I'm told the kids today have never seen the original theatrical version of what in my youth was known simply as Star Wars.
In case you don't remember Star Wars, that was the out-of-nowhere surprise indy hit of 1977 that knocked the movie world on its ear, launching a thousand movie franchises and driving the final nail in the coffin of what Quentin Tarantino refers to as hippie auteur cinema. I myself haven't missed the likes of Bob Rafelson and Paul Mazursky but I sure do miss the original cut of Star Wars.
Han shot first! And if you're under thirty and don't know what that means, I weep for you. Trying to describe the impact of that version of the movie in 1977 is like trying to describe filet mignon to somebody who's only ever eaten Soylent Green.
(If you're over thirty and don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky.)
THE ORIGINAL SCENE:
AND GEORGE LUCAS'S MULTIPLE RE-EDITS:
Raymond Chandler wrote in his introduction to Trouble Is My Business: "There are things in my stories which I might like to change or leave out altogether. To do this may look simple, but if you try, you find you cannot do it at all. You will only destroy what is good without having any noticeable effect on what is bad. You cannot recapture the mood, the state of innocence, much less the animal gusto you had when you had very little else."
George Lucas didn't get the memo ...
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.
Annie Hall is a great comedy — arguably Woody Allen's best — and it would have been an easy winner in most any other year. But Star Wars is one of the most iconic movies ever made, and in terms of reshaping everything that came after it, one of the most influential of all time.
By the way, I prefer the hard-to-see original theatrical release of Star Wars to any of George Lucas's re-worked clusterhumps. Han shot first, my friends.
P.S. Katie-Bar-The-Door and I had an opportunity to see a sneak preview of The Best of Enemies down at the AFI-Silver this past Thursday night. Starring Oscar-nominee Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures, TV's "Empire") and Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), it's based on the true story of civil rights activist Ann Atwater and KKK Exalted Cyclops C.P. Ellis who squared off in Durham, North Carolina, over school integration back in 1971.
The film is witty, moving and avoids the trope of the "white savior." Highly recommended.
Henson (a Washington, D.C. native), writer-director Robin Bissell and producer Dominique Telson spoke afterwards.
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
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