The Clone Wars: Grievous Intrigue

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Grievous Intrigue"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 2, Episode 9
Original Air Date: January 1, 2010

via Wookieepedia

Jedi Master Eeth Koth is taken hostage by General Grievous.  Obi-Wan, Anakin and Adi Gallia set off to rescue him, though it quickly becomes apparent the whole kidnapping was just a ploy to ensnare Kenobi.  Basically, the story is straight forward Jedi vs. Sith with a reminder of the personal animosity between Grievous and Obi-Wan.

There is, however, an interesting wrinkle worthy of note.  While Grievous is in contact with the Jedi via holo-transmission, he lords over a seemingly inert Koth, exhausted by the torture his captor has exacted upon him.  However, Koth manages to communicate his coordinates through hand gestures.  This is the first and, as far as I can tell, only appearance of a Jedi sign language within a canon story.

As noted last week, The Force Awakens has definitely raised the bar for future Star Wars stories.   The new movie has also brought me to reevaluate the place of The Clone Wars within the franchise.  At its best, the series provides much of the personal intimacy that was lacking in the prequels.   It rests on the timeline between movie episodes so it does nothing to alter the broader narrative.  Instead, it provides richer context for a time in the galaxy's history when the Jedi were still powerful, if threatened.  Koth's hand signals, for instance, are a subtle but meaningful enhancement of Jedi culture.

However, Star Wars often struggles to break away from its basic story structures.  I have discussed the tendency toward formula with The Clone Wars but even the new movie adheres a bit too close to A New Hope for my comfort.  How many times are our friends going to have to destroy a Death Star?  The new characters offer exciting possibilities going forward.  If Episode VIII comes off as an Empire Strikes Back rehash, I will be miffed.

That said, let's be clear: I can't wait to find out!

*****

via Wookieepedia

Eeth Koth is an Iridonian Zabrak from the planet Nar Shaddaa.  He was first introduced in The Phantom Menace, in which he was played by Hassani Shapi.  In The Clone Wars, he was voiced by Chris Edgerly.

via Disney Wiki

Edgerly was born August 6, 1969 in Silver Spring, Maryland.  He and his family moved to Savannah, Georgia when he was two years old.  He graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism.  Beyond Star Wars, his television voice credits include Hot in Cleveland, The Simpsons and Wolverine and the X-Men.  His video game work has been more extensive, including several Lord of the Rings titles in which he is the voice of Aragorn.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "The Deserter."

 

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: January 2016 Blog List

 

Greetings to all!  I hope you'll join us for the next installment of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, an online gathering of bloggers who love books.  The next meeting is set for Friday, January 29th.  If you're interested, please sign on to the link list at the end of this post.

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.  Please join us:

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: December 2015

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Title: I Am a Cat
Author: Soseki Natsume

via Goodreads

Merry Christmas!

I Am a Cat, originally syndicated, was the breakthrough publication for Soseki, one of modern Japan's most influential writers.  As the title implies, the story is told from the perspective of an unnamed house cat.  For most of the narrative, the cat is eavesdropping on the conversations of his master, Mr. Sneaze, a rather fussy English teacher.

Japan was in a state of rapid transition in the early 20th century, rather too rapid for many people's tastes.  In 1905, Japan shocked the world by besting the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War, unexpectedly emerging as a global power.  While the victory was a source of great pride, many traditionalists were none too happy about the increasing Western influence over Japan.  The discussions among Sneaze and his quirky friends revolve around these concerns.  And of course, there is that ever-present theme of nearly all Japanese literature: the inherent loneliness of modern life.

As my wife recently observed, I'm not a huge fan of wordy books.  People just sitting around talking isn't what I seek in an absorbing read.  I Am a Cat can be slow-going along those lines but it definitely has its moments of both profundity and humor.  Soseki's description of the board game Go, for instance, is wonderful.

The best passages are the ones about the cat himself, though those are few and far between.  Cats are a popular subject in Japanese art, often appearing in woodblock prints, the better ones reflecting a genuine love and appreciation for the animal.  We own two cats and are thus well acquainted with their peculiarities.  One paragraph provides a delightful recounting of the narrator cat chasing his own tail, referring to it as "Great Tail Gracious Diety."  If there had been more about the cat and less about the humans, I'd have enjoyed the book more.  Even so, it's a worthwhile read.

