art_apples

.... only because there is lego in the video.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQjAcgtnvHs

I am actually really pleased about it. I'll try and explain why.... I've appreciated what Lucas has done and created, I'm talking OT here... but even there I've been highly critical in my thoughts on what exactly was Lucas's doing and what was 'handed' to him so to speak and fell on his lap in a sense... from the brilliant Ralph McQuarrie to many many others from set designers and model builders onwards... a lot of what I truly love in terms of visuals were not a product of Lucas but rather the team around him. I give him great credit for editing that and contributing to it I'm sure by giving focus and the platform more than anything for those ideas to flourish. The story itself (SW)... (ANH if you must)... was simplistic and totally apt for the first film, it gave a solid shape and pleasing story arc for all ages and nationalities and combined with the real magic of the visual team was what propelled SW into the monster that it became. Not well known is the massive contribution that Lucas's wife at the time who was a renown film editor and script writer in her own right made to honing SW's script and dialogue and most importantly she is credited with putting in the humanity and humor and thus the emotional link to the film. She left Lucas after SW (but contributed to Empire) and at that point he was lost, or rather the saga was doomed to have the vital sounding board and person who could give direction to Lucas. The SW saga at that point was something that Lucas struggled with to continue in terms of ideas and imagination...he was frankly left to his own devises and that is poor script, poor imagination, and poor emotional connection. The key element that was and is needed (was the absence of himself).. and credit to him for having the foresight or luck to pass on the reigns to Irvin Kershner... and notably his estranged wife also made her last contribution's to the saga in Empire Strikes. The result his absence, his replacement by a capable director, and combined with his wife's vital input and of course the simply stunning creative team all combined to create the incredible and probably best of the saga Empire Strikes. Then came Return of the Jedi... Lucas, what can he come up with... yep.. lets end it with a Death Star battle and destruction... the whole story is SW again. His entire life's imagination was all told out in SW. If you analysis the way things panned out after SW (and the 'making of' books are invaluable in this as are many others) he stumbled and fluked his way from that point on. What holds RotJ together is the visuals, the conclusion of that story arc, clumsy and unimaginative that it was and the great momentum that had built up over two previous films. The 'new' parts of the story (Ewoks, speeder bike chase etc.) were all in fact remnants of the previous films story lines and visuals that were discarded at the time. Why do I say all this... well I want to show that I have always had (despite him being the creator) a sense of horror in a way that the whole SW saga and ownership was in his hands. He has always been the greatest thing (for inventing it) and also the worse thing (for taking it forward on it's journey) because quite frankly he has no vision or imagination or humbleness to seek out and find the best people to do that. Where he did step away from himself (visual concepts and the whole imaging team) or (Irvine Kirshner as the director) it turned out to be the greatest thing he done. The whole story and beauty of it all has always been from others not him. I don't need to go into the PT, but suffice to say this trend continued into that... ANYTHING that he done from story, to editing, to getting an emotional journey from the actors, to drama was all a complete failure when he done it himself. ANYTHING that he left to others (costumes, sets, visuals etc.) came out a triumph (relatively speaking). In fact when he does interfere in those areas, most concerningly with using CGI instead of actual sets and puppets he again caused damage to the franchise. And to totally slaughter all that is good he has a weird propensity to annihilate anything that survives all that in the editing room. Girl's Generation Jedi.... But the franchise has grown into a monster that massively overshadows anything else in film history... it has grown and grown until now it is a part of society and the culture around us. It is to big to be left with the memories... it is a monster that needs to continue to grow... because if you discard the cultural and aesthetic reasoning into why that wouldn't make sense (and there is a valid arguement there without question) the financial reality of the behemoth that it now is requires that it continues. Which puts me back to Lucas... for me he cause damage to SW, yet I want (or don't mind to see it continue) as I accept it's cultural and financial momentum. So a dream scenario for me would be that Lucas passes on the reigns for it to continue to someone else. I'm not in a position to say SW was my defining moment as part of my growing up and it shall remain there... that the OT was perfect and ANY addition to it now just tarnishes it, No, I accept that the saga has it's own continuing journey and some of it hasn't made me fall in love with it (PT), some I'm happy to watch along with for what's it's worth (current Clone Wars), some doesn't fit into my ideas of what the saga is and in fact offends me to a point (the childish LSW cartoon from last year with a young Han Solo for example, but many more) some I love, some I'm meh, some I'm whatever (books, comics, games etc.) so for a big part of my life there has always been a vast mixture of different mediums and stories with the whole SW saga that I've had varies interests and reactions to. So I am not intuitively against more films as such (certainly not in a way to say, heh, I love it as it is and I want to preserve that), No, I'm an observer, a fan, a critic as the story continues around me. What do I think of Disney itself buying it?.... I'm quite open minded about it really. I'm encouraged by the fact that they have absorbed Pixar who I find have a keener observation to character portrayal and development and hopefully something that Disney saw value in and absorbed. And of course more adult material in the Marvel canon that it bought, and happily so far it has kept the edginess of that genre as opposed to it's family orientated core business. In a way films like Pirates of the Caribbean capture that spirit that the first SW film had. But certainly at a vast cost of over $4 Billion they are taking on something that they would have a great understanding of. It's no secret that the fans revile the ever changing additions and tinkering, and there is a yearning for the ethos and spirit of the OT. The general panning of the PT is common currency as well, and Disney must be in tune with those thoughts exsisting so I feel that it's good in a way that the franchise has changed hands. And Disney are no mugs where they will do a radical overhaul on such a expensive purchase. They surely must understand and appreciate the core values and appeal of what people love in SW so that makes me hopeful. It's said that the dream of the big film studios is to have a enduring film franchise that spans the decades. The only one that has in fact done so is funnily enough not a Hollywood creation but the British James Bond. Studios have tried to create franchises like the Bourne films to a not conclusive result. Disney now have the only other enduring franchise. They are very serious at $4 Billion in making this work. Disney are also at heart a traditional company, they are not radical pioneers... this is a monumental purchase that will shape the Disney company for years to come. They are really placing themselves in the market with SW, Marvel and Pixar. They will not treat any of them, but SW in particular lightly. They will extract all that is good out of it and let's be frank more than likely a lot of the executives and decision makers are I'm sure fans in their own right of SW and I'm sure SW has had it's own impact on their life's as well to a certain extent. What value Lucas has, as a creative overviewer is the exact role that he will retain. Already that tells me that Disney understand where it needs to extrapolate Lucas's influence (script, ideas etc.) and where it see's a value for him (overall creative ok'ayer). For sure Disney will have thought about this purchase for years and ideas and concepts will already be advanced in a lot of fields like timing and budgeting and general shape of a planned movie. They must have a general consesus on whether they will travel the EU line or go away from the Skywalker saga altogether. Which brings me to my last point. I was surprised that they announced that a new film is panned for 2015 release. That just seems so close. It tells me that the thinking and structure for that is already thought out. The only thing I don't want is cameo cameo cameo... and I just know there will be loads...

