The costume stores may be selling out of Dracula and slutty nurse costumes, but hard core geeks have been known to bring their A-Game when it comes to Halloween. And while dressing up yourself can be tons of fun, lucky geeks with candy fetching minions are putting their talents to work creating some amazing costumes for their kids.
Continue reading Countdown to Halloween: Playing Dress Up, Costume Hits and Horrors
The wait is over for the last two weeks of Clone Wars season 4 and it seems like we’ll be waiting a little longer until next week to get a little more of Darth Maul onscreen. This episode deals mainly with Savage Oppress still searching for his brother, a search that takes him to the planet of Lotho Minor. Lotho Minor was a very interesting planet, akin to the junk planet of Raxus Prime, and it had its very own collection of hazards and residents. One character who I really couldn’t stand was one of these residents in particular who guided Savage through the wilds of Lotho Minor, a snake-like alien that reminded me unfondly of an evil Jar Jar Binks. I still cringe at the thought of him.
The reveal of Darth Maul of course was the best part of the episode. He was very dark and menacing, though more along the lines of a rabid dog than a carefully calculating Sith Lord. Maul has definitely gone through some mental wear and tear over the years and it shows through Sam Witwer’s voice acting of the character as he moves fluidly between sobs of sadness into yells of rage. His body itself is quite the mess with his upper torso being covered in dirty bandages and his legs replaced by an amalgam of metal parts to form spider legs. It appeared in the trailer as if we will get to see him next week with a little more functionality in the form of two sturdy legs instead of the nearly broken down spider body he was sporting this episode.
Other than that, there isn’t really much else to say about the episode. I’m putting all of my hope into the finale next week since this one was a bit of a letdown. Mother Talzin is clearly still alive, and Ventress isn’t out of the game yet as she is still hanging out with the bounty hunters on Tattoonie. The Jedi are also very much aware of Darth Maul’s return as Yoda very ominously warns Obi-Wan at the close of the episode. The showdown between Obi-Wan and Maul next week will no doubt be fantastic. I remember reading the Star Wars: Visionaries graphic novel short story where Obi-Wan and a half mechanical Darth Maul dueled on the sands of Tattooine and that was tension filled, even though at that point it wasn’t continuity as this portion of the Clone Wars is.
I give the episode a 3 out of 5 bears. I enjoyed seeing the planet of Lotho Minor and the return of Savage Oppress who is still just as brutal as ever. I mean, the guy was choking some random lady in a diner and jettisoned a guy out of the airlock of his own ship!
And Darth Maul goes without saying that I enjoyed seeing him back as a twisted shell of his former silent and stoic self. Sam Witwer is definitely bringing new life to the character with his portrayal of him. I can’t wait to see how Maul uses his rage as a weapon in the coming episode. Until next week!
So, I cannot stand Jar Jar Binks. It’s honestly just something you really can’t even get used to by being exposed to it over and over again on the screen. It’s like someone forcing you to watch 2 Girls, 1 Cup repeatedly; you will never be able to watch it without feeling uncomfortable, embarrassed or just completely nauseated.
So I was very excited to see Star Wars: Episode 1 in the theater for it’s re-release in 3D. Not because of the 3D, because I think 3D is the worst fad since parachute pants, but I wanted to see it because….well it’s Star Wars and I’m a huge Star Wars geek. And even though I knew what I was in store for with the terrible Jar Jar Binks jokes and horrible performance by Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker, I was paying that admission price to at least watch the pod race scene and the Darth Maul v.s. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.
Aside from mediocre acting from everyone except Liam Neeson and sometimes Ewan McGregor, the movie suffers from the same problems that it did almost 13 years back. The pacing was just God awful. You get a little bit of action and then some terribly long wandering around Tatooine and then an albeit cool yet ultimately too long pod racing sequence. After the pod race and short Qui-Gon/Maul skirmish we are treated to yet another extended lull in the story to deal with politics before the last twenty minutes of action finale. The political aspect is necessary to set Palpatine up as Supreme Chancellor, but one might wonder why Lucas didn’t just start the saga with Palpatine already as Supreme Chancellor. And while the political scenes are intriguing and moderately well done to a first time viewer, those who have seen the movie numerous times aren’t very enamored by them. I kept fighting the urge to go take a pee break during the senate scene because I didn’t want to miss the Jedi Council scenes with non-puppet Yoda.
I’m kind of interested to see how the Phantom Menace re-release does in the box office after it’s historic $933 million dollar worldwide gross back in 1999. I’m also wondering just how people nowadays who haven’t seen it would react to the mediocre acting and Jar Jar hijinx, because I think we can all agree that there are blockbuster hits out there with far worst acting and way stupider shit that Jar Jar Binks plaguing our movie screens. (Twilight anyone?) After watching the movie in theatres again I recall feeling a little bit bored with the segments in between the action sequences, but I overall was glad that I went because of the nostalgic feel I get and watching the epic lightsaber fight at the end. And I also now have a sweet pair of Darth Maul 3D glasses to wear anytime I want. I give the re-release a 2 out of 5 grizzlies. Definitely one point off for the 3D fail aspect of the movie, but at least the experience didn’t suck anymore than it did thirteen years ago.
Rarely do movies get re-released in theaters, and even more rarely in 3D. It’s even more rare when a bad movie gets re-released, let alone in 3D. Yes, according to a brief report over at Bleeding Cool, the Phantom Menace 3D transition is all but complete and Jar Jar Binks will soon be annoying you in more than two dimensions come February of 2012. Check out the report below:
I’ve just had a quick chat with Matt Bristowe, Head of Production at stereo house Prime Focus after the “big” 3D debate at Empire Big Screen. He’s confirmed for me that all work is complete on the 3D version of Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.
As well you know, the film is hitting cinemas next February. To hear Prime Focus talk about the film, they certainly seem to have done a lot of hard work on this one, considering the artistic implications of another dimension carefully.
Had only the first two dimensions been totally up to snuff, eh?
I’m not going to defend The Phantom Menace at all. People who hated it are completely justified in the way they feel about it, especially the die hard fans who waited a very long time for a new Star Wars movie only to get something woefully mediocre. I for one will be seeing the movie in 3D, trying every step of the way trying to not be annoyed to tears by Jar Jar’s antics and Jake Lloyd’s art form of shitty-acting. It’s really all a means to an end to see the epic lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. That fight scene was worth the price of admission even back in 1999.
Lucas’ plan is to release one Star Wars film in 3D each year so it looks like we’re looking towards 2016 and 2017 for Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi… Well maybe just Empire Strikes Back because the notion of 3D Ewoks both sickens me and creeps me out.
I would also like to ask everyone to comment after reading this article to inspire Dr. Kronner to see this when it returns to theater next year. He’s stubbornly refused to ever watch The Phantom Menace again or even open a Christmas present containing the DVD. So your comments can act as a petition of sorts to break his spirit and force him to see Jar Jar again… in 3D!
Grizzly Bomb 