What I did at the weekend, by Atropos
Another good weekend has been had by all at this end, although it turned out to consist of a bit more gallivanting and a bit less housework than I had originally planned. Oh well. The housework can always be done tomorrow - sadly there is no chance of it dissapearing of its own accord overnight :)
So what did I get up to? Saturday I did a few chores and then went round to RLBF's so that she could alter some of my skirts to fit my reduced form. This she did with extreme rapidity and great skill, and all I had to do in return was to provide dinner. We then spent the rest of the evening knitting and watching Hornblower on DVD. Two pointy sticks and universally handsome young men prancing across the TV screen in tight trousers. Blissful >:)
Today I did a few more chores including assembling a new desk, which involved me wrestling with a 25kg desktop and dropping an allen key on my head (twice) while I was lying underneath it trying to screw the legs to the top. But it's done now and is looking most professional, so I feel very Sisters-Are-Doin-It-For-Themselves-ish. And after the desk gryffin23 and I went to see The Revenge of the Sith. There was much geeky squeeage, particularly over the goody-bags that gryffin23 brought with her. I am now the proud owner of a Darth Vader fridge magnet. How geeky is that? Anyway, I digress - my thoughts on the film are under the cuts as they are extremely spoiler-ish. Don't go there if you haven't seen it yet and you don't want to be spoiled.
In summary I think Revenge of the Sith is a bit like the curates egg - good in parts. There was a lot that I really liked about it and that made my little geeky heart really happy, but there were some truly clunky bits and also some plot holes that you could drive a double-decker bus through. But it was still Star Wars by jeepers, so I think I shall be seeing it again before it goes off the big screen.
For me the good bits included:
*The whole opening sequence. My Lordy, how much money do we think that cost to bring to the screen? Just fantastic in terms of action and effects. And I thought that the relationship between Anakin and Obi-wan was well played too - you could really see the affection between the impetuous padawan and his more cautious master. And I loved the way that the fighters were starting to look like X-wings, so you could see the natural progression onto the first trilogy. Loved. It.
* The wookie homeworld. The anthropology nerd inside me was bouncing around at this point over their architecture and technology. I wished we had stayed there longer so I could have got a better look at it. In fact a lot of the new worlds were rather wonderful, although I was rather caught up in the sadness of the jedi being betrayed when most of them were on-screen.
* Yoda & R2-D2. They both kicked arse. I don't think I really need to elaborate on that point, do I?
* The scene where Darth Sidious and Yoda are fighting in the Senate Hall. I loved the action, but I also loved the symbolism of the Emperor physically destroying the Senate Hall as he has destroyed the Republic.
* I rather enjoyed General Grievous too, even though he has possibly the silliest name in all Star Wars canon (which must be admitted is an award where he has some competition). I particularly enjoyed the four-handed light sabre battle, and the whole idea of his rather creepy fusion of machine and organic parts.
The not-so-good bits can be summarised as follows:
* The romance between Anakin & Padme. Clearly the actors were hampered by hammy dialogue, but I just wasn't getting it even without that. I think Hayden hasn't really got his head around the romantic lead type of role. He did a good evil glower later on I thought, but the "I love you", "No I love you more" scene just made me want to reach for the sick bucket. The 10 year old sat next to me was less than impressed too :)
* The whole Padme's dead "NOOOOOO!!" thing. I just burst out laughing. Sorry, but really ....
* The Emperor's "I'm melting, I'm melting" scene. I mean I know he had to end up looking like he did in the first trilogy but the method by which they achieved this was rather laughable IMO.
* Padme's character development, or more accurately complete lack of it. Now if my calcuations are correct by the time we get to this film Padme is nearly 30, has served as queen of Naboo through an invasion and has spent an extended period representing her world in the Senate. She has also had the guts to marry the man she loves in secret, run around a droid assembly line without getting mashed to death and followed Anakin to rescue Obi-wan when she felt that action needed to be taken. How is it then that in this film she basically gets pregnant, whines, loses the will to live & dies in childbirth as a result? Makes absolutely no sense to me, I've got to tell you.
But you know what I really thought was wrong with this film? I just didn't believe that Anakin would turn so quickly away from being a jedi. The whole "doing it to save Padme" thing had potential, but why is it that one minute he was wrestling with his conscience and then as soon as Mace Windu goes flying out the window he's 100% sith and ready to go off and slay children in the jedi temple? I just don't buy it. Impetuous, headstrong and arrogant - yes. Cold blooded child killer at that stage in his walk to the dark side - no. And because of that the whole bittersweet element where his actions actually kill Padme rather than save her held no emotional resonance for me. In fact this piece of the puzzle is really the heart of the six films, isn't it? Which is probably why I'm so dissapointed that Lucas hasn't convinced me with his explanation of how Anakin becomse Vader. Boo :(
So there you have it. As I said, the curate's egg.
