from Quirk Books:
March 3: The Feeding Frenzy Is Imminent
On Wednesday, March 3, our all-out blog explosion begins! Over 200 bloggers will be participating in our Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls review event and contest. Go to Quirk Classics to see who’s talking about Dawn of the Dreadfuls. We’ll be featuring links to our favorite blogger reviews starting March 5!
March 7: Director’s Cut
The Academy Awards are rapidly approaching. To celebrate, we give you Secret Lives of Great Filmmakers by Robert Schnakenberg. From tales of missing belly buttons and appalling personal hygiene to irrational fears and outlandish fetishes, this collection has all the dirty little secrets you really want to know about the world’s most renowned filmmakers. For instance, what do Bea Arthur and George Lucas have in common?
George Lucas: Burn After Watching
The harsh critical response to the last three Star Wars movies may not have fazed Lucas, but there’s one project he’s still too mortified to even discuss: the catastrophic two-hour Star Wars Holiday Special that aired on CBS television stations on November 17, 1978. Larded with misbegotten musical numbers, badly animated cartoons, and guest appearances by Z-list seventies “stars” such as Jefferson Starship, Harvey Korman, and Bea Arthur, the variety extravaganza has been disowned by Star Wars fans and repeatedly ridiculed in popular culture. When prodded by interviews, Lucas will only say it “does not represent my vision for Star Wars.” He once confessed, “If I had time and a hammer, I’d track down every bootleg copy and smash it.”
Beauty and the Geek
In the mid-1980s, Lucas embarked on a long and stormy relationship with pop singer Linda Ronstadt. The seventies hit-maker was in the midst of a protracted career slump and had just come off a nasty break-up with up-and-coming comic Jim Carrey when the recently separated Lucas swept her off her feet. To most observers, it was an unlikely match — especially given Ronstadt’s rock-star looks and Lucas’ nebbishy demeanor. According to People magazine, when the lovebirds walked into a San Anselmo, California, drug store one day, the owner didn’t even know who Ronstadt’s companion was. “I just thought he was her houseboy,” she said. Friends tried to warn Lucas the relationship was doomed: Ronstadt was notorious for cycling through lovers like chewed-up wads of bubble gum. But the smitten director remained ever hopeful. He took guitar lessons, exchanged his nerdy glasses for contact lenses, and even talked of building a honeymoon cottage on his Skywalker Ranch. Sadly, it was not to be. After about five years of on-and-off dating, the odd couple broke up for good.
Check out The Vault on Irreference.com for more fascinating trivia about our filmmakers. It may even earn you some extra credit with your Oscar picks this year.
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