Chapter 10:

Duel Of The Mates

 

     To the surprised dismay and grim amusement of embittered and rogue Original Jedi as myself, the Gen Nexters were so excited to see the first original STAR WARS film from Lucas since ’77 they camped outside theatres for months so as to be the first to buy tickets for the show, a ridiculous over commitment to the cause that, alas, sadly affirmed the lack of good jobs at the time.  When the eagerly awaited May day arrived, the new cinematic Cineplexes and Coliseums just as eagerly and greedily satisfied this excitement by playing nothing but the new STAR WARS film in all their theatres from 12 am on the opening day onwards.  Having also managed to purchase a ticket for the evening of the first day, I showed up after another long and tiring day at “work” to find a long line of happy and exuberant Gen Nexters in full party mode, many wearing the costumes of characters from the new film and the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, waiting outside the theatre. 

At last the line began moving in, we drifted into our assigned new theatre, and settled in our rows of seats set at a more significant slope than cinemas of yore so as to not have to worry about bigger people in front of you.  Soon a triumphant roar burst out from the mostly young audience as the lights began to dim and the curtains slowly slid open on the film created after Lucas donned the writer/director hats and teamed up again with Baker, Burtt-this time back as Editor-Daniels, Davis, McDiarmid and Williams from the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and actor August, production designer Bocquet, producer McCallum, DOP Tattersall and costume designer Trisha Biggar from the YOUNG INDY CHRONICLES on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Palpaberg roasting indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, released on May 19, 1999.

 

“The Force is unusually strong with him.”

 

The exultant roar continued as the familiar sight and sound of the Twentieth Century Fox intro played on the screen, followed by the Lucasfilm logo, which slowly changed from Springing green to Wintry silver to Summer Oscar gold.  Then the delirious young crowd happily chanted the equally familiar opening fairy tale preamble.  And then the STAR WARS logo burst on the screen and receded in the starswept distance as the Main Theme exploded out of the speakers, leading to the equally familiar rising golden word crawl and its surprising revelation of a petty taxation dispute leading to a blockade of Neimoidian spaceships of the planet Naboo and two Jedi Knights, “…guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy”, being secretly sent to Naboo by the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate to resolve the dispute.  And then the film began with the sight and sound of a CGI spacecraft blasting across the screen from left to right like the model of the Millenium Falcon as it escaped just in time from the exploding Deathly Moon at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, linking the two films and immediately affirming how much had changed in film art since ’83. 

     This link to the twilit year of ’83 continued when the spaceship blasted into a group of almost circular and harmonious Neimoidian spaceships ringing the brave new CGI world of Naboo.  The ship landed inside one of the Neimoidian spaceships and disgorged two Jedi Knights, who actually turned out to be the tall, older, ponytailed, bearded and implicitly Gilliam and Cowardly Lion linked Jedi Knight Qui Gonn Jinn and the younger, clean shaven and implicitly Lynch linked Padawan learner Jedi in training Obi Wan Kenobi-played by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, respectively.  Significantly, the presence of the Jedi spooked the Neimoidian Trade Federation leaders, the implicitly Ronald Reagan linked Vice Roy Nute Gunray-played by Silas Carson-and his deputy, the implicitly George Bush sr. linked Rune Haako-played by Jerome St. John Blake and James Taylor, respectively. 

The two Jedi also enraged the insidious and implicitly Palpaberg and Wicked Warlock of the West linked Dark Lord of the Sith, Sidious-played again by McDiarmid-who turned out to be secretly behind the irritating Neimoidian plot when he arrived via holo-link to belittle Gunray and Haako and order Naboo invaded and the Jedi killed, thus immediately and implicitly linking Lord Palpaberg to Evil and backstabbing skullduggery to implicitly affirm that Lucas was not very happy with his “friend” as he had implied throughout the YOUNG INDY CHRONICLES.  But the Jedi Knights successfully evaded the toxic gas that filled their waiting room to kill them, and broke out of this room and fought their way through ranks of witless battle droids aka combots to the bridge of the Neimoidian craft, Jinn’s Springing green lightsaber evoking that of young Skyrocker in STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, and Kenobi’s sky blue lightsaber evoking that of old Kenobi and young Skywalker in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE and STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. 

Once at the bridge of the spacecraft, Jinn tried to use his Springing green lightsaber to burn his way through the closed blast doors to get to the bridge.  Significantly, the sight and sound of the metal door melting in a red circle evoked the sight and sound of the Id monster trying to melt its way through the main door of the dwelling of Professor Morbius on Altair IV in FORBIDDEN PLANET, ominously linking Jinn to ideous and kideous monsters and reminding us that Naboo rhymed with taboo.  Unable to melt through the door before they were scared off by larger and more powerfully blasting destroyer droids who evoked the huge black crab-like Garthim monsters that acted as guards for the Evil Skeksis in THE DARK CRYSTAL in another link to ’83, Jinn and Kenobi joined the CGI combot and destroyer droid invasion of the brave new CGI world of taboo Naboo that soon began.  Once an Naboo, they encountered all sorts of CGI animal and bird denizens, and more human-like beings like a goofy, witless, and, hence, Scarecrow evoking and implicitly linked character-played by Ahmed Best-that Jinn rescued from the invading CGI machines and who soon identified himself as a Gungan called Jar Jar Binks, returning the Comedy narrative to a Lucas film. 

Significantly, while Binks was identifying himself to Jinn in a forest, a combot on a flying platform appeared chasing and blasting away at the lightsaber damaged and, hence, frozen in Tin Man impotence Kenobi.  The Cowardly Jinn made swift work with the impudent combot, blasting it and its flying platform out of the air by deflecting its blaster shots with his lightsaber, evoking the sight and sound of Skywalker using his Spring green lightsaber to deflect the blaster shots of an Imp on a speeder bike roaring at him and then cutting down the bike in the towering forests on the fecund moon of Endor in STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI in another open link to that film and to ’83.  And so a suitably chastened, embarrassed and grateful Kenobi rejoined Jinn, and the Scarey Binks soon led the Cowardly Jinn and the Tinny Kenobi to his underwater and all CGI Gungan City, an all CGI city that evoked the underwater city Madison led Bauer to at the end of SPLASH.  Taken to the Gungan Council, the leader of the city and the Gungans, the Hitchcock resembling and implicitly linked Boss Nass-played by Blessed-gave them, with the help of some persuasive and Forcefull words from Jinn, an underwater vehicle called a “bungo” to take them to Theed, the capital city of Naboo, via the planet’s oceans and its underwater core. 

Significantly, during this journey the goofy Binks revealed to the Jedi that he had been banished by his fellow Gungans for causing a foolish accident, implicitly linking him to the equally goofy, foolish and accident prone Landis.  Evading the blockbuster CGI beasts that thronged beneath the surface of the oceans of Naboo, the Ozian trio surfaced alongside Theed, the capital city of Naboo with its ominous name that almost spelt “death” backwards, disembarked and made their way into the city.  Soon they had freed the pretty and possibly SCC and Dorothy linked Queen Padme Amidala-whose name had the same cadence as Princess Yuki Akizuki in HIDDEN FORTRESS and who resembled the implicitly Palpaberg linked Ra in STARGATE to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Palpy on one level, and was played by Natalie Portman-her Smith resembling and implicitly linked major domo Sio Bibble-played by Oliver F. Davies-and her handmaidens-one of whom, Tache, was played by SCC, affirming the possible implicit link of Princess Amidala to SCC, an implication reaffirmed by the fact that the Theed castle scenes were shot in Italy-from the insidious grip of the Lord Sidious manipulated Neimoidians and escaped with them from Naboo on a gleaming chrome silver J-type 327 Nubian spacecruiser ominously linked to the 237 date of the TZ disaster. 

     Damaged by the guns of the Neimoidian spaceships as they blasted through the blockade but rescued by the calm repairs on their damaged shield generator by a small but plucky and knowing astromech droid named R2D2-played again by Baker-and the equally cool piloting of the Murray resembling and possibly linked Ric Olie-played by Ralph Brown-the Jedi decided to stop off for repairs on Tatooine before heading to Coruscant, home of the Supreme Chancellor of the galaxy and the Galactic Senate and its chorus of cant.  Heading into the small desert settlement of Mos Espa upon landing on Tatooine, the Scarey Binkis, the Cowardly Jinn, the Tinny R2D2 and the Dorothyish Amidala, in the disguise of one of her handmaidens, returned the Comedy and Western narratives and the Ozian theme to a Stinkious film.  Soon after arriving in Mos Espa, the Ozian quartet soon chanced upon the used spaceship parts shoppe of the small, winged, irascible, all CGI and implicitly Kubrick and flying monkey linked Watto-played by Andy Secombe-and his implicitly Cameron linked and tech luvin’ Munchkid slave assistant Anakin “Ani” Skywalker-who also was an Amidala luvin’ Munchkid, as he was smitten immediately with her when she walked in and enthusiastically compared her to an angel on “…the moons of Iago”, preparing us for his own jealous rage in an episode to come, and was played by Jake Lloyd-a dynamic duo that reminded us that Cameron was inspired to create film art after watching 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY as a teen, making it fitting that a Discovery I space pod was seen in Watto’s junk pile.

Unable to afford Watto’s exorbitant prices and surprised and impressed by an unusually powerful, all natural and mid-chlorian burstin’ J.D. Jedi Force he could sense within Anakin, a boy who turned out to have been born to a virgin Shmi in a not so sly implicit dig at Cameron’s status as a neo “film messiah”, a neo  messianic status that evoked Neo’s own messianic status in THE MATRIX, Jinn made a bet with Watto to sponsor young Skywalker in the Boonta Eve pod race, and if Skywalker won the race, Watto would give them the parts they needed to repair the Nubian cruiser and they would allow him to keep the winnings.  Needless to say, it was an offer Watto couldn’t refuse.  And so young Skywalker’s racing pod was repaired near his slave quarters where we met his implicitly Bigelow linked mother Shmi-played by August-and his pet project, a “naked” protocol droid named C3PO-played again by Daniels-slave quarters that evoked living quarters seen on the planet Akir in BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS to affirm the implicit link of Cameron to Skywalker. 

And so began the pod race, a pod race overseen by an all CGI Jabba the Hutt and one that came across as a more cutesy but no less deadly and mostly CGI version of the all natural Death Race in DEATH RACE 2000, fittingly linking Skywalker to Corman to affirm the implicit link of the all natural Jedi to Cameron, who began his film career with Corman and BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS.  A full Force throttle death pod race that slowly wittled out most of its competitors and left young Skywalker in his tiny death pod battling it out with the nasty, gremlin resembling and possibly Verhoeven linked Sebulba-played by Lewis Macleod-in his much larger death pod with its huge converging X engines and its orange colour that reminded us that orange was the national colour of the Netherlands to implicitly affirm the link of Sebulba to Verhoeven.  And, after a truly titanic and David versus Goliath struggle with him over the course of the last of the twilit trio of laps needed to win the race, young Skywalker left Sebulba, destroyed by his foolish and arrogant pride in classic Lucas tradition, crashing out but alive and disappointed behind him as he zoomed smoothly into the crowded grandstand and over the finish line to speed race victory.

     And so the Forcefull kidkin Skywalker won his first death pod race and his freedom, leaving his mother and Tatooine behind and heading with the Scarey Binkis, the Cowardly Jinn, the Tinny Kenobi and R2D2 and the Dorothyish Amidala to Coruscant in the repaired 327 Nubian space cruiser to meet the implicitly Great Oz linked Supreme Chancellor.  Significantly, as Jinn and Skywalker were nearing the Nubian, they were suddenly and unexpectedly waylaid by the implicitly either Catmull or Marshall and Nikko linked Darth Maul-dressed in black like the Black Knight of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, and with a heavily madeup red horned devil’s face that evoked the heavily madeup faces of the priests of Kali in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, and played by Ray Park-the Sith Apprentice of Lord Sidious.  Successfully fighting off Maul and escaping this inconclusive lightsaber duel, Jinn joined the rest of the gang in the Nubian and blasted off for the not quite so brave new CGI world of Coruscant, the chorus of cant resounding and implicitly Emerald City linked worldwide city of the Galactic Republic that evoked the equally towering city of the future in METROPOLIS.  Here on a landing pad were met the insidious and implicitly Spielberg linked Naboo Senator Palpatine-also played by McDiarmid-and Supreme Chancellor Valorum-ironically played by Stamp, given that he had played the cruel and implicitly Lucas linked General Zod in SUPERMAN II.

     Significantly, soon after arrival on Coruscant, Jinn and Kenobi presented young Skywalker to the twelve member Jedi Council at the top of their Jedi Temple, a council headed not by the implicitly Glinda linked Yoda-played again by Oz-the alien and implicitly Coppola linked Oppo Rancisis-played by St. John Blake-the humanoid and implicitly Cronenberg linked Ki-Adi Mundi-played by Carson-but by the fully human Mace Windu-played by Samuel L. Jackson-whose height, shaven head and African heritage evoked SRT.  To the surprised disappointment of the two intrepid Jedi Knights, the Jedi Council, while impressed with Skywalker’s naturally flowin’ J.D. Jedi Force, rejected him as a Jedi apprentice and as “…the One who would bring balance to the Force” because they sensed too much anger, fear and hate within him.  Defying the council, the indie Jinn vowed to train young Skywalker himself.  Just as significantly, the scenes in the Jedi Council were intercut with just as fruitless scenes of political posturing and impotent stalemate that led to no help for Naboo in the Galactic Senate, a huge senate chamber that evoked an even larger United Nations General Assembly and that contained a twilit trio of E.T. delegates that affirmed the implicit link of Sen. Palpatine to Lord Palpaberg.  As fed up with this stalemate as Jinn was with the refusal of the Jedi Council to accept the Forcefull young Skywalker as a Jedi Apprentice, Queen Amidala called for a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Chancellor Valorum that led to his ouster and the election of Sen. Palpatine as the new Chancellor.  Significantly, with a fellow Naboo now in charge of the Galactic Senate, Queen Amidala decided to leave Chancellor Palpatine to do his best on Coruscant while she returned to the brave new CGI world of Naboo to help her people and planet. 

