'The Phantom Menace' Showed Hollywood How to Love the Prequel

There were prequels before The Phantom Menace, which is being re-released this weekend to celebrate its 25th anniversary. But George Lucas saw the future of franchises, which was going back in time rather than forward. Was that a good or bad thing for the industry? My thoughts are here.

'Star Wars' Doesn't Deserve Darth Vader

A character whom George Lucas originally named Dark Water has far since transcended the franchise that spawned him. In honor of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer, which made news because it featured the Sith Lord for all of about two seconds, I wrote about Darth Vader's lasting cultural relevance for MEL.

'Revenge of the Sith' and the End of George Lucas' Reign

When I was doing research for my piece on the anniversary of Revenge of the Sith's release, I found this quote from an anonymous studio executive back when the prequels were first announced: "Somebody else doing Star Wars means nothing; George Lucas doing it means everything." And then I knew I had my in to talk about Lucas' legacy. My piece is up at SyFy.

Misleading Men: Hayden Christensen

Anakin Skywalker is back. For MEL, I talked about the unlikely redemption of Hayden Christensen, and the movie he ought to be known for. Hope you enjoy.