George Lucas

CHICAGO – Jar Jar Binks is back, and George Lucas has him in 3D. Yes, the re-release of 1999’s “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace,” takes advantage of the new 3D technology.

CHICAGO – The courage of the Tuskegee Airmen cannot be denied. The all African American World War II fighter pilot squadron not only braved battle, but also the virulent prejudice of the 1940s. The new film “Red Tails” chronicles the circumstance of that squadron, with a sappy and overlong treatment.

CHICAGO – We agree that it’s sometimes exploitative to re-release a hit film from long, long ago so a studio can newly bloat previously fat wallets.

CHICAGO – “The People vs. George Lucas” is a misleading title and several outlets have misleading representations of what you should expect from the film. This is not an antagonistic piece even if it does contain some amazing evidence in the anti-Lucas movement. The “vs.” makes it sound like a hatchet job. It’s not. It’s more of a love letter to the fans who have built their lives around “Star Wars” and THEN it goes on to point how that love has made the fan base even more sensitive to perceived slights to the holy trilogy. It’s a clever, fun documentary that runs just a bit long but truly captures something about geek-movie culture that hasn’t been so well-documented before.

CHICAGO – Is it wrong to say that I prefer the three “Robot Chicken” specials that spoof the “Star Wars” franchise more than the prequel trilogy? Heck, I enjoy the “Family Guy” trilogy of “Star Wars” take-offs more, so I suppose that’s not surprising. In all seriousness, these are very funny specials and the latest was recently released on Blu-ray with an abundance of special features. Don’t miss it.

SAN FRANCISCO – Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced the release date for “Star Wars: The Complete Saga” on Blu-ray Disc. September 12th is the international debut and September 16th is the date for North America.

CHICAGO – Just as we were about to write off the LEGO games after some lackluster installments (“LEGO Indiana Jones,” “LEGO Batman”), last year’s excellent “LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4” was the best family video game of the season and news of the March release of another sequel in the franchise that started it all — “LEGO Star Wars” — allowed hope that this series was still very much alive.

CHICAGO – “Where were you in ‘62?” was the tagline for the popular 1973 film “American Graffiti.” The Hollywood Celebrities Show had most of the cast there – Cindy Williams, Charles Martin Smith, Paul LeMat and Candy Clark.

CHICAGO – Now that he is widely recognized as one of the best filmmakers of all time, it’s almost hard to believe that there was a period in the career of Akira Kurosawa when he couldn’t get financing to make a film. Kurosawa went through a very dark time in the ’70s, punctuated by his disastrous experience with “Tora! Tora! Tora!,” and needed the weight of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas to help with his comeback, “Kagemusha,” now available in a beautiful Criterion Collection Blu-Ray release.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – I honestly never though Trey Parker and Matt Stone would still be pumping out “South Park” episodes in the era of HD Blu-Ray. It’s not that I’m not a fan. I’ve seen the brilliant movie, “South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut” a dozen or so times, but I thought that would be near the end of the phenomenon of Stan, Kyle, Kenny, & Cartman. Years later, it looks like it was just the beginning.