cabbageboy

Nah, there is only one choice for The Vulture: Ben Kingsley. Or maybe a slightly older Patrick Stewart. I dunno who Grace will play, how about Misterio? He'd make for a campy villain, cool look.

The Suns just flat out rock. Compare that flamboyant display tonight to these Pistons and Pacers goonfests. I think it's going to be hard for the Suns to get past the Spurs and either the Heat or Pistons to win it all though...simply because 2 of those 3 teams can score and also defend.

One of the best NOOOOOOS is in Team America I think, and it was satirizing that whole schtick. Anyway, I didn't find that moment too big of a deal. The movie itself was really awesome, especially in the 2nd half. Onto the spoilers: Maybe the Clone Wars cartoons are interesting, but I wasn't feeling much of this at all. Grievous to me just goes up there with the Trade Federation jobbers as being one of the lamer heels in the series. Dude has 4 arms with sabers and still is essentially a jobber for Obi Wan. I think Lucas made a mistake in whacking Dooku so early....Dooku was the only credibility that the Separtists had. Never ever get rid of a main human heel and build around a robotic bum, since the audience by definition can't take the robot as seriously. It would have also worked slightly better to hold this off till later when Anakin is THIS close to the heel turn, and then he kills Dooku and takes his place at the Emperor's side. Instead we get Grievous and the other separtists constantly say "Punk, you're no Dooku." That aside, the movie started picking up insane momentum in the 2nd half. Hell I was practically in tears several times, only to then have some dipshit like Jar Jar (during Padme's funeral) or the Trade Federation assclowns show up and take me out of it. Hell I marked out for Vader killing the Trade Federation....that to me was as good as Jar Jar dying. And unlike Jar Jar there is actual plot reason for them to finally die. Did anyone think of something rather curious. How could Obi Wan EVER beat Anakin in a fight? We'd already seen Anakin trash Dooku after Dooku beat down Obi Wan like it was nothing. Anyone else think that it wasn't until Obi Wan finally got really pissed at Anakin that his true potential as a Jedi was realized? In other words that until he embraced a touch of the dark side himself he wasn't as effective. Anyway, in the overall series I still can't really rate this as high as Empire or Jedi, if for no other reason that I knew exactly what was coming. I'd rank it thusly: 1. Empire 2. Jedi 3. Sith 4. Star Wars (though this is really more of a tie with Sith) 5. Attack of the Clones (I actually quite like this one but by definition it is the 2nd weakest) 6. Phantom Menace.

I am off to see it at 8:00 in the Director's Hall at the Delux 16. And since the movie is basically in all the theaters there they aren't charging the extra to sit on the leather seats, haha. Does anyone else find it...odd that Shrek 2 held the single day record till now? I mean was there really that much hype surrounding that film? I actually did go see it that opening weekend but it was just sorta something to do, rather than a 44 million dollar mega psychotic event.

Lushus I knew it was an attempt at humor, but just responded to the couple of actual points I saw in it. As far as WWE Films go, I demand an Eddie/RVD cop buddy movie. One is an ultra intense, pissed off Mexican...the other a laid back surfer type. Can they take out a drug lord and save some hot chicks?

I'd think Kane's Eye Scream Man or whatever it is now will be campy enough as it is. Oh and The Marine doesn't have a big enough budget to lose a huge amount.

Isn't it interesting that most people here seem to think Empire and Jedi are the two best....and those are the 2 Lucas didn't direct? The man is a wizard with technology and ideas, but in terms of actual directing of scenes and actors he leaves something to be desired. Irving Kirschner and Richard Marquand directed those by the way, and I don't think they get enough credit. This might sound silly but the original Star Wars is hurt by it being carried by droids for seemingly the first 30 mins. Looking at it now, the first half hour of the film is pretty campy stuff, then once Obi Wan gets into the film it picks up a bit, and then when Han and Chewy get in it starts kicking ass. Anyone else agree with this? The first film HAD to have Han in it....he has chemistry with Leia, a cocky type friendship with Luke, and obviously with Chewy. He ties it together.

