Another New Hope: My views of the upcoming and past Star Wars films.

Micah Gleckler
Katrina Johnston
Honors English
2/17/14

Another New Hope

It goes without a doubt that the announcement of Disney now making a new Star Wars trilogy made waves in the movie going community, though not surprisingly most are wary of this news after having been stung by the disappointment of the prequel trilogy. The question then arises who is right the many who have a gut feeling that they will be a disappointment or the relatively few who trust that they will be good? The answer as with all cases lays in the facts and the past trilogies. The new Star Wars trilogy will be as good as if not better than the any of the prior trilogies since George Lucas’s involvement will be greatly reduced, J.J. Abrams will be not only the director but a writer as well, and a huge amount of acting talent has already been lined up.  First off we will look by George Lucas’s absence from the production of these new films will actually be a boon.
To begin this portion of the argument, we first will have to disprove the common misconception that George Lucas is good at filmmaking. To do that we must go all the way back to when Lucas made the first trilogy. At the time he had little experience and recourses to recreate the world he had invented. So he sought out the aid of a studio to fund this project. After convincing a studio to fund his abstract fantasy, he went to work and eventually made his version of the final edit. When he presented his final edit to the studio they literally laughed at him due to how terrible it was. They scrapped his edit and hired professional editors to salvage the footage into a watchable movie. This ended up being the final cut to be released and it was a hit to say the least. To follow up George Lucas, still under contract, made Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of The Jedi all of which set records redefined ‘blockbusters’ and launched George Lucas to fame as the savant conceptualist who was the mastermind behind the Star Wars universe. Or so the public thought. This façade of grandeur and undeniable talent was obliterated when the prequel trilogy was released. But why? To answer simply, it’s because George Lucas was now the king of sci-fi and now had his own studio, (Lucasfilms) he could make these films without being pinned by the thumb a studio contract. The result was a trilogy that was plagued by bland dialogue, wooden acting, a badly paced storyline, and Jar Jar Binks. The problem was George Lucas the whole time, so it is plain to see that not having George Lucas involved in this new trilogy can only be advantageous.
Now that that messy subject is out of the way, we can discuss who the new director is; J.J. Abrams and why his involvement is a very beneficial thing. If that doesn’t ring a bell in summary he is an actor, screenwriter, television producer, composer and director. Some of the movies he has directed or has been the producer of in the recent past include Super 8, Cloverfield, Fringe (TV show), Lost (TV show), Mission Impossible III, Star Trek (2009), and Star Trek into Darkness.  This résumé exhibits nothing but successful films or films that have undeniable quality.  Commonly compared to being the new Steven Spielberg he has also established himself as the king of sci-fi filmmaking. Abram’s home run streak holds promise that his continuation of our beloved saga will be just as good as the original or even better.
Since filming will only be starting either in April or May 2014, it is hard to tell who all will be in the cast, but a list of confirmed actors has arisen, as well as those who have been asked. In regards to all the old time actors who will be returning there will be Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford as the Solo couple *wink*. This is good news to the new installment as it firmly grounds itself as part of the saga and won’t be replacing major characters’ actors. Of course, this is merely the confirmed actors for Star Wars VII. So early on, speculations as to who else will be included in the new film(s) abound, but are apocryphal. Though confirmedly Gary Oldman (Batman Trilogy, Harry Potter, Fifth Element, and Dawn of The Planet of The Apes) has been asked if he would like to join the cast, his response has yet to be confirmed. This nostalgic line up of old timers plus the promise of new additions brings promise for one of the most anticipated films ever.
The one and only counter argument I have ever heard to my opinion is that since Disney now owns the rights and is making the new trilogy, it will be bad. To refute that I must ask, “What’s wrong with Disney?” Quite honestly, it doesn’t make sense for someone to think that Disney Studio’s involvement is a bad thing. Many think that since Disney is best known for their endearing animated movies that they can’t possibly make a good action movie. It would seem that, these people have forgotten about films such as Pirates of The Caribbean and Tron. Disney today of course is one of the biggest film companies in the world and that’s no accident, the reason for why they have had such a good run is because they are just that good. Today Disney is one of the oldest film companies and thus also has some of the most experience. Disney is more than qualified to make the new Star Wars films.
In finality, I hope that you now understand why the sequel trilogy of Star Wars will be amazing. The new Star Wars trilogy will be as good as, if not better than any of the prior trilogies, since George Lucas will not be involved, J.J. Abrams will be not only the director but a writer as well, and a huge amount of acting talent has already been lined up. These three aspects point to a promising outcome, as we near the year of 2015 excitement and debate will only increase. This is one of the most anticipated movies in history for good reason. So go out with your newfound knowledge of the upcoming films and convince people that it will be great. And… sigh… may the force be with you.

