so uncivilized

[orangerful]

So I have a whopping 4 pages left in the RotS novelization. The plan is to finish the book on my lunch break today so I can be prepared for the movie tonight.



I really did enjoy this book and I'm a bit sad more of the characterization couldn't have been slipped into the movie, especially in Anakin's fall to the dark side. Don't get me wrong, nothing he does is ever really justified, but I felt that his giving up in the book was better explained than how it ended up being portrayed on film ("Oh, I killed Mace, guess I'll be evil now"). But then again, how do you show these thought processes on film. And his mind is where the evil really is, it's his giving in to his anger and hate that helps him overwhelm his fear. The fear is still there.

It's odd that Lucas would assume that everyone had seen the Clone Wars cartoons, and would know why Grievous was talking, but doesn't bother to mention holocrons and how the Jedi library has sections only accesible to Masters. In the book, Anakin's real reason for wanting to be a Master so badly is to access the holocrons in hopes of finding information on dreams/prophecies that could help him save Padme. (Of course, we know that no Jedi ever achieved eternal "life" in the way Anakin is thinking). In fact, he's ready to leave the Jedi Order for her, something else I wish had been played up a bit more in the film. He only wants to obtain mastery so he can find a "cure" for Padme's death and then they can move away from all of this to raise a family. Even in the end, when he's Darth Vader, his plan is to destroy the emperor and have Padme join him, and they can rule the galaxy (say one thing for Vader, he's family oriented).

I have to say, if you enjoyed the movie even a little bit, the book is worth the read. It's very much a companion the film, as the best scenes in the movie tend to take place off to the sides in the book. Also, the deleted scenes, "The Birth of the Rebellion", (which hopefully will re-appear on the DVD) help give Bail Organa and Padme a bit more character...(though Padme's whole "Oh my love" lines get a tad bit old).

Those are just my thoughts right now, I'll probably have more to talk about later after watching the movie again



I'm at the Provinces library right now. It's tres slow, as you can see by the size of the entry above. I never did find my $45 that I lost on Thursday. No clue what I did with it. Maybe it just fell outta my purse or something. Either way, I have to remember to get cash today so I can pay Perri back for the movie tickets, plus I think I might get sushi for dinner. Yum.

jimithingy wasn't feeling so hot yesterday. He sounds like he might have whatever is going around right now. Perhaps what I that was over-tiredness last week was actually a cold...which I passed on to him...maybe. I admit nothing. I don't get sick.

We watched "Closer" last night. Clive Owen is a very odd looking man in color, and should be kept in black and white films more often (Sin City). I knew it was written by a playwright, but I didn't actually know it was a play. It felt like a play. Lots of quick chatter. I could almost hear the footfalls from them pacing the theater stage. Probably could be done in one set.

It was pretty explicit and vulgar at times, and I'm not super comfortable with that, but it had it's moments. It was nice to see Natalie do some real acting, as opposed to being "preggers Padme" hehe. Jude Law is hot but he was a real bastard in that movie so his hotness morphed into smuggness and I only wished bad things on his character. Julia Roberts did well. I think it was an interesting movie, but I doubt I'll ever watch it again.

Gotta pick something gooood from Netflix now. We have "Curb Your Enthusiasm Vol 1" coming next, and I still haven't watched "Spanish Prisoner". Need one more. B-fact told me to rent "Party Girl" as it's about a librarian. Hm...

okay, back to my thumb twiddling...

Comments

[vertigozooropa.livejournal.com]

"Party Girl is about a librarian." *heh*

UHF is also about a librarian.

"Don't you know the Dewey Decimal System?!"

They made a Party Girl TV show, with Christine Taylor. It wasn't bad.

And yes, she gets a job in a library.

Let's go to Spatula City!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

oh man, I love "Conan the Librarian", my brother and I can quote the entire UHF film. I remember seeing it in the theater...and then spending the summer waiting for MTV to run the music video so I could hold my boombox up to the speaker and hit record (which would have worked had I not started to sing along while it was recording).

