New Star Wars

Another hot Sunday afternoon with no outdoor program lead to a movie trip. BrooklynDodger was going to cover up this mistake, but then he saw a star next to the new Starwars in the New York Times friday listings.

[The Dodger feels like this post has been posted before but can't find it; do other bloggers compose posts in idle moments, then forget to write them down? or do our conversations present as blog posts?]

The Dodger saw the first one in a theatre; all other dips into this pool have been on cable tv or video tapes. The first one had a mixture of interesting jokes, some decent alien creatures, and very disappointing WW II fighter pilot movie battle scenes. You know, the tight shot looking into the face of the pilot swooping in? At least that Star Wars spawned Space Balls.

Anyway, this was a boring movie, leading to all kinds of idle thoughts to turn into posts.

First, it features acting by Samuel L. Jackson which must compete for his worst ever performance. Like he was reading bad lines off a teleprompter, maybe seeing these lines for the first time. Jimmy Smits had about the same expression, but Smits doesn't have as far to fall. Other cast members appeared to have memorized their bad lines.

Second, why are so many future fantasy governments monarchies, with Lords, Ladies and Princesses? What's up with this princess saying she's fighting for democracy?

Third, what's up with these light sabres anyway? Dodger saw or read a sci-fi somewhere which rationalized sword play by imagining force fields and body armor reacting to high speed projectiles, so that only slow weapons could have effect. In this movy, the bad guys shoot a bunch of Jedi knights, in a montage like one of the Godfather movies, so it can't be Jedi's can't be shot...

Fourth, it's pretty cool how the light sabres slice off limbs; just like Monty Python's holy grail.

Fifth, what's up with Yoda, anyway? Sometimes he generates super human force, other times he's tossed around like a small dog.

Finally, the computer generated tableux of cities are boring and repeat themselves.