UPDATE! Catching-Up With George Lucas News.

SMPTE

George Lucas can soon add another honor to his resume. Also a controversy surrounds him and his Museum of Narrative Art after the jump.

 

THR reports that the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is getting ready to honor George Lucas for his vast body of work in innovating technology that has affected the Television and Motion Picture arts. Mr. Lucas will receive an honorary membership in SMPTE for his outstanding technical achievements and innovations to include:

* Founding the pioneering visual effects house Industrial Light and Magic in 1975

* Founding the Graphix Group of Lucasfilm in 1979 which eventually became Pixar

* Founding the sound company THX in 1981

* Becoming the first major Hollywood feature film to use digital cameras with 2003’s Attack of the Clones

 

George Lucas has been a maverick, innovator, and all-around leader of Hollywood while, ironically, simultaneously fighting a war with the Industry in order to preserve his artistic vision and integrity. There isn’t a filmmaker alive today that isn’t affected by George Lucas, whether it be through his style, or through his innovations in the art. Mr. Lucas will receive this accolade, apparently the highest possible achievement bestowed by the society, in a ceremony to be held on October 24th.

 

Vanity Project

In other news regarding Mr. Lucas, updating a report I brought to you back in June, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was awarded to Chicago, Illinois. Initially this was an exciting and welcomed endeavor by the citizens of Chicago. Since that time controversy has struck as it seems a vocal minority has complained about the museum’s location, being sighted for lakefront construction. In fact, a lawsuit has even been threatened to block the construction:

The Friends of the Parks group immediately said it was considering a lawsuit to block the construction, noting that a policy included in the 1973 Lakefront Plan of Chicago adopted by the City Council states that “in no instance will further private development be permitted east of Lake Shore Drive.”

 

However, a poll conducted by the Chicago Tribune cites the majority of respondents either didn’t care where the museum was being constructed or favored it’s lakeside construction with a minority opposed. You can view the results in the graphs below.

 

Lucas Museum

About a month ago, in late July, Mr. Lucas announced the designer for his museum – Ma Yansong, founder of the Beijing firm MAD Architects.

 

Futuristic Architect

The controversy hinges on the fact that Chicago citizens want the lakeside view preserved and at the very least for the museum to incorporate and work with the architecture that already exists. In this ABC.com’s article “Made in China: The Green Futurism of Architect Ma Yansong” we read the following:

Ma says that the “machine age” drive to build grid-shaped cities filled with cubic buildings that race each other into the sky — first in the West, and now in China — alienates people from the spirits of nature and from each other. Silo-like skyscrapers, he says, should give way to structures that emulate the forces and forms of nature — clouds, mountains, waves — in cities of the future.

MAD Architects

Yansong has been characterized as “avant-garde.” Well, be it avant-garde, visionary, or cutting-edge, I guess the label is applied according to the eye of the beholder. But it seems quite evident that his “green” and futuristic style works perfectly for Chicago as well as the man who gave the world Star Wars. Take a look at some more of Yansong’s work and decide for yourself.

 

 

 

UPDATE:

 

In a story we’ve been following since it’s inception we’ve since learned a few details about the project via The Hollywood Reporter:

 

* The Museum was wife Mellody’s idea

 

* Mellody, a Chicago native and businesswoman, put in a good word with Mayor Rham Emanuel

 

george-lucas-and-mellody-hobson-2-1

* George confirmed that the museum will be organic and NOT interfere with Chicago’s iconic architecture as some fear:

“It’s going to be organic architecture, connected to the ground. And it will look like a living thing.”

 

* George clarifies that the museum is dedicated to narrative art:

“Illustrative art and narrative art has been short-shrifted. Critics weren’t dealing with narrative art. They were interested in modern.”

 

* George also confirmed that he will pay for the museum with an endowment:

“I pay for the whole thing and the endowment, and everything.”

 

George Lucas was on CBS This Morning and spoke with Charlie Rose about the Museum as well as what’s wrong with Hollywood today. Turns out there’s a lot and George still feels that Star Wars wouldn’t have been green-lit in today’s Hollywood. Check out the interview and of course we’ll keep you posted on all the George Lucas news as we get it.

 

+ posts

79 thoughts on “UPDATE! Catching-Up With George Lucas News.

  • August 27, 2014 at 5:04 pm
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    I think Chicago ought to worry about its murder rate before it starts fretting over obstructed views of the lake.

