Making The Star Destroyers Run On Time

In a nifty piece of contrarianism, Jonathan Last expands on his 2002 essay, “The Case for the Empire“, by bringing it up to date in an NPR broadcast that discusses Star Wars: Episode III. As Jonathan says, “A Flawed Despot is Better than a Smug Jedi“.

It’s also reminiscent of James Lileks’ take on the second Matrix movie:

I thought it was a ponderous, boring mess. Sure, it had a certain buzz, but so does a beached flyblown whale carcass. The metaphysics were sophomoric, the acting stiff and pained, the action without consequence or drama. The FX, while amazing, were just a demo reel for new CGI programs. Nothing meant anything. Why should I root for Zion? The machines had built this enormous civilization for themselves, and the guys down in the Rave Hole hadn