     Linking up with Boss Nass and the all CGI Gungans upon arrival on taboo Naboo, Queen Amidala, her personal head of security Captain Panaka-played by Hugh Quarshie-her fellow human citizens of Theed and the equally human Jinn and Kenobi cooked up a plan to get the all CGI but Good and human-like Gungans led by General Binkis to take on and take out the Evil, ahuman, inhuman, lookalike and beastly all CGI blockbuster machine combot tin solder and destroyer droid army while the Queen, Capt. Panaka, the Jedi Knights and the rest of the indomitable citizens of Theed stormed the capital to capture Gunray, Haako and the city’s space fighter hangar and launch a Yellow Brick Road coloured and chrome tipped Naboo space fighter attack on the Neimoidian blockade ships to knock out the droid control ship and end the bitter beastly blockbuster battle below.  A plan that worked tragicomically well, given that the knockout blow which destroyed the droid control ship and ended the battle between the idiosyncratic Gungans and the lookalike combots and destroyer droids was curiously and unexpectedly accomplished by young Skywalker and R2D2 in a commandeered Nubian fighter whose implicit link to Cameron was reaffirmed by allusions to T2 in his scenes.  However, while the combots were knocked out and Gunray and Haako captured by Queen Amidala, Capt. Panaka and the indomitable Theed soldiers, an epic but eerily silent lightsaber battle between the Cowardly Jinn with his Springing green rightsaber, the tinny Kenobi with his blue sky saber and the implicitly Nikko linked Darth Maul with his Vader evoking blood red nightsaber unexpectedly broke out on Naboo that led to Maul killing Jinn and Kenobi killing Maul, thus ending the film on a grim but truly trimatic note with a saber battle, space battle and land battle all taking place at the same time, evoking the equally trimatic land, saber and space battles that took place at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI.  Thus, as an harmonious alliance of human and CGI characters defeated the beastly blockbuster all CGI machine invasion and conquest of the brave new CGI world of taboo Naboo, in the end, Lucas implied his hope that film artists that balanced CGI with a vital humanity in their film art would triumph over ahuman all CGI film art like TOY STORY.

     And so the film ended with happy and triumphant celebrations breaking out in Theed that evoked those seen and heard in the Agammenon segment of TIME BANDITS and at the end of THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN to reaffirm that Gilliam was being addressed on one level in the film, and the newly elected Chancellor Palpatine returning to Naboo to congratulate the victors, and Kenobi raised from Padawan learner to full Jedi Knight by Yoda and given the venerable Jedi Master’s permission to train young Skywalker, thus returning the Journey of Self Discovery to a Lucas film.  Curiously, a purple CGI Force ball was also presented by Queen Amidala to Boss Nass in a ceremony attended by living and CGI characters that reaffirmed the implicit new hope of Lucas that a healthy and harmonious balance would be achieved between a vital humanity and CGI in film art in the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art, fittingly evoking the medal awarding ceremony and celebration at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE without the creepy and implicitly incestuous ambience to that film returning in the first installment of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy to affirm that implicit new hope of Lucas, in the end. 

     And so, while Lucas could not undue the damage he had done to himself and his reputation in the Eighties, nonetheless the complicated and spectacular CGI, creative and memorable costumes, makeup and sets, able acting and soaring Williams soundtrack that captured the spirit of the new trilogy all made clear that he and his talented cast and crew had successfully blasted off to whole neo full throttle and CGI enhanced galaxy far, far away.  And so Lucas and company did not have long to wait for an implicit reply, for baffled and disappointed “Gen Next” audiences who were angrily convinced that he had stolen their sunshine and stood revealed yet again as Lord Stinkious, the stinkiest and Darkest of the Dark Lords, dumped all over the film like “Gen X” boomer brat audiences had done to STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI years earlier.  Making the implicit new hope in Stinky in MARS ATTACKS!, STARSHIP TROOPERS, THE FIFTH ELEMENT and THE MATRIX ironic indeed, particularly given that THE MATRIX remained the film of the year.  So much so that it took the Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects Oscars away from STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, Oscars that were usually won by a STAR WARS film.  In fact, to add insult to injury, no Oscars at all were awarded to STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, implicitly affirming that the august Academy believed, like most audiences, that it was THE MATRIX that kicked off a neo eon of film art “…without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where everything is possible.”

      As audiences cursed and howled in angry and disappointed anguish, a dismay increased by the film’s massive movie tie-in merchandise campaign which made the film come across as another shopoforic filmmercial, Lord Stinkious also did not have long to wait for a response from fellow film artists, for SCC imp roasted him in the form of the lost and confused sadolescent Parker “Parkie” Denton-played by Noah Shebib aka FourTee-in her first twilit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999), released at Cannes on the same day as STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.  The following day at Cannes, Lee implicitly wondered if Stinky would slaughter the competition with STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE in ‘99 like STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE did in ‘77, an implication affirmed by the implicit link of Stinky to serial killer David Berkowitz aka “the Son of Sam”-played by Michael Badulucco-who terrorized New York in ’77 and again on film in the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Stinkious addressing docufeature film SUMMER OF SAM (1999). 

        The publishing world soon weighed in too, with John Baxter accusing Stinky of living in a fantasy world at Skywalker Ranch in Myth Maker: the life and work of George Lucas [1999].  A sentiment echoed by Pollock, who found that Stinky would not come out of or let him into the Ranch to help him revise Skywalking: the life and films of George Lucas-updated edition [1999].  Then, fittingly, given the angry disappointment of audiences, the year ended with the greedy, frightened, Wicked Witch controlled and implicitly Stinkious linked Magistrate Samuel Phillipse-played by Richard Griffiths-getting his head hacked off by the righteously furious, ultraviolent and implicitly Verhoeven linked Headless Hessian Horseman-played by Walken-in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Burton animaction artbuster SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999), released on November 17, 1999.

        Significantly, this implicit interest in Stinky continued in the first year of the new millennium, when Lee’s ex-New York University (NYU) film student colleague and friend Lee Ang implicitly responded to STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas roasting hung fu docufeature artbuster CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000), released at Cannes on May 18, 2000 almost exactly a year after the release of the first film of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.

 

“Do you think you are a real master?”

 

        Indeed, over the course of the film the implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked Wudan sword Master Li Mu Bai-as shaven headed as THX 1138, and played by Chow Yun-Fat-failed to lead the rash, headstrong and implicitly Portman and Dorothy linked Yu Jen-played by Zhang Ziyi-a young woman who flowed with a natural but ill disciplined Force, from the Dark path of the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Jade Fox-her name reminding us that all four of the STAR WARS films were released by Twentieth Century Fox, and played by Cheng Pei-Pei-to the Light path of Wudan.  Along the way, it was slowly revealed that Master Li also failed to truly connect with and marry an older woman he had luved years earlier, the implicitly Bigelow and Glinda linked Yu Shu Lien-played by Michelle Yeoh.  These two failures of Master Li reminded us that Lucas had failed years earlier to bring the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy to a triumphant trimax with STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, and had now failed to truly connect with and kick off the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy with STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, affirming the implicit link of Li to Lucas, an implicit link affirmed by the film’s allusions to RASHOMON, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, STRANGE DAYS, THE MATRIX and THX 1138.

     In addition, the film’s Ozian theme and Master Li’s 400 year old Green Destiny Sword reaffirmed the implicit link of Lucas to Li, reminding us of the Ozian theme of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the two STAR WARS trilogies and STRANGE DAYS, and of the Springing green lightsaber of Skyrocker in STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI.  Thus, the sight and sound of Master Li dying of poisoning after killing Jade Fox, in the end, implied the belief of Lee that Lucas had also killed himself with his poisonous relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, in the end, an implication made more galling by the fact that CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON was, like THE MATRIX, a better and more innovative film than STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE that truly kicked off a neo eon of CGI enhanced docufeature film art and was also fittingly rewarded with a Fourceful foursome of Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Film and Best Musical Score.  Curiously, four months to the day after the release of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, Lee also implicitly struck back at Lord Stinkious and STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film BAMBOOZLED (2000), released on September 18, 2000.

 

“Let’s take this form,

this very American tradition,

into the new millennium..

[with] three dimensional characters!”

 

        For the sight and sound of the embattled, frustrated, tall, shaven head, Jackson resembling, Mace Windu evoking and, hence, Stinkious linked CNS tv writer Pierre Delacroix-played by Damon Wayans-coming up with the outrageously racist Mantan New Millenium Variety Show starring the Jar Jon Binkis evoking Manray as Mantan-played by Savion Glover-for his hectoring, disappointed, Tarantino referencing and possibly linked CNS tv senior Vice-President Dunwitty-played by Michael Rapaport-implied that Lee believed that far from kicking off a Skyrockin’ neo eon of CGI enhanced film art with STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, Lord Stinkious had simply returned racist Afro-American caricatures to the Temple Theatre with the goofy Binkis.  Indeed, the resemblance and implicit link of Manray’s friend and showmate Womack aka Sleep ‘n’ Eat-played by Jimmy Davidson-to Capt. Panaka, and of Delacroix’s assistant Sloan Hopkins-played by Jada Pinkett-Smith-to Portman affirmed the implicit interest in the first film of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy in BAMBOOZLED.  Thus, the sight and sound of Manray being hunted down, kidnapped and shot dead live on the internet at the end of the film by Sloan’s troubled brother Big Blak Afrika-played by Yasiim Bey-and his fellow rappin’ Mau Mau musical revolutionaries implied the belief of Lee that Best, Jackson, Portman and Stinky had killed their careers and reputations with STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, despite the fact that the rest of the Gungans were played by Caucasian British actors, and the equally Caucasian Ani and his mother Shmi were the slaves of the piece.

        Curiously, newcomer Richard Kelly kicked off the fateful new film year of 2001 in memorable style and, not surprisingly, implied that Lord Stinkious destroyed himself trying to implicitly defeat Cameron and Palpaberg in the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy like the implicitly Stinky and Scarecrow linked and troubled teen Donald “Donnie” Darko-played by Jake Gyllenhaal-destroyed himself defeating the implicitly Cameron and Cowardly Lion linked self help author Jim Cunningham-played by Patrick Swayze-and the errant and implicitly Palpaberg and Great Oz linked teen driver Frank-played by James Duval-in order to save his implicitly Portman and Dorothy linked teen luv Gretchen Ross-played by Jena Malone-at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and Lord Stinkious addressing indie docufeature film DONNIE DARKO (2001), released on January 19, 2001.  Curiously, Terry Zwigoff then implicitly replied to BAMBOOZLED and STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film GHOST WORLD (2001), a film released on June 16, 2001.

 

“What,

is she black now?”

 

       

        For the film saw two disaffected teens, the Wicked, bitchy, black and green clothes and art luvin’ but conflicted and implicitly Lee and Wicked Witch of the West linked Gen X teen Enid Coleslaw-played by Thora Birch-and her only slightly less bitchy, fashionable and implicitly Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikko linked friend Rebecca aka “Becca”-played by Scarlett Johansson-lure the lonely, nerdy, nostalgic and implicitly Stinky and Cowardly Lion linked bachelor Seymour-played by Steve Buscemi-to a prank romantic rendezvous at the Mel’s Drive-In evoking Wowsville, the “…Taj Mahal of fake Fifties diners”, after coming across a lonely hearts ad from Seymour in the Personal Ads of the local newspaper.  Amused by the sight of the dorky geek, Enid and Becca followed Seymour home with the help of the implicitly Lloyd and Tin Man linked Josh-played by Brad Renfro-which led Enid, almost despite herself, to slowly get to know the lonely bachelor.  Discovering in Seymour’s nostalgic collection a racist sign for Coon’s Chicken, the original name for the Cook’s Chicken fast food restaurant chain that Seymour worked for, caused Enid to use it as a “found artwork” to make a statement about racism in society and to triumph over her bitter rival, the implicitly Fisher, Organna and Dorothy linked Margaret-her name ironically evoking Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and played by Ashley Peldon-and the implicitly Portman linked Snotty Girl-played by Kaileigh Martin-at the summer school art class she had been forced to take after failing the class in her final semester of high school in order to graduate with Becca from the hallowed halls.

        Alas for the Wicked Enid, while pleasing her Jar Jar Binks resembling and evoking summer school art teacher Roberta Allsworth-played by Illeana Douglas-the Coon’s Chicken piece destroyed her reputation when it was deemed racist in a class ending art show, implying that Zwigoff thought that it was Lee, not Stinkious, who had destroyed his career and reputation with the implication in BAMBOOZLED that there was somethin’ racist about Jar Jar Binks and with all of the racist imagery and language in that film and who would be the one to disappear on the Mystery Bus, first like the mysterious, solitary, patient, suit wearing, and implicitly Great Oz linked Norman-played by Charles C. Stevenson jr.-and then like Enid, at end of the film.  Indeed, the implicit Lee and Stinky roasting intent of GHOST WORLD was affirmed by the presence of the implicitly McGregor linked Zine-ophobia indie narrative art store owner/manager John Ellis-played by Pat Healy-and by the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, BAMBOOZLED and the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies.

        Significantly, not long after the release of GHOST WORLD, Lord Palpaberg affirmed that a deadly serious Duel of the Mates had indeed broken out between Stinky and himself when he donned the co-writer/director hats and teamed up again with Kahn, Kaminski, Williams and Williams and with Kubrick and Warner Brothers on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lynch roasting docufeature film A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001), a film released on June 26, 2001 that was inspired by the allegorical Brian Aldiss short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” (December 1969) and a Kubrick screenplay inspired by same.

