Thursday, May 19, 2005
star wars day... eh?
Here's your thunder for this thursday alright - fueled by the Force, no less! Always sad though to see a franchise peter out of existence... *lol* And that is the feeling one gets seeing Star Wars reach its alleged "conclusion" in Revenge of the Sith... (what cause has the sickening Sith got to exact revenge for anyway...? Their precious Darth Maul, who got hacked in half in the Phantom Menace...? He had it coming! And too easy if you ask me... Anyway - am I the only one who sees two possible meanings for the "hidden significance" of the Sith name...? Aside from the simple shifting of just two letters -in a four-letter word; a tad too easy, but still- and a rather debasing -not to say... defecating- result... But I digress...).
Star Wars... that twisted modern-day mythology de merde... *LOL* What is so special about George Lucas playing the same tune and re-serving the same dish over and over again since 1977...?!? Different sauces each time - maybe! (More like different condiments with each "try"...!). This is, indeed, stagnation! Lucas is so rich - can't he try something else?!? Just once? Hmm... And, ironically, another one-pony-trick named George is "returning" this summer - George A. Romero, with Land of the Dead! Romero started earlier than Lucas - with even a lesser budget too (heck, his original Night of the Living Dead was shot in black & white!) - but he is, essentially, rehashing the same thing he has ever done... just like Lucas is! Both Georges are fine examples of the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - just repackage it, tinker with it a bit, and re-serve it. Both got bigger and bigger budgets each time, as the surefire, can't miss money opportunity lured big studios to invest into their productions, if only as distributors... And the rest is cinematic history as they say! (Although Lucas has the tendency to revisit history and tamper with it - retouching his older three movies in the Star Wars series how many times again...? But that is another story of course...).
Ultimately, I only really want to lament HUMAN FOLLY here... How much was it - 100 million dollars invested -squandered- in the making of this vanity project for Georgie Boy here... An exercise in digital mastering of the art of cinematography... great, sure... however, all throughout the planet (no, not Tatooine) there are people DYING OF HUNGER... feeding them is less important than making all those movies at 100 million a pop... Yeah, right...
The Force Beckons - they say
Star Wars... that twisted modern-day mythology de merde... *LOL* What is so special about George Lucas playing the same tune and re-serving the same dish over and over again since 1977...?!? Different sauces each time - maybe! (More like different condiments with each "try"...!). This is, indeed, stagnation! Lucas is so rich - can't he try something else?!? Just once? Hmm... And, ironically, another one-pony-trick named George is "returning" this summer - George A. Romero, with Land of the Dead! Romero started earlier than Lucas - with even a lesser budget too (heck, his original Night of the Living Dead was shot in black & white!) - but he is, essentially, rehashing the same thing he has ever done... just like Lucas is! Both Georges are fine examples of the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - just repackage it, tinker with it a bit, and re-serve it. Both got bigger and bigger budgets each time, as the surefire, can't miss money opportunity lured big studios to invest into their productions, if only as distributors... And the rest is cinematic history as they say! (Although Lucas has the tendency to revisit history and tamper with it - retouching his older three movies in the Star Wars series how many times again...? But that is another story of course...).
Ultimately, I only really want to lament HUMAN FOLLY here... How much was it - 100 million dollars invested -squandered- in the making of this vanity project for Georgie Boy here... An exercise in digital mastering of the art of cinematography... great, sure... however, all throughout the planet (no, not Tatooine) there are people DYING OF HUNGER... feeding them is less important than making all those movies at 100 million a pop... Yeah, right...
The Force Beckons - they say
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Hey - I posted the link... but it will surely be no longer valid eventually, when something as FLIMSY and TRIVIAL as this particular news item is no longer viewed as "news" even...
Verily, all it really is, is a testimonial to human idiocy and sheep mentality. "Engineering people and GenX'ers" were hooked on Star Wars - and it shaped their lives?!? No wonder the future is bleak indeed!!!
It has gotten to the point that I am not even sure anymore which bunch is the sorriest lot - the Force fanatics... or the Trekkies! (I realize that the would-be Jedis out there will feel vexed now... I am open for a light saber duel on thursdays -part of thursday thunder- and sundays only! *lol*).
Is anyone even aware that the actual hero of the film is one Obi-Wan Kenobi... NOT pretty boy Hansen Anakin whatsisname... LOL
Alas, Obi-Wan looks like a caricature of a hodge-podge mix, one that combines elements of a monk, a samurai, a druid, a knight (teutonic, templar or of the round table -lol- your pick really) and, I would even say, a priest! His hairdo, trying to bridge the gap between Ewan McGregor today and Alec Guinness in 1977, only succeeds in giving Obi-Wan a sort of Wyatt Earp stuffiness that simply does NOT mesh well at all with all the other elements listed here... (Cowboys in space? That Clint Eastwood-led posse aside, the only time I slightly liked the concept was in a Kenny Rogers video / song...!!! I realize that this comment will be aging me now... *lol*).
