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Our first report from STAR WARS CELEBRATION 2005! Is this year the same mess as the last two or all too easy'
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with our first look at this year's CELEBRATION, the gathering of Star Wars geeks from around the world to celebrate the release of a new STAR WARS movie. This is a big one this year as it's (supposedly) the last time this event will be held to celebrate the release of a new STAR WARS movie. The man himself, George Lucas, will be popping up and blessing the fans. No word on if he'll be wearing a big hat, robes or if he'll be arriving in a pope-mobile.
For ATTACK OF THE CLONES, the very first footage of Yoda brandishing his lightsaber was shown at CELEBRATION, so who knows what's in store this year? I'm trying to think of what he can possibly show that isn't already out there, considering the script, making ofs, art ofs, novelization, etc are available to anybody who wants to give Lucas some money. Hell, I got a bit of a spoiler by reading a damn Pepsi bottle at the grocery store last week!
Anyway, as notorious as this event is for having exclusive material, it's even more notorious how much of a cluster-fuck it is. Is this year's event any different? Take a look below and find out!
Hey Harry and all:
My name is Keith, and I wrote to AICN three years ago about the
second Star Wars Celebration, so I thought I would give you some
preliminary thoughts on Star Wars Celebration III, now going on at the
Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
Six years ago the first Celebration was held in Denver, at a former
military base. Several thousand of us slogged through rain and sleet
and mud and endured leaky tents, but it was fun. Three years ago
Celebration moved to Indianapolis and was inside, but was still
incredibly disorganized.
This year, it's as if the organizers learned little from past experience.
Arriving more than two hours - two hours! - after admission was to
begin for Star Wars Fan Club members, thousands still stood in line.
When we left a couple of hours later, many still waited in the general
admission line. And these were people who already had badges!
Thankfully, the volunteers were friendly and helpful. The first
volunteer we spoke to directed us away from the longest line, around
the RCA Dome and to the fan club line. He also acknowleged that
attendees were already pissed off. And the convention had only just
opened.
The organizers did make a good decision in moving the opening
ceremony to Thursday evening, as thousands of us were still lined up
on the freakin' sidewalk during opening ceremonies three years ago.
Inside, lines were once again long but volunteers and attendees alike
were mostly cheerful.
The line for the Celebration Store - featuring the "exclusive" Darth
Vader figure - was insane, stretching halfway across the convention
center.
Other lines, like that for the Lucasfilm archive, were more reasonable.
Probably the most enjoyable aspect of Celebration so far was the
autograph hall. In past years, fans stood in line to buy coupons to
trade for autographs from actors and artists associated with the
movie. That's still the case, but at least this year you can tell who
is available in the autograph "corral" at any given time. In the past,
you bought your coupons and you took your chances, hoping that someone
whose signature you sought would be on hand that afternoon.
This year, you can walk freely between the line of autograph tables,
eyeing actors who filled such memorable roles as Jabba's green dancing
girl or the Rebellion leader who solemnly intoned, "Many Bothans died
to bring us this information." It was so cool!
The rest of the convention is pretty standard, enjoyable stuff - a
huge dealers room, interesting panel discussions and lots of fans in
costumes and one amazing young lady in a Leia slave girl outfit who
posed for hundreds of pictures with salivating fans.
David Prowse - long in the doghouse with Lucasfilm - must have mended
fences because the former Darth Vader is among those appearing at
Celebration, along with Kenny Baker and Lucas himself.
Lucas is scheduled to speak in three sessions early Saturday. Of
course, as my friend Andy pointed out, that will be the best time to
get in line for the Celebration store and Darth Vader figure.
If I see anything else relevant to report this weekend, I'll be back in touch.
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+ Expand All
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Boy that sounds worth it.
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Apr 21, 2005 10:04:01 PM CDT
Well that's it for me, seeya around folks, it's been swell...
by agrajag
And they never saw him again.
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"You! Have you ever kissed a girl?"
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*sits back with popcorn and beer*
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*Belch*
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Its bad enough that this is one of the geekiest conventions going, but you must be SOME kind of die-hard fan to want to get yourself to Indianapolis to see this thing. Why don't they hold this thing in San Francisco, and offer day tours of Skywalker Ranch, with a huge portion of the proceeds going to charity? I bet people would pay double whatever ridiculous amount they are paying now for that.
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If any of you wonderful StarWars nerds...er, I mean, yeah I mean nerds! If any of you nerds get any photos of the girl in the slave outfit please post a link...
