A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

On Quora, member Alex Meed asks: Why didn't John Williams compose the scores for the Star Wars spin-off films? My answer:  There are several reasons why Maestro John Williams didn’t compose the scores for  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story  and  Solo: A Star Wars Story. First, Williams is, even at age 87, the five-time Academy Award-winning composer is still a sought-after guest conductor for at least two orchestras (he is the Boston Pops Orchestra’s Laureate Conductor, 25 years after stepping down as its principal conductor and music director). Health issues have forced Maestro Williams to reduce his travel schedule; this is why he has recorded the Sequel Trilogy scores with a Los Angeles-based studio orchestra instead of crossing the Atlantic and performing the music for the  Star Wars  films with the London Symphony at the Abbey Road recording studio. Second, Williams is still an active composer with a busy schedule that limits his availability for a franchise whic

The current edition of Heir to the Empire, which was originally published in 1991 by Bantam Spectra. Cover art by Tom Jung. © 1991, 2014 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On Quora, Matt Swanson asks: Why do you think Lucasfilm decided not to adapt Timothy Zahn's Trilogy into movies? My response: There are  several  reasons why Lucasfilm never had any intention of adapting  Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising,  and  The Last Command  from novels to movies. The main reason, and the only one that truly matters, is that George Lucas clearly did not want to do so. In the late 1980s, which is when Lucasfilm Licensing was given his go-ahead to revive the moribund  Star Wars  franchise after being in a post- Return of the Jedi  coma, the creator of the saga was emerging from his post-divorce funk and thinking about making the long-awaited Prequel Trilogy. From  his  perspective, allowing Lucasfilm Licensing to hire a diverse group of writers that would create a series of interconnec

© 2019 Henry Holt and Company On Tuesday, May 14, Henry Holt and Company of New York published Rick Atkinson's The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, the first volume in the author's The Revolution Trilogy. Using the same vivid, elegaic style he used so well in his previous works on American military history, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Liberation Trilogy now turns his attention and storytelling skills to cover the Revolutionary War. In The British Are Coming, Atkinson tells the story of the first 21 months of the Revolution from the perspectives of the rebellious colonists and their British opponents. Starting with a nuanced look at the genesis of the traumatic break between Great Britain - a new globe-straddling empire upon which it was said that the sun never set - and 13 of its North American colonies, this new book treads on the familiar narrative of how London's well-intentioned attempts to pay the bills for

Dan Perri's classic logo for Star Wars. ™ Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) If there's one current trend that I hate on social media is the myth that "Disney" makes editorial decisions re Star Wars and Indiana Jones.    What exactly did Disney add and remove from the Star Wars universe/story? What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. -  The Captain,  Cool Hand Luke One of the most persistent myths about  Star Wars,  the franchise, and especially the business end of how the films and other media products are made is that The Walt Disney Company “adds and removes” elements of the  Star Wars  story. Not a day passes in which I don’t see any mention on social media - usually derisive and hateful - about how “Disney” did this, that, or the other thing to  Star Wars. Lucasfilm, which was founded in 1971 by George Lucas, did not magically disappear in 2012 after The Walt Disney Company acquired it. The company still exists.

Rick Atkinson's latest, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777: Volume One of the Revolution Trilogy © 2019 Henry Holt We at A Certain Point of View are always trying to offer you, Gentle Reader, a wide variety of content for your entertainment as well as, we hope, your enlightenment. As of late, we've been posting a potpourri of different types of posts, ranging from light, entertainment-focused questions that we see every day on Quora all the way to serious commentary about life in Donald Trump's America. We strive hard to keep things fun and lively, although in today's highly polarized political and social environment (which some pundits have come to call a State of Constant Outrage) this is often easier said than done. As you know, this blog's core mission is to offer reviews of books, movies, TV shows, music, and collectibles, and although each month you do get to see some of those, lately we've been delvi