I think the UCS R2 looks really beautiful. It has a lovely sculptural presence and will make a great display piece. I think the price is really reasonable for what it is. I'm loving all the 3D parts that pop out... I can recreate that electocuted R2 look now.. ... I'm alreday thinking what it would look like with a modded drinks tray (as on Jabba's Sail Barge) added and it's crying out for electronic gimmickery to be added, to add movement and lights and whilst we're at it a sound chip to. And it leaves the question of whether a UCS C3-PO will be added at some future date...

This is awesome news. We've had 12 years so far of SWlego and just think how many sets we've had, it's an amazing amount. And now we've got 10 years more worth of sets to come.... In my wildest thoughts I never would have imagined that the licence would even get to 2010, so this news almost guarantees that we will get every nook and cranny of vehicles and playlets covered as there just isn't enougth material otherwise to fill all that grime period. We are now pretty much guaranteed a full on cantina, and maybe repeat renditions of it, maybe more Jabba's Palace attachments, Ewok villages, UCS galore - A-wings, Slave 1's, at-at, Endor speeder bikes in mini land scale maybe, after UCS R2 comes out more droids will follow I'm sure, who knows a C3-PO to match it, and every mssing vehicle will have to be looked at... my dream of a Rebel medium transporter will surely come at some point. And playsets galore to - cloud city, Tattoine surely, a homestead is a must as well.... I can go on and on I'm sure, but this news just flashed all these and more sets across my mind and I'm just so looking forward to where this amazing hobby will go to over this following decade. I can't wait.... :-)