    In regards to Yansong being avant-garde, I like the two skyscrapers shown in the article above. In regards to the denizens of Chicago wanting the building to conform with existing architectural conventions, I’d suggest that Mr. Yansong watch The Fountainhead starring Gary Cooper.

    Having said that, there’s always the danger that “avante-garde” becomes wildly dated and out of style in about a decade.

    • October 21, 2014 at 6:39 pm
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      Addressing Chicago’s murder rate and maintaining it’s zoning rules are not in any way mutually exclusive.

  • August 27, 2014 at 5:21 pm
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    Another barrier Lucy’s broke – putting no names at the start of his films. Will the disney films have names before the crawl? I think it would be good to keep the names at the end but this breaks the film industry rules… No ones discussed this yet – it will make a difference to the way the film begins.

    • August 27, 2014 at 7:00 pm
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      I would bet good money that the opening sequence of the prequels will be nearly identical to every previous Star Wars movie. The use of the 20th Century Fox logo and fanfare is unlikely, but we will see studio logos followed by “A Long Time Ago…” followed by opening crawl with all other credits at the film’s end.

      • October 21, 2014 at 7:29 pm
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        why wouldn’t it be?

    • August 27, 2014 at 8:31 pm
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      Disney is going to want to flash their crap first and I would think JJ’s Bad Robot shit will also appear before “A long time ago…” and the crawl.
      It’ll be weird not hearing/seeing the Fox fanfare but curious how they will do the very beginning. I hope they don’t use that shitty Disney theme music.

      • August 27, 2014 at 8:39 pm
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        Disney owns Marvel too and they know better than to use the Disney fanfare in the intros to Marvel movies. You just get the simple Marvel logo. Given the huge cultural significance of these movies, they are going to go out of their way to have a consistent presentation. Any Disney logo before the crawl will be accompanied by silence (unless they cut a deal to use the Fox fanfare) and will be followed by a Lucasfilm logo.

        • August 27, 2014 at 8:47 pm
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          The way they handled that last Tron movie would work. A silent blue Disney outline logo could match the blue of “A long time ago…”

          Lol, I love how detailed SW fans can get sometimes. We’re discussing how the beginning of the start of the movie may be presented.

    • October 22, 2014 at 4:32 am
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      I will walk out of the theater if there are opening credits.

  • August 27, 2014 at 5:38 pm
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    I love Lucas…but MAN is Star Wars news slow these days.

    • August 27, 2014 at 8:34 pm
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      You might be speaking a little too soon – keep your eyes peeled on this site.

      • August 27, 2014 at 8:59 pm
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        Spinoff film news?!?

        • August 27, 2014 at 10:06 pm
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          Not quite! But you know how people complain about this site reporting about things that aren’t specifically related to the sequels? This ought to be fixed pretty soon.

          • August 28, 2014 at 12:08 am
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            Are you guys gonna change the site’s name to Star Wars Ep. 7 News and More? Can’t wait.

          • August 28, 2014 at 3:04 am
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            -_- *sigh*

            It’s actual news related Episode VII. But that’s all I’m saying until it gets posted.

          • October 21, 2014 at 8:27 pm
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            And when will THAT be? November 2015?
            I DEMAND to know what movie the teaser will
            show up on in the next several weeks.
            Gimme that data and then I’ll be impressed.

  • August 27, 2014 at 5:54 pm
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    Attack of the Clones was 2002. 🙂

  • August 27, 2014 at 6:01 pm
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    If that part of the water front is zoned for no private development than just choose a different spot like everyone else has to. If zoning is ignored for things we like it will be ignored for things we don’t like also. How about a Walmart in Yellow Stone National Park? How about a sky scraper that blocks the light to your home? Why look out onto the ocean when you can look out onto a brick wall that’s four feet away? You can’t always go by popular opinion because money shapes popular opinion.

    • August 27, 2014 at 6:16 pm
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      Chicago can wring its hands over 1st World problems after it takes care of its 3rd World problems.

      • August 27, 2014 at 7:05 pm
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        Nah. If they changed the order of operations to “end all crime and then prevent zoning violations” it would require them to tear down this building after the fact not to mention all the other new structures that would have gone up based on the new president that was set. That would be hugely expensive. My point is that the magnitude of a problem is not the only factor that should determine in what order things are addressed. How doable something is at a given time to a given group needs to be taken into account. Also GL wouldn’t have chosen Chicago if it were a 3rd world environment.