 

“David, you’re one of a kind.”

 

Significantly, the infuriatingly twilit Dreamworks SKG intro with the boy fishing while sitting on the bottom horn of a waxing first quarter moon preceded the film again, immediately giving an implicitly and infuriatingly guilty ambience to A.I ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and establishing the implicitly and infuriatingly guilty and twilit spirit of the film art of Lord Palpaberg in the twenty-first century, an implicitly and infuriatingly guilty and twilit spirit increased by the fact that the title of A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE evoked that of E.T., THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL.  Then the film implicitly roasted Lynch in the implicit form of the weird Cybertronics Mecha robot boy David-played by Haley J. Osment-a weird robot Mecha boy resignedly chosen by real human parents, the implicitly Portman linked Monica and her husband Henry Swinton-played by Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards, respectively-to replace their comatose and implicitly Cameron linked son Martin-played by Jake Thomas.  Significantly, David was abandoned by Henry and Monica after David almost accidentally drowned Martin in their swimming pool during a birthday party, leading David and his watchful and helpful Super Toy teddy bear friend Teddy-played by Jack Angel-to spend the rest of the film on a determined, hopeful but ultimately unsuccessful quest to find and return to the luving embrace of Monica.  Thus, Palpaberg implied that Lynch was too weird to truly be understood or embraced by audiences, in the end, an implicit interest in Lynch that was affirmed by allusions to BLUE VELVET, DUNE, WILD AT HEART, the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving paintings THE STRAIGHT STORY (1999), and the allegorical and implicitly Lynch addressing Ken Russell indie docufeature film ALTERED STATES (1980), and by the fact that the soundtrack composed by Williams evoked that of Lynch’s favourite composer, Angelo Badalamenti.

Alas, and to the frustrated fury of the more knowing original Jedi audience members, Palpaberg also implied yet again in A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE that he had indeed been amongst the crowd of friendly onlookers that had gathered on the other side of the Santa Clarita River and watched the TZ disaster unfold in all its explosive and dismembering chaos in the fatal early morning hours of July 23, 1982 on the Landis set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.  For at one point David and Teddy and a bunch of other fugitive Mechas were captured by the callous, conscienceless and implicitly Stinkious linked Lord Johnson-Johnson-played by Brendan Gleeson-and taken to a Flesh Fair at a nearby stadium where the Mechas were destroyed, often by way of horrific dismemberments, in front of an equally callous and roaring crowd that evoked the festive crowd across the Santa Clarita River on that fateful July morning, thus making the infuriatingly twilit Dreamworks SKG intro all too fitting, an implication increased by the fact that the film was made with Warner Brothers. 

Just as significantly, the cruel dismemberment of Mechas at the Flesh Fair evoked the equally cruel dismemberment of a droid at Jabba’s palace at the beginning of STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, affirming the implicit link of Lord Johnson-Johnson to Lord Stinkious, an implication reaffirmed by the allusions to STRANGE DAYS and TRON in the Flesh Fair scenes.  Thus, the sight and sound of the callous crowd suddenly turning on and rejecting Lord Johnson-Johnson when he tried to have acid poured on David and his newfound Mecha friend Gigolo Joe-played by Jude Law-in front of them and of security guards seizing him and tossing him out of the Flesh Fair implied that Lord Palpaberg was pleased that audiences rejected Stinky and STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.  A month later, Burton implicitly roasted Stinkious in the form of Captain Leo Davidson-played by Mark Wahlberg-and implicitly toasted Kubrick in the form of General Thade-a fittingly “death” linked character, indeed, and one played by Tim Roth-and implicitly predicted that Kubrick would triumph over Stinky in the long run like Gen. Thade triumphed over Capt. Davidson in the long run at the end of the twilit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced animaction artbuster PLANET OF THE APES (2001), released on July 26, 2001.

Soon after, Antoine Fuqua implied that he shared the implicit opinion of Zwigoff, for the implicitly Lucas linked rookie LAPD vice squad member Jacob “Jake” Hoyt-played by Hawke-survived his first day on the vice beat after his gleefully corrupt and implicitly Lee linked veteran vice squad “mentor” LAPD Detective Alonzo Harris-played by Washington-was gunned down by gang members fed up with his following no law but his own at the end of the daylit and allegorical indie docufeature film TRAINING DAY (2001), a film released on September 2, 2001 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, DO THE RIGHT THING and the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy.  Alas, not long after the release of TRAINING DAY the world was shocked and changed forever by the 911 plane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, plunging the world into doom and gloom.  An unexpectedly gloomy and doomy way to begin the new millennium that caused world audiences to flock theatres with some relief at the end of the year to be soothed and inspired by the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lord Stinkious roasting Sir Peter Jackson indie docufeature artbuster THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001), a film released on December 10, 2001 that implicitly linked the all CGI Sauron, Dark Lord of Mordor, to Lord Stinkious and was inspired by the allegorical and implicitly Joseph Stalin roasting J.R.R. Tolkien indie docufiction novel The Lord Of The Rings: the fellowship of the rings (1954).  However, while inspired by THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS, 911 not surprisingly made audiences forget that 2002 was the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster and even more dismissive of Lord Stinkious that year and uninterested in why he donned the co-writer/director/co-executive producer hats, embraced digital cameras for an all digital film for the first time, and teamed up again with August, Baker, Best, Biggar, Bocquet, Carson, Daniels, Davies, Jackson, McCallum, McDiarmid, McGregor, Oz, Portman, Secombe, Tattersall, Williams, Lee from the YOUNG INDY CHRONICLES and visual effects supervisors Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Dennis Muren from STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE to implicitly strike back at Cameron and Palpaberg again in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, released on May 12, 2002.

 

“I see you becoming the greatest of all the Jedi,

Anakin.”

 

More pressing, indeed, for when I strolled over to a local theatre, I found no exuberant young crowds waiting outside and few people inside the Temple Theatre.  And so only a handful of people saw the lights dim and the curtains open, or noticed that the familiar Twentieth Century Fox intro was tragicomically dated when it played on the screen in the new twenty-first century, followed by the equally familiar Lucasfilm logo, which again changed colour from Springing green to Wintry silver to Summer Oscar gold.  And so the familiar fairy tale preamble appeared, and then the equally familiar STAR WARS logo burst on the screen and then receded into the starstruck distance as the Main Theme erupted out of the speakers once again, immediately followed by the rising golden words that set the story and pointed out that a separatist movement led by the “mysterious” and sinister ex-Jedi Count Dooku was splitting up the Galactic Republic, reminding us that at the time the film art world was splitting into those film artists who embraced CGI enhancement and digital film cameras like Lord Stinkious was doing with STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES and those film artists who were obstinately sticking to celluloid film and little or no CGI enhancement, thus implicitly linking the divisive Galactic Republic to the then equally divisive Hollywood.  The golden preamble also noted that Queen Padme Amidala of taboo Naboo had given up her crown and was now returning to Coruscant as Senator Padme Amidala, all of which was greeted with silence in the almost empty theatre. 

And so the film began ten years after the events of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, with a huge chrome silver Nubian space cruiser presumably carrying Sen. Amidala and her entourage arriving in orbit around the not quite so brave all CGI and implicitly Emerald City and METROPOLIS linked worldwide city of Coruscant accompanied by a twilit trio of protective Yellow Brick and chrome silver tipped Naboo space fighters, and then soaring past cloud scraping towers with oval tops that evoked the jukeboxes of AMERICAN GRAFFITI.  Surviving an explosive attempt to assassinate her that killed her handmaid stand-in Corde-played by Veronica Segura-and Corde’s male bodyguards on arrival at an airy landing pad, the implicitly SCC and Dorothy linked Sen. Amidala-played again by Portman-soon met up again with the insidious and implicitly Lord Palpaberg and Wicked Warlock of the West linked new Galactic Chancellor Palpatine-played again by McDiarmid.  Significantly, and as at the beginning of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, Chancellor Palpatine was immediately linked to backstabbing Evil, reaffirming the implication that Lord Stinkious now considered his “friend” a backstabbing Evildoer.  For Palpy easily convinced the implicitly Cronenberg linked Ki Adi Mundi, the implicitly Great Oz linked Mace Windu and a new, eerily all CGI and implicitly Glinda linked Yoda-played again by Carson, Jackson and Oz, respectively-and the rest of the Jedi Council to assign the bearded and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi-played again by McGregor-to protect Sen. Amidala, thus drawing all of them together and into his insidious grip.

Significantly, Master Kenobi showed up at Senator Amidala’s penthouse suite with his exuberant, talented, frustrated, impatient, impetuous and implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked young teenaged Padawan apprentice Anakin “Ani” Skywalker-played by Hayden Christensen, who affirmed the implicit link of Sen. Amidala to SCC via his callow, feckless and implicitly Cameron linked teen Jacob “Jake” H. Conley in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES-returning the Journey of Self Discovery to the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.  As the “controversial” Jar Jon Binkis-played again by Ahmed-was met amongst the senator’s entourage and young Skywalker was immediately smitten by the beautiful young senator, the swelling Romance and the raucous Comedy also quickly returned to a Lord Stinkious film.  Curiously, this swelling Romance between the implicitly Cameron linked Anakin and the implicitly SCC linked Padme evoked the sight and sound of the implicitly Cameron and SCC linked young hipster couple Choi and Dujour-played by Marc A. Gray and Ada Nicodemou, respectively-rousing the implicitly Lucas linked Thomas A. Anderson aka “Neo”-played by Reeves-out of his disaffected Gen X despair at the beginning of THE MATRIX, preparing us for the continuing Skyrocking adventures of Neo in two Wachowski Sisters films to come.

Soon the two Jedi Knights combined to save Sen. Amidala from another assassination attempt at her penthouse suite, this one from poisonous and white centipede resembling CGI bugs that implied that Lord Stinkious thought that there were still some bugs threatening the arrival of the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art.  Curiously, these CGI bugs were sent to Sen. Amidala by changeling assassin Zam Wesell-played by Leeanna Walsman-who was hired and supplied the bugs by bounty hunter Jango Fett-played by Temuera Morrison-in a neon lit scene that evoked BLADE RUNNER, thus linking both Fett and Wesell to Sir Scott as well as returning the Western narrative to a Stinkious film.  Just as curiously, after young Skywalker killed the bugs with two swipes of his Springing green lightsaber, perhaps bequeathed to him by Jinn, before they killed Sen. Amidala as she slept in her bed in the penthouse suite, Master Kenobi leapt through the window and grabbed onto the drone that had delivered the CGI bugs.  This caused him to be carried through the flying vehicle filled skies of Coruscant, evoking the flying vehicle filled skies of the future New York in THE FIFTH ELEMENT, now linking both Fett and Wesell to Besson. 

This allusion to THE FIFTH ELEMENT was reaffirmed when Wesell shot Kenobi off the drone.  For the sight and sound of Kenobi falling through the traffic filled skies evoked the sight and sound of Leeloo falling through the traffic filled skies of New York and crashing down into the Yellow Brick Road coloured flying taxi of the implicitly Lucas linked Korben Dallas in THE FIFTH ELEMENT.  Making it fitting that Master Kenobi’s loyal Padawan caught up with him in a Yellow Brick Road coloured speeder and allowed him to fall to safety, for the Yellow Brick speeder again evoked the Yellow Brick flying taxi of Dallas and the Yellow Brick Roadster of Milner in AMERICAN GRAFFITI.  Soon young Skywalker leapt out of the speeder and fell down through the flying vehicle clogged sky to the Yellow Brick and Emerald Green speeder of Wesell, again evoking the sight and sound of Leeloo falling through the traffic clogged sky of New York in THE FIFTH ELEMENT.  Forcing Wesell to crash land on the streets below, Skywalker was soon chasing her through the crowded streets and into a club like Deckard chased Zhora through the streets of the future L.A. in BLADE RUNNER, now linking Wesell to Sir Scott again and making it unclear whether she was implicitly linked to Besson or Sir Scott.  Catching her in the club with Best and Daniels outside the mask and watching in their roles as customers, Kenobi and Skywalker took her outside to question her, only to see her killed before she could reveal any useful information by a toxin dart fired by Fett in a sequence that evoked a similar sequence in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON to imply that Fett was actually linked to Lee rather than Besson or Sir Scott.

Significantly, at this point the narrative split in two, with the Jedi Padawan Skywalker accompanying Sen. Amidala back to the brave neo CGI world of taboo Naboo as her personal bodyguard in one Romance narrative.  In the other narrative, Master Kenobi found out from a four armed all CGI friend named Dexter Jettser-played by Ronald Falk-who owned and operated a diner on Coruscant that evoked Wowsville, the “…Taj Mahal of fake Fifties diners” in GHOST WORLD and Mel’s Drive-In in AMERICAN GRAFFITI, that the toxic dart came from the cloners who lived on a mysterious planet called Camino located “…beyond the outer rim, 12 parsecs outside the Rishi maze”, a maze that evoked Nishi of THE BAD SLEEP WELL to imply that Stinky had been on a quest since July of ’82 to find out the truth about the TZ disaster and what role Spielberg played in the disaster.  And so Master Kenobi headed off in his trusty proto-X-wing fighter with Arfour to the grey and rainswept neo CGI world of Camino, the perfect rainy place for a character implicitly linked to the water frozen Tin Man, to meet and talk with the denizens of Camino, tall, willowy and grey skinned humanoids who evoked the aliens at the end of A.I. ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE to reaffirm the implicit interest in Lord Palpaberg in STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES.  And so as the Romance between Sen. Amidala and young Skywalker did indeed swell on her home world, a forbidden luv between a Jedi and a norm that truly turned taboo Naboo into another forbidden planet, scenes filmed in Italy and featuring one sudden stoppage to the fittingly swelling luv theme “Across The Stars” from Williams in classic SCC fashion to reaffirm the implicit link of Sen. Amidala to SCC, Master Kenobi soon discovered that another Jedi named Sifo Dyas had placed an order for a clone army-played by Morrison as an older man, Bodie Taylor as a young man and Daniel Logan as a boy, respectively-for the Republic with the talented cloners of Camino, an ominously Imperial stormtrooper resembling and anticipating clone trooper tin solder army that was, curiously, cloned from genetic material supplied by Fett. 