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post January's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is January 29th.

The Clone Wars: Brain Invaders

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Brain Invaders"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 2, Episode 8
Original Air Date: December 4, 2009

via Wookieepedia

The five-part Geonosis story arc concludes with "Brain Invaders."  The zombies from last week were caused by brain worms that enter the body through the host's nose.  [Ewwww!!!!]  After the military victory on Geonosis, the Padawans Ahsoka and Barriss are sent on a mission to deliver medical supplies to Mace Windu on Dantooine.  Unfortunately, one of the clone troopers accompanying them is already carrying a brain worm and once aboard, it lays eggs.  Trouble's a-brewin'!

via SGCommand

Kevin Kiner is the music composer for The Clone Wars film and TV series as well as Star Wars: Rebels.  Obviously the music for all three draws heavily upon the John Williams classic scores but the music for Star Wars's animated universe has its own distinct flavor.  Kiner was born September 3, 1958 in San Bernardino, California.  He has also composed for Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG-1 and numerous films.  Just as with the voice actors, he has video game credits as well.

Ah yes, the new movie!

via Wookieepedia

Heading in, I would have ranked the first six Star Wars episodes thusly:

1. V: The Empire Strikes Back
2. IV: A New Hope
3. VI: Return of the Jedi
4. III: Revenge of the Sith
5. I: The Phantom Menace
6. II: Attack of the Clones

Obviously, I am biased toward the originals, particularly the first two films.  Return of the Jedi is good, especially for completing the Empire story, but Lucas bobbled the ball a bit with the Ewoks.  As much as I would love to have loved the prequels, I sure didn't.  They do help in fleshing out the Star Wars universe and certainly provide substantial backstory but they lack the personal intimacy of the originals.  So naturally, I went into The Force Awakens as I imagine most devotees did, with hope that it would pick up where Jedi left off, almost as if (sorry) the prequels had never happened.  No less than the vitality of the mythology I have treasured since age 4 was riding on the outcome.  No pressure.

As of this writing, I have seen The Force Awakens once but I'm already eager for further viewings.  The visual presentation is outstanding.  Director J.J. Abrams deliberately avoided the CGI so prominent in the prequels in favor of the earthier feel of the originals - an excellent choice.  Music and sound, always the greatest strength of the franchise, are rock solid.  The acting, particularly for the new characters, is, if anything, an upgrade.  From a purely technical standpoint, this would have to be the finest Star Wars movie to date.

The real question, though, is story.  The originals succeed because they focus on the exploits of a small band of adventurers.  The prequels stumble because they try to do too much, taking in the grand sweep of political and economic forces rather than allowing us to fall in love with new characters.  Clearly, Abrams got the memo.  The new tale brings back old friends - it's largely a Han Solo story, thank goodness - and also introduces a new generation about whom I'm eager to learn more.

I am reluctant to say more.  Too easy to spoil things for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  There is so much to discuss but I'll wait for now.  Except for this...

5 stars out of 5.  Part of me wanted to wait until a second viewing to give it a 5 but who am I kidding?  The movie does not disappoint.  I would rank it third on the all-time list.  The bar for new Star Wars stories has been raised significantly, a fact not lost on me as I continue to explore The Clone Wars.  More on that next week.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Grievous Intrigue."

 

On the Road: An Elemental Thanksgiving

His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that
Nature might stand up
And say to all the world,
"This was a man!"
- Mark Antony, eulogizing Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Humblest apologies for not reporting on our marvelous Thanksgiving holiday sooner.  We spent the holiday in Worcester, Massachusetts with our dear friends, English Prof and The Playwright.  Our hostess, drawing inspiration from the poem "Four Elements" by Anne Bradstreet, proposed a multi-course meal celebrating fire, water, earth and air.  While she and my wife worked their usual magic in the kitchen, the purple penguin supplied artwork, The Playwright and I the soundtrack.  The highlights...

Roasted pumpkin soup with roasted poblanos

*****

Lobster with hollandaise, cucumber and Asian pear

*****

Root vegetable gratin with sauteed oyster and hen of the woods mushrooms

*****

Goose

*****

Our amazing meal ended with the perfect synthesis of all elements:

Pumpkin, pecan and apple

The Clone Wars: Legacy of Terror

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Legacy of Terror"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 2, Episode 7
Original Air Date: November 20, 2009

via Wookieepedia

The Geonosis story continues, this being the fourth or a five-part arc.  This time Luminara is captured by bug-like zombie creatures.  Obi-Wan, Anakin and accompanying clone troopers set off to rescue her.