Hopefully, as all those Jedis die, Yoda will do in Dooku too... that is all I can hope for from this film, really...
Verily, all it really is, is a testimonial to human idiocy and sheep mentality. "Engineering people and GenX'ers" were hooked on Star Wars - and it shaped their lives?!? No wonder the future is bleak indeed!!!
It has gotten to the point that I am not even sure anymore which bunch is the sorriest lot - the Force fanatics... or the Trekkies! (I realize that the would-be Jedis out there will feel vexed now... I am open for a light saber duel on thursdays -part of thursday thunder- and sundays only! *lol*).
Is anyone even aware that the actual hero of the film is one Obi-Wan Kenobi... NOT pretty boy Hansen Anakin whatsisname... LOL
Alas, Obi-Wan looks like a caricature of a hodge-podge mix, one that combines elements of a monk, a samurai, a druid, a knight (teutonic, templar or of the round table -lol- your pick really) and, I would even say, a priest! His hairdo, trying to bridge the gap between Ewan McGregor today and Alec Guinness in 1977, only succeeds in giving Obi-Wan a sort of Wyatt Earp stuffiness that simply does NOT mesh well at all with all the other elements listed here... (Cowboys in space? That Clint Eastwood-led posse aside, the only time I slightly liked the concept was in a Kenny Rogers video / song...!!! I realize that this comment will be aging me now... *lol*).
Hopefully, as all those Jedis die, Yoda will do in Dooku too... that is all I can hope for from this film, really...
Some examples of what I mean...
"The fans who gathered at the Regal Hollywood 24 theater say they already have tickets but were camping out to, ahem, feel the force of other fans."
Trekkies are really worse than that...?
"I've waited 23 years to see how this story ends," said fan Ian Letendre, who was among those camping out. "Even though I know how it ends, I just gotta see it to believe it."
Right...
AND... Georgie Boy's lavish one-thousand effects per frame shot epic production will actually also COST THE U.S. ECONOMY...
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that U.S. businesses could lose an estimated $627 million during the first two days of the film's release, according to John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which tracks workplace and employment trends."
Of course, the same odd phenomenon might happen in OTHER COUNTRIES as well - but, as we all know, only the U.S. economy matters...
"The fans who gathered at the Regal Hollywood 24 theater say they already have tickets but were camping out to, ahem, feel the force of other fans."
Trekkies are really worse than that...?
"I've waited 23 years to see how this story ends," said fan Ian Letendre, who was among those camping out. "Even though I know how it ends, I just gotta see it to believe it."
Right...
AND... Georgie Boy's lavish one-thousand effects per frame shot epic production will actually also COST THE U.S. ECONOMY...
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that U.S. businesses could lose an estimated $627 million during the first two days of the film's release, according to John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which tracks workplace and employment trends."
Of course, the same odd phenomenon might happen in OTHER COUNTRIES as well - but, as we all know, only the U.S. economy matters...
Latest Star Wars film - Xishi de Fanji - gets quiet opening in China
19/05/2005 2:06:00 PM
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - The latest Star Wars epic opened in China with a lot of space but not much force.
Theatres were all but empty for Thursday night's debut of Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, in stark contrast to the excitement and hordes of costumed fans who greeted its opening in North America.
"Business is pretty normal," said a ticket seller at the nearly empty Cathay Theatre just off Shanghai's main Hauihai Road shopping artery, where posters advertised Xishi de Fanji, as the film is called in Chinese.
"Thursday nights are usually slow," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
China was emerging from the Cultural Revolution when the first Star Wars film was released in May 1977. Mao Zedong's radical attempt to remake Chinese society had sealed China off from western popular culture, and few Chinese under 30 can claim any familiarity with the original Star Wars phenomenon.
Now, DVDs are opening the door: pirated boxed sets of the first five movies can now be bought throughout Shanghai for about $5 US.
Contrast that to the price of a movie ticket in this city, which generally starts at about $6 - roughly a day's wages for urban Chinese.
However, the latest movie hasn't generated nearly the hype in China that it has in the West.
That's partly because China's authoritarian communist government has a policy of promoting homegrown films with patriotic themes, while the entirely state-controlled media usually play down imports.
