Clown Wars....

Did anyone go see this over the weekend?

I'm on the fence on this one. As you folks know, I'm one of the handful of people on the Internet that actually doesn't mind the prequels. However, looking at the trailers for this one, it sounds like an overbloated fan movie. I'll go see it because it is Star Wars, however I'm not having high expectations.

I'll wait til Netflix has it. This will be the first Star Wars movie that I haven't seen in the theater immediately after its release. Why bother? I don't mind the prequels either but I can't get excited over a Star wars cartoon.

This is the first time in my entire life that I pretty much refuse categorically to see a new STAR WARS film. It looks like total shit, STAR WARS or not. Between the bobble head doll/anime style character design, the late 1990s-quality animation, and reports of a character named "Stinky the Hutt" it's pretty clear to me that this is _not_ a SW film targeted at fans of the original films. But there's _still_ people out there that will line up to go see it and then try to make excuses as to why it sucks. It took me years to come to terms with the simple fact that the prequels sucked...because I didn't want them to, even after seeing them. And I still see people trying to figure out how to fit all that garbage into the SW context.

The only thing I can think of as to why they'd put trash like this out there is in hopes of establishing a younger fan base since the original SW fans are mostly getting older and having kids by this point. However, pandering crap like this isn't the way to do it- the original trilogy still holds up and still gets kids excited today because it's timeless. Unlike CLONE WARS, which already looks dated and is filled with a bunch of "hip" dialogue. Apparently the girl in it calls Anakin "Skyguy" through the whole thing.

There's also, according to IMDB, a character named General Loathsom. I guess he's a bad guy.

These new movies are trash. Here, I'll rank them for you:

1) Clone Wars: The Aninmated Series --not that PoS in theatres--the one on Cartoon Network. It was totally badass. Look it up.
2) The Empire Strikes Back
5) An New Hope
8) Return of the Jedi
9) Revenge of the Sith
12) Attack of the Clones
13) Clown Wars (the 2008 PoS out now--I haven't seen it, but I know it's 13th).
22) The Phantom Menace
infinite) Christmas Special

Well, I don't think the prequels sucked but then I don't think they hold up to the original stuff. They are somewhere in between. They are least better than alot of movies currently out there. I think part of the reason why there are aspects I don't like is because I've had 20 years to imagine what these would be like and in some ways they met that and in other ways they didn't.

But at any rate, it's my understanding that the movie was originally going to be on TV and they decided to milk the cow.

What's really disappointing about the prequels other than the fact that they're not good SW films is that they're also just not good movies- at all. The filmmaking on display is _terrible_. The editing, writing, acting, cinematography- all technical qualities across the board are _terrible_. Even the production design is poor, which is shameful since if you look at that "Art of Episode I" book there are some really amazing pieces in it...that either didn't translate well or were nixed by Lucas (the original concept for Darth Maul, for example).

It's funny, THX-1138 was on one of the HD channels last week and I watched it, having not seen it in a while...apart from the Lucas tampering (some CGI shots needlessly added that add nothing to the movie), it's amazing to see what a different filmmaker he was...it's almost pretentious, but in a way that I actually like. It feels heavy, smart, and minimalist. Watching it, it's almost disappointing that he went on to do STAR WARS instead of heady, high-minded minimalist SF.

The Genndy Tarkovsky CLONE WARS show was pretty good...it took the _good_ SW elements and used them in a new way that was fresh, exciting, and totally felt like SW. It was inventive, spirited, and interesting to watch...and it had that charm that none of the prequels had.

From his interviews during the prequels, it sounds like he was kind of disappointed that he did Star Wars instead of high minded minimalist sci fi movies.

but like I said, I like the prequels. Yes, there's wooden acting. Yes, there's crap dialogue. But it's not like the original triology didn't have either.

The prequels' #1 problem is the same thing that plagues a lot of attempts at repeat perfomances- a complete lack of awareness that recapturing something that was organic and nearly magical isn't possible. You can't recapture all the elements that made the original trilogies so great, and when you do all you wind up doing is demonstrating how some things that added charm and quirk (like the wooden acting, cornball dialogue, and other demerits) can't be forced. STAR WARS was a phenomenon for a lot of reasons, and really the films themselves and their qualities are a fairly small part of it all. With the prequels, it felt like Lucas and co. were trying to manufacture that phenomenon again rather than just letting it happen naturally.

Then when you start adding new stuff to appeal to the kids, it just all goes down the crapper.

[q]They are least better than alot of movies currently out there.[/q]

Really? You must be watching some shitty movies.

Apparently, the best Star Wars movie of the last 10 years is playing The Force Unleashed .

I think one of the things that appealled about Star Wars was the fact that we didn't really know the backstory. Things just sort of where there. You knew that Darth Vader was a badass but you didn't really know where he came from. Then you got inklings. With the prequels, you knew where they were going.

I think the better story would have been the post Star Wars stuff or the Star Wars stuff back in the early days of the Republic. Then it would be all new characters and probably new situation.

And to Mr. Skeletor: As I said, I like the prequels for the most part. Although they could have nuked Jar Jar.

David Brin pointed out that George Lucas said he "looked forward to a day when a child could watch all six episodes in order and see the whole story arc." This proves he's a fucking idiot because the whole fucking point of Empire Strikes Back is that you find out Darth is Luke's father. Lucas is an imbecile.

David Brin's comments on Star Wars are worth reading .

jeb wrote:

[...] the whole fucking point of Empire Strikes Back is that you find out Darth is Luke's father.

Ah jeez, thank you very much.

Get bent.

Spoiler rule #8: There's a 10-year statute of limitations on spoilers, 15 years for the juicy stuff.

IT'S A SLED.

The boat sank....