Nerduary Star Wars Saga poll

I know there hasn't been a showdown in a while. In lieu of its absence, I was thinking about doing something a tad different this week. Since the Star Wars saga is now complete, I thought it would be interesting to see how The Nerduary ranks the movies. What's the best (although I probably know the answer) and what's the worst (again, probably know the answer).

So I ask you, fellow Nerduary members, to put the movies in your favorite order. I will rank these by giving six points to the movie you rank as first and one to the movie as last. When completed, I will tally them up. I do want to say that I love Star Wars and it really doesn't matter what is the best. The saga is great and I like all of these movies, even with their flaws, because they are in that great universe I knew and loved as a kid. Still, it's fun to do polls.

I won't count my own rankings, but I thought I would include them along with my reasons just for fun. Hell, I just got out of class and I want to celebrate. So without further delay, here we go.

1. The Empire Strikes Back (Episode 5) -- What is there to say about this movie? It really is perfect in every way. There's not really anything about this movie, including the special editions, that I cringe when I watch it. Luke versus Vader, AT-ATs, Boba Fett hunting down Han, Asteroid chase with exploding TIES--everything. I could go on and on. When this is set against others in the saga, it just stands out.










2. Revenge of the Sith (Episode 3) -- Now I know many out there would gasp at any of the prequels being in the top three. With that said, I think this movie is very important to Star Wars. It really saved the prequel trilogy for me. The lightsaber fights are a plenty and they surpass any others in the saga. After a shaky start, I really think the last hour is some of the best Star Wars you can find. It also bridges the two trilogies together well. While it probably could have been better, I think this is a great movie.











3. A New Hope (Episode 4) -- This is where it all started. I really like this movie and Episode Three made it better. I can't wait to watch this with someone who has never seen any of Star Wars and they are watching it in order. Han is great in this one (when he shoots Greedo first ... let's not go there). The dogfighting in the Death Star Battle is ultra cool. Even though the lightsaber fight is a little slow, it's still cool to see Obi-Wan and Darth Vader go at it. I still like this movie.











4. Return of the Jedi (Episode 6) -- This movie has one of my favorite scenes in the saga: Vader versus Luke. When Luke goes all Jedi rage at the end of the movie, John Williams soundtrack still gives chills. What a cool ending. The Ewok factor, as much as I try, is still a little hard to swallow. The best troops of the Empire are whipped by teddy bears. Oh well, still a great movie and a nice end to the saga. The space battles in this are the best, still better than anything in the prequel trilogy with technology twenty years old. The showdown with the Emperor, Luke, and Vader is still the highlight of the movie for me.











5. Attack of the Clones (Episode 2) -- With so much that could have been done in this entry, it's amazing how little happens in the two hour plus time frame. Seeing the beginning of the Clone Wars is really the best part of the movie for me. I do like the space skirmish between Obi-Wan and Jango. Seeing Yoda fight was okay. Seeing the Emperor, who gives one of the best performances in the saga, continue his plot is really cool. The ho-hum romance between Anakin and Padme is a little taxing. The lightsaber fights are no where near as cool as the rest of the prequel trilogy. Overall, I still think it was a bit of missed opportunity, though.











6. The Phantom Menace (Episode 1) -- I know, you're shocked. I have tried again and again to like this movie. Every now and then, I still slide it into the DVD player to see if age has improved it. There are some very cool parts to it. Jar-Jar doesn't piss me off quite as much, but his over abundance of screen time still bothers me. When you look at this episode, nothing really happens. Palpatine is elected Supreme Chancellor. And Qui-Gon dies (you suck Qui-Gon). Anyway, it was Star Wars after nearly a twenty year hiatus so that has to count for something. And it had really cool lightsaber battles with the most underused cool villian in movie screen history (in my opinion).

So there you have my little list. I cannot wait to read yours. I will start tallying the results next Wednesday night.

Chewbaca has a blog!

http://rrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnhhhh.blogspot.com/

Do what? New Trek movie in the works

Okay, this blew my mind. Guess there's a lot of movie news out today that I'm finding on a study break.

Chris and I have discussed where the Star Trek franchise is going to go after the dismal performance of Nemesis. Following in the steps of George Lucas, it looks like they are going backwards.

Here's the info.

***

According to Variety, “Mission : Impossible 3” helmer J.J Abrams – who I chatted to here, in Australia, just last week! - is attached to produce and direct the next “Star Trek” movie.

Variety says that Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, Abrams' producing team from “Lost”, also will produce the yet-to-be-titled feature. Nice.

And if that ain’t enough to get you wet – guess which storyline they’re using? Yep, young Spock and Kirk at the Starfleet Academy.

Hell yeah. This made my day. Best bit of film news I’ve relayed in a while, me thinks.



If anyone can breath new life into “Trek” – it’s the man whose given us “Alias”, “Lost” and, from what I’m hearing, the best “Mission : Impossible” of the trio.

