Never saw the movie, but it doesn't look good from the Wikipedia page.

Merry Chrimbus, Jon (look)

Don't worry, everyone hates her...

Final Cut.

It's gotten a little slower lately, I blame Diablo 3...

If push comes to shove, I will. I'd prefer not to but it wouldn't be the first time I've DM'd.

DM-ing?

You ever get on figuring out that online RPG thing?

It's been lively on my chat group, must be a slow night. I have some stuff to get done and I'll be in there shortly. Keep ya pants on.

No no, I understand wanting to know about Rush Limbaugh's comments. He called the girl from my school a slut for testifying in Congress on how private employers should be allowed to have contraceptives in their healthcare plans. He proceeded to recommend all girls in Georgetown to slip aspirin between their legs. So yeah, that kinda pissed me and all my friends off.

Dammit. Missed that last bit.

It is complete.

5. What do you feel are these "ridiculous reasons" people hate the prequels?

As I said before, Jar Jar being racist is one of them, but that's just for one of the films in the trilogy. It's the over-generalizations that people make over the whole of the trilogy that get to me. 

Here's a few:

- They're nothing but toy commercials. 

With this complaint, all I can say to people who say this is: "Have you even seen a Star Wars movie?"

- They're only geared towards kids. 

See the above, pretty much. Just because you're an adult who likes the originals now and saw them at a young age and are now criticizing the newer films for appealing to kids… where's the logic in that? Besides, with all the political commentary and subplots going on, do you really think that kids are going to fully analyze that all the way through when they first see them?

- They don't make sense.

This one I've been trying to figure out with people like Korey and Doug Walker, but even now I'm totally confused at such a criticism. If people like Poopa, myself and even Chig can watch and enjoy the films, why can't these motherfuckers? There's bad dialogue in some areas, sure, but bad storytelling to the point where it's indecipherable? Fuck no. 

- You already know what's going to happen.

Uh… yeah, no fucking shit. That's the point of prequel, you retard. You see the full development of a previous story all the way through if it wasn't explained explicitly. Were you not paying attention to see where Padme's story was going to go? Or Mace Windu's? Or Bail Organa's? Or even the whole of the Jedi fucking Order and the first incarnation of the Galactic fucking Republic? Weren't you wondering how those were going to turn out?!

…Sorry, that one gets to me a lot. 

I'll stop there.

6.  I've often said that I'd have forgiven all the flaws of the prequels if, before Anakin killed all the kids, he fought off like.....7-12 fully trained Jedi Knights.  Do you agree with this idea, if not why?

I can see this making sense for you, and that would have been really cool if that was realized. However, I'm still comfortable without there being some large-scale battle with Anakin and multiple Jedi Knights, mostly because that very thing is shown briefly in the holo-recording that Obi-Wan views in the Jedi Temple after Order 66 is carried out. It would be cool, but for me, I'm fine without it.

Well, that's it. Feel free to ask me more questions, and I'll be sure to answer them more quickly than I did this time.

And may the Force be with you...

3.  A personal flaw I have with the prequels (but no one else does, apparently) is that despite Anakin being the chosen one or whatever, he does not seem more powerful, and in fact seems weaker,  than his fellow Jedi.  I feel that he could have been portrayed having an uncanny mastery over the force, yet still have felt limited by the light side, especially when he learns that Padme is going to die.  What are your thoughts on this?

I can see where you're coming from with this one, but I have my own theories of why this is:

#1 -  I think having Anakin being portrayed as a sort of demigod of the Force would be a little off-putting, as he would figure out his master's suspicion of him being The Chosen One right away and have a big ego about it (although that would have been interesting to see). He also still displayed exceptional skills, such as his control of vehicles and his vague premonitions. 

#2 - Another explanation could be that Anakin was not The Chosen One, but in fact Luke was, as he destroyed the Empire and brought balance to Force. 

#3 - However, there is a possible theory that Anakin was The Chosen One based on him killing the Emperor and eliminating the Sith.

I guess with those last two it's a matter of opinion, but I still stand by all three.

4. Padme dying because "she lost the will to live", despite being physically fine, was a huge huge problem for me.  Do you agree, if not why?

I understand this complaint, but at the same time I don't. When I first saw Episode III, I thought Padme died because of the Force choke inflicted on her by Anakin, coupled with the pain of childbirth. However, when I read the complaints about this I remembered what the medic droid said about her being "healthy", and then I became confused. At this point, I think what the medic droid said was a misconception and that it doesn't know about the mystical force that caused her to start dying. That's the best I got for that, but it's a flawed scene, to be sure.

Sorry it took so long, but here it is.

I had to split it up a few times because of the character limit of these comments, so I hope that doesn't bother you

Hope it's worth the wait...

1.  What is your defense (if any) for Jar Jar Binks?

I can't really offer any general counter-argument for Jar Jar besides that I don't find him that annoying. He's not entirely unnecessary, either, because I sympathize with Lucas' labeling of him as a way to entertain the younger viewers and that he leads the Gungan army near the end, not to mention he played a role in the Senate on Coruscant in the later films. However, what I will defend him for in an instant is that he is not the racist caricature that people are making him out to be. I'm sure that Ahmed Best, who is black, would see something wrong with the role he was given in terms of his race by now. Just the fact that people flip-flop between "African-American caricature" and "Jamaican caricature" when labeling Jar Jar is proof enough that he stands on his own. Aside from the fact that Jar Jar's "annoying" presence was been blown astronomically out of proportion (just like the hate on the prequel trilogy), that's all I got.

2. The famous review from Red Letter Media brings up that the characters in Phantom Menace are nowhere near as developed as the characters in the original trilogy.  Do you agree with this?  If so, would you say this lack of development is a large flaw of the film?

First of all, I am incapable of taking what little criticisms I've heard out of Mr. Media seriously because of his abysmal comedic schtick. This I did see him criticize, and all I can say is that I slightly disagree with it based on the fact that he's comparing one film against three phenomenally well-done films that came out nearly twenty years before this one. It's simply a matter of expecting way too much out of one film when it's following three great films, and it twists your honest initial feelings of the film as a stand-alone whole. I'll elaborate on that later, but all I'll say for this one is that the character development is not on par with something like A New Hope (I'm narrowing it down to this one for actual realistic purposes), but for me there's enough there for you to say things like "Hey, Qui-Gon's kind of a badass" and "Hey, Queen Amidala is going through a lot right now."