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Five-link Friday
Thanks for all the "Star Wars" commentary. We're taking a break from that for another five-link Friday.
• Want to live in Preston, Idaho? The house that served as the house of Napoleon Dynamite's pal Pedro in the movie is For $105,000, the duplex can be yours. (Via .)
• McSweeney's takes the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" routine and gives it . " 'The Day After Tomorrow' is due the day after tomorrow?"
• The to the sugary little demons' marketing potential. They now sell Peeps pens, T-shirts, mousepads and more, plus you can buy a Peep-filled Easter basket — complete with stuffed giant Peep — for those really special friends. They're Peep-tastic. Personally, I kind of like the design-your-own Peep kit.
• I admit, I got a huge kick out of this "Doonesbury" strip skewering
• This last link is for "Mystery Science Theater" fans only: Remember "Pumaman," the MST3K-skewered movie where a generic doofus gets thrown out a window by a mysterious Aztec and becomes a superhero? Oh, there's more to it than that, but ... not really. (As the 'Bots sang so memorably: "Pu...ma man...he flies like a mo-ron!") Anyway, someone has celebrated the bad flick by to go with it. Now that's a home craft I can get behind.
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More on "Star Wars"
The “Star Wars” feedback just keeps coming.
OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING: If you don’t like spoilers, don’t read on. We can’t guarantee we have any inside info, but some fans are indeed speculating on plot points that may or may not happen.
IT’S ABOUT EXPLOSIONS
”What a bunch of silly crap decrying the lack of "quality" in the recent 2 Star Wars films. NEWSFLASH: The original 3 weren't artistic masterpieces. It's Star Wars for Crissakes...it's about explosions and great special effects and soap-opera-like melodrama. Relax and enjoy it. It's not like you'll have anything better to do.” —Emory
WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?“Where are the children? On both trailers there is no evidence that Amidala is pregnant. Will we see that momentous event in the movie? Obviously since Jimmy Smits is in the second trailer, the Organa family is going to have some presence. Will there be a birthing event? And what will Luke and Leia's mitochlorian counts be?” —Stathy
FROM EWAN TO ALEC“It almost seems like the blah from the first 2 episodes were necessary in order to have a super-climatic end to the new Trilogy. I can't wait to see Anakin turning to the dark side, and I feel that Ewen McGregor's performance in this movie will line right up with the sorrowful character that Sir Alec Guinness portrayed in A New Hope. Sign me up for this movie, especially Chewbacca and a light-saber wielding Emperor. Wow, I can't wait.” —Mike
ANAKIN, REHEARSE THIS TIME
“Well, my hat is tipped to Mr. Lucas for his release of the new SW trailer. Very good work at splicing many of the key plot factors for Ep III, and leaving us all wanting more. However, I am still apprehensive about the upcoming movie. If past performance is any indicator of future performance, then woe to all you who wait in line for the next two months for a ticket. Jar-Jar? 'Nuff said. Anakin's acting (did he even rehearse before filming?). A teen tortured between his love of woman and love of power could have been played better by one of the Jedi-lings! Even the dialogue from Mace Windu has come across flat when speaking with either Obi-Wan or Yoda.” —Gerald
GROWN-UP FANS ARE TOO NEGATIVE“For the most part, the negative vibe that stems from the public in regards to the new SW films is due to the fact that these fans are in their early to mid thirties. They saw the originals in the theater, and they can't bear seeing something else up on the screen that breaks from what they worshiped as kids. They need to take a deep breath and look across the [aisle] at the new generation of little kids that love these movies the way our "adult" fans did 30 years ago, and relax. This isn't Shakespeare, it's just good fun.” —Chris
ALL IN THE DETAILS“I just hope that George gets more in tune with some details like how Anakin ages, but not Padame. Also, in the original Star Wars, the actor who played Vader was 6'6" & Hayden C. is only 6'2", so will we see a shorter Vader?” —Frank
NO BOBA?”I for one think it looks just like the rest only more violent and less nonsense. I'm upset to hear that Boba Fett will not be in Episode 3 and that with the release of Return of the Jedi on DVD, that Naboo is not destroyed by the Death Star. I am walking hoping for the worst, that way I can be blown away when I leave. Hope that this can bring redemption for Star Wars fans to believe in the force again.” —Ross
NOT LUKE’S STORY“This is the story that everyone has been waiting for, and it simply looks awesome. After all, these prequels have been Anakin’s story, and not Luke’s story. … This is a very dark story-line, and the premise is Anakin’s impatience for glory, and his perception of betrayal that leads to war, and the ultimate death to the Jedi, turning him into Darth Vader. It ties the knit to Star Wars-Episode IV-A New Hope, and establishes the ground-work for a truly tragic storyline of how a person with great ability can be lured into negative actions by ignorance and rage.” —Jason
BY GEORGE
“George Lucas can't write and can't bring himself to give up even a little control over the screenplays of his SW films -- I'll wait for cable, if I even bother to see it then.” —Anonymous
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"Star Wars" hopes
Here's what we want, George: No Ewoks. Chewbacca fighting Jar-Jar to the death. And most of all, a clear and well-written path for Anakin Skywalker to transform into The Big Guy himself, Darth Vader.
