You Can't Deny THE FORCE: Goodbye to A Legend and STAR WARS thoughts

Well, today is both a day for rejoicing and a day of sadness.

Let me set things up.

Today: gave an exhausting tour to a bunch of fifth grade boys. Worked at the Tonight Show, featuring Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane!), Amazing Race's Amber and Rob, and Big and Rich featuring Cowboy Tony (who surprisingly kind of kicked ass, kind of a Run-DMC and Aerosmith pairing meets Garth Brooks). Wanted to pass out from standing outside in 80+ degree heat all day while dealing with annoying people. Then I headed back to the apt with fellow NBC page Brian G and ordered some pizza, preparing to watch what would soon become:

REGGIE MILLER'S LAST GAME EVER:

Well, he went out with a bang, that's for sure. An amazing, amazing game from the legend. For one more night, it was Miller Time. But when all was said and done Reggie couldn't do it alone, though he sure did try to put his team on his shoulders and carry them farther than anyone expected. The Pacers lost a game that they should have won. They blew leads, committed turnovers, and got killed on the boards. But the game itself soon took a backseat to the inevitable farewell to a legend. Larry Brown's timeout, called with seconds to play, was an amazing gesture - stopping the game to allow Reggie Miller to hear the adulations of the crowd and his fellow players - both his teammates and his rivals. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before in sports. The sheer respect that was shown was awe-inspiring. Truly a great moment - but again, a sad one. My team had lost, and it was over, the end of an era. That's it. The NBA that I grew up with is officially gone. The era of my childhood is over, a new, strange, unfamiliar chapter begins. Thank you Reggie Miller, your career was a huge influence and inspiration, and it's been one hell of a ride.

Speaking of the ending of an era ...

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DAAAAAAAAAAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

So I watched as the game ended and Reggie walked off into the sunset like an old cowboy finally leaving town. I rose from my chair and gathered myself. Brian and I got into his car and headed to the theater for another sort of grand drama - STAR WARS - the finale.

We floored it to the theater and rushed inside, only to find an already large crowd taking up the majority of the seats. Lightsabers were waving, illuminating the huge theater that was heart-breakingly devoid of empty seats. Unable to find anything in the upper levels, we had to settle for the lower area. Luckily we moved up a few precious rows when we spotted some open seats. We were right there, front and center. It was time.

The previews rolled. Immediately it was obvious - this was gonna be a good crowd, like the kind I used to get in Boston at the Fenway theater - cheering, screaming, yelling - and totally primed and ready for the main attraction. Some good teasers. War of the Worlds, Stealth, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fantastic Four - and my next big anticipated movie - The Chronicles of Narnia, which looked spectacular. Finally, the crowd applauded as the good ol' 20th Century FOX logo drummed up the opening credits. The rarely seen Lucasfilm logo shimmered on the screen and then, there it was - the opening crawl. As John William's legendary score played and the crowd burst into applause, we sat and watched - the final Star Wars was here.

STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH REVIEW:

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

It's REALLY hard to give opinions on a movie like this. On one hand, the characters, the vision, the grandeur, the theatricality, the action, the imagination - are all unparalleled. This is Star Wars we're talking about - the quintissential pop cultural mythologoy of our time. In spite of anythign else, the Star Wars movies have an undeniable appeal that will always be there and make them transcend the typical science fiction movie franchise. So even when a movie like this one has a few scenes containing awful dialogue, wooden acting, or badly-edited transitions, well, hey, it's still Star Wars, and yes, that does count for a hell of a lot. But this isn't like the first two prequels, which didn't have the pure epic storytelling or great moments of the original trilogy. This one did. This one had the intensity, the action, the characters, the thrills, the scenes that made you want to stand up and cheer, or look away, or yell out in geeky happiness. Yep, despite some clunky moments, make no mistake about it: Lucas redeemed himself. He went out with a bang, and he delivered the movie we all have been waiting years to see. Because in the final analysis, the truth must be told: THIS MOVIE F'N ROCKED.

First off, the number one reason, without a doubt, why ROTS kicked my ass and yours was because of Ian McDiarmid - aka Senator Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, aka The Emperor, aka hands down one of the all-time great movie villains. He delivered an absolutely CLASSIC performance here. If you can't appreciate his totally over the top, seethingly evil, gleefully sadistic role in this movie, then you my friend just don't get it. McDiarmid's scenes with Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu, his climactic fight with Yoda, his seduction of Anakin to the Dark Side - all pure awesomeness. McDiarmid's voice - his hissing, cackling inflection, just screams "I AM THE MOST EVIL BASTARD IN THE GALAXY, AND I WILL KILL YOU." and he completely owns this movie. I have no idea how old the guy is in real life, but thank Lucas that he was ready willing and able to resume his role as Palpatine for this second trilogy, because oh man does he make this one special and turn in a performance for the ages. And for a sheer moment of coolness, during his fight with Mace I just kept thinking "oh dude, is he gonna use the lightning power?" and oh my, when he did, well, that was good stuff.

