May The Fourth Be... For Nerds... Possibly.

Here we are, month two, and only my second blog.

I forgot I had to do it to be honest. Still, if I can just manage one a month it'd be worth it. Maybe.

More for me than for you, the reader! If indeed anyone is reading this.

Don't know if anyone read the first one, but if they did, they didnt leave a comment... Good or bad?

So, with the two bank holidays and a massive celebration to boot. I, of course, mean May The 4th, NOT The Royal Wedding.

And unlike half of the NERDS on Twitter / Facebook (including such predictable celeb nerds as @simonpegg , @SethGreen and @nickjfrost - no offence meant btw) I got more involved with the latter than I did the former.

Strange, considering I'm a bit of a Star Wars fan. But we're talking Old Skool Star Wars, Original Trilogy (77-83), pre- computer tinkering in 1997. And subsequent tinkering... almost yearly...

I know, its for the kids... but it WASN'T! Not back then. Not entirely.

If it was, there wouldnt be ageing, faded 70's footage of 20-somethings in 'Retro' Star Wars tee shirts doing The Robot in some Studio 54-esque environment... It was ageless.

This appears to be something George lost track of a long time ago, in an office, far, far away (from me).

And with this week's announcement regarding the BluRay release of all 6 films (quite a non-event, seeing as all that was revealed was pretty much already known to even the most uninterested fan) it makes you wonder WHY NOW?

Yeah, BluRay is the new format, after it's battle with HD-DVD a couple of years ago.

But with the already announced 3D versions of the films up and coming, from Feb 2012 on wards it seems (and chonologically no less, so we get the least popular trilogy first - GREAT!) why release these versions of the BluRay now? Well, the release is actually not til September 2011, so again WHY THEN?

Why not merely wait, release the films in 3D at the cinema THEN release the films on 3D DVD / BluRay / Whatever New Format Takes Over in 2014....??

If you have visited www.starwars.com recently, you'll have noticed that virtually every image on the site is a CG / Cartoon related image. There is next to no actual photos of anything Star Wars... particularly on the homepage.

To me this is a VERY sad state of affairs. It says to me that George has given up doing anything even remotely film based, and is quite happy to sit back and let a bunch of animators continue his Star Wars Legacy.

I'd be the first to admit that having George directing even one more foot of 35mm / 70mm / Digital footage on a set is probably the worst idea since Greedo shooting first (still a great analogy), as he's far more suited to the 'Exec Producer' role, unless you count his interference on Indiana Jones 4, but to do eveything in computer graphics is just wrong, wrong, WRONG!

Here we are, 34 years after Star Wars, and he just cant let it go.

Then he goes and Writes and Exec Produces 'RedTails'... about as far removed from The Star Wars Galaxy as you can get... "The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II." (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485985/)

Well, there's a switch. Feeling guilty about the lack of minority characters in The Galaxy?

Despite making Jar Jar Binks a Jamaican, the Trade Federation Japanese and Watto the token Jew?

This blog may seem like a very anti-Star Wars rant, but its more of a questioning of George Lucas.

If I was Anti-Star Wars would I have just signed up to the 501st Garrison?

Yes, the 501st! I'm a member, and I just need to decide on my costume... and them I'm away!

It's all for charity y'know! Not a nerdfest! I hope...