As you've no doubt heard, this is a big week for the Star Wars franchise, indeed for all of geekdom.  Episode VII hits theaters in just a few days.  After a 32 year wait, we finally get a sequel to Return of the Jedi.  The media blitz has been masterfully executed.  Box office records will be shattered.  But will the new movie - not to mention the next four over four years - be any good?

via Star Wars Fanpedia

George Lucas, of course, is the genius whose quirky $11 million film transformed the industry 38 years ago.  He was born May 14, 1944 in Modesto, California.  He's a junior college success story, attending Modesto Junior College before transferring to USC.  The University of Southern California was one of the first to have a film major.  There, he met one of his most important collaborators: Steven Spielberg.  Together, they helped usher in a new age of world cinema.

There's never been a better time to be a geek than right now.  Scifi and superhero stories are flooding screens large and small.  In some ways, it feels as if all of it - Marvel, DC, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Hunger Games - has been building up to this week.

Make no mistake, this is George Lucas's week.  While he has had no official creative control over The Force Awakens, it is his vision which has brought us all to this point.  JJ Abrams is a talented director, to be sure, but the faithful will eviscerate him if he strays too far from Papa George.  None of that New Vulcan crap he pulled with Star Trek will be tolerated here.  If the promotional material is any indication, the new movie at least looks right.  It feels more personal and intimate than the prequel trilogy.  All of the ads reassure us that the current guardians are taking good care of our dear old friend.  I, for one, am hopeful.

Thank you, Papa George, for all of it.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Brain Invaders."

 

Mock Squid Soup: January 2016 Blog List

MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to present Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society!

Next meeting is Friday, January 8th.  As announced last month, the plan for this month is for each participant to pick someone else's movie from our ever-growing society library.  I maintain a list of those movies here, also to be found on my page list as "Mock Squid Soup Film Library."

The signup list:

Mock Squid Soup: Rudy

MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to welcome you to Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society, meetings on the second Friday of each month.  Last week, society members posted three clues as to their chosen film for the month.  Today is the big reveal.  A reminder on my clues:

- My film belongs to a genre that inspires eye rolls from my wife.  Interestingly, her home state has been the setting for a disproportionate number of the genre's finest examples, including this one.  Perhaps her disdain stems from the very fact that she hails from a place where people take the subject matter of these movies far too seriously.  For example...

- My wife went to a Catholic high school.  One of the nuns - the typing teacher - would lead students in prayer for the success of a certain group of young men each autumn weekend.  These young men are also the subject of my movie.

- The lead was a reasonably successful child actor but my film represented his breakthrough as an adult.  He was just getting started.  A few years later, he would be cast in an important role in one of the most successful franchises in the history of cinema.

Drum roll, please...

Title: Rudy
Director: David Anspaugh
Original Release: 1993
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Rudy is the based-on-actual-events account of Rudy Ruettiger, a runt of a football player who scratched and clawed his way onto Notre Dame's varsity squad.  Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo are the same creative team who brought us Hoosiers, arguably the seminal inspiring sports movie.  As discussed in my clues, my wife, an Indiana native, is not a fan of such films.  She doesn't care for sports much to begin with and certainly has little patience for their overly inflated importance in society.  I understand and appreciate all of this.

But I still love these movies.  I am certainly willing to concede that both Hoosiers and Rudy are sappy and predictable.  However, I would argue for both as exemplars of top-notch film making, particularly in their use of setting.  1950s small town Indiana lives and breathes in Hoosiers.  In Rudy, both the protagonist's native Joliet, Illinois and the University of Notre Dame are rich characters, vital to the narrative.  The last movie the school's administration allowed to be filmed on campus was 1940's Knute Rocke, All American which celebrated the university's storied chemistry department.  Just kidding, that one was about the football team, too.

The acting's pretty good, including a few stars on the rise.  In addition to Sean Astin (the future Samwise Gamgee) in the title role, Jon Favreau plays D-Bob, Rudy's pal and academic savior, and Vince Vaughn plays Jamie O'Hare, an underachieving tailback.  The veterans are strong, too.  Ned Beatty is Rudy's father.  Father John Cavanaugh is performed by Robert Prosky, a fine actor I once saw play the role of the Stage Manager in Our Town at DC's Arena Stage.

