You are currently viewing archive for March 2005
Come on Revenge of the Sith.
Episode 25 was a satisfying end to the animated Clone Wars saga. Anakin did not completely fail in his task after all, though his spiritual look inward revealed a darkness that he is not ready to face. Unfortunately, we all know how this ends... the darkness will consume him, and it will be another 22 years before he has a chance at redemption. At least the people of Nelvaan can start rebuilding their lives thanks to the Young Jedi.
For their part, the Jedi fail to stop the kidnap of Chancellor Palpatine. General Grievous is victorious, and based on the ending I can imagine the scroll for Episode III....
--
It is a dark time for the Republic. During the siege of Corosaunt, General Grevious and his army of droids manage to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. In their infinite wisdom, the Jedi Council dispatchs the young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywaker and his Master Obi Wan Kenobi to rescue him at all costs.
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Or something like that. I know the scroll is out in cyberspace, but I'd rather not read it until I see the movie in the theater. Please do not post it here.
For those that missed it, Clone Wars II will be playing in its entirety tomorrow, Saturday, March 26th at 8:00 pm. Or, watch them all online at Cartoon Network.
That should do it for my Clone Wars coverage for the week. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Purchase Star Wars
merchandise and movies.
Episode 25 was a satisfying end to the animated Clone Wars saga. Anakin did not completely fail in his task after all, though his spiritual look inward revealed a darkness that he is not ready to face. Unfortunately, we all know how this ends... the darkness will consume him, and it will be another 22 years before he has a chance at redemption. At least the people of Nelvaan can start rebuilding their lives thanks to the Young Jedi.
For their part, the Jedi fail to stop the kidnap of Chancellor Palpatine. General Grievous is victorious, and based on the ending I can imagine the scroll for Episode III....
--
It is a dark time for the Republic. During the siege of Corosaunt, General Grevious and his army of droids manage to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. In their infinite wisdom, the Jedi Council dispatchs the young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywaker and his Master Obi Wan Kenobi to rescue him at all costs.
---
Or something like that. I know the scroll is out in cyberspace, but I'd rather not read it until I see the movie in the theater. Please do not post it here.
For those that missed it, Clone Wars II will be playing in its entirety tomorrow, Saturday, March 26th at 8:00 pm. Or, watch them all online at Cartoon Network.
That should do it for my Clone Wars coverage for the week. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
Purchase Star Wars
merchandise and movies.
Short update: I watched Episodes 23 and 24 as they came out over the past 2 days.
In this batch we got to see why Yoda and Mace Windu are Masters, the attempted kidnapping of Palpatine, and Anakin facing his trial of the spirit in an unorthodox manner.
Clone Wars is now setting the stage for Revenge of the Sith. The Separatist take the battle to Coruscant, striking at the heart of the Republic. The Jedi rally to thwart the attack on the city-planet, and battle like mad to protect their world while General Grevious attempts to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine.
Meanwhile, on a remote planet on the outer rim, Anakin and Obi Wan are investigating mysterious disappearance of the Nelvaan males. Deeply seeped in Native American mysticism, it is a strange sequence of animation ... reminiscent of Fantasia in music and style. Anakin is setup for failure, we will see what happens next in the finale tonight .... then no more Clone Wars posts for a while.
In this batch we got to see why Yoda and Mace Windu are Masters, the attempted kidnapping of Palpatine, and Anakin facing his trial of the spirit in an unorthodox manner.
Clone Wars is now setting the stage for Revenge of the Sith. The Separatist take the battle to Coruscant, striking at the heart of the Republic. The Jedi rally to thwart the attack on the city-planet, and battle like mad to protect their world while General Grevious attempts to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine.
Meanwhile, on a remote planet on the outer rim, Anakin and Obi Wan are investigating mysterious disappearance of the Nelvaan males. Deeply seeped in Native American mysticism, it is a strange sequence of animation ... reminiscent of Fantasia in music and style. Anakin is setup for failure, we will see what happens next in the finale tonight .... then no more Clone Wars posts for a while.
Time passes. Battles are won and lost. Anakin now sports long hair and a jagged scar on his face.
It was an interesting episode last night, and we see Anakin in a slightly different light. He is no longer the spoiled young man he was as an apprentice, he is a full-fledged Jedi at the height of his power. Anakin seems to have come into his own. As a fierce warrior, he pilots and slices his way through his enemies. As cunning commander, he sets forth plans that shorten battles and ensure victory. As a friend, he and Obi Wan share some funny moments and quips.
We see why he is so gifted, and why the Palpatine is so interested in him.
When the episode ends, Anakin and Obi Wan are on a remote planet facing savages ... I wonder where they are going to go with this.