        • August 27, 2014 at 7:23 pm
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          My point is that they have bigger problems to worry about, than lake views. Such as preventing Chicago from becoming the next Detroit.

          It’s like a cancer patient that focuses her efforts on getting a manicure rather than an operation. Sure she’s got an inoperable brain tumor, but her nails sure look great!

          Putting an end to the shooting gallery that is Chicago would be a great start. Heck, GL’s museum might even provide cover from crossfire, which at this point is more desirable than a view of the lake.

          • October 21, 2014 at 3:44 pm
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            But still…just because you have one big problem, doesn’t mean that the other smaller problems don’t need to be addressed. The aforementioned cancer patient wouldn’t neglect trimming their fingernails whil undergoing treatment, thinking “I have to deal with the cancer before worrying about clipping my nails”…of course not…they’d set apart the appropriate small amount of time to take care of daily less important things…that still needed to be done.

        • August 27, 2014 at 7:49 pm
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          Don’t be too sure about George Lucas.

          These lefty Hollywood types love 3rd World environments.

          Just look at how often clueless morons like Sean Penn or Kevin Spacey and the like travel to Cuba or Venezuela to bask in their 3rd World malaise.

          • August 28, 2014 at 2:44 am
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            Yeah, Cuba’s third-world malaise, sure. That’s why Cuban medicine is amongst the best in the world, and why all Cubans know how to read and write.

            See, the problem is that you don’t understand what the term 3rd World means these days. It’s an obsolete, backwards mentality, not nations; mentalities like yours.

          • August 28, 2014 at 3:14 am
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            It’s important for you to understand that your teachers and professors are using you to vicariously relive the 1960s. They do this by encouraging you to engage in fascism under the aegis of activism, rather than provide you with an actual education. Because of this, if you want to be educated, you’re going to have to read lots of books, all on your own. Preferably ones published before the 1960s.

            It’s equally important that you don’t pay attention to the tourist hospitals that Michael Moore was led through by the Cuban elite.

            Here’s the reality for the average Cuban:

            http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm

            Pay particular note to the photos of patients wallowing in their own feces.

            You see, there’s a reason that generations of Cubans have braved shark infested waters in rafts made of used tires and pallets to get to America. And it’s not because they were trying to escape Utopian healthcare and literacy.

            I’m truly sorry. But tall tales of Che Guevara and social justice fantasy making an education does not make.

            Just remember; the promises that governments make and actual realities, are always two entirely different and separate things.

          • August 28, 2014 at 4:23 am
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            No. What’s important for you to understand is that irritating as a right winger is trying to inject politics into a Star Wars post… the especially obnoxious part is using antiquated McCarthyistic blithering to hide your delusional paranoia.

          • August 28, 2014 at 4:53 am
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            I could be mistaken, but wasn’t the Prequel Trilogy predominately about politics?

            Also, do you understand what McCarthyism actually is?

          • August 28, 2014 at 5:21 am
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            @Aras Volodka August 28, 2014 at 05:05 AM

            “Yeah, but that’s different. It wasn’t as irritating as you are.”

            You don’t seem to be making much sense here. What does any purported difference have to do with anything? Star Wars is full of politics, so how am I “injecting” politics into a Star Wars post when Star Wars is constantly addressing politics already?

            “Yes. Do you know what “in denial” means?”

            Okay, so what is McCarthyism, and what does “in denial” have to do with it?

            In denial of what exactly?

          • August 28, 2014 at 5:57 am
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            Ahh ok with the positive atheist link that’s the road I thought you were going down. Atheist <— but I've been keeping it to myself mostly on these posts I think.

            Please don't take this the wrong way because I'm not trying to sound like a dick… but I think Carl Sagan would toss aside Loony bin notions just as quickly as Dawkins would… given his refusal to debate creationists. Christopher Hitches is the guy you want… he said listen to the insanely stupid argument for free speech's sake, for our own benefit would be to know what not to be… or something along those lines.

          • August 28, 2014 at 3:37 pm
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            I’m not sure that what you’re posting is constructed with actual sentences.

            Carl Sagain refused to debate creationists? This Carl Sagan?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar6Pd8TU3Dg

            Refusal to consider alternative point of views doesn’t make you enlighteneed. Rather, it makes you myopic. There’s an old tale of Cardinals who refused to look into Galileo’s telescope, because they refused to acknolwedge a reality that they didn’t want to believe in. We know the rest.