“Star Trek 11” will be in theatres 2008.

***
I have two comments on this.

1. Cool director.

2. Who the hell would they get to take on the part of young Kirk and Spock?

Transformers movie news!

First off, I hate the idea of Micheal Bay directing this.

That being said, here are some names going around about the possible stars. Since I cannot post a hyper link (once again), I'm just going to post some of the news here.

According to IGN FilmForce, director Michael Bay is set to reenlist some of his old troopers – from some of his past films like “Pearl Harbor” and “Armageddon” – for roles in the live-action version of “The Transformers”.

Firstly, Jon Voight (“Pearl Harbor”) and Michael Clarke Duncan (“Armageddon”) have been asked to play roles in the film. Voight would play the U.S. Secretary of State, Keller, and Duncan would play Figueroa, a chief warrant officer in the army.

There are some newcomers to the world of Bay-biggies that have been eyeballed for roles too, though.

Josh Duhamel, of TV’s “Las Vegas”, is apparently the frontrunner for the role of Lennox, a young military commander. And also set for roles in the film are John Turturro, Travis Van Winkle (“Dorm Daze 2”), John Robinson (“Lords of Dogtown”), Tyrese (“2 Fast 2 Furious”), Megan Fox (“Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen”), and Australia’s Rachael Taylor (“Man-Thing”).

Anyway, we'll see how this turns out-if it comes out at all!

Logan's 2 great loves combined:

History re-enactment and geeky shit.
Secret Wars Re-Enactment Society
These guys (while funny) are almost as bad as fucking LARPers.

D

Because you were dying to know, I'm sure...

I was gonna post this on Random Organization, but I already post enough on there (like almost freakishly too much). And I felt like I needed to spread the love around here too. Not like spreading the love like monkeys do at the zoo or that guy in the cell near Hannibal Lector all over Jody Foster in Silence of the Lambs. No, I meant as in telling you a bunch of shit that I'm reading/watching because I'm telling you that you want to know. So there.

What I'm Reading/Watching

Vol. I: A list of good comics

by Derek

(18th Grade, Mr. Brennaman's class)

All Star Superman- I've never read any Superman books before. But this is what I always envisioned them being like at their best. If you're not reading it, start.

Captain Atom: Armageddon- I'm just waiting for this to end, in all honesty. I just want to see how they bring Captain Atom back into the DC universe and what impact he'll have when he returns. If any. If he doesn't I'm gonna put a ban on CA forever.

Green Lantern Corps- Guy Gardner is the featured GL. That'll be enough for me to pick this up when it starts.

Green Arrow- People are bitching about Ollie being Mayor of Star City or Judd Winnick inserting his own political views into the book. So far, I don't care. It's working well and not interfering with the character. Just so long as they keep him kicking ass and being Ollie, I'm good.

Green Lantern- This to me, is almost like the "All Star" version of Green Lantern. And it's damn good.

Infinite Crisis- Almost over, and I'll hate it being finished. So many "Holy Shit!" moments and character eliminations/re-toolings have made this the first book I have to read every month.

Ion- Ron Marz, the creator of Kyle Raynor, is back to redefine Kyle as a different form of Green Lantern. I'll give it a shot for a little while. He'd better impress everyone or this on-going title becomes a limited series.

JLA- Can't fucking wait. Brad Meltzer, writer of Identity Crisis, is gonna overhaul the JLA and make them the preeminent superhero team. Starts in July, so pick it up at the beginning.

Justice- Basically a battle between the JLA and Legion of Doom seen through the Legion's eyes. The great story and beautiful art is the only thing that keeps me from getting pissed that this only comes out every other month. No wait, I'm still pissed it only comes out every other month.

52*- Wanna know what happened in the missing year leading up to "One Year Later"? Yeah, me too. That's why I have to pick up 52* every freakin' week now. But I'll give this a trial run too. If it falters too much or too often, it's history.

Angel- I'm a sucker for the Buffyverse.

Spike- Ditto.

Astonishing X-Men- Joss Whedon is writing the X-Men the way I remember them being when I was a kid. AND also a little like the way he wrote Buffy. What could be better? Well, if Wolverine were only in this and his own books not every other Marvel book out there; but that aint gonna happen. So this'll do.

Civil War- See my earlier post on Civil War. It'll be good. Trust me.

The Thing- Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew has his own (hopefully) on-going book. It's everything you love about The Thing, and you don't have to worry about that closet-case flamer Johnny Storm.

Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk- Lost's Damon Lindeloff is writing a great little book here. Too bad it's not coming out every month. This is worse than Lost having crap on TV keeping it from coming on weekly.

Wolverine- The best Wolverine book I've ever read. The "Enemy of the State" and "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." arcs were future "Essential Wolverine" material.

