Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

Embrace the Geekiness:

:: Observing my daughters third viewing of The Wizard of Oz this week, I was struck by one of the Wicked Witch's lines as she's in the process of expiring. Yeah, she whines "I'm melting!" over and over, but then she says something like, "Oh, who would have thought that a miserable girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness!" And, being the Star Wars geek that I am, I immediately wondered: if we were to replace the Emperor's shriek as he plummets down the reactor shaft at the end of Return of the Jedi with a similar line, what would it be?

"You were a runny-nosed teenager before I took you in!"

"I got you a girlfriend and gave you my biggest Star Destroyer!"

"They promised me that turning to the Dark Side was permanent!"

"Who could have thought the pod-racing runt that Qui Gon found would be the one to destroy my plans!"

Any other suggestions, folks?

:: Over on Tosy and Cosh (wasn't that a movie starring Fred Dryer and a German shepherd?) John wonders what the final image of Episode III will be, given that the final images of TPM and AOTC mirrored to a small degree the final images of ANH and TESB.

I don't know how Lucas could mirror that final gathering of the heroes smiling in ROTJ. The most often-suggested final image for Episode III I've seen, in various forums, is for Obi Wan to turn over baby Luke to Owen Lars and then wander off into the Tatooine wastes. Personally, assuming that Padme dies in the film, I think it would be interesting to see the newly-minted Darth Vader visiting her grave. That would plant a few of the seeds for Anakin's eventual return to the Good Side.

:: A few days ago, my wife and I watched Mission: Impossible!, which is a favorite movie of ours. (Yeah, we still like Tom Cruise. Sue us.) Anyway, I just want to note what is one of my favorite villain's lines ever in a movie. At the end, when Ethan Hunt explains to Mr. Phelps how the Bible that Phelps had boosted from a hotel was the clue Hunt needed to figure out that Phelps was behind everything, Mr. Phelps says: "They stamped it, didn't they? Those damn Gideons." For some reason, that line always cracks me up.