Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
What Do Lawrence of Arabia, Psycho, Star Wars: Episode IV, & 2001: A Space Odyssey Have in Common?
They're among the 25 unplayable-in-England DVDs that President Barack Obama gave to U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week. No word yet if the shrink-wrap was still on them.
Here's the full list, courtesy of MTV:
- "2001: A Space Odyssey"
- "Casablanca"
- "Chinatown"
- "Citizen Kane"
- "City Lights"
- "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial"
- "It's a Wonderful Life"
- "Lawrence of Arabia"
- "On the Waterfront"
- "Psycho"
- "Raging Bull"
- "Schindler's List"
- "Singin' in the Rain"
- "Some Like It Hot"
- "Star Wars: Episode IV"
- "Sunset Boulevard"
- "The General"
- "The Godfather"
- "The Graduate"
- "The Grapes of Wrath"
- "The Searchers"
- "The Wizard of Oz"
- "To Kill a Mockingbird"
- "Vertigo"
You know, in some cultures, cheaping out and not giving the full run of Star Wars is seen as a sign of disrespect. More here.
Reinmoose|3.10.09 @ 12:28PM|#
If the smart party were in charge, this sort of thing would never happen
Taktix®|3.10.09 @ 12:28PM|#
Also, at least Obama didn't give them copies of HBO's John Addams or The Patriot...
Dello|3.10.09 @ 12:30PM|#
Have you actually SEEN the full run of Star Wars? I'd consider not getting them all a blessing...
the innominate one|3.10.09 @ 12:31PM|#
I think a new protocol officer is in order. Maybe C3PO is available.
THANKS!|3.10.09 @ 12:33PM|#
I swear the administration, past and present, should compensate
me for the hours it often requires me to try to explain, not
defend, what the morons that represent my country of origin are
doing. With the prior administration it was "asshole hour" now it's
"amateur hour." I can't win.
Thank god most people abroad have the common sense not to equate
you with the retards running your country, although I have noticed
this sentiment is rapidly waning.
Xeones|3.10.09 @ 12:34PM|#
You know, in some cultures, cheaping out and not giving the
full run of Star Wars is seen as a sign of disrespect.
In other, more advanced cultures, giving the full run of 6 movies
is considered a deadly insult, and just cause for war.
|3.10.09 @ 12:35PM|#
Il Duce also "gave back" the bust of Winston Churchill that was
given to the office not very long ago. I heard that they will crate
the Statue of Liberty and return it to France, as well.
You didn't even mention the very thoughtful gift Michelle Obama
gave to Ms. Brown for her kids: models of the Presidential
Helicopter that surely came from the White House gift shop.
Look, I've seen Mexican presidents do crazy things whenever
representatives from other countries come to visit Mexico, or when
they go visit other countries, but surely never EVER have these
guys given a gift you can find at Amazon.com
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 12:35PM|#
Dello has it. In the culture around here, giving the prequels to Star Wars would be a sign of disrespect. One on the order of saying to someone's face "You are a tasteless buffoon. Enjoy these crappy movies."
TofuSushi|3.10.09 @ 12:35PM|#
You know, in some cultures, cheaping out and not giving the
full run of Star Wars is seen as a sign of disrespect.
In advanced cultures, promoting the myths of banking spacecraft,
noise traveling through a vacume or noisey light is considered
disrespectful to the "smarts" of the recipient.*
*This statement may have blown the cover to my serious person
handle, but it still must be said.
|3.10.09 @ 12:38PM|#
With the prior administration it was "asshole hour" now it's
"amateur hour." I can't win.
This wasn't amateur hour - even I could think of a tasteful gift
for Gordon Brown. This was a clear-cut message to him, from the
Arrogant One: We don't need you [and by "we", Il Duce means "I", as
in "L'estat C'est Moi"]
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 12:40PM|#
Although I do have to give props for City Lights and The General. If you're going to watch two silent films, those are great choices.
|3.10.09 @ 12:41PM|#
I'd have included only movies that were very subtly insulting to
the U.K. Or to the U.S., depending on my mood.
