Star Words AOTC Part 3

Martil posted the third part of her look at AOTC:

Anakin probably wants to crawl into a hole in the ground and never come out. So much for proving his maturity. Looks like he has always been and always will be a child in Padmé’s eyes. No wonder he’s so insistent afterwards on pledging to track down the assassin, against all his master’s disapproval — he’s desperate to win Padmé’s favor to make up for such a wrong-footed introduction. Alas, Obi-Wan’s chastisement only humiliates him further.

By the way, there is so much secondhand embarrassment in this scene, illustrated by way of cleverly-timed cuts to the onlookers’ faces. Typho, Dormé, Obi-Wan, even Jar Jar — they all notice it, and there is much hiding of smiles and darting of eyes. I love how editing can tell a story without a word of dialogue.

While you’re at it, check out her One Woman Star Wars: Episode II.

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Pod racers Re-Imagined By Car Manufacturers

What if Ferrari, BMW, Dodge, Ford, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Subaru made pod racers for various famous races?  ClickMechanic decided to find out. (H/T Naboo News).

For the record, I’ll take the Lamborghini.

Lucas Named 16th Best Screenwriter Ever

Vulture polled 40 screenwriters on the 100 best screenwriters of all time.  George Lucas ranked #16:

 In marrying the aesthetics of the pulp serials of his youth to formal lessons gleaned from Joseph Campbell, he quite literally created the template for 40-plus years of blockbusters. But his legacy isn’t limited to space operas. “Yes, the man created Star Wars, but want to see another side of his skills? Check out American Graffiti and weep because you’ll never be as talented as he is,” says Andrea Berloff.

How Queen Amidala Influenced Fashion

Vanity Fair posted on its web site how various films have influenced fashion.  Along with TFA is a nod to the prequels, especially Padmé Amidala’s influence on the runways of our galaxy:

Asian themes and dip-dyed fabrics were big on the runway and in street style in the early 2000s, and headdresses continued to appear on runways even as Amidala’s costumes became more toned-down in the sequels. Amidala–esque styles walked down the 1999 fall couture show for Dior, as well as the 1999 spring Comme des Garcons ready-to-wear show.”

Naboo News quoted the entire TPM part of the article here

Star Words AOTC Part 2

Matril’s look at AOTC’s memorable lines continues with another line early in the film:

Mace isn’t lying or hiding his true nature. Jedi really are peacekeepers; that is the foundation of their creed. Remember Yoda’s lesson to Luke in Episode V? “A Jedi uses his powers for knowledge and defense. Never for attack.” So when Mace and Yoda and all the other Jedi take on the role of soldiers, they are essentially betraying the essence of who the Jedi are. Their downfall is practically inevitable after that.

 

An Old But Interesting Look At AOTC’s Opening Scenes

Cryogenic linked in the comments of the previous post to this fascinating look at the first 90 seconds of AOTC.  It was posted 10 years ago and I guess he wasn’t too crazy about TPM but it still is worth a read:

My minute and a half is about up now, but the rest of the scene continues the theme of deception and duplicity. It also caps the decoy storyline that was central to The Phantom Menace. Next to its visual imagination, the iconic success of Star Wars rests on its rigorous but inventive structuring: Lucas often begins and ends familiar stories in unpredictable ways. The belated death of Padme’s double exemplifies this Star Wars principle. For instance, Revenge of the Sith begins with what could have been the climax of Clones--much like the opening forty minutes of Return of the Jedi could have provided a more upbeat ending to The Empire Strikes Back. Each act of the two halves (which wrap around like Moebius strips) corresponds to its counterpart: Menace/Hope, Attack/Strikes Back, Revenge/Return.

To think this was long before the Ring Theory.

Star Words AOTC Part 1

Here’s the first installment of Matril’s look at the significant lines of AOTC:

Now, on its own this line carries a sort of dark humor. We all know that a character should never, ever say there was no danger after all, because that’s the surest way to bring calamity upon your head. Dramatic irony being what it is, the worst possible thing is always going to happen right after you let your guard down. So, we’re all kind of groaning as Captain Typho says it.

But I think the line goes deeper. It’s an indication of where this movie is going to take us. Don’t get comfortable. Don’t assume you’ve figured it all out, because just when you think you have, you’re going to have the rug pulled out from under you. This film, particularly Obi-Wan’s storyline, is going to take us through reveal after reversal after reveal. From Zam to Jango to Kamino to the first mention of “Tyrannus” to Geonosis to Dooku to the Separatists…and then, after you might think everything’s finally explained, we end up going back to Geonosis with Dooku — who turns out to be Tyrannus — who was working for Darth Sidious all along.

 

Video: What If Anakin Went To Utapau

I haven’t highlighted The Prequels Channel on YouTube (though I have it under the blogroll links) because it posts videos very frequently.  But I thought I’d highlight this “what if” video:

On Comments

I try very hard to make SWPAS into something other than a cesspool and for the most part, it isn’t.

However, working on this site for almost 10 years has shown me that prequel haters and bashers aren’t the only problem I’ve had to worry about.  In fact, they have been less and less of an issue except for a big flare up on the FB page around the time TFA came out.   What I’ve noticed over the past couple of years have been some aggressive visitors to the site who seem to want to use it as their soapbox for their agenda (easier and less time consuming I suppose than starting one’s own blog, podcast, or channel).  They’ve been disrespectful to me and to other visitors and when I call them on it, they get hostile.  I’ve had to ban a few from commenting and some will do things like come up with socks or change their IPs to get around moderation.  This behavior is unacceptable.  I catch anyone doing that, they are done commenting here, period.

I’m also done with feeling like a babysitter.  I’m not a social worker or a mental health specialist.  If the situation doesn’t change I may close SWPAS to comments sometime in the near future.

Darth Vader #1 Out Today

Marvel’s new Darth Vader miniseries has kicked off with today’s release of the first issue.

If you’re looking for the variant cover with Padmé and a bunch of dead clone troopers, I was told it’s 1/50. So unless your store ordered over 50 copies of it or it somehow lucked out into getting one, you’re going to have to hit the secondary market. On eBay it’s $70.