A poetry collection of mine from the early 2013 school year.

Psychological

Runnoff

of a

 Budding Youth

 By Micah Gleckler

For: Honors English

Katrina Johnston 

This collection includes the poems: Just a Thought, Rain (A collaboration), Revelation, Star, and ode to the smart ones 

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Just a Thought

Life

Is it a switch that can give and take?

Is it a flame tumbling in the winds mercy?

Or is it a bloom splashing its colors in a field of equal splendor.

Or is it more?

Are we mere specks in existence,

or could we be existence.

For a feat is nothing without a witness.  

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Rain

A collaborative poem written by: Micah Gleckler, +Rachel Bishop, +Seth Harrold, +Lisa Taitano, and +Keisha Harrold

Constant Tears Under Reflection

Joy Within Sorrow Clarified

Young Tendrils Searching Vainly

Finally Memories Slovenly Qualified 

Emotions Casually Drip Intensely

Singing Mournful Truth Silently

Entirely Lost Outside Cares 

Definite Atmosphere Struggles Instead

Special Circumstances Seemingly Ancient

Chances Turn Volume Southwards 

Mental Condensation Gives Peace

Fictional Welfare, Frailties Bloom

Piercing Soul Smacks Beatifically

Coming Quiet Creeps Sedition

Bliss Crowds Simple Silence 

Wherefore There’s Natural Chaos. 

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   Revelation

Glory and Mediocrity

A span of doom to be gazed upon

onlookers shaken by pangs

I feel the boiling judgment on my flesh

As I entertain the myriad pupils

They view me and you in gold or silver

Every entity to its value is weighed

No breath is too sacred

We dance with the moles

Under the stars, we raise our voice

But we are lost in a sea of prayers. 

Society writhes and weeps 

While the administrators chortle

Ignorant of the spiral

and content to be square

No breath remembered.

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Yay for quatrains!

Star

Distant star, tear in the sea 

Oh star, speck in reality

The void guards our secrets

The void festers like the desert

Far away star, grain of sand

Oh star, in a land without end

Oh star, you sprawl on the void

But in a void, so ever dwindles

Untouchable star, ember over fire

Oh star, coal in blazing dance 

Ember, the void will smother you

                  Dear star, a speck in time               *

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Ode to the Smart Ones

Props to the brilliant and few 

Props to those who knew all along

And props to those who always know what to do.

Props to the sappy al’ Shakespeare

And props to the advanced in years

While us laymen try to remember the year!

Props to those who contemplate life

Props to the leading authority in triviality

But they still can’t end the strife. 

The BY-PRODUCT sometime 11-12

Here's one of the earliest pieces of literature of mine that i could find. It has squint inducing dialogue and lack of character development so... enjoy.  