Soon after this revelation, Master Kenobi was battling Fett and his son Boba-also played by Logan-in an attempt to capture them and take them back to Coruscant for questioning. Failing to do so, a resigned and frustrated Kenobi leapt into his proto-X-wing and trailed the feisty, formidable and fleeing Fetts to the neo CGI world of Geonosis, whose named evoked the Genesis bomb that transformed a lifeless moon into a brave neo and fecund living world in that memorable sequence in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN in an allusion that linked the film to 1982 to implicitly affirm that it was indeed in part a twentieth anniversary meditation on the TZ disaster.  Curiously, as Master Kenobi followed the Fetts to Geonosis, his Padawan Apprentice was so tormented by nightmares of his mother in trouble on Tatooine that he convinced Sen. Amidala to accompany him to that remote planet to save her. 

Here on the CGI world of Tatooine, the Western narrative returned full Force throttle when, after being told by Watto-played again by Secombe-in a return visit to Mos Espa that his mother had been sold to moisture farmer Cliegg Lars-played by Jack Thompson-Skywalker soon left Sen. Amidala behind and roared across the desert wastescape on a speederbike on a vengeful search for the Tusken Raiders who had taken his mother in a bloody raid on the moisture farm, evoking the sight and sound of Edwards on horseback on his vengeful search for the brutal Commanche who had taken his niece in THE SEARCHERS.  After patient work, he tracked down the Tusken settlement where a bleeding, scarred and implicitly Bigelow linked Shmi Skywalker-played again by August-was tied up inside a tent.  After his mother died in his arms, implying that Stinkious felt that Bigelow had destroyed herself with her luv of violent film art, the young Skywalker affirmed the concern of the Jedi Council that an angry and violent Dark Side surged within him by bursting out of the tent and scything down all of the Tuskens in the settlement with his rotoring saber.

Meanwhile back on Geonosis, Master Kenobi discovered to his dismay that the Evil and implicitly Landis linked Count Dooku aka “Darth Tyranus”-perhaps now linked to Landis instead of Binks due to the hatred of that character, and played by Lee-was in secret and sinister league with the Trade Federation, the Banking Clan, the Commerce Guild, the Corporate Alliance and the Techno Union Army to create a new blockbuster and ahuman CGI army of combots with which to attack and overthrow the Republic, an unholy alliance that implied the fear of Lord Stinkious that the financiers, studios and CGI wizards were plotting to rid film art of its vital humanity and replace it with equally ahuman, beastly and all CGI blockbuster film art.  Alas, Kenobi was captured and detained by the Count and his CGI Geonosian hosts, small flying creatures who resembled a cross between E.T. and a gremlin, before he could return with this insight to Coruscant.  However, Kenobi managed to relay part of his final message to Skywalker before his capture, who relayed that snippet to Windu and Yoda on Coruscant, leading to Sen. Amidala, Skywalker and Artoo and Threepio-played again by Baker and Daniels, respectively-to race to Geonosis to rescue Kenobi and Windu to lead a Jedi delegation in support while Yoda headed off to Camino to check out the clone army.

Curiously, this led to Sen. Amidala and young Skywalker also being captured by the Geonosians and, along with Kenobi, forced to fight a twilit trio of blockbuster CGI beasts in a coliseum that evoked that in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Besson and Burton addressing Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster GLADIATOR (2000), implicitly linking the leader of the Geonosians, the scowling Poggle the Lesser-played by Martin Csokas-to Sir Scott.  Indeed, one of the blockbuster CGI beasts evoked the Lord of Darkness in LEGEND and was ridden like a bucking bull by young Skywalker, reaffirming the implication that Poggle the Lesser was linked to Sir Scott and the presence of the Western narrative.  Soon Windu and a group of Jedi showed up to help Amidala, Skywalker, Artoo and Threepio and, while they did their best and Windu managed to kill Fett with his distinctive purple lightsaber, revealing that nothing was inside the armour of Fett to imply the belief of Stinkious that the film art of Lee in general or CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON in particular was all surface and no inner substance, and the two remaining blockbuster beasts were also killed in the process, the Jedi and Amidala were slowly overwhelmed by the all CGI and vastly superior numbers of the combots, destroyer droids and the new bipedal droids that evoked the endoskeleton of the Terminator cyborgs to reaffirm the implicit interest in roasting Cameron on one level in the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.

Luckily for the Good guys, they were saved in the nick of time by Yoda and the ominously Imp anticipating and resembling clone army cavalry, leading to the first battle of the lookalike blockbuster CGI Clone Wars as the human and alien but real Jedi and the human but CGI clone troopers teamed up to take on the beastly and inhuman all CGI blockbuster machine forces, again evoking the battle at that time between film artists who preferred celluloid film and little or no CGI enhancement in their film art and film artists who were not only embracing CGI enhancement in their film art, but even all CGI films and digital film cameras.  Significantly, this first Clone War battle also evoked the equally determined urban warfare in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993 that raged in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001) to reaffirm the implicit link of Poggle the Lesser to Sir Scott.  Fleeing the unexpected turn of events, Count Dooku was trailed and eventually confronted by Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywaker, leading to the traditional end of STAR WARS film light saber battle that evoked Jinn and Kenobi’s light saber battle with Maul at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. 

Curiously, Dooku used his Vader evoking blood red nightsaber to easily best Kenobi with his sky blue rightsaber and Skywalker with his Springing green saber, hacking off the latter’s right forearm in the process.  He also fought Yoda with his fittingly green lightsaber to a draw and managed to escape the venerable Jedi Master and flee back to Coruscant with the secret plans for the Death Moon given to him by Poggle the Lesser to submissively present to his Lord Sidious.  And so as the film ended with the Dark Forces alive and unwell, ominous CGI legions of proto-Imp clone troopers added to the Dark unease by assembling on Coruscant and marching on board massive CGI proto-Star Destroyers to blast off around the neo-CGI galaxy far, far away to fight the Clone Wars in order to protect the human and alien but real Galactic Republic by taking on and taking out the inhuman, beastly and blockbuster all CGI machines, a grand Clone Army of the Republic that the Galactic Senate was persuaded to embrace by Sen. Binkis, the honourable representative of Naboo in the absence of Sen. Amidala, of all people.  Last but not least, the sight and sound of young Skywalker secretly marrying Sen. Amidala with an ominous Oscar golden right forearm and hand on taboo Naboo in the final scene of the film also affirmed that Dark Forces linked to madcap lusts for fortune and glory were gathering, in another scene actually filmed in Italy to reaffirm the implicit link of Amidala to SCC.  Thus, Lord Stinkious implied his fear that the vital humanity of CGI enhanced film art was not only in a desperate battle with inhuman all CGI film art, led by Catmull and Lasseter, but in danger of losing its humanity like the all CGI clones in that battle, a despairing implication that was far removed from the implicit neo hope of a balance between a vital humanity and CGI enhancement being achieved by film artists expressed at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

An implication that mostly went unnoticed, as despite reaffirming that Stinky and his talented cast and crew had indeed successfully blasted off to a whole neo and CGI enhanced galaxy far, far away in the new trilogy with another memorable soundtrack by Maestro Williams, STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES was treated with aloof indifference by 911 traumatized audiences.  Perhaps explaining why audiences were also indifferent to Lord Palpaberg when he donned the director’s hat and teamed up with Kahn, Kaminski and Williams to reignite the Duel of the Mates in yet another infuriatingly and implicitly guilt stricken meditation on the TZ disaster in the twentieth anniversary year of that world changing disaster, the eerily twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lord Stinkious and Lynch addressing docufeature film MINORITY REPORT (2002), released on June 17, 2002 and inspired by the allegorical PKD short story “Minority Report” (1956).

 

“Can you see?”

 

Significantly, the film began again with the infuriatingly and ominously twilit Dreamworks SKG intro, this time one that was green tinged and washed out like it was a faded but haunting memory.  This green and washed out tinge was repeated with the now anachronistic Twentieth Century Fox logo that followed and remained for the rest of the film, immediately establishing the faded and memory haunted theme of the piece and also immediately implying that Palpaberg was using the film to come to grips with his own faded and haunted memories of the TZ disaster.  Then the first equally green, washed out, faded and memory haunted images of the film flickered on the screen, scattered images of a middle aged Caucasian couple who resembled Pitt and Gweneth Paltrow making luv that evoked the sight and sound of LUH 3417 and THX 1138 making luv in THX 1138, immediately and implicitly linking MINORITY REPORT to Lord Stinkious and his film art and establishing the second and implicitly Stinky addressing theme of the piece. 

Soon another middle aged Caucasian man appeared and attacked the couple with a pair of scissors, equally scattered images of a murder that evoked a similar murder seen in a prescient vision in EYES OF LAURA MARS and established the third murderous third theme of the piece.  These chaotic images finally coalesced into the image of an iris in the blank and open eye of the dead woman as she lay in her own blood in a bathtub, an image that evoked a similar image of an iris at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Stinky, link the film openly to July of ‘82 and establish the film’s fourth theme of seeing and understanding.  Then the dead iris changed into a bluer and more aware iris and the POV pulled out of the new iris to reveal that it belonged to the right eye of a bald woman in a rubber suit crying “…Murder!” as she lay in a pool with two other people.

At that point, audiences found themselves in 2054 in the Washington, DC headquarters of the Department of Pre-Crime.  Here we found that the bald woman in the pool and the two male twins with her were Agatha, Arthur and Dashiell-fittingly named, as they evoked murder mystery writers Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dashiell Hammett, respectively, thus preparing us for the fifth mystery theme of the piece, and played by Samantha Morton, and the fittingly surnamed Michael and Matthew Dickman, respectively-a trio of pre-cogs floating in a pool in a chamber called the Temple who helped the implicitly Stinkious linked Chief John Anderton-his name evoking that of Thomas Anderson in THE MATRIX to affirm his implicit link to Stinky, and played by Tom Cruise-and the rest of the Washington HQ of the Dept. of Pre-Crime “see” murders before they happened so that they could send Pre-Crime officers out to potential murder scenes in Washington to stop potential murderers from possibly committing the murders. 

In this case, Chief Anderton and his SRT evoking assistant Jad-played by Steve Harris-discovered while studying further prescient glimpses of the possible murder, further prescient glimpses that evoked “Eyes” to imply that Palpaberg was musing over his entire professional life in MINORITY REPORT, while standing at a computer control screen called the Oracle located above the floating pre-cogs in their Temple pool that the possible murderer in the precognitive vision was Howard Marks-played by Ayre Gross-and that the possible victims were his adulterous wife Sarah Marks and her younger luver Donald Dubin-played by Ashley Crow and Joel Gretsch, respectively.  Significantly, Chief Anderton and Jad were joined by visual link on the Oracle screen by the implicitly Kennedy linked Doctor Katherine James and the implicitly Marshall linked Chief Justice Pollard-played by Ann Ryerson and George Wallace, respectively-ominously linking Kennedy and Marshall to foreknowledge of murder again.

As further manipulation of the pre-cog visions at the Oracle screen with a three fingered black glove that evoked the three fingers of Yoda and the raptors of JURASSIC PARK and THE LOST WORLD revealed the location and address of the possible murder to Chief Anderton, he was able to leap into futuristic CGI helicopter that evoked the helicopter of the TZ disaster and lead his Pre-Crime officers on a raid that stopped Marks in the act and sent another possible murderer to jail.  And so pre-justice was done.  However, as this mysterious and action packed prologue ended, another prescient vision of another possible murder of another woman that was implicitly sent out by Agatha flickered on the screen located on the ceiling above the three pre-cogs.  Dismissed as an echo of another possible and prevented murder by the trio’s implicitly Spielberg linked caretaker Wally-played by Daniel London-this mysterious other murderous vision was erased and forgotten.

And so the film switched to the private life of Chief Anderton after he drove home from work in his TRON evoking car to his apartment, where we found that he was a lonely and depressed bachelor haunted by memories of his murdered son Sean-his name reminding us that Sean Young played Rachael Tyrell in BLADE RUNNER, and played by Dominic S. Kay as a young boy, and Tyler P. Jones as an older boy, respectively-explaining his grim dedication to the Pre-Crime cause.  Here in his lonely apartment, Anderton played digital home film clips of his vanished life with Sean and his Marcia evoking ex-wife Lara Clarke-played by Kathryn Morris-evoking the sight and sound of Nero tripping out with SQUID clips of his lost Faith in STRANGE DAYS to reaffirm the implicit link of Anderton to Stinkious.  Thus, it was fitting that Anderton liked to use the illegal drug neroin to cope with his depressed despair while all alone in his apartment, for neroin openly linked him to Nero. 

And like Nero, who got caught up in the investigation of the murder of Iris in STRANGE DAYS, Anderton soon got caught up in a murder investigation.  This time, however, the murder was one he saw himself committing on the Oracle screen, the shooting down of someone he did not know named Leo Crowe-played by Mike Binder-who was implicitly linked to Burton.  As this potential murder made him a pre-crime criminal, Anderton was forced to flee the Washington HQ of the Dept. of Pre-Crime and his colleagues to escape arrest and to prove his innocence.  Setting off a film long chase filled with allusions to STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, STRANGE DAYS, THE MATRIX, THX 1138 and TRON to reaffirm Anderton’s implicit link to Lucas.  Along the way, Anderton received helpful insight and advice from the mysterious, fittingly named, Christie evoking and implicitly Glinda linked Dept. of Pre-Crime Doctor Iris Hineman-played by Lois Smith-and a new pair of eyes from the disgraced and implicitly Cronenberg linked back alley doctor Solomon Eddie-played by Peter Stormare-in another allusion to “Eyes” to reaffirm that Palpy was indeed meditating over his entire life in film art in MINORITY REPORT.

