Politics corner. The Daily Show went epic last night by comparing the president to Luke Skywalker. I laughed, I laughed, then I cried because I was laughing too much. Jon Stewart, you are such a nerd.
Plinkett returns. ‘The Phantom Reviewer’ concludes his skewering of the prequels with Revenge of the Sith. Per usual, it’s not for everyone and still very much NSFW. But what can I say: I LOL’d.
So you’ve experienced a blizzard… Why not enjoy some impromptu Photoshopping?
Wait, what? Scotland has a Jedi police officer. She “admits to using Jedi mind tricks” but denies using “‘The Force’ to influence what suspects say or do.” Okay then.
The blogside. Cambridge University librarian Andy Priestner is not pleased with the state of the Jedi Order’s library.
Nice trolling. Suvudu has a ‘casting call’ for Luke Skywalker. No, seriously.
I wonder how often the Scottish Jedi cop gets to say ‘Go back to your drinks, Jedi business.’
If you’re going to be a Jedi, you should try to remember that the plural of “Jedi” is “Jedi”, no?
I totally agree with most of what “the phantom reviewer” says about the prequels. They truly stank, but I still embrace their stories and the wonderful mythos they added abundantly to.
Embrace the pain. ;)
So now that the RLM guy has no more Star Wars prequel movies to complain about, maybe he can actually go out and make his own films, instead of making 90+ minute works bitching and moaning about other peoples’ accomplishments. Since he obviously knows SO much more than everyone else how these movies “should” be made, he can now demonstrate his “expertise” by putting his own original work out there, so he can be judged himself the way he judges everyone else…
The Phantom Reviewer trashes a five-and-a-half-year-old movie. Timely.
I’d sort of like those RLM videos if the guy would stick more to examining the actual mechanics of the films rather than his silly/creepy skits. Also if he would speak in a voice that isn’t what I imagine Hell sounds like. That would be helpful too.
I so hope that Phantom Reviewer guy is on dope because if that’s his normal voice he should better jump of a bridge (preferably in Paris since he’s clearly inSeine).
As for the prequels: In retrospective TPM is the best of the bunch with lots of great locations (Otoh Gunga being my favorite), interesting characters and a nice little intrigue to occupy the mind during the boring podrace. After that it’s pretty much downhill culminating in the Anakin Vader transformation I still don’t understand.
Why did he go over to the dark side again after Sidious straight out tells him that he has no idea how to achieve immortality? And why will the Jedi’s next move be against the senate? And why does he have to kill those kids?
Terrific cinematography, though. “Do what must be done…” Has a nice ring to it and all, if only it made a little sense. ;-)
Nick1970: You don’t have to be a filmmaker to be a film critic.
Most of what the phantom reviewer does in his reviews is for laughs and shouldn’t be taken entirely seriously, but you have to admit, his critique of Lucas’s scene blocking is very insightful. Whereas the scenes of dialog and exposition in the first three films were well choreographed with lots of interesting movement and often amidst high-paces action, almost all the dialog in the prequels is presented in dull two-shots with actors sitting or walking slowly. Lucas really did get lazy here.
Lucas is still one of my favorite filmmakers. I recently watched “American Graffitti” and was blown away be its power, and I love what he’s doing with Clone Wars, but I just can’t say his work in the prequels wasn’t very good. it’s sloppy and lazy filmmaking.