May 11, 2005
The Saga begins....tomorrow night!?!
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Thursday May 12 - Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope
Friday May 13 - Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back and "Star Wars Poker night"
Saturday May 14 - BBQ!! and Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi
Sunday May 15 - Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Trivial Pursuit
Monday May 16 - Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
Tuesday May 17 - Star Wars: Clone Wars Volumes 1&2 and Star Wars roundtable discussion & Last night "toast" at Muldoons!!
The movies will begin no later than 8:30 pm and you don't want to miss any of the festivities because this is the last time this will ever happen again!! I'm serious! You will regret it....
Day 3 - "Star Wars is HOT!"
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If that is ordinary, than I am apple pie, turkey dinner, and a hamburger all together. No, not American: ordinary! And yes, I probably look a little like that three course meal above (and I may have eaten said meal before). But, the fascination of this line continues to grow for me. The different walks of life are staggering to hear about and enticing to make fun of, and I will not stop.
I will admit publicly my two biggest regrets. One: apologizing for a stupid prank in front of my college group at church (all around loser for doing it and being guilted into it). Two: Not staying to see Episode I six years ago after camping out for it. Three words: parents & failing math. What can I say? Math has done shit for me now and I assume it will do nothing for me later. Boldly and Sincerely: I am an idiot for missing it. I wish I could turn back time, tell my parents to cram it, and sit in the greatest theatre west of the Mississippi with my dear friends.
If there is anyway to be redeemed, I would love to discuss it. Otherwise, day three: That's Hot.
May 10, 2005
Day 2 - Better than your average Monday.
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Well, At Least We Got Something
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At least Emperor Wandrey's sex life is safely protected and not plastered across the news.
A big thank you to the Register for covering the campout. Too bad sex and high schoolers who are camping out for the first freaking time are the only thing that sells.
I tried to include a link to the story, but you need a login name and password, so here it is:
Login: SWCampers
Password: ylcantina
Then follow the link above and go to the local section.
Hey, at least they advertised our blog for us. Arrgghh! Honestly, wasn't it Jarhead who got this whole thing going? I guess we were too normal for the reading public of Orange County: guys who work, are married or dating attractive women, live well, and do not skip school.
Oh freakin' well.
May 09, 2005
Dealing With the Dark Side
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During the setup of our Cantina, one of our faithful, but poorly astute followers forgot a device of power that gives life to one of the Cantina's most essential features: the TV. I will simply call this soft-brained individual "Chewdumma". After much debate and berating, even a few lovely f-bomb droppings, the Emperor and I, men of position and foresight, drove deep into the North County System, retrieved the remote, stopped by Wendy's to power up, and headed back to the Cantina in lightspeed. But, when the Dark Side of the Force has been meddled with once, it can happen again.
Late in the evening, when the temperature dropped low enough to freeze a Tonton, the Emperor, Noviwan, and I were awakened several times by the scruffy looking gondarks. But, the time that sent us into a Hoth like panic was when the screams reached our tent: SPRINKLERS!!!!!! I instantly jumped up in my Admiral skivies, unzipped the tent, and ran out to find our Cantina safe and sound. Water was attacking many of the other campers, their equipment, and their spirits. But thank the maker, we were alright.
This goes to show, no matter how much bantha fodder is thrown, those who trust in the Force will never turn to dark side and will always be protected.
Day 1 - The campout begins!!
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The line up began Sun. around 12 pm and the Admiral, Novi-wan, and Darth Jewy pulled up some grass and soaked up the rays waiting for our 5 o'clock start time. The Register was on hand to interview and photo our progress. All 6 members of the council as well as others were on hand to erect the greatest Star Wars campout headquarters ever imagined!! 6-man tent, 13x9 canopy, TV, PS2, Fridge, Microwave, Floral print couch, and so much Star Wars decor that it should not be allowed!! We have definately gone all out. It was a long night as the Admiral, Novi-wan and myself tried to get some sleep around midnight but the excitement and roving geeks with conversations that ranged from Iranian women to the hatred for Lucas was enough to keep us up well into the early morn'. 9 days to go, the fun is being had and it is only going to get better!! Don't forget to check the photobucket!!
May 08, 2005
Response to the Emperor
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Soak this time up. Talk with someone at length and find out what their dreams are, someone you may not talk to again for a very long time after the curtains close on Episode III.
I don't mean to sound like a downer, but this is life. We are in it and there is nothing to do but accept it and make the best of it.
This campout will kick major ass because it must, because it is the last time all of us will camp out for anything dear to each one of us again (unless they release The Passion in 3D).
May God bless all of us as we enjoy and soak up one of the most important movies ever made. And I mean that from the depths of my soul.
