For "Mature" Audiences Only

(Originally written for Jedi News)

If you are ever able to cajole a hater into begrudgingly admitting to liking any of the newer Star Wars films, they’re most likely to say they kind of enjoyed “Revenge of the Sith.” “Sith” is bar none the darkest Star Wars film of the saga (so far). It features Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side, including the murder of innocent children, his former friend, and even his own pregnant wife. Not to mention a show-stopping duel amidst a sea of lava ending with Anakin being essentially chopped into pieces and burned alive by liquid-hot magma, only to be saved by being entombed in the walking iron lung that is basically the Saga’s logo. It is the only film in the Saga to receive a PG-13 rating, even retroactively.

In a similar vein, when asked to pick a favorite film in the saga overall, the most common answer seems to be “The Empire Strikes Back.” While not as dark as “Sith” it’s certainly edgier than the other four films in the Saga. This one has lots of literally drab sets, a stunning revelation about character relationships, the Rebel Alliance beating a retreat, and Han Solo’s fate left uncertain.

Holiday Announcements

Well, since my schedule test worked, I can tell you about a number of things I'm planning for the holiday season, especially now that I can write when I have the time and set it to post later.

Classic Lines from Star Wars I-III

I was thinking lately about how many classic lines there are in the Star Wars Saga. When IV-VI came out, the classic lines now ingrained in pop-culture's minds were a way for fans to show they were fans. Many of I-IIIs critics lament what they call a lack of such memorable lines in I-III. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Here is a list of the lines which, I think, would be considered just as classic if not for the hatedom (and in some circles, already are).

I'm doing these all from memory, so I fully expect some things might be slightly inaccurate. But that's to prove the point, since how many of the other quotes get mangled?

Schedule Test

I am writing this entry on December 4th at 5:55 p.m.

I am using the little "schedule" toy on the side here to set this to appear on December 6th at 11:30 a.m.

If this works, it'll revolutionize how I do things here, as well as allow me to do a little event later this month. More to come.

MM: Skylanders Console Thoughts

So after getting into the swing of the console version of Skylanders Giants, I decided that while my main figure rankings will still apply solely to the 3DS version(s), I will share with any other Portal Masters my thoughts on upgrade paths. What follows are the paths I chose so far and why, as well as a promise that all future Skylanders rankings will include these little blurbs. Note that this isn't a full list of figures I have because I haven't been able to upgrade them all yet, but I can give you a decent list.

December Anniversaries

Well, we've got three main posts to look forward to, but I'll also mark a couple of other milestones:

20 Years:
"A Few Good Men" (film): It's one of those "see it just to say you saw it" movies. Stellar cast, stellar script. Check it out. Haven't seen it in a while, which is why it's on this list.
"Toys": I always really liked this movie, in spite of it being a bomb. It's not a bad little movie, it's just a little weird for the general public, I guess. Again, haven;t seen it in a little while hence this blurb.

50 Years:
"To Kill A Mockingbird" (film): A truly classic and thought-provoking movie based on a truly classic and thought-provoking book. I saw it for the first time at the beginning of the year, and it blew me away. However, seeing as it is such a classic and I only saw it once recently, I don't quite feel qualified to comment further than that.

More to come!

Clone Wars 5.10: Secret Weapons

Oh dear god, a pit droid...

Spoilers to follow