Major credit must also be given to Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan. I think he had his best performance yet in the role and really began to channel the gravitas of his predecessor, Sir Alec Guinness. He's been the most solid and consistent actor in the trilogy, and he seems to really understand how to play a Star Wars character.

On the other hand, Hayden Christianson has been a mixed bag so far. Here though, he does really improve leaps and bounds. He looks suitably older, fiercer, and scarier. He does a lot to make his turn to the darkside convincing, from the wayward look in his eyes to the brooding weight he seems to carry with him at all times. When paired with McGregor or McDiarmid, Christianson turns in some great stuff. It's his scenes with Natalie Portman that are easily the weak link of the movie, and of the series. The first scene between Anakin and Padme was just godawful, to be honest. I had no idea what they were even talking about. Portman just is not beliveable as a fantasy character - she just seems too modern and too of our own time. Her scenes really bring down this movie a notch. And she's not helped by Lucas' tendency towards simplistic, often laughably amateurish dialogue. Sure, sometimes he gets it right, and his lines are best delivered by melodramatic actors with a flair for grand, fantastical drama, like McDiarmid, the always-great (and still going strong) Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, the comedy-relief in a gold tin can Anthony Daniels as c3P0, or the always brilliant Frank Oz as Yoda, who here is as lovable and show-stealing as ever - maybe more so. But Portman, and to a lesser extent Christianson, don't always understand the kind of delivery required to make Lucas' pulpy vision seem believable, and that's why we get a few dialogue-heavy scenes that are just total clunkers.

That's the bad. But oh, the good is daaaaaamn good. The final thirty or so minutes in particular is just mind-blowing. Obi Wan vs. Anakin, Yoda vs. Palpatine, all set to the incredible, clasic score of John Williams, who is putting forth his absolute best in this movie. One particular scene, with Padme and Anakin staring ominously at the forebodingly-lit cityscape before them, just had this awesome, Blade-Runner-esque music that was just awesomely creepy. The action in this movie felt like Star Wars. From the opening space battle to R2D2 laying the droid-powered smackdown to the encounters with the badass General Grievous to some long-awaited Wookie vs. Stormtrooper action to the final, epic duels, the movie rarely let up. And each scene had a weight not present in the previous prequel episodes.

Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader was done so, so right, just as I always imagined it. The one flaw was the laugh-inducing "NOOOO!" shouted by Vader as he awakens and hears his wife is dead, which just felt weird and overly cartoonish. But from Anakin's dismembered body to the POV shot of the mask being affixed to that first mechanical breath to the familiar voice of one James Earl Jones emanating from that classically cool-as-all-hell suit, this was what everyone wanted to see it, done better than we could have hoped.

If I were to grade this movie scene by scene, it would be something like: A, A, A+, D, A, F, A, A, A, A, D+, A, D, A+, A+, A+ ... you get the picture. Yes, there are sections where the dialogue reeks of sucktitude, where the shot just lingers way too long, where nothing in particular seems to happen. But the rest - the rest is classic Star Wars. Sometimes, well, BETTER than classic Star Wars, with some moments up there with the best in A New Hope, Empire, or Jedi - and considering how legendary those movies are, that's saying something. Like the original trilogy, this one ends up being much, much greater than the sum of it's sometimes weak parts. This really is the essential installment of the prequels - the big one, the important one. I can only imagine a young kid watching this and then having the joy of discovering that three more movies - a whole new saga with new heroes, villains, and a happy ending to boot awaits - right there for the viewing, reassuring in its mythological completion - that in the end, an ending told years and years ago, the good guys do win and yes, Darth Vader does repent and the Empire does meet its final fate. The puzzle is complete - and this is it - that final piece that makes it all come together. The force is strong in this one. My grade: A

Alright, back with more soon, including thoughts on the season's last OC. Oh yeah, I gotta comment on KELSEY GRAMMAR as BEAST, FRANK GORSHIM, and the new fall schedule that is going to toally mess everything up! Ahhhhhhhhh, I can't take it.

As 2 Skinny J's said: You can't deny the force.