If I were feeling very warm and fuzzy towards the British, then I'd
send movies that were blatantly insulting to the French, our
natural enemies.
wingnutx|3.10.09 @ 12:41PM|#
If it had been the boxed set of 'Firefly' then I'd be forced to say nice things about Obama.
|3.10.09 @ 12:42PM|#
Though I do not miss joe, I would love to hear an Obamaton explain this away. Really. Can anyone come up with a reasonable explanation? Can Obama really be this stupid and arrogant, or have staff that are this stupid and arrogant?
TofuSushi|3.10.09 @ 12:43PM|#
"Lawrence of Arabia" was supposed to be viewed by the British as a nice movie?
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 12:44PM|#
Also, while NTSC DVD's are a bit of a gaffe, I think Brown can afford a code free DVD player.
|3.10.09 @ 12:44PM|#
I also give guests dvds I...don't watch anymore
(porn).
You were having me over for tea on Friday, right PAL?
|3.10.09 @ 12:44PM|#
That's OK, because the wood in the pen Brown gave to Obama was really from the wood recently replaced in his backyard deck.
TofuSushi|3.10.09 @ 12:44PM|#
Epi,
He is neither stupid nor arrogant. You just do not have the
capacity to understand Him.
How was that?
|3.10.09 @ 12:45PM|#
Il Duce could have been more succinct and chosen
more-to-the-point movies like:
Braveheart
Zulu Dawn
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Rob Roy
Bannockburn
John Paul Jones
George Washington (the miniseries)
The Swamp Fox (the TV Series with Leslie Nielsen)
|3.10.09 @ 12:48PM|#
The Red Button thing that Hillary pulled was even more embarrassing, considering that this FORMER first lady should have known better than pull that cutesy trick.
|3.10.09 @ 12:49PM|#
wingnutz,
That would've shaken the very roots of the world. He's probably
never even heard of Firefly, unfortunately.
I gave my dad the series for Christmas. He loved it and went out
and bought Serenity on his own. I know he's into it,
because the last time he was in town, he recognized the Blue Sun
shirt I was wearing (one of the few geeked-out shirts I own).
TofuSushi,
Why not? The British won that English director. Of course, O'Toole
is from Ireland (though raised in England).
BDB|3.10.09 @ 12:50PM|#
"Though I do not miss joe, I would love to hear an Obamaton
explain this away. Really."
Epi--
Why do you think joe left, after all? It wasn't because of the
monkey cartoon.
|3.10.09 @ 12:50PM|#
In advanced cultures, promoting the myths of banking
spacecraft, noise traveling through a vacume or noisey light is
considered disrespectful to the "smarts" of the
recipient.
Of course spacecraft bank. It is much less disorienting and
provides a more normal G force, allowing better flight
characteristics and pilot control. Furthermore, it provides a
smooth transition from the aerodynamic atmospheric trainers that
most pilots first fly. Only minimally competent civilizations fail
to simulate banking in spaceflight.
As for sounds in space, those are computer generated in multiple
dimensions in the cockpit or headphones as the most natural signal
for the pilot to pay immediate attention to. The director and sound
editor are simply letting the audience in on those sounds to give
them a better feel for the pilot's experience in advanced
spaceflight.
Duh.
|3.10.09 @ 12:51PM|#
Forgot to add:
The Messenger
[With Mila Jovovich! About Joanne d'Arc! Many British maimed and
killed in that one! Don't you guys remember???]
TofuSushi|3.10.09 @ 12:52PM|#
Pro,
Because Major Lawrance was doing everything in his power to prevent
British Imperial control over Palestine after beating the Turks out
of it.
|3.10.09 @ 12:53PM|#
Why do you think joe left, after all?
Oh, I know. But I'd still be fascinated to hear how he (or his ilk)
would spin this. Most of the time I can see where the spin will be,
but how the hell do you spin this?
