Entertainment Weekly is such a horrid publication

[JonathanLB]

I cannot believe I have subscribed to this drivel for 5 years. I did it mainly to get the news and whatnot about movies, but instead I am insulted every issue by horribly incorrect reviews by the nation's stupidest movie critic.

I really hate David Ansen of Newsweek and Roeper is just gay, but I have to admit they are both about 10 times better than Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly. She is the worst critic ever to write a film review. It's as though she reviews everything purely based on emotion and if she has PMS that day, it gets a bad review, but if she just got sent flowers from her withering old mom she gives the film a positive review.

Here is a CRITIC who gave CROSSROADS a B+ telling us that Episode II is not a very good movie. I mean, first off, WHY would anyone have a female movie critic review a Star Wars film? How stupid can you possibly be? That's like having several available critics and choosing ME to review a chick flick. It makes no sense. I am not a chick, how could I appreciate a chick flick the same as a girl could? Not to mention she doesn't understand Star Wars at all. I realize we have many loyal female fans, but this is a lady who cannot understand a series of movies that are WAY above her head.

CROSSROADS a B+?!?! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!! That is one of the ABSOLUTE WORST movies ever made. Nobody, not one other real critic, could call it a decent film, let alone a good one. The dialogue is absolutely terrible and the only thing worse is the horrible acting, of which Britney is extremely guilty. I love Britney, haha, she's hot as hell, but she cannot act her way out of a paperbag. I haven't ever heard of a real movie critic giving Crossroads a good grade, it insults my intelligence to be told by such a stupid woman that Episode II is not a good movie yet everyone else who has seen it really enjoys it. It's one thing if she actually wrote an intelligent review, but her review is just stupid. It's all fluff. There are no pros and cons listed, merely a series of useless comments that don't help her flimsy review at all. I doubt she even saw the film before reviewing it actually, probably