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New York Post
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Billy Dee Williams celebrates 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' 45th anniversary
The greatest film in the galaxy. 'Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back' is 45 years old today – and Billy Dee Williams couldn't be prouder to have starred in such a ground-breaking piece of cinema 'Working on 'The Empire Strikes Back' was like stepping into a dream — an adventure in every sense,' the 88-year-old actor who played Lando Calrissian exclusively told The Post. Advertisement 11 Billy Dee Williams attends the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, California. Getty Images for TCM 11 Billy Dee Williams in 'The Empire Strikes Back' in 1980. ©Lucasfilm Ltd./courtesy Everett 'George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, and the entire team created a world so rich and real that it was impossible not to get swept away,' Williams added. 'I knew it was something special even then, but none of us could have predicted the lasting impact it would have.' Advertisement Williams made his 'Star Wars' debut in the 1980 film directed by Kershner (who died in 2010) with a story by Lucas, 81. Upon its release, 'The Empire Strikes Back' got mixed reviews from critics and fans, many of whom complained about the film's dark tone that culminated in the bad guys winning in the end. 11 Darth Vader, Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' But after many years, 'The Empire Strikes Back' became universally considered the best 'Star Wars' movie ever. Advertisement 'Forty-five years later, 'The Empire Strikes Back' still resonates because it's not just about battles and starships — it's about friendship, sacrifice, and hope,' Williams told The Post. 'To be part of a story that has inspired generations is a humbling honor. I feel the love from fans every day, and it never gets old.' 11 Billy Dee Williams, Harrison Ford in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' Everett Collection / Everett Collection 11 Billy Dee Williams as Lando in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' Everett Collection / Everett Collection In the film, Lando initially betrays his longtime pal Han Solo (Harrison Ford), before he has a change of heart and backstabs the Empire — and thus secures fan-favorite status. Advertisement 'Lando was, and still is, a trailblazer,' said Williams. 'He showed audiences that charm, complexity, and courage could live in one man.' 11 Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Harrison Ford in 1980. ©Lucasfilm Ltd./courtesy Everett Williams added: 'I always approached him with a sense of dignity and fun, and I'm proud that after all these years, Lando still holds such a beloved place in the galaxy.' 11 Billy Dee Williams at the Critics Choice Association's 5th Annual Celebration Of Black Cinema and Television in 2022. Getty Images for Critics Choice Association Editor Paul Hirsch exclusively told The Post that working on the film is still one of his greatest achievements in his career. 'I was on the picture for 14 months, during which time I was on location in London and in Marin County, where my son was born,' said Hirsch, who wrote about 'The Empire Strikes Back' in his 2019 book 'A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away.' 11 Paul Hirsch at the 2024 AFI Fest at TCL Chinese Theatre on October 23, 2024 in Hollywood, California. Getty Images 'I had innumerable memorable experiences during that time,' Hirsch added, 'so to pick out a single memory would be impossible.' Advertisement Despite its success, 'The Empire Strikes Back' infamously faced numerous production difficulties. Original screenwriter Leigh Brackett died before filming started, and her duties were passed onto Lawrence Kasdan. 11 Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Mark Hamill in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection Additionally, several actors got hurt on set including Mark Hamill, who was in a severe car accident that caused facial injuries. That forced the film's creators to include a scene where Luke Skywalker is attacked by a Wampa on Hoth. Advertisement There were also financing problems as the film's initial budget of $8 million rose to over $30 million. The movie ultimately made over $540 million at the worldwide box office. 11 Lando with Han after he's frozen in carbonite' ©Lucasfilm Ltd./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection Hirsch told The Post that his job as editor wasn't impacted by the production issues. Speaking about the film's legacy, Hirsch said, 'The initial release of a film is like its birth. Some grow up and lead long lives and achieve success later on. I have worked on a few that were total flops at first, but are now considered cult classics.' Advertisement 11 Chewbacca chokes Lando in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' ©Lucasfilm Ltd./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection In a rare interview with in 2020, Lucas looked back on making 'The Empire Strikes Back.' 'It wasn't the most fun movie to make, but it was definitely a rewarding film,' he said. 'It turned out well. I learned some things.'