I am holding off until I see Sith tonight to give my official top 6 rankings. But isn't it interesting that so many here have a fondness for ROTJ? I think that movie is unjustly trashed in some bizarre postmodern attempt to seem cool by badmouthing Ewoks or whatever. Vitamin X, hell I watched Jedi last week and I cried a little when Yoda died...and I'm 25. My dad was even a little misty eyed. And I was nearly as bad at the end. People call the ghost visions at the end cheesy but every time it works for me and I become a bitch.

Agreed, if the ratings went up it was just due to the finals of the tourney and the #1 contender being decided. I've always maintained that ratings are decided by what people hear about going in rather than what they see at the time. They had a tourney final and also Christian/Flair hyped from the previous week, thus people were interested.

Palpatine was really not in a whole lot of Phantom Menace...in fact would you believe the first time though he was so nondescript that it wasn't till an hour later that I realized "Whoa, that guy is the Emperor? He didn't do shit here." The Trade Federation are the main heels of Episode 1....Palpatine is the main heel of Episode 3. Why am I so wrong on Qui Gon being the weakest Jedi character of the entire series? He was Morpheus level wrong in his decisions (training Anakin in particular), and he's really the only Jedi who flat out jobs clean in a fight when he's going 100% (Obi Wan in Star Wars was old and clearly sacrificing himself) and even had backup to boot. I haven't seen ROTS yet but will tomorrow most likely...really looking forward to it. And again I request can we PLEASE quit with this "A New Hope" crap. The original is simply "Star Wars." Dama, what I mean by Phantom Menace having the internal problem of forcing us to cheer Anakin is that the rest of the series doesn't really do this. Throughout AOTC Anakin is depicted as a backtalking punk who really is never a terribly sympathetic character that you are asked to side with. I'm not sure what Lucas is talking about when he says that Anakin wasn't to show any of the dark side in Ep. 2 because you can see it all through the movie (the way he backtalks Obi Wan, his slaughter of the sand people, etc). In Episode 1 we are asked to wholeheartedly root for Anakin during the pod race to achieve his freedom, despite our knowledge going in that the galaxy would be a better place if he just jobbed here and stayed in slavery.

I don't honestly think these films would work real well watching from 1-6. It just kills the surprises. How exciting is Empire really going to be if you watch Ep. III and already know Vader is Luke's dad? And ditto Jedi, knowing Leia is his sister? The films won't work quite the same way, thus I recommend watching the originals, then the newer films. Dama, I watched Phantom Menace the other day and it's the worst one by far. It sucks. There are so many embarrassing, stereotypical characters that could have NEVER been done if not for them being monsters or animations: 1. Jar Jar. Uncle Tom of the Star Wars universe, a blatant black stereotype. I think we all know how bad he sucks, and he's in a LOT of this film. Oh and he's also cowardly and worthless. 2. The Trade Federation. Some of the worst heels in cinema history. Two lame Japanese caricatures, who are actually described by Qui Gon as being cowards....and these are your main heels of the film???? I suppose you could say Darth Maul is the heel here but he doesn't really have much screen time. 3. Fundamental script problems. We know Anakin is a slave, and he has to race for his freedom. Knowing he is going to be Vader, what is our incentive to root for him here? We know he'll turn heel and wreck the galaxy, so it's kinda hard to say "Go Ani!" Also the central drama of the film (Trade Federation taking over Naboo so that Palpatine can manipulate Padme into having her get rid of the Chancellor and he can take over) is underdeveloped and not compelling. 4. Qui Gon Jin. Probably the weakest Jedi character in the series. He goes against the Jedi council in training Anakin (ooops), he can't even do the mind trick on the Mexican Fly dude, and he gets bitchslapped and owned by Darth Maul. The guy is a jobber, and he's our central adult protagonist, since Obi Wan gets less screen time here. I haven't covered everything but I think that gives a decent illustration of Ep. 1's problems.

