Star Wars

Okay, so I was among the thousands of nerds who went to thursday AM's midnight showings of Star Wars episode 3. I am now referring to myself as Darth (ho)Vater and am using various jedi mind tricks on my fellow staff members here at the office. I have kept my light saber concealed so as not to reveal my identity to my foes at too early a time.

I had agreat time at the show, just as much for the atmosphere as for the movie itself. I think that any time you get a group of people who are being so unabashedly ridiculous in the face of societal norms you're bound to have a good time. It was like all these nerds came out into the open, proudly reveling in their nerd-dom. there was definitely a light saber brawl in the front of the auditorium before the previews began. There was a good audience for this, partcularly since the auditorium was 95% full an hour and a half before the show time. Yeah, that's right, an hour and a half. I think one of the funnier things I saw was Darth Vader outside smoking a cigarette after the movie. Doesn't that helmet have a filter?

For the movie itself, I have to say that I really did like it. There are a couple of parts that are somewhat cheesy (like when Vader takes his first steps in the new armor...that had to be intentionally a Boris Karloff tribute, absolutely had to be.) I even thought one part already looked outdated in its effects, when Obi-Wan and VAder are cruising on the small platforms in the middle of the lava. It won't be long at all before that just looks straight up stupid. But in the main, I really did like the movie. I thought that part of what made the orignal three episodes great , besides the fantasy component, was that you actually cared about the characters. You were invested in what happened to Luke and Han, and rooted for them. But episodes one and two really didn't achieve that very well...the characters were secondary to the development of the plot and the fantasy element. In this last installment, I felt like I understood the characters better and sympathized with them. From Yoda to Obi-Wan and finally to Vader himself, we finally understand them a little better. the plot served the characters instead of it only being the other way around, and in the end this film turns out to be a pretty good story about sacrifice, integrity and even love. props to George on this one. I know some people will probably hate it, but I really did like it quite a bit.

Postscript:
The rash is susbsiding, though still lingering a little.