Staaaaaaar waaars. The final chapter has come. It's almost surreal because it's something I've been waiting for and hypothesizing in my mind for so long. In a way, I've created the hype for myself. That, combined with the media hype has created almost insurmountable expectations for this movie. So, let's begin shall we?...
DISCLAIMER: Everything that follows is fanboy jibberish and will probably be disregarded by me at a later date...
Me, Clint, BS, Luke and my brother Alex all headed to the palace theater for the midnight showing. I was actually expecting it to be not that crowded but when we got there we discovered a line that went from the front doors to almost completely around the building. It was nuts. There was the occasional lightning in the distance, the sprinkling of rain, it was a sign from above, Alec Guiness himself speaking from beyond telling us that all is well. There were costumed girls prancing around asking questions about Jar Jar Binks, there was Russel Rush waddling around with his microphone doing a remote for WBNQ todays hot hot hits station. The excitment was in the air...
Then finally we sat in the theater, in an almost perfect spot, we were ready...
"Lucasfilm Ltd."...
and the crowd began to cheer. It begins...
BAM, right out of the box the movie is "action packed and in your face" ~ Brett Warren of whosinthenews.
I was pleasantly surprised at the fast pace and how different the dialogue was from the previous films. The humor and exchange of lines is so much better in this film.
What makes this movie so much better than the first two films is how stuff is actually interesting, even those Anakin/Padme love scenes that we had to suffer through in the previous movies were now semi-enjoyable. Every scene is just an assault on the senses and beautifully done.
One of the things I was worried about before seeing this was whether it would make me believe that Anakin was actually powerful. It does, besides being physically bigger the film establishes right off the bat that he's powerful as seen in his deul with Dooku.
Probably my biggest surprise and the thing I enjoy the most was how awesome Ian McDirmad's performance is. All of his lines and deliveries are just amazing. There's a LOT of discussion about the sith which I'm really glad they decided to give some explanation.
I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts together when it comes to this movie. There's just so much to take in, so I'll just say that Revenge of the Sith really accomplishes everything it needed to. It's fun, action packed, has improved acting, interesting story line, amazing visuals, ties up loose strings and makes every character believable. All of these elements form an excellent springboard into the next trilogy.
After watching the movie for the second time I immediately came home and watched A New Hope. It was so surreal. The two trilogies flow together almost seamless now. Everything has so much more meaning and urgency.
My only real complaints besides the few things that were on my wish list, were; the bad CGI in places (which can be fixed later) and Darth Vader's "NOOooooooooooooooo!!" after he is created seemed kind of weak. The order or pacing of the last few scenes is kind of awkward. There's nothing really wrong with it, it just seems almost like the movie ends with a montage. I can't quite put my finger on it. But it's not a real problem. Anyway, sorry for the incoherent quickie review. This is one of the best Star Wars movies and even if you’re not a fan of the series it’s still a fun movie you’ll enjoy, so GO NOW AND VIEW IT YOU WILL!
I give it 7.745/10 nerfherders
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OK, I saw it again last night, my head is clear, I swear I'll have a full review by TONIGHT! or else. something bad will happen to me. Good day.
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YES! Finally saw it. GO. SEE. IT. NOW! Easily one of the top three Star Wars films, absolutely action packed and the acting has improved by leaps and bounds. And the best part, you actually believe Anakin is powerful. Ian McDirmid aka Palpatine is fantastic in this film! Wow. Only a few small complaints for this movie which I'll try to review later tonight. I really need to see it again, there's just so much to soak in, but I'll try. GO SEE IT NOW GO! DO IT! AAAaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!
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The day of the premier is approaching! Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is almost here, just a couple days and I'll have a nice long review/nostalgia post for you all to read. I'm getting teary eyed thinking about the saga coming to an end, hmmm. Yep, well, everyone go see it!!!! George Lucas needs cash!!!
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SIXTY FIVE excruciatingly long days left until the FINAL installment of the Star Wars trilogy arrives in theaters! ADjweoicjwpioecjpwioejfpIOJPEFJOPWIERJfo!!!! Yesssssss!
The newest and longest trailer recently debuted (during the O.C. on FOX, but I downloaded it online because I wouldn't watch the OC even if they were showing the whole movie during the commercial break) and I must say it met all my nerdy expectations, "best trailer ever". It start out all evil and slow, with the emperor seducing Anakin and then BAM, the action kicks in and thousand spectacular images race by. MMmmmm someone please build me a time machine because I can't wait 65 days.
So now I'm going to go and plan what costume I'll be wearing for the premiere. Maybe I'll go as George Lucas, grow out my beard - check, look depressed - check, flannel shirt and jeans- check, I'm good to go.
