Friday, November 11, 2005

Lining up

A while back we talked about the opening night of the Star Wars prequels.

Madness. Simply madness.

I saw Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in the theater. But I didn't wait in line for weeks to see them. Did you?

Well, with the purchase of a couple DVD's (Starwoids & Star Wait) you can experience the magic of waiting in line IN YOUR OWN HOME!

STARWOIDS:
Easily the better of the two films in all aspects EXCEPT TITLE. According to the flick, Starwoids is the name for obsessive Star Wars fans. Kinda like Trekkies for Star Trek fans, Ringers for Lord of the Rings fans and Stulutoos for Stuart Little 2 fans.
Either way, Starwoids is hard to say. You sound like a retarded New Yorker trying to say "Star Wars."
The film starts opens with narration by director Kevin Smith. When I say director, I am referring to the fact that his occupation is that of director on films such as Clerks and Mallrats. He didn't direct this film. Too bad.
Starwoids covers two different lines (for Phantom Menace): one at the Mann Village theater and one at Grauman's Chinese. The Village is a BEAUTIFUL theater. In fact, many people think it is NICER than the Chinese.
The film jumps back between each line and many other Star Wars fan activities. You see a high school with a Star Wars musical, an obsessive toy collector and a bunch of people that stalk George Lucas.
The line is the best part of the film, however. You really get into the mind of a nerd. One nerd proclaims "I think God must be ashamed as a creator once he saw the preview for this movie and realized he hasn't created anything this good."
Enjoy eternal damnation, kid; it is probably easier than having to see Greedo shoot first.

STAR WAIT:
This was shot entirely at Grauman's Chinese as the fans lined up for Attack of the Clones.
This flick is a bit more like a reality show than a true documentary. Unfortunately no one gets voted off. One guy is offered $10,000 by DJ Rick Dees to leave the line. He refuses. That's would be sticking it to the man, if you consider Rick Dees to be "the man." I hardly consider him a man.
Some of the Starwoids return for this one. Many don't age well.
One of the bonus features is a partial commentary track by Joel, Trace and Josh from 'Mystery Science Theater 3000.' It was worth the sticker price all by itself.

STAR WAIT AGAIN:This isn't really a sequel, it's a 15 minute bonus on the DVD. It shows most of the same crew that waited at the Chinese for the last two years. This time they are waiting at the Chinese for Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately it WASN'T SHOWING at the Chinese.

This mattered little since the whole point of the line is to hang out with other nerds and pretend to be homeless. Even in Attack of the Clones the folks lined up did not even exceed 1/4 of the seats in the theater.

Lining up is just pointless fun... and so are these DVDs.

14 comments:

  1. Even though Woids is better, Wait is a better buy at just $6 at Target.

    One of the coolest things is that you can watch the transformation of Hollywood Blvd over the course of the 6 years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11/11/2005

    You Star Wars men think you are so tough, but you won't be so tough when Don Muracco drops an elbow on you... FUJI STYLE!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11/11/2005

    I have never waited in line for a movie. Does that make me more or less sad? I have bought tickets day in advance before which is kind of sad.

    I'm curious about Star Wait if only to listen to the commentary with Joel. He was the best part of MST3K.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11/11/2005

    I had heard about this movie not too long after Episode I was released in theaters. I was never able to see it until it arrived on video. It was more than worth the wait. I consider myself a Starwoid. I waited in line for tickets to Episode I. Although I waited in line for only 6 hours. But this movie absolutely captures the atmosphere of what it was like to wait in line. You looked around at the line, and saw people that you would probably have nothing to do with in any other aspect of life. But they were there in line with you, waiting with the same anticipation and excitement. For that day, they were your friends. You identified with them in a way that you cannot identify with anyone else. No matter where you came from, you had a passion for Star Wars, and you were going to get tickets to the first show no matter what. In Starwoids, someone make reference to this event as their version of Woodstock. That very sentiment was uttered by someone waiting in line with me. Nothing could be truer. In a way, waiting in line was more fun than seeing Episode I itself. Everyone was in full fanboy mode. Everything that day was Star Wars. I waited in line at a theater that houses 30 screens. As you can imagine, it's a pretty big building. No one was allowed to wait before 8am. The entrance was blocked off by police. When the barricade was cleared, the race was on. People hiding out in a nearby field raced for the building. The parking lot turned into a raceway. People were jumping out of moving cars to be first in line. By the time tickets went on sale later that day, the line had more than wrapped around the building. Literally thousands of people had shown up. It's that spirit of excitement and togetherness that Starwoids captures. If you are a Star Wars fan, you see so much of yourself in the people featured in the movie. If you didn't have the honor of waiting in line (and yes, it was an honor) this is as close as you can get to experiencing what it was like. Save for the births of my children, it was the best time of my life. So see Starwoids, and get a taste of what it was like to be there.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous11/14/2005

    Kobe -

    Paragraphs, smaragraphs. Remember I M Da' Bomb.

    Yours,

    Anonymous

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11/20/2005

    not enough duff -

    You were in the line behind her garbage cans? I think I remember you. My eyes are still burning.

    Peace Out!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11/21/2005

    I only posted it once - I swear. Sweetie - your site when crazy with my post!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous11/21/2005

    I only posted it once - I swear. Sweetie - your site when crazy with my post!

    ReplyDelete