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10 Feb 2012 18:33

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Culture: George Lucas speaks out on Han vs. Greedo

  • The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo (who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original) to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom… Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.
  • George Lucas • Addressing one of the biggest fan complaints relating to his serial re-tinkering of Star Wars. There’s two main points here that we somewhat object to: first, Lucas claims that people who thought Han Solo fired his blaster before Greedo did in the original cut of Star Wars were mistaken, and that it was merely unclear that Greedo fired due to the framing of the shot. We’d suggest this is flatly, evidently not the case by any reasoned examination of the original scene. Also, Lucas seems to paint those who’d prefer Han to have fired first as wanting their beloved space-smuggler to be a “cold-blooded killer,” an idea we suspect many would dispute. There’s a difference between being a cold-blooded killer and being unwilling to let every backwoods bounty hunter get a shot off at you before you fire back, isn’t there? But, we digress — what do you think? source

23 Aug 2011 21:39

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Tech: The LA Times’ latest headline scares the crap out of us

  • Despite the relatively benign story, everything about this–the headline, the positioning of the robot’s arms, the fact that the robot has its own Twitter account–has us doubting humankind’s continued reign of dominance on Earth. “I’m semi-autonomous,” Robonaut 2 (or “R2”) tweeted. “I require ground control, but I can also respond to my environment within controlled specifications.” Yeah, well, you say “controlled specifications,” we hear “I, Robot.” source

29 Sep 2010 10:41

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Culture: “Star Wars,” which we’ve never seen, getting the 3D treatment

  • good George Lucas’ Lusasfilm is going to release the “Star Wars” series in 3D starting in 2012, meaning it’ll be back in theaters.
  • bad They’re starting with “The Phantom Menace.” Dear Mr. Lucas, you should probably forget the last three movies existed.* source
  • * Disclosure: The staff of ShortFormBlog is basing that comment on the comments of many other people, because we’ve never actually seen any of the “Star Wars” movies. Out of principle.

06 Jul 2010 22:24

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Offbeat: George Lucas wants to corner the lightsaber market for himself

  • Is this a lightsaber? Good question. Gizmodo called it a “real life lightsaber.”  Daily Tech notes it’s a weapon that can set people on fire – which sounds pretty lightsabery to us. And now, George Lucas’ folks have sent a cease-and-desist to Wicked Lasers, saying the Spyder Pro Arctic Laser looks too much like a lightsaber. And now, our friends at Wicked Lasers are denying it. We just want to be able to set people on fire without having to worry about lawsuits. source

07 Nov 2009 14:32

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Culture: Nerds freak out over a “Star Wars” Princess Leia bikini photo

carriefisher1107
  • On the left: Carrie Fisher. On the right: Her stunt double, who apparently was Paul Rudd. The year: 1983. The scene: Two bikini-clad “Star Wars” characters on the set of “Return of the Jedi,” sunbathing. This is the closest to nudity our blog has ever gotten.source