Muse: The High Aesthetic Line
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Is this the right time to say I liked the book?
It's never the right time, but as that great thinker Sly Stone says different strokes for different folks.
I wish in that instance Ihimaera had plagiarised someone whose style extended beyond choosing socks -- Edmund White's semi-autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room is Empty and The Farewell Symphony. Or even E.M Forster's Maurice -- which could most charitably be described as Lady Chatterley with fifty percent more cock.
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Andre Alessi, in reply to
The thing I appreciated most about ep I to III was the propensity of the jedi to problem-solve using light-sabres. Oh, and the fact that clones are all Jake The Musses.
What I personally find hilarious (and it's surely relevant to the discussion about racial stereotypes above) is that Mandalorians, and by extension, Jango and Boba Fett and all Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers, are depicted in canon (from the time of the release of Episode II anyway) as having a New Zealand accent.
True, the accent hasn't always been delivered convincingly (see the Mandalorians in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I & II) but there's still this odd moment when I've though, "Oh wow, so that's how I'd sound saying that!"
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Sacha, in reply to
Steve Gray has a scathing review of Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Do you reckon he's read the book (or knows there is one, or who wrote it)?
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Ngaire BookieMonster, in reply to
I can forgive the whole "princess" thing because as a five year old the coolest thing about Leia was right from the beginning she didn't exactly act "princessly".
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BenWilson, in reply to
Yes, what happened with Amidala was the most annoying part of Eps II and III. Her character actually follows a steady downward path from Ep I. From Queen, to princess, to councillor, to barefoot and pregnant, locked away, to a pleading ex, to dead (from despair?? FFS). But in some kind of way it makes sense within the context of Anakin's rise to power, that her condition is a consequence of her involvement with him. They could have done so much more with it, though.
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Hey Craig, delurking briefly to say it is cool to see you on the PA front-page, and I'm looking forward to reading your stuff.
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Lucy Stewart, in reply to
But in some kind of way it makes sense within the context of Anakin’s rise to power, that her condition is a consequence of her involvement with him. They could have done so much more with it, though.
Her death as a consequence of his fall, that makes sense. Stripping her of everything she was and had achieved before killing her...not necessary. Or good story-telling. But doing more with it would have required giving her a thematic arc beyond being Anakin's baby-mama, the kind of story Lucas doesn't seem to be equipped to tell.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
I can forgive the whole “princess” thing because as a five year old the coolest thing about Leia was right from the beginning she didn’t exactly act “princessly”.
YEah, but the weird thing is that Naboo has an elected monarchy -- with term-limits, no less. (Why the frak do I know this shit? Can't remember my own cell-phone number but this...)
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Andre Alessi, in reply to
I think the main problem is that Lucas was trying to mirror the performances of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who were both (let us not forget) incredibly young at the time of shooting Episode IV. What's remarkable is that Fisher in particular gave a weighty, assured performance that made her seem far older than she was. Casting Portman as her "mirror", and having her end her arc at around the same age that Fisher ended Leia's was always going to make things tough on Portman, and she simply struggled. (Although she still did ten times better than Christiansen, who never quite understood that there is a difference between acting angry and acting evil.) It's odd that Lucas managed to write such a good, strong role for a female character in Leia, especially given the context of the rest of his work.
I guess this gets to the core of why I disliked the prequels so much-Darth Vader's fall, to be meaningful, should have been the result of a mature man's conscious decision to betray everything he previously stood for. If Anakin had been 20 at the time of Ep I, and 40ish around the time of Ep III, the actors playing him and Padme could have really mined the depths of the drama inherent in their relationship from the perspective of two adults whose relationship has crumbled under the strain of their conflicting roles in a dynamic political environment, instead of a highly unconvincing tanty by a teeenager with a metal hand.
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Looking forward to regular-ish reviews delivered in your inimitable style.
I can forgive the whole “princess” thing because as a five year old the coolest thing about Leia was right from the beginning she didn’t exactly act “princessly”.
And didn't do jury service, it seems.
