We have pirated versions of the new Star Wars movie available on DVD here in Iraq (yes, they do move quickly, don't they?)

I walked into our TV room and saw some guys were watching it, so I figured I would sit down and see how it was. For those who have seen the movie, I came in at the beginning of the scene where Mace Windu tries to arrest the Emperor.

My impressions? The acting is terrible, and the dialogue is even worse. Just absolutely terrible. I mean, so bad that I just couldn't get past it. I was so dissapointed. This new Star Wars movie had gotten very good reviews. I was hoping maybe Lucas had overcome the shortcomings of the first two movies. But OH MY GOD!! The acting and dialogue were SOOOOO BAD!!

Now, I'm no film critic or movie elitist. I like stupid-funny movies. I don't limit myself to French art house films. But the acting was so absolutely abhorrent in the fifteen minutes I saw that it took my attention away from the story time and time again.

For example: the Emperor's face is terribly misfigured during his fight with Mace Windu, and Anakin walks in in the middle of it. I mean, it's the guy's face we're talking about. At the end of the fight, the Emperor and Anakin have a lengthy conversation. Does Anakin say anything about the Emperor's new appearance? Nope. The story just goes right on without ever even touching on it.

At the beginning of the scene the Emperor looks like a normal person, and by the end he's this horrid yellow eyed basset hound looking thing. AND NO ONE SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT IT!! Everyone is supposed to just accept that this guy goes through this massive transformation in his appearance and no one around him would bat an eye? Not even a "Hey, are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm ok. I just need to walk it off. I'll be fine." Nothing. One minute he's a handsome politician in an office, the next he's a jaundiced bag of pale, sagging skin. But hey, happens to the best of us, right?

At that point I decided that whatever Lucas had tapped with the original Star Wars movies was lost. The new ones will forever be a dissapointment. I mean, not just a dissapointment but plain bad. Not even passable. Ugh.

Too bad.