May the Force be with you.
May 07, 2005
The Eve....
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I am left with questions. Of which all will be answered within a 10 day period. Before we go tomorrow and set up camp in front of a theatre I pose these queries...
1. Will this campout meet and exceed expectations?
2. Are you too old and busy to fully give in and get lost in the magic of this event?
3. Will the movie live up to your expectations? (To elaborate on that question - We are all SW fans and I think Lucas could put a lightsaber next to a piece of fecal matter and we would love it. The question pertains to whether or not the expectations you have for what needs to happen in this Episode.)
A. Is the connection between this Episode and A New Hope seamless?
B. Is Anakin's fall believable?
C. Do the ramblings in Attack of the Clones about Sifo Dyas and the background of the Clone order get resolved?
D. How badass is Palpatine?
E. How badass is Grievous? So far the Clone War 'toons have built him up to be one bad mother!!)
F. Will the relationship between Obi-wan and Anakin dissolve so badly that the duel at the end is understood?
G. Does the new HaydenVader look and feel like the ProwseVader from the old
trilogy?
H. Does this film make Ep. 1 & 2 better?
Last question...
4. What will you do to make this experience worthy of the Jedi archives?
The truck is packed, the tickets are in hand, and my wife knows it's GO time!!
R2D2 Is Coming!!!
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May 06, 2005
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS...
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http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59757,00.html (STORY)
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,58881,00.html (VIDEO)
Cast Your Vote
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George Lucas has been nominated for AOL's "The Greatest American." Here is our oppotunity to give back to the man who gave us the greatest story of our youth, friendships with actions figures, and a reason to fall in love with films and filmmaking. You could vote for Abraham Lincoln or John Edwards (WTF!!! He's about as worthy for this award as Hulk Hogan), or for one of the greatest visionaries of the twentieth century. Yeah Edison and Einstein were cool too, but come on: did either of them create a wookie?
If you don't vote for Lucas, you're a nerfherder. It's not like the damn thing means anything, anyways. It's AOL.
http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestamerican
May 05, 2005
Speaking of poop...
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My favorite line: "Which of these buttons calls your parents to come pick you up?"
Classic stuff... FOR ME TO POOP ON!!!
Daily Variety validates Episode III
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The Force returns with most of its original power regained in "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." Concluding entry in George Lucas' second three-pack of space epics teems with action, drama and spectacle, and even supplies the odd surge of emotion, as young Anakin Skywalker goes over to the Dark Side, and the stage is set for the generation of stories launched by the original "Star Wars" 28 years ago. Whatever one thought of the previous two installments, this dynamic picture irons out most of the problems, and emerges as the best in the overall series since "The Empire Strikes Back."
Before I comment, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex. I am a huge Star Wars fan. However, I admittedly belong to the small fan contingent that thinks Episode I was a craptastic crap-fest of a disaster that I guess you could also call a movie (yes, you all can stone me at the campout). As far as the early reviews were concerned, lots of fans criticized the press for all their negativity towards the movie. And you know what? They were dead on. I mean, Midichlorians? Jar-Jar Binks? Jake "I can't even act like a freaking ten year old" Lloyd? I know I'm sounding like moviepoopshoot.com, but come on, do I really need to continue?
The press wasn't far off in its assessment of Episode II, either. They basically said it was much better, but still not quite on par with the original three. I watched it, loved it, but tended to agree with their verdict.
That said, the above review, as well as Kevin Smith's review (see below) and basically all of the media chatter thus far all say the same thing: this movie more than makes up for the last two. I got a warm fuzzy feeling inside when Episode III got a PG-13 rating (and I've seen pictures that convince me it is well deserved), and the earlier plot spoilers make it sound like Lucas removed his head from his anus long enough to write a surprisingly good script. It's looking like this is going to be one to remember...
Given the general awareness of what's going to happen, it's up to Lucas to make it exciting. Despite fans' varying degrees of loss of faith that set in with "Menace" and "Clones," most will be inspired enough to believe again.Here's hoping...
May 03, 2005
Less than a week away...
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The Soundtrack for the film which not only includes music orchestrated by the great John Williams but is bundled with a DVD that will have over 75 minutes of music videos to create a "musical journey" through the Star Wars saga!! No Limewiring or iTuning for me - this will be the one and only CD purchase I will need to make this year. CD drops Tuesday May 3. If you have Quicktime you can check out a music video at the official site.
Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith : The video game, comes out on Thursday May 5 and promises to be the "Ultimate Jedi Action Experience". It walks you through the movie timeline and features the voice and motion capture from the stars, stunt coordinator Nick Gillard's lightsaber fights, and you can play as Anakin or Obi-wan!! This game will definately be down at the campout.