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Number of people dressed up like Darth Vader over/under 1000
Number of autographs George Lucas signs over/under 10
Percentage of virgins in attendance over/under 80% -
Apr 21, 2005 10:28:11 PM CDT
I agree about the whole location problem with this "event"...
by doom ii
Who chooses these locations? Denver? Indianapolis? I guess that's great if you live there, but it seems since Lucas' entire UNIVERSE is located in California it might be a tad easier to hold it there. Crowds piss me off. Crowds with THOUSANDS of geeks would piss me off even more. I LOVE Star Wars as much as the next guy, but this "Celebration" sounds like a logistical nightmare. I have no tolerance for spending big bucks to stand outside waiting in a line for hours. And what do you really get for the wait and the money? The chance to go inside and spend even MORE money and wait in MORE lines. Sounds like a blast!!!!!
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Star Wars rules all. There is no way that Lucas is going to let us down with this film.
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about turning you gay, but enough to make you go "you know, carrie fisher does look rather nice in that outfit after all."
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that we saw her boobs in ROTJ? Oh, and I second the call for pics of the young lady in the space bikini.
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Apr 21, 2005 10:38:42 PM CDT
Don't believe what Lucas says about this being the last Star Wa
by zer0cool2k2
I've heard from reliable sources that he has episodes 4, 5, and 6 already in the can. All he's got to do is add some CGI, and tinker with the story a little.
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I went to Celebration II and won an auction on David Prowse's original hip.
http://theletterd.blogspot.com/2005/04/fool-me-once-shame-on-you-fool-me.html -
What fast food joints are doing a tie-in with Star Wars this time? Gotta get my Grievous cup.
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Apr 21, 2005 11:41:45 PM CDT
the actress who solemnly intoned, "Many Bothans died to bring us
by doctorwho?
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Apr 21, 2005 11:49:19 PM CDT
These geeks would wait 10 hrs in the rain for a glimpse of Mark
by doctorwho?
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Vader uses the force grip to choke the Red M&M to death.
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Now why aren't we getting cool ad's like this in the UK? The best we get is some crappy toy lightsabers in Kellogs cereal.....
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If you wake up one morning to find that creepy Burger King laying in your yard with a big grin like in the commercials, first beg him not to kill you, then tell him to give you an enormous breakfast sandwich on me.
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Apr 22, 2005 1:45:24 AM CDT
PLEASE god no more star wars talkbacks. No one gives a crap but
by krims0nknite
Star wars is dead, deal with it, get on with your lives, and occasionally rewatch the old movies. We do not need a stupid SW talkback every week because some guy has some thoughts on how star wars is progressing or whatever. It blows, that's how it's progressing.
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That commercial was classic! Hilarious!
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That Yaddle chick in TPM was pure hotness, I couldn't control myself in the theatre!
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apparently, vader is luke's dad!!!!!!
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I went to Celebration II and had the time of my life. The key here, folks: don
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http://www.theforce.net/image_popup/image_popup_global.asp?image=/celebration/newspics/jg-c3_lines.jpg
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it would be amazing to see anakin cut down a slew of hobbits and then get started on the ring-wraiths and then storm the gates of mordor and stick his lightsaber into the eye of sauron.... sigh. yeah
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I don't know how long it took you to come up with that comic rant but it was absolutely hilarious. Your at least as funny as bill hicks. Exellent observational humour. Please post more as you have made my day. What do you think of...the new hitch hikers guide adaptation? I bet you have some really funny thoughts on that.
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George should turn up wearing his Baron Papanoida outfit and be flanked by people dressed in royal guard outfits all weekend(I said flanked you sick freaks :]).
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Hah, you can't beat irony like that. --------- And Jarv; novel, schmovel! Hitch Hiker's always was, and always will be, at its best in its original form: radio serial.
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I was only kidding back there. Poor gag I know and normally I wouldn't bother with sarcasm but That forever fellow was a complete fool who said absolutely nothing but took a hell of a long time to say it. Really mate, what did was your opinion there? i degress. What I meant to say was be quiet you dick.
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That just about says it all...
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you suck
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I know this is slightly off topic here but I want to start getting the word out to all diehard fans of Star Wars in DLP Digital that the Galaxy Highland 10 Theatre in Austin, TX will soon be equipped with the state-of-the-art Digital DLP Projection system that George Lucas is pushing all exhibitors to use. This is the way Star Wars was meant to be seen and now you can see it the way Lucas intended in AUSTIN,TX and in DIGITAL DLP at the Galaxy Highland 10 theatre.
Star Wars: ROTS will be opening at 12:01am, Thursday, May 19th and running in DLP Digital Projection for a 24 Hour Marathon at the Galaxy Highland 10 theatre in Austin, Texas. In other words, were talking 12:01AM, 3:00AM, 6:00AM, 10:30AM, 1:30PM, 7:30PM and 10:30PM. We will also have another 35mm print of this film at different times, but these are the ones showing in DIGITAL on May 19th.