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Get your costumes on and go stand in line! La estrella guerrea el episodio III Venganza del Sith is almost here!!! Only 219 days aways!! WOOOOOOO!!!! That's only like 19 more days until only 200 left and then only 100 more until 100 and then like only 7 weeks after that. This movie will be so freakin' sweet that you will bow down at the throne of George Lucas and repent for doubting his prequal trilogy! HUZZAAAAH!!!
Last night Luke and I and a few other friends decided to have a happy-fun-time get together at one at of our friend's house. We weren't really sure where we were going or how long it would take to get there, but we just kept following and following...and following. We left from Bloomington and then just kept driving and driving and driving, and driving, on the longest straightest most unchanging road in existence. It was like the first 15 minutes of 'Manos the Hands of Fate'. After we had already circumnavigated the globe for the third time I decided to put on the cruise control and hop into the backseat, take a nap and do some homework. When I woke up we were in outer space. It was like being on the moon. There was no sound whatsoever, nothing but flat open land for miles and you could see every star in the sky. I went out and sat on the enormous lawn just listening to nothing except the occasional wolf or coyote cry in the distance and the sound of blood rushing past my eardrums. I started to get dizzy, vertigo I think, it happens whenever I'm in a geographical location that lacks visible landmarks. Without a point of reference I feel like I'm about to go flying off the earth, whisked into the vacuum of space.
To add to the creepiness, the house looked like the one from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, minus the clotheslines with sheets drying in the front yard. Well, Luke and I were bored out of our minds so we decided to try and drive home which we already knew was going to be disastrous and I was low on gas and didn't have time to search for the right way to go. When you're going back whence ye came, your minds starts playing tricks on you. Or maybe we were in hell and the landscape actually warped causing previous landmarks to disappear. Either way, we were freaking out, "It's over dude!" Luke would say to me every five minutes. And he was right, but I kept driving anyway, my blood pressure was rising, I was speaking in toungues and the road just kept looking more and more unfamiliar. After we tried going left, then right, then straight, then backwards, we just went back to the haunted house and stayed the night. The trip back this morning wasn't trouble free either, but we got back, eventually. The moral of this story is this, don't live IN THE MIDDLE OF FREAKIN NOWHERE!!!!!!The other moral is this, don't INVITE PEOPLE TO COME TO YOUR HOUSE IF YOU LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF FREAKIN NOWHERE!!!! AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaGHGGHGH!!!mmmm aaah. I'm fine now. Ah, eh he he. Luke said "dude, we're gonna be laughing about this tomorrow"...mmmm...No. We're not. Do you think that people during wartime say that to each other? No. And this experience was far more traumatizing than any war.
Tagline: Two of them are Jews, all of them confused, and this summer; they don't know from dinosaurs.
Jeff Goldblum..................................Ian Malcolm*
Owen Wilson....................................Richard Levine*
Woody Allen.....................................Donald Genarro*
Samuel L. Jackson............................John Arnold*
Jack Black.........................................John Hammond*
Jonah Hill.........................................R.B. "Arby" Benton
Parker Posey.....................................Kelly Curtis
Will Ferrell........................................Lewis Dodgson*
Keanu Reeves...................................Henry Wu*
*rumors of deaths in film and or book were greatly exaggerated.
Music by Tangerine Dream and David Bowie
Synopsis: After having his life endangered twice by John Hammond in JP and TLW, Ian Malcolm tricks him into going on a vacation to Costa Rica. Little does John know that Malcolm is actually taking him back to Isla Nublar where he plans on feeding the old man to the dinosaurs. However, upon their arrival they discover that two random children, a snobby rich paleontologist, and his girlfriend have stowed away in their carry-on luggage. For good measure they bring along Genarro (the greasy lawyer) to pay settlements to the half eaten ghosts of the island's diceased former employees. Meanwhile, Ingen-rival Lewis Dodgson follows the group to the island incognito, unaware that they have led him to the source of the coveted dino dna. Bringing along his group of stow-awayed scientists Dodgson brews up a new batch of prehistoric beasts that he can't control.
Levine (Owen Wilson): "John, I mean c'mon, what's up with this place? There were like these dinosaurs...came outta nowhere, they were trying to eat us or somethin', I'm just sitting there trying to enjoy my whopper jr and...there they are! Not a great experience amigo"
Genarr0 (Woody Allen): "um, *cough* the last time I saw a creature that vicious was when my mother-in-law *clears throat* excuse me, was still living"
Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum): Uh! John...no, and, uh, no. Uh...this, this is how it begins. Ooh, aah, just like before, but... now there's running and...screaming and... touching, always touching. There are, ah, too many dinosaurs on this dinosaur tour."
