Unlike most astronomy nerds, though, Knoll has actually influenced the way space has looked in some of its most high-profile appearances on the big screen. Today, he owns an 8-inch reflector telescope, which he operates at his home in Lucas Valley, California, a secluded spot that’s protected enough from light pollution for Knoll to admire the Milky Way at night and play the “spot the satellite” game during hours when Earth is in shadow but the band around the planet is illuminated enough for its human-made satellites to sparkle in the sun. As a 6-year-old, he watched the Apollo 11 landing on his dad’s extra-large TV-a whole 19 inches-which first got him hooked. A child of the Apollo era and the son of a nuclear-engineering professor who consulted for NASA, Knoll was predisposed to becoming a lifelong science-fiction fan, space-program aficionado, and astronomy nerd. John Knoll is the chief creative officer and senior visual effects supervisor of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the company that George Lucas created to design the special effects for Star Wars, a movie that mesmerized a 14-year-old Knoll in the summer of 1977. Please join us at The Ringer as we celebrate and explore the cultural resonance and science of space all week long. Star Trek is returning to TV, The Martian author Andy Weir is returning to bookshelves, and Destiny 2 and a new Metroid release are bringing gamers back to the stars. SpaceX is about to launch the most powerful operational rocket in the world. NASA’s long-lived Cassini mission is ending this week, just after its even longer-lived Voyager mission marked its 40th anniversary. But if I never see this one again, I'll be fine.Outer space is everywhere: Not only are we physically surrounded by it, but we’re inundated with images of it, both real and fictional. Seeing a bunch of Jedi at the end is cool, the worlds are unique, and Ewan McGregor is always good. There are glimmers of that Star Wars fun here and there. A large chunk of this movie is just Anakin whining and complaining that things "aren't fair" in Christensen's dull monotone, and then aggressively cringey romantic scenes with him and Padme. Even when I've seen him in good movies, he's awful, I don't like him. That just makes it even more annoying when she falls head over heels for the angst king himself Anakin. God damn it do I hate Anakin and Padme! Padme's actually a more competent character than I remember her being, and I like seeing her hold her own in the action set pieces. Maybe they're making up for all the talking, but when stuff does go down, it's fun for a little while but gets boring fast. Some of the action pieces actually feel like they go on forever. When we do have action scenes, they're okay, but just okay. It all feels like exposition and set up for future entries rather than its own thing, and it just makes the movie kind of boring. I'll even make a modest defense for some of Anakin's moments of turning, like the bit with the Tusken Raiders that's actually more well put together than I remember. Jango Fett is still cool, if not a little underutilized. Obi Wan's investigating is a little more interesting, even if it all feels like vague set up for the inevitable TV show. But there are things in it that are okay, and better than I remember. Okay look, I spent years hating this movie and building up that loathing, and watching it again…yeah, it's earned. Just TRY to watch this again and tell me any other entry in the main saga didn't at least do SOMETHING better. To all the prequel apologists who say the sequel trilogy is the worst thing to happen to Star Wars, please, watch this movie again.
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