Star Wars' Secret Shame: The Holiday Special

From 'Star Wars' to 'Arrested Development,' something's not quite right

(NEWSER) - It's taboo and generally creepy, but sometimes—under the right cinematic circumstances and with the knowledge that nobody's actually related—incest can be, well, hot. Willa Paskin of New York rounds up fictional couples who have real chemistry:

• Cathy and Chris Dollanganger, Flowers in the Attic: "Nothing can stop the teenage sex drive, not even arsenic poisoning."

George Lucas begins work on live-action TV ‘Star Wars,’ sans Skywalker and Vader

(NEWSER) - C-3PO, R2-D2…and TiVo? Star Wars mastermind George Lucas has “just begun work” on a live-action series TV series set in his storied universe. But don’t expect Luke to turn to the dark side in the pilot episode: Lucas is “taking chances” by not featuring anyone named Skywalker or Solo or Vader, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

Ralph McQuarrie helped design many top sci-fi films of 1980s

(NEWSER) - Ralph McQuarrie, the artist who was instrumental in shaping the Star Wars universe—down to the look of characters like Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and R2-D2—has died at the age of 82, reports CBS News . In addition to working at Boeing and creating Apollo space flight animations for CBS News, McQuarrie designed the concept art that George Lucas used to sell Star Wars to 20th Century Fox. "I wanted to make these paintings as close to what would be on the screen as possible," McQuarrie once told Cinefantastique . "That was a product of, or a result of our wish to make the people at Fox feel that we had a picture that was going to have a quality image, one that wasn't going to be trashy science fiction. ... It was going to be a real polished product." More»

Billy Crystal brings the same old stuff

(NEWSER) - Last night's Oscars, like its Best Picture, was a throwback to a different time in film history. And though the show may have topped last year's Anne Hathaway-James Franco fiasco, it was boring and tired throughout:

• "The whole night looked like an AARP pep rally," writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times . "For a town that prides itself on tinsel and titillation, the night was pretty tame." "It all looked very familiar," but that "is perhaps necessary when so few of the nominated films are."

'60s B-movie 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians' ranks worst: poll

(NEWSER) - What are the top 10 most cringe-inducing, holiday-ruining, Santa-offending Christmas movies of all time? Online ticket seller Fandango set out to find out, and polled its customers. Among the films that you probably shouldn't watch tonight:

1. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians : a 1964 ultra-low budget fantasy flick; good luck making it all the way through the 1:22 trailer, at left
2. Silent Night, Deadly Night : a 1984 horror film featuring a murderous man in a Santa suit
3. Jingle All the Way : Sinbad and Arnold Schwarzenegger fight over a toy action figure