Wu (Keanu Reeves): "My dearest Mina, the count has requested that I remain a guest at his dinosaur park for yet another three months, do pray I send my love, and my most excellent English accent..."
Dodgson (Will Ferrell): "I'm going to steal all of your dinosaur eggs, John Hammond, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I'm going to put them into this bag and keep them all for myself and raise them as my own children."
Halleejaliaulala. Another semester of Heartland finished. One semester closer to escaping it's evil clutches. Why am I not done with Heartland yet? Because I wasn't wise enough to take the "College Success" class which would have prepared me for the trials of community college and which would have fulfilled one of the three electives I still need to take. Actually it's only a one credit hour class that foreign students and people trying to get their GED take.
This time of year is always interesting because most of my classes are wrapping up and the teachers stop teaching us anything new. It’s the “waiting for finals” days, which are aweful because you're not doing anything in class but you still have to wait until the next week to take your final.
I also gave my last speech today, and I'm REALLY glad that‘s finally over. I'm completely done with the world famous HCC english program. Yeah, that's right, Hooray.
The speech I gave was about how to write a song. I was worried about it all week because a) I haven't written a good song ever and b) because most people really DON'T want to write songs and yet in one part of the speech I say "I hear people say all the time 'we should write a song' but never do because they just don't know how!"
That's a total lie. No one wants to write song's, no one has time for it. And most people who try probably shouldn't, because they're talentless, there, I said it, ouch, burn.
I got a 44/50 on it which is fine with me, but the girl who went before me got the same score and all she did was talk extemporaneously about her mailroom job at country companies, so for 5 minutes we listened to her *&#$@ about how miserable it is. It makes me feel a little bit bad, I mean, either the teacher thought her rant about mailroom duties was exciting or she no frickin idea what I was talking about...which is understandable, because I had no idea what I was talking about. Eh.
Last night I was sitting on the couch watching a movie and was waiting for something to download on the computer. I noticed it was finished and then got unusually excited and hopped over the couch, which is odd because I never do that. I had my left arm on the back part and started to hop over. On my way over the couch I guess I didn’t jump high enough because I smashed my left foot straight into the hard back portion of the couch. I then went limp on the floor trying not to cry and thought for sure my toes were broken because I couldn't feel anything. Then the intense pain started to kick in which was a relief because I figured then they weren't broken. Anyway there’s no real point to this story, just don't hop over anything.
Sorry for the lack of excitement on this site lately, there just isn’t anything going on right now and my brain is drained. In the ye olden days of my geocities and freeservers sites this is about the time I would just quit doing the site. But I’m never going to quit here, the easy to use format of blogger keeps me from getting too burnt out. Hopefully the creative juices will start flowing again and this site will have some value and not just be my lame "what I did today" journal.
Til next time, ariva dache!
The Dave Matthews Band has finally released their first album of new material since Everyday. To many DMB fans the release of Everyday was the apocalypse, "Why do they hate us!? Why is Glenn Ballard the devil!? Crucify him!” etc. After three perfect albums they weren’t allowed to make any mistakes. The shock was understandable but a few years later the general consensus of that album has gone from “the ultimate blasphemy” to “pretty good”. There are still a few obvious low points on Everyday (Mother Father, I Did It) but not nearly as many as there used to be, for most people at least.
Everyday was a weak departure and Busted Stuff's production was stale and lifeless, so most fans as of last fall were expecting the band to try and re-create Before These Crowded Streets or something of a similar nature. Even I was expecting the band to try and win back former and waning fans by playing it safe, going with the proven formula. They seem to feel as if taking risks in their respective creative field is the only way to keep things fresh and progressive. I can understand that and can at least respect them in that regard...whether it actually works or not, or whether people like it or not. It’s what the band has done and finds necessary to carry on.
This new album delivers, by far, the slickest package to date and attempts to capture a certain playfulness the band has only previously hinted at. Encapsulated by the heavy-handed production of Mark Batson this desired to break free into a new realm is very apparent throughout this entire album...apparently crappy. What Batson manages to do is add generic pop/hip hop flare to nearly everything even if it doesn't deserve or need it, like they're trying to trick us into having fun...it's got a beat, dance! We don't actually have any songs written but why not lay some assorted, improvised parts over this phat beat.
Overall it comes across like a 90 year old man trying to get jiggy with it on the dance floor at his grand daughter's wedding reception. And that be the problem, ya can't expect the old man ta dance...and you can't expect even a great producer to be able to do anything with mediocre songwriting. Sorry Dave.
