Snak's Intermittent Movie Review - "Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith"

If you haven't seen the movie yet, go see it now before you spoil it for yourself. Then when you're done watching the 2.5 hour movie, pull out your Episode IV DVD and watch that. The two movies blend very well together. Just as I expected.

Many of you know I had predicted when Episode I came out 6 years ago that Episode III would become the biggest selling movie of all time. Well, it's on its way. I also said it would be the best of the new trilogy. Well, it is.

This is a very dark and disturbing movie. You go into it knowing the outcome, but how does it all transpire? Well, many months ago I wrote my prediction on this blog site. Let's see how close I was, shall we?

In Ep. III, I predict we will see the clones obviously winning the war --
strengthening Chancellor Palpatine's power.

• Well, we see the war in space, which is awesome, and Palpatine gives himself sweeping powers to control the senate away from separatists (which he created) and thus begins the Galactic Empire. He blames this on a Jedi plot to over the Republic.

Anakin and Queen Amidala, who were secretly married, will have a couple of children (who become Luke and Leia). But the Jedi find out (Obi Wan) and shame Anakin for his marriage.

• This was obvious. But while the Jedi don't blatantly shun him for his marriage, they don't promote him to Master either, although he could sit on the council.

Amidala is then killed by Darth Tyranus and this fuels Anakin's rage and conversion to the dark side when he kills Darth Tyranus in revenge and because the Jedi basically disown Anakin.

• Nope. Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku) doesn't kill Amidala (Padme), Ani does it on his own! But I did predict Anakin killing the Count! Didn't expect Palpatine to be right there ordering him to do it. That was cool and unexpected - especially seeing Dooku's shock of betrayal.

The Jedi then secretly take Leia to Bail Organa - Viceroy and First Chairman of Alderaan and Luke will head off to Tatooine to his uncle Owen by Obi Wan. Darth Sidious then takes on an angry Anakin as his new apprentice and Anakin becomes Darth Vader, who kills many Jedi. Yoda obviously flees to his swampy planet, while Obi Wan becomes a hermit on Tatooine.

• Yep. Nailed all of that but not quite in that order. Wasn't expecting Vader to kill the Jedi younglings though. That was very disturbing, but foreshadowed in II when he even killed little sandpeople. But I definitely wasn't expecting "Order 66". That reminded me of a holocaust clip. I was absolutely devistated and shocked. I don't know if I'll recover.

So not bad with the predictions, I'd say.

Okay, here's the nitty. I just didn't find Hayden Christensen's acting convincing enough, did you? He was surrounded by superior actors who carried him - especially Ewan McGregor - great job. Who knew Anakin would take so fondly of having a child. His love for Padme was strong, yes, but so was his love of being a Jedi and being powerful. When he found out Palpatine was the Sith Lord, why wasn't that more shocking to him? He just didn't seem angry enough to convert yet. Yes he violated many Jedi orders, but who knew he'd give up and join the dark side so quickly, even after killing Mace Windu. His dedication to the Republic over the Jedi wasn't as convincing as I'd hoped.

That said, I felt that the scene of Anakin's conversion to the dark side was weak. This was the guts of the movie and the entire raison d'etre of the Star Wars series. The only explanation that can carry this up to original standards was that Darth Sidious' power of the Force was soooo strong that he was able to subliminally convert Anakin. This is backed up by the fact the Jedi, even Yoda, didn't even know that Palpatine was a Sith Lord. While the Jedi Council had suspicions of Palpatine's maneuveres, how could they not figure it out? This should have been played up a bit more in the movie and the one I'm going to have to accept in my own mind.

All in all - it was what I expected, but not what I expected. The scene and set shots were amazing. I truly felt like I was in hell on the lava planet. The many lightsaber battles were excellent. The near end of the movie had the battles you'd always dreamed of: Yoda vs. Sidious, Kenobi vs. Anakin - just unbelievable. Yoda kicks ass.

But hearing swinging Wookies bellow out like Tarzan was too cheezy. Why oh why?

But the scene on the lava planet with Anakin burning and Obi Wan telling him the ways things are is an awesome scene and excellent dialogue - right up there with Luke telling Vader to shove it in Empire Strikes Back.

Then soaking in the scene we've all been waiting for - the physical construction of Darth Vader was an absolutely frightening moment and the haunting soundtrack from John Williams gave me the chills. But even more frightening was Vader's reaction to the Emperor telling him that he was the one who killed Padme. Ouch.

But instead of hearing Hayden's voice for Vader, you get the classic James Earl Jones. Instead of seeing Hayden's boyish cockiness, you get the jet black mask, the cape, and the heavy breathing. Too bad Hayden's acting wasn't as up to snuff as Anakins abilities with the Force, because I, for one, am glad it's now all hidden away.