In addition to those items to spend your hard earned dollars on, check out Time magazine as they once again feature a Star Wars film. It is on newsstands now.
Of course if you want more Star Wars stuff than all you have to do is get out of your house because there is stuff everywhere - toys, books, and my 2 favorites - Cheez-its and
"M-pire" M&M's!!
Lastly for those of you with your head stuck in your ass - the Campout starts this Sunday May 8th at 5 pm!! See you there...
April 28, 2005
Kevin Smith freaks out over REVENGE OF THE SITH! Posts Early Review!
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"SITH" SPOILERS
You've been warned...
- "Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, fucking awesome. This is the "Star Wars" prequel the haters have been bitching for since "Menace" came out, and if they don't cop to that when they finally see it, they're lying. As dark as "Empire" was, this movie goes a thousand times darker - from the triggering of Order 66 (which has all the Shock Troopers turning on the Jedi Knights they've been fighting beside throughout the Clone Wars and gunning them down), to the jaw-dropping Anakin/Obi Wan fight on Mustafar (where - after cutting his legs and arm off, Ben leaves Skywalker burning alive on the shores of a lava river, with Anakin spitting venomous sentiments at his departing mentor), this flick is so satisfyingly tragic, you'll think you're watching "Othello" or "Hamlet".
I saw a gorgeous digitally projected version of the flick, and lemme tell ya': this is a beautiful looking film. The opening space battle sequence is the best in any of the six "Star Wars" movies. Grievous and Kenobi's lightsaber duel is bad-ass, with Grievous rocking four sabers. The Clone Wars end rather early in the flick (about the halfway point), leaving the rest of the film to concentrate on Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, and the resulting slaughter of the Jedi....
Go to the below site and scroll down for the rest of the review...
http://viewaskew.com/news/sith/
Does anybody actually read any of this stuff I post? It's SW gold people!!!
April 25, 2005
Some tidbits from SW Celebration 3 held over the weekend
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From the Lucas Q&A...
I was in the second Lucas Q&A (at least, I think it was the second - blue wrist band) and someone had the cojones to ask why the original trilogy was interesting and the prequels weren't. Lucas talked about how the first act of a play and the first chapters of a book are always boring because their exposition - they set up the rest of the story - and compared the prequels to that. Even more interesting, though, Lucas said that when he originally wrote the SW story, the prequels amounted to about 20 pages. 20% of that got used in TPM (with the rest of the movie made up - Lucas called it a "jazz rift" on the main plot), 20% in AOTC (with more "filler"), but fully 60% of the prequel plot is contained in ROTS.
From the "MacCallum Spectacular"...
I also got into the "Rick McCallum Spectacular," which I knew I wanted to see because I saw it at Celebration II, where he showed part of the seen where Yoda and Count Dooku duel from Episode II, which was before it was released in theaters. This time he showed the 6 minute montage. It had an excellent sound track that Rick said they just "threw it together from sound effects" solely for this montage. The montage and soundtrack is purely inexplainable. You just have to see this film to get it. Rick also had a Q&A, and here is what I gleamed from that:
* A script has been accepted for Indiana Jones 4, but Steven Spielberg's schedule is pretty tight.
* Someone asked if the montage was going to be included in the Episode III DVD, and Rick was like, "Uh, I don't... Uh..." which was met with every mouth in the room erupting with various deafening, but positive, noises. After which, Rick merely said, "Uh, sure. Ok. Since you feel that way, it'll be on the DVD," or something to that effect.
* Someone asked what it was like working with George Lucas, and Rick's answer was good, just that the most horrifying things he's lived through are when George shows up for work and says, "What if we did this..."
Here is some info from the 6 min. montage...
the 6-7 minutes of all new footage that was shown just blew people away. We are talking some of the best action sequences in any SW movie. Just a few high points:
- You get a really good look at Grevious several times but the one that stood out was when he is chasing Obi-Wan and Grevious is in his Wheel. This chase sequence is fast and very intense.
- The space battle is on a scale we have never seen before. Much more color and detail. When the ship explode, you actually see the droids or troopers fly out into space. Sometimes in pieces. Very cool effects.
- They showed several scenes of the clones turing against the Jedi. There is a close-up of Yoda in one of trailers where all you see is his face then you see pupils dialate. They show the rest of this scene and There are Clonetroopers behind him that are raising the guns in preparation for gunning him down. He senses this (close-up of his face), then spins around with his lightsaber and takes like three of them down with one swoop. Awesome scene.
- Another eerie scene has Anakin in a room, eyes red, and you see him using the force to shut all the doors in the room. They don't show who else is in the room but you can tell he's about to kick some ass.
