• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Newcity Film

Reviews, profiles and news about movies in Chicago

  • Newcity
    • Newcity Network
    • Best of Chicago
  • Art
  • Brazil
  • Design
  • Film
    • About Newcity Film
    • Contributors
  • Lit
  • Music
  • Resto
  • Stage

Review: The People vs. George Lucas

May 25, 2011 at 4:30 pm by Ray Pride

Ray Pride by Ray Pride
May 25, 2011May 23, 2011Filed under:
  • Documentary
  • Reviews

A bristling pipsqueak of a documentary, “The People vs. George Lucas” is an engaging idea in search of a movie. As would be expected of anything that challenges his cloistered world view, Lucas appears only in archival footage: Alexandre O. Philippe’s doc consists largely of the revenge of the nerds, whose imaginations, tethered to Lucas’ increasingly batty output, complete the “Star Wars” “reality”: it does belong to the fans, and they react to the latter-day disappointments from their beloved brother figure with anger, disappointment, a sense of possession. “I love-hate George Lucas, I love-hate him hard.” What could have been a more searching, indeed, even profound dip into the power of pop culture mostly evokes “Get a Life!” or, “You kids get outta my rec room!” An entire feature could probably sustain parallels between Lucas and other twentieth-century figures who spun religion-steeped gold from science-fiction straw. There’s something deeply melancholy about the young buck who created something that took over his life, and the lives of thousands of others. Instead, it’s sustained nitpickery of a low order. It doesn’t get much better than the latter-day Lucas describing “my vision” to Charlie Rose. Writers are interviewed in their lairs, with backdrops of books or DVDs or junk collectibles: the highlight would be Chris Gore sniffing an original souvenir program. Who’s it for? Whoever gets an instant tingle from the title alone or the moment when a post-middle-aged man intones that Georgie Lucas is a saint for making “fun” in this world. With Gary Kurtz, who was cast out of the Lucas-verse decades ago, Glenn Kenny, Dale Pollock, Neil Gaiman, Ray Harryhausen. 97m. (Ray Pride)

“The People vs. George Lucas” plays Saturday through Monday, and Wednesday, at Siskel.

Ray Pride

Author: Ray Pride

Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic, editor of Movie City News and a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine. He is also a photographer: his history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” in words and images is forthcoming. Check a few signs on Twitter (@chighostsigns) as well as daily photography on Instagram (instagram.com/raypride). Twitter: @RayPride. (Photo: Jorge Colombo.)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • Google

Related

Tagged:
  • Alexandre O. Philippe
  • Charlie Rose
  • Chris Gore
  • Glenn Kenny
  • The People Vs. George Lucas

Post navigation

Previous Post Review: The Hangover Part II
Next Post Review: Midnight in Paris

Primary Sidebar

Popular Stories

  • Romantic Depths: A Review of "Submergence"
    Romantic Depths: A Review of "Submergence"
  • Coming of Age: In "Flipped," Rob Reiner makes a movie out of time
    Coming of Age: In "Flipped," Rob Reiner makes a movie out of time
  • God's Only Man: A Review Of Lynne Ramsay's "You Were Never Really Here"
    God's Only Man: A Review Of Lynne Ramsay's "You Were Never Really Here"
  • Film 50 2017: Chicago’s Screen Gems
    Film 50 2017: Chicago’s Screen Gems
  • Film 50 2014: Chicago's Screen Gems
    Film 50 2014: Chicago's Screen Gems

Sign up for Newcity’s free email newsletter

Copyright Newcity Communications, Inc. © 2018

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.