My only guess would be that "it must have been a lazy staffer who
has now been fired and Obama never knew what the gifts would be" or
something, except that would mean that Obama isn't overseeing gifts
to statesmen of our closest allies. Which is also stupid.
|3.10.09 @ 12:54PM|#
Somehow "the British won that one" and "David Lean was an
English director" got merged into one sentence in my last posting.
Is that filtering software running totally amok?
BDB,
If Obama were cool, he'd have given the Blu-Ray discs along with a
Blu-Ray player.
|3.10.09 @ 12:55PM|#
It is much less disorienting and provides a more normal G
force, allowing better flight characteristics and pilot
control.
Uh, nice try, Mike, but artificial gravity generators remove all G
forces except Earth normal downwards.
Duh.
BDB|3.10.09 @ 12:56PM|#
I would, too, but he bailed.
You know at least all the Bushies took the heat here when their
side was in charge.
|3.10.09 @ 12:56PM|#
Epi,
I don't buy the bumbling staffer story. This was clearly something
Il Duce asked: "Let's get him some cheap DVD set or something.
Here, go to Target and put it on the White House card. Oh, and
bring back the receipt!"
Hugh Akston|3.10.09 @ 12:57PM|#
You guys this is serious. Brown could de-friend Obama on Facebook over this.
I hear those gentle voices...|3.10.09 @ 12:57PM|#
calling Poor Old Joe.
Where are you joe? we need your commentary. we know only you could
see through the disguised bigotry of calling out the new POTUS on
his gift-giving skills.
|3.10.09 @ 12:58PM|#
TofuSushi,
That was more fiction than fact, I think.
You know, what if Obama had given Brown 25 video games? What games
should he have given? To keep it simple, let's make them Xbox360
games. Off the top of my head, I'd borrow one from the movie
list--The Godfather. Definitely Fallout 3 and the
two Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. And Grand
Theft Auto Whatever Version would be a given, of course.
|3.10.09 @ 12:58PM|#
Obama loves to snub Brown. He had him "waiting around" for a
press confrence that never happened. Because of.......SNOW!
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/03/03/barack_obama_cancels_press_conference_with_gordon_brown_because_of_snow
Yes, this is the same tough guy who wined about having his kids
school closed for icy roads.
Reinmoose|3.10.09 @ 12:58PM|#
I'm a little disappointed there was nothing like National Lampoon's European Vacation
|3.10.09 @ 12:58PM|#
If Obama were cool, he'd have given the Blu-Ray discs along
with a Blu-Ray player.
If I wanted to be REALLY cool, I would have given him a Play
Station 3 with a freshly-minted Resident Evil 5 DVD...
... and the Blu-Ray versions of Braveheart, Zulu Dawn, Rob Roy,
John Paul Jones, The Messenger...
BDB|3.10.09 @ 1:05PM|#
Sadly a video game system would be unplayable (NTSC vs. PAL) as
well.
You know, if we gotta have a U.N. could they at least have done
something useful like implement one global standard for TVs?
|3.10.09 @ 1:06PM|#
artificial gravity generators remove all G forces except
Earth normal downwards.
What good are snub fighters with artificial gravity?
|3.10.09 @ 1:06PM|#
I would love to hear an Obamaton explain this
away.
GEEEEEOOOOORRRGGGGEEE BUUUUUUSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!
|3.10.09 @ 1:06PM|#
I'm a little disappointed there was nothing like National
Lampoon's European Vacation
No Hercules in
New York either. What a missed opportunity.
SIV|3.10.09 @ 1:07PM|#
In advanced cultures, promoting the myths of banking
spacecraft, noise traveling through a vacume or noisey light is
considered disrespectful to the "smarts" of the
recipient.*
That reads very close to my review of the original theatrical
release of Star Wars when I was 14.I really hated those
movies, well until the Ewoks. Nobody hates Ewoks.They had a great
song and an even better made for TV spin-off movie.
BDB|3.10.09 @ 1:08PM|#
"well until the Ewoks. Nobody hates Ewoks.They had a great song
and an even better made for TV spin-off movie."