Significantly, Anderton was also helped by Agatha, who he had to break free from her pool in a raid on the Dept. of Pre-Crime so as to be able to use her pre-cog abilities and the eponymous Minority Report on the Crowe affair she had in her head to prove his innocence of the murder of Crowe.  To the relief of Anderton, Agatha did absolve him of wrongdoing in the Crowe affair with the help of the tech savvy and implicitly Kubrick linked Rufus Riley-played by Jason Antoon-making it fitting that the film also alluded to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.    However, to the surprise of Anderton and Riley, Agatha also revealed that the second murder she had revealed earlier at the end of the prologue of the film was not an echo but a glimpse of the murder of her own mother Anne Lively-played by Jessica Harper.  A mother who had been murdered by the implicitly Lynch linked Dept. of Pre-Crime Director Lamar Burgess-fittingly played by von Sydow, who openly linked the film to the moving paintings of Lynch via his role as Imperial planetologist Liet-Kynes in DUNE-when Lively had tried to stop Burgess from taking Agatha from her and using her pre-cog abilities for his new department, a murder that had been disguised as an echo of an earlier attempt to murder Lively that a mysterious John Doe-played by Bertell Lawrence-had been prevented from committing on orders from Burgess. 

And so the film ended with Anderton proving his innocence of the murder of Crowe, outing Burgess as the murderer of Lively and of the pesky and implicitly Landis linked Department of Justice investigator Danny Witwer-played by Colin Farrell-liberating the three pre-cogs and reuniting with Laura, in the end, implying the hope of Lord Palpaberg that Lord Stinkious would triumph over Lynch with his film art and succeed again with L.A. based Hollywood in the long run, in the end.  All in all, a disturbing film in the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster, indeed, for the many scenes in which its characters including the implicitly Kennedy, Marshall and Palpaberg linked Dr. James, Chief Justice Pollard and Wally contemplated potential murders yet again raised the possibility that Chen, Le and Morrow had been deliberately murdered on the Landis set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.  Not that 911 troubled audiences noticed, troubled audiences that were inspired and soothed again by the return of Sir Jackson and talented company to the Temple Theatre later that year with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lord Stinkious roasting indie docufeature artbuster THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002), a film released on December 5, 2002 that again implicitly linked Lord Stinkious to the all CGI Lord Sauron and was inspired by the allegorical and implicitly Stalin roasting Tolkien indie docufiction novel The Lord Of The Rings: the two towers (1954).  Curiously, soon after the release of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, Lord Palpaberg got in the last infuriating word in the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster when he donned the director/co-producer hats, teamed up again with Hanks, Kahn, Kaminsky and Williams and returned shortly before the year ended with the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced docufeature film CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002), released on December 16, 2002 and inspired by the allegorical Frank Abagnale jr. and Stan Redding book Catch Me If You Can (1980).

 

“Has anyone seen Kelly?”

 

Infuriatingly, the more more familiar blue and unfaded but still ominously twilit Dreamworks SKG intro kicked off another Palpaberg film, casting a dark and disturbingly twilit pall over the colourful and light hearted film.  Then the film featured another desperate and film long run, a film long run that saw the madcap, bilingual, and implicitly Kelly linked teenage con artist, serial fraudster, serial impersonator, serial womanizer and FLASH comic book luver Frank Abagnale jr.-played by Leonardo DiCaprio-diligently tracked across the United States and then fittingly captured in Montrichard, France by the dedicated and implicitly Palpaberg linked FBI Special Agent and bank fraud expert Carl Hanratty-played by Hanks-at the end of the film, an implication affirmed by the film’s allusions to DONNIE DARKO.  An apt implication, given that DONNIE DARKO had revealed that Kelly was indeed, like Abagnale jr., unusually mature, intuitive, imaginative, insightful and intelligent for his age.  Curiously, after capturing Abagnale jr. and being instrumental in seeing that he was imprisoned for twelve years, Hanratty was also instrumental in freeing Frank early and securing him a job and a long and successful career in the bank fraud division of the FBI.  Thus, Lord Palpaberg implicitly struck back at Kelly, but also implicitly wished the talented young film artist all the best, and, hopefully, a long and successful career free of film set disasters.  A grimly ironic and despondent implicit hope, indeed, given that the twilit Dreamworks SKG intro kicked off the film and that it was released in the final weeks of the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster.

And so the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster ended without being noticed by most audiences, implying that the lack of concern about the eyepopping helicopter crash into a side of a building at the end of THE MATRIX did affirm that audiences had accepted that improved CGI had indeed ended any concern they had for future film set disasters.  Making it fitting that the following year the Wachowski Sisters implied that they still believed that Stinky was Lucas and that they had luved the first two installments of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy when they donned the writer/director/co-executive producer hats and teamed up again with Fishburne, Moss, Reeves, Weaving, Village Roadshow, Warner Brothers, Gloria Foster-who played the implicitly Pauline Kael and Glinda linked Oracle in THE MATRIX-and Joel Silver-producer of THE MATRIX-to implicitly toast Lucas again in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie animaction hung fu film THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003), a film fittingly released on May 7, 2003 given its implicit Lucas addressing intent whose implicit interest in Lucas was again affirmed by the film’s allusions to ALIEN, ALIENS, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, DUNE, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, T1, T2, THE ROAD WARRIOR, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THX 1138, TRON, TRUE LIES, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.

 

“Almost there.”

 

Significantly, the film began with the implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the East linked Trinity-played again by Moss-killed in a prescient nightmare that plagued the new, improved, high flying, super powered and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Neo-his confidence and super powers implicitly affirming that the Wachowski Sisters were still pleased with Lucas, and played again by Reeves-while out on a mission on the Nebuchadnezzar, captained again by the Solo and SRT evoking and implicitly Besson and Cowardly Lion linked Morpheus-played again by Fishburne-and piloted by the implicitly and ironically Lee linked newcomer Link-played by Harold Perrineau.  The deadly nightmare reminded us that Trinity was also almost killed like the Wicked Witch of the East in the equally action packed and full throttle prologue that kicked off THE MATRIX, linking the two films together. 

Mission accomplished, the Nebuchadnezzar and its courageous crew returned to Kansan Zion, the underground home of the last embattled remnants of a vital humanity fighting off the machine world that evoked the subterranean labyrinth society of THX 1138 and the last embattled remnants of humanity fighting off the Cylon machine world in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA to reaffirm the implicit link of Neo to Lucas.  Here in the grim and determined reality of Zion, humanity prepared themselves for a final genocidal attack by the beastly biomechanical blockbuster CGI machine world under the command of the grim, determined and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Commander Jason Lock-a fitting implicit link given that Lynch did his best to best the blockbuster CGI enhanced beast all of his life with his indie and truly moving paintings, and played by Harry Lennix- with the help of the implicitly SCC linked Captain Niobe-implying that the Wachowski Sisters were pleased with THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, and played by Pinkett-Smith-and the inspiration of the Council of Elders, which included amongst its distinguished and thoughtful number the implicitly Cameron linked Councillor Hamann-played by Anthony Zerbe.  Here also one of the first citizens of Zion to greet Neo was the awestruck, exuberant, and grateful Kid-played by Clayton Watson-whose determination to pay off a life debt to Neo for breaking him free of the machines evoked the life debt of Binks to Jinn in STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE to again affirm the implicit link of Neo to Lucas.  Here in Zion, Neo also made exuberant luv to Trinity to implicitly reaffirm that the Wachowski Siblings believed that the first two installments of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy affirmed that Lucas was indeed flowing with the virile CGI enhanced Force.

Alas for Neo, he was soon back in the computer dream world of the cyber Matrix, where he met up with the implicitly Pauline Kael and Glinda linked Oracle again-played again by Foster-and her guardian, the implicitly Andrew Sarris linked Seraph-played by Collin Chou-where he was told to contact a wily old program called “the Merovingian” to find the whereabouts of a mysterious program called “Keymaker”.  Meeting ended, Neo then also did his best to take on and take out the tragicomically reborn, unplugged, liberated, transformed, all consuming, gleefully megalomaniacal, and implicitly Morrow and Nikko linked Smith-played again by Weaving-in an attack of the clones evoking “burly brawl” with lookalike flying monkey multitudes of Smith.  Alas for Neo, while the latest duel with the liberated Agent ended with him flying away to safety when he became overwhelmed by the multitudinous numbers of Smith, he was not able to escape Smith by returning to the real world.  For Smith also managed to secretly infiltrate the real world by phoning himself into Zion after taking over the body of the unfortunate and implicitly Jackson linked Bane-played by the ironically surnamed Ian Bliss-while the latter was finishing a mission in the Matrix, leading to Bane being controlled by Smith like Saruman was controlled by Sauron in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy to affirm the implicit link of Bane to Jackson. 

Neo soon returned to the Matrix with Morpheus and Trintiy where the daylit trio struggled in an upscale restaurant with the wily machinations of the implicitly Disney COO Bob and Susan Iger linked Merovingian and his wife Persephone-played by Lambert Wilson and Monica Belluci, respectively-a fitting appearance given that Iger would in time reveal a plot to add Pixar, Lucasfilm and ILM to the Disney Empire.  Curiously, here Persephone eagerly and mischievously betrayed her husband and led the daylit trio to the mysterious and implicitly Catmull and Tin Man linked Keymaker-played by Randall Duk Kim-an all digital program fittingly hidden deep in a locked chamber in their cyber restaurant, affirming the implicit link of the Keymaker to the all digital film luving and creating Catmull.

Just as curiously, as Morpheus, Neo and Trinity tried to leave the restaurant with the Keymaker, the restaurant turned into a Disneyland Magic Kingdom evoking castle, affirming the implicit link of the Merovingian and Persephone to Bob and Susan Iger.  A castle Morpheus and Trinity managed to flee with the Keymaker, while Neo fought off an attack by a group of the Merovingian’s goons in a huge and elaborate fight sequence.  Finally winning the battle, Neo blasted through the skies like Superman and arrived in the nick to time to rescue the Keymaker, Morpheus and Trinity from an attack by two Agents on a cyber highway in another elaborate fight sequence that mixed martial arts with the desperate battle on the highway to hell at the end of THE ROAD WARRIOR.  Keymaker in hand, Neo was soon striding down a long white THX 1138 corridor to a Door of Light and a cryptic meeting with the mysterious and implicitly Alvy Ray Smith and Great Oz linked Architect of the Matrix-played by Helmut Bakaitis-fittingly located deep in the cyber Matrix like the Keymaker, reminding us that Smith was a disciple of Catmull who created the first all CGI films, thus reaffirming the link of the Matrix to all CGI film art like TOY STORY. 

Significantly, the Architect revealed that Neo now had to choose between saving Zion or saving Trinity from the death that he had seen in his nightmares and that had haunted him throughout the film.  Instead, in classic superhero fashion and as at the end of THE MATRIX when he had chosen to return to the Matrix and save Morpheus, Neo defied the Architect by choosing to save Trinity, all the while hoping he would also have the ability to help the last remnants of a vital humanity save Zion, as well.  Curiously, Neo saved and literally brought Trinity back to life in the Matrix, a resurrecting sight and sound that reminded us that Trinity kissed Neo back to life in reverse fairy tale style so he could defeat Agent Smith at the end of THE MATRIX, reaffirming the implication that the Wachowski Sisters believed that Lucas had saved CGI enhanced film art with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy. 

Indeed, after returning to the real world, Neo saved Trinity and Morpheus from a biomechanical sentinel attack using the same powers he had mastered in the Matrix in reality, evoking Smith’s newfound powers in reality and again reaffirming the implicit belief of the Wachowski Sisters that Lucas had succeeded in both the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art and in reality with the first two installments of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, even if audiences were not aware of that at the time.  Alas, this unexpected rescue took so much out of Neo he fell into a coma and was last seen lying in the infirmary of the Hammer, captained by the implicitly Cronenberg linked Roland-played by the fittingly named David Roberts-beside the equally unconscious and Smith possessed Bane, leaving audiences wondering what would happen next, in the end.  But not wondering too eagerly, given that THE MATRIX RELOADED was not as popular as THE MATRIX, perhaps due to 911 and perhaps because audiences subconsciously understood that it was implicitly toasting Lord Stinkious again long after they had turned against and lost interest in him due to dislike of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.  However, while not implicitly helping the cause of Stinky, THE MATRIX RELOADED did help out Cameron, keeping him in the minds of audiences like THE MATRIX had done while he remained on post-TITANIC sabbatical from feature film creating, given all of its allusions to ALIENS, T1, T2 and TRUE LIES.

As for Lee and Marvel, soon after the release of THE MATRIX RELOADED they implied that the first two films of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy had affirmed that Lord Stinkious had become a human blockbuster beast when they implicitly linked Stinky to Doctor Bruce Banner aka “the Incredible Hulk”-played by Eric Bana-in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical animaction film HULK (2003), a film released on June 17, 2003 that kicked off a neo commitment to implicitly linking Stinky to a CGI Hulkster that reminded us that Stinky was first implicitly linked to Dr. Banner/Hulk back in THE INCREDIBLE HULK.  For her part, SCC implied her belief that the first two episodes of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy had revealed that Lord Stinkious was as lost as confused in the neo world of CGI enhanced film art as the implicitly Stinky linked American actor Bob Harris-played by Murray-was in Tokyo as he tried to make his way around Tokyo during a working visit to the city in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003), a film released on August 29, 2003 whose implicit Lucas roasting allegorical intent was appreciated by audiences and the august Academy so much that they awarded SCC the first of many Oscars for Best Original Screenplay. 