Young Chinese also generally prefer South Korean and Japanese comic and video game story lines. They're far more likely to dress up as a character from Japan's Sailor Moon than Darth Vader.
Still, the Star Wars films have their admirers here.
Liao Huainian, 29, was quoted by the Shanghai Star newspaper as saying he caught the Star Wars bug after watching a grainy videotape of the first episode when he was in primary school.
"Everything in the movie, such as the space shuttles, the robots and the light sabres was new to my imagination," said Liao, who works in publishing and appeared in a photo alongside the newspaper story dressed as Anakin Skywalker, a character from the films.
"I was hooked by the movie," he said.
19/05/2005 2:06:00 PM
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - The latest Star Wars epic opened in China with a lot of space but not much force.
Theatres were all but empty for Thursday night's debut of Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, in stark contrast to the excitement and hordes of costumed fans who greeted its opening in North America.
"Business is pretty normal," said a ticket seller at the nearly empty Cathay Theatre just off Shanghai's main Hauihai Road shopping artery, where posters advertised Xishi de Fanji, as the film is called in Chinese.
"Thursday nights are usually slow," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
China was emerging from the Cultural Revolution when the first Star Wars film was released in May 1977. Mao Zedong's radical attempt to remake Chinese society had sealed China off from western popular culture, and few Chinese under 30 can claim any familiarity with the original Star Wars phenomenon.
Now, DVDs are opening the door: pirated boxed sets of the first five movies can now be bought throughout Shanghai for about $5 US.
Contrast that to the price of a movie ticket in this city, which generally starts at about $6 - roughly a day's wages for urban Chinese.
However, the latest movie hasn't generated nearly the hype in China that it has in the West.
That's partly because China's authoritarian communist government has a policy of promoting homegrown films with patriotic themes, while the entirely state-controlled media usually play down imports.
Young Chinese also generally prefer South Korean and Japanese comic and video game story lines. They're far more likely to dress up as a character from Japan's Sailor Moon than Darth Vader.
Still, the Star Wars films have their admirers here.
Liao Huainian, 29, was quoted by the Shanghai Star newspaper as saying he caught the Star Wars bug after watching a grainy videotape of the first episode when he was in primary school.
"Everything in the movie, such as the space shuttles, the robots and the light sabres was new to my imagination," said Liao, who works in publishing and appeared in a photo alongside the newspaper story dressed as Anakin Skywalker, a character from the films.
"I was hooked by the movie," he said.
Luciano,
I for one can't wait to see this film. I am not going to spend the night in line for tickets to see it, but I am looking forward to seeing it soon!
I like Star Wars too much to have much critisism about it. I just watch and enjoy. Although now with the things you have said in your blog, I am sure I will see some of what you pointed out. I never had your point of view in my head when watching the other Star Wars movies. :)
Unfortunately, it is true about the Economy. Me being a US citizen, I do see how most people, Not all, think of how things affect the US not the whole world.
Star Wars mostlikly will have a World Wide effect on the economy. Maybe not so bad in places that do not have movie theaters, or that don't have the Star Wars movie come to there country. It will probably have a bigger effet on the 1st world countries where people are more able indulge them-selves in their fandom of Star Wars!
Sorry it was so long. lol
That is just my view on things. :)
Thank You for posting this, and sharing with us your views on Star Wars.
Countess
I for one can't wait to see this film. I am not going to spend the night in line for tickets to see it, but I am looking forward to seeing it soon!
I like Star Wars too much to have much critisism about it. I just watch and enjoy. Although now with the things you have said in your blog, I am sure I will see some of what you pointed out. I never had your point of view in my head when watching the other Star Wars movies. :)
Unfortunately, it is true about the Economy. Me being a US citizen, I do see how most people, Not all, think of how things affect the US not the whole world.
Star Wars mostlikly will have a World Wide effect on the economy. Maybe not so bad in places that do not have movie theaters, or that don't have the Star Wars movie come to there country. It will probably have a bigger effet on the 1st world countries where people are more able indulge them-selves in their fandom of Star Wars!
Sorry it was so long. lol
That is just my view on things. :)
Thank You for posting this, and sharing with us your views on Star Wars.
Countess
Thanks for taking the time to comment, countess, my dear...!
Here is yet ANOTHER article... with odd content...
'It's closure': Star Wars devotees delighted with final episode TANIA FUENTEZ
Thu May 19,12:34 PM ET
NEW YORK (AP) - Jay Greene and his friends had a pact. When the sixth and final Star Wars movie came out - the one that brings the plot back around to George Lucas's original 1977 masterpiece - they'd be there, on opening night.
