30 Days of Star Wars: Day 11

Favorite Jedi

I have to swallow my hatred of the prequels for this post...well, just a little bit!  My favorite Jedi is my favorite because of the three horrible movies he was in.  We knew very little about this Jedi before The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith came out.  This Jedi was only in the original trilogy for about an hour total.  However, in that hour, a legend was created, and a hero was born in the prequels.  Who is my favorite Jedi?

Below is a video I found on YouTube.  I've seen a lot of YouTube videos, but this one is incredible. The song is perfect, the editing is phenomenal.  It beautifully tells the story of why Obi-Wan Kenobi is the hero that he is.




Let's give the credit to the men who deserve it.  Alec Guiness did a wonderful job in the original trilogy.  He gave life to this man who clearly has a difficult past, and is full of secrets.  We gain respect and admiration for Ben Kenobi quickly, even though he's only in Star Wars for about 30 minutes.

Ewan McGregor, who portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels, did an AMAZING job. Obi-Wan would not be my favorite Jedi if not for Ewan.  He worked with a script that was often RIDICULOUS, and sold every moment to the audience.  I was temporarily able to look past the STUPIDITY of the prequels when he was on screen. Ewan's emotions sold his anguish when Qui-Gon Jinn was killed, and his torment when Anakin turned to the dark side.  I've already mentioned that lightsaber duel.  Ewan made that duel, and this Jedi, epic!

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 10

All Time Favorite Scene From Any Star Wars Movie

The carbon freezing scene from The Empire Strikes Back is my all time favorite Star Wars scene. Vader is trying to bait Luke, so he tortures his friends so that Luke will sense their pain through the force and come to their aide.  Han and Leia, whose romance has been budding throughout this movie, are facing the possibility of being parted forever since carbon freezing can kill you.

Everything about this scene is incredible.  The story, acting, set, lighting, music...everything.  You can feel the emotion pouring out of not only Han and Leia, but also from Chewbacca, who is in agony over the loss of his best friend.  His cries sell the scene even more.  And Han Solo's response to Leia's declaration of her love for him is PERFECT....."I know".

Here's a little piece of Star Wars background:  Harrison Ford was supposed to answer Carrie Fisher by saying, "I love you, too".  The day they filmed it, the words just weren't working.  Finally, Irvin Kershner, the director, says to Harrison Ford, "Just say the first thing that comes to your mind", and then yells, "Action!"  Carrie says the line, and Harrison responds with, "I know".  History is made, and completely by accident!

I especially love when they cut to Vader right after Han is frozen.  His face appears from behind the steam/fog, evil everywhere!!

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 9

The Music of Star Wars

John Williams is one of the greatest composers of all time.  He is responsible for the music of all 6 Star Wars movies.  Today, I'm focusing on my favorite pieces from these movies.

Surprise, surprise!  My current ringtone is the song "Duel of the Fates", from the soundtrack to The Phantom Menace.  While I still believe that the movie is awful, the music is wonderful.  Here is the song.




Next up, the song titled "Binary Sunset" from Star Wars.  This song becomes one that is heard throughout the entire original 3 movies, often when someone is talking about, or using the force.  I love this song because it is so powerful.

Next up, "Princess Leia's Theme" from the movie Star Wars.  Sweet, yet powerful, just like the character, this is a beautiful piece of music.

"The Throne Room" piece from Star Wars is next.  Found at the very end of the movie, it's a great end piece, and the power of the song is fabulous to listen to.  When George Lucas went back through the movies, Chewbacca should've gotten a medal like everyone else!!

Moving on to The Empire Strikes Back.  Arguably, the best of all 6 movies.  In their attempt to get away from Darth Vader, "The Asteroid Field" is up first.  Fast paced, and full of grand instruments, this is a great song.

"The Imperial March".  Probably the BEST piece that John Williams wrote for any of the Star Wars movies.  With it's heavy bass, it tells you through music just how evil Darth Vader is.  Simply a fantastic piece.

"Yoda's Theme".  I like to remember Yoda as the calm Jedi Master from Dagobah who tested Luke when they first met by acting like a weird creature, not the flying monkey they try to turn him into in the prequels.  This piece is calm, and fits Yoda perfectly.

The best part about The Empire Strikes Back is watching the relationship between Han Solo and Princess Leia develop.  The next song is titled "Han Solo and the Princess".  The picture below is from where this song begins in the movie.  I LOVE this scene, and this song!

Return of The Jedi is next.  When I was growing up, this was my favorite movie for a very long time. The first 45 minutes are fantastic.  Then you hit about 40 minutes of Ewoks, which were cool when I was young, but not so much anymore....then you hit the last 30 minutes which are once again gold.

First up, "The Sail Barge".  I love this song, I love this scene...well, until George Lucas went and messed around with it, that is!  It does a great job of showing how Luke has grown up since we last saw him.

One of the main reasons I don't like the prequels is that they give away all the Star Wars surprises. Didn't know Vader was Luke's dad?  You know now.  Didn't know Luke and Leia were twins?  You do now.  This next song is titled "Luke and Leia" and is played when Luke reveals to Leia that they are brother and sister.

The best part of Return of the Jedi is the last 30 minutes when the Emperor and Vader are trying to turn Luke to the dark side.  "The Dark Side Beckons" begins when Luke is hiding from Vader and Vader, sensing what Luke is thinking, discovers that Leia is his sister, and his daughter.  The piece continues as they fight, and is the most chilling piece of the trilogy.  

"Anakin's Betrayal/Anakin vs Obi-Wan" is the final piece today, coming from Revenge of the Sith.  Of all the prequels, this was my favorite.  And I love this fight, especially the part in the picture below.  It was good to see how Anakin became Vader, even if the reasons were stupid, and the fight was a little dumb.  Below is the clip from the movie with the music in it.