Wolverine: Origins- Going to pick up where the last Wolverine arc ended after Logan gets his memories back from the House of M(eh) story. Basic overview: Wolverine knows everything now. And he's pissed. AND he's gonna kill a whole lotta people. Sweet.

X-Factor- Peter David is writing the perfect noir detective story here. And writing Multiple Man as a very compelling character, not just a one-trick pony. Which I'll admit is difficult, but that just proves how much he's putting into this project. It's not your standard superheroes versus the villain of the week gig; it's straight up noir, baby.

X-Men: The End- Thank God this is almost over. 1 issue left. 3 separate books of 6 issues each. I'm gonna have to go back a read them straight through to take it all in. Don't get me wrong, it's epic, and right in so many ways. The complete opposite of what was done in Wolverine: The End. Avoid that one at all costs.

-------------

I've decided to turn this into a trilogy (or possibly a quadrilogy...is that a word?) because this list alone was long. So check back periodically for the further adventures of:

"I Gotta Know What Derek's Reading/Watching Because He Told Me So!"

Say (Big Red) CHEESE!!!

Looks like a Captain Marvel movie is back in the works. Again.

Peter Segal Says "Shazam"

I'm hoping for an appearance by Black Adam. Hoppy? Not so much.

D

What we have here, is failure to communicate.

And a bunch of superheroes kicking the shit out of each other.



The premise is this: After a battle goes awry, hundreds of innocents (and a few superheroes) die. This leads to a government movement to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction. The subsequent Registration Act will divide the heroes into two camps, those for and (naturally) those against. A Civil War within the Marvel Universe begins.

As with all great arguments, there will be compelling reasons to be on either side. But the question remains...

Whose side are you on?

D

Material girl to use the Force? Maybe ...

Since I've been trying to keep up on the Star Wars TV show, I came across this and it's undoubtedly the weirdest news yet. Madonna might be in the show playing a major role.

apparently, Lucas and the Queen of Pop are buddies.

Here's the link. When blogger allows me to hyperlink, I will update this post.

http://www.theforce.net/holonet/story/
Madonna_Signs_On_For_Live_Action_Television_Series_97771.asp

We should go back to the Good 'ol Days!

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol1143569980963A551

"Why don't schools put a bottle of light beer on the table anymore like they used to do."

I feel this article has some merit.

sorry if this isn't hyperlinked

The Empire (of the Sun) Strikes Back

Darth Vader vs. Japanese police. 'Nuff said.
http://www.pistolwimp.com/media/44186/

**UPDATE: Apparently there's a 2nd one too. Not as funny but still. http://www.devilducky.com/media/44300/
***

D

Showdown 17: The Hunger!

Logan’s got some stuff going on right now, and the Nerduary Showdown ain’t exactly topping his priority list. But fear not. The mighty Logan has asked The Icon to handle the showdown this week, and I think I’ve got a doozey.

Galactus!

Unicron!

The very names are enough to make entire worlds tremble in fear!

One is a force of nature, wields the power cosmic and was created by the universe itself to make certain that only the strongest survive.

The other is an ancient, Cybertronian god, traversing the cosmos eradicating life where it finds it.

Both sound remarkably like Orson Wells (come on, you know you imagine Galactus talking like the big O).

But what happens when these two mega-titans show up at the same planet? What happens when both refuse to back off? My God, what happens when Galactus and Unicron fight to find out who will be the dominant devourer of worlds?!


Only YOU know. Voting lasts until Sunday. Remember, Turner is a stickler for rules, so not only vote for who you think the winner is, but explain why as well.

It's no Justice League Unlimited...

But I guess it'll have to do. For now.

FANTASTIC FOUR TO CARTOON NETWORK



It can't be any worse than the movie.
I hope.

D

Let us be heard!

The immortal Jake Hallman brought the old Stouthouse back a few months ago, and he made it better than ever. And what’s more, he brought the forums back.

Why is this a big deal? Well, as time marches forward, we’re all moving farther and farther a part (some of us at least), and the forums are the perfect way to get together and bullshit with each other.

So I’m making a big push to get everyone over there and registered. It’s easy.

Go to Stouthouse.org. Once you’re on the main page, scroll down where you’ll see the section called “Elsewhere”. There, you’ll see a link that reads “The fabulous Stouthouse forums”. Click on that, register and then have at it.

DOH! Simpson movie might be on the horizon

There are a lot of rumors around about a new Simpsons movie. Now, I've been a fan of the series for years and really loved almost every episode (even the down episodes provide laughs). There is a rumor going around that a movie will be coming out in July of 2007 and that a short trailer MIGHT be attached to the Ice Age 2 movie.

I don't really know if a Simpsons movie is a good idea or a bad idea. I just know if it's anything like the golden years of the Simpsons, especially the years with Conan O'Brien attached as a writer, it would be awesome.

Keep your ideas open for any more Simpsons movie news.