It was an interesting episode last night, and we see Anakin in a slightly different light. He is no longer the spoiled young man he was as an apprentice, he is a full-fledged Jedi at the height of his power. Anakin seems to have come into his own. As a fierce warrior, he pilots and slices his way through his enemies. As cunning commander, he sets forth plans that shorten battles and ensure victory. As a friend, he and Obi Wan share some funny moments and quips.
We see why he is so gifted, and why the Palpatine is so interested in him.
When the episode ends, Anakin and Obi Wan are on a remote planet facing savages ... I wonder where they are going to go with this.
Get used to it, this will go on for a few days....
Clone Wars, Volume 1 is now on sale at Amazon. If you missed the first two seasons, this is the place to get it.
Clone Wars, Volume 1 is now on sale at Amazon. If you missed the first two seasons, this is the place to get it.
It is a dark time for the Republic. The Jedi Knights find themselves in an unfamiliar position, losing comrades and battles. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Jedi Counsel determines it is time to promote the young Padawan Anakin Skywalker to Jedi Knight.
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I just finished watching Star Wars, Clone Wars on Cartoon Network, and I have to say I am pleased. The third season of Clone Wars and Episode 21, picks up exactly where the second season left off. Finally we see the fate of the Jedi Master Kai Mundi and what remained of the Jedi under his charge. Lucky for him, Arc Troopers once again came in and saved the day.
Several nagging mysteries are solved with this edition of Clone Wars. The first, at what point did C-3PO become the goldenrod we all know and love so well? The second, what were knight trials and initiation like in the days of the Jedi Counsel? And the third, why was Anakin promoted to Jedi before he was truly ready for the task?
The answers? 1) Protocol droids serving senators should be clad in gold. 2) The Jedi faced the trial of skill, the trials of the flesh, and trial of the spirit. In the initiation, the Masters ceremoniously remove the Padawan's apprentice braid. 3) Anakin skipped the trials because his previous experiences supposedly surpassed those he would face at the hands of the counsel. And most importantly, the counsel needed to fill the Jedi ranks quickly due to attrition.
Oh, one other thing, we also find out that Padme actually did save the necklace given to her by the little boy who eventuality became her husband.
However, one scene from the show bothered me - and it may be a break in Star Wars continuity. They showed a young Anakin with Qui-Gon Jinn on Dagobah. Anakin was facing the trial of the Dark Side cave. What I want to know, when in Episode 1 did they have time to stop on Daghobah between the trip from Tattoine and Corosaunt? Quai Gon dies pretty soon after... so it is a bit of a problem. It may have been just Yoda's vision... but that just does not sit quite right.
Other than that I was pretty pleased with the show. The 15 minute episode format is a vast improvement over the 5 minute serials from Seasons 1 and 2, it will make for a much more complete story.
I have a lot of respect for Genndy Tartakovsky's work, from Samurai Jack to Dexter's Lab. This is just one more example of fine animation he has produced.
------
I just finished watching Star Wars, Clone Wars on Cartoon Network, and I have to say I am pleased. The third season of Clone Wars and Episode 21, picks up exactly where the second season left off. Finally we see the fate of the Jedi Master Kai Mundi and what remained of the Jedi under his charge. Lucky for him, Arc Troopers once again came in and saved the day.
Several nagging mysteries are solved with this edition of Clone Wars. The first, at what point did C-3PO become the goldenrod we all know and love so well? The second, what were knight trials and initiation like in the days of the Jedi Counsel? And the third, why was Anakin promoted to Jedi before he was truly ready for the task?
The answers? 1) Protocol droids serving senators should be clad in gold. 2) The Jedi faced the trial of skill, the trials of the flesh, and trial of the spirit. In the initiation, the Masters ceremoniously remove the Padawan's apprentice braid. 3) Anakin skipped the trials because his previous experiences supposedly surpassed those he would face at the hands of the counsel. And most importantly, the counsel needed to fill the Jedi ranks quickly due to attrition.
Oh, one other thing, we also find out that Padme actually did save the necklace given to her by the little boy who eventuality became her husband.
However, one scene from the show bothered me - and it may be a break in Star Wars continuity. They showed a young Anakin with Qui-Gon Jinn on Dagobah. Anakin was facing the trial of the Dark Side cave. What I want to know, when in Episode 1 did they have time to stop on Daghobah between the trip from Tattoine and Corosaunt? Quai Gon dies pretty soon after... so it is a bit of a problem. It may have been just Yoda's vision... but that just does not sit quite right.
Other than that I was pretty pleased with the show. The 15 minute episode format is a vast improvement over the 5 minute serials from Seasons 1 and 2, it will make for a much more complete story.
I have a lot of respect for Genndy Tartakovsky's work, from Samurai Jack to Dexter's Lab. This is just one more example of fine animation he has produced.
Don't miss it. Star Wars, Clone Wars II will start it's 5-episode run Tonight at 7:00 PM EST on Cartoon Network.
