« April 2005 | Main | June 2005 »
May 19, 2005
Revenge of the Sith, baby!
The first movie I ever remember seeing is "Star Wars." I was four years old in 1977 and the memories of that movie are still with me. My Mom would stop on the way home to pick up an action figure that I'd lost or broken. I tried to collect a whole squad of stormtroopers (I think I had three). I wanted to be Luke Skywalker, and my entire childhood was rendered in shades of opening scroll yellow and closing credits blue.
"The Empire Strikes Back" came out in 1980. My Dad took me to see it, as he always did, over and over again. The first time we couldn't get into the showing we wanted to see so we sat outside the theater for three hours waiting for it to end, this being before the days of the 24 screen multiplex. "Return of the Jedi" came three years later. I was 10 and my Mom and aunt took me and my cousin Joey out of school to see it at the now-defunct Northwoods Mall Cinema in Charleston. I'll never forget the excitement of that day, watching the Death Star II explode over and over, first on screen, then on video. My friend Rob and I watched them incessantly on the weekends throughout my teen years.
Obviously, I was an adult for "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones," and, while I liked the movies a great deal, it was easier to see their flaws (and they were more inherently flawed, particularly TPM). Still, I had the colors, the music and the sounds and the promise of what was to come.
Why these movies? Who knows? Someone commented in an earlier post about why someone who likes to read and write likes movies that are so dubiously written. A psychiatrist would probably say that it has something to do with the movie's focus on the innate bond between fathers and sons and the trials that relationship brings. Maybe it's the story's classic, almost cliched view of good and evil (good guys wear white, bad guys wear black, Han Solo wears a little of both). Maybe it's the laser guns. All I know is that these movies have, in so many ways, defined my childhood, adolescence and, increasingly, adulthood as well.
At midnight + 1 last night, I saw the last "Star Wars" movie there will ever be -- "Revenge of the Sith." Don't worry; I won't spoil anything. There seems to be a misinformation campaign about, as a lot of the things I heard didn't end up being in the movie, and some things I hadn't expected showed up.
The theater was insane, with costumed members of the 501st in full regalia, as well, as amateurs trotting out their hair buns, Jango Fett armor and, in one memorable case, a full-fledged slave Leia outfit. Not sure I'd want to sit in a movie theater seat in that, but whatever floats one's boat.
But the real question is, is the movie any good? Does it suffer from the lousy dialogue of AotC? The boring meetings of TPM? The deathly mid-movie lull of RotJ?
I'll put it this way: if you're a "Star Wars" fan, this may be the best movie you'll ever see.
Bear in mind that this is the sixth movie, so it's pretty "Inside Baseball," rather like walking into "Return of the King" having not seen the earlier films. If you're not a "Star Wars" fan, a lot may be lost on you. I watched both prequels the week before going to see this one, and I'm glad I did, as there are definitely some subtleties I might have missed.
"Revenge of the Sith" wraps up, in a few cases too conveniently, most of the threads that tie the prequel trilogy and the later movies together. The fates of all the main characters are set toward their destinies in Eps. IV-VI here and, by and large, it's all very effective.
The CGI is orders of magnitude beyond anything in either of the earlier prequels. Insanely detailed, beautiful and, for the most part, seamless. Characters look like they're where they supposed to be instead of a blue screen. The activity in the background is constant, giving every scene a sense of real life, even if you do catch yourself trying to take everything in. It's a cliche, but seeing it once just isn't enough. There's so much to see that you'll miss a lot the first time.
The writing and particularly the acting are much improved. Lucas supposedly had a ghost rewrite by Tom Stoppard and it shows. There's still the usual tin ear dialogue, but after six movies, you either enjoy it, don't mind it, or probably need to find another franchise. The good news is that there's little talk of trade routes, treaties and franchises and much more about the nature, motivations and lure of the dark side of the Force. Freed of those constraints, the actors seem much more at ease, both with each other and the material. Hayden isn't annoying, Natalie isn't wooden. Samuel seems more than just grouchy. The whole thing works, especially Ian McDarmid.
The CGI, again, is striking. Yoda is now a fully realized character, walking and talking seamlessly with everyone else. In many ways, he's more human than the humans.
Put simply, I loved this movie. I'm seeing it again on Saturday and I'll see it again many times in the future. It's dark, really dark, but it gives the "Star Wars" series a sendoff it deserves. I can't wait until I can buy Ry a flashlight lightsaber and watch it with him.
Posted by Lee Clontz at 11:18 AM
May 12, 2005
It's Alive... ALIVE!
I was talking with some friends about how combining George Lucas and Bill Clinton would create the ultimate person, kind of like the Six Million Dollar Man (although they're both worth a lot more than that puny figure). A few minutes in Photoshop and here he is: the model for the ultimate human being.
I call him... GEORGE CLINTON.
Posted by Lee Clontz at 2:31 PM
Revenge of the Sith in One Week
Have my midnight ticket to Revenge of the Sith next Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I'm pretty blown away by the reviews thus far. As I write this, it's at 93% positive on the Tomatometer with 30 reviews -- the best-reviewed major American movie of the year.
Order of favorites? I'd say:
- A New Hope
- Empire Strikes Back
- Attack of the Clones
- Return of the Jedi
- The Phantom Menace
I'm a George Lucas sycophant (admittedly), so I love them all, but it looks like this one is shaping up to be a solid movie. Crossing my fingers.
Posted by Lee Clontz at 12:03 AM
May 11, 2005
Riley as Batman
Ry dressed up as the Caped Crusader and chased bubbles around the living room on Monday night. We've come a long way from Underoos. Heck, this outfit even has a velcro cape.
Posted by Lee Clontz at 11:56 PM
May 4, 2005
Babbling Video
Got some video of Ry babbling. What's he trying to say? What does he want? No one knows, but it's pretty cute.
View the video (Windows Media Player)
Posted by Lee Clontz at 10:43 AM