So, if you're a sucker for inspiring sports movies, Rudy will not disappoint.

Next meeting is Friday, January 8th.  I'll post January's blog list tomorrow.  For January, pick another society member's choice from our ever increasing library to review.  Today, please visit my fellow cinephiles, listed below:

The Clone Wars: Weapons Factory

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Weapons Factory"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 2, Episode 6
Original Air Date: November 13, 2009

via Wookieepedia

The narrative intent of "Weapons Factory" is clear: juxtapose the Anakin-Ahsoka relationship with a more normal (read: healthier) Jedi-Padawan relationship.  Luminara and her protege, Barriss Offee join the assault on a Separatist droid factory.  Ahsoka and Barriss are sent on a dangerous mission to plant explosives while their masters divert attention. 

Throughout the story, the two elders exhibit different levels of both trust and attachment towards their apprentices.  Sometimes the Jedi way can seem a bit cold-hearted in its caution against emotional involvement.  But Luminara expresses deep compassion for her Padawan, though it is tempered by an appreciation for life's realities.  In essence, she is prepared to let go, when and if necessary.  We see that Anakin's affection for Ahsoka or Padme or even R2-D2 is not the problem.  His weakness is his belief that he can and should protect everything he holds dearest at all cost.

via Wookieepedia

Barriss Offee was first introduced in The Approaching Storm, a novel tie-in to the release of Attack of the Clones.  She is a Mirialan, the same species as Luminara.  She holds a special role within the Order, that of Jedi healer.  In the film, Barriss is performed by Nalini Krishan.  In The Clone Wars, she is voiced by Meredith Salenger.

via Wikipedia

Salenger was born March 14, 1970 in Malibu, California.  At age 15, she had her first starring film role as the title character in The Journey of Natty Gann.  At 17, she was one of River Phoenix's many love interests in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.  In 1992, she graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in pshychology.  In addition to her continuing acting career, she works as a mediator for the Agency of Dispute Resolution in Beverly Hills.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Legacy of Terror."

 

Mock Squid Soup: December's Three Clues

Today, for this month's edition of Mock Squid Soup, all society members are invited to post three hints about their film choice for the month.  All are welcome to guess, of course.  My three clues:

- My film belongs to a genre that inspires eye rolls from my wife.  Interestingly, her home state has been the setting for a disproportionate number of the genre's finest examples, including this one.  Perhaps her disdain stems from the very fact that she hails from a place where people take the subject matter of these movies far too seriously.  For example...

- My wife went to a Catholic high school.  One of the nuns - the typing teacher - would lead students in prayer for the success of a certain group of young men each autumn weekend.  These young men are also the subject of my movie.

- The lead was a reasonably successful child actor but my film represented his breakthrough as an adult.  He was just getting started.  A few years later, he would be cast in an important role in one of the most successful franchises in the history of cinema.

Any guesses?  Society reviews will be posted next Friday, December 11th.  See you then.  Meanwhile, please visit my fellow cinephiles today:

The Clone Wars: Landing at Point Rain

My friends and I are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  Every Tuesday, we will be featuring an episode from the series which began in 2008 (as opposed to the one that started in 2003).  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of the fun.

Episode: "Landing at Point Rain"
Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Season 2, Episode 5
Original Air Date: November 4, 2009

via Wookieepedia

Due to a poor Internet connection, I will keep this week's entry brief.

In "Landing at Point Rain," our Jedi friends lead an attack on a droid factory on Geonosis.  The story is essentially one long battle sequence, not really my thing.  Obviously, Clone Wars and, for that matter, Star Wars are going to involve a battle or two but if that were all there were to the saga, it wouldn't hold much interest for me.  Plus, once again, there is Anakin's and Ahsoka's apparent callousness to the fact that their own clone troopers are dying around them while they crack wise and compare kill tallies, a la Legolas and Gimli. 

Even though this episode wasn't my favorite, there are a few nice moments.  Anakin leads a crew on a mission to disable a shield generator in order to make way for an aerial assault, foreshadowing Return of the Jedi.  Also, Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi brings a welcome bit of perspective to Anakin and Ahsoka at tale's end.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants today.  Next week: "Weapons Factory."