If you do miss it, Cartoon Network is going to post the previous night's episode every morning - starting tomorrow.
I am looking forward to 15-minute episodes as opposed to the 5-minute ones from last season. This should be fun.
If you do miss it, Cartoon Network is going to post the previous night's episode every morning - starting tomorrow.
I am looking forward to 15-minute episodes as opposed to the 5-minute ones from last season. This should be fun.
I DVR'd Robot Chicken last week and caught up to it yesterday. To paraphrase one of my southern co-workers, "What a HOOT!"
Robot Chicken is a stop-motion animated show using action figures, clay, and models. Created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, they spoof the hell out of politics, religion, and pop culture. It has nothing to do with chickens other than the opening scene.
This episode had three really great bits. In the first, we see what it was like to miss the boat from the perspective of the animals that were too late to get on the ark. The second great bit was "That '00 Show" voiced by the cast of That 70's Show and lampooning our current techie culture.
However, the funniest bit of the show was a Cannonball Run spoof. Batman, Speedracer, Vin Diesel, The Duke Boys, Michael Knight and others vie for "the prize." Just about all of them die horrible deaths in the process. Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise guest star in this, and provide outakes like they did in the end of the Cannonball Run. I was rolling.
For a 15-minute show, they sure packed a ton in. Great short-attention-span theater. Can't wait for more.
Robot Chicken is a stop-motion animated show using action figures, clay, and models. Created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, they spoof the hell out of politics, religion, and pop culture. It has nothing to do with chickens other than the opening scene.
This episode had three really great bits. In the first, we see what it was like to miss the boat from the perspective of the animals that were too late to get on the ark. The second great bit was "That '00 Show" voiced by the cast of That 70's Show and lampooning our current techie culture.
However, the funniest bit of the show was a Cannonball Run spoof. Batman, Speedracer, Vin Diesel, The Duke Boys, Michael Knight and others vie for "the prize." Just about all of them die horrible deaths in the process. Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise guest star in this, and provide outakes like they did in the end of the Cannonball Run. I was rolling.
For a 15-minute show, they sure packed a ton in. Great short-attention-span theater. Can't wait for more.
I cleaned off my DVR last night, I don't have any more Justice League until I can cycle through and record some more. It was an interesting batch of episodes, the focus shifted a bit from some the characters I had seen previously.
"The Cat and the Canary" centered on Green Arrow, Black Canary and Wildcat. After being put out to pasture by the JLU and limited to training new recruits, Wildcat has been participating in the Meta-brawl fight club to get out his aggression. The violent nature of the sport has Black Canary worried, and she solicits Green Arrow's help in trying to turn Wildcat around.
There were several things interesting about this episode. First is the use of the old-school DC heros in Green Arrow, Black Canary and Wildcat. These are 1940s "Golden Age" DC characters. The writers really know their stuff and are going to great lengths to draw on the original source material. We even start to see the sparks of romance between Green Arrow and Black Canary. Another thing about this episode is how utterly brutal it is. Although the fighting is bloodless, I actually winced a couple of times during the fight sequences. Pretty hardcore stuff going on here.
In "The Ties That Bind," we see the Flash, Mr. Miracle, and Big Barda try to save Oberon from Granny Goodness by busting Kalibak out of Vermin Vundabar's prison. Sound convoluted? That's what I thought too. The episode fell a little flat for me, but I like the Flash in JLU and it was cool seeing Michal Dorn reprise his role as Kalibak. Kalibak even resembles Worf in my opinion.
"The Doomsday Sanction" was an interesting episode. We see Doomsday once again try to kill Superman (he "succeeded" in the comics). We see Lex Luthor running for president and gaining in the polls. (Voters appear to be sheep in the world of the Justice League ... sounds familiar.) We see the complete and utter misstrust the government has for the Justice League ... and we see Batman "take a bullet" for Superman.
Once again, Batman shows himself to be one of, if not the strongest member of the Justice League. His intellect, raw guts and self sacrifice save the man of steel from a kryptonite/nuclear bomb. This was another "edge of the seat" episode and rounded out a fun night of 'toon watching for me.
"The Cat and the Canary" centered on Green Arrow, Black Canary and Wildcat. After being put out to pasture by the JLU and limited to training new recruits, Wildcat has been participating in the Meta-brawl fight club to get out his aggression. The violent nature of the sport has Black Canary worried, and she solicits Green Arrow's help in trying to turn Wildcat around.
There were several things interesting about this episode. First is the use of the old-school DC heros in Green Arrow, Black Canary and Wildcat. These are 1940s "Golden Age" DC characters. The writers really know their stuff and are going to great lengths to draw on the original source material. We even start to see the sparks of romance between Green Arrow and Black Canary. Another thing about this episode is how utterly brutal it is. Although the fighting is bloodless, I actually winced a couple of times during the fight sequences. Pretty hardcore stuff going on here.