            It’s interesting that you would mention Dawkins. He’s the guy that recently denounced reading fairy tales to children.

            http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10875912/Reading-fairy-stories-to-children-is-harmful-says-Richard-Dawkins.html

            Which begs the question, considering that Star Wars is a fairy tale in its own right, what are you doing here?

            I know Hitchens well. Do you? Watch this video of Hitchens debating at Berkeley. you may be surprised.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkftGIH5qnI

            It’s important to understand kid, that true understanding requires more than name dropping.

          • August 28, 2014 at 11:20 pm
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            Learn to read. I said DAWKINS doesn’t debate creationists. Some ideas aren’t worth absorbing. *ahem*

          • August 28, 2014 at 11:23 pm
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            Learn to read. I said DAWKINS doesn’t debate creationists. Some ideas aren’t worth absorbing. *ahem*

          • August 29, 2014 at 4:35 am
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            I see.

            So as long as Dawkins says he doesn’t debate Creationists, then it doesn’t matter if he has debated Creationists, as long as he’s not debating Creationists at the present moment.

            Admittedly, there’s a steep learning curve involved in reading your creative sentence structures, which for whatever reason contain a proliferation of unwarranted ellipses. Perhaps a decoder ring would be helpful.

            Regardless, why do you suppose that Dawkins had this change of heart with regards to debating Creationists? Is it that he only seeks to debate people with which he agrees?

          • August 29, 2014 at 5:39 am
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            No, he explains that here and I think is a brilliant analogy. He’s been asked that very question many times and always provides a good answer:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhmsDGanyes

            That’s my last response, I want to enjoy my day off instead of looking stuff up for you. It’s a Star Wars site not a grammatical composition contest. As for my writing… the comment you were referring to was written while under the influence of ambien, hope that clears up any confusion. Thanks.

          • August 29, 2014 at 4:31 pm
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            Are you suggesting that a Star Wars site isn’t good enough to bother with effective communication?

            One man’s brilliance is another man’s dullardry I suppose.

            The science vs. religion debate has been ongoing since at least the time of Socrates, and its a dialoge that I find absolutely fascinating. Star Wars engages in this dialogue by crafting a fictional world with a unique fusion of Force mysticism and advanced technologies.

            Dawkisn however seems to feel that he is above this millenia-old dialogue. Frankly to me, since I don’t believe in the illusion of elitism, it feels like a dodge. Refusal to engage with ideas that are contrary to your own, isn’t high minded. Rather, it’s close minded. It’s an easy thing for an intellectual to do; to surround himself with only yes-men in order to validate his own thoughts and spare himself form the irritation and inconvenience of having his ideas challenged. especially in the public arena where there’s a danger of embarassment and humiliation. It’s also quite cowardly, especially when we know that Dawkins himself admitted that he can’t be sure that God doesn’t exist.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfk7tW429E4

            If scientists refused to engage others in debate, then conspiracy theorists who came up with the preposterous claim that the Moon landings never occured outside of a movie studio would have won the day.

            I’m not sure what platform it is that he thinks he’s standing on exactly, but I balk at Dawkins elevating himself above “somebody like that,” given that this is a man who supports “mild pedophilia.”

            http://www.salon.com/2013/09/10/richard_dawkins_defends_mild_pedophilia_says_it_does_not_cause_lasting_harm/

            Regardless, I wonder what Dawkins or others in his camp would make of the recent tax payer funded scientific experiments that seek to determine whether or not our universe is a holographic simulation.

            http://news.yahoo.com/universe-really-hologram-203240505.html

            Who programmed the holographic projector? Hum?

          • August 29, 2014 at 6:55 pm
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            I’m pleased that you’ve agreed to give me the last word.

            I think that benefits both of us.

          • August 28, 2014 at 4:33 am
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            You assume that I’m Cuban, and try to start a debate on politics with me, only because I happened to mention a couple of positive things about modern-day Cuba, I see.

            Amusing. Naïve, arrogant and somewhat annoying, but amusing nonetheless.

            I do love a good debate, with folk with minds broad and open enough to understand that there’s good and bad everywhere. You know, folk who think for themselves, and speak out of personal experience, as opposed to mentioning external sources that might just have their own agenda.

            I did not mention politics and politicians in my previous comment, for I care not about that particular subject. So I’m not interested in debating it. Especially not on a site that is definitely not the right place to sustain such a discussion.

