by George Lucas
I made the mistake of beginning to read the novelization for this movie before watching it again, so about midway through the book, I stopped to put in the DVD. However, I admit that what I’d read of the book has colored my current opinion of the movie.
It was probably only the third, maybe fourth time I had watched it, the first time being at the theater; and my friends had to drag me to go. I tried so hard to resist seeing the first of the prequel trilogy, but I’m glad I went. When Darth Maul made his first appearance, we all thought he rocked. And when he lit the second blade of his lightsaber, we simultaneously leaned back in our seats and breathed, “Whoa!” Like many Star Wars fans, we were disappointed that there wasn’t more Maul.
That opinion still holds for me. As for my first impressions, a few have changed. Jar Jar is tolerable as the trickster figure, but what inspired George Lucas to create the Gungan species, or at least their way of speaking, is still beyond me. Though a cute little boy, Jake Lloyd’s acting isn’t all that impressive. “Yipee”? And for someone who grew up on Tatooine, you’d think his Huttese accent would be a little better. I would cut him some slack, but there are plenty of child actors out there who are better. Don’t ask me to name any, though. Heh. (Although Natalie Portman really impressed me in The Professional, the first movie in which I saw her — the first movie in which she starred.) Ewan McGregor’s and Liam Neeson’s performances are definitely not less than you’d expect.
The plot itself is fine, except for the fact that Anakin Skywalker was conceived without a father. When I first saw the movie, I thought, “Oh, what, so he’s like some kind of Jesus, or something?” I still think that. For the ridiculous characters and plot lines Lucas created, at least there are cool ones to make up for it. The politics revolving around Coruscant and Senator Palpatine’s blooming climb to power is well done. Mace Windu rocks the house. And of course the special effects are awesome. It’s a Star Wars film — how could they not be? Overall though, it’s just OK.
Wondering what’s up with all of the above-mentioned reviews on my blog? Well, I’m finally making progress on cataloguing my Star Wars Expanded Universe books and comics! Don’t forget DVDs, video games, and LEGOs. You can view the catalogue on my Listal site and see the reviews there, too. Oh, and on the iRead book application in Crackbook.
OK, so I’m only up to TPM, but that’s because I’m also reading everything as I go! ECT has made me forget a lot of what’s happened in the EU, so I figured I’d give myself an update. I’m pretty good with the OT, though. Uh, yeah.
See more progress on: catalogue my Star Wars Expanded Universe books and comics
(click to enlarge; click here to see all the pics)
Well, while backing up my computer, which took for-fucking-ever, I finally finished building my LEGO A-Wing (in between reading HP2). Now it’s stored in a Ziploc baggie ’til we can find a decent glass display case for my Star Wars LEGO collection.
We learned the hard way at our old apartment that keeping them on bookshelves and stuff does not keep them safe from cats or even worse (I think), dust!
I think I’ll start a SW LEGO album on my Flickr, just don’t know when yet. This is the only picture so far that uploaded from Brian’s phone since we have such God-awful reception at home. 
by LucasArts
Possible spoiler.
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According to font of wisdom that’s the Prima KotOR II Guide, the third time you play through the game, you get extra dialogue with Atton (if you’re character’s female) or the Handmaiden (if you’re character’s male). I finished playing DS and have started playing LS again a few days ago, thinking it’s my third go.
Then I realized that the first time I ever played was on the 360, so that game doesn’t count because now I’m playing on the regular Xbox, which means I have to play another game after my current one yet! How annoying.
by David Hodgson
I’ve been consuming this for quite awhile, actually. How else am I supposed to finish that danged KotOR II without missing one single quest? 
by LucasArts
I had to start over because the last time I played, I couldn’t remember how far I had gotten and what I’d accomplished. But now, the game sometimes freezes when I try saving it, even in a new slot. Or it’ll freeze when it’s automatically loading a new section or whatever. The sound is also very staticky.
So last night, I started over yet again, but on the regular Xbox, not the 360. Haven’t had any trouble so far, but we’ll see. It would really piss me off if there’s something wrong with the 360 because I finally got the second version of Star Wars LEGO, which I obviously won’t be able to play if there’s something wrong with the stupid machine.
Anyone else have this problem, or know where I could get my 360 fixed? Or maybe it would cost less to just buy a new one than have it repaired? I can’t believe our regular Xbox has outlasted the 360!
by Karen Traviss
Woohoo! The 5th out of 9 volumes of the Legacy of the Force series just came out, and I never would have known if I hadn’t gone to Borders today to get Photoshop for Dummies.
How cool is that? The game takes place between ROTS and ANH.
Check out Yahoo’s video interview with the devs here. Couldn’t figure out how to download it, or if that’s even possible on Yahoo.
And the official site is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Possible spoilers:
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There are Jedi in the game, so obviously, they weren’t all wiped out during
ROTS. Wonder if this means we’ll get to see Mace Windu? I mean, we don’t know for sure that he died, do we?
I hope so!!!!! I’d hate to have to kill him, though.
by Drew Karpyshyn
Thanks to wonderful ECT, I barely remember what this book is about, so I’ve decided to re-read it.
I’m not going to review every single Jedi Apprentice book, but I do recommend this series to anyone who’s a fan of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s. I’m a sucker for backstories, so of course I was sucked in.
The series begins when Obi-Wan’s 13, the age at which most young Jedi have already been chosen to be a Padawan. Although the Jedi Apprentice series is for young readers (ages 9 - 12), Jude Watson well conveys young Obi-Wan’s insecurities: about whether or not he’ll become an apprentice; if Qui-Gon Jinn, who we all know chooses him, approves of him; if he’s doing well enough — emotions most teenagers feel, including teenage crushes(!), which is something all adults can relate to and makes this series worth reading.
This last volume ends with a 17-year-old Obi-Wan about to graduate from “Jedi high school” and to embark on his journey, still with Qui-Gon, to “Jedi college,” where he’ll go through his trials and if successful, become a Jedi Knight.