Party Girl, the movie, has Parker Posey in it, who fanscinates me and scares me at the same time. I know absolutely nothing about it, someone just mentioned it to me the other day, is it any good?

QUI GON JIN?

[marmistheman.livejournal.com]

i agree about the book
i wish there was a way to get more of the ideas from the book into the movie
especially the end
when talking about qui gon and stuff
that seemed kinda cheesy in my opinion

Re: QUI GON JIN?

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

oh gosh yes, the qui-gon thing should have been brought up in Ep II or III. I heard a rumor that Neeson ws supposed to do work on EpII and then he was injured in an accident at the time of shooting and couldn't make it. Dunno what was up with EpIII. Even in the book it felt very last minute. And when the heck did Qui-Gon have time to learn this? It didn't seem like he let himself go freely with the force when Darth Maul shoved a lightsaber through his chest?

Maybe Lucas will add stuff to the DVD release like he did with AotC.

Re: QUI GON JIN?

[marmistheman.livejournal.com]

they probably could have done it without it being so cheesy
how obiwan was all "qui gon?"
or whatever he said
and then the music and weird cut out to the next scene
it seemed very cheesy to me
that is like the only word i can think of
hehe
i guess qui gon had time to learn after he died?
if that makes sense
cuz it really doesnt make sense
he should have mentioned it while alive in episode I
how he was unafraid to die in life cuz he'd always live in the force?
i dont know
something like that, implying he knew more than he was letting on
maybe he did
now i gotta rewatch episode I
hehe

Re: QUI GON JIN?

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

mmmmm cheesy....

yeah, i agree, Lucas needed to plan that part out more, it makes no sense for qui-gon to have learned this trick after he died otherwise, why didn't all of the Jedi end up as glowing blue ghosts at the end of RotJ (now that would have been a party haha).

Re: Let's go to Spatula City!

[vertigozooropa.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it.

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

I agree. I think the book's depiction of Anakin's mindset and true goals to become a master would've made the film a little more digestible. I loved how on Mustafar, Anakin still gave Obi-Wan a chance to leave, and I feel he did it out of love. *sighs* But, as you already know, it was Obi-Wan's characterization that won me over. His breakdown at the Temple tore me to pieces. I always knew that he had formed a level of attachment to those he cherished (remember his rage after Qui-Gon had been struck down?) To me, Obi-Wan is love... he just had difficulty expressing it since the ancient ways of the Jedi forbade it, essentially. ;_; 'I loved you, but I could not save you.' Gah!

(say one thing for Vader, he's family oriented).

*giggles* I hadn't really thought about it that way, but you're right. (Don't forget the 'We can rule the galaxy as father and son,' bit.) ;D I think it would've been a lot easier for viewers if they had shown why he wanted to become a master. To me, in the film, it kinda seemed like he just wanted the power of the ranking.

Sorry about your cash! That totally sucks!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I always felt that since Obi-Wan was Qui-Gon's padawan, he wasn't as straight laced as he pretended to be ("Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you, need that you do not." - Yoda). But the order was his family, and how can you not love your family? The only difference was that Obi-Wan knew how to let go. Yoda too, you can see the pain on his face when he discovers the bodies of his friends, and also when Obi-Wan watches the holo of Anakin. As Lucas has said in countless interviews, Anakin's downfall isn't his love or emotions, it's his inability to let go, his constant need to be in control of everything.

the passage where Vader sorta wills himself back into Anakin when Padme arrives on Mustafar was fantastic in showing that Anakin had really lost himself. In the film, it's hard to tell that he's still Vader, in the sense that the joy of seeing Padme isn't even real anymore.