New York Post
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘E.T.' star Dee Wallace reveals she ‘argued' with Steven Spielberg over toning down bedroom scene
'E.T.' nearly wasn't so family friendly. Dee Wallace appeared on Steve Kmetko's 'Still Here Hollywood' podcast last week and recalled how she clashed with director Steven Spielberg over a bedroom scene involving her character, Mary, in the 1982 film. 'The only time Steven and I parted ways creatively was there's a whole B story in 'E.T.' about E.T. having a love affair with Mary, a love crush on Mary,' the 76-year-old actress explained. 12 Dee Wallace and Steven Spielberg attend the 40th anniversary screening of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' at the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival. Getty Images for TCM 'And there's little bits of it left in there,' she continued. 'There was a scene where he came in to put Reese's Pieces down on my bedside table as I'm asleep. Well, Mr. Spielberg wanted the sheet a little lower than I was comfortable with.' Wallace said that she 'argued my point that this was a family film.' 12 Dee Wallace on the 'Still Here Hollywood' podcast. Still Here Hollywood Podcast w/ Steve Kmetko/YouTube 12 Dee Wallace and Steve Kmetko. Still Here Hollywood Podcast w/ Steve Kmetko/YouTube 12 Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace in 'E.T.' ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection 'I could understand the parents smoking pot in 'Poltergeist.' But this film was very pure to me. And it was about love,' Wallace shared, adding that producer Kathleen Kennedy and writer Melissa Mathison got involved and sided with Wallace over Spielberg, 78. 'So we compromised and pulled the sheet up almost to my shoulder blades, which I was okay with,' Wallace said. 12 Dee Wallace at the 20th anniversary of 'E.T.' in Los Angeles in 2002. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images 12 Steven Spielberg filming a movie in Montville, New Jersey in Feb. 2025. GC Images 'That's pretty high,' joked Kmetko, 72, to which Wallace replied, 'Not to a girl from Kansas who knew her grandmother was gonna be watching.' 'You can take the girl out of Kansas, you can't take Kansas out of the girl,' she added with a laugh. 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' was Spielberg's seventh directorial feature film in his career. 12 Steven Spielberg at the 2023 Oscars. John Locher/Invision/AP The film, which follows a young boy who befriends an alien stranded on Earth, also stars Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore. On the podcast, Wallace remembered knowing 'E.T.' would be a hit the first time she watched it in theaters. 'I could tell just from the way the audience responded,' she said. 'That film reaches into your soul, into your heart. It surpasses some block that we have and wakes us up.' 12 Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace in 'E.T.' ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection 12 Robert MacNaughton, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote in 2002. Courtesy Everett Collection 12 Peter Coyote, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace in 'E.T.' Courtesy Everett Collection Wallace also said that at the time she foresaw Barrymore, 50, would have a big career eventually. 'We knew from day one she was gonna be a producer and director,' she explained. 'I'm sitting in a high director's chair, first day on set, and she comes up to me and she goes, 'Dee, I'm going to sit in your lap now.' And I said, 'Okay, Drew, come on up.' I mean, she just knew what she wanted, that one.' 12 Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas on the set of 'E.T.' in 1982. Courtesy Everett Collection Earlier this year, Spielberg discussed the film with Barrymore at a TCM Classic Film Festival event and revealed he went through a 'real hard-fought' battle to stop a sequel from being made. 12 Steven Spielberg attends the AFI Life Achievement Award Ceremony in April 2025. WireImage 'I just did not want to make a sequel. I flirted with it for a little bit — just a little bit to see if I [could] think of a story — and the only thing I could think about was a book that was written by somebody that wrote the book for it called 'The Green Planet,' which was all going to take place at E.T.'s home,' he explained, per THR. 'We were all going to be able to go to E.T.'s home and see how E.T. lived,' Spielberg added. 'But it was better as a novel than I think it would have been as a film.'
Fox News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
‘Jeopardy' host Ken Jennings ‘deeply skeptical' of AI, years after losing to supercomputer
"Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings once played against a super-intelligent computer, but he says current artificial intelligence is already years ahead. "I'm deeply skeptical of AI," Jennings told Fox News Digital at the TCM Classic Film Festival. "Obviously, these current iterations of LLMs [Large Language Models] would clean Watson's clock at 'Jeopardy!' The technology has moved on. I've played with chatbots and 'Jeopardy!' clues, and they're very hard to stump," he said. Jennings, along with fellow "Jeopardy!" all-star Brad Rutter, competed against the IBM Watson computer in 2011. Watson specialized in analyzing natural human language and answering complex questions, demonstrating its skills in a two-game exhibition match against Jennings and Rutter. Over the course of three days, the computer got many, but not all of the answers correct. For example, during the first game, it missed the "Final Jeopardy!" clue about U.S. cities. WATCH: 'JEOPARDY!' HOST KEN JENNINGS DEEPLY SKEPTICAL OF AI 'SLOP' "Its largest airport was named for a World War II hero; its second largest, for a World War II battle," the prompt read. The correct answer was "What is Chicago?" but Watson answered, "What is Toronto?????" with five question marks, As IBM's website explained, the multiple question marks indicated Watson wasn't completely confident in its answer after running its algorithms hundreds of times in approximately three seconds. Despite the occasional incorrect answer, Watson ended up winning the $1 million prize, donating its proceeds to charity. Since then, according to IBM's website, "The underlying technology has gone on to help organizations predict, optimize and automate business processes across numerous industries. Roughly 70% of global finance institutions and 13 of the top 14 systems integrators use Watson." After his defeat, Jennings wrote an essay for Slate at the time, saying, "IBM has bragged to the media that Watson's question-answering skills are good for more than annoying Alex Trebek. The company sees a future in which fields like medical diagnosis, business analytics, and tech support are automated by question-answering software like Watson." He continued, "Just as factory jobs were eliminated in the 20th century by new assembly-line robots, Brad and I were the first knowledge-industry workers put out of work by the new generation of 'thinking' machines. 'Quiz show contestant' may be the first job made redundant by Watson, but I'm sure it won't be the last." Jennings, who is now host of "Jeopardy!" as well as an author, isn't ready to give over his entire career to AI just yet. "I work in a creative field and when I watch something or I listen to something, I want to feel like it's coming from a mind. I want that sense of someone talking to me and I never get that with AI slop," he said during the festival. The fear of AI replacing creatives in Hollywood has been a persistent one in the past few years, taking hold during the writers' and actors' strikes of 2023. Earlier this year, Fox News Digital spoke with musician who said true artists don't need to worry about AI replacing them. "The only thing to be worried about is if you're making music to chase an algorithm," he told Fox News Digital. "If you're making music to trend on TikTok. And to do that, you have to really unlock the codes to that matrix. If that's your whole [hustle], then AI is going to do a better job than that." The Black Eyed Peas singer does think people not involved in the creative process in the music industry are the ones who should worry about AI taking away their jobs. "The people that are at risk of AI in the music [industry] are managers, label execs, finance auditors, attorneys. If you look at the money that's being put [in]to make these systems more advanced, Microsoft is giving you a copilot [the company's AI assistant]. And there's nothing slowing down how freaking awesome that's going to be in 2025 version eight. And that's going to be used for all types of industries," he said. "There's not an army or a fleet of AI music do[ing] everything to the level of copilots or sales force agents. So musicians and hyper-creatives are OK. We're going to use AI and reinvent and create a whole new industry because of it." He added, "Right now, AI does a good job of everything that we've created and can mimic it. But AI is not making things that don't exist exist. We do that. We created AI. So AI is a mirror. It shows you exactly what's in front of it."