Dream girl - This is a cute-little-light-and-fluffy tune with a precious guitar riff. Enjoy those first ten seconds because they're the best part of the album. What I want is a whole album of just Dave doing his best "Peter Gabriel sings the Lion King Soundtrack". I’m sure the teenybopper fans who flock to Tinley Park will eat this up. 5.5/10
Stand Up - 70’s Funk-o-crap-o-riffic, nice groove on this one...Carter is good at drums but not even he can carry this song which gets old after about a minute. Dear Dave, Styx wants the verse to “Come Sail Away” back. 6.5/10
American Baby Intro - Nice, but too short. A sort of "collage" starting off with a slow piano piece that goes into the sounds of gunfire followed by a piano based, upbeat portion. The transition from jam to quiet again is a little strange though and doesn't quite work. The song starts to get interesting but then goes right back into the quiet piano piece without any real transition. It’s supposed to give the image of depressing wartime Bush attrocities but the editing of the two pieces together is too awkward. 7/10
American Baby - Ok, not DMB’s worst single ever...and sadly one of the better songs on the album. The section at the end is fun. 7.5/10
Smooth Rider - A very simple, beat driven, bluesey song, not much to it. It Doesn't really go anywhere and doesn't have time to. You pretty much forget that it exists right after it's over. 3/10
Old Dirt Hill - Phat beat, yo. I like when he sings about riding his bike. "Can't catch me, can't catch me". I picture a kid running out of a short bus wearing a helmet. Like a lot of the songs on this album it has potential for about a minute and then gets really repetitive. 5.9/10
Everybody Wake Up - One of the more "classic dmb" sounding songs on Stand Up it starts out with a Before These Crowded Streets-ish stings intro that unfortunately leads into one of the many generic drum beats that Carter decided to use for this album. 6.7/10
Out of My Hands - It's dark and it's got piano, it's like a Tori Amos d-side. 6/10
Hello Again - This is the most structurally sound and well written song on the album, and is the only one that fans can peg as the "classic dmb" we all know and love...except for the pointless abrupt ending (When the World Ends just wasn't enough! They came back for more!) Good song though. Almost too good to be on this album. 8.5/10
Louisiana Bayou - "Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet emoooooooooo-shuuuuuuun" Raffi goes country and then rips off Aerosmith while impersonating Arrested Development. It's good live if that makes any difference. 8/10
Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd - The only comfortable song on the album, Stolen Away manages not to scream "trying to hard" and rests on it's simple smooth jazz arrangement to get the point across. The “less is more” philosophy is prominent throughout this album, mostly to unnavail, but here the band actually succeeds in simplicity...which they're too impatient to carry out in full. 8/10
You Might Die Trying - I’m still not quite sure what this is. It’s a heavy combo of rock and hip hop sort of in the vein of “The Stone“ and "Too High". Not bad, bug not great. It's a song that would be awesome in bizarro world. 6.9/10
Steady as We Go - I guess Smooth Rider needed some competition for the worst song ever. Dave channels 1973 drugged up Elton John and asks him to write a song for the band. Bad lyrics, no emotion, but at least it ends. Good work, Dave. You wrote a song for the piano. 1/10
Hunger for the Great Light - Pretty rockin‘, but generic as sin. I hated it the first time I heard it and I still hate it. The mix leaves everything to be desired. It needs to be dialed up to 11. It needs three bases and a truckload of "oomph". If it were loud it would at least drown out the bad songwriting. 3.9/10
Problems with the album - Much of this album suffers from sub-par lyrics. There’s basically nothing that’s lyrically catchy anywhere on the album. Besides the obvious lyrics there won’t be a lot of crowd sing-alongs with this one, which might be a good thing. Another problem, but one that’s unavoidable is the decline of Dave’s voice, which has been getting worse over the past couple years. Though he can’t control how good his voice feels he could still put some more emotion into his performances which are pretty mediocre on this album. And the final problem that pretty much kills this album is the repetitious nature of most of the songs and lack of musical flow. A lot of these songs desperately need an interlude, breakdown, bridge...something.
The song order and structure is also a problem. To me this record almost comes across as a failed or abandoned attempt at a concept album. There are little bits of string arrangements which create a common thread of sorts and there are sound effects and lyrical themes but when trying to create a concept album of any kind you have to go all or nothing, otherwise it creates a jumbled mess leaving the overall "message" incomplete. It's possible a "concept" never crossed their minds, sure, there's still a failure to weave a coherent and appealing musical pattern into the list of songs.
Stand Up - 6 out of 10 bomb's of love.
Busted Stuff - 7.5
Everyday - 7.7
Before These Crowded Streets - 10
Crash - 8.5
Under The Table and Dreaming - 9
