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You can reach Chuck on Twitter @Romba and Curtis @86Cujo. Feel free to tweet us away, but be sure to use the hashtag #TeamDiabolical for all tweets about the show. Who knows, your tweet could be featured on an upcoming show!

– Show Notes –

A Return to Practical Effects (Episode VII)

Much to the thrill of fanboys everywhere, the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con revealed the latest behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars: Episode VII. What made this reel particularly interesting to Team Diabolical was it’s unmistakable mission statement of promoting the film’s use of practical effects. Never before have we witnessed the idea of practical effects being a major selling point to a film, particularly in today’s digital frontier. It seems to us that J.J. Abrams and the Disney owned Lucasfilm are going out of their way to distance themselves from all the criticisms of George Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy (the rampant use of cgi being chief among them). Lucas received a lot of flack for his nearly 100% use of green screen during the filming of the Prequels, not to mention a few of the actors even cited how difficult it was to act against, for the most part, nothing. Horribly written dialogue aside, there can be little doubt that this played a pivotal role in the wooden performances many of the Prequel actors turned in. There is clearly a large amount of positive electricity in the Penthouse with the inclusion of real sets, creatures and vehicles in The Force Awakens, but we still can’t help but wonder what George Lucas thinks of all this. Essentially, the marketing for Episode VII has pretty much undermined most everything Lucas did with the Prequel Trilogy. Billionaire or not, you would think the man’s ego has to be a little bruised at this point. Check the links below to view the footage from Comic-Con.

Useful Links:

Comic-Con Episode VII Practical Effects Reel
J.J Abrams Wiki
Episode VII Wiki

George Lucas… Stubbornness in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

Sometimes all roads lead to a man’s ego; Enter Star Wars: Episode I, a movie that carried the weight of several generations of expectations and introduced fans to a seven foot amphibian with a broken Jamaican accent. Jar Jar Binks quickly became the most reviled entity in maybe all of fiction. Mistakes get made, happens all the time, but Lucas seemed to champion the character giving him larger pieces of the narrative pie (case in point, Jar Jar casts the deciding vote to unravel the republic). It became such a debacle it alienated the masses- and in some cases, even other Star Wars properties. The notorious Force Unleashed games referenced Jar Jar in a frozen block of carbonite, and J.J. Abrams has suggested that a Gungan skull should be shown in the Tatooine dunes to put this abomination to rest once and for all.

Useful Links:

George Lucas Wiki
Star Wars Film Series Wiki
Jar Jar in Carbonite in the Force Unleased

This Week’s Dope

Chuck’s Dope

Back to the Future: 30th Anniversary – The Back to the Future trilogy is ripe with nostalgia and good vibes for me. My Dad and I heavily watched this series while I was growing up and we shared countless moments of joy while scrutinizing Marty’s time traveling perils. It was a pleasure to pop in the blu-ray and take in the sights and sounds of the original film once again to celebrate it’s monumental 30th anniversary. Still such a pleasure to watch and I can’t help but travel back in time myself as I allow my mind to return to those childhood memories of watching the film with my Dad. We’ve had Phone Booths, Treadmills, Chairs and all other types of time travel vehicles yet there’s just something inherently cool about traipsing through time in a DeLorean. A true film classic! Happy 30th!

Curtis’ Dope

Shelfies. pic.twitter.com/iAun2MUvNR

— cujo (@86Cujo) April 27, 2015

Diabolical Artists

Featured Music Provided By:
Klimeks: https://soundcloud.com/klimeks
Dream Shore (Dope Track): https://soundcloud.com/dream-shore
AyyJay: https://soundcloud.com/ayyjaay
Antonio: https://soundcloud.com/xantonio

Ambient Music Provided By:
Glo: https://soundcloud.com/gloneiric
Unforseen: https://soundcloud.com/unforseen
Dark Ambient Inner Devil: https://soundcloud.com/the-inner-devil

Artwork Provided By:
Tom Fluharty: http://tomfluharty.deviantart.com/