I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that this video seems to be a few years old and I’ve only just seen it, or the fact that I actually wouldn’t mind watching a George Lucas remastered version of Singin’ in the Rain. Actually, I think the second one is worse. Much, much worse.

It wasn’t a news item. It was something that somebody made up. It’s totally, totally ignorant and stupid, and even the people who picked it up and spread it along, said there’s no way this can be true. And of course there’s no way it can be true. You shouldn’t believe what you read on the internet. Take everything with a big grain of salt.

That’s what Lucasfilm’s Head of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet says about those rumours. The only 3D Star Wars movies you will see are the classic trilogy and those three shameful accidents also known as the “prequels”.

Or maybe Steve here is just trying a Jedi mind trick on us. Here’s hoping he is not lying. [Movie Geek Squad via io9]

In the “Future of Cinema” discussion Lucas was asked questions (by Ben Mankiewicz of At the Movies) about his accomplishments, but also about his drive to innovate new film technology (if you don’t know Lucas has started a handful of film companies). “I had to invent what I didn’t have,” Lucas said. That technology included the ability to pan scenes of flying ships in Star Wars. “I wanted to simply pan around, so we had to invent a way of doing that. I was up there with Silicon Valley pushing that end of it,” he added.

It was then that Mankiewicz asked him how he feels about our technology getting “cheaper, better, faster”. You can watch Lucas’ response to viewing movies on the iPhone yourself, but he definitely doesn’t have a problem with it. He makes movies to be watched, no matter what devices people watch them on. That sentiment is a bit different than David Lynch’s opinion. Of course, Lucas has also been a proponent of beaming movies into living rooms as soon as they hit theatres.

Excuse the film quality, the suits took all the good seats.

As for whose work he notices and the company he thinks is really excelling, Lucas answered none other than Apple. “Steve Jobs is really amazing,” he remarked. “Who would have thought 20 years ago they would have been making mobile phones and doing it well?” I’ll tell ya, Yoda didn’t know. [World Business Forum]

Yeah, not so much. But poor editing choices and who shot what first aside this officially licensed costume is the bee’s frickin’ knees as far as I’m concerned.

Boasting a pump and an internal fan to keep things cool inside that plastic coffin of a costume, this legit bit of Halloweeny awesomeness is just north of $US70. You’ll be freezing party guests in carbonite and floating them in the “Witch’s Brew” spiked punch in no time at all. [Dizguise - Thanks, David!]

There’s something about real objects that—no matter how hard they have tried so far—3D computer graphics still have failed to capture. Yes, synthetic images have been evolving as fast as computing power, with new techniques that sometimes fool the eye. But while 1983 Star Wars may look bad at times compared to JJ Abrams’ Star Trek, the former still feels… more real even while it looks less realistic, perhaps? I don’t know how to define it, but it just feels better.

Certainly better than 2005 Star Wars, and not only because of the awful script. [Uberpix—Thanks Genevieve]

For those unaware, the Star Wars Holiday Special was a one off Christmas variety show that aired back in 1978. And it was, without a doubt, the biggest pile of smoking Bantha crap the Universe has ever known. Only the most devoted Star Wars fans have the strength of will – the Force, if you will – to sit through the entire thing. It focussed on Chewbacca’s family on Kashyyk, and featured all the main cast from the first Star Wars movie, even though you can tell they weren’t really happy about it.

Even if you haven’t actually seen the special (and trust me – you’re not missing anything at all), Vanity Fair does have an excellent article analysing not just how bad it was, but why it sucked as well. It’s well worth a read, especially if you’re stuck at work and looking for a way to kill some time on Christmas Eve.

[Vanity Fair via Defamer]
[Image source: www.starwarsholidayspecial.com]

And on top of that, they expect you to pay $US200 for a CRT with some black plastic added. [GeekAlerts]

Apparently, the cost of converting a traditional 2-D movie into 3D is between US$50,000 and US$100,000 per minute. I’m sure that Lucasfilm will make their money back and then some, but is it really worth it? Does anyone care to see this or is it just another case of Lucas screwing around too much with the franchise? [Comingsoon via io9 via Wired]

[flickr via Newlaunches]