Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ok,

I know what you are all thinking "Jacob is just too much of a Star Wars geek to know a crappy book". And you know what? At times I think that I would agree with you but I would like to say this. The book of episode 3 is shockingly very different and much more intense than the movie ever was, and here is the big difference- George Lucas didn't write the book. In this version you actually have depth added to the characters and Anakin isn't a whiny little bitch. He is exactly what he should have been in the movie caring, yet arrogant, and has a better relationship with Obi-wan than he does in the movie and you can relate with him. You can also understand his frustration with the Jedi council as they continue to ignore his abilities and fail to recognize how well he handles himself in battle and gets other Jedi out of the scrapes they get themselves into. Its easy to understand how he goes over to the dark side because in the book its a gradual process. He is distrusted by the council and the only person that trusts him and listens to him is Palpatine, who whispers promises of being able to save Padme. So once he helps Palpatine kill Mace Windu its a whole lot easier to understand how he feels like there is no going back and thus converts to the power of the dark side. I enjoyed this telling of the tragic hero.




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Indiana Jones was interesting-SPOILERS AHEAD

So like the title says and I am sure that you can put two and two together, I saw the latest installment to the Indiana Jones franchise. And all that I can say about it was that I was conflicted by the end of the film. I wanted to really like it but there were a few things that I had a hard time looking past. Sure, like many of you I enjoyed the film. It was funny and Indy still had his wry sense of humor and witty remarks, Shia Lebouf, and Karen Allen were both charismatic and entertaining. The situations that Indy gets himself in and out of are funny if not a little preposterous but no more unbelievable than when he some how got into the Nazi sub in Raiders or jumped out of a plane with nothing but a self inflatable raft. Its just funny that he somehow survives an atomic blast by hiding in a lead lined fridge, yes, fridge.
Cate Blanchet did a descent job at playing the baddie Russian seeking world domination like all the others. So I was cool with this, However! and let me stress the "HOWEVER" there were some plot issues that I had a problem with and you can tell that George Lucas was standing over Spielberg's shoulder saying "ohh!, ohh! add this! Tell them them to do that! Because I am sure that it was Lucas' s idea (SPOILER) to add aliens to the movie, yeah that's right, I said fricken aliens. And you find out that this movie is going to revolve around aliens within the first fifteen minutes of the movie (and that is when I got the sinking feeling in my gut that all was not well with Indy). I mean, aliens with psychic abilities? This is the quest of the Russians? To gain psychic abilities from aliens they can control the minds of their enemies and thus control the world? Now how does this compare with the rest of the Indiana Jones movies you may ask? Didn't they deal with same kind of absurdities with the ark and the holy grail? Not really and I have to agree with what my sister-in-law said about the movie- this one was science fiction and the first three were mystical and there is a HUGE difference between mystical and science fiction and Indy is NOT science fiction. Indy was about faith, relationship, and the desire for power and having the strength to turn away from that power for something more important like those you care about, and for the writers to throw in the whole alien bit was kind of a cop out and something I could totally see Lucas crapping in his pants about and thinking to himself "pure gold".
The green screen and glossy look of the film was really distracting and annoying and it somehow took away that grittiness that comes when you watch Indiana Jones doing his thing. And in the end when they aliens come together and blast off in their big shiny ship after they finally get the crystal skull of their brother to teleport or fly off into that whole other dimension, that space between space was just full of crap. I think I could have been ok with the alien idea if they hadn't added that whole schpeil about the spaceship and the different dimensions. How does this sound like a good idea to put in an Indiana Jones movie!!! And having Cate Blanchett die with her eyes being burned out from sensory over load just didn't make sense it would have been better if her head had exploded; to much information, brain can't handle it and pop! I could see that. And with all the progress we have made in the special effects department surely they could have done a better job then have her evaporate into pixelated mist. I mean I still get a little freaked by watching Donovan dissolve into the nothing at the end of The Last Crusade and watching Belock and the bald nazi dude with glasses melt away or explode at the end of Raiders because it looked (surprisingly) real. At some point I half expected Jar Jar Binks to pop up out of the ground. I know I should shut up and you can tell me to do so but at the end of the movie you're going to say to yourself "really? that's the direction they decided to go in? really? And you can tell that George Lucas wanted it to end that way. And then you will want to find a bat and Lucas's head and connect them and then punch Spielberg in the face for listening to Lucas

Sunday Night Movies!!

That's right ladies and gentleman! Instead of actually posting meaningful and touching information on this blog it will be used for nothing more than movies that we will be watching every Sunday night at some random home of our choosing. While I am still working out the bugs here I think that we can all agree upon that this Sunday's movie will be Paprika and if you don't like it...tough cookies!!

This is the first,

As the title states this is the first blog amongst hopefully many, but we'll see. Anybody that knows me knows that I have the ability to start a lot of things but not necessarily finish them. I know that I'm really good at that but we hope (and when I say "we" I mean myself) that this is going to be a continuous thing that lets the whole darn world know of my exploits, adventures, and mishaps. Some of which I am sure will be posted on the family blog and let me provide a link to that thecuteashleys.blogspot.com I will be sure to add more when I'm not at work and doing stuff I should be doing.