[marmkid.livejournal.com]

i always thought that if qui gon figured out how to live forever and whatnot, why didnt he ever show up in the original trilogy? i hear lucas might add him in to the end of return of the jedi, like he did with hayden christenson. that would be really lame if he did. you really need to see him as a ghost to get it at the end of sith. i dont get why yoda couldnt have figured this out on his own when he realizes how messed up the jedi had become. if youre not going to explain it at all, why have it be qui gon figuring it out, why not have it be yoda or obi?

one good part from the book was obi won in the temple about to look at the tape of anakin, when he knew it was him, yoda said not to look. but obi says something like "ive earned this". that was bad ass and should have been in the movie. at least i dont think it was in the movie
i need to see it again i think

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

yeah that was a good line, would have been perfect in the film. Ah well.

Qui-Gon should not show up at the end of RotJ because he has no connection to Luke. If Lucas wants to pop him into any episode, is should be in AotC or RotS.

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I always knew after seeing him attack Darth Maul with so much vigor, that he had allowed himself to form attachments. But, I guess I figured that was really only to Qui-Gon... in fact, I've always kinda wondered about those two... *laughs* But seriously, I knew he was capable of loving Anakin, but I just didn't see it that much in AotC. I guess I figured that he had finally succumbed to the Jedi Code, and that Qui-Gon was an isolated incident.

Oh gods... reading how Obi-Wan 'let's go' of Anakin and of his promise to Qui-Gon... it was too much! I mean, I realize that he had to do it in order to fully feel the Force, but I also figured that he did it because he knew he couldn't fight Anakin otherwise. I felt that it must've killed a little piece inside of him to not only let go of his attachment to Anakin, but to, also, his former Master. *sighs* Poor 'broken' Obi-Wan...

I know what you're talking about. That part was a bit unsettling. But after reading the ending where he realized that it was all really him... that he couldn't blame Vader, I've thought that he really felt that love for Padme and Obi-Wan, but allowed it to be conditional because of his Vader side. I think Anakin pushed his true love for others way deep down inside himself, and allowed what remained to come forth in a twisted version of what it was through Vader's being consumed by the Dark Side. Does that make any sense? :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

yes, that makes perfect sense.

Speaking of Darth Maul - did you notice that Anakin paces EXACTLY like him when he's getting ready to fight Obi-Wan on Mustafar? It's one of my favorite Maul moments, and to have Anakin re-inact it just gives me chills. The dark side really turned him into an animal, only viewing other people as prey. *shivers* so creepy.

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

You know, now that you've mentioned it, I did notice Anakin's predatory pacing. I remember my sister pointing out the juxtaposition of Darth Maul's 'cat-like' pacing next to Qui-Gon's meditative stance. Perhaps it's an inherent trait of the Sith, but then again... I didn't see Dooku do that... *ponders* But yeah, it's a powerful and haunting image, watching Anakin looking so predatory, and especially in reaction to Obi-Wan. :(

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Dooku always struck me as a different kind of Sith...with Maul and Vader, Sidious tapped into their deepest fears and their anger to get them to join his side. They were fueled by that fear/anger. With Dooku, it was his superiority complex that Sidious used. He was far more centered. While Anakin really lost himself in the evil, Dooku remained Dooku, I think it was just his lust for power and control. Anakin wanted power and control, but he was ruled by his fears.

does that make sense?

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

That's true about Dooku. He was more about self than the rest of them. (I actually almost felt bad for him when he realized he had been 'played'. He really thought he was going to spend the rest of his days enjoying the comforts his wealth allowed him. I loved that they touched on him essentially being a racist. I can see that. :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it was due to his noble birth, the whole Duke thing. He definately had superiority issues. When he gets duped in the book, it suddenly puts him in his place, or at least gives him some perspective...though he really doesn't live long enought to learn anything.

I remember reading...it must have been in the "HEir to the Empire" series, that the Emperor was pretty much racist against all alien species (you'll notice there are no aliens running the empire).

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

I just re-read what I had previously posted, and it looks like I support racism! o.O I just meant that I could easily see it as a character flaw because of Dooku's superiority complex.

Yeah, I remember hearing something about the Emperor being racist. It's funny that it doesn't come up in discussions more often. I mean, sure, we all know he's corrupt, and totally evil, but I haven't really seen anyone break down just why he's so evil. But then again, it's not like I really venture outside of my f-list. :)