Monday, March 12, 2018

Not-So-Legendary Knights

It was already pretty blah out when I jumped out of bed early this morning. Wanted to fill a pitcher with water and the dish pan with soapy water. My landlady called me a few nights ago and said the water would be off from 9 to 6 today. I could hear the road work grinding as early as 7:30.

After I finished with my journal and a few chapters of Star Wars: Aftermath, I went right into breakfast. Watched a Three Stooges short while I ate. "Musty Musketeers" is one of the few remakes from the later Shemp era I like better than it's original version, "Fiddlers Three." This tale of a trio of wandering minstrels who help saves the princess from the court's magician so they can wed their sweethearts is given the benefit of a nice sword-fight sequence and a sharper ending.

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon and an hour after dinner writing. Re-wrote the scene where Leia and Obi-Wan find the prisoner to add more Han-Leia banter. Leia wants to know if he's seen her brother Luke. No, but the guy sure likes looking at her. She's not amused. Obi-Wan is even less-so - Tarkin is still coming their way.

Leia is horrified by the idea of Tarkin selling a man into slavery. There's rules about that in Naboo! In Naboo, yes, says Tarkin...but not in Tatoonie. Leia finally attacks the men when they attempt to take the prisoner away. Obi-Wan frees him while Leia fights several men at once.

They split up at the bottom of the tower. Obi-Wan takes the prisoner back to the carts. Leia looks for Luke...and is promptly captured by Tarkin and his men. They take her with them to the stables to see Chancellor Palpatine's newest prize...a unicorn with a flowing golden mane and tail, a sharp horn made of green crystal, and large blue eyes that seem almost human. Leia feels a connection to the creature and refuses to allow anyone to harm it. She takes off on it, using her own power to free all the horses in the stables.

Leia meets Obi-Wan, Chewie the Wookie wolf, and the prisoner in the cart at the drawbridge. She, her uncle, and the unicorn use their Force power to push the bridge open and escape. They're followed by several carts filled with guards, but it turns out one of the few things the man can remember is how to shoot. His bows and arrows helps get them past the guards and into the safety of the Endor Woods.

Had a quick lunch while watching an episode of Sailor Moon from the second season. Usagi herself is the target in "Awaken the Sleeping Beauty: Mamoru's Distress." Sailor Moon is put to sleep by a monster when they try to rescue Chibi-Usa from two of the Dark Moon Sisters. Tuxedo Mask should be the one to kiss her...but fearing her being hurt after a nightmare, he broke up with her. The girls have to convince him that helping his girlfriend is more important than any bad dream.

Discovered why the water was cut off when I headed out for work. They were replacing pipes almost literally right in front of the McHughs' house. No wonder Charlie didn't sound too happy this morning. He probably couldn't get out. I, on the other hand, was easily able to walk my bike around the road work.

Work itself was pretty quiet almost the entire day. We've been downgraded tomorrow from a major storm to "a half an inch of snow maybe and some rain in the morning." No one had any reason to go running out this time. I spent the first half of my shift helping the afternoon bagger with carts, and the second half inside doing the trash, bathrooms, and returns.

The rain had begun to pick up sometime after my break around 4. By the time I headed home, the light sprinkles had become a nice, steady shower. I needed a shower tonight anyway. I went home and got pre-wet.

Returned to Sailor Moon when I got in as I ate leftovers salmon for dinner and made a cucumber-tomato salad. "Battle the Flames of Love! Mars Vs. Koan" pits Rei against the youngest, fire-powered member of the Dark Moon Sisters. Koan shows up at the temple where Rei lives, trying to sell cosmetics...but she's been there before, and Rei and her fellow temple worker Yurichurou recognize her. Koan wants to capture Chibi-Usa and prove to her boss Rubeus that she truly loves him. Her boss, however, doesn't love anybody but himself. It takes intervention from the Guardians and Sailor Moon's healing powers to show Koan that she's a much better person than she wants to believe.

Did another Three Stooges swashbuckler as I cleaned up from dinner. They're "Squareheads of the Round Table" when they end up in the dungeon with Cedric the Blacksmith for trying to help him court Princess Elaine. Turns out her fiancee the Black Prince intends to murder her father and take over the throne! The Stooges help Elaine save her father and the kingdom.

Finished the night with King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword after writing and a shower. Arthur Pendragon (Charlie Hunnam) grows up on the streets after his father Uther (Eric Bana) is murdered by Vortigern (Jude Law), who has taken the throne of England. A group of brigands force Arthur and his hooligan buddies to try to pull a certain sword from a certain stone. Only Arthur is able to do it...revealing that he is the true king of England. Arthur is rescued from being executed by a group of freedom fighters, including Sir Bedivere (Dijimon Housou), who had once been one of his father's knights. He leads the group against Vortigern...and while it's a trap, he does end up showing what Excaliber can do. He wishes he didn't. His attempts to get rid of it in a lake end of with the lady of that particular body of water (Jaqui Ainsley) returning it. Arthur now has to figure out how to save England and learn to take responsibility for not only himself and his friends, but the future of his country.

Uh...yeah. What the heck did any of this have to do with King Arthur? It felt more like someone mixed whatever happens to be cool at the moment (vikings, superheroes, Star Wars, angsty vaguely good-looking white guys) with the legend of the Sword In the Stone. Not only did the plot not make sense, but the dark and dreary-looking direction and production design made the already-murky story hard to follow. No wonder this was a massive flop last summer. It's about as much fun as Excalibur taking your head off.

I have heard this has some fans, who enjoyed the theatrics and the action. More power to you. I just did not get into it. See this one only if you're a major fan of the cast or historical action movies, or you really must catch every version of the King Arthur stories out there.

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