DemonDragonJ on Star Wars, Episode I: the …

2 days ago

This year is the 25th anniversary of Star Wars, Episode I: the Phantom Menace, the first film of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the fourth film overall in the franchise.

The original film was entitled simply "Star Wars" when it was released in 1977, but the subtitle of "Episode IV: a New Hope" was added shortly before the release of the next film, Episode V: the Empire Strikes Back, because director George Lucas wished for the audiences to feel as if they were entering the story in the middle of an ongoing epic saga, which, naturally, led to the desire for episodes I, II, and III, so, sixteen years after the original trilogy ended, Lucas produced the first installment of the prequel trilogy, to reveal the story behind the formation of the Empire, the destruction of the Jedi order, and how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.

Audiences were very excited for the release of the Phantom Menace, as Star Wars was a popular and beloved media franchise, by that time, but they were tremendously disappointed by TPM, for numerous reasons; first, the original trilogy was groundbreaking in its usage of highly-innovative physical effects, while TPM used CGI very heavily, almost to the point of excess. Second, the difference in tone and mood between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy was quite severe, as the original trilogy was a fairly straightforward story about a plucky band of righteous rebels fighting against a tyrannical empire, while the prequel trilogy focused very heavily on political subjects, which I imagine that many viewers found to be terribly tedious. Beyond that, seeing the character of Anakin Skywalker as a child and then a young adult was a most unusual experience, since audiences had a difficult time imaging an angsty and emotional character becoming the complete badass and epitome of evil whom Darth Vader was in the original trilogy, and I feel that that was more the fault of George Lucas than it was of the actors who played Anakin.

The portrayal of Anakin Skywalker, and his romance with Padme Naberrie, highlighted one of the major issues with the prequel trilogy; George Lucas is the creator of Star Wars, and, as such, he absolutely deserves praise for conceiving one of the greatest media franchises ever made, but much of the original trilogy's success was the result of numerous people working together, sharing ideas and suggesting ways to improve the story, but, during the filming of the prequel trilogy, George Lucas had nearly unlimited creative control over the films, which led to him becoming egotistical and the other crew members being reluctant to criticize him or offer suggestions about how to improve the story, and, as such, the prequel trilogy's writing was not of the same quality as was that of the original trilogy.

Nevertheless, The Phantom Menace still had plenty of positive aspects, such as excellent acting from Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, and Ian McDiarmid, as well as an expansion of the lore of the Star Wars universe, so the movie was not a complete disaster, and it certainly helped to revive the Star Wars franchise, inspiring numerous auxiliary media, such as novels, video games, and music.

I watched the original Star Wars movies when I was younger, so I was very excited for The Phantom Menace, but I was severely disappointed with the first installment of the prequel trilogy, although I have grown to appreciate that trilogy, in recent years, but I wonder if my changed opinion is due to me being older and wiser, or simply because the sequel trilogy was so horrible that it made the prequel trilogy look good, by comparison, but that is a subject to discuss in another post.

How does everyone else feel about this subject? What are your thoughts about this year being the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, and can you believe that that movie is now that old?

DemonDragonJ on Why Have There Been So …

2 days ago

Defensive cards have always been a part of the game, but I have noticed that recent defensive cards have been instants and sorceries, rather than permanents; of course, Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, and Flare of Fortitude are all excellent cards, but the fact that they are instants requires a player to spend additional resources to reuse them, which I dislike; when was the last time that there was a card such as Story Circle, Righteous Aura, or Martyr's Cause, which are all permanents, so players can easily reuse their abilities; recently, WotC did print Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Avacyn, Guardian Angel, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, or any version of Sigarda, but they are the exception, rather than the norm, for defensive cards, so I very much would like to see a greater frequency of permanents that protect players and prevent damage.

What does everyone else say about this? Why have there been so few defensive permanents, recently, or am I simply complaining and seeing only what I wish to see?

