(OK, I am starting the day late, and on the lighter side….but there is some politics at the end).

The reviewer at the NYT is impressed with the latest Star Wars flick: ‘Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’: Some Surprises in That Galaxy Far, Far Away

This is by far the best film in the more recent trilogy, and also the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed. That’s right (and my inner 11-year-old shudders as I type this): it’s better than “Star Wars.”

Hmm, visually, I have no doubt. At the end as satisfying? I sincerely doubt it.

However:

To be sure, some of the shortcomings of “Phantom Menace” (1999) and “Attack of the Clones” (2002) are still in evidence, and Mr. Lucas’s indifference to two fairly important aspects of moviemaking - acting and writing - is remarkable.

Ya gotta hate the lack of writing and acting in a film…

OF course, Lucas’ focus is elsewhere:

The integration of computer-generated imagery with captured reality (in other words, what we used to call movies) is seamless; Mr. Lucas has surpassed Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg in his exploitation of the new technology’s aesthetic potential.

And you have to love the editorializing:

At one point, Darth Vader, already deep in the thrall of the dark side and echoing the words of George W. Bush, hisses at Obi-Wan, “If you’re not with me, you’re my enemy.” Obi-Wan’s response is likely to surface as a bumper sticker during the next election campaign: “Only a Sith thinks in absolutes.”

And BTW, isn’t “only a Sith thinks in absolutes” an absolute?