Soon after, Sir Scott implicitly came to the support of Lucas and roasted Zwigoff in the implicit form of twitchy and obsessive small time con artist Roy Waller-played by Cage-in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster MATCHSTICK MEN (2003), a film released on September 2, 2003 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, GHOST WORLD, and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.  Then an implicit fondness for Lucas and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy was on display again when the Wachowski Sisters donned the writer/director/co-executive producer hats and teamed up again with Bakaitis, Belluci, Bliss, Chou, Fishburne, Lennix, Moss, Perrineau, Pinkett-Smith, Reeves, Roberts, Silver, Watson, Weaving, Wilson, Zerbe, Village Roadshow, and Warners and brought the Matrix Trilogy to a triumphant trimax with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting indie animaction hung fu film THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003), a film released on October 27, 2003 whose implicit interest in Lucas was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, ALIENS, DUNE, SCANNERS, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, SUPERMAN II, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, T1, T2, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THX 1138, TRON, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.

 

“The war is over! The war is over!”

 

Not surprisingly, the film began with the new, improved, high flying, super powered and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Neo-played again by Reeves-still lying in a coma beside the Smith possessed and implicitly Jackson linked Bane-played again by Bliss-in the infirmary of the Hammer under the watchful eye of the implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the East linked Trinity-played again by Moss-and the LUH 3417 evoking and resembling Maggie-a fitting name, given that Maggie McOmie played LUH 3417 in THX 1138, and played by Essie Davis-to reaffirm the implicit link of Neo to Lucas.  Meanwhile, while Neo’s body slumbered, his mind and spirit were both trapped in the twilight zone of a Mobil subway station in the computer dream world of the Matrix despite not being jacked into the Matrix, reminding us that he had displayed an ability to use his cyber powers in the real world at the end of THE MATRIX RELOADED and reaffirming the implication that the Wachowski Sisters believed that the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy had affirmed that the body, heart, mind and soul of Lucas was completely in tune with the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art despite the fact that the new trilogy had not fully freed him, audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre from the Twilight Zone.  Indeed, to affirm that implication, here in the Subway Zone Neo soon met the implicitly Dorothy linked Satiya aka Sati-played by Tanveer K. Atwal-and her parents, the John and Deborah Landis resembling and implicitly linked Rama-Kandra and Kamala-played by Bernard White and Tharini Mudaliar, respectively. 

Luckily for Neo, however, Maggie and Trinity soon realized that he was indeed back in the Matrix without being jacked in.  This realization led to Trinity and the Solo and SRT evoking and implicitly Besson and Cowardly Lion linked Morpheus-played again by Fishburne-jacking back into the Matrix and teaming up with the implicitly Zhang linked Seraph-played again by Chou-to intimidate the implicitly Disney COO Iger linked Merovingian-played again by Wilson-and to a lesser extent his implicitly Susan Iger linked wife Persephone-played again by Belluci-to release Neo from his Subway Zone imprisonment with the help of the mysterious, nasty and perhaps Miller linked Trainman-played by Spence-thus releasing him from his coma in reality.

Back in Kansan Zion, a relentless and uncompromising battle soon broke out between a determined and vital humanity using Armored Personnel Unit (APU) battle suits and waves of beastly biomechanical and squid-like sentinels who tried to overrun and destroy the underground city with the help of even more beastly and blockbuster CGI digging machines.  Significantly, however, while the battle raged, Neo and Trinity took the Logos, the ship of the implicitly SCC linked Capt. Niobe-played again by Pinkett-Smith-on their own mission.  And so the film ended with Trinity dead and Neo, his eyes burned away by the revived and baneful Bane but still able to see in the real world with his inner enlightenment like Paul-Maud’dib at the end of the allegorical and implicitly Dick and Heinlein addressing Herbert indie docufiction novel Dune Messiah (1969), and successfully defeating the all devouring, all encompassing and implicitly Morrow and Nikko linked Lord of the Smith-played again by Weaving-in the Matrix, a SCANNERS evoking and eucatastrophic triumph which implicitly killed Neo but also implicitly freed the film from the grip of Morrow and the TZ disaster and achieved a daylit détente between the human world and the beastly CGI enhanced blockbuster machine world overseen by the MCP evoking, all CGI and implicitly Lasseter and Wicked Witch of the West linked Deus Ex Machina-played by Henry Blasingame and voiced by Kevin M. Richardson, respectively-implying the belief of the Sisters that while Lucas may have killed his reputation and also not triumphed over the blockbuster CGI enhanced beast with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, nonetheless he had still exorcised the ghosts of Morrow, Le and Chen by championing the creation and perfection of CGI to prevent any more fatal film set disasters achieved a harmonious balance between a vital humanity and CGI enhancement and kicked off a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced but vitally human film art with the new trilogy.  A détente that brought health and harmony to the real world of the future and saved sweet little Sati in the Matrix, in the end.

Alas for the Wachowski Sisters, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS also did not impress audiences despite being the best film of the Matrix Trilogy, perhaps due to 911 and perhaps because they again subconsciously understood that the film was toasting a man they believed was still Lord Stinkious.  An implication affirmed by their exuberant embrace of the truly trimatic, twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lord Stinkious roasting Sir Jackson indie docufeature artbuster THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003), a film released on December 1, 2003 that triumphed over the implicitly Lord Stinkious linked and all CGI Dark Lord Sauron of Mordor and his morderous minions at last and that was inspired by the allegorical and implicitly Stalin roasting Tolkien indie docufiction novel The Lord Of The Rings: the return of the king (1955).   As for Lord Palpaberg, he again reignited the Duel of the Mates with Lord Stinkious in earnest by donning the co-producer/director hats and teaming up again with Hanks, Kahn, Kaminski, Williams and MINORITY REPORT production designer Alex McDowell on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed docufeature film THE TERMINAL (2004), released on June 9, 2004.

 

“I’m afraid from sharks.””

 

Disturbingly, the film kicked off again with the ominously twilit Dreamworks SKG intro, casting another dark and twilit pall over the light hearted piece.  Soon after, the film began with the implicitly Palpaberg and Tin Man linked tourist Viktor Navorski-his name evoking Vic Morrow, and played by Hanks-arriving at JFK Airport in New York.  Alas for him, as he tried to enter the United States after stepping off the plane, he was prevented from doing so by the shaven headed, THX 1138 evoking and implicitly Stinkious and Great Oz linked airport Customs and Border Protection Director, then Acting Field Commissioner and then Field Commissioner Frank Dixon-played by Stanley Tucci-and his taller, larger, SRT evoking and Jones resembling Deputy Thurman-played by Barry S. Henley-who informed him that due to a revolution in his fictional home country of the Republic of Krakhozia that had swept away his old government, his passport and visa were no longer valid making him unable to legally enter the U.S. and leave the airport.  Significantly, during their discussion, Director Dixon likened Navorski’s plight to being trapped in the Twilight Zone and then referenced “Nightmare At 30,000 Feet” [sic] as an example of that twilit entrapment, openly linking Dixon and Navorski to a classic episode of the original TWILIGHT ZONE telefilm series and to the fourth and last remade episode of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE to openly link the film to the TWILIGHT ZONE and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE and affirm the twilit and haunted theme of THE TERMINAL.

Thus, Navorski was trapped like a frozen Tin Man in the openly Twilight Zone linked “Terminal Zone” of the international transit lounge of the airport for the rest of the film waiting for a new government of the Republic of Krakhozia to issue him a new passport so he could apply for a new American visa so he could finally legally leave and enter the U.S.  A tragicomically twilit and terminal existence interacting with passengers and employees of the airport that was caught by the security cameras of the airport and studied on the monitors of the THX 1138 control room evoking security control centre and discussed by Director Dixon and Deputy Thurman, reaffirming the implicit link of Dixon to Stinky, an implication also affirmed by the film’s allusions to MINORITY REPORT.  Curiously, and to the annoyed frustration of Director Dixon and Deputy Thurman, Navorski would not end his terminal existence by simply leaving the airport.  Instead he preferred to wait patiently for a new government to be created back in the old country that would issue him a new passport, allowing him to get a new American Visa and enter the United States, leave the Terminal Zone of JFK airport and visit New York legally. 

Thus, given the implicit links of Navorski and Dixon to Palpaberg and Stinky, the sight and sound of Navorski finally getting that passport and visa, legally leaving the Terminal Zone and heading off into New York City implied the hope of Lord Palpaberg that Lord Stinkious and himself were finally free from each other and from legal worries due to the TZ disaster, given the lack of response by audiences to the all of the ominous allusions to the TZ disaster and implications of wrongdoing in that disaster that appeared in A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MINORITY REPORT and the first two films of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy and the lack of concern over that extremely realistic helicopter crash into the side of a building at the end of THE MATRIX, evoking the similar new hope implied by the end of INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.  Alas, since the film ended with Navorski dropping by the lobby lounge of the Ramada Inn on Lexington Ave in New York to listen to the Benny Golson quartet play the allegorical Golson instrumental jazz tune “Killer Joe” before getting an autograph from Golson that completed his father’s jazz great autograph collection, Lord Palpaberg ominously linked himself to killing in general and Killer John at the end of the film.

As for Sir Scott, he returned to the Temple Theatre the following year and implicitly linked the failed attempt of Lord Stinkious to inspire his fellow film artists to create a CGI enhanced New Hollywood free of the TZ disaster to the failed attempt of Balian, the resigned blacksmith turned Crusader-played by Orlando Bloom-to inspire his fellow Crusaders to create a New Jerusalem in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Stinky addressing indie docufeature artbuster KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (2005), released on May 2, 2005.  A popular film which overshadowed the attempt of Lord Stinkious to don the writer/director hats and team up again with Baker, Best, Biggar, Bocquet, Bulloch, Burtt, Carson, Christensen, Coleman, Daniels, Jackson, Jones, Knoll, Lee, Mayhew, McCallum, McDiarmid, McGregor, Morrison, Muren, Oz, Portman, Tattersall, Taylor and Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse and Jimmy Smits-who played Owen and Beru Lars and Senator Bail Organna of Alderan, respectively, in STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES-on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Palpaberg roasting indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, a film released on May 12, 2005 whose title evoked STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, the original title for the third film of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, to immediately affirm that the film was linked to the twilit and disastrous early Eighties. 

 

“Power!

!UNLIMITED POWER!”

 

And so I wandered over to the Temple Theatre the night of the film’s release without purchasing a ticket in advance and got in with no problem, as with STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES.  However, this time the final film of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy was clearly of more interest to audiences than STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, for the theatre slowly filled with people.  And so the theatre was half full when the lights dimmed, the curtains opened and the tragicomically anachronistic Twentieth Century Fox intro played on the screen, followed by the Lucasfilm logo that again flickered from Springing green to Wintry silver to Summer Oscar gold.  Significantly, after the familiar opening fairy tale preamble, the STAR WARS logo smashed onto the screen and then receded into the star studded distance as the Main Theme roared out of the theatre speakers and the equally familiar rising golden word crawl affirmed that the dread allegorical Clone Wars had indeed broken out between the Republic and their human but all CGI and ominously Impish Clone Soldiers-played by Morrison and Taylor, respectively-and the Separatists and their all CGI combot, destroyer droid and terminator droids, reaffirming the implication seen and heard at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES that Lord Stinkious now felt that CGI enhanced film art was in danger of losing its vital humanity in its battle against film artists like Catmull and Lasseter who preferred ahuman and all CGI film art. 

Then the film kicked off with the implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Jedi Master and newfound General Obi-Wan Kenobi-played again by McGregor-and the implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked Jedi Knight Anakin “Ani” Skywalker-with a fittingly Scarey vertical scar perhaps caused by a nightsaber now seen over his right eye, and played again by Christensen-soaring their way in proto-X-wing fighters-Kenobi’s mauve fighter aided by Arfour, Skywalker’s Yellow Brick Fighter aided by Artoo, played again by Baker-through an epic Republican versus Separatist space battle in orbit over the implicitly Emerald City linked and METROPOLIS evoking planetary city of Coruscant that evoked those in STARSHIP TROOPERS, and then crash landing in the hangar of a Separatist battleship.  Fighting their way through hordes of combots and destroyer droids, they soon found and freed the implicitly Lord Palpaberg and Wicked Warlock of the West linked Chancellor Palpatine-played again by McDiarmid-from the creepy clutches of the implicitly Landis and Nikko linked Count Dooku aka Darth Tyranus-played again by Lee-in a cavernous observation platform that evoked the Throne Room on the Deathly Moon where the final lightsaber duel between Skywalker and Vader took place in front of the gloating Emperor at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI. 

Indeed, the massive space battle seen through the windows of this room that evoked the equally massive space battle seen through the windows of the Throne Room openly linked the two chambers.  Thus, it was fitting that a repeat lightsaber duel with Darth Tyranus that evoked that lightsaber duel between Luke and  Darth Vader broke out between Kenobi, Skywalker and Tyranus.  Significantly, this duel ended with Skywalker slicing off Dooku’s hands and then taking his sky blue rightsaber and Dooku’s blood red nightsaber and decapitating Dooku on orders from Palpy, affirming that young Skywalker was falling prey to his Dark Side and to the Evil machinations of Lord Sidious.  The shock decapitation also affirmed the implicit link of Tyranus to Landis, and implied that Lord Stinkious was fed up with Landis.