Images taken from FBTB's Flickr stream Desert Skiff - A really nice rendition of this vehicle from Lego from a vehicle which at source doesn't lend itself to being depicted that well when done in Lego, but I think the Lego team have really pulled it off well with a nice amount of play area and detailing going on. An easy mod would obviously be to add two clear columns beneath it to make it float. I'm not so sure about the Lando disguise figure. The helmet is a little to detailed for me, it sort of crosses the Lego/action figure line with the amount of detailing going on. I'm not one of those crazy Fett fans but I really like the extra tweeks that they have added to the Boba figure with the leg printing especially. I sort of like how they haven't added arm printing to, it's nice in a way that the exclusivity of the Cloud City version with the arm prints is preserved. Also a really lovely Sarlacc to boot. I wonder with the announced SW Lego licence being extended for a further ten years, obviously a new Jabba Sail barge will come along at some point. Will they include another version of the Sarlacc with that, or will this set be considered a stand-along set to go with that and therefore this Sarlacc will be the only new one. Republic Starfighter - I'm generally indifferent to EU vehicles, but the more I look at this fighter the more it grows on me, I just love all that gorgeous red.. , there's some really nice pieces here that will be great for moc's. I love that whole x-wing'iness vibe about the ship to, it looks really sleek. I never realised the wings folded out this way as well, well that just makes it even more cooler. It looks to have mainly printed parts as far as I can make out as well. As does the little T7-01 droid; well I say little and I'm not familiar with the source material, but isn't that droid a bit big when standing next to a regular fig? Saesee Tiin's Jedi Starfighter - I like how Lego has over the years built up these starfighters in different colours. It's been a great way to drip-feed us the range of Council Jedi's in a medium set which is also great news. And no less than two great Jedi figs here and a cool green astromech fig to is just win win for me. Interesting way to make Even Piell with the attached headpiece and the *ahem* enlarged 3D eyebrows obviously used here to cover the gap between headpiece and head... and actually I don't mind it, I think it kind of works. I like the slash detailing on the face that goes across the eyebrows as well. Gungan Sub - A superb update for a really difficult to do shaped craft. It's great to have the 3 crew all fit into the front bubble to. I've just looked back at pictures of the original and well wow it really is an improvement. I can't wait to see reviews of this with comparison shots between the two versions. As much of an improvement as the recent excellent PodRacer set was compared to the originals, and in times of marginal changes in some sets like the Slave 1 updates for example, these newer rendition's of Tie Fighter's, Podracer's and now the Gungan Sub has been much appreciated. It reminds me of when the first wave of improved sets came along (B-wing, X-wing, A-wing etc.) Looking at the most awesome SW Lego figure ever... Queen Amidala, I know a few people who have actually seen the sets have reviewed that the colours and printing don't quite match, well that's something I'm sure will be ironed out by the time the set comes out... But... don't you think the top torso doesn't quite fit with the skirt?, it sort of overhangs akwardly on the sides. What do other people think? Pre Vizla's Mandalorian Fighter - Well, when I first saw this vehicle in the CW I immediately thought that is definetely one of only a few CW vehicles that I would love to have. The whole idea behind the large wings folding up I thought was really cool. Well here it is... and hmmmm, I'm a little underwhelmed to be honest. My main issue is the wings... I'm not a fan of the exposed underneath-lego-pieces look on a vehicle if that part of the vehicle is integral to the overall look of the craft. Another example was Palpatine's Shuttle which had this exposed look for the central wing of the shuttle which spoiled it I thought when looking at it from the exposed side. And also for such large wings, I do like more of a tiled look, especially when there is such a fragmented look to the wings. An example is last years Jedi Shuttle, I just thought the wings with all that studs looked really ugly. Video footage of it (via FBTB's flickr stream) is up. Malevolence - I've got the original Lego Malevolence in front of me as I write this, and comparing the two I prefer the original in so many ways. Firstly I'm not a fan of the CW blue colouring. It just looks so ugly to me. I had the same qualm about the newer CW coloured AAT, and so much prefered the original tan on that. But the details on the original Malevolence is so much nicer, the tail, the engines, the mid-riff, even the city/'shark's teeth' part in the 'mouth' of the ship is better rendered with the layering of plates as per the original rather than the ghastly line of stickers that this version has. Granted it is nice to have an interior for whatever that is worth. The original has a more sleek look to it as well, but I roughly measured my model which comes to 66 studs and the new one matches that exactly. I like how they've done the energy-circle weapon on the new version though with the little pieces inside the clear globe. And yep, that CW Padme is damn ugly, but hey, at least Lego have got the whole Amidala/Padme thing rolling now... we just need all two hundred of Amidala's amazing coustumes in Lego to be done now... Jabba's Palace - I saved the best to last... What a set... it s beautiful. I was really dreading what would happen to the Cantina and Palace when I saw the botch job they done on the recent Hoth set. But instead they come up with what is probably the best SW playset to date. The interior of the Palace is so complex and layered that the idea of how a playset would depict that was a daunting one and Lego have pulled this of with flying colours. I love how they have incoporated the outside shape in the exterior. I haven't seen to much of the tower but it seems to include lots of little rooms and features. But the main action is the throne room, and what a delight. It reminds me of the great original Kenner version of this with the sliding dais/platform. The figures are amazing. As some people have suggested I reckon you could buy this set and actually make more money back by ebaying the figs. Unlike others I really like the Jabba printing, I like the way it leans towards being cartoony because, well Lego is cartoony in essence anyway so I think it's an appropiate fit. And what a figure he is, it's just so beautiful... (maybe more so than our lovely Amidala ). The Boushh Leia... hmmm, it is lovely.... but... the helmet seems a little big. I'm not as excited as I should be on this one because I already have a far superior custom of this fig. But for this set, at last we get her. I was wondering before when thinking about this upcoming set whether they would include the Boushh and Slave versions and I was convinced that both were essential in their own ways to it, but on seeing it now having the Boushh only is the more logical and fan-pleasing thing to have done. My only issue about this set. The Gaemorrean is to realistic for my tastes. The only sembalance of Lego here is the little lego hands and legs almost peeping out, the rest of it is an action figure not a lego figure. Video footage of it (via FBTB's flickr stream) is also up.

