeeding Star Wars movies based on their set-ups not being fully appreciated.

If the audience can recognize a clue when it’s dropped in front of them, it ain’t gonna be a surprise when you finally reach the big reveal, right?

Yet if you panic at initial reactions, you undermine the (allegedly) carefully constructed story you built on those clues.

You can’t have your polystarch portion bread and eat it, too, George; either stick to your plan or play it by ear, but if you choose to plan, don’t gut it because you lack faith in your own storytelling abilities.

And there was a collective sigh of relief when The Rise Of Skywalker finally brought the original saga to an official close so audiences could forget about that and shift their attention to the more satisfying TV series such as The Mandalorian.

Lucas, lacking an understanding of why thematic structure is important in storytelling, contradicts his own mythos again and again and again.

He turned The Force from something any dedicated being could aspire to master into a luck-of-the-draw genetic mutation, creating a race of elitist super-beings who are justified in treating non-Force users like crap.

After plucky young Anakin saves Princess Amidala’s home world, she doesn’t visit the ATM machine in order to buy his mom’s freedom.  She does develop romantic feelings for him and marries him when he grows a pair.  Yuck.

Outside of making her catty, he gave no thought to Leia’s character, having her shrug off the destruction of her home world as if her bagel fell cream cheese side down, then letting her father -- purportedly as mighty a master of The Force as ever existed -- to torture her with drugs and a hypodermic needle yet she never displays any psychological ill effects from this nor does he recognize her as his own daughter (proof positive Lucas never possessed any clear idea of what he intended to do with the series).

Jar Jar Binks, whom Lucas apparently originally conceived as an undercover villain who only pretends to be inept, gets virtually written out of the storyline when audiences responded negatively to him, despite Lucas laying clues that would later reveal his duplicity.

You don’t do that.  You don’t listen to audiences and undermine a sub-plot you’ve already worked out just because they don’t grasp its importance yet.

As a creator, you owe your audience something, and that’s a story told to the best of one’s ability.

Lucas never displayed originality as a creator.  His first hit relied on him tapping into a cultural zeitgeist already primed at the pump:  Boomer nostalgia for the days before the Kennedy assassination.

Lucas cast Ron Howard in American Graffiti based on Howard’s performance in the pilot of TV’s enormously successful sit-com Happy Days (seen as “Love And The Television Set” a.k.a. “Love And Happy Days” on the Love, American Style comedy anthology series). 

Lucas didn’t pioneer new territory, he jumped onboard a train already pulling out of the station.

His later megahit, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, reflects little of him and more of Spielberg.

I’m not an overawed fan of Spielberg’s style of filmmaking, but the guy does know how to tell a story and in his later years turned out some really good work.

Lucas lacks that talent.  He would function best as a journeyman studio director in Hollywood’s golden era, someone to be handed over to a no-nonsense producer with a fully developed script who could supervise the final product without having to step in too often.

Come to think of it, perhaps I’m being too harsh on Lucas.

After all, he is telling stories to the best of his ability.

It’s just that like his retconned Force, if you don’t already possess the storytelling gene, you never will.

    © Buzz Dixon

[unlimited-rice-puddin]

A Strange Loop Review: Searingly, heartbreakingly honest

I have to be honest: I really wanted to like A Strange Loop when I saw it on Broadway. It's a self-proclaimed black, queer Broadway show. How brilliant that it exists! Yet, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed having seen it. But I'm changing my mind...

Michael R Jackson’s meta Tony Award winning ‘A Strange Loop’ certainly pulls no punches, but its intelligence is let down by production elements (more…)

[frontmezzjunkies]

Broadway's A Strange Loop Leaps High Across the Divide

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: #Broadway's #AStrangeLoop b/l/m by #MichaelRJackson d: #StephenBrackett w/ #JaquelSpivey #AntwaynHopper #JamesJacksonJr #LMorganLee #JohnMichaelLyles #JohnAndrewMorrison #JasonVeasey from the 2019 @phnyc production @Page73

John-Michael Lyles (Thought 3), Jason Veasey (Thought 5), James Jackson, Jr. (Thought 2), L Morgan Lee (Thought 1), John-Andrew Morrison (Thought 4), Antwayn Hopper (Thought 6) in Broadway’s A STRANGE LOOP The In-Person Broadway Review: Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop by Ross This isn’t Broadway’s typical musical looking through the looking glass into some part of her soul thinking “white…

[winstonthequant]

Just some "peeps" on an Alumni Magazine (x)

[theasexualfangirl]

the team of creatives for be more chill on broadway.

(photographed by emilio madrid-kuser)