[Thuglife]

I remember the darkside used to seem so mysterious, and cool... i used to think the darkside owned.. but they made little girls out of them in the new episodes..I thought maybe emperor just owned all the jedi's to get power, but then they just showed that palpatine just kissed ass to get where he is, and kissed anakin's ass to get him to be a sith, just a bunch of ass kissing if you ask me.

[Chefelf]

"Luke, do not kiss ass, for that leads to the dark side."

[barend]

"fear leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to ass kissing"

too true.

although...
elected queens with two terms, people becoming General for stepping in poodoo, people becoming a senator for becoming General for stepping in poodoo, etc.

maybe it's best that the empire take over.

[Despondent]

"fear leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to ass kissing"

As bad as episode 1 was, I fear episode 2 is going to suck.

I hate it the way episode 2 sucked.

I am so angry at the way the prequels suck, I would do ANYTHING to make episode 3 better.





Why, of course I would visit George's ranch and dress up like a jedi knight like all those prior website critics, if given the invitation. will I get to keep the lightsaber? does he have my email address?

[njamilla]

I like the idea of having the Queen elected. Many dynasties were at some point established by formal votes of a peerage.

Universal suffrage is NOT necessary for the election of a head of state. Take the US, for example. Only members of the college of electors votes to elect an American president. (And in the last election, only 5 people voted to appoint the US president.) Despite common belief, the US is not technically a democracy, it's a republic. France, with it's two round system of voting for President, actually allows French citizens to cast votes directly for their president.

Queen is simply a title, like President. Under international law, there is no distinction in the manner a head of state is chosen, simply that there is an authority to the position.

Just wish GL weren’t an absolute monarchy, or that at least he had a group of advisors which challenged his ideas instead of a circle of sychophants.

[Chefelf]

I am so angry at the way the prequels suck, I would do ANYTHING to make episode 3 better.

I've said it a million times. It's a lost cause.

Even if Episode III were--for the sake of argument--the best movie ever made, the prequel trilogy would still be a total loss. There's too many problems to be made up for or fixed with one new movie. The only fix would be a "back to the drawing board" approach and redo the entire trilogy.

[Remotely Despondent]

like Dallas and St. Elsewhere did with the "it was all a dream" premise. (wet dream for Lucas, night terror for others) I could live with that.

sure wouldn't feel good about handing over any more money however.

[civilian_number_two]

I like the idea of having the Queen elected. Many dynasties were at some point established by formal votes of a peerage.

Myself, I also don't think there's anything wrong with having a four-year, two-term positon of authority over a people be called "Queen," even when it's exactly modelled after the role of US President.

However, I really have a problem with the idea that of the people of Naboo, the most popular choice was a fouteen-year-old girl. Nothing against women, mind you; something against girls. At least, if they're groomed for a role of leadership and we're to trust their advisors, and they're born into the role and so, like, we got no choice, I guess girls and boys can be rulers of nations. It's happened. But if I'm *voting*, well, I'd rather vote for the advisors, and let the children grow up a little before they run for office.

Having Amidala a leader by popular vote was as bass-ackward as that nonsense at the end of the DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS movie (yes I admit I rented it) where Thora Birch yells out to her peasants "I now declare you all equal!"

Mike.

[njamilla]

  Thora Birch yells out to her peasants "I now declare you all equal!" 

OMG, Mike, you are such a geek! LOL Did you do a google check to spell Thora Birch's name correctly? Or did you already know how to spell it?

And oh, I was talking to a performing arts friend of mine who said she loved it when people tell her about a play she was in that they "loved all the costumes." I can't even say about D&D that I liked the costumes. They looked so 2nd edition rendered.

But seriously. Don't you love it when news reporters ask children what they think of nuclear war?

• Yeah, I think it's bad.
• I'm against it.
• If we all just tried a little harder.
• We should talk it out to avoid conflict.
• It would bring us back to the stone age days.

To paraphrase the illustrious Frank Zappa: It's all cheese!