So what did I get up to? Saturday I did a few chores and then went round to RLBF's so that she could alter some of my skirts to fit my reduced form. This she did with extreme rapidity and great skill, and all I had to do in return was to provide dinner. We then spent the rest of the evening knitting and watching Hornblower on DVD. Two pointy sticks and universally handsome young men prancing across the TV screen in tight trousers. Blissful >:)
Today I did a few more chores including assembling a new desk, which involved me wrestling with a 25kg desktop and dropping an allen key on my head (twice) while I was lying underneath it trying to screw the legs to the top. But it's done now and is looking most professional, so I feel very Sisters-Are-Doin-It-For-Themselves-ish. And after the desk gryffin23 and I went to see The Revenge of the Sith. There was much geeky squeeage, particularly over the goody-bags that gryffin23 brought with her. I am now the proud owner of a Darth Vader fridge magnet. How geeky is that? Anyway, I digress - my thoughts on the film are under the cuts as they are extremely spoiler-ish. Don't go there if you haven't seen it yet and you don't want to be spoiled.
In summary I think Revenge of the Sith is a bit like the curates egg - good in parts. There was a lot that I really liked about it and that made my little geeky heart really happy, but there were some truly clunky bits and also some plot holes that you could drive a double-decker bus through. But it was still Star Wars by jeepers, so I think I shall be seeing it again before it goes off the big screen.
For me the good bits included:
*The whole opening sequence. My Lordy, how much money do we think that cost to bring to the screen? Just fantastic in terms of action and effects. And I thought that the relationship between Anakin and Obi-wan was well played too - you could really see the affection between the impetuous padawan and his more cautious master. And I loved the way that the fighters were starting to look like X-wings, so you could see the natural progression onto the first trilogy. Loved. It.
* The wookie homeworld. The anthropology nerd inside me was bouncing around at this point over their architecture and technology. I wished we had stayed there longer so I could have got a better look at it. In fact a lot of the new worlds were rather wonderful, although I was rather caught up in the sadness of the jedi being betrayed when most of them were on-screen.
* Yoda & R2-D2. They both kicked arse. I don't think I really need to elaborate on that point, do I?
* The scene where Darth Sidious and Yoda are fighting in the Senate Hall. I loved the action, but I also loved the symbolism of the Emperor physically destroying the Senate Hall as he has destroyed the Republic.
* I rather enjoyed General Grievous too, even though he has possibly the silliest name in all Star Wars canon (which must be admitted is an award where he has some competition). I particularly enjoyed the four-handed light sabre battle, and the whole idea of his rather creepy fusion of machine and organic parts.
The not-so-good bits can be summarised as follows:
* The romance between Anakin & Padme. Clearly the actors were hampered by hammy dialogue, but I just wasn't getting it even without that. I think Hayden hasn't really got his head around the romantic lead type of role. He did a good evil glower later on I thought, but the "I love you", "No I love you more" scene just made me want to reach for the sick bucket. The 10 year old sat next to me was less than impressed too :)
* The whole Padme's dead "NOOOOOO!!" thing. I just burst out laughing. Sorry, but really ....
* The Emperor's "I'm melting, I'm melting" scene. I mean I know he had to end up looking like he did in the first trilogy but the method by which they achieved this was rather laughable IMO.
* Padme's character development, or more accurately complete lack of it. Now if my calcuations are correct by the time we get to this film Padme is nearly 30, has served as queen of Naboo through an invasion and has spent an extended period representing her world in the Senate. She has also had the guts to marry the man she loves in secret, run around a droid assembly line without getting mashed to death and followed Anakin to rescue Obi-wan when she felt that action needed to be taken. How is it then that in this film she basically gets pregnant, whines, loses the will to live & dies in childbirth as a result? Makes absolutely no sense to me, I've got to tell you.
But you know what I really thought was wrong with this film? I just didn't believe that Anakin would turn so quickly away from being a jedi. The whole "doing it to save Padme" thing had potential, but why is it that one minute he was wrestling with his conscience and then as soon as Mace Windu goes flying out the window he's 100% sith and ready to go off and slay children in the jedi temple? I just don't buy it. Impetuous, headstrong and arrogant - yes. Cold blooded child killer at that stage in his walk to the dark side - no. And because of that the whole bittersweet element where his actions actually kill Padme rather than save her held no emotional resonance for me. In fact this piece of the puzzle is really the heart of the six films, isn't it? Which is probably why I'm so dissapointed that Lucas hasn't convinced me with his explanation of how Anakin becomse Vader. Boo :(
So there you have it. As I said, the curate's egg.