A Brief Note

I'll be on the road most of the day, so any update will come late in the evening. Planning on a third viewing of Revenge of the Sith if all goes well. It would be safe to say that the word, "pwn3d" applied to Darth Vader when fighting General Kenobi.

Buzz droids would be so fun to send in the direction of say, MoveOn's legions.

I'm also slowly bringing this particular blog up to speed; much of Blogger is alien to me, so I'm having to learn their way of doing business. Sooner or later, I'll be up and running with some blogrolling action.

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Supporting the War Economy

I have recently acquired one of these little gems, namely a Darth Tater. Never had a Mr. Potato Head in my life, but now I do, and it's tied into my longest-standing favorite franchise. Now, if I could scrounge up the additional funds to buy myself one of those $100 lightsabers sold at GameStop. A guy had one at the premiere yesterday, and it was nifty.

Meanwhile, I've finally fired Knights of the Old Republic II back up for a little bit. There is an eternal truth I've discovered: Killing things with Force lightning can be done for fun and profit. However, it doesn't seem to have the same effect upon my character in that game as it does on Darth Sidious. Heh heh heh.

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The Evening Outrage

John Podhoretz continues to dig himself a hole in my viewpoint. Didn't notice the "airport terminal", and I don't care that the Old Republic didn't have ultrasound. There's probably a logical fallacy somewhere around Podhoretz's assumption that just because we have ultrasound that the OR would as well.

But of course, it's John Podhoretz, so obviously his criticism is dead-on accurate, and he stands in the ranks of film criticism right beside Pauline Kael. Note to the so-called "J-Pod": When in a hole, stop digging.

Next, we have the marginally funny Warren Bell commenting the following:

I deliberately avoided the political overtones of Revenge of the Sith. Enough has been made of it already.

The so-called political overtones are not there. I discussed this with Boy of heterophobic (Caution; journal not necessarily work safe) and we agree that the people reading modern politics into the picture see it because they want to see it. I suppose that it's a desire to feel persecuted or rebellious against evil Hollywood; rise up, man the barricades, and demand that Senator Frist exercise the nuclear option! (Which, incidentally, I can't care a whit about.)

Mr. Bell continues:

Heroes on both sides? Utter nonsense. If there are heroes on the Separatist/Droid side, we never see them. The notion that there are heroes on both sides sounds an awful lot like "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," and it's indicative of the grade level of Lucas's political sophistication.

He is right about one thing: We never see any heroic figures in the separatist army. As best as I can remember, we get some wheezing Montgomery Burns of a droid with a biological heart in General Grievous, and then a lot of so-stupid-it's-implausible droids who serve as 'saber fodder for our heroes.

That is, unfortunately, the first and last time that Mr. Bell is accurate about anything in his post. It's not much of an intellectual effort to realize that on any side of a conflict, you're going to find soldiers who do things that would be considered heroic. In World War II, Audie Murphy performed actions that we in the United States would consider heroic. I doubt the officers and men of the Wehrmacht would see it in the same light, but there you have it. Murphy was a war hero, and I do not dispute it.

On the other side, consider the actions of Günther Prien, commander of U-47. On 14 October 1939, Prien led his ship into the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow. While there, he was able to torpedo the battleship HMS Royal Oak, and then return to the German submarine base at Kiel. This was no small action; Scapa Flow was one of the most, if not the most, important Royal Navy bases. It constituted a major victory on a variety of levels for the Germans, and won Prien tremendous fame. He was hailed as a public hero when he returned to Germany, and reportedly remained Admiral Karl Doenitz's favorite commander until the loss of U-47 in mid-1941. (For a good account of the Scapa Flow action, see here.)

Setting aside for the moment the fact that Prien sailed for National Socialism, a question for Mr. Bell: Do you not think that Prien's actions were heroic? Merriam-Webster includes in its definition for hero the following: "an illustrious warrior, a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, one that shows great courage"

I don't know anything about the noble qualities---or not---of Prien, but sneaking into the British equivalent of Naval Station Norfolk and sinking a capital ship sounds rather courageous and like an achievement worthy of praise. And then of course grit your teeth, clench a fist, and curse the man for his success.

Enh. Perhaps J-Pod is blinkered to the point where everything comes to him through an ideological lens. He reportedly wrote a book that hailed George W. Bush as the greatest Presidential speaker since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, so that may be some indication that Podhoretz is overly sensitive to perceived criticism of the sitting President. As for Warren Bell, I'm not sure what to think. It's rather juvenile I would think to believe that only one side's soldiers are capable of heroic deeds.

