Well, I just got back from watching Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It is a very powerful movie, although it is quite dark and violent. Lucas did a great job of bringing us back to the beginning, and in that sense it was very satisfying.

I strongly recommend that you read the novelization. There is so much more in the book that makes the action in the movie even more tragic. You get thoughts, emotions, and fears that simply cannot be represented in a movie.

Natalie Portman certainly had a sucky role in this film. She comes across as needy and clingy, and she apparently never gets out of her own apartment. She just sits on her couch and stares out the window. It is impossible to believe this is the same character who ruled as Queen of Naboo at the age of 14. She's still hot, however.

There was one scene in the book that I was looking forward to, but it was not in the movie. It would have been the penultimate scene, with Yoda, having landed on Dagobah, looking around at the desolate swamp where he will have to spent the last decades of his long life.

"When 900 years old YOU reach, look as good, you will not. Hmm?"

Only two more days until the release of the final chapter in the Star Wars saga. Thirty years. Who would have believed it?

Lucas claims that Star Wars fans will have tears in their eyes when the movie ends. Having just read the novelization, I have to agree with him. This is a tragedy, and it reveals what a tragedy the entire six-movie cycle has been. Perhaps the worst part of it is that, unlike previous movies, we all know what has to happen here. We know that all of the Jedi (except two) will die. We know that the Chancellor must become the Emporer. We know that poor, trusting Anakin Skywalker will turn on his closest friends and become the evil and mechanical Darth Vader. We know that Padme will deliver twins and die. We know that their galaxy is about to be thrust into a period of painful oppression. And we know that all of this is happening because of the ambitions of exactly one man.

I consider myself a stoic, and I found myself having surpisingly strong feelings of dread as I picked up the novel.

I'm looking forward to the movie, but it isn't going to be a "feel good" experience.