Just saw Kingdom of Heaven. I thought Orlando did a decent job of pained and restrained nobility in blossom. Were they playing to his strengths? Dunno. Definitely not a leader through charisma -- leading through honourable action instead.

Peter Jackson has ruined me. Dude. Boromir death scene, Minas Tirith, Helm's Deep, flowering of the White Tree, mondo battering ram ... of course there are a limited number of ways to show a siege, but still. There needs to be a moratorium on heroes taking a bunch of arrows and keeping fighting, for at least a couple more years.

Orlando's got a great if narrow niche -- blacksmiths who leave the forge to fight. I wouldn't have thought there were two movies with that hero at the core, but I say he should run with it.

Has he ever done a non-period movie?

Not that's gotten wide release in the US, no. IIRC, he has Calcium Kid, Haven, and Elizabethtown done. Still, to deflect Ned Kelly, Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, Return Of The King, Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-3 -- that'll take some doing. Seeing as people have seen some of those.

Oh, and if Liam Neeson trains Bruce Wayne and then dies, [KoH spoiler] that'd make at least three mentor/corpse thingies he's got going.

Has he ever done a non-period movie?

Does "Blackhawk Down" count as a period movie?

Given enough time, it will.

Sorry, haven't had my coffee yet....

Does "Blackhawk Down" count as a period movie?

I wouldn't call it one, but Troy is a period movie.

A.O. Scott, The New York Times:

This is by far the best film in the more recent trilogy, and also the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed. That's right (and my inner 11-year-old shudders as I type this): it's better than "Star Wars."

Anthony Lane, The New Yorker:

The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion.

Hee. Love Anthony Lane for the excellent burn. I've not seen it yet, so can't comment, but that kind of bitchery is funny to me. (Until it's my script.) "Empire Strikes Back" is the best one, anyway.

"Empire Strikes Back" is the best one, anyway.

And the one with the least amount of Lucas involvement. Coincidence?

Personally, I don't think Anthony Lane's set foot in a movie theatre since he fell asleep watching RotK (which is the only explanation I can think of for the utter moronic incoherence of that "review"). He needs to stop trying to prove to everyone how clever he is and get back to reviewing movies, which he used to be rather good at.