StarWars.com caught up with Kelly after a recent visit to Skywalker Ranch and ILM, to chat with him about his love for Star Wars, NASA's approval of The Box and why Jabba the Hutt should be the next Tony Soprano.
WARNING: This interview is full of plot spoilers about The Box. Read at your own risk, or move along -- nothing to see here.
Before we delve into your Star Wars fandom, what was the experience like screening your new movie The Box at Skywalker Ranch and ILM?
It was amazing. It was kind of emotional, actually. Having gone to USC Film School where Skywalker Ranch is almost considered the Promised Land, it's this mythical place where you always dream of getting invited there, and potentially, get to mix a movie there. Just to get invited and stay in the Eisenstein room at the Inn -- it's truly an artists' utopia. I'd love to go up there again and mix my next movie.
Getting to go to ILM as well was a thrill because I had never been there before, and I got to see the way it's all set up at the Presidio. It was all really cool. And seeing the animatronic Slimer from Ghostbusters and the statue of Han Solo frozen in carbonite was pretty amazing too.
The fan made statue of Jar Jar in carbonite right next to him is pretty epic as well.
It's really well made!
When were you first introduced to Star Wars?
I was two years old when Star Wars came out. So I remember being at a mall with my mom and brother when I was very young, probably five years old, and I saw this huge line for The Empire Strikes Back. And I had never seen so many people stand in line for a movie before. When Return of the Jedi came out, I was about eight and I definitely remember seeing that in the theater. That movie, plus E.T., really swept me up in the excitement.
I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark at a drive-in theater -- which was an amazing memory for me. I wish someone would figure out a way to bring drive-ins back. There's a cemetery in Hollywood, called Hollywood Forever Park that has a screening series in the summer. They've played movies like Bullet and Some Like It Hot. There's a DJ, and everyone can bring wine and beer. And it goes all night with a big outdoor projection. It's a magical experience.
After seeing the Star Wars movies, were you the kind of kid who obsessed over getting all the toys?
Oh yeah, I had the pajamas and that cool Millennium Falcon toy.
Do you still collect any Star Wars stuff?
I have vintage Star Wars and Empire posters. The Empire poster is my favorite because it's the blue one. The Star Wars one I own isn't the one everyone remembers; it's one of the more obscure ones.
Who were some of your favorite Star Wars characters?
I was always an Ewok fan. I know some fans have taken issue with the Ewoks, but I think they're awesome.
If it makes you feel any better about liking Ewoks -- they eat people.
What!?
When the Ewoks captured Han Solo, they didn't put him over a fire spit to keep him warm.
Ha! The Endor sequence in Jedi is my favorite part in any of the movies. If I was stranded on a desert island and I could only bring one Star Wars movie, it would be Return of the Jedi. The whole set piece with Jabba the Hutt and the desert sequence with the Sarlacc Pit are great. Salacious Crumb is one of my favorite Star Wars characters too.
Jabba is so disgusting. He's just this gigantic slug. And the coolest thing in The Phantom Menace is when you get to see Jabba's wife. In fact, I love to see a movie all about Jabba the Hutt being a gangsta. Or maybe a sitcom called The Hutts where it shows the crazy shenanigans and escapades of the Hutt family.
It could even be like The Sopranos where he just whacks other alien creatures, and executes people, and he leads this foul, hedonistic lifestyle. A Hutt show would be amazing. I want to see that! Do you think that would ever happen?
The last time we had anything that wacky was the Star Wars Holiday Special, so I'm not sure that would happen again.
I'd love to see a reunion of that, even though Bea Arthur is no longer with us. I tried to get Bea Arthur to play Wallace Shawn's mother in Southland Tales but I couldn't even get a meeting with her.
What is it about the Star Wars films that made you become a fan?
The level of detail and the very thorough imagination at work in designing the universe of all these different species, creatures, planets and ecosystems, and anthropological details of all these societies, and the mythology -- it was so groundbreaking. And that really helped shape my sensibilities.
I've always been a pretty ambitious person it terms of the stories I try to tell and I'm always biting off more than I can chew sometimes. I can see the inspiration tracing back to Star Wars which was one of the most ambitious motion pictures ever made. If you look at the history of cinema, the biggest risk in terms of really doing something out there and pushing the envelope -- Star Wars has to be at the top of the list.
There were people who thought that movie was going to be a complete disaster and thought it was crazy to make this kind of film. But that's what the genius of it is, George Lucas was brave enough to take that risk.
