  the circle of irony welcomes our two latest members: shannon erwin and johnathan "better-late-than-never" shipley. ;) please see the prior notes about proper "blogging" contained in prior posts - they're in the archive section now, but they're a good reference should you have any questions. episode 3 news: apparently there will be "several" years between e2 and e3, and then "about 20" years between e3 and e4.
luke and leia will appear as "infants" in e3 (towards or at the end). my rant: i'm getting tired of CGI being used to create human or human-like creatures. landscapes are OK, but CGI creatures are still just fancy cartoon characters. until they're indistinguishable from "actual" creatures, i can't take them seriously; i.e., they serve only as a clever but distracting talking head in what might be an otherwise serious scene. if you're making a comedy and/or kids film (which may be all lucas is trying to do now), then perhaps this perspective is overly critical; but admittedly, i took the original trilogy to be a story somewhere between modern mythology and serious science fiction. these films are something else; something modern, but not as deep, somehow. thankfully, i didn't have to endure watching a cartoon lizard/rabbit thing step in feces this time, but i did get weary of the "C-3PO has switched heads with another robot" gag. yes, it was funny in the first scene where this occurs. however, it ceases being funny by the fifth time that we're reminded, "look! C-3PO has switched heads with another robot! hilarious, huh? " by that point, i'm cringing, hoping it will stop, and that we'll get on with that "other" plot thread of watching the jedi council beng attacked by the forces of Darth Tyrannus.
we can't say we weren't warned, though, even before episode one; namely, with the ewoks, in episode six... but even that was tolerable, given that things were on the upswing - it's (sort of) a pleasant thing to see the furry warriors triumph over the evil empire. by that point, we feel the immense scale of the overall conflict - a galactic conflict between good and evil, spanning hundreds of worlds, coming together in a final battle. the ewoks aren't distracting in e6 because they seem like a small part of a much larger tapestry. in e1 and e2, however, the sight gags and the bad puns seem to be given the same weight as the rest of the events in the story. the ewoks were just a little something for the kids in e6, and a way to symbolize the hope of a happier future for the galaxy; they're not important to the great arc of things, and the screen time that they are given is balanced with the bigger events accordingly. heck, a couple of the ewoks are even shown dying in the battle; but lucas wouldn't have dared showing any gungans getting creamed - he's too afraid of scaring the kids now.
he was a little bolder in e2, with the assination attempt at the beginning, but it's easy to kill off characters that we met, oh, 2 seconds before they blew up. ok, 8 seconds if you count the screen time padme's stand-in had in e1 - but you see my point. when qui-gon dies at the end of e1, it's unfortunate. when obi-wan "dies" at the end of e4, it's a tragedy. why? probably something to do with acting, character development, etc. but more than that - in e4, obi-wan and the rest of the gang never had to compete with cartoon characters (and background sets) for screen time.
like you said, JLS - pretty pictures. a new trilogy for a different crowd; lighter, goofier, and in the end, a kid's movie. and once i accept this, i find i can enjoy the whole experience with a much less critical, cynical eye. after all, how serious can i be (or be taken), posing for pictures in a jedi outfit for total strangers?
;) 
