Good morning, gentle readers, and welcome to the start of an all-new week of myth and merriment! It's Monday, and here's hoping that you got off to the perfect fresh start today ... but, if not, don't fret because you've got these 24 hours to get a decent day into the record books. Make each and every one of them count. I know you can do this. You've got this.
Ahhhhhh, Monday ...
Yeah, yeah, and yeah. I know.
So over the weekend, we were fortunate enough to squeeze into a screening of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith at the local budget theater. For all of you who hate the Prequel Trilogy ... raspberries! Honestly, these films -- the ones made by Lucasfilm before they were absconded by the Mouse House -- really need to be seen up on the silver screen to be fully appreciated. I had the same basic problems with Revenge today as I had back then -- nitpicks being what they are -- and I think the biggest obstacle to the feature was any time it tried to (cough cough) say something about love. It's almost like Lucas felt he needed to have some balance between the darkness that was coming in the second half, and I disagree: these brief soliloquies really slow the picture down. No couple spends serious time in their day talking poetically about their love for one another, and this grinds the narrative to an obvious halt. Don't know how I'd fix that (George never even reached out, the bastard!), but I'd definitely trim those moments.
But the wifey suggested after we were leaving the theater to go home and watch the Disney+ series Kenobi, so we did. (Stuff it, haters: yes, I had problems with it, but there are a few things in there that are respectable ideas.) We split it in half, watched some on Saturday night and concluded it on Sunday; and thematically the two experiences -- Revenge and Obi-Wan -- complement one another well enough that it was a fun weekend. Again, nothing award-winning ... just plain Star Wars fun. If nothing else, it made me appreciate that galaxy far, far away the way any fan could or should. And I do have the capacity to get past some flaws here and there and still find some enjoyment in it.
Plus, Sunday night I cracked open the Boba Fett Omnibus put out by Dark Horse Comics a number of years back (in those days before the Mouse House dismissed all of this stuff from canon), and I read about 2/3rds of its near-500-pages while relaxing. That stuff was conceived and executed with a tremendous amount of respect for the Original Trilogy's characters, settings, and circumstances that it's hard not to love it, and I'll always encourage folks to check out what Disney trashed before I will what Disney's done in print since. I have read some of their stuff; while it's interesting, I just don't find it nearly as vivid. Go figure.
Ahhhhhh, Monday ...
Yeah, yeah, and yeah. I know.
So over the weekend, we were fortunate enough to squeeze into a screening of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith at the local budget theater. For all of you who hate the Prequel Trilogy ... raspberries! Honestly, these films -- the ones made by Lucasfilm before they were absconded by the Mouse House -- really need to be seen up on the silver screen to be fully appreciated. I had the same basic problems with Revenge today as I had back then -- nitpicks being what they are -- and I think the biggest obstacle to the feature was any time it tried to (cough cough) say something about love. It's almost like Lucas felt he needed to have some balance between the darkness that was coming in the second half, and I disagree: these brief soliloquies really slow the picture down. No couple spends serious time in their day talking poetically about their love for one another, and this grinds the narrative to an obvious halt. Don't know how I'd fix that (George never even reached out, the bastard!), but I'd definitely trim those moments.
But the wifey suggested after we were leaving the theater to go home and watch the Disney+ series Kenobi, so we did. (Stuff it, haters: yes, I had problems with it, but there are a few things in there that are respectable ideas.) We split it in half, watched some on Saturday night and concluded it on Sunday; and thematically the two experiences -- Revenge and Obi-Wan -- complement one another well enough that it was a fun weekend. Again, nothing award-winning ... just plain Star Wars fun. If nothing else, it made me appreciate that galaxy far, far away the way any fan could or should. And I do have the capacity to get past some flaws here and there and still find some enjoyment in it.
Plus, Sunday night I cracked open the Boba Fett Omnibus put out by Dark Horse Comics a number of years back (in those days before the Mouse House dismissed all of this stuff from canon), and I read about 2/3rds of its near-500-pages while relaxing. That stuff was conceived and executed with a tremendous amount of respect for the Original Trilogy's characters, settings, and circumstances that it's hard not to love it, and I'll always encourage folks to check out what Disney trashed before I will what Disney's done in print since. I have read some of their stuff; while it's interesting, I just don't find it nearly as vivid. Go figure.
As to the big highlights for today? First up is Ridley Scott's epic attempt at cinematic Fantasy: Legend cast screen veteran Tom Cruise in the role of Jack in a world somewhere between here and there. The Prince of Darkness -- incredibly brought to life with prosthetics and actor Tim Currey -- is definitely the highlight of the whole experience, so much so that his performance really overshadows damn near everything else in the motion picture. And it isn't that Legend is bad -- it's just heavily flawed (I think) with Cruise in the lead: he never quite feels right in the role, perhaps a bit too recognizable a face for Fantasy, and the curious cast supporting him in this magical realm come off more like characters from bad 80's television than they do big screen creations. In fact, I'm pretty certain that Cruise has never really spoken about the flick all that much since those days, so maybe everyone involved at some level would rather see this relegated to the library of forgotten films? Curious, indeed.
That's really all I've got for now ... except for this below that you're wanting ...
That's really all I've got for now ... except for this below that you're wanting ...
So -- again -- please, please, please try to enjoy your Monday, folks. It ain't so bad. It ain't so painful. You'll make it through, and you'll be immeasurably stronger for having faced the demon and tackled it.
As always, thanks for reading, please share share share share share for all to see ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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