© 2002 Del Rey Books (Ballantine) and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  Which of the Star Wars books tell the stories of the movies? It depends on what you mean by “the stories of the movies,” and in what context. If you mean the stories, characters, situations, and settings of the films themselves, then you’re probably asking about: Dust jacket of the 1977 hardcover. Art by John Berkey. © 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corp.  Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker,  credited to George Lucas but actually written by Alan Dean Foster. (Del Rey Books, 1976) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,  by Donald F. Glut. Story by George Lucas. Based on the screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan. (Del Rey Books, 1980) Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,  by James Kahn. Story by George Lucas. Based on the screenplay by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. (Del Rey Books, 1983) Original 1980 paperback edition of The Empire Strikes Back novelization. Cover art by Roger Kastel.  © 1

On Quora, member Michael Justin asks: Will  Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker  flop like  Solo: A Star Wars Story? My response: Considering that most of the audience for the Skywalker Saga films is larger than the core of naysaying “Never Disney  Star Wars ” fan-group, I would say…”No.” Solo: A Star Wars Story  failed to perform well at the box office, not because of the success of a boycott led by  The Last Jedi- basher clique or because it was a lousy  Star Wars  film, but rather by its behind-the-scenes drama, a lackadaisical marketing campaign, spectacularly  bad  scheduling, and perhaps even a mild case of franchise weariness. Of all those factors, the most serious was Lucasfilm’s hiring and subsequent firing of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as directors of a  Star Wars  films. Reportedly, the creators of  The LEGO Movie  wanted to give  Solo  an  Ocean’s 11  comedy-caper vibe - much to the dismay of screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan - and refused to give Lucasfi

Map of Pacific Ocean territories and their respective owners. Credit: World of Warships  On Quora, Matthew Lewis asks I understand the U.S. "Island Hopping" strategy during WW2 in the Pacific, but why did Japan choose the strategy of occupying all those islands in the first place? My reply:  After the First World War - indeed, as early as the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 - the Japanese military, particularly the Imperial Japanese Navy, began to look at the United States as their great trans-Pacific rival. This, of course, was to be expected once Russia and China, Japan’s close-to-home enemies, became (in Tokyo’s eyes) weak and toothless paper tigers mired in revolution and civil war. During the first three decades of the 20th Century, the same Japan that had been content to be an isolated feudal island kingdom developed an unhealthy appetite to become just as imperialistic as the European powers that controlled vast expanses of Asia and Oceania. Se

On Quora, Daniel Brown asks: Is  Star Wars: The Clone Wars  canon? Unlike its 2003–2005 2D animated precursor,  Star Wars: Clone Wars,  the 2008–2013 3D computer animated series  Star Wars: The Clone Wars  is included in the overall canon. Lucasfilm Ltd., the parent of Lucasfilm Animation, has stated since 2014 that the series created and executive produced by George Lucas is a key element of the  Star Wars  canon, which currently looks like this: Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars: The Clone Wars Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Solo: A Star Wars Story Star Wars Rebels Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Star Wars: The Mandalorian Star Wars: Resistance Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise

In Quora, Bryce Howell asks: Why has George Lucas made so many changes to the original trilogy? My answer: Because as the filmmaker who conceived, created, and - in the case of  The Empire Strikes Back  and  Return of the Jedi -  financed the  Star Wars  films, George Lucas was entitled to make changes. It is a matter of historical record that  Star Wars,  aka  Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope  underwent a series of alterations even before 1981, which was the year that Lucasfilm convinced 20th Century Fox to reissue the film with its  Episode IV  subtitle. Before that, Lucasfilm had had to fix the audio mix, make sure that all the prints (both the 35 mm and the 70 mm) matched, missing lines of dialogue restored, and other minor adjustments that were needed at the time. Followers of  Star Wars  history, as well as viewers who listen to Lucas’s audio commentary tracks on the DVDs and Blu-ray home media releases, also know that Lucas always thought that the special effe