Oh well. My new Revenge of the Sith litmus test is humming along just fine, and more names are being added to the list of those who get ignored. Warren Bell, you just wrote yourself on there. Mr. Podhoretz, you've inscribed your name not only in blood, but with hammer and chisel.

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Trailer Review

Four trailers stuck out in my mind:

Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Neither Brad Pitt nor Angelina Jolie make my list of preferred actors & actresses. Although I liked the latter's performance as Francesca Cook in Sky Captain, she's just never caught my fancy. Until now. Er, right. She's right attractive, as a matter of fact. Gratuitous gunplay with a gorgeous woman can always catch my eye. Consider both of them caught. According to some IMDB reports, Nicole Kidman was going to be in the Angelina Jolie role. Curses.

Bewitched - It has Nicole Kidman. 'nuff said. That being said, I used to like watching the original series on television in various re-runs, and I was rather interested in seeing how well Miss Kidman would compare to Elizabeth Montgomery, who was arguably one of the best-looking women on television during the original broadcast run of the series.

One of Australia's finest---alongside Cate Blanchett, of course---does very well, thank you. She'll go very far in covering up for that blathering idiot Will Ferrell. Michael Caine's presence ought to add to the success. Did I mention that Nicole Kidman's a babe in this? Combine it with a touch of white magic, and well, hellllloooooooo nurse, to quote one of the Warner Brothers.

War of the Worlds - This might be good. I really enjoyed---and was often scared by---the late 1980s Paramount syndicated show of the same name. I'm not much of a Tom Cruise fan---any man who'd leave Nicole Kidman---but this might actually be good. I'm sort of hopeful about this, even though I doubt I'll ever get to hear that creepy "To life immortal!" again.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - I have high hopes for this, and it looks to be done well. I'm eager to see how this one plays out, with special curiosity as to the way Lewis' Christian themes and imagery survive the Hollywood process. I just wish Jadis had gone to one of my favorite Australian actresses. Tee hee. Hopefully this will be well done and do well; I'd like to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader put to film.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention one other picture's trailer.

Fantastic Four - I barely understand this particular Marvel franchise. Most of the comic books I read when I was younger were moldering back issues of the Marvel Battlestar Galactica book, Transformers, and the various Robotech series. At any rate, Jessica Alba is miscast as Susan Storm Richards. From a visual perspective, Jessica Alba doesn't match what I've found to be the more or less image of Mrs. Richards; the color scheme seen in the movie doesn't work. Oh well.

Johnny Storm looks interesting, and Reed Richards looks like Reed Richards should. Ben Grimm will be weird to watch on screen. Nevertheless, I'll probably shell out for this flick as well. I can't remember the last time all the trailers to a movie came away with me thinking "I'll go and see it". Interesting.

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Revenge of the Sith

Just got back from the midnight show at the local theater. First in line, first in theater, and all that. Yee haw. That'll be something to tell the grandkids, assuming that I ever have any.

Revenge of the Sith is easily the best of the three new pictures, and compares well with the first three. The Empire Strikes Back it ain't, but that's OK. I won't spoil anything for the hordes of people who haven't yet seen it, so don't look for plot details just yet. I'll say this, however: Anyone trying to link either Darth Vader or Chancellor Palpatine to George W. Bush will have an impossible task; Junior's not capable of the kinds of things that we see these two get up to. It's nice to shatter a meme in the making, after all.

This movie pretty much seals Darth Vader's claim to be the ultimate [redacted], state of the [redacted] art, with apologies to Private W. Hudson, USCM.

John Podhoretz, you may be all that and the proverbial bag of chips in writing for magazines, but you, sir, fail miserably as a critic of the Star Wars saga. For once, I wasn't rolling my eyes and averting my gaze at an awful picture, so by that (admittedly vague) test, Revenge of the Sith wins. Mr. Podhoretz joins Stephen Moore in the column of National Review columnists who I won't be paying attention to.

I had several vocal cheers, several exclamations of surprise (or laughter) and was generally impressed with the film. It took Lucas twenty-eight years, but he finally managed to hold my attention from the director's chair once again. The one thing that stuck out at me was that certain headgear for a particular officer class looked inaccurate, but I'll leave it to the people who keep close track of these things. Setting that aside, I was impressed by several recognizable homage shots, and a touch or two of Spielberg in a particular action sequence. I also appreciated the way the movie managed to illustrate a tremendous amount of activity spanning nigh-on twenty years in just a few minutes. More testimony to the power of the moving picture, I suppose.