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep Consuming Aberration …

1 week ago

I have a copy of Consuming Aberration in three different EDH decks of mine: The Mimeoplasm deck, my Thraximundar deck, and my Sen Triplets deck, but I am wondering if I should keep it those decks; it is very useful in The Mimeoplasm deck, as that deck uses graveyards as resources, but the other two decks typically do not care very much about my opponents' graveyards, so I am wondering what other cards I could put into those decks in place of Consuming Aberration (preferably creatures with a mana value no greater than 5, so as not to raise the mana curves of those decks).

What does everyone else say about this subject? Should I keep Consuming Aberration in those decks, and, if not, what cards do you suggest as replacements for it?

DemonDragonJ on Arcavios Outside of Strixhaven

1 week ago

In Mark Rosewater's most recent article about the Rabiah scale, he stated that, if the game were to return to Arcavios, players would most likely expect that Strixhaven would be involved in the story in some capacity, but I dislike that idea, because I feel that an entire plane should not be defined by a single location on it; if we presume that Arcavios is approximately the same size as Earth, that is a great amount of area to explore, so I sincerely hope that there is more to Arcavios than simply Strixhaven, as that would be very poor worldbuilding, otherwise.

What does everyone else say about this? If the game returns to Arcavios, would you like to see more of the plane, beyond Strixhaven?

DemonDragonJ on The Mummy (1999): the 25th …

2 weeks ago

This year is the 25th anniversary of the 1999 version of The Mummy, an action-adventure film by Universal Pictures, which some may regard as a spiritual successor to their 1932 film of the same name, as the movies do share a number of similarities, such as being set in Egypt during the 1920's, characters awakening an ancient mummy from the dead, and the lead female character being the reincarnation of the villain's former lover (or needing to be sacrificed to revive said lover), but the two films are radically different in tone, which is understandable, as they were made over sixty years apart, so I believe that the newer films should be regarded as its own entity and not seen as having any connection to the earlier film, apart from its name.

The movie clearly takes inspiration from the original Indiana Jones trilogy, which itself was inspired by action-adventure films of the 1930's and 40's, as it features a group of intrepid explorers discovering ancient treasure and then unleashing dark forces beyond their comprehension, and, as such, I certainly enjoyed watching it, and I can hardly believe that it is now a quarter of a century old, as that certainly makes me feel old.

The movie is fun and action-packed, but I do feel that still devotes sufficient time to developing its characters and ensuring that its plot is reasonably well-developed and entertaining, and it was sufficiently popular that Universal studios produced two sequels and a series of spin-off films, although I personally feel that none of the following movies matched the original, as is so often the case with movie franchises.

How does everyone else here feel about this year being the 25th anniversary of The Mummy? Are you excited about it?

DemonDragonJ on What Does Bloomburrow Offer that …

3 weeks ago

It seems that many players are excited about Bloomburrow, but I am not certain why that is, since sentient beings that resemble anthropomorphic non-human animals, such as leonin, ainok, and viashino, have been part of this game for many years now, so I wonder what Bloomburrow offers that the game has not already had; is it the fact that the plane of Bloomburrow is inhabited only by anthropomorphic animals, and no humanoids?

What does everyone else say about this? Why are some players so excited for Bloomburow?

DemonDragonJ on Will Someone Please Explain this …

3 weeks ago

In this post on Mark Rosewater's Tumblr page, a user made a reference to something, and Rosewater said "hats off to anyone who gets the reference," so what is that reference? Does anyone here know what that user was referencing?

DemonDragonJ on Diabolic Revelation or Rune-Scarred Demon?

4 weeks ago

I have a copy of Diabolic Revelation in my Sen Triplets EDH deck, although I am considering replacing it with a copy of Rune-Scarred Demon, since I like having a powerful 6/6 creature with flying, which I could potentially summon repeatedly, to use its ability multiple times.

What does everyone else say about this? Should I replace Diabolic Revelation with Rune-Scarred Demon, or keep the sorcery in that deck?