Digital is here to stay and it will officially be unveiled to the public at 12:01AM for ROTS.
You can buy your tickets now online at http://www.galaxytheatres.com or call management with questions at (512)467-6165.
See Everyone Soon. -
One showtime that was left out of the list is the 4:30pm. Yes, it is still available and can also be purchased online.
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I'm a little confused. How come people who dress up in Star Wars costumes for a convention or movie premiere once every three years are considered losers, but people who dress up in their favorite sports team's jerseys a few times a week to go to a game or watch at a bar are cool? It's these questions that haunt me.
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zzz zzz zzz
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This is the way Star Wars was meant to be seen and now you can see it the way Lucas intended ---- Lucas's has not intentions, that's impossible.
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You might not like Star Wars but saying that it's dead is the most ridiculous statement ever uttered on this site, and that's saying something. Unless you can name another movie series whose 6th film is going to make over $200 mill and sell a few million $ in merchandise. If Lucas was as greedy as people on this site say, he could make SW films for the next 20 years. Don't like SW? It's very easy to simply not click on the story.
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You're as predictable as a fart after too much Taco Bell.
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BLAH, BLAH, BLAH - NOW COME OVER HERE AND SMOKE ME FOR A FIVER YOU HOBBIT BLOWING MOFO
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Hugh says "TWO SHLONGS WAAAAAY UP" for any movie that shows Natalie Portman's bare midrift!!!
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Here's one...
http://www.sandtroopers.com/events/celebration3/20050421/darthspice/pics/target129.html
...nice. -
and nothing will allow me to accept R2D2 and 3PEO in the early episodes. Still looking forward to it, but that's because life is quite dull and voids must be filled with droids.
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But why? Why do people who dress up as a character have serious personality flaws? I mean, you dress up at Halloween, right? What's the difference? The date? That doesn't seem enough of an argumment.
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..and I actually got more of a kick out of those Japanese (female) Stormtroopers. And that Dooku was pretty funny also. And yes, the Leia slave girl has a pretty sweet body. It's hard to find female Star Wars fans who don't outweigh me (6' 180 pounds), so I don't bother looking.
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This is coming from GoldenShowerGirl?
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So of course SW will make $200 million. Thankfully it's over after this one. And about damn time.
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Apr 22, 2005 1:57:16 PM CDT
Lucas self-finances his own movies, so of course he rakes it in
by lone fox
It's basic business sense, fucko's.
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"I Dunno", I couldn't have said it better myself. $300M+ per movie and consistently the longest talkbacks on AICN certainly doesn't qualify as a dead franchise. If you don't like Star Wars, krimsOnknite, that's fine, but to say that Star Wars is dead is simply ridiculous. Only a moron would say something so monumentally moronic...
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...from Indy yesterday to tell me he'd almost run over some guy dressed in a Boba Fett outfit as he was getting out of a cab. In light of all the recent "I ran into so-and-so" references on this board the last week or so, it struck me as highly larious.
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IN fact, these are very short compared to the LOTR hey day. And even more boring to say the least. Dead Franchise, except for 34 year old geeks trying to hang on to their childhood.
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This is but one instance of a talk back far longer than I have seen in quite a while on AICN. http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=13430 -------------------------------------------
I have been coming here for almost 7-8 years now, and the place is dying and Star Wars ain't helping it. -
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/events/swIII_gal01/pages/fan_03.html.... and....
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/events/swIII_gal01/pages/bob_04.html Courtesy of the Sideshow Collectibles booth. Speaking of Sideshow - have you seen the Grievous that they just announced? Sweeeeeeeet... http://photos.sirstevesguide.com/showgallery.php?cat=3813 As for Celebration - I'm sure it's a great-time, die-hard fan or no. I just love people-watching at cons like this - cool and kinda scary at the same time! And to whoever said Star Wars is dead - what the fuck are you smoking, man? -
Apr 22, 2005 6:02:29 PM CDT
If MinasTirithII says that SW is dead then it must be so!
by hugh g rection
I'm not comparing the SW Talkbacks to the LOTR Talkbacks. You're apparently the only one who somehow feels the need to pit the two against eachother despite there being no point to doing so. The SW Talkbacks are consistently among the longest (not necessarily THE longest) on AICN. ROTS will easily make another $300M+ at the box-office and be the event movie of the summer. I'm sorry if that contradicts your statement, but your claim of a dead franchise is simply incorrect. I can't believe you actually dug up proof to support your claim. This "proof" of yours certainly proves the popularity of the LOTR franchise, but is completely irrelevant when trying futilely to prove that SW is a dead franchise. It is alive and kicking quite nicely without you. I'm sorry that it irks you so. BTW, I love BOTH franchises immensely...