- Another expander scene is the fight beteen Yoda and Palpatine in the Senate chamber. In the trailer you see palpatine use the force to throw one of the hover seats at Yoda like a frisbee. What you don't see is that Yoda uses the force to stop it within inches of his head, he then uses his own power to start spinning the thing and shoves is back at Palpatine. Looks much cooler than I can ever describe it.
- They also showed a scene of Yoda just getting his ass kicked by Palpatine. Thought it was odd that the crowd actually cheered when they saw this. I is an intense scene but Yoda really take it hard.
- Fanboys who are obsessed with clonetroopers are going to love this film. I couldn't even keep track of the different trypes of troopers there seem to be in the movie.
- There are five different lightsaber battle in this film and the footage we saw showed a bit of all of them. Seemed to show the most of the Anakin/Obi Wan lava battle. Looks awesome. I read in the latest Entertainment Weekly that Spielberg had some input on this sequence. Like I said, what I saw looks great.
Patience, we must have...14 days until campout...24 days until RotS!!
April 19, 2005
New ROTS TV spots!!
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http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/release/trailer/unite.html
Very kid-friendly! But, "crush them"!!
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/release/trailer/jediaction1.html
You can catch a short glance of Grievous blocking Obi-wan with 2 lightsabers!!
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/release/trailer/jediaction2.html
Mace looks pissed!!
Enjoy!!!
April 18, 2005
Um...yeah, tickets are on sale!!!!
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April 15, 2005
Ticket update
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Here's the current state of play with regards to tickets for 'Revenge of the Sith' at US theaters.
* Rave Motion Picture Theaters - On sale from April 15th.
* Fandango - On sale from April 20th.
* AMC - (Darthfloyd writes): The AMC chain of theaters at least will be selling tickets to the midnight showing of Episode 3 starting today, April 14th. Apparently they got the go ahead from Fox last night around 5 pm, and multiple calls to their office confirmed this.
* Regal Cinemas - (James writes): In Charlotte, NC ticket preorders for Revenge of the Sith for Regal Cinemas start on April 20th according to an manager at the theatre.
* Warren Theaters - (Darth Sprocket writes): Revenge of the Sith tickets go on sale April 19th in Wichita, Kansas at the Warren Theaters.
* Kerasotes Theatres - (thanks to Chris): We will begin selling tickets online and at most of our theatres tonight, April 14th at 8:00 pm. As you are aware the film opens on Thursday, May 19. Many of our theatres will have 12:01 am shows opening day. Schedules will be available online.
* Amstar Cinemas - (Jay writes): I went to my local Amstar Cinema today in Oxford, Alabama and they had tickets on sale for the midnight showing of Episode III, as well as tickets through May 22nd. I then went to their official website, and tickets are on sale at all Amstar Cinemas now, April 14th, and will be for sale on-line on April 19th.
* Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas - (John writes): For people living in the Austin area, you can add the Alamo Drafthouse as of right now, April 14th.
* Seattle Cinerama - (Tom writes): (As of April 14th), now an ecstatic 7-ticket holder for 12:01am at the Seattle Cinerama.
* Cinemark - (Ron writes): I just bought my Ep 3 tickets at Cinemark's offical site for my theatre, on April 14th.
* Wehrenberg Theaters - (News-Leader writes): In Springfield, Campbell 16 Cin? will start selling tickets at 9:30 a.m. today (April 15th) online — www.wehrenberg.com. Box office sales at the theater, 4005 South Ave., begin about 11:30 a.m., manager Kendra Sparrow said.
* Showcase Cinemas - (Hamilton Journal News writes): Showcase Cinema — Cincinnati Mills: Tickets are to go on sale sometime Friday, April 15th.
* Muvico Theaters - (Steve writes): This chain is also selling tickets. We lined up yesterday (April 14th) and bought the tickets at midnight. Lots of free stuff and promotions.
* Strand and Family Cinemas - (Alhon writes): Strand and Family in Manitowoc, WI is selling tickets starting on April 30.
* Clearview Ziegfeld - (Quentin writes): Tickets are available starting now (April 15th) at the Ziegfeld in New York, and at the ticket counter at 1:00 p.m. sharp. To purchase tickets for the Midnight Screening, press "showtimes", then press on "Buy Tickets" for Sahara on today's date, then press "Change Date", to May 18. Nothing comes up on that page, so you have to click "CHANGE" in the upper right corner, and then the tickets come up: click on "Buy Tickets" for the 12:01 a.m. viewing.
Congrats Admiral Akwelches on your union!!
April 13, 2005
Ticket info?!?
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If this is true than we may need to talk to Big Newport and find out when they plan on releasing tiks before they go on Fandango. Maybe Shea could find out.....