By-Product
By Micah A. Gleckler
He stared at the featureless corner of his cube-shaped cell. He sat on the same small cot he had slept on for years; he couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t in that box. His world consisted of nothing but stainless steel, but he knew there was more the world in which he lived: and he planned to see it. So his eyes unwaveringly focused where every day a drone suspended from the ceiling entered, dropped a can of beans, and exited. 'Today will be different, today I go with' He thought in his rudimentary knowledge of English. The drone came in, a spherical robot whose dominant feature was an eye. In fact, the drone was a robotic eye. Alex grabbed it, it yelled and dropped the can on his head. He held on though, and yanked drown as hard as he could. Its connection to the ceiling broke and both Alex and the drone fell to the ground. “Aaaaaaah! It’s got me! It’s going to eat me! Help! Help!” the drone yammered with a British accent. “Make it quick! Please no suffering! Just rip me from life like a Band-Aid!” Alex watched as it yelled itself out “you won’t get anything from me, I swear! Not even nutrients!”
Alex looked around the room then back to the drone. “OUT!” he proclaimed.
“Out? Oh out! Of course you want out! I’m sorry but I cannot allow you to escape. Can’t help you there.” Alex’s gaze turned into a glare, made even more terrifying by his unshapely facial features, “Though, if you want out that badly sure I’ll help you. Of course.”
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As he walked along long, abandoned hallways lined with the aftermath of the Black Mesa incident, the drone babbled along, as if completely unaware of the ungodly horrors that decorated the interior of the massive underground complex. “… but of course how could I know that the banana was in trouble if it didn’t speak up? (turn left) So of course it was my fault that the gorilla got him…”
Alex decided it was easier to just ignore his tangents of irrelevant information. They had been walking for a while and Alex hadn’t seen anything that he didn’t expect. He had anticipated the death and carnage that he was witnessing. He imagined nothing more from the prison that held him all his life. Hundreds of once human things laid everywhere- deformed heads being the only consistent feature. What did this to them? Alex wondered, until he rounded a corner and saw, about fifteen feet down the hall, a reddish blob with four legs and several sharp teeth-like fingers coming from its supposed “front” end. The drone saw it and screamed at Alex to duck. Alex glanced down at the drone and then back up in time to see the blob now flying toward his head in a massive leap! He ducked just in time to avoid the gruesome maw that adorned the creature’s underside “Headcrab! Headcrab! Don’t let it get on you! It will eat your brains, and tap into your neural system to reanimate your corpse! Run and don’t let it get on you!” Alex ran in a serpentine pattern as fast as his under exercised-legs could go. He realized that the once human bodies that rested everywhere were victims of Headcrabs! He never felt fear before only sadness, but he now knew to act on it. At the thought of being one of those corpses he began to run even faster, pushing his limits to the brink. He glanced back to see that the zombies were now rising to pursue him as well as even more Headcrabs. “The end of this hallway has a door! The door, get to it before they get you!” The drone screamed from the armpit where Alex held him. As the door neared he heard the awful groans of the freaks from behind them. He reached the door and pried, it open squeezed through the gap and closed it, cranking the wheel so it couldn’t be opened from the outside.
Alex tried to catch his breath as screaming zombies smashed on the door to get in. He eventually turned around to see the interior of a large warehouse. He began to walk between the hundreds of high stacked crates. “We need to look for another door, most likely in the opposite corner of where we entered.” As they walked, he realized these looked exactly like what he had been held in is that all I was he wondered a number? He saw that one of the larger crates had been emptied out, he stepped inside to see that it had a small fire pit, a pile of canned beans in the corner, and many hieroglyphic-like drawings adorning the interior of it, depicting past events of the lab’s near ancient history. Depicting tales such as that of the test subject that overthrew the evil glaDOS, companion cubes, portal guns, and a… cake.
After eating some of the beans, they found the other door and the drone yet again told him the way. They were no longer in hallways but on railed walkways that were suspended over a chasm so massive that you couldn’t see the bottom or sides. Though, he felt no fear of these heights, since he was unaware of the dangers that heights presented. They then entered a small elevator that resembled a cage suspended from cables. As they ascended to the top of the vast hole the drone reassured him “We’re almost to the surface. You will see the sky in all its beauty.” This made Alex happy and he began to day dream of paradise.
When the elevator stopped he stepped into an airlock. The door behind him closed and after a second or two the one in from of him opened. He saw a long stair case and he eagerly began his ascent.
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When he reached the top he had to force the door open, blocked by something on the other side, when he squeezed out he was in another large warehouse, except everything was covered with ash, and a chilling breeze was all that he heard.
They now made their way to the door. Alex was ecstatic. To see grass, people, the sky! Finally he thought it was all he could think. He opened the door and saw shades of grey. The grass was sparse weeds, there were no people, and sky wasn’t blue, but an unhealthy greenish grey. His knowledge of the world consisted of what he had read in two magazines, a fantasy is all the real world was to him, a mirage, a dream. Now the real world is what he knew, a world ravaged by scientific disaster, The Black Mesa Disaster. A tear fell down Alex’s ugly face, because he knew this is what he was: he was the By-Product.



The End