Hi Hendrik, You mentioned that there are 10 minifigs with Jabba's Palace but you've only listed 9 of them. What is the 10th minifig? In the prelims the 10th fig was blacked out, do you know what it is if there is in fact a 10th fig in this set?

I happened to have watched that this week... It was interesting I thought with really nice sets and action but the plot line was a little bit obvious for me. I've just seen your previous post to this (Red Cliff, Ip Man, 14 Blades etc.) you seem to be a fan of the high action historical / kung fu Chinese films. I'm a fan of Ip Man in particular, it is probably the finest of all the martial art films of recent times I think. Other's like Red Cliff, The Last Bladesman, Bodyguards and Assassins are all very nice to look at but ultimately lack in depth of script or well fleshed out characters. There seems more of a focus on the spectacular visuals and less on the emotional depth of the story. However if you do like these type of films I firstly recomend Jet Li films, but certainly these are worth looking at too... - very similar in vein to Bodyguards & Assasins, - which is actually quite unintentially funny, and this one which I think you'll love .And we can't forget where all the recent spate of high budget historical action films began... the seminal Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon In recent times the Chinese government has bankrolled and supported this collection of historical high budget high drama high action films as a way to promote Chinese culture to the wider world. Sadly it has come at the cost of forcing directors to follow the party line and to kowtow to official sanctioned plotlines and ways of expressing that also. The director Zhang Yimou is a case in point... he was always known and renown for his studies in character like in his stunning which got much recognition in film awards around the world. But as the new policy of making state sanitized films came into affect he initially rebelled resulting in several years in the wilderness with the state refusing him a license to make movies. Eventually he relented and his style of film entirely changed from a portrayer of finite character studies to a maker of large scale historical action films. Out of all the directors his are probably the most noteworthy for he retains his eye for beauty in both visuals and underlying depth of expression as well.In my opinion he is a step above the ones you listed for the sheer sumptous beauty of his films and grandness of visual style that he brings with him... which is one of my personal favourites, which I like, but as is the want of many Asian films it leans a bit too much into the melodrama at times particularly in the drawn out ending. , again like a lot of these movies, very beautiful to look at but definetely leaning towards the cheesey side of dialogue and melodrama.A Chinese film I highly recommend and unlike any that you have mentioned is the quite brilliant Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle... it is so unique and genuinely funny that you have to watch it if you haven't done so already. ... he also done the similar and also extremely funny .On a different feel and type of movie, my favourite Chinese director is Wong Kar-Wai. He explores more adult themes and ideas, and conveys moods beautifully, however if art house movies are not your thing than maybe you won't enjoy these films. The quite brilliant and stylish and .But with all that high-wire kung fu action films it is startling to see it done without any effects whatsoever. One I think you will enjoy is this film from Thailand... however away from the breath taking action I again found the story (or a cheesey one at best) a shame.But one of my favourites of recent times and one I recommend is the Japanese film 13 Assassins... it's just so stunning... Actually I think the best movies from Asia are coming out of Japan as well as Korea at the moment, there is just so much style and imagination coming out from there. I can give you a list of recommends if you ever fancy.

