From 2005, an article about the original Star Wars movie (Episode Four, A New Hope) that somewhat revises the significance of Chewbacca (Chewie), and a number of other seemingly second-string characters.
Then, on the verge of escape, Vader himself turns up only yards from both of his children, one of whom is leaking Force [...]
Chewbacca was far more than just Han Solo’s sidekick
Posted by John Lampard on Monday, 18 January, 2010 to the movies subset
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Getting with the program with 2001: A Space Odyssey
Posted by John Lampard on Monday, 19 October, 2009 to the movies subset
A copy of the printed program for 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was given to movie-goers in the UK when the film was released in 1968.
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Great film directors do great remakes of their own movies
Posted by John Lampard on Wednesday, 30 September, 2009 to the movies subset
While there are plenty of film directors re-making the movies of other directors, some film makers have remade their own films. For instance Alfred Hitchcock originally made The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1936, and then re-did it in 1956.
Some of the reasons directors remake their films vary from changes in film technology [...]
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Let me take you down the corridors of science fiction movies
Posted by John Lampard on Monday, 7 September, 2009 to the movies subset
A homage to possibly one of the least appreciated props in science fiction films, the hallways and corridors of the ships, space stations, etc, that have featured in some of the best sci-fi flicks ever made.
Corridors make science-fiction believable, because they’re so utilitarian by nature – really they’re just a conduit to get from [...]
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This time, the best 100 science fiction movies of all time
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 6 August, 2009 to the movies subset
Because I love movies and because I love science fiction: The 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies.
This list is the result of heated debate/scuffles between the frazzled writers of Total Sci-Fi. In addition to settling on the titles themselves, we also had to set the limits of what counts as a “sci-fi film”: we decided that superhero [...]
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In Los Angeles 2001 will be like so Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 12 May, 2009 to the movies subset
Gary Lockwood, who played astronaut Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey recalls telling Arthur C Clarke the movie’s fortunes would pick up when it was shown in Los Angeles, after a less than auspicious premiere on the US east coast.
“I ran into Warren Beatty and Gene Hackman. I knew Warren from working on ‘Splendor [...]
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If your life was a movie would you have reached the Death Star?
Posted by John Lampard on Tuesday, 5 May, 2009 to the movies subset
Find out what stage your life is at relative to the run-time of six well known movies, such as Star Wars or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
If we started a movie on the day you were born, and stretched it over your lifespan, this is where you’d be in that movie. So if you’re a teenager, [...]
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The Matrix, influential for being totally unoriginal I guess
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 30 April, 2009 to the movies subset
A list of the ten most influential films of the last ten years, together with some thoughts as to what makes them so noteworthy:
The Matrix is on the list for badly repackaging the good ideas and techniques of better films and filmmakers (that means you, Gondry and Fassbinder and Cronenberg and… and… and…) and rendering [...]
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The artwork of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Robert McCall
Posted by John Lampard on Thursday, 23 April, 2009 to the design and art subset
A small gallery of artwork that includes promotional posters created by Robert McCall for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Some more of McCall’s space exploration themed artwork can also be seen here.
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Snow White launched a thousand (or more) animation movies
Posted by John Lampard on Friday, 17 April, 2009 to the movies subset
15 of the most influential classic movies of all time, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane, and Star Wars.
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