            I do appreciate your attempt at lecturing me, though. Perhaps all you mentioned above might be of interest to a U.S. citizen, or a Cuban in exile. Alas, since I happen to be neither that means naught to me. I’m just not blind to the reality of the world I happen to live in. That’s all.

          • August 28, 2014 at 5:05 am
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            “I could be mistaken, but wasn’t the Prequel Trilogy predominately about politics?”

            Yeah, but that’s different. It wasn’t as irritating as you are.

            “Also, do you understand what McCarthyism actually is?”

            Yes. Do you know what “in denial” means?

          • August 28, 2014 at 5:15 am
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            First of all I want to say that I mistakenly hit the report button on your post. There was nothing in your post that merited reporting, and it was a clumsy error on my part.

            I’m not sure why you assume, that I assume, that you’re Cuban. I have no way of knowing what nationality you might be, and don’t think that I’ve insinuated such. Could you provide the exact quote that led you to make this determination?

            Amusing. Naïve, arrogant, annoying. If you enjoy debate, then you ought to read Carl Sagan’s Fine Art of Baloney Detection.

            http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/saganbd.htm

            In it you’ll find references to ad hominem and the straw man. I’d suggest reading up on those.

            Mentioning external sources is also called providing a citation, or supporting your claims with evidence. It’s generally considered good scholarship among the sober minded. Of course the site has an agenda. Every website on the Internet has an agenda. Every human being on the planet as an agenda.

            You balked at the notion that Cuba’s 3rd World nature, and I responded. Politics are integral to the subject like it or not.

            It should be of interest to anyone who seeks wisdom or is even remotely interested in the freedom and human rights of their fellow man. The fact that it isn’t of interest to you, indicates that you are in fact blind to the world in which you live.

            But that’s not your fault.

            Your teachers and professors have failed you. So you’re going to have to take your education into your own hands. That’s not an insult or a lecture. It’s just a hard truth.

            Remember, contrarian impulses and self loathing are never convincing or practical substitutes for true wisdom, even when they’re expressed with creative prose.

          • August 28, 2014 at 5:21 am
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            Oh man Anon You give Atheists a bad name. Sagan would be turning in his grave right now… the irony is that he was a farrrr lefty too… and knew how to properly apply terminology.

          • August 28, 2014 at 5:32 am
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            @ Aras Volodka August 28, 2014 at 05:21 AM

            Remember, the definition of irony does not come to us from an Alanis Morissette song. It is something else entirely.

            Left or right, Sagan was an expert in his professional field. Anyone that is interested in Truth is willing to listen to all voices, even to those he may disagree with on some matters.

            Why would I give atheists a bad name anyway? I’m agnostic.

          • October 22, 2014 at 1:24 am
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            I could not agree more with the above.

          • October 21, 2014 at 6:14 pm
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            for the record, the term third-world means Non-Allied/ Non-Soviet, it does not mean what people think it means and it never did mean what people think it means.
            The Cold War is officially over, the Third World no longer exists.
            Third world was a faction, not a healthcare rating.

    • August 27, 2014 at 6:52 pm
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      Actually, a Wal-Mart in Yellow Stone National Park would be really convenient.

      • August 27, 2014 at 7:09 pm
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        It would be even more convenient just to stay near your local Wal-Mart and not visit Yellowstone or travel at all.

        • August 27, 2014 at 7:16 pm
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          The former Soviet Union thought that way too.

  • August 27, 2014 at 6:30 pm
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    Chicago is the capital city of corruption and lies. Im not surprised with this..

    • August 27, 2014 at 7:12 pm
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      Every highly populated area is the capital of corruption and lies.

      • August 27, 2014 at 7:34 pm
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        Every seat of power is a capital of corruption and lies.

    • August 27, 2014 at 10:44 pm
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      Chicago needs a New Hope! I wonder who it will be

  • August 27, 2014 at 6:45 pm
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    Who cares

  • August 27, 2014 at 8:00 pm
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    I live in Chicago, so I’ve obviously kept an eye on the museum brouhaha.

    There are valid points being made on both sides of the issue. On the one hand, there is an agreement in place for the past 40 years that there won’t be further development of the lakefront area. On the other hand, there have been recent developments and renovations to the lakefront area near the proposed museum site, including a new music venue just across the harbor and a block or so north of where the museum would be.

