Sith Lord | janeaustenrunsmylife

So first let me say I am not talking about the Star Wars Christmas Special, I am instead (as everyone is) talking about the new Star Wars film.

And let me just say, I am not going to watch it today.

I know, I know. As a major fangirl, how could I miss it?

Well first of all I am a little mad that they broke tradition and instead of having the film come out in May, they are releasing it in December. Star Wars: A New Hope May 25th, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back May 21st, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi May 25th, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace May 19th, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones May 16th, & Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith May 19th. I mean come on guys, you’re not supposed to break tradition.

And the other reason? I’m afraid, very, very, very, afraid.

You see when I first found out that J.J. Abrams was going to do the new Star Wars franchise, I was actually happy about it. But then I found out that he wasn’t going to follow the Star Wars storyline, but create a new one.

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!

And then I heard the rumors that Luke is going to go over to the Dark Side!

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!

How could you betray me like that!!!!!

Luke was supposed to start the Jedi Academy again!!!! Han and Leia were supposed to be married!!!! And have a set of twins (one boy one girl) and another child that goes to the dark side.

Besides, if Luke goes to the Dark Side that completely ruins the original three films! He brought balance!

His choosing to die rather than kill his father was what made his father have a change of heart and redeemed him!!!!!! You can’t change that!!!! Jedis all the way not Sith Lords

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!

So until I have gleaned enough facts from friends who’s opinions I deeply trust, I am going to wait to watch the new film.

Instead I am going to fulfill another one of my Christmas traditions: Star Wars Marathon.

Every year I watch the original three films. It started from channel surfing and discovering a marathon on Spike TV. It became a yearly one, when I traded in my prize for showing up to every Christmas Carol practice for cash and bough my own set of the Star Wars films on DVD. Everyone thought I was stupid for giving up the year’s deluxe gameboy, but I’d rather have Star Wars any day.

So I wish you all a very, merry Star Wars Christmas, whether you are watching the new or the old.

For more on Star Wars, go to We Want You

Since we are on a Star Wars theme, I thought today’s Christmas Carol would also feature an important star, the Christmas Star.

I choose the song Do You Hear What I Hear? This song was written right in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was popularized by the Harry Simeone Chorale, who also sang The Little Drummer Boy. Many artists have done a cover of this song, from Bing Crosby to Carrie Underwood.

Of course my first introduction was in The Little Drummer Boy: Book II, the sequel to the TV special, claymation, The Little Drummer Boy.

I just love how beautiful this song is and could sing it over and over again.

For more on Do You Hear What I Hear?, go to On the 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, & 1st Days ‘Til Christmas: The Music of Christmas

For more Christmas carols, go to Every Month at the Quarter Moon There’ll Be a Monsoon

Day 5) An Underrated Movie

The Black Cauldron is highly underrated as it has a bunch of great characters and scenes. I know I talked about it during my first Horrorfest.

So I actually never saw this film as a kid. My mother thought it would scare me. It would come on TV and I remember it coming out of the vault and being on all kinds of commercials. I even had a toy Gurgi that I got in a McDonald’s happy meal.

So how did I finally stumble onto this work? Well, I really like the author Lloyd Alexander, as I have read his book Time Cat. Two years ago, I decided that I would read through the The Chronicles of Prydain series as it is his most famous work and what The Black Cauldron is a part of. The book series was really good except I wish the Horned King was in more of it and as the series wraps itself up, the last books are not as nearly good as the first ones. Anyways, so after I had read the series I checked out the film and of course did the I’m No Warrior, I’m an Assistant Pig-Keeper post. But in that post I compared the film and the book as I had just finished reading the series.

So the film The Black Cauldron is a compilation of the first two books in the series; The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron. And I thought it was pretty good. I mean some parts were film corny, but I really liked it. In fact, I am appalled that more people have never heard of it or seen it. It really deserves more love.

“Legend has it, in the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so cruel and so evil, that even the Gods feared him. Since no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron. There his demonic spirit was captured in the form of a great, black cauldron. For uncounted centuries, the black cauldron lay hidden, waiting, while evil men searched for it, knowing whoever possessed it would have the power to resurrect an army of deathless warriors… and with them, rule the world.”

So the film is about Taran, an assistant pig-keeper, who dreams of becoming a great warrior. He finds out that the pig her cares for, Hen Wen, is in danger as she is an oracular pig and that the evil Horned King is after her. The Horned King needs her to find the Black Cauldron to bring to life the dead, creating a zombie army.

An actual army of the undead. That is much more creepy than this guy.

Taran accidentally allows Hen Wen to be captured and travels after her, saving and getting the creature Gurgi as a follower. He comes to the Horned King’s castle and there he finds a captured princess, Princess Eilonwy, a ministrel named Fflewddur Fflam, and a magic sword. The journey on to destroy the Black Cauldron, meeting up with fairies, witches, and battle the Horned King.

It’s funny, but now that I think about it, this film in a lot of ways reminds me of Star Wars.

Now it has a lot of great characters.

First we have Taran, a young boy who dreams of achieving something greater. Think Luke Skywalker, eager to leave what he feels is an inadequate existence. He wants more, he wants to fight the Dark Sith Lo…I mean Horned King. At times he is a bit silly, as every young boy who is trying to find his way is, but in all he’s a great character. You just love him.

Then we have Eilonwy. Now people always forget this princess, but she rocks.

She tooootally kicks butt. She is like the animated version of Princess Leia. She has been caught by the evil Horned King, but isn’t waiting around, she’s trying to get out of there. She never let’s anyone push her around because of her size or gender:

“Taran: What does a girl know about swords, anyway?

Eilonwy: “Girl”? “Girl”? If it wasn’t for this *girl*, you would still be in the Horned King’s dungeon.”

And this film has one of the all-time creepiest villains ever! The Horned King!