7NEWS
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Star Wars creator solves movie mystery after 55 years
Know now do we why speaks that way does Yoda. Star Wars creator George Lucas is peeling back the curtain on why Yoda speaks backwards in the film franchise. 'Yoda had a very distinctive way of talking, and it was done purposely because if you were speaking regular English, people don't listen that much, but if he has an accent, or it's really hard to understand what he's saying, they focus on what he's saying,' he told Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz last week during a screening of The Empire Strikes Back at the TCM Classic Film Festival. 'He was basically the philosopher of the movie, so he was talking about all of the things in long talking scenes and stuff where I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen, especially 12-year-olds.' Yoda is known for his wisdom, with such lines as 'Try not. Do or do not. There is no try,' 'The greatest teacher, failure is' and 'Much to learn, you still have.' Yoda's first appearance in the Star Wars franchise came in 1980 in The Empire Strikes Back. The character was voiced by Frank Oz, who also provided it for Return of the Jedi, the prequel trilogy and The Last Jedi. He and other actors have also voiced Yoda in various related Star Wars projects over the years. Oz said he came up with Yoda's unusual speaking style before getting Lucas' blessing to do it. 'I was just looking at the original script of 'The Empire Strikes Back' the other day and there was a bit of that odd syntax in it, but also it had Yoda speaking very colloquially,' he told The Guardian in 2021. 'So I said to George (Lucas): 'Can I do the whole thing like this?' And he said: 'Sure!' It just felt so right.' Oz also said he doesn't get tired of people doing impressions of Yoda, either. 'No I'm used to it. But people don't understand, anyone can do a voice. It's not the voice — it's the soul,' he said. A new Star Wars film is due out in 2027. Earlier this month, the movie's director, Shawn Levy, revealed that Ryan Gosling will star in it.
NBC News
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
George Lucas finally explains why Yoda speaks backwards in ‘Star Wars' films
Know now do we why speaks that way does Yoda. 'Star Wars' creator George Lucas is peeling back the curtain on why Yoda speaks backwards in the film franchise. 'Yoda had a very distinctive way of talking, and it was done purposely because if you were speaking regular English, people don't listen that much, but if he has an accent, or it's really hard to understand what he's saying, they focus on what he's saying,' he told Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz last week during a screening of 'The Empire Strikes Back' at the TCM Classic Film Festival. 'He was basically the philosopher of the movie, so he was talking about all of the things in long talking scenes and stuff where I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen, especially 12-year-olds.' Yoda is known for his wisdom, with such lines as 'Try not. Do or do not. There is no try,' 'The greatest teacher, failure is' and 'Much to learn, you still have.' Yoda's first appearance in the 'Star Wars' franchise came in 1980 in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' The character was voiced by Frank Oz, who also provided it for 'Return of the Jedi,' the prequel trilogy and 'The Last Jedi.' He and other actors have also voiced Yoda in various related 'Star Wars' projects over the years. Oz said he came up with Yoda's unusual speaking style before getting Lucas' blessing to do it. 'I was just looking at the original script of 'The Empire Strikes Back' the other day and there was a bit of that odd syntax in it, but also it had Yoda speaking very colloquially,' he told The Guardian in 2021. 'So I said to George (Lucas): 'Can I do the whole thing like this?' And he said: 'Sure!' It just felt so right.' Oz also said he doesn't get tired of people doing impressions of Yoda, either. 'No I'm used to it. But people don't understand, anyone can do a voice. It's not the voice — it's the soul,' he said. A new 'Star Wars' film is due out in 2027. Earlier this month, the movie's director, Shawn Levy, revealed that Ryan Gosling will star in it.
