Jimmy, Ryan, and Wanda, oh my!

The past two days have been chock full of wild and wacky fun, LA style. Wednesday night the crew rolled over to ArcLight for the Revenge of the Sith screening. With protestors that looked strangely similar to George Lucas and wookies at the bar drinking Amstel, there was much rejoicing in our geeky hearts.

Before the movie began, we were sitting in the theater, eagerly awaiting either the film or a glimpse of the girl dressed as a scantily-clad Leia. It was one or the other for everyone in the auditorium, you dig? Anyway, all of a sudden a security guard rushes from the side of the theater straight towards someone in the audience. Everyone was stunned and was staring at him. Breathlessly he excalimed, "Sir, Light Sabres OFF!" The joint dissolved into giggles. Who did this fool think he was? That fat Asian dude he just reprimanded could seriously slice him in half with the flick of a wrist. He took pity on the man earning minimum wage in that sad burgundy sportcoat, though, and let things continue in peace.

The abridged review of the film? No spoilers here, kids. I thought it was by far the best of the 3. Although I zoned out during the dialogue scenes, I found the battles captivating (although slightly restrained) and the dialogue less sucky than the others. Jimmy Smits made me chortle when he murmurs, "We've always wanted to adopt a baby girl." I am not sure why it got me, but luckily several others joined me in the moment.

It was good to see the wookies, as always. Ewan was dashing as per usual, and Hayden Christensen became tolerable towards the midpoint because he replaced his trademark wooden speech with a silent glower. Get the makeup girls to give him some circles under his eyes, and presto! He's Darth Vader, no doubt.

So go see it. I am going again to see it in glorious 2K digital projection in the Dome one of these days...

Last night was the Young Storytellers show over in South Central. I love these things, because you really get to see a non-Hollywood side of actors. They have no choice but to drop the act or at least get a new, kid-friendly one.

I nearly got whiplash from the double take I did when I saw Ryan Reynolds standing in the middle of the auditorium. You might remember Mister Reynolds from his roles as Van Wilder in the movie of the same name, and the Daddy in the recent "Amityville Horror aka Watch Me Take My Shirt Off and Kill My Family" Movie. I eventually headed over to make him one of the group by giving him a sticker. I decided that Ryan Reynolds needed an orange. I resisted the urge to stick it to his rock-hard abdominal muscles and instead put it on his shoulder. I was very proud of myself.

Deborah Wilson, of Mad TV fame, was on-call for this one as always. We always get a kick out of Deborah because she's totally over the top and usually makes a questionable clothing or undergarment choice. The kids love her, though, and she really throws herself into the whole thing. It's sweet of her to do so many shows for us...

Not to be outdone was Wanda Sykes, with her breakthrough role as Little Big Hands in the story entitled "The Land of Dirty Dishes." Wanda really brought down the house with the line that explains her characters name. "It's because I am so little, yet my hands are so big." She was a good sport and signed tons of autographs with her little big hands.

The cast worked really well together. LeezyB made an appearance, gracing us with her presence. She did a wicked impersonation of our head mentor Valerie that goes in the history books. Not only was Valerie a surgeon, but she turns into a vampire as well. Not an easy role to play, my darlings. You need real range for that one.

I am ready for life to settle down a little. Yoda AND Ryan Reynolds one after the other? Too much.

orange you glad?...g