    Yes, there are some high-rise residences across Lake Shore Drive from the proposed site, and the museum would indeed change the view somewhat. The current view, however, is of train tracks, Lake Shore Drive, and two parking lots, with the lake out beyond that. Unless the museum is designed to be some massively tall monstrosity (which I doubt it will be) the only real change to the view will be that there will be a landscaped museum there instead of the parking lots.

    Much has been made about the need to ensure that the museum matches the surrounding architecture so that it doesn’t call too much attention to itself. I can absolutely appreciate that. The gigantic glass cock of a building that Donald Trump put downtown several years ago certainly looks more like it’d fit into New York’s skyline than it does in Chicago’s, and I am a big supporter of keeping the lakefront area tasteful.

    But when I hear people bemoaning the fact that the Lucas museum might not match the surrounding architecture, I can’t help but think that these folks must not have been down that way in a decade or so, when the city renovated Soldier Field from its classic Greco-Roman stone design to… a classic Greco-Roman stone design with the mothership from Close Encounters dropped on top of it. So now, one of the main structures in that part of the lakefront doesn’t even match itself. nor, really, does McCormick Place Convention Center, just south of the proposed museum site.

    As long as the museum design isn’t ridiculously gaudy, I don’t foresee it exactly “spoiling the atmos” from an architectural standpoint.

    IMHO, the biggest and most valid concern is the relocation of the parking lots to an underground garage on that same spot. Everything east of Lake Shore Drive (where the museum will go) is built on landfill, much of which is rubble from the Chicago Fire in 1871. They have no idea what toxic crap they’re going to find when they dig down there, what sort of problems it might cause, or how much it will cost to deal with it.

    Overall, though, I think that there will be more benefits than problems once all is said and done.

  • August 27, 2014 at 8:30 pm
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    After seeing his architecture, I’d say forget about just making the museum – Disney, hire this guy to do some architectural designs for the new movies!

  • August 27, 2014 at 9:40 pm
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    Does anyone know when the first standalone’s pre-production phase will begin if not already?

  • August 27, 2014 at 9:49 pm
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    SMPTE…awesome..I had one of their time code generators in the 90’s

    • August 29, 2014 at 10:06 am
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      Exactly what I was thinking reading this. Revenge of the music nerds

  • August 28, 2014 at 12:27 am
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    “here isn’t a filmmaker alive today that isn’t affected by George Lucas, whether it be through his style, or through his innovations in the art.”

    Jean-Luc Godard?

  • August 28, 2014 at 1:04 am
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    OK…. Who here thinks that a fan run star wars website should actually know what years the films came out?

    IT’S 2002 MORONS! Ep. 2 Attack of the Clones was released in 2002!!

    • August 28, 2014 at 1:29 am
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      I take it you’ve never made an error.

  • August 28, 2014 at 3:52 am
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    I’m in chicago as well… one thing about the poll: I doubt a lot of Chicagoans are even aware of this museum. We know about it because we are star wars fans.

    I think the museum is a great idea, just a terrible location. One of the comments on the following article said it would be better placed near the museum of science & industry…. which I think would be a great fit… as opposed to neighboring the football stadium & convention center which already have congested, overpriced parking. The south side has plenty of space & in need of revitalization.

    http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2014/06/30/proposed-lucas-museum-site-problematic

    • August 28, 2014 at 3:51 pm
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      Only problem with locating Lucas’ down near the Museum of Science and Industry is, it can be a pain in the ass to get there without a car. I agree that the two museums would compliment one another quite well, though.

      And yeah, there are plenty of places in Chicago that could use revitalization. Not just the south side, but some of the western neighborhoods as well.

      But of course, Rahm Emanuel doesn’t seem particularly concerned with those areas. (Actually, Rahm seems like he’s mainly concerned with Rahm, but that’s a whole ‘nother issue.) Something like the Lucas museum is never going to stray very far from the Loop as long as ol’ Mayor Rahm’s got anything to say about it.

      That said, I still don’t think that this museum is the disaster that a lot of its local detractors are putting it forth to be.

      • August 28, 2014 at 11:05 pm
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        Agreed. I hate Rahm. I’m actually wondering how he got elected… I haven’t met a single person who’s admittedly voted for him/ I’m wondering if they did a Putin style election here.