Seems that the "Star Wars" trailer that aired last week got a lot of Jedis excited about the next and final film, coming to theaters in May. (Haven't yet seen it? It's online at .)
Here are just a few of your thoughts (possible spoilers), and may the Force — aw, you know.
CONGRATS, GEORGE“I will admit that watching the preview for Episode III singlehandedly cancelled out all my previous negative attitudes for Star Wars and brought back, 100 full fledged percent, the giddiness of all my childhood memories. Especially the scuba-tank inspired breathing of Darth Vader at the end. Star Wars was an integral part of my childhood (mostly stemming from an obsessed older brother) and I am happy to see that the ‘link’ between the giddy slappiness of the 70’s (“what a lovely smell you’ve discovered, princess!”) and the CGI-exploited seriousness of the millennium will finally be forged. Congratulations, George Lucas, you will be richer than rich.” —Jennifer
GO, CHEWIE“The best part of the trailer was the couple seconds devoted to Chewbacca, the best character of the Star Wars series. I wasn’t overly interested in the third episode, but I might actually pay to see it now, all because of the awesomeness that is Chewbacca. I hope Chewbacca kills Jar Jar. That would be the best moment in Star Wars history. The rest of the trailer was boring and looked the same as the other movies.” —Heather
GIVING AWAY THE PLOT“I have never seen a Star Wars trailer like the current one. (I have seen it several times.) They are actually giving away the plot of the movie. With good reason. It gives the impression that the movie might actually be a good Star Wars movie for a change — maybe even a really good one. I know. Call me a dreamer. Or say that hope springs eternal to the pathetic Stars Wars junkie.” —Ray
I’LL RENT IT
“I’m waiting for the rental. I’m not getting burned by another cartoonish Star Wars movie written where quality is sacrificed to appeal to the lowest common denominator movie watcher” —Ron
ANAKIN THE ACTOR“The only thing that worries me is that Anakin Skywalker says all of 4 or 5 words total .... I hope for this movie’s sake that he actually has improved on his acting ability.” —Ben
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT“It looks like we’ll be introduced to Chewbacca in this movie, and I’m looking forward to that. Yoda looks a lot younger, for some reason. I’m interested to see what happens to Anakin Skywalker that transforms him into Darth Vader and makes him wear a portable respirator.” —Kate
ANAKIN THE ANTI-HERO“I’m still shuddering over the clip of Obi-Wan shouting at Anakin “You were the chosen one!” I, for one, loved the last 2 episodes and I can’t wait for this one to be released. I am so excited that it looks tragic rather than heroic in depicting the final chapter of Anakin. I think if people stopped expecting the prequels to be like the story of Luke Skywalker and accepted them as the stories of Anakin, an anti-hero we’re not necessarily SUPPOSED to like (unlike Luke) then they’ll see how brilliant George Lucas’ storytelling is. Hopefully this third episode will bring that understanding to the forefront for the audience.” —Matt
YO-YO-YO
“Feel ‘The Force” I can, movie watch I will! Yoda eyebrows raise will!” —David
STAR WARS IS SO OVER“So now we’re reviewing movie trailers. I was aghast when local news channel began promoting... er, reporting... when the Star Wars trailer was going to air. Is that pathetic or what? Let’s face it, Star Wars is a phenomenon whose luster has come and gone. Yeah, there are a few geeks out there who actually paid for a movie ticket just so they could glimpse a trailer, but those days are ancient history—or at least those geeks actually saw George Lucas’ most recent efforts and sanely concluded that NO edition of the endless epic was worth all the fuss. This topic belongs next to Paris Hilton: nobody cares. Except the topic-starved media.” —Ben
TWO MONTHS?
”So, now the main trailer for “Revenge of the Sith” has appeared. And here are my first impressions:
- I’ve still got to wait two months for this movie??
- Well each trailer has gotten better, and each movie has been better, so could “Sith” be near the top?
- 2 months??
- George really does do dark movies better, I think!
- Are tickets on sale yet?
- Kick ass space battles! Kick ass light sabre duels!
- More Yoda fighting!!!
- Hmm, can I stock up enough supplies to go get in line?
- It looks like it’s going to be so cool to see Vader again! (Though I’m sure it will only be for the last couple of minutes...)
- Okay... maybe this could be the best Star Wars ever—and shouldn’t that be appropriate for the LAST Star Wars ever??
- TWO #$%#% MONTHS!!!!!!!
... click to play trailer again.......” —Robert