Guess who’s directing the Star Wars Episode VII?
J.J. Abrams, master of geekdom, spoiler-free marketing, and Lens Flare!
In the words of so many Star Wars fans: I’m cautiously optimistic.
Although, I have yet to watch Fringe or Lost (which I still plan to do for both series, I enjoyed Alias and Super 8, and loved Star Trek.) Star Wars is in good hands. Based on Super 8, I think he can bring back the gritty detail, oil, and sweat that ground the Original Trilogy and are lacking from the Prequel Trilogy. Another exciting this is J.J. Abrams mastery of interesting, spunky characters and relationships that ground all of his projects. Also, this is a brand new story with new characters, and an enormous array of possibility within the Star Wars universe.
So, good luck J.J Abrams and Michael Arndt. These are good artists set up with an impossible task.
For those who haven’t read it, here’s my thoughts on the Disney-Lucasfilm merger from a few months ago.
Disney, You’re My Only Hope Part 1: The Dark Side
Disney, You’re My Only Hope Part 2: The Light Side
If you haven’t gathered it yet, I might be a bit of a Star Wars nerd.
What I hope is there will be more starfighters and starfigher battles, with or without massive amounts of lens flare.
UPDATE: Here’s a few posts from blogs I follow giving their own thoughts on this momentous announcement. I’m glad I’m not the only one excited.
J.J. Abrams is Episode VII Chosen One from Fluffrick
J.J. Abrams to Direct Episode VII from Scifi4me
The L. Palmer Chronicles 
Reblogged this on Good. Wholesome. Fun. and commented:
Here’s another post on my new blog: The L. Palmer Chronicles. Star Wars news is always important news. In case you haven’t heard yet, the director for Star Wars Episode VII has been announced.
Have you followed the L. Palmer Chronicles yet? Go on. I think you’ll like it.
Fringe is AWE.SOME.
The fringe you wear, or the show?
Just kidding.
Good to know it’s highly recommended. I’m planning on getting around to it soon…
As long as the J.J. doesn’t stand for Jar Jar, we should be OK.
Oof. I think that joke’s going to be all over the Internet, along with lens flare memes.
I hope it’s good! My geeky heart can’t take it if it’s not!
We’ve endured the prequels. We can endure anything… I hope.
Oh dear. I’m not so sure about this. Then again, all I’ve seen of J.J. Abrams was the latest Star Trek.
…the latest Star Trek and I do not get along. Then again again, even if he forgot that Star Trek is supposed to be about ideas rather than action and adventure, the action and adventure were sort of fun, I guess. Star Wars has been more on the adventurous side from the start.
Maybe it’s not so bad. Maybe.
As I mentioned in my post on the Light Side of Disney owning Lucasfilm, the new Star Trek feels like what a modern Star Wars movie should be – which is why it might not work for Trek fans, but makes Abrams a good match for Star wars. I just hope he’ll make the two universes distinctly different.
You are not the only one. Abrams . . . do-not-like. That movie was AWFUL!
The more I think about it, the more I worry it’ll end up a totally brainless action flick that thinks character development is when you make your characters yell at one another for no reason.
BUT! You could blame those (subjective) shortcomings of Star Trek on the writers of that film. Whereas Michael Arndt has been involved with some really stellar, character-driven scripts. So I’ll hold out hope.
Yeah, I mean I’ve heard people say “just look at the movie outside of the Star Trek thing” and I say “it still sucked.” Kirk is this total twit who hasn’t even graduated the Academy and gets control of a Starship. They blow up Vulcan you know, cause it made a pretty explosion. Uhura is a tramp making out with Spock. It made no sense! Arghhh!
I didn’t know people were so passionate about this movie. I liked it, but partially because I got the DVD case that’s shaped like the Enterprise. Anything that involves a spaceship on my shelf is that much cooler. I’m also a cross-over fan, not a hard-core Star Trek fan, so I have less invested than others.
A case shaped like the Enterprise? Okay, you are totally forgiven. 😀 I honestly don’t mind switching some stuff around, but I think he missed the ball on that one. It’d have been a lot of fun to see Kirk in the Academy being a doofus, or his first mission as a cadet, etc. Why make him this self-righteous hero right away? That was my disappointment, not that it didn’t go with the continuity, etc.
Holy three death stars batman! O_O
It’s a super-super deadly weapon! It plays the Small World song a dozen times over, before blowing your planet to smithereens!
I’m curious about the outcome of this Abrams-Disney alliance, but all I can hope for is that Star Wars comes back to its true spirit. Although the latest episodes were beautiful to look at (effects, costumes, decors, etc.) and had good music to offer, they had no Star Wars Spirit. Not only did they feel too clean cut, but all the dialogues felt fake and badly acted, even my great actors. Direction should take part of the blame, I think.
However, the fact that the same person who directed Star Trek movies will also direct a Star Wars trilogy did make lots of geeks angry. Disturbance in the Force indeed: Star Trek and Star Wars fans alike, especially the hard core type who hate the other franchise, don’t agree with this and fear that both will end up looking too much alike. I’m sure Shatner has ranted about this already. I’ll be interesting to follow on this ongoing ST-SW feud as it moves along. Personally, as long as he does a good job, Abrams can go right along and revive the two science-fiction franchises I love the most.
Oh, and yeah, Fringe is great. I’m sad it’s over, but at least all the show was amazing and wasn’t diluted with lots of useless and boring episodes like other series were. I haven’t watched the final yet, so no spoilers!
I think Abrams will work hard to bring two things to Star Wars: 1. A different aesthetic than Star Trek, and the prequels. 2. Restore the heart the prequels lack. Underneath the poor script, direction and acting is the lack of soul while going through the sci if motions.
And on another note, I nominated you for an award: http://thegeekanthropologist.com/2013/01/29/thanks-for-the-all-the-fish-and-the-feedback-too/
No pressure if you don’t want to follow the rules, its your to accept or not!
Thanks!
Hello! Just wanted to let you know I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger award. You can find more details at my blog, Public Domain. Thanks for creating a great blog! (And sorry about the informal mass notification, you can delete this comment if you’d like.) Have a great day!
Thanks!
I do love the Mickey Death Star.