Like the legions of other fans who turned up for midnight showings of Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Greene, 26, was eager to see how the saga all came together.
"Regardless of knowing what's going to happen, you still get that excitement, and it's closure for you," he said early Thursday after emerging from, appropriately enough, the AMC Empire 25 Theatre in Times Square.
"What's incredible is seeing him (Anakin) finally become Darth Vader," added Ryan Smith, visiting from San Diego.
Sold-out showings of Episode III, the final instalment of the seminal science fiction series created by Lucas, drew enthusiastic crowds to theatres across the U.S. and Canada - many dressed in full Star Wars regalia with Jedi light sabres at the ready.
Both Greene and Smith described the excitement in the theatre "like a party on opening night, and that's why we're going back in."
Similar scenes played out ahead of the opening. People waiting for days and in some cases weeks could hardly contain themselves as the clock wound down Wednesday night.
In Chicago, 31-year-old graphic designer Ben Delery said that for him Revenge of the Sith was the most widely anticipated of the Star Wars epic. He noted it finally explains what drives Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker to embrace the dark side and transform himself into Darth Vader.
Much like the cult-following that emerged with the 1977 debut of the original Star Wars, many fans said they would be repeat viewers.
"I could understand why. I would do it myself if it wasn't so late," said Charles Smallwood of Philadelphia, who joined his mother at the midnight showing in New York.
Renee Portee, 45, added: "It lived up to all the hype. It brought everything together."
A few hours after the movie started rolling on East Coast screens, several websites already claimed to offer pirated copies for downloading over the Internet.
In Los Angeles, the line stretched around the block for the midnight showing at the Vista Theater on Sunset Boulevard. A group of cloaked youngsters watched previous Star Wars movies on a computer as they sat on the sidewalk.
"It's one of my favourite things, like electricity, fire, medicine," said Christian Miller, 27, who makes a living canvassing door to door for political campaigns.
Miller, dressed as Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, portrayed by Liam Neeson in the saga, said "It's proof that myth will have a role in human culture."
Jeff Schiffman, 25, of Burbank, moved to California three years ago for a job as a film restorer who worked on the original Star Wars trilogy for DVD.
Sporting a Star Wars tattoo, he wore a black cloak and sinister Darth Maul contact lenses for the latest film. Even his Yorkie, Zoe, had a Star Wars patch.
Schiffman chose the cloak, similar to that of the movie's evil emperor, because "the Dark Side is so much cooler," he said.
-------------------------
SO MUCH COOLER thay said?!?
SHEESH!!!
As usual, yes, myths do influence the masses... as always in the long history of humankind... alas, for humankind, most of what is retained is from the WRONG SIDE... that which is deemed "cooler" is just PLAIN WRONG...
Damn you Lucas! LOL
Here is yet ANOTHER article... with odd content...
'It's closure': Star Wars devotees delighted with final episode TANIA FUENTEZ
Thu May 19,12:34 PM ET
NEW YORK (AP) - Jay Greene and his friends had a pact. When the sixth and final Star Wars movie came out - the one that brings the plot back around to George Lucas's original 1977 masterpiece - they'd be there, on opening night.
Like the legions of other fans who turned up for midnight showings of Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Greene, 26, was eager to see how the saga all came together.
"Regardless of knowing what's going to happen, you still get that excitement, and it's closure for you," he said early Thursday after emerging from, appropriately enough, the AMC Empire 25 Theatre in Times Square.
"What's incredible is seeing him (Anakin) finally become Darth Vader," added Ryan Smith, visiting from San Diego.
Sold-out showings of Episode III, the final instalment of the seminal science fiction series created by Lucas, drew enthusiastic crowds to theatres across the U.S. and Canada - many dressed in full Star Wars regalia with Jedi light sabres at the ready.
Both Greene and Smith described the excitement in the theatre "like a party on opening night, and that's why we're going back in."
Similar scenes played out ahead of the opening. People waiting for days and in some cases weeks could hardly contain themselves as the clock wound down Wednesday night.
In Chicago, 31-year-old graphic designer Ben Delery said that for him Revenge of the Sith was the most widely anticipated of the Star Wars epic. He noted it finally explains what drives Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker to embrace the dark side and transform himself into Darth Vader.
Much like the cult-following that emerged with the 1977 debut of the original Star Wars, many fans said they would be repeat viewers.
"I could understand why. I would do it myself if it wasn't so late," said Charles Smallwood of Philadelphia, who joined his mother at the midnight showing in New York.
Renee Portee, 45, added: "It lived up to all the hype. It brought everything together."