I guess it's just that the usual consensus is that Sabbath hung around WAY too long and probably should have just called it quits after Dio left the band. Hardly any of the post Ozzy and Dio stuff gets any sort of decent critical reviews aside from maybe Dehumanizer, and I think Dio was back for that, correct? My line in the sand is arbitrary really....I've got Heaven and Hell on CD but not Mob Rules (downloaded some of it). I wasn't so enamored with Dio that I needed more of him with Sabbath...I can imagine how much I'd like the lesser stuff after he left. After a point wasn't Iommi the only actual member left? That's why people stopped listening, it was Sabbath only in name. Ozzy's solo stuff is decent enough, albeit in the "2 or 3 main singles and the rest is iffy" vein. I certainly prefer his old Sabbath stuff.

As I said before I'm not obsessed enough with Star Wars stuff to watch hours upon hours of cartoons just so I can find out why Grievous is coughing. Just wondering but why are all these little kids out at MIDNIGHT showings anyway? Hell when I went to the ROTK midnight showing it was mostly people 18-30 or so, it wasn't till seeing it again that weekend that the kids were around.

I'm baffled as to why everyone thinks the Heat will just roll over for the Pistons. I mean the Pistons are struggling some with the Pacers, who are on fumes right now. If they get ANY sort of performance from Shaq in this series it should be 5-6 games max. The Pistons were a flukish champ last year, no way are they repeating. Besides, Detroit vs. San Antonio in the Finals is like a death sentence for ABC and to my interest in the playoffs. I want to see teams who can actually SCORE. Shooting the basketball, putting it through the hoop. If you watch these Pacers/Pistons games this is a foreign concept. Watch the Suns/Mavs and you see actual skill being displayed, rather than just bone and club gooning to a dreary 79-74 finish. I suppose you could say Suns/Mavs is finesse ball while the Pistons/Pacers are man's games, but these epics to come next year in the Big East with Pitt vs. Cincy will be manly games too...they'll still suck horribly, but they'll put hair on your chest.

Perhaps this is just a printing error?

Oh God, with Grievous they require you to know him from the Clone Wars cartoons huh? Remember my rant a few pages back about how the cartoons are a separate thing from the actual movies and the viewer shouldn't HAVE to bone up on all this stuff just to watch the movie (a la the Animatrix).

I didn't end up going to the midnight showing since my friend Ian had to work this morning at like 6am and I didn't want to go alone. I'll either see it on Friday if my brother comes over or wait till the weekend when we can all go see it (parents, bro, me). As far as what has been posted: That sucks about Dooku. I thought he would be about the 2nd main heel in the film behind the Emperor. This guy just wasted both Obi Wan and Anakin in the last movie and now goes out like a chump 15m in? Poor Christopher Lee, he gets killed in both part 3s he's been in lately, and wasn't actually IN the ROTK theater version. As far as Jar Jar goes, I was hoping he'd get wasted here as well but then thought of the tone problems it might cause. If I'm Lucas I would have had it happen, but wouldn't have given it any particular tone. As in not sad and weepy, but not a riotously funny scene either. Just have Anakin or the Emperor kill his ass and let the crowd react as they may. Besides, storywise there was no reason for him to die....he was Palpatine's Uncle Tom, he gave him emergency powers in the Senate, there was no order to kill Senators, so there was no legit plot reason for Jar Jar to die, as much as people want to see it.

As I said, I never argued that Dio is a better vocalist technically than Ozzy....I just find his lyrics campy and his style overly theatrical and over the top. Ozzy puts out the vibe more than Dio, one of those aesthetic things that can't be easily explained. And I'm glad someone else likes Never Say Die. That's a very underrated Sabbath album. Title song, Junior's Eyes, Johnny Blade (a little silly but still fun), and the aforementioned songs are all solid to great. I think we'll all agree Technical Ecstasy is the weakest Ozzy Sabbath album. Thrashist, I won't argue about the post Dio Sabbath stuff, because I've never cared even the slightest bit about it. Gotta draw a line in the sand somewhere, and 1981 is where most people draw the line with Sabbath.

I dunno if this will actually end up better than ROTJ. ROTJ has a repeat viewing quality in terms of being a happier, redemptive film whereas this is bound to end up ultra depressing and sad. It is odd but I'd say Jedi is the most underrated film in the series, given far too much latter day trashing for inconsequential reasons (Ewoks, 2nd Death Star). But hell I saw AOTC 2 times at the theater, I have to see this one 3 or so, haha. Only saw Phantom Menace once, mainly because I thought that one sucked. And incidentally, can we PLEASE stop referring to the original as A New Hope? I know that's the official title in the reissue but it's still incredibly lame.

Basically the negative reviews are really lame, typical stuff like "The prequels suck and this one is slightly better than the other two." I'm not sure what it will make really but I'm thinking something along the lines of what the first two LOTR movies did worldwide. Hell Phantom Menace did 925 million or so worldwide and that was after what had to have been bleh world of mouth. So I'll so something like 900 million worldwide, 430 million domestic.

Ok let's back up a second. What is this shit about Sabbath's first 4 albums being the only ones that are any good? Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on a remastered CD is really awesome, and Sabotage might well be in my top 3 Sabbath albums (I think Ozzy considers it their best album). I even kinda like Never Say Die but it's not really sustained. Dio perhaps technically has a better voice than Ozzy but I don't really like him all that much. He's just too campy and cheesy for my taste, too Dungeons and Dragons. The first half of the Heaven and Hell album is fine, but by the 2nd half I was bored with Dio's over the top wailing. Also, he just doesn't seem like Sabbath....on his albums with the band they were forced into sounding like him rather than him sounding like Sabbath.

Yeah but the entire idea of Shavlik Randolph even THINKING he could go pro, the notion even entering his mind, just made me bust a gut the other day. I mean the guy is fucking terrible, he's basically Coach K's goon merely in there to waste 5 fouls. The hilarity of this is that UK's Randolph Morris also has declared for the draft, although hasn't hired an agent I don't think. Hell, at least he STARTS for UK. I thought him declaring was insanity though, the guy is a green freshman who vanished for large portions of the season. When I told my brother about Morris he quipped "What's next, Shavlik Randolph going pro?" And then he declared!

That was great. I just read the Lucas article in the new Entertainment Weekly where he basically contradicts ALL that shit. He says basically for the prequels that he started with a thin script about characterization and political turmoil, then from there did "jazz riffs and noodling" in terms of creating huge worlds and showing it all off. My jaw dropped when he said 60% of what he originally had in mind is ROTS, whereas the other 40% was stuff done in the previous 2 movies (yes, 20% per movie). Yes, even Lucas admits he was cashing the paycheck on the first two prequels.

I think Gwen Stefani waited at least 7 years too late to go solo. If anyone needed to go I would have gotten rid of Lita. At the core level women in wrestling are essentially needless and can be replaced with nothing lost (i.e. canning Sable, then Trish shows up in 2000). Replacing Edge would be a lot more difficult given the time he's been there and the current push he is getting. Not to say he couldn't be replaced by, oh I dunno, Shelton Benjamin, but it's harder to do than firing Lita. It seems like we have a culture now of "Express your feelings, get it out in the open." But at some point Matt just needs to chill and realize that they might hire him back, and that there's other skanks out there.

Backstage job? Doesn't make any sense. I mean he got signed right after his tag match with Michaels and then the match with Angle, so it's implied that he was hired to wrestle again. I recall hearing he was probably going to reteam with Michaels, but that hasn't happened yet.