It has been a geek's dream summer so far at the movies. We've seen Iron Man, Indiana Jones, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy and now The Dark Knight. How could it get any better? Well, for me, there is still the new Star Wars animated movie coming in August.
The Dark Knight. What can I say that hasn't already been said? This is one movie that not only lived up to the hype, but surpassed it. What I find great about the whole phenomenon is that the movie is bringing in people who would probably never go see a 'superhero' movie. People who are going because they have heard people talking about it and want to see what all the fuss is about. Or people curious to see heath Ledger's final performance. Either way, there couldn't have been a better movie to show these people that not all superhero movies are mindless slugfests. The Dark Knight explores themes such as what a hero really is, hope, sacrifice and human nature in the face of chaos. The fact that the hero is dressed up like a giant bat is almost a secondary concern. It is a movie that takes more than one viewing to absorb everything it is trying to get across. And if heath Ledger isn't at least nominated for an Oscar, then the Academy are bigger idiots than I already think they are.
On the Star Wars front, I am really looking forward to the theatrical release of 'The Clone Wars'. In case you haven't been watching TV and have missed the commercials, the movie is a computer animated tale taking place between Episode II and III. When I first heard about it I was a bit iffy, but once I finally got to see some clips from the movie, I got more and more excited about it. The movie looks fun, which is what Star Wars always was for me. The prequels, while very good, never quite had that sense of fun that the original Star Wars had. I think this movie will bring that back.
My excitement for 'The Clone Wars' has spilled over into my collecting. It had been awhile since I had bought any Star Wars items for the collection, but this got me excited about some of the new merchandise that was coming out. So when I heard that Toys R Us was going to be having a Midnight Madness event last Friday for the launch of the Clone Wars toys, I made a decision to go. So last Friday afternoon my son and I headed over to Burlington. I had gotten a hotel room so we wouldn't have to make the drive back at one in the morning. We got to Burlington early enough to do some shopping and to go see the late showing of Hellboy. We made it to Toys R Us around 11:30 to find about 15 people ahead of us in line. We got into line just as more people pulled up. In all there were maybe 40 people waiting for midnight. I was amazed at the number of little kids who were there. It was good to see that Star Wars is enchanting a whole new generation. The boy in front of us couldn't have been more than 8 or 9, in his pajamas and wound up something fierce to get in there and get some of the new Lego Star Wars vehicles. Ryan and I were after action figures, including the exclusive General Grievous figure. I tend to go for the exclusives and hard to find items now as there are just too many figures released for me to try and collect them. Finally, right at 12:01, the doors opened and we all trooped in. I grabbed the Grievous figure first. There were plenty of products to choose from and before long our basket was full. Though I stuck to my budget, it wasn't easy since they had the brand new Millennium Falcon. But I fought temptation and only bought a few figures. There were three guys there dressed as Stormtroopers and the whole evening had a fun feel to it. Ryan and I both left happy with our purchases. It was nice to be able to share something like that with my son and I am looking forward to the release of the movie.
The Trooper and I
Ryan and Stormtrooper
So there you have it. As a self-proclaimed geek, this has been a great summer to feed that geekiness. I used to do better hiding it, but I figure I'm too old now to deny my true nature; I am a nerd, but at least I am finally okay with that.
Anyhow, I am on vacation this week. Hoping to do some writing and finally finish up a story that I have taken way too long to write. Also looking forward to catching up on my reading, tv watching and filling my quota of doing nothing. I will try and do just a little bit better about posting more than once every three weeks, but no promises! So until next time, May the Force be with you!
