Posted on 06/01/2005 10:34:25 AM PDT by quidnunc
Vengeance is mine, saith the Sith, whith thoundth like Violet Elizabeth Bott. No such luck. Instead, it’s George Lucas, with what he insists is the final film in the Star Wars sextet. My guess is the first film in the new Star Wars septet will be opening circa 2008. Anyway, Revenge of the Sith is, so Lucas assures us, a ‘tragedy’. It might have been wise to have stationed an announcer at every movie house to announce this fact over the PA system since it eluded the audience I saw it with last weekend. When the Sith hits the fan, the fan bursts out laughing. Oh, to be sure, they were diverted by the opening dogfight and Obi-Wan Kenobi riding a wild four-legged space beast to hunt down General Grievous. But they were howling with laughter through all the so-called ‘tragic’ elements. When Senator-Queen Padmé (Natalie Portman) reveals that she’s pregnant, her secret husband Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) reacts with an eerie glassy-eyed expression as if he’s hypnotised himself trying to remember the next line. Eventually, Lucas prompts him and he utters the words, ‘I’ll have the club sandwich.’ No, wait. That’s just what it sounds like. He actually says: ‘You’re so … beautiful.’
‘It’s only because I’m so in love,’ says Padmé tonelessly, like a spy giving the reply password.
‘No,’ says Anakin. ‘I’m so in love. With you,’ he adds helpfully, just in case Padmé figures it’s the hot-looking Wookie strolling by in the background.
At this, my fellow theatergoers exploded with guffaws of derision. May the farce be with you! The final descent of Ian McDiarmid’s Chancellor Palpatine into Darth Hammitup brought on more laffs, as did the moment when Anakin attempts to talk Padmé into joining him over on the Dark Side: ‘Together you and I can rule the galaxy,’ he snarls. Well, tries to snarl.
‘Obi-Wan was right. You’ve changed,’ says Princess Padmé. ‘I don’t know you any more.’ He used to look like Princess Di flashing those big eyes from under his hair. But suddenly he looks like Princess Di with too much kohl and in a peevish mood. What can this mean?
-snip-
I just watched it again the other night and enjoyed it as much as the other four times I've seen it.
That's nonsense, because Padme and Obi Wan constantly lecture on the value of DEMOCRACY (see: Iraq), so it doesn't matter what libs read into it. We all know that Darth Sidious is Osama/Hitler/Breznev and Darth Vader is GOrby/Zarqawi. It's pretty clear.
I agree, but remember, if you think about it, Obi Wan badly misjudged Annakin---so he ISN'T "all wise," and he doesn't know everything. That's what I took out of that line---another bad call by Annakin.
I've seen "Zulu" with Alex Hawkins probably 100 times. Ditto "Serial" with Martin Mull, and "Independence Day" probably 50 times. I'm a movieaholic.
Odd, but "Empire" is the LEAST favorite of all six of the movies to me.
I do not know how old you are, but you might want to consider taking a course in Cinema at some local College or University. Personally, I tried to take a course in German Cinema many years ago but it was not offered that semester. Instead then I took the French Cinema course. I have not looked at movies the same ever since.
There are some very exciting, exquisite, and talented directors and producers who have come and gone during the last century or so. You can learn a lot with an open mind.
Most movies are stupid though....quite so....
I have a small but nice collection of foreign movies that aren't stupid. The Python movies aren't stupid, but they are comedies.
A lot of serious movies come under the heading of well made, but I don't want to see it again. Schindler's List, for example. There's a Japanese Anime of the same tone -- Grave of the Fireflies -- that is great, but once is enough.
"He's already back as a Force ghost. They replaced Sebastian Shaw with him in the latest DVD version of "Jedi". George must be a Democrat. He's replacing people on film, like Stalin."
Now, if this is so, Lucas needs to replace the Ewoks with the monster from "Predator."
Afterall, who needs Jedi with light sabres? For all their mumbo-jumbo-force powers, they were toasted by storm troopers in the Clone Wars.
Yet, the Ewoks, 3-foot-tall-teddy-bear-like rodents armed with pointy sticks, are far more dangerous (e.g. somehow lifting giant redwood size trees to smash Imperial walkers). They did defeat the Emperors best legion of storm troopers, whereas the Jedi got their collective butts kicked.
I'd say, in the Lucas view, if there is a movie 7, 8 and 9 - it should be of the Ewoks taking over the mission of Jedi. The Ewok rallying cry could be "May the Fur be with you".
bttt
Jimmy Smits makes a couple of small cameo appearances in Episode II Attack of the Clones as Bail Organa. Did you miss that? Did you miss Episode II entirely? :) He has a slightly larger role in Revenge. Actually I don't think Smits and Christensen are in any scenes together but I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.
Gotta Love Steyn!
Cheers,
CSG
You are confusing "art" with entertainment. Piss Christ and Nuit et brouillard are government subsidized art, Star Wars is entertainment. Try not to confuse the two.
DiCaprio wasn't cast; bringing Howard Hughes' life to the screen was his personal pet project. And the original director was to be Michael Mann.
You are correct, however, the traveling junk dealers acquired the droids after the beginning of the original "Star Wars" when Princess Leia shot them down to Tattoine in an escape pod as her ship was being boarded by Darth Vader.
"I do not know how old you are, but you might want to consider taking a course in Cinema at some local College or University. "
Don't do it!!!!!!!! It will actually ruin your appreciation of movies as entertainment. I took such a course 30 years ago from 2 gay professors. Basically I learned that anything mainstream American is crap unless it was made by Orson Wells and any movie by the French, Japanese, or Russians is a masterpiece. I can't tell you how many utterly bad french movies I had to sit through! The worst night was when they had a lecture on Looney Tune and Merry Melodie cartoons and they told everyone that they were conservative garbage and pro-American propoganda and filled with violence and racism. After that diatribe, they showed a road-runner cartoon and not one person dared to laugh for fear of getting a failing grade. Without a doubt, it was the most liberal and biased course I ever took in college. I only got a B+ because it was painful to spit back all their liberal lies on the tests.
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