My Top 9 Star Wars Movies

May the 4th be with you! Yep, it’s Star Wars Day. I could talk about why this day is a thing, because I don’t get why a silly pun became a “holiday”, but nah I just thought of something even better! I’ve talked about the Star Wars movies here and there but never did an offical run down. Much like my last article it’s an idea long overdue, and now that the Skywalker arc is concluded the time has come.

Ever since 1977 the Star Wars movies have captured generations with there amazing blend of sci fi action and unforgettable characters. While it never had a place in my heart like Star Trek did, I did enjoy these movies. I had the toys and saw each on at least once in a theatre. One in a drive thru I think, remember those? So I decided it was about time to go over the nine main movies and discuss which one’s I liked the best to the worst. Yes I know there are a couple more films but I never watched Rogue One or Solo, not do I really want to.

The important thing to remember with this list is that I am not discussing which are the better films per se. This ranking is based on how mich I enjoyed these movies when I first saw them first in theatres and then over and over again later. Also, I did not re-watch any of these for this article so forgive me if my memory is fuzzy. And finally, as always, just opinion.

#9.Episode II-Attack of the Clones

It’s not easy to choose this or The Phantom Menace. So what makes this the one I hate the most? It’s just so damn boring. And forgettable. I hated this movie when I sae it and could count the numvber of times I rewatcjed it on one hand. What the heck even happens in it? The romance stuff I sorta remember, and the endless CGI of course. This is the one that left me completely empty.

A Look at Star Trek Opening Titles

If there is one subject I covered to death here, it’s Star Trek. Nealy 55 years of TV shows and movies have created a franchise almost unique in its popularity. True, I react to the new shows with the same shrug of indifference my parents had to the Next Generation when it came around. But while I can’t embrace the way Trek is today I can respect that it’s still growing and thriving. However, despite over 150 articles there is one thing I never did. Discuss the opening titles for each series.

One reason may be that until recently there were only four, so it may not have seemed worth it. And I did do a run down of movie music so it’s only fair to go over the TV openings. I went back and forth on whether or not this should be a “Top 10” or not. I decided not to, and instead we’ll just go through them and discuss what I liked, and didn’t, about each.

Star Trek

It’s fantastic. What else can I say? A simple beauty pass of the Enterprise with great narration by William Shatnr. What makes the “Where no man” speech so great is how simple it is. It’s not a convluted backstory that we can’t grasp. No, it’s this is the name of the ship and what we’re out here looking for. Simple message statement. I do have on one gripe. I talked before about how in these days shows often listed one, maybe two, big stars of the shows and the rest are relegated to “co-starring” during the end credis. This is show is a prime example of that, with only Shatner and Nimoy listed. At least season two they added DeForest Kelly. I always wanted to see a an opening that had all the name and thnakfully the new series all did away with that nonesens. The haunting music is perfect too and makes this the iconic theme it is. Music by Alexander Courage, of course.

My Favorite Characters-Eunice Higgins

I said I was done with these but couldn’t pass this one up. It amazes me how a silly sketch show managed to give us one of the most complex characters you’ll see on TV (from the old days). The show of course was "The Carol Burnett Show". It's even more amazing that she didn't appear until Season 6. "The Family" segments replaced the lame "sister" segments and were, obviously, a lot more memorable. 

Eunice Higgins

 

Eunice is made funny of course because Carol Burnett is a funny lady. With her exploding temper and the way she could convey things just with her eyes. But she was also a actress so there is always some drama within the comedy. The sketches, and there a few of them, did a lot more than just give us something to laugh at for fifteen minutes. This felt like a genuine dysfunctional family and the laughs came not from jokes but from the situation. Little wonder it seemed obvious making a sitcom out of it.

Reviewing Sitcom Openings

One thing I haven’t done enough is take some TV openings and review them. So far, I have only done this with The Cosby Show, the TGIF shows, the Disney anthologies, and an article where I discussed how theme songs evolve with the series. So I decided, it was time to try this again. (and yes, Nostalgia Critic did this idea once too).


This is just an experiment of sorts, but if I like it maybe I will do more. No order or common theme, just throwing out an opening and reviewing it. And I will stick with sitcoms this time around. Yes it’s true sitcom openings are hard to review because they are usually so generic. But let’s give it a shot anyway.



Night Court

Night Court is one of those themes that tries to trick you. It looks like its going for a gritty realistic cop show. Then the jazz music kicks in, and you can tell it’s not that. It’s amazing how well this music sets the tone for whole series. The visuals are limited. All we see is our actor smiling mixed with quick shots of New York at night. And yet, the tone is set perfectly!

10 Classic Symphonies Used in TV Commercials

It seems almost ridiculous that world famous music made centuries ago by world renowned composers would fit in with a modern commercial for some random product. But, it works! Not only does it work, but very often the music will suddenly be synonymous with the products its selling,

The William Tell Overture

This is one of the most overused pieces of music ever. Even appearing in everything from Lone Ranger to The Brady Bunch (twice!).

Top 10 Disney Animated Adaptations

One thing Disney has always excelled at is there adaptations. In fact more movies than you may even realize are adapted from existing novels and fairy tales (101 Dalmatians for instance, “The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith”). It takes a lot to take a story that has been adapted a million times and do it well enough so people almost forget there was an original source. So what I decided to do was list the ten films that I think adapted the source material the best to the point where they were really close to the source and maybe even elevated it a bit.

This will not include Lion King (I don’t think it was meant to be a spin on Hamlet or Kimba) or Frozen (I’ve heard its connection to Snow Queen is tenuous at best). Princess & The Frog made a lot of changes and Pocohanta was more American History than a novel (besides it gets so much wrong it’s ridiculous). And let’s forget about the lame live ation re-make’s here, FYI the Lion King one was painful.

#10.The Little Mermaid

To be honest this barely makes the lsit, the changes to the Hans Christian Anderson story being so great. It seems the only think Disney kept was Ariel’s motivation, to be human. Just about everything else is changed including the ending where sacrifices her life. Some things from the love story are still there, but not a lot.