Dude, what's with the weather?

I don't know what's going on with the weather around here, but it is sucking majorly. We've only had one day decent enough to do yardwork. It was really cold over the weekend. It's supposed to get up to 68 degrees today. Maybe I can get some stuff done after work.

So the final Star Wars comes out in a couple days. I can't believe this entire movie chain has gone on nearly thirty years. It's amazing when you think about it. I can remember being in the third grade and my aunt took me and my brother and sister to watch Star Wars. The theater was so packed, my aunt stood at the back of the theater because there weren't enough seats for three of us and her in one area. Standing at the back was the only way she could keep an eye on us. I remember it being so magical. People give George Lucas a lot of flack about the generally poor quality of the storylines and dialogue and whatnot, but there's something to be said when a person can capture the collective imagination of several generations of movie-goers. If I have any complaint about the newer prequels, it's that I think George Lucas is so in love with the available technology, that's he's sacrificed some of the focus on the more human elements of the story to get in all his fancy special effects. He's basically made the technology a character in the movie, in and of itself. For some reason, I really appreciate the old-fashioned way of movie trickery. I think there's a finer craft at work. That's why I was pleased to learn that not everything in The Lord of the Rings movie wasn't just CGI. I liked that they played tricks with perspective and camera angles and used miniatures. I don't know how much of that "old school" mentality is at work with the new Star Wars movies. I was really disappointed that he made Yoda a computer character rather than keeping with the old puppet technique. I think the puppet makes the character more lifelike, even if it doesn't look at snazzy as the computer model. Probably, it would have been best if he would have used a combination of puppetry and CGI.

I probably won't get to see the new Star Wars until it comes out on DVD, though. Either that or I'll have to wait until the movie is practically at the end of it's theatrical run. I really hate dealing with crowds at the movies and I really hate how no one knows how to behave properly at movies anymore. It's just not an enjoyable experience for me anymore going to the movies. People just talk like they're in their living rooms and kick the chairs and generally just don't give a damn about anyone else in the theater.