On Star Wars. And, Human Resources at Jabba's Palace

James Rolfe (the Angry Video Game Nerd) has the first of a 2-part review of the Star Wars saga up over at CineMassacre. Check it out - it's pretty awesome. Star Wars is one of my favorite movie series of all time and I honestly think The Empire Strikes Back is one of the greatest films of all time. I periodically immerse myself in the SW universe, and I always get something different out of it. I'm glad he did this now, as playing Battlefront II has recently kicked up the ol' midi-chlorians again. Rolfe does a good job sharing his personal memories and experiences with the saga, as well as exploring and editing-in Lucas' influences and making allusions to some of the other GOAT sagas/epics. My favorite line in the piece is when, talking about rediscovering the saga as a young adult, he realized that Star Wars is "every epic story ever told." Well said.

On a lighter note, this new SW kick reminded me of a conversation I had with the Moviegoer a while back. The key question was: Who is Jabba's chief-of-staff? If you look through the expanded universe, in pre-trilogy times, Han and Lando were great buddies and were very well known in certain circles. They were daring and famous smugglers who made names for themselves with key nefarious figures, like Jabba the Hut. It's a falling out with Jabba that has Han on the run through the first 2 movies and it's why Bobba Fett's even in the damn thing. What does this have to with Jabba's staff, you ask? Well, think back as to how they finally liberate Han in ROTJ. Lando infiltrates the palace gaurd and the rebels work an inside job. You mean to tell me that no one recognized Lando Calrissian? If he's as famous as we're led to believe and he hung with Han in the old, presumably Jabba-employed, days, why the fuck would Jabba hire him? I mean, he's the only black guy we see in the first 3 movies for fuck's sake. Nobody recognized the black guy who used to hang out with Han Solo? A black human stands out WAY more than any of the aliens we ever saw. Whoever was in charge of personnel at Jabba's palace really slipped up here.




Oh yeah, this can be pretty fun, too.