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I thought the antonym pairs were: fangirl, fanboy; fangurl, fanboi.
Which you all are.
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recordari, in reply to
And didn't do jury service, it seems.
Is that Sarah Palin?
Whoops...
I thought the antonym pairs were: fangirl, fanboy; fangurl, fanboi.
... superstar DJs, here we go?
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YEah, but the weird thing is that Naboo has an elected monarchy -- with term-limits, no less. (Why the frak do I know this shit? Can't remember my own cell-phone number but this...)
There are plenty of them, apparently. Why do you know? See above ;)
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Paul Williams, in reply to
Or even E.M Forster's Maurice -- which could most charitably be described as Lady Chatterley with fifty percent more cock.
Maybe its that then; some sort of straight-boy cock upper-limit? It'd explain why I like drag queens too!
I think the main problem is that Lucas was trying to mirror the performances of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who were both (let us not forget) incredibly young at the time of shooting Episode IV.
I think this is a key part of the explanation; the actors were better in the first trilogy. A friend's theory is that despite the patent silliness of the first three movies, the actors played it straight plus there were fewer gags to take you out of the moment whereas the second three lacked actors who could pull off the drama.
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Ngaire BookieMonster, in reply to
But Leia was an Alderaan princess (Alderaanian?).
Cell phone numbers are nowhere near as cool. :D
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Ngaire BookieMonster, in reply to
there were fewer gags to take you out of the moment
Heh. Until you see Star Wars meets The Muppets.
(Sorry, I have no idea how to embed these things) -
Mr 5 just described Ewoks as "man-eating teddies". Would that they were really so cool.
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Sacha, in reply to
I have no idea how to embed these things
You just paste the whole link (including the http at the beginning) into your comment and the site does the rest automagically.
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Maybe its that then; some sort of straight-boy cock upper-limit? It'd explain why I like drag queens too!
Wow, I wandered off to make a cup of coffee and it occurred to me that I'd set myself up for someone to speculate how the limit was measured; appearances or centermetres... but... nothing... phew.
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Paul Williams, in reply to
Heh. Until you see Star Wars meets The Muppets.
Cool. I used to love Pigs in Space but my favourite segment remains the Swedish Chef (who, I'm told by a Swedish friend, is known as the Finnish Chef in Sweden).
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Lea: we lived in the Berkeley/Oakland for 20 years - there is 'local' drama on TV - the problem is it's all filmed in LA - there seems to usually be at least one cop show full time (currently Monk, used to be that Cheech/Don Jonson thing, ...) and a sitcom about half the time
Of course they're all filmed in LA sound stages with outdoor scenes occasionally cut with a pic of SF.
What there really isn't is viable local TV except occasionally for public TV (sadly kqed sucks at that with the one wonderfull exception of 'Tales of the City') any non networked station is in for a quick financial demise (just look at CH 4 when it lost its NBC affiation)
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Her death as a consequence of his fall, that makes sense. Stripping her of everything she was and had achieved before killing her...not necessary.
I was more suggesting that even choosing him could have been played as a fatal flaw in her character.
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Megan Wegan, in reply to
Wow, I wandered off to make a cup of coffee and it occurred to me that I'd set myself up for someone to speculate how the limit was measured; appearances or centermetres... but... nothing... phew.
I had work to do.
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Andre Alessi, in reply to
Heh. Until you see Star Wars meets The Muppets.
(Sorry, I have no idea how to embed these things)Or even better, The Star Wars Holiday Special.
It's quite possibly the funniest/most terrible thing I've ever seen. My girlfriend and I still make regular in jokes about "Itchy" and "Lumpy" eating "wookie-ookies".
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Wow, I wandered off to make a cup of coffee and it occurred to me that I'd set myself up for someone to speculate how the limit was measured;
The workers who would liberate us all from our sexual repressions and life denying neurosis in the works of Lawrence and Forster should be considered as human Higgs bosons -- their existence is entirely theoretical, but they explain absolutely everything. More or less.
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