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Original 'Star Wars' editor: JJ Abrams and Kathleeen Kennedy "don't get it"

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Your Name

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Sep 21, 2021, 3:15:37 AM9/21/21
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No surprise to anyone ...


'Star Wars' Editor Marcia Lucas Slams Kathleen Kennedy,
J.J. Abrams and Sequel Trilogy: 'They Don't Get It'
-------------------------------------------------------
Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning editor of the original "Star Wars,"
wasn't very happy with Disney's sequel trilogy. She said producer
Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams "don't get it" and "the
storylines are terrible" in an interview for J.W. Rinzler's book
"Howard Kazanjian: A Producer's Life," which examines the prolific
producer's life, including his time on the "Star Wars" franchise.

"I like Kathleen. I always liked her. She was full of beans. She
was really smart and really bright. Really wonderful woman. And
I liked her husband, Frank. I liked them a lot. Now that she's
running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy
Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don't have a clue about 'Star Wars.' They
don't get it. And J.J. Abrams is writing these stories - when
I saw that movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious. I was
furious when they killed Han Solo. Absolutely, positively there
was no rhyme or reason to it. I thought, 'You don't get the Jedi
story. You don't get the magic of 'Star Wars.' You're getting rid
of Han Solo?'" Lucas says in the book.

She served as an editor on "Star Wars," for which she won the
Oscar for film editing in 1977, and "Return of the Jedi," and she
was an uncredited editor on "The Empire Strikes Back." Lucas was
credited with editing the thrilling Battle of Yavin and Death
Star assault sequences in the first film of the trilogy. Her
other editing credits include "Taxi Driver," for which she earned
an BAFTA nod, "American Graffiti," which nabbed her an Oscar nom,
"Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and "New York, New York." She
was also married to "Star Wars" creator George Lucas from
1969-1983.

Having worked on the original trilogy, she criticized the deaths
of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa and Rey, played by
Daisy Ridley in Disney's trilogy of sequels.

"They have Luke disintegrate. They killed Han Solo. They killed
Luke Skywalker. And they don't have Princess Leia anymore. And
they're spitting out movies every year. And they think it's
important to appeal to a woman's audience, so now their main
character is this female, who's supposed to have Jedi powers,
but we don't know how she got Jedi powers, or who she is. It sucks.
The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful. You can quote
me - 'J.J. Abrams, Kathy Kennedy - talk to me,'" Lucas says in the
book.

<https://variety.com/2021/film/news/star-wars-marcia-lucas-kathleen-kennedy-jj-abrams-1235069465/>




Wolffan

unread,
Sep 21, 2021, 8:58:26 AM9/21/21
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On 2021 Sep 21, Your Name wrote
(in article <sic0qn$6pi$1...@gioia.aioe.org>):

> so now their main
> character is this female,

so?
> who's supposed to have Jedi powers,
> but we don't know how she got Jedi powers, or who she is.

We do know. It was in the last movie. She’s the Emperor’s granddaughter.
This explains both where she got her Jedi powers and who she is.

And, oh... the last line of ‘Rise of Skywalker’: “I’m Rey.” Pause.
the Force ghosts of Like and Leia look at her. “Rey Skywalker.” The Force
ghosts beam. Roll end credits.

Whether or not Marcia Lucas likes it, ‘Rise of Skywalker’ tied up the
loose ends. And Rey is now an adopted Skywalker, having killed the Emperor
(for good, this time; we saw the dead body. You ain’t dead in Star Wars if
we don’t see the body or the Force ghost.)

I liked 'Rise of Skywalker’ a whole lot more than ‘Last Jedi’ or
‘Force Awakens’. It’s my #3 Star Wars movie, behind ‘Empire’ (#1)
and ‘Rogue One’ (#2).

Paul S Person

unread,
Sep 21, 2021, 11:30:25 AM9/21/21
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On Tue, 21 Sep 2021 19:15:35 +1200, Your Name <Your...@YourISP.com>
wrote:

>
>No surprise to anyone ...
>
>
> 'Star Wars' Editor Marcia Lucas Slams Kathleen Kennedy,
> J.J. Abrams and Sequel Trilogy: 'They Don't Get It'
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning editor of the original "Star Wars,"
> wasn't very happy with Disney's sequel trilogy. She said producer
> Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams "don't get it" and "the
> storylines are terrible" in an interview for J.W. Rinzler's book
> "Howard Kazanjian: A Producer's Life," which examines the prolific
> producer's life, including his time on the "Star Wars" franchise.

The storylines are pretty much the same as IV, V, and VI. With
variations, of course.

<snippo further nonsense>

> She served as an editor on "Star Wars," for which she won the
> Oscar for film editing in 1977, and "Return of the Jedi," and she
> was an uncredited editor on "The Empire Strikes Back." Lucas was
> credited with editing the thrilling Battle of Yavin and Death
> Star assault sequences in the first film of the trilogy. Her
> other editing credits include "Taxi Driver," for which she earned
> an BAFTA nod, "American Graffiti," which nabbed her an Oscar nom,
> "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and "New York, New York." She
> was also married to "Star Wars" creator George Lucas from
> 1969-1983.

I noticed some years ago that Kathleen Kennedy was in the credits of a
/lot/ of movies I liked. I have no idea if she actually influenced
them, or just made some very good choices of film to work on.

> Having worked on the original trilogy, she criticized the deaths
> of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa and Rey, played by
> Daisy Ridley in Disney's trilogy of sequels.
>
> "They have Luke disintegrate. They killed Han Solo. They killed
> Luke Skywalker. And they don't have Princess Leia anymore. And
> they're spitting out movies every year. And they think it's
> important to appeal to a woman's audience, so now their main
> character is this female, who's supposed to have Jedi powers,
> but we don't know how she got Jedi powers, or who she is. It sucks.
> The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful. You can quote
> me - 'J.J. Abrams, Kathy Kennedy - talk to me,'" Lucas says in the
> book.

IIRC, Dumas wrote a novel in which each and every one of the Four
Musketeers -- died.

Audiences in his time believed that how a person died was as important
as how they had lived.

So another way of regarding a trilogy of films in which the three
principals of an earlier trilogy of films die as a revival of an old
cultural tradition.

Which audiences today may well have no desire to see. But some of us
appreciate the effort.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."
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