And so the other baddie on the ship, the implicitly Burton linked General Grievous-played by Matthew Wood-escaped and Kenobi and Skywalker managed to land the forward half of the battleship on Coruscant in a sequence that evoked TITANIC to reaffirm the implicit link of Skywalker to Cameron.  At this point, the film became a despairing dirge that saw the insidious Chancellor Palpatine slowly but surely use young Skywalker’s fear that the implicitly SCC and Dorothy linked Sen. Padme Amidala-played again by Portman-would die as she gave birth to their child to twist the troubled mind of the tormented young Jedi Knight and turn him to the Dark Side.  Twist Skywalker so much until it was finally safe to reveal himself to the worried but foolish young Jedi as Lord Sidious, a Sith Lord with the Dark Power to prevent people from dying, and transform the Good Skywalker into the Evil and implicitly Nikko linked Skyfaller, implying the conviction of Stinky that Cameron’s hard work to defeat Folsey jr., Kennedy, Landis, Marshall, Palpy and himself with his righteously furious, indomitable and CGI enhanced indie Zonebuster film art had turned him into another Dark and beastly blockbuster loot lusting Lord of the shit Sith hits like Lord Palpaberg-an ironic implication, indeed, reminding us that it was Stinky’s decision to take on and take out the beastly blockbuster JAWS with the even more blockbuster STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE that send him down the insidious path to transforming into Lord Stinkious, stinkiest of the Dark Lords of the shit Sith hits.  Significantly, as Good Skywalker transformed into Evil Skyfaller, Good Jedi Master and Gen. Kenobi continued to lead the Republic battle against the Separatists and also hunted down and killed Gen. Grievous, implying that Stinky was striking back at PLANET OF THE APES. 

However, Gen. Kenobi’s bravery was all in vain, as Skyfaller teamed up with Lord Sidious to kill the implicitly Great Oz linked Mace Windu-played again by Jackson-in Chancellor Palpatine’s chambers, a collaboration that finished Skyfaller’s Evil transformation and turned him into Darth Vader, the latest Sith puppet of Lord Sidious.  A palpitating puppet who obeyed an order from Lord Sidious to lead an Impious Clone Legion to the Jedi Temple to kill most of the Jedi, including the Jedi youngling kids, who were scythed down with his rotoring and ironically blue nightsaber, evoking the sight and sound of the CSM-101 T-800 Terminator killing most of the personnel in a LAPD detachment in THE TERMINATOR to reaffirm the implicit link of Vader to Cameron, a shocking, nightmarish and infuriating scene that immediately ended the Comedy and Journey of Self Discovery narratives of the film and of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.  This was one of the most Dark and depressing sequences in a Stinkious film, and one that implicitly affirmed how unhappy Stinky was with everything that had happened since the twilit and disastrous year of ’82 and how implicitly convinced he was that Cameron was destroying young film artists as well as film art, as the greedy lusts for the beastly blockbuster profits to be made from huge films led the Hollywood studios to stop creating low and medium budget films in imitation of Cameron. 

Significantly, after leading the slaughter at the Jedi Temple, Darth Vader was then ordered by Lord Sidious to blast off and kill all of the Separatist leaders on the fiery and volcanic planet of Mustaffar, a fiery and hellish planet that evoked the equally fiery and hellish netherworld that Dr. Reinhardt wound up on at the end of THE BLACK HOLE.  The name of Mustaffar also reminded us that Kamal Mustafa appeared in Chapter 17: MASKS OF EVIL, the young Indiana Jones adventure that implicitly linked Palpaberg to Stefan, the backstabbing wolf in sheep’s clothing who killed Indy’s girl and tried to kill him in that nasty adventure, implicitly reaffirming that Stinky believed Palpy to be a backstabbing wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Here on Mustaffar, the young Dark Lord was tracked down by Gen. Kenobi with the help of Sen. Amidala, leading to the biggest, longest and most memorable Western lightsaber duel of all to end a STAR WARS film on the fiery planet between Good Kenobi and Evil Vader on Mustaffar, both ironically wielding sky blue lightsabers but with the indie moving paintings of Lynch implicitly pitted against the indie Zonebusters of Cameron.  This epic saber battle ended in classic Stinky tradition with Kenobi besting the foolish, proud and arrogant Vader by hacking off his left arm and legs and leaving him a scarred head and torso pulling himself forward up a volcanic slope with his right hand, evoking the sight and sound of the CSM-101 T-800 cyborg Terminator reduced to a similar head and torso and pulling himself relentlessly forward with his robot right arm to kill Sarah Connor at the end of T1 to reaffirm the implicit link of Vader to Cameron.

Just as significantly, and intercut with the epic battle between Kenobi and Vader, back on Coruscant a shorter but no less intense lightsaber battle raged between the all CGI Yoda-played again by Oz-with his Springing green saber and Lord Sidious with his blood red nightsaber in the Galactic Senate Chamber, a battle that ended in a stalemate with each duellist living to see another day.  And so Kenobi left Vader on Mustaffar and tracked down Yoda and Sen. Organna-played again by Smits-to their secret hideaway, where he sadly and helplessly watched Amidala die giving birth to the J.D. Jedi twins Luke and Leia Skywalker-played by Allan and Alana Smithee, respectively-ending the Romance narrative of the film and of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, implying the fear of Stinky that SCC would not succeed as a film artist or that Cameron had killed film art or both and reminding us that Chani, the young Fremen wife of newfound messianic Emperor Paul-Maud’dib Atreides, died giving birth to the twins Ghanima and Leto II at the end of Dune Messiah.  And so with the help of beastly CGI machines, Lord Sidious transformed the remains of the young Dark Lord into the more familiar black clad and helmeted Anikkostein form of Darth Vader-voiced again by Jones and played by Gene Bryant, respectively-the interior of his falling black helmet filling the screen and encompassing the audience as machines slowly and remorselessly brought the mask down on Vader’s face, turning us all into Darth Vader and implying that audiences were as Evil as Cameron for liking his Zonebusters. 

And so Lord Sidious and Darth Vader swept away the democratic Galactic Empire, established the Dark new Galactic Empire and began construction of the Death Moon, reaffirming the implication that Lord Stinkious believed that Cameron and Palpaberg were equally Evil and that they had combined to sweep away a Light filled neo eon of CGI enhanced film art.  And so Kenobi, Sen. Organna and Yoda fled with the body of Sen. Amidala to Naboo for a burial so solemn even Jar Jon Binkis-played again by Best-kept his mouth shut.  And so Sen. Organna fled from Naboo with Leia to hide her with his wife the Queen-played by Rebecca J. Mendoza-on Alderaan, and Kenobi fled to Tatooine to hide Luke with the altogether too young Owen and Beru Lars-played again by Edgerton and Piesse, respectively.  And so it ended with Beru holding Luke and joining Owen as he stared pensively off into the double Tatooine sunset, implicitly meditating on the emergence of Cameron and Palpy as Dark Lords of the shit Sith hits, in the end.

And so Lord Stinkious and his talented cast and crew reaffirmed that they had indeed mastered the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art with the spectacular and memorable but despondent, moving, and ironic film, but yet again not enough to undue the damage that Stinky did to his reputation in the Eighties.  And so Lord Stinkious affirmed that he had indeed retreated into his own fantasy world as Baxter had noted in Myth Maker: the life and work of George Lucas.  For in his official biography that he collaborated with Marcus Hearn on called The Cinema Of George Lucas [2005], released in conjunction with STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, he glossed over the Great Crash of ’62 and the Black Thursday that ended American Zoetrope’s five picture deal with Warner Brothers as if neither were important, and inconveniently omitted the TZ disaster, the outrage over his decision to work with Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg on INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM after the disaster, the outrage over the decision to call the trimax of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy STAR WARS EPISODE VI: REVENGE OF THE JEDI that led to a determined worldwide letter campaign that changed his mind, the outrage over the STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM disasters, and the ominous implications of wrongdoing in the TZ disaster in all of the films of Spielberg since ‘82. 

And so Christopher Nolan was the first to implicitly respond to STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, implying in the sight and sound of the haunted, troubled and implicitly Cameron linked Gotham City playboy Bruce Wayne aka “Batman”-played by Bale-triumphing over the implicitly Stinkious linked Ra’a al Ghul-played by Neeson-and his Dark Jedi evoking League of Shadows and their implicitly Verhoeven linked ally Doctor Jonathan Crane aka “the Scarecrow”-played by Ciaran Murphy-and saving Gotham City his belief that Cameron was the true hero and Stinkious and Verhoeven the villians at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Cameron toasting and Lucas roasting super satirical docufeature film BATMAN BEGINS (2005), a film released on May 31, 2005 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to SLEEPY HOLLOW, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy and THX 1138.  And so audiences implicitly agreed with Nolan, given the greater popularity and success of BATMAN BEGINS that year.

Not surprisingly, soon after the release of BATMAN BEGINS, Lord Palpaberg reaffirmed that a deadly serious Duel of the Mates was underway with Lord Stinkious by donning the director hat and returning to the Temple Theatre with Cruise, Freeman, Kahn, Kaminski, Kennedy and Williams with the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced docufeature film WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005), released on June 13, 2005 and inspired by the allegorical H.G. Wells indie docufiction novel The War Of The Worlds (1898).

 

“I’m dead set on living.”

 

Significantly, the film began again with the infuriatingly and ominously twilit Dreamworks SKG intro, giving yet another Palapaberg film an insidiously twilit ambience.  Then the film saw the belligerent and implicitly Sir Jackson linked, New Jersey based, and divorced bachelor Ray Ferrier-played by Cruise-spend the rest of the film desperately trying to save his children Rachel and Robbie-played by Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin, respectively-from being vaporized or drained of their life Force by CGI Martian invaders in their blockbuster CGI tripod landing craft beasts.  Ferrier also did his best to lead and inspire the human resistance to the CGI invaders, a successful resistance helped along by an adverse Martian reaction to life on Earth that led to a triumph of a vital humanity over CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts, in the end.  Indeed, the fact that the first blockbuster CGI tripod beast was filmed by an onlooker with a digital film camera openly and immediately linked the Martian invasion to an invasion of blockbuster CGI enhanced beasts created with the new digital film cameras.  Thus, Kennedy and Palpy implied their ironic hope that Sir Jackson would not allow the vital humanity of his film art to be overwhelmed and killed by the creation of CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts, in the end. 

Indeed, the presence of Miranda Otto as Ferrier’s estranged wife Mary Ann openly affirmed Ferrier’s implicit link to Sir Jackson and the film’s implicit interest in his film art, for Otto played the courageous, indomitable and perhaps Sarah Polley linked Eowyn in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.  The film’s allusions to the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and to the twilit and allegorical Sir Jackson indie docufeature films BAD TASTE (1987) and DEAD ALIVE (1992) and the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Sir Jackson docufeature film THE FRIGHTENERS (1996) reaffirmed the implicit Sir Jackson addressing intent of WAR OF THE WORLDS.  The film’s allusions to the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Stinkious addressing Geoff Murphy indie docufeature film THE QUIET EARTH (1985) also affirmed the film’s interest in New Zealand film art and film artists.

For his part, Gilliam implicitly roasted Palpy and Stinky in the forms of Jakob and Willhelm Grimm-played by Heath Ledger and Matt Damon, respectively-and implicitly hoped they would stop feuding and work together to break film art free from the TZ disaster and bring peace and harmony back to audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre like the Brothers Grimm triumphed over the implicitly Deborah/Wicked Witch of the West and John/Nikko Landis linked Wicked Queen of Mirrors and her werewolf woodsman luver-played by Belluci and Tomas Hanak, respectively-at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, madcap and satirical indie animaction film THE BROTHERS GRIMM (2005), released on August 26, 2005.  Curiously, the Wachowski Sisters implied that they remained devoted fans of Stinky and convinced that he was still Lucas, for they donned the writer/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Silver and Weaving and now with Portman and James McTeigue to implicitly link Lucas to the valorous, vengeful, virtuous, victorious and art luvin’ and defending V-played by Weaving-and implicitly link SCC to Evey Hammond-fittingly played by Portman as a young woman, and by Madeleine Rakic-Platt as a girl, respectively-and have them team unite to triumph over the Evil and implicitly Spielberg, Kennedy, and Marshall linked High Chancellor Adam Sutler, Doctor Diana Stanton aka Dr. Delia Surridge and Bishop Anthony Lilliman-played by Hurt, Sinead Cusack, and John Standing, respectively-in the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film V FOR VENDETTA (2005), a film released on December 11, 2005 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to BATMAN, BATMAN RETURNS, the Matrix Trilogy, MINORITY REPORT, SCHINDLER’S LIST, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy and THX 1138. 

Just as curiously, the film began with V donning his favourite Guy Fawkes mask before leaving his subterranean and Batcave/THX 1138 underground society evoking “Shadow Café” hideout and heading up to the streets for a night of ultramayhem in a dystopic London.  The scene was shot from the POV of V, causing the mask to encompass the camera and the audience as it descended to the face of V, implicitly turning everyone into Lucas or Lord Stinkious depending on your POV rather than Cameron like the descending mask of Lord Vader did at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH.  Literally turning everyone into Lucas/Stinkious, as crowds of courageous and indomitable Londoners wearing V masks and black capes filled the nighttime streets of London and peacefully swept away the Dark dystopia and its overwhelmed military with the help of Evey and V’s climatic bombing of the House of Parliament at the end of the film, an explosively eucatastrophic ending straight out of the end of a classic STAR WARS film that implied the conviction of McTeigue and the Wachowski Sisters that stinky Lucas had indeed triumphed over Kennedy, Marshall, Spielberg and the TZ disaster, freed audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre from the Twilight Zone and kicked off a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy whether audiences realized it or not.  An explosively peaceful ending to a vengeful film that made it fitting that Lord Palpaberg wrapped up the year and the Duel of the Mates by donning the director/co-producer hats and teaming up again with Kahn, Kaminski, Kennedy and Williams to implicitly roast Lord Stinkious again in his most bloody and violent film yet, the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced docufeature film MUNICH (2005), a film in perfect tune with the terrorism battling times that was released on December 23, 2005 and that was inspired by the allegorical George Jonas indie book Vengeance (2005).

 

“Here they come.”

