Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guests Marianne Cassidy and Grace Duffy, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.
This time, George Lucas’ Star Wars.
A long time ago in a galaxy far away, the Empire and the Rebellion struggle for control of the cosmos. Against this backdrop, three unlikely heroes ascend, embarking upon a mythic journey that will reveal dark secrets and promise new hope.
At time of recording, it was ranked the 22nd best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Show notes:
- Recorded 4th November 2018.
- Dana Schwartz at Observer ponders why fans love Boba Fett, January 2017.
- Astronauts talk to Business Insider about why mankind has not returned to the moon, June 2018.
- Ross Andersen at The Atlantic wonders whether mankind is disappointed with the outcome of the space race, April 2011.
- Lily Rothman at Time on how Star Wars spoke to seventies anxiety and culture, December 2015.
- Kyle Smith at The New York Post on how Star Wars was George Lucas’ secret Vietnam protest, September 2014.
- Jemarc Axinto at The Artifice on how Star Wars speaks to nostalgia for a pre-Vietnam America, April 2014.
- Stephen McVeigh at The Conversation on the moral simplicity with which Star Wars presented morally complicated realities, May 2017.
- Rob Bricken at io9 discusses the establishment of a Disney committee to determine the Star Wars canon, January 2014.
- Brian Cronin at Comic Book Resources discusses when Star Wars became “A New Hope” and “Episode IV”, June 2014.
- Kevin Priolo and Jordan Bowman at Business Insider on why “moist” is the most hated word in the English language, May 2018.
- Ross Benes at Esquire argues that R2-D2 is the real hero of the Star Wars franchise, February 2014.
- Melia Robinson at Business Insider on the question of whether the droids in Star Wars are sentient, July 2016.
- Alex Hern at The Guardian looks at evidence about whether people would torture even a non-sentient robot, March 2015.
- Dylan Love at Business Insider on the ethics of torturing robots, August 2014.
- Gregorio Billikopf Encina at The University of California on Stanley Milgram’s experiments about individual responses to authority, November 2004.
- Brian Resnick at Vox on the replication crisis affecting experiments like those of Stanley Milgram, June 2018.
- Dara Kerr at CNET on PETA’s criticisms of Pokemon, October 2012.
- Daniel A. Gross at The Atlantic on vegan criticisms of Pokemon, December 2013.
- Todd VanDerWerff at Vox on the backlash to The Last Jedi and its treatment of Luke Skywalker, December 2017.
- Marina Koren at The Atlantic on the absurdity of the political controversy over First Man, October 2018.
- Melissa Locker at Time on Leia’s PhD, August 2017.
- George Lucas cheekily admits to Corona Coming Attractions that he made Star Wars up as he was going along, May 2010.
- Helen O’Hara at The Telegraph on the distinctive buzz of the light saber, December 2015.
- Yohana Desta at Vanity Fair on Laura Dern making “pew pew” noises while filming The Last Jedi, March 2018.
- Episode Nothing on the story of Alec Guinness and his young fan, May 2016.
- John Guth at The Odyssey Online on the sorry state of Steven Universe fandom, November 2015.
- Ryan Britt at Tor on issues of fan entitlement, May 2011.
- Neil Gaiman on NeilGaiman.com about fan entitlement issues, May 2009.
- Hannah Jane Parkinson at The Guardian on the importance of Carrie Fisher to people with mental illness, December 2016.
- Alden Ehrenreich weighs in on the “Han shot first” controversy at Entertainment Weekly, May 2018.
- Harrison Ford weighs in on the “Han shot first” controversy at The Washington Post, April 2014.
- George Lucas gets shot by The Los Angeles Times wearing a “Han shot first” t-shirt, May 2008.
- Ryan Lambie at Den of Geek on how kids got empty boxes instead of Star Wars toys for Christmas 1977, January 2016.
- A.D. Jameson talks to Salon about whether Star Wars is actually New Hollywood’s greatest accomplishment, May 2018.
- Adam Rogers at Wired on how modern audiences will not live to see the last Star Wars film, November 2015.
- Frederick Blichert at Vice on the people why really follow the Jedi religion, January 2018.
- Robyn Faith Walsh at The Huffington Post on whether Star Wars is a religion, December 2017.
- Adam Rogers at Wired on how Star Wars is moving closer and closer to becoming a religion, May 2018.
- Kirsten Bell talks to ZDNet about whether Apple is a religion, October 2012.
- Scott Tobias at The Dissolve on the question of who actually owns Star Wars, December 2014.
- Asawin Suebsaeng at The Daily Beast on how the political right embraced the Empire, October 2015.
- Jonathan V. Last at The Weekly Standard makes “the case for the Empire”, May 2012.
- The original scene featuring Han Solo’s encounter with a human Jabba the Hutt, 1977.
- George Lucas admits to The Hollywood Reporter that he “may have gone too far” with The Phantom Menace, December 2017.
- George Lucas’ infamous “white slavers” remarks to Variety, December 2015.
- Rhett Allain discusses the pseudo-science of the franchise’s blasters at Wired, May 2012.
- Gabriel Gundacker performs “Zendaya is Meechee”, September 2018.
- Pod F. Thompkast, Episode 7, February 2011.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: a new hope, auteur theory, capitalism, fandom, grace duffy, marianne cassidy, new hollywood, podcast, star wars |
the m0vie blog 
22? That’s awfully high, isn’t it? Raiders of the Lost Ark is better in my opinion.
I suspect everybody on the podcast would agree. That said, it is a hugely influential and epoch-defining piece of pop culture.
I like Raiders well enough as a fun popcorn flick, but it’s pretty shallow. Indiana Jones doesn’t really have a character arc. There really isn’t much in the way of themes or big ideas. Star Wars fares much better. Both Han and Luke have major arcs, there’s a good deal about faith versus technology, etc, not to mention the groundbreaking special effects and fun action. Given all that, #22 actually seems a bit low to me.
Raiders has better pacing, better acting, better action, and snappier dialogue. And I wouldn’t say Star Wars has depth either. It’s a very simple tale at its core.