In "The Ties That Bind," we see the Flash, Mr. Miracle, and Big Barda try to save Oberon from Granny Goodness by busting Kalibak out of Vermin Vundabar's prison. Sound convoluted? That's what I thought too. The episode fell a little flat for me, but I like the Flash in JLU and it was cool seeing Michal Dorn reprise his role as Kalibak. Kalibak even resembles Worf in my opinion.
"The Doomsday Sanction" was an interesting episode. We see Doomsday once again try to kill Superman (he "succeeded" in the comics). We see Lex Luthor running for president and gaining in the polls. (Voters appear to be sheep in the world of the Justice League ... sounds familiar.) We see the complete and utter misstrust the government has for the Justice League ... and we see Batman "take a bullet" for Superman.
Once again, Batman shows himself to be one of, if not the strongest member of the Justice League. His intellect, raw guts and self sacrifice save the man of steel from a kryptonite/nuclear bomb. This was another "edge of the seat" episode and rounded out a fun night of 'toon watching for me.
Strayed over to the Disney Channel late last night and caught Kim Possible for the first time. The themesong drew me in of all things.
Not a bad little show. Kid-friendly, fun, what else would you expect from a show about a crime-fighting high school girl and her clumsy sidekick?
The idea of a naked mole rat is a little disturbing, but he seems to be a handy little guy. Ron Stoppable seems to like him.
Anyway, cute little show ... this one should be a parent favorite.
Not a bad little show. Kid-friendly, fun, what else would you expect from a show about a crime-fighting high school girl and her clumsy sidekick?
The idea of a naked mole rat is a little disturbing, but he seems to be a handy little guy. Ron Stoppable seems to like him.
Anyway, cute little show ... this one should be a parent favorite.
I worked on cleaning off the DVR a little more, watching a couple of episodes of Justice League Unlimited last night. I really want to upgrade to that dual-tuner model and I have to get through another 20 hours of programming first.
Anyway, the animation quote of the day comes from the JLU episode "Black Heart."
"I need both hands Professor Palmer," said Wonder Wonder woman to the miniaturized hero the Atom (Professor Ray Palmer) while fighting of hordes of alien robots. After punching another one down, Wonder Woman sticks him in her cleavage for safe transport to the alien mothership.
YES!
No son, this is not your Papa's Superfriends.
There were some other great lines in this particular episode ... proof that they have some great writers on board. I am enjoying the hell out of this so far.
In another scene, Batman calls out on his communicator during the battle with the aliens (as he plummets from his destroyed plane without a parachute): "Batman to all points. I could use some air support. (falling) Since I can't fly (falling) ... at all. (Still falling, no response from anyone.) Now would be good." Superman rescues him just feet before he hits the ground.
Eariler in the episode, the Atom is battling a monster of some sort in the lab:
Atom: "He's bigger then my car now, Katie. Personally I blame you." (Takes another punch at the beast.)
Katie, his lab assistant says, "How can it possibly be my fault?"
Atom: "Because otherwise it would be my fault. That can't be right – I'm a professor."
And then after the battle in his lab, the Atom says while facedown on the ground, "I'm going to lay here for a while, Katie. I'm old now, and I get tired."
Just great writing. Out of context, Wonder Woman's quote wins ... but trust me, this is one great show.
Anyway, the animation quote of the day comes from the JLU episode "Black Heart."
"I need both hands Professor Palmer," said Wonder Wonder woman to the miniaturized hero the Atom (Professor Ray Palmer) while fighting of hordes of alien robots. After punching another one down, Wonder Woman sticks him in her cleavage for safe transport to the alien mothership.
YES!
No son, this is not your Papa's Superfriends.
There were some other great lines in this particular episode ... proof that they have some great writers on board. I am enjoying the hell out of this so far.
In another scene, Batman calls out on his communicator during the battle with the aliens (as he plummets from his destroyed plane without a parachute): "Batman to all points. I could use some air support. (falling) Since I can't fly (falling) ... at all. (Still falling, no response from anyone.) Now would be good." Superman rescues him just feet before he hits the ground.
Eariler in the episode, the Atom is battling a monster of some sort in the lab:
Atom: "He's bigger then my car now, Katie. Personally I blame you." (Takes another punch at the beast.)
Katie, his lab assistant says, "How can it possibly be my fault?"
Atom: "Because otherwise it would be my fault. That can't be right – I'm a professor."
And then after the battle in his lab, the Atom says while facedown on the ground, "I'm going to lay here for a while, Katie. I'm old now, and I get tired."
Just great writing. Out of context, Wonder Woman's quote wins ... but trust me, this is one great show.
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