Infected Mushroom - Dancing With Kadafi I've been going through a slight revival of old favourites of mine and this one came up again. It has such rich and wonderful layered depth, and in it's own way subtle fluctuations throughout that even on repeated listens there is always something new to discover in it. If you have the patience to listen to it all the way through you will pick up all the tempo and mood changes and be finally rewarded with the last two minutes which is probably the closest that pyschedelic trance ever gets to beind an art. Play it as load as you dare to get the true and full immersion... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9WCPIqVJg

Wow have you seen the prices some of these prints go for. Not being rude to the artist, but to be honest there are way more superior photos in our very own Photo thread here on EB. Maybe some of the great photographers here should perhaps contact the gallery that displays this artists work with some of their own pieces. As an Art Advisor myself I'd say the idea initially is interesting, to juxtapose images of a popular toy line in a classic theme with social commentary. But I don't think he has really carried it through with any thoughtfull meaning, it seems rather barren of depth or substance.

I would have been 100% if it wasn't for about 5 or 6 Toy Story soldier BP's I bought when they were on sale, I just fancied the look of that set, but kind of figured that I bet this set goes up a lot in price in the future for modern army lego collectors seeing as no official modern army theme exists. And oh yes an original Space theme base from the 70's that I bought on a whim from ebay to see if I could utilise it for SW mocs. Aside from that I'm totally a SW only buyer (until LOTR arrives that is ), I was planning to buy the superhero sets until I saw them and have put of really with maybe one or two exceptions (that fun house one looks really good and at a great price to). I did have the UCS Batmobile set in my hand in the shop once ready to buy, as it was on for half price, but *stupidly* I decided against it on the basis that one theme was expensive enougth.... (I try to avoid looking at what price it fetches nowdays as it will only bring me anguish... )

This is awesome news for me as I only live about 5 miles away from Lego Windsor... the article mentions that they are planning to use 1.5 million bricks for the seven themes, I wonder how that compares with the previous Lego theme parks SW displays ? Being indoors sounds interesting as well, I suppose that is to make sense with the planned lights and sounds, I wonder if it will involve a sort of moving ride that takes you through it or perhaps with only seven sets that might not be big enougth to do that sort of thing.

Hi Baron... Great Bantha model... so much so that when you first showed images of it last year, I took the liberty of reverse engineering it for myself to see if I could make any improvemnets on it. My observations about it as it stands in regard to it being an official set is that the horns, chin/beard area and tail are all quite fragile when handling it. Also I'm not sure how exactly you built up the head area but my attempt proved to leave that area fragile to the touch as well. I don't know the exact pieces you used there but for my attempt I done it so the head turns left and right on a 2x2 turning plate, but what little room there is left for the interior of the head can only really be made up with smaller lego pieces as the exterior fur can only be done taht one way, which excludes using pieces which can be used for both the outside fur and also the inside construction as well. This sort of leaves the head fragile to the touch as a result. Certainly any play with it would snap of the horns at the slightest touch, as well as the underchin/fur area being prone to snapping off easily to. And lastly the feet, you use upside down studs there, which I think look lovely, however they wouldn't click into a base plate for example so I don't think that would perhaps work as an official lego solution. And if using it as a play toy and you moved it across a rougher surface like a carpet then the feet studs and legs also have a tendacy to fall of quite easily. But as I say, a great model.. you really captured that shaggy fur look, and the scale is just right to. But as it stands it would maybe be better suited as a display piece rather than as a play toy.

As a Tolkien fanatic this is the most exciting theme that Lego could ever do for me. It beats my SW love hands down.... I just can't wait now. Need to start making room on my desk for a lego Treebeard diorama... Looking back over the years pre-SW theme, whoever in Lego is in charge for licensing has truly nailed it... Star Wars, Marvel & DC superheroes, and now LOTR... that's a slamdunk for licensing I think. You couldn't wish for a better three licences really... Well done Lego.

In addition to that the UCS line has predominately been *understandably* targeted at the OT crowd... as it's seen that the appeal *and money* isn't as strong with the general younger PT crowd. However as the younger PT fans grow up I can imagine that this set (particularly if it is true that it isn't selling well, and rarer as a consequence) will garner a surge in demand as the younger fans grow up and have more money to spend, and this set in particular will have a sudden catchet to it.

Instead of apes throwing the bones up, you should add in a couple of Wamps's with one throwing the bone up....