[civilian_number_two]

OMG, Mike, you are such a geek! LOL Did you do a google check to spell Thora Birch's name correctly? Or did you already know how to spell it?

Well,

Geek, yes. But I will repeat that I reneted it, and actually we did it as a group, my friends and I, so there was a social element to it. My friend Matt went in planning to pretend that he was enjoying it, so when we werte trashing various aspects he kept trying to defend the film. I thought that was really funny, even though I could see right through it, but eventually he couldn't keep it up. It was too transparently bad even for anyone to convincingly pretend to like it.

Thora Birch's name is actually a pretty natural spelling. First name simple female form or the god, and second name indicative of her acting talents. That is, wooden.

As for the movie as a whole, I think it can be summarized by the inclusion of the Beholders. Coolest, most outrageous monster in the game, right after the Mimic and the Gelatinous Cube. They should have made a whole segment around it, and included several expendable characters to show us how the monster worked. Nope. We see it, it flies by, back to the dumb story. That's the whole show: bad decisions made by everyone, starting with having a game designer with no film experience help write the screenplay and co-direct.

On the other topic, I love it when reporters ask children anything. "Hey kids, do you think candy is fattening? What do you think of Grand Theft Auto? Will Iraq prove to be hiding Osama bin Laden and / or weapons of mass destruction?"

Mike.

PS: CAT IN THE HAT reviews are universally poor. Hooray! I knew that would be bad when I heard they were making it; I was absolutely sure when the trailer included a kid reacting to a CG car with "That's so cool!" Pretty much a rule: if a character in a film has to tell me something is cool, or funny, or convincing, then it most definitely isn't any of those things.

Comment: can we please stop with the notion that if something is good in one medium it deserves the "honour" of being made into a film? Not *everything* is filmable (watch Mr Show's "Coupon: the Movie," even if you already have)! Of course, this is the same production company that brought us THE GRINCH, so maybe they bought the whole Dr Seuss line. I can't wait for ONE FISH, TWO FISH... and I'LL TEACH MY DOG 100 WORDS.

[Despondent]

it's a universal technique, and one that disney has picked up on.

visiting Islands of adventure in 99, we marveled at the rides, alright. And suess island was the first stop. (well, after an early am spider-man ride that the fodor's book recc'd for short lines at that time of day) (post-9/11 I don't think lines are a problem) anyway, compared to the regular universal park where every ride is based on a movie (or tv show), Islands appeared to break the mold with lands devoted to suess, cartoons and superheroes. Of course now I see through it as virtually every ride has Become a movie. cat in the hat, hulk, spidey, dudley do right and certainly more since our visit. One fish two fish... was a great ride but would make a lousy movie.

Disney with their sagging attendance and lamer rides appears to be trying the same technique, what with Pirates of the Carribean and Haunted Mansion (and Lord knows what else. The Fantasical Flight of Orange Bird?) people will either hope to revisit mentally the trip to the magic kingdom, or establish a reason they need to go. pitiful effort I feel, but have not seen their films. the Star Tours ride got good press in the early 90's but I've not heard about it since they shut it down because narrator pee wee herman got arrested. I guess they've canned the michael jackson 3d film if it was still playing. imagine the disappointment.

[civilian_number_two]

PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN is very good. The movie, not the ride. It's a load of fun, even if every cene with Johnny Depp in it is better than even the best scene without him.

I think the best Disney movie would either be THE TIKI-TIKI room, with all the racially-stereotyped birds, thap spinning THE SPINNIN TEACUPS RIDE, where you spin around on own power (how lame is that? great film potential, however), or that JUNGLE BOAT TOUR. they could do that one in 3-D!

Mike.

[barend]

as a joke, i told someone they were making "SPACE MOUNTAIN" the movie.

[Despondent]

I forgot about the Country Bear Jamboree.

[Vwing]

I loved Pirates of the Caribbean, and though he won't, I hope Depp wins an Oscar or something for that, he was magnificent.