I hope that was dripping with sarcasm.
|3.10.09 @ 1:08PM|#
Besides, even in capital ships, artificial gravity is one of the greatest power requirements. Of course you use a trivial amount of propulsion to bank in order to reduce the demands on the artificial gravity.
Nittany Cat|3.10.09 @ 1:09PM|#
"I would love to hear an Obamaton explain this away."
This isn't this administration's gift of DVD's. It's the gift of
DVD's the previous administration failed to give to Brown last
year.
Notorious B.I.G.o.t.|3.10.09 @ 1:10PM|#
Serious matters like the budget, the bailout, and the
business-as-usual, Hugh? C'mon, lighten up! This is fun. Kinda like
how Liberals are now showing that their only beef with W was his
poor syntax.
We love Obama's policies. We just don't like him because...
BDB|3.10.09 @ 1:10PM|#
This discussion of Star Wars reminds me of this article:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay
Has just about every example of bad space physics in fiction
listed.
|3.10.09 @ 1:14PM|#
It's the gift of DVD's the previous administration failed to
give to Brown last year.
I heard that everybody went bananas (ok, the MSM) when GWB gave GB
a leather bomber jacket. In hindsight, that was a VERY thoughtful
gift even for Dub-Ya, considering a good quality bomber jacket
costs around $800.00 and they make anybody look cool (unless you
happen to be a human blob).
I cannot imagine GB trying to wear his new set of DVDs,
though...
Wicket W Warrick|3.10.09 @ 1:15PM|#
do-da-do-da-do.....YUB! YUB!
I could kill Lucas for cutting the Ewok party scene. Even I never
knew there were TWO Ewok made-for-TV movies! I only saw Battle
For Endor.
Abdul|3.10.09 @ 1:16PM|#
Epi: here's my best devil's advocate pro-Obama spin on
DVDgate
If the worst thing that the Republicans can pin on Obama is that he
gives lousy diplomatic gifts--which, by law, the prime minister
cannot even retain if valued over a certain amount--then Obama must
be doing a great job.
BTW, has anyone brought up that Gordon Brown is almost totally
blind due to an old sports injury?
|3.10.09 @ 1:16PM|#
Besides, even in capital ships, artificial gravity is one of
the greatest power requirements. Of course you use a trivial amount
of propulsion to bank in order to reduce the demands on the
artificial gravity.
Uhh, dilithium crystals provide all the power you need. Banking is
also tactically stupid. If your fighter/warship can make a
90/180/whatever degree turn on a dime, you have much more
maneuverability.
KenK|3.10.09 @ 1:16PM|#
I suppose he could have given him a Circuit City gift card, or one from Sharper Image?
Hugh Akston|3.10.09 @ 1:17PM|#
I don't buy the bumbling staffer story. This was clearly
something Il Duce asked: "Let's get him some cheap DVD set or
something. Here, go to Target and put it on the White House card.
Oh, and bring back the receipt!"
Most of these DVDs can't be gotten at Target. It's more likely that
Michelle was complaining about all of the unused Best Buy gift
cards left over from the inauguration.
Some Hoser|3.10.09 @ 1:17PM|#
Canada gave Obama a list of 49 crappy Canadian songs.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/obamasplaylist/
|3.10.09 @ 1:20PM|#
Why do you think joe left, after all?
Among other reasons, joe left because Reason.com has a decent site
search function. He feared that people (you know who you are) would
me use it to post,
I told you[a href=http://www.reason.co.com/xxx"] here[/a] that this was going to occur.
Reinmoose|3.10.09 @ 1:20PM|#
Abdul - I think that's the most likely answer, yes.
How about the argument of fiscal responsibility? We just can't
afford as much as we used to.
|3.10.09 @ 1:20PM|#
Abdul, Nittany, those are pretty good.
I would have loved to have seen the Stormtroopers massacre an
entire tribe of Ewoks in retaliation, Einsatzgruppen-style.
|3.10.09 @ 1:23PM|#
Wicket W Warrick,
Have you never beheld the
horror that was The Star Wars Holiday Special?
