neurological dryer lint

this was originally a comment in response to bakerq's and simon's in the post below - but it got too long so i went here. concerning the idea that the episode III scenes i was disappointed by weren't as bad as i made them sound - let me clarify.

logically, in my head, it makes sense, yes. ever since episode 2 he's been struggling to resist the dark side. he bought into the emperor's lie and joined the dark side simply to save his wife. yada yada yada. i know the frickin story. i understand the concept. i didn't SEE it in the movie. either due to bad acting by hayden or bad writing by lucas - i know what technically happened in that scene, but it didn't leave a mark. the depth that should have been there simply wasn't on the screen. it was nowhere near as well made as a scene THAT pivotal should have been. i should have been cheering or crying or emotionally overwhelmed by that scene - but i was too busy laughing at the dialogue and feeling sorry for the actors that had to read it.

same goes for the last scene. i got the concept, i just expected something a little more complex and subtle than 'anakin gets overconfident and loses control of his temper and makes a bad move'. come on. that's something i expect from a first year student film or an episode of power rangers. this is the finale of the frickin star wars saga.

this film had lots of cool crap but no finesse, no careful crafting.. it was the film equivalent of using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel to do brain surgery.

until december 2003 i would have agreed with the idea about expectations - that you can't let what you expect ruin what you end up seeing - you should appreciate what it is for what it is.

but i've seen peter jackson's return of the king - a film that shouldn't have been able to live up to the hype in my head. the film version of what is probably my favorite fiction book - how could it be as good as i want it to be. and it was better. it hugely exceeded my expectations, even though my hype about it was monumental.

do i expect an oscar from a lucas flick? obviously not. but legendary, anticipated films CAN live up to their hype - if they're done well enough. episode III deserved a real writer/director, not lucas. lucas is a great idea machine, but he's lost his hands-on filmmaking touch - if he ever had it. maybe someone worthwhile will do a remake in 30 years.

it's doubtful tried and true star wars geeks will agree with this, at least for a few weeks, until the 'star wars ecstasy', as quentin put it, wears off. but you know? this was the first time i didn't have star wars ecstasy. that's what disappointed me. even after the god-awful phantom menace i was hyped for a few days. who knows. maybe i shouldn't have gone in expecting a real movie and just sat back and enjoyed the lightsaber fights.

so pspvideo9 is the greatest app ever. i've ripped several DVD's tonight and i'm converting them straight from VOB to MP4 to watch on the PSP (far too many 3 letter acronyms, sorry). i finally got a flawless conversion working. plenty of lovin' for the plane ride to DC.