Hey, I’ll Give Lucas Credit

Last night I watched the Empire of Dreams documentary — the shortened version that appeared on A&E, that is. Alas, I don’t yet have a copy of the Star Wars Trilogy DVD, on which the full version appears.

I fully expected it to be a George Lucas love-fest. I mean sure, it’s a Ken Burns film, but after all, George very clearly runs the show when it comes to promotional material. And while there certainly was a lot of love for Georgie, there were also some none-too-complimentary comments as well. Harrison Ford had a whole pseudo-tirade about how Lucas has no patience for actors, and can’t understand why actors can’t just do it — after all, everything they need is on the page. And both Ford and Lawrence Kasdan were perfectly frank about the flaws in Lucas’s storytelling “vision.”

Cynics may claim that Lucas’s ego is just so big that any criticism is beneath him. But whatever his motivations, I applaud him for not throwing a hissy fit and cutting it out of the documentary. He’s still got a ways to go to convince me that digital is ready to replace film, but I’ll at least be listening.

P.S.: Speaking of digital productions, has everyone seen the new Sin City trailer/demo that just leaked out? Call me a fanboy, but I really can’t wait for this one... (Update: Alas, it looks like the link is down again — and no, I’m not about to post the file here; I’m hardly anonymous, and the last thing I want is trouble with Miramax. Of course, stop by and I’ll be happy to show it to you...)