It's NSFS (Not Safe For Sanity).
robc|3.10.09 @ 1:25PM|#
Since the RESET button thing was mentioned above, can anyone
explain that to me assuming it had been translated properly.
Handing the Russians a red button with reset written on it sounds
like we are reseting the cold war to me. Ignoring the translation
snafu, I dont think this was properly thought through.
Abdul|3.10.09 @ 1:25PM|#
I would have loved to have seen the Stormtroopers massacre
an entire tribe of Ewoks in retaliation,
Einsatzgruppen-style.
They tried, but were foiled by a big log swinging on a rope made of
braided vines.
Mike M.|3.10.09 @ 1:25PM|#
If I were Prime Minister Brown, on my next visit I'd give Obama a copy of "Being There", as we're now being run by the real-life version of Chauncey Gardiner.
|3.10.09 @ 1:26PM|#
Episiarch,
It's hard to believe that no one has created, along the lines of,
say, Troops,
a video of the stormtroopers slaughtering the Ewoks. I'm generally
a Rebellion/Light Side guy, but I think the Empire could be
forgiven that "crime."
Reinmoose|3.10.09 @ 1:29PM|#
ProL
It wouldn't hurt if they accidentally killed Jar Jar Binks in the
process, either.
|3.10.09 @ 1:30PM|#
joe probably read my posts about how much he posted here and decided to get a real life... Nah, he's probably just on a cruise somewhere without a broadband connection.
|3.10.09 @ 1:34PM|#
It's hard to believe that no one has created, along the
lines of, say, Troops, a video of the stormtroopers slaughtering
the Ewoks.
No it's not, because Lucas would sue the shit out of them.
They tried, but were foiled by a big log swinging on a rope
made of braided vines.
Why didn't the Empire just burn the whole forest down? Wicket don't
surf, and I love the smell of charred fur in the morning. Smells
like hickory.
|3.10.09 @ 1:36PM|#
If your fighter/warship can make a 90/180/whatever degree
turn on a dime, you have much more maneuverability.
Well, with dilithium crystals, sure you can do that. The Empire
doesn't seem to have dilithium crystals, though, their having been
invented not such a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away.
|3.10.09 @ 1:39PM|#
Moose, I have a photoshop from a contest where it's a package of hamburger meat but you can see the remnants of Jar Jar's face in it. Hilarious, but unfortunately it's at home and I'm at work.
|3.10.09 @ 1:42PM|#
Episiarch,
Produced anonymously, of course. Overseas. In a bunker.
Look, the man's reach must end somewhere. After all, The Star
Wars Christmas Special still pops up on Youtube and elsewhere,
despite his vow to kill anyone who has even seen, let alone
distributed, that horror of horrors.
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 1:46PM|#
The Ewoks made the potential sequels (vols. 7-9) pointless (how do you believe any jeopardy from the Empire when a bunch of Teddy Ruxpin dolls kick the crap out of them?) Of course, the quality of the prequels made the idea of the sequels a moot point in any event.
|3.10.09 @ 1:53PM|#
The construction that...
***SPOILER***
...Darth Vader is Luke's father pretty much made everything beyond
the original trilogy pointless.
|3.10.09 @ 1:55PM|#
I liked Luke saving his father. Nice redemption myth stuff. But now that I know his father better, I think Luke should've just killed him as soon as possible.
Xeones|3.10.09 @ 1:57PM|#
Canada gave Obama a list of 49 crappy Canadian
songs.
They're not all crappy, ya hoser. Although i'm not sure how
wonderful "One Great City!" is for Canadian pride, being that it's
about how much Winnipeg sucks.
|3.10.09 @ 2:04PM|#
Didn't you guys hear? Obama was TIRED! He simply forgot the whole gift thing until the last minute, and the only thing open was the Wal Mart down the street.
|3.10.09 @ 2:05PM|#
Did X just out himself as a maple-sucker, hoser, Eh-hole, 51st Stater, frostback, iceback, moosefucker, snowback, or puckhead?