        • August 31, 2014 at 6:15 pm
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          Well, it’s Chicago, and the Democratic machine goes way beyond the Daley family. They always get people voting for them, mainly because there’s really never much in the way of competition. I know the old tales about everyone in Rosehill Cemetery voting half a dozen times always come up, but really I think it comes down to there just never being much competition. (You don’t see a lot of Chicagoans wandering around Daley Plaza wearing tricorn hats and hollering about birth certificates and “going Galt”, so I don’t see any modern-day Republican mounting much of a challenge hereabouts.)

          Rahm got picked by the machine because he has money and he has connections, both locally and at the national level. But the problem is, people don’t like him. Because, basically, he’s a self-serving schmuck who would sell his own grandmother if it would gain him a little more power and influence.

          Honestly, I much preferred the Daleys’ brand of “The Chicago Way.” Mayor Daley the Second had his faults (and IMHO made terrible decisions for the last several years he was in office) but I still always felt like deep down he genuinely loved Chicago and felt a connection to it (local boy that he always seemed to be.)

          Rahm just loves Rahm, near as I can see. And he grew up on the North Shore, which is an entirely different thing. He hasn’t the first clue about the working folks here in the city, and doesn’t seem to be a bit interested in learning about us. It’s always felt like he sees being the mayor of Chicago as a springboard to bigger and better things someplace else.

          But don’t get me schtarted about politics, already! ;^)

  • August 28, 2014 at 6:23 am
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    If the location he picked in Chicago is unavailable, I hope he can find a better waterfront location in a different city.

    • August 28, 2014 at 5:24 pm
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      Someplace that doesn’t require wearing a flak jacket to visit.

  • August 28, 2014 at 7:24 pm
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    Is he still married to Aunt Jemima?

  • August 28, 2014 at 7:33 pm
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    For those of you who only know Chicago through the lens of the 24-hour infotainment news networks, no… we’re not the modern day equivalent of Dodge City. (Hell, even Dodge City wasn’t what everyone thinks it was.)

    What we have are several really lousy, economically blighted neighborhoods where the majority of the trouble goes down. Anytime I hear on the news about “Another shooting in Chicago today…” I immediately think, “Englewood or Auburn Gresham, right?” And it very often ends up being one of them or another similarly shitty neighborhood.

    It’s not like we’re having daily shootouts at the Art Institute or snipers on the rooftops in Wrigleyville.

    Most of Chicago has about the amount of violence that you would tend to expect in a city of this size (especially in a national culture where so many people believe that it’s acceptable to solve interpersonal problems with violence.)

    Way, way off topic, I realize. But still.

  • October 21, 2014 at 4:13 pm
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    I’d be more worried about being associated with Ma Yansong.

    Lucas; a guy who made his career from a story about a small group of rebels fighting a tyrannical empire. Now he’s going to hire a guy who’s made his living from a tyrannical empire squashing all rebels.

    I gotta bad feeling about this.

  • October 21, 2014 at 5:12 pm
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    Um ….
    Where are all of those special projects that selling SW
    alledgedly freed him up to do?!?

    • October 23, 2014 at 10:14 pm
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      Your reading about one of them you goon.

  • October 21, 2014 at 6:33 pm
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    It should be in Modesto. Although George’s hometown is pretty ghetto now, same with Chicago lol. He should’ve put it in MOtown. Then I could drive an hour and a half whenever I want to go see the coolest museum ever, but it will be in CHI so…. Oh well.

  • October 21, 2014 at 9:34 pm
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    It’s important to not add too much significance with the phrase “founding”. Pixar’s earliest roots were tied to Lucas’s co’s (ILM at that point?) inefficient method of transferring animation data from one studio to another. I forget the guy’s name… but he was working on Roger Rabbit at the time and said it took a whole day just to animate 1.5 seconds worth of the animated segments. Pixar’s origin has more to do with his suggestions as opposed to George’s funding. He later went on to work with James Cameron and parted ways with him after Titanic.If you guys want the info there was on interview with that individual on home theater geeks.

    THX… same thing… that’s actually named after Thomas Holman, the brainchild of THX. Lucas just provided the funding. I just like to point it out because a lot of hard working people don’t get enough credit while Lucas seems to take all of it from a group effort in many cases.

    • October 24, 2014 at 10:43 am
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      Everything you stated is wrong.

  • October 22, 2014 at 10:09 pm
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    So you may face a wall of new problems when more relevant problems have been solved. Thats quiet clever. Just omit problems until they become the top one or three relevant.
    Wait the world actually works that way. At least politics

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