A few hours after the movie started rolling on East Coast screens, several websites already claimed to offer pirated copies for downloading over the Internet.
In Los Angeles, the line stretched around the block for the midnight showing at the Vista Theater on Sunset Boulevard. A group of cloaked youngsters watched previous Star Wars movies on a computer as they sat on the sidewalk.
"It's one of my favourite things, like electricity, fire, medicine," said Christian Miller, 27, who makes a living canvassing door to door for political campaigns.
Miller, dressed as Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, portrayed by Liam Neeson in the saga, said "It's proof that myth will have a role in human culture."
Jeff Schiffman, 25, of Burbank, moved to California three years ago for a job as a film restorer who worked on the original Star Wars trilogy for DVD.
Sporting a Star Wars tattoo, he wore a black cloak and sinister Darth Maul contact lenses for the latest film. Even his Yorkie, Zoe, had a Star Wars patch.
Schiffman chose the cloak, similar to that of the movie's evil emperor, because "the Dark Side is so much cooler," he said.
-------------------------
SO MUCH COOLER thay said?!?
SHEESH!!!
As usual, yes, myths do influence the masses... as always in the long history of humankind... alas, for humankind, most of what is retained is from the WRONG SIDE... that which is deemed "cooler" is just PLAIN WRONG...
Damn you Lucas! LOL
Luciano,
I see you added two new Star Wars things! One above and one below my last comment! :)
[quote]Schiffman chose the cloak, similar to that of the movie's evil emperor, because "the Dark Side is so much cooler," he said.
[/quote]
It is the Prince of Lies that puts the thought of the DARK SIDE being Cooler into the heads of Star Wars fans!
The Prince of Lies always makes the DARK SIDE look more appealing to people than that of the LIGHT!
He is the Master of Deception!!
NOT MY Master of Course!! My Master is the Great "I am"!
Countess
I see you added two new Star Wars things! One above and one below my last comment! :)
[quote]Schiffman chose the cloak, similar to that of the movie's evil emperor, because "the Dark Side is so much cooler," he said.
[/quote]
It is the Prince of Lies that puts the thought of the DARK SIDE being Cooler into the heads of Star Wars fans!
The Prince of Lies always makes the DARK SIDE look more appealing to people than that of the LIGHT!
He is the Master of Deception!!
NOT MY Master of Course!! My Master is the Great "I am"!
Countess
Amen to that!
What gets my blood boiling is the average nitwit atheist's ''excuse not to believe'' being that they just can't buy that God Exists because the concept of a grandfather-type with a long white beard up there is anathema to them... BLOODY IDIOTS! Michelangelo chose to represent God The Father that way on his fresque... the ceiling painting commissioned by the Pope himself back then... however, NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD THE FATHER... except MOSES (who is the one whose beard grew long and white before its time, incidentally!) and Moses saw a GOD Who Was... period! Beyond description - GOD Is! (Oh great - I sound like Yoda now... LOL... not bad enough that Coke has this blasphemous contest going on right now -to coincide with the the damn movie, of course- which makes it sound like Yoda will answer your every prayer...!!! Sheesh... ''Ask Yoda'' - and the French version of that is even WORSE... ''À Yoda Tu Demanderas'' YIKES! I better hear nobody say ''amen'' after that or I wil start chopping off things like a Jedi! LOL).
God Said ''I Am What I Am''. Not another word was added (and God Was, in appearance, a burning bush - an Energy, a Source hence - hey - the Force!!! ;)
That suffices to me - His Creation speaks volumes.
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What gets my blood boiling is the average nitwit atheist's ''excuse not to believe'' being that they just can't buy that God Exists because the concept of a grandfather-type with a long white beard up there is anathema to them... BLOODY IDIOTS! Michelangelo chose to represent God The Father that way on his fresque... the ceiling painting commissioned by the Pope himself back then... however, NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD THE FATHER... except MOSES (who is the one whose beard grew long and white before its time, incidentally!) and Moses saw a GOD Who Was... period! Beyond description - GOD Is! (Oh great - I sound like Yoda now... LOL... not bad enough that Coke has this blasphemous contest going on right now -to coincide with the the damn movie, of course- which makes it sound like Yoda will answer your every prayer...!!! Sheesh... ''Ask Yoda'' - and the French version of that is even WORSE... ''À Yoda Tu Demanderas'' YIKES! I better hear nobody say ''amen'' after that or I wil start chopping off things like a Jedi! LOL).
God Said ''I Am What I Am''. Not another word was added (and God Was, in appearance, a burning bush - an Energy, a Source hence - hey - the Force!!! ;)
That suffices to me - His Creation speaks volumes.
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