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 8

Attack of The Creepy Stalker Movie

Attack of the Clones was another horrible installment in the prequel trilogy.  Maybe even worse than The Phantom Menace.  I have SO MANY ISSUES with this movie, but my main complaint is the "love story" (or lack of one) between Anakin and Padme.  It is the most unrealistic thing I've ever seen in my life.  The romance in this movie is just plain creepy and disturbing.  It's also the main focus of the movie, so there's no avoiding it.

Don't agree with me?  Here are my reasons why the "romance" is what killed this movie (again, with help from 64 Reasons to Hate Episode 2:)

1.   Anakin and Padme meet up 10 years after The Phantom Menace.  Assassins are trying to kill her, and the Jedi, specifically Anakin, have been tasked to protect her.  Their very first conversation sets the stage for the disaster.

Padme:  "Annie? My goodness you've grown."
Anakin:  "And you've grown.  More beautiful."

It didn't bother me in The Phantom Menace when everyone called Anakin "Annie".  Yes, it was strange, since he's not a girl with red hair singing about wanting the sun to come out tomorrow; but he was only 10, so it worked.  Now he's in his late teens, early 20's, and to hear him called "Annie" just doesn't sit well with me.  Every time I heard it in this movie I was looking for Daddy Warbucks to enter the room.  I was a little disappointed when it didn't happen!!

2.  Anakin goes from being this little sweetheart in The Phantom Menace to being a complete jerk in Attack of the Clones.  He's whiny, creepy, annoying, rude and arrogant.  He also throws temper tantrums at two or three points in the movie.  What happened to him?  He was a pretty well adjusted kid and you would figure that under the guidance of the Jedi he would become even more stable.  Instead he turned into a total doofus.  He creeps out Padme by just staring at her like a stalker and when she says, "Please don't look at me like that," he responds by saying, "Sorry," but also displays a sinister grin and continues to stare at her!  What kind of fool would do this and what's more is why would she be at all attracted to someone like this? There's absolutely no reason why she would fall in love with someone like this.  Return of the Jedi works so hard at making the evil Darth Vader into a likeable character despite the things that he has done.  This movie comes along and makes the viewer hate Anakin just because he's a total jerk.  A huge hole is left in the plot as to why he became this way that just leaves us asking, "Why did Anakin become such a creep?"

3.  After being with Padme for about a day Anakin decides it's acceptable to show his true colors and he has a fit.  Anakin gets upset after he can't save his mother from the sand people.  He goes on this tirade that is supposed to show us how he has a dark side.  Something like this could stand to be a little more subtle since about one fifth of the Earth's population is already aware that Anakin has a dark side. His second temper tantrum has him screaming five-year-old things like: "I will be the most powerful Jedi ever!" and "I should be all-powerful!"  

Then he throws some stuff and says, "It's all Obi-Wan's fault!"  What?  What does he mean?  How could this be Obi-Wan's fault?  Basically he just screams for no reason.  He does do a fairly good job of capturing the essence of Luke from the first movie but he also does a really good job of flipping out for no reason and yelling at people he hardly knows or hasn't seen in years.   And once again we're left wondering what on Earth Padme sees in this whiny boy who seems to throw a fit every chance he gets!

4.  The audience is left stunned as Anakin begins saying to Padme that, "I don't like sand.  It's coarse and irritating and it gets everywhere.  Everything here is soft and smooth."  You can sense they're going to kiss but you think that you must be wrong because everything up until this point has showed Anakin to be a total dummy and that she must be creeped out.  When they begin kissing you can't help but wonder why it's happening.  The music gets loud and grand but then she snaps away and the music cuts quickly leaving a decaying reverb in the theatre and it's just plain comical.  You can't help but laugh out loud.  And yet somehow, this happens.....

It's amazing that these two actors had a romance in real life with the distinct lack of sparks we saw on the screen.  This is not your father's Star Wars romance.  Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher must feel embarrassed for these two actors. 

Below is a YouTube video I found about Anakin and Padme.  The owner of this video is using it as a tribute to how wonderful their love was.  I'm using it to show exactly how ABSURD and RIDICULOUS their "love story" is.  The video goes all the way through Revenge of The Sith, but I only watch it through the clips from Attack of The Clones.

Do you agree with me now?

However, no matter how horrible this "love story" is, in the end, this is true:

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 7

Best Star Wars Related Story

(I wrote this back in November, 2010)

This morning at work, I was talking to a co-worker and was given a piece of information that has left me completely speechless; and that's a hard thing to do!

I am a kindergarten aide and I teach in the After School Program in a nearby town.  This morning at work, I was told that another co-worker is the sister of a famous movie director.  And not just any director, mind you.  This co-worker is the sister of the creator/director of my favorite movies on the planet.

Yep, she's the sister of George Lucas!

When I heard this, my mouth fell to the floor.  Flies could've flown in I was so stunned!  I couldn't, and still can't believe that the woman who I sat next to at a meeting last week, who I had a conversation with yesterday, is the sister of George Lucas!

If it was anybody else, it wouldn't be such a big deal.  But the creator of my beloved Star Wars, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?  And to boot, she probably knows Harrison Ford, my fave actor.  She's probably met him and all the other famous actors from the franchise! 

I would NEVER bring this up to her because I'm sure she's had crazy people ask her about her famous brother her whole life.  She doesn't need to know I'm crazy about Star Wars unless it somehow comes up innocently; and I doubt it ever will!  This just kills me because it's the closest I've ever come to knowing anybody famous!  How lame am I?!?

What are the odds that this would ever happen?

Well, if you were talking to Han Solo, he'd say,

 "Never tell me the odds!"