The final scenes of Yoda and Kenobi going into exile were seemless, especially showing Luke with his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, the two setting suns. Lucas couldn't have done it any better.

Overall, an excellent movie. Not as good as the originals, but better than the new ones. I'm not even sure kids under 10 should see it, it's that disturbing.

But I'm definitely going to see it again, and again, and again.

Snaky gives Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith a big 4.17 mechanical fists out of 5.

May the Fours be with you, always!

Belinda, Oh Belinda

Belinda Stronach, MP for Newmarket Aurora, former Conservative leadership hopeful, former CEO of Magna, just crossed the floor to the Liberal party. Paul Martin offered her a cabinet post in Human Resources Development. What's odd is that Belinda was instrumental in uniting the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservatives. She donated money to make it happen.

So what does Snaky have to say about this? Whore. She's a blatant whore tied deeply into the eastern elite. Although I always knew she wasn't a true conservative by any means, how anyone can do this only shows she lacks real principle by supporting a corrupt party and government. This says several things about this country:

1) It's controlled by the Mafia. The Liberal sponsorship scandal revealed what many of us already knew -- that the Liberal party has had dealings with the Bonanno crime family. Yes, the Mafia itself. Its deeply rooted in Montreal and has been there since the days of Capone and the like. The Mafia is moving to protect its people during the Gomery Inquiry and is setting up patsies.

2) Belinda's dad and the Ontario elite have been moving and shaking to control the country. That's why she ran for leadership of the Conservatives in 2004. That's why she just crossed the floor. That's why she'll take a run at the leadership of the Liberals some time in the distant future, whenever Paul Martin is done (hopefully soon). Belinda's comments that Conservatives don't understand the size of this country is a slap in the face and an insult to western Canadians. She's the one who doesn't understand that Canada has 4 western provinces who are sick and tired of people like her.

3) The western "provinces" will continue to remain as colonies. We're underrepresented in the House of Commons and the Senate.

4) Proof why we need to keep the Queen as Head of State.

5) Western seperatism just got some more legs.

And I want to remind you that just last week, Belinda voted with the Conservative caucus on a non-confidence vote. That's right, she voted to defeat the Liberals. Then she joins them because Paul Martin is desperate.

"There are no grand principles at play here. Just ambition." - Stephen Harper.

Budget Vote on Thursday May 19, 2005:

So where are we at for Thursday's budget/confidence vote in the House of Commons?

(Liberals + Stronach) + (NDP - Broadbent) + Parrish (independent): 151 seats
(Conservatives - Stinson) + Bloc Quebecois + Kilgour (independent): 151 seats

Chuck Cadman (independent MP from Surrey, BC) is still undecided but will be there for the vote. So it comes down to him. He was a Reform MP from 1997, then Canadian Alliance in 2000. He ran for the nomination in his riding for the Conservatives but lost because it was stacked. So he ran as an independent and still beat out the Conservative candidate.

Snak's Intermittent Movie Review - "The Interpreter"

Well we got Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman -- two hot actors that can steam up any movie. Sorry, but not this one.

Nicole plays Silvia Broome, a United Nation's interpreter who hails from Muboto, Africa. The movie starts with a security scare at the U.N. in New York, so everyone is evacuated. Silvia then goes back later to get her African flutes that she left behind. Going into the interpreter booth, she overhears a conversation on the U.N. floor about a potential plot to assassinate the Muboto president. But we don't actually hear what they said. We have to take her word for it, or do we? But the next day, she reports it to the U.N.

Sean Penn plays Tobin, a U.N. secret service agent who is assigned to Silvia in the investigation.

Well, I don't want to get into the details of the plot, but basically, Tobin doesn't know whether to believe her or not.

This movie could have been really good, so it was a bit disappointing. There are plot twists, but a keen mind can figure them out. I'm really tired of movies that use blatant foreshadowing. I won't give those bits away, I trust you'll notice them early on. There's so much more that could have been done with these two excellent actors. Either the dialogue doesn't utilize their talents or they just don't put enough effort into it. I'll go with the lousy dialogue. The steaminess just doesn't go anywhere.

There are times where the plot tension is really hot, but it tends to drag, then the cinematography just doesn't make the climax uberexciting.

Political plots are some of the most confusing ones, especially when an individual schemes to play both sides (see Star Wars - Attack of the Clones). This movie makes it difficult to sort everyone out and a better dialogue emphasis would have certainly helped.

Snak gives "The Interpreter" 2.76 fists out of 5.

Next review ... "Kingdom of Heaven". Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson star in this crusader blockbuster about the Christian Knights Hospitallier and Templars who are at war with the Saracens under Saladin. Ridley Scott directs (thankfully). My prediction ... it's gonna kick ass, but not as much as Braveheart.