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Apr 22, 2005 6:10:53 PM CDT
"...except for 34 year old geeks trying to hang on to their chil
by seanharris
And you, holding on to three year old threads. -
This convention is just like the new films: wait a few days and the lines will be gone.
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OK, so I still see no answer why it's "socially unacceptable" to show up to an event dressed in whatever "nerdy" outfit you wish. Whatever. WHY, then do so many people have to spend so much time pointing out said nerdiness? Are they trying "tough love" tactics on total strangers to help them get over their individualistic ways and return to the norm? Are they simply bullying people out of good, old-fashioned human meanness? Is it simply a superiority complex? I mean, what's the goddamn point of spending any time at all raining on someone's parade when you can just go about your own life secure in your non-geekiness? If it makes someone happy, why can't you just leave them the fuck alone?
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and yet, I still don't give a rat's ass about "celebration"...
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I've just woken up....YAWWWWNNN
Whats StarWars? never heard of it.
Anyway like it or not, it's going to be around for a long time to come. Personally I like it (not to the point of dressing up, but hey whatever floats your boat)arguing about it is academic, however I agree with comments that, basically standing on the sidelines and takin the piss out of those that choose to express their enjoyment of something to a certain degree is out of line, i.e "Leave em the fuck alone, what do you really care"
Like a big Dogs cock this thread is long and pointless. -
and the need to explain to everyone how much they hate it and how much it sucks. There's a shitload of pop culture crap that I hate and I don't waste my time seeking out disscussions on these things to explain to everyone how much they suck. The funny thing is that most of this hate is some sort of lame peer pressure on internet sites like this.
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Celebration of what, exactly? What the hell's happening into that evetn... Do people get drunk and fuck everything that moves? Will Lucas arrive dressed as a drag queen and sing some Sinatra with a female voice while there's a few Twilek chicks licking each other on the stage??? What's all the fun about? Don't you ever tell me that's it's just about a bunch of no-life fat nerds applauding at every sentence Lucas and/or other old Star Wars actors and exchanging their Star Wars merchandise! More importantly... WHY would anyone what to meet David Prowse!? This guy was in only 3 Star Wars movies and he never showed up his face of talked! Who fucking cares!?!?!?
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Apr 23, 2005 12:13:01 AM CDT
David Prowse did have some good screen time in A Clockwork Orang
by doom ii
After Alex and his Droogs terrorize that writer and later in the film when Alex finds himself BACK at the writer's house, David Prowse is the bodyguard who carries Alex (Malcolm McDowell) upstairs. If I ever met Prowse, I would hand him an 8x10 pick to sign from "Clockwork", not Star Wars..............
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Star Wars sucks. Star Wars is great. Blah blah blah. Who cares? Here are the pics of the slave Leia woman at the Celebration:
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/events/swIII_gal01/pages/bob_04.html
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/events/swIII_gal01/pages/fan_03.html -
now just picture all those people in line standing in 3 inches of mud in a raging, cold downpoor, between a bunch of tents and an airplane hanger. That was Celebration I in Denver. I actually had a pretty damn good time. Go figure.
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If you want to see the brilliant interview with Ian Mcdiarmid, who boasts that "Darth Sidious is the fastest Lightsaber wielder in the galaxy" go to http://www.demonoid.com/torrents/details/96380
Very nice. Dont pay for this shit, lucas doesn't deserve it. -
Every year, since 1999, people have been screaming about how Star Wars is dead. Internet geekshits, who are probably all just as loserish as the people they slam (if not more so), have been trying to kill Star Wars for whatever reason... and have been helped by the media that is just hungry to bring down Lucas so they can justify their slams of Episode 1 and 2 (and their predictions of the death of Star Wars). Unfortunately, Star Wars fans refuse to stop loving the saga. Star Wars anti-fans refuse to stop WATCHING THE MOVIES! Where is all of this passion for LOTR? How many conventions for other saga's get 30,000 people to come and sit around for four days? Star Wars still rules the world, almost 30 years later. It will in another 30 years. You can't kill it no matter how hard you try.
Tell Star Wars fans to get a life? How about you start by trying to do something other than kill the fun of other people? -
but my mom says I can't play with retarded children. Bye.
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Apr 23, 2005 8:03:09 PM CDT
WOW! If minas Tirith has been coming here for 7 years...AND has
by doctorwho?
...THEN HE IS TRULY BIGGEST LAMEASS HERE! LOL. Apples and oranges. Movies are not in competition with each other! The very fact that I would have to make such an elemental point illustrates just how infantile your thinking must be. "My movie is bigger than YOUR movie so NNyyaaa NNyyaa you suck!" How sad.
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