Gimme a black cape and similar robes any day. Just have Miss Portman waiting in the wings...

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Certainly an Unexpected Result

Continuing in the Star Wars vein, here's a little something I picked up from Ith at Absinthe & Cookies:

Interesting. I'd been hoping for either Grand Moff Wilhuf Tarkin or Admiral Firmus Piett, but the absolute ruler of the galaxy and probable ancestor to Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman will have to do. I don't look like that, though.

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A Resounding 'Feh' to Patrick Ruffini

I've stayed out of the recent tussle between some conservatives and George Lucas, primarily because I've known for years that Lucas, although a gifted filmmaker, wasn't ideologically sound. Heck, Richard Nixon knew it in time to include evidence in his 1985 book, No More Vietnams. Anyways, Lucas has said some things recently---no links; I don't care---that link George W. Bush with either Senator/Emperor Palpatine and/or Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, and the United States of America with the Old Republic/Galactic Empire.

Clearly George is off his rocker; Jar Jar Binks is evidence enough of that. We're not turning into the Galactic Empire, although that would be cool. Being able to say, "We got Death Star" and meaning it is an attractive proposition, and so is the concept of a "dreaded Imperial starfleet". Message: We'll blow your planet up.

Anyways, the one-time director of the Bush-Cheney 2004 Internet effort, Patrick Ruffini, has gone and done something annoying. That is, he has tried to claim Darth Vader as a conservative icon, by slapping various decals all over Vader's armor in a screenshot from the Bespin lightsaber duel. That it's amateurly done is besides the point; that's half the point of a Photoshop edit. Nevertheless, the work annoys.

Why does it annoy? I don't know for sure. For one thing, I've been a Vader fan for nigh-on 30 years. For cinematic entries, it's hard to top the first shot of Vader stepping through a breached door on the Tantive IV. From there, he goes to choking Captain Colton Antilles with one hand, yet another uber-cool move. Come to think of it, he's the epitome of cold competence and hard-case throughout Star Wars. In The Empire Strikes Back, he ratchets it up a notch. Disposing of senior Imperial Navy officers who displease him? Check. Strolling effortlessly through a free-fire zone that his troops haven't yet secured, i.e. Hoth? Check. Stopping blaster bolts with merely an upturned palm? Check.

Yeah, I like ol' DV. (So did Liz Phair, but in a much different manner.) So maybe that's why I object to the low-grade defiling of the original black-clad bad boy. Doing Vader up like a Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Winston Cup circuit is, well, perhaps sacrilegious or something. I don't like it, and to top it off, Ruffini's selection of stickers seems enh, oleaginous.

First off, George W. Bush ain't Darth Vader, and I doubt Vader would let Bush live long. The details: Darth Vader goes to war on a regular basis. He's an accomplished swordsman, Force-wielding adept, experienced at command, and is arguably one of the toughest guys in the Star Wars pantheon. George W. Bush, by comparison, served in the Air National Guard while dodging Vietnam service. Darth Vader would've gone to Hanoi, killed Ho Chi Minh with that remote choke, and then disposed of the Politburo by lightsaber. Advantage, Vader.

Seeing the Fox News Channel ("Your source for annoying, poorly-produced news!") logo induces an eye-rolling "ugh". Ditto Glenn Reynolds and the attempt to link Vader to NASCAR and the Republican Party. Note: NASCAR under Brian France belongs more to the hip-hop wing of the Democratic Party, or at least we're supposed to believe. I would prefer non-political NASCAR, m'self. Dale Earnhardt, Sr., may have been "The Man in Black" on the track, but er, Vader tops him there. The "3" doesn't belong.

As for Budweiser, must we focus upon that oat-brewed swill? Rubbish. I don't think it's mere coincidence that most beers look and smell like fluid waste. And besides, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., is a punk who dishonors his father's name. Peh to Glenn Reynolds and Hugh Hewitt; neither of them speak for me.

At any rate, I've probably spent more time on this than I should, but Ruffini's exercise in jest doesn't get it done. Maybe I'm not part of the Fark crowd, but his picture just leaves me indifferent.

An ever-so-indifferent tip of the Wisconsin hat to John Podhoretz.

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An Unpleasant Alternative

After close to a month of no access to the blogging software (got a real nasty error, I do) I've resurrected this ancient stand-by. Oddly enough, I created it as a redundancy for the dramatools blog in case something happened.

Well, something did happen, and here we are. I don't know a blessed thing about Blogger/Blogspot, but I can punch out text. Hooray.

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