 

Significantly, the film began again with the infuriatingly twilit Dreamworks SKG intro in its familiar blue and white colours.  Then a filtered and washed out green tinge suffused the images when the film began, evoking the same filtered and washed out green tinge that implied faded memories seen throughout MINORITY REPORT, reminding us that that film implicitly addressed Stinky to immediately affirm that Stinky was being implicitly addressed again in MUNICH.  A fitting faded memory tinge, given that the film kicked off with the Black September attack on the Israeli team at the ’72 Munich Olympics, a team that included amongst its members the Prowse resembling Andre Spitzer-played by Ori Pfeffer-to reaffirm the implicit Stinkious addressing intent of MUNICH.    

Just as significantly, the attack led Yoda evoking Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier-played by Lynn Cohen-to strike back at those who had planned and carried out the attacks, and at other prominent Palestinian terrorists, at their hideouts in Europe or Beirut with her own ultra secret and explosion luvin’ hit team led by the implicitly Stinky linked ex-Mossad agent Avner-played by Bana-and watched over by the hectoring and implicitly Palpaberg linked Mossad supervisor Ephraim-played by Geoffrey Rush.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, APOCALYPSE NOW, PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, THE CONVERSATION, THX 1138, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE and the fact that Avner’s team comprised the implicitly Catmull linked Robert-played by Mathieu Kassovitz-the implicitly Hamill linked Steve-played by Daniel Craig-the implicitly Pleasance linked Hans-played by Hanns Zischler-and the ambiguously linked Carl-played by Ciaran Hinds-also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Stinkious. 

The fact that the second target of Avner’s team was the implicitly Coppola linked Mamoud Hamshari-played by Igal Naor-who was blown up in Roma, and that the third target was the implicitly Disney linked Hussein Abad Al-Chir-played by Mostefa Djadjam-who was blown up curiously in the Olympic Hotel in Cyprus also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Stinky.  Alas, Avner and his team watched carefully to see if the hits succeeded before they fled the scene.  This made MUNICH yet another post-82 Palpaberg film where people were watched dying, yet again implying that Palpy was among the crowd of onlookers standing on the other side of the Santa Clarita River watching the TZ disaster unfold.  However, since most of the targets were killed with explosives created by the implicitly Catmull linked Robert, the implication was that Kennedy and Palpaberg were meditating in the film on how the creation and use of CGI to ensure safer film sets led to the creation of CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts like the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy that were killing the messy but vital humanity of film art and the people who created and used it, an ironic implicit message indeed, given that it was coming from the two people who gave the world A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, JURASSIC PARK, MINORITY REPORT, THE LOST WORLD and WAR OF THE WORLDS.

And so the Duel of the Mates ended on an ironic note.  And so Kelly implied that he was unimpressed with STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, for he implicitly likened the eccentric Lord Stinkious and his exuberant promotion of CGI in the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy to the madcap “renegade scientist” Baron Von Westphalen-played by Wallace Shawn-and his equally exuberant promotion of the CGI generated “quantum teleportation” renewable energy source Liquid Karma throughout the brilliant and original twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film SOUTHLAND TALES (2006), released on May 21, 2006.  Shortly afterwards, SCC implicitly roasted Lord Stinkious again in the implicit form of the psychologically impotent and doomed last rey of France, King Louis XVI-played by Jason Schwartzman-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006), fittingly released on May 24, 2006. 

The following year, Burton also implied that Stinky had destroyed himself trying to defeat Cameron with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy like the implicitly Stinky linked “demon barber of Fleet Street”, Sweeney Todd-played by Depp-destroyed himself killing the implicitly Cameron linked Judge Turpin-played by Allan Rickman-at the end of the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced animaction artbuster SWEENEY TODD (2007), a dark, violent and gory film that was thoughtfully released just before Christmas on December 3, 2007.  Kelly also implicitly completed a Lucas Trilogy of sorts by implying that Stinky destroyed himself and his film art as surely as the implicitly Stinkious linked NASA photography expert Arthur “Art” Lewis and his implicitly Sarah Polley linked high school English teacher wife Norma Lewis-played by James Marsden and Cameron Diaz, respectively-destroyed their lives by agreeing to kill a person they did not know by pressing a button on a box in order to collect one million crisp American dollars in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THE BOX (2009), released on September 17, 2009.  However, it was perhaps Howard who best and memorably summed up the whole tragicomic and disappointing debacle that was the life and film art of Lord Stinkious in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Stinky addressing docufeature film FROST NIXON (2008), released on October 15, 2008.

 

“…Do you feel you ever obstructed justice

or part of a conspiracy to cover up or obstruct justice?”

 

        For the film saw the implicitly Lord Stinkious linked former President Richard M. Nixon-played by Frank Langella-persuaded by the cigar smoking and implicitly Sir Scott linked English television personality David Frost-played by Michael Sheen-to participate in a Fourceful quartet of live 90 minute tv interviews in March and April of ’77, the Skywalking year that saw the release of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE to affirm the implicit link of Nixon to Stinky.  Here Frost confronted Nixon and tried to get him to confess to and apologize for his misdeeds and his coverup of the misdeeds of his colleagues in the White House when he was the leading politician in the country, which implied the hope of Howard that his old boss and mentor would also confess to and apologize for his misdeeds and for covering up the misdeeds of Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg in the TZ disaster by sending them off to London to work on INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM in ’82 when he was the leading film artist in the country.  Indeed, the fact that Nixon learned on July 23, 1974 that politicians were turning against him and planning to vote for his impeachment openly linked Nixon to the fateful day of July 23^rd to affirm that the film was implicitly addressing all that went wrong for Stinky after the TZ disaster. 

Significantly, the confrontation led Tricky Dick to finally admit shortly before the end of the fourth and final interview that he had made mistakes, been involved in a coverup, and “...let down the country…I let the American people down”, the closest thing to an admission of wrongdoing and an apology the U.S. ever got from Nixon and Stinky.  And so the film ended in San Clemente, California at La Casa Pacifica, the secluded, sprawling and Skywalker Ranch evoking home of Nixon, with the lonely ex-President staring sadly off into the Pacific Ocean in a gathering twilight, an image that evoked a scene at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES to affirm the implicit link of Nixon to Stinky.  And so Sir Scott, who began his career in television, implicitly triumphed over Lord Stinkious, whose entire career was spent in the world of film art, implying that Howard was one of the many audience members who enjoyed KINGDOM OF HEAVEN more than STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH in 2005.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to BLADE RUNNER, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, THE DUELLISTS and THX 1138 affirmed the implicit Sir Scott and Stinky addressing intent of FROST NIXON.

As for Stinky, shortly before the release of FROST NIXON, and ironically, given that Lord Stinkious had implicitly roasted him in the form of Lord Sidious throughout the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, Stinky teamed up again with Palpy and with Allen, Ford, Kahn, Kaminski, Kennedy and Williams on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Friedkin addressing indie docufeature film INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008), a tired, regrettable and instantly forgettable film released on May 18, 2008 that implicitly roasted Lana and Lilly Wachowski in the forms of Evil Soviets Irina Spalko and Dovchenko-played by Blanchett and Igor Jijikine, respectively-and toasted Kelly in the implicit form of Mutt Williams-played by Shia LeBeouf.  An instantly forgettable and regrettable film that was easily exorcised the following year when Cameron ironically affirmed that he was indeed “…the greatest of all the Jedi” when he returned to the Temple Theatre with the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie animaction Zonebuster AVATAR (2009), a film released on December 10, 2009 that saw the implicitly Kelly linked Jacob “Jake” Sully-played by Sam Worthington-travel from Earth to the all CGI and Genesis moon evoking forested moon of Pandora of the brave neo CGI world of Polyphemus and team up with his all CGI and implicitly SCC linked Nav’i cat person luver Neytiri-played by Zoe Saldana-and the rest of the all CGI warrior Nav’I cat people tribes of Pandora to triumph over the Evil and beastly blockbuster loot obsessed Resources Development Corporation (RDC) and its dimunitive, unobtanium lusting and implicitly Scorsese linked head Parker Selfridge-played by Giovanni Ribisi-and its callous, indifferent and implicitly Stinkious linked head of security Colonel Miles Quarritch-played by Stephen Lang.

Then SCC wrapped up her implicit Stinky Trilogy by implicitly roasting Stinky again in the implicit form of the equally impotent and lost movie star John “Johnny” Marco-played by Stephen Dorff-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film SOMEWHERE (2010), released on September 3, 2010.  And so early in 2012, Lord Stinkious donned the executive producer/director hats and teamed up with Burtt and McCallum on the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Anthony Hemingway indie docufeature film RED TAILS (2012), a film released on January 12, 2012 that implicitly struck back at SCC and her implicit Stinky Trilogy by having the implicitly Murray linked U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) 332^nd “Tuskeegee” Fighter Squadron pilot Lieutenant Joe “Lightning” Little-played by David Oyelowo-die in air combat in the skies above Italia before he could marry the beautiful, young, single and implicitly SCC linked Italian girl Sofia-played by Daniela Ruah-while the implicitly Stinkious linked Lt. Ray Gannon aka “Junior” aka “Ray Gun”-played by Tristan M. Wilds-survived his time in a German POW camp at the end of the film. 

Curiously, not long after the release of RED TAILS, an old, weathered and original rogue Jedi Knight and scarred and embittered veteran of the dread allegorical Zone Wars and the allusive psychic wars suddenly emerged from the Jundland Wastes and began to post his thoughts on the whole tragicomic mess on a pensive Rebsite…to the surprised and amused dismay of all.  Indeed, the shock arrival of www.zonewarsonfilm.com was so great, it created a creepy new subgenre of the dread allegorical Zone Wars perhaps best dismissed and derided as “Cinema Garite”.  Even more creepy and infuriating, the day before Hallowe’en of that year, Lord Stinkious horrified original Jedi, new Jedi and rogue Jedi alike with the announcement that he was selling the drought stricken moisture farm of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the used speeder lot of ILM to Disney.  And so it ended for Lord Stinkious, but not before appointing Darth Kennedy, the first female Sith Lord and one of four people most responsible for the TZ disaster, to lead Lucasfilm and ILM into a new and unholy union with the supposedly kid friendly Mouse House, further enraging and outraging embittered old Jedi, reaffirming that Kennedy was indeed the Empress of Evil and also affirming that Disney was now a dire Domain of Darkness.  King implicitly agreed, for he implicitly roasted Iger, Kennedy and Stinkious and their fondness for feeding off the energy and money of young audiences in the implicit forms of Henry Rothman, Rose and Grampa Flick, leaders of a wandering group of psychic vampires called the True Knot who luved feasting on and draining kids of their psychic energy throughout the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature novel Doctor Sleep (September 2013).

        Curiously, but fittingly, the same year Lord Stinkious announced his retirement from the dread allegorical Zone Wars and faded away into the twilight, two films were released that implicitly linked Stinky to haunting ghosts.  In the first, Nolan had the implicitly Lord Stinkious linked League of Shadows master assassin al Ghul-played again by Neeson-briefly return as a Force ghost to harangue and infuriate the haunted, troubled and implicitly Cameron linked Gotham City playboy and crime battler Bruce Wayne aka “Batman”-played again by Bale-late in the film when he wrapped up his Batman Trilogy in style with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Cameron toasting and Wachowski Sisters roasting super satirical docufeature film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012), released on July 16, 2012.  Not long after, Derek Cianfrance implied that a bit of the indie Rebel spirit of Lord Stinkious would haunt and live on despite his many faults and the attempt of Kelly and other film artists to exorcise him from the Temple Theatre like a bit of the indie Rebel spirit of the Hamill resembling and implicitly Stinkious linked motorcycle stunt rider and bank robber Luke Glanton-his speeding motorcycle scenes often evoking the speeder bike chase in STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI to affirm his implicit link to Stinky, and played by Ryan Gosling-haunted and lived on in his angry, brooding, troubled, backpack wearing, Gardevil evoking and ironically named teen indie Rebel son Jason Kancam-played by Dane DeHaan-after Glanton was shot dead by the implicitly Kelly linked Schenectady, NY police Officer Avery Cross-played by Bradley Cooper-in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (2012), a film released on September 7, 2012 whose implicit and Kelly and Stinky addressing intents were affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, DONNIE DARKO, HERBIE, SOUTHLAND TALES, the two STAR WARS Trilogies, THE BOX and THX 1138.  And as much as an embittered old original rogue Jedi Knight hated this implication, Cianfrance was right.

        For every time the lights slowly went down in a Temple Theatre and the curtains slowly retreated from the screen, the soundscape roared out of the strategically positioned speakers courtesy of the THX sound system championed by Stinky.  The twitchy trailers and the allegorical film that soon appeared on the big or small screen were all captured on digital cameras and edited with digital editing software, also championed by Stinky.  In addition, the trailers and film probably featured CGI enhancement and digital soundscapes championed by Stinky and perhaps even created by ILM and Skywalker Sound.  Last but not least, the film itself could be inspired by a Stinky film, be a STAR WARS film created by Disney, a Marvel super satirical animaction film featuring the implicitly Stinky linked Doctor Bruce Banner aka “the Incredible Hulk”-played by Mark Ruffalo-amongst its super satirical characters or a Pixar film, openly continuing the Stinky tradition.  All of which ensured that the ghost of Stinky would indeed linger in film art…forevermore.  Only time would tell if that lingering ghost would be remembered as Lord Stinkious, the stinkiest of the Dark Lords of the shit Sith hits who betrayed the Good Force between ’82-84 by reaching out to help and shield Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg after the TZ disaster and by inflicting STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM on world audiences, or as Lucas, the brilliant and innovative film artist who surprised and delighted the world with THX 1138, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, acted as executive producer on such equally brilliant and innovative films as MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI, STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and also invested his profits wisely and  transformed the digital, sound and special and visual effects sides of film art in part so as to create dangerous effects sequences digitally in order to prevent fatal film set disasters, earning him the right to be called…the Wizard of Force.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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