B|3.10.09 @ 2:10PM|#
I haven't read all of the comments, but I am I the only one who
really doesn't mind the Prez going cheap on the (presumably
taxpayer-funded) symbolic gifts to other heads of state?
I realize it's a drop in the ocean, but you know, it's the thought
that counts sometimes...
Bronwyn|3.10.09 @ 2:13PM|#
B, I think the problem is the lack of thought, since Region 1
DVDs won't play on Region 2 machines.
He basically just gave GB a useless pile of shiny plastic.
Reinmoose|3.10.09 @ 2:15PM|#
If I was Gordon Brown I would turn around and sell the lot of them on Ebay. I bet it would bring a pretty penny.
Bronwyn|3.10.09 @ 2:17PM|#
Hey, GB can make a wind chime. That'll look pretty hanging out front of ol' #10.
TofuSushi|3.10.09 @ 2:19PM|#
J sub D,
Your xxx URL did not work when I clicked on it. Can you retype it?
I am at work and want to check it out.
Forthehorde|3.10.09 @ 2:24PM|#
Uhh, dilithium crystals provide all the power you need.
Banking is also tactically stupid. If your fighter/warship can make
a 90/180/whatever degree turn on a dime, you have much more
maneuverability.
Keyboard turning sucks.
|3.10.09 @ 2:26PM|#
At least there was no Nickelback on that list,
Hoser.
They also refrained from any Celine or Shania. And had the good
sense to include both Arcade Fire AND Stompin' Tom. I, for one,
think Canadians deserve at least partial credit.
jester|3.10.09 @ 2:30PM|#
What would be awesome would be if Mr. Brown re-gifts them on his next state visit to Washington.
Taz|3.10.09 @ 2:32PM|#
Sure it's retarded, but think of the money that he could have
dropped on some other exotic, useless gift. If our great leader is
required to spend taxpayer money on gifts, I say that DVD sets are
the way to go.
You know, it shows that he's committed to reducing wasteful
spending. *cough*
jester|3.10.09 @ 2:36PM|#
A Reader's Digest Koran or maybe a personal surveillance camera would have been thoughtful alternatives. For the kids that PlaySkool Airport Screening mock-up that was posted a while back on hit-n-run.
|3.10.09 @ 2:38PM|#
I wonder what a Prime Minister Shatner would
give?
The White House has already asked him to stop sending them
all-Shatner playlists, so that's out.
Xeones|3.10.09 @ 2:43PM|#
Did X just out himself as a maple-sucker etc.
Hey, Canadians came up with some decent bands during that hockey
strike a couple years ago when they didn't have anything else to
do. The Arcade Fire is also good, although they probably shouldn't
count because the lead singer is from Texas.
And Epi, if you ever accuse me of being Canadian again, i will find
you and burn down your life.
jester|3.10.09 @ 2:47PM|#
Or one of these...only $19.95
http://www.obamapens.tv/?iorb=4764
As seen on TV!
|3.10.09 @ 2:52PM|#
This could have been solved by using the Omega-13
device.
Corbomite, dudez.
And Epi, if you ever accuse me of being Canadian again, i will
find you and burn down your life.
You're very touchy about this. Are you half-Canadian or something?
Some kind of hybrid freak?
Franklin Harris|3.10.09 @ 2:55PM|#
Come on, people! If the prime minister of what once was the British Empire doesn't have access to a freakin' region-free DVD player, what's the point of the job?
Wayne Coyne|3.10.09 @ 2:57PM|#
I'm a fan of them on one level, but on another level I get
really tired of their pompousness ... We've played some shows with
them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been
around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like
shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody
in their vicinity like shit. I thought, 'Who do they think they
are?' I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up
with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either
of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be
like, 'Fuck you, get outta here.'
... People treat Arcade Fire like they're the greatest thing ever
and they get away with it. Those sort of opinions change my view of
their music. They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so fuck 'em.
Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I've been around groups. I've
been around the Edge from U2 and he's the fucking sweetest guy
ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was
just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and
people who have the privilege and money and attention should
understand that. If they don't, then fuck 'em.
|3.10.09 @ 3:00PM|#
Cheap? And hacking off a little chunk of an old boat they had
laying around and whittling it into a PEN HOLDER wasn't
cheap?
I mean, seriously...
|3.10.09 @ 3:02PM|#
Oh, and to add to the insult, "2001" was filmed primarily in the
UK (everything except some location shots in Monument Valley,
according to IMDB), directed by US-born expat Stanley Kubrick who
moved to England in 1962 ("2001" was made in 1968), written by
Arthur C. Clarke who was a brit.
LOLz.
Xeones|3.10.09 @ 3:38PM|#
I like their music, Wayne, not hanging out with them. By the way, thanks for the free laser pointer at that one show!
|3.10.09 @ 3:39PM|#
Tonio,
And Clarke ditched the UK for Sri Lanka (where he lived until his
recent death) eons ago.
fiddlesticks|3.10.09 @ 3:56PM|#
"Lawrence of Arabia," "Psycho," "Vertigo," and "City Lights" were all -- while released by Hollywood studios -- made by British filmmakers. It's not quite ironic, but nonetheless worth noting.
JB|3.10.09 @ 3:57PM|#
Somehow Obama and the Obama administration are so retarded that
they have managed to get the State Department to forget how to
translate Russian!
Is there anything that these people are good at? Oh, yeah, one
thing: finding tax cheats.
|3.10.09 @ 4:03PM|#
Why didn't the Empire just burn the whole forest down?
Wicket don't surf, and I love the smell of charred fur in the
morning. Smells like hickory.
Episiarch, I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe
to your newsletter.
|3.10.09 @ 4:07PM|#
Why not place the shield generator on the Death Star, so that
you could blow up Endor right away?
The story was originally supposed to be set on the Planet of the
Wookies. Okay, maybe I can buy armed Wookies beating
stormtroopers.
economist|3.10.09 @ 4:20PM|#
His goodwill gift to the Israeli PM should be The Passion of the Christ.
|3.10.09 @ 4:41PM|#
The Ewoks didn't (and didn't have to) beat the stormtroopers.
They just had to distract them so that the Rebels got into the
shield generator.
If you ask me, the Imperial commanders were idiots to even bother
chasing the Ewoks into the forest, especially before the real
threat, the Rebels, were killed or transfered to a more secure
location. Kind of a prophecy of our War on Terror policy I'm
afraid.
|3.10.09 @ 4:43PM|#
Are you suggesting that bin Laden is an Ewok? That could explain his close relationship with a Muppet.
|3.10.09 @ 4:47PM|#
The major successes the Ewoks had in the battle were entirely believable -- smashing an Imperial walker between two tree trunks, and "tripping" another by rolling logs beneath it. Of course, what's unbelievable is that an omnipotent pan-Galactic Empire would use such stupid armored vehicles to begin with. Remind me again what tactical advantage is gained by putting a tank on wobbly legs?
|3.10.09 @ 4:51PM|#
If al Qaeda is actually a group of Ewoks, maybe I'm more in favor of the War on Terror than I originally thought.
|3.10.09 @ 4:52PM|#
Well the main difference is that the Ewoks are much more lax in their diet. Bin Laden would never prepare a Wookie for supper, would he?
jester|3.10.09 @ 4:59PM|#
Consider Watto if you want to further underline the 'ignorant
design' of Mr Lucas's heap-of-shit creations.
Unless his belly is full of helium, his mass would land him flat on
his ass even if those vestigial wings flapped faster that a
hummingbird's.
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 5:02PM|#
The major successes the Ewoks had in the battle were
entirely believable...
Yeah, um...ok. Apparently, the Empire has some weak ass metal. And
the fact that a group of dolls armed with pointed sticks had fewer
casualties than an heavily armed group of soldiers is also really
believable.
I was thirteen when I first saw that shit, and I didn't believe it
then.
Personal Shopper|3.10.09 @ 5:07PM|#
His Goodwill gift to the Israeli PM will be a bagel with sesame
seeds arranged to look like the Virgin.
Or a DVD set of "Shoah" for the Pope.
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 5:15PM|#
I was thirteen when I first saw that shit, and I didn't
believe it then.
er... "didn't think it was plausible then"
|3.10.09 @ 5:17PM|#
I know Hollywood films are viewed as being so much a part of our country's identity, but when you really flyspeck the list of films, it isn't really well chosen as a piece of Americana. 2001 was shot in England by an American filmmaker that spent the last four decades of his life living in England. Eight of the films were directed by men that emigrated to the US for the film industry (not counting Capra). Star Wars was mostly shot in Tunisia and England. Schindler's List was shot in Poland. Lawrence of Arabia in Northern Africa. Forget the homes of the actors or the settings of the stories. I'm not trying to say that these films are not American, but rather that when Gordon Brown pops Lawrence of Arabia into the DVD player, I do not think he'll be reminded of America as he watches.
|3.10.09 @ 5:18PM|#
BP,
You were right the first time. I don't believe it, either. I think
the remaining Jedi fled to Endor and trained a bunch of human kids,
then put them in costumes. I mean, they looked like kids in
costumes to me.
</|3.10.09 @ 5:29PM|#
ProL
Midgets
Child labor laws in Hollywood are really rent-seeking by
midgets.
economist|3.10.09 @ 5:31PM|#
I personally think that after the ending credits, the Ewoks ate them all.
|3.10.09 @ 5:34PM|#
Say, maybe the Ewoks were zombies led by Bruce Campbell? That would reconfigure my whole notion of Ewoks. "Stormtrooper braaaiins."
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 5:42PM|#
PL, agreed - your original scenario makes more sense. I can't
believe Bruce Campbell would have anything to do with Ewoks.
Syd - I've asked that question twice already.
|3.10.09 @ 5:47PM|#
BP,
Yes, clearly, Campbell would never have played such a prominent
role in ROTJ if the Ewoks were, in fact, non-undead furry
midgets. I mean, come on!
George Lucas|3.10.09 @ 5:50PM|#
What if we CGIed them into hot, Amazon women? Armed with light sabers?
BakedPenguin|3.10.09 @ 5:56PM|#
What if we CGIed them into hot, Amazon women? Armed with
light sabers?
There's some re-imagining I can live with...
|3.10.09 @ 6:31PM|#
What if we CGIed them into hot, Amazon women? Armed with
light sabers?
Double-headed light sabers? With "special effects"? I think you may
be onto something.
I was thirteen when I first saw that shit, and I didn't believe
it then.
er... "didn't think it was plausible then"
C'mon, it's no less plausible than the chariot chase scene from
History of the World, Part 1. Actually, never mind that. A
giant Roman doobie is definitely more plausible.
Confucius say...|3.10.09 @ 7:11PM|#
Ewoks are copyright infringement on Chinese-made Shih Tzus. You can't make an Shih Tzu purse out of an Ewok's ear.
MJ|3.10.09 @ 11:04PM|#
crimethink,
Giant robots are inherently superior to tanks. I thought everybody
knew that?
I mean tanks are over twicw as likely to take a critical hit and
are very vulnerable to napalm rounds. It just too obvious.
|3.11.09 @ 3:35AM|#
No doubt it will be the version of E.T. that Spielberg removed
the guns from!
Pathetic on both counts.
|3.11.09 @ 11:48AM|#
Since Obama is acting in such a trashy manner, it would have
been more appropriate to give DVD's like:
Tobacco Road
The Beverly Hillbillies
God's Little Acre
Li'l Abner
Barfly
How I Became A Sleazy, manipulative, Racist President (not yet a
movie)
|3.12.09 @ 2:07PM|#
Did you guys not catch the Star Wars connection? Episode IV is
titled "A New Hope".
What better way to reach out to a foreign diplomat and dispel the
cocky American stereotype than giving a gift that's more about you
than them? What a prick.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245