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HOLLYWOOD — Nice to see so many Stars Wars fanatics getting their Force on over the U.S. holiday weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center for Stars Wars Celebration IV.
They came by the thousands from all over the world to mark the 30th anniversary of the groundbreaking space opera — many dressed as their favourite character — and got into the swing of things with a 17-hour marathon screening of all six movies in chronological order.
Also on the five-day convention’s agenda was the unveiling of 15 Star Wars commemorative stamps by the U.S. Postal Service and a two-minute preview of a new animated Clone Wars series that isn’t expected to hit the airwaves for a couple of years.
It’s not that we want to rain on George Lucas’ parade or anything, but those high-profile Star Wars celebrations — even the History Channel got into the act with a two-hour documentary — have overshadowed a number of other cinematic happenings that are also marking their 30th anniversaries this year.
And we’re not even talking the obvious ones like Annie Hall, which arguably is one of Woody Allen’s very best films, or Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Nope, we’re thinking more along the lines of Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, easily the most cosmopolitan entry in the beloved Love Bug series, which would be effectively driven into the ground 28 years later by Lindsay Lohan in Herbie: Fully Loaded.
But does Herbie merit even one measly commemorative stamp?
Then there’s The Chicken Chronicles — an inspired high-school comedy that predated Fast Times at Ridgemont High by five years — which announced the big-screen arrival of one Steve Guttenberg.
But does the History Channel pre-empt one of its Hitler documentaries to mark that momentous occasion?
Other lesser anniversaries
There also doesn’t seem to be any party-planning in the works for The Incredible Melting Man, a sci-fi thriller that boasted special makeup effects by Rick Baker, who also worked on Star Wars, before he was a six-time Oscar winner.
And here’s betting the mayor of Los Angeles doesn’t proclaim June 17 a special day in honour of the 30th Anniversary of the release of Exorcist II: The Heretic, despite the fact that it has earned its place in movie history as quite possibly the worst sequel ever made.
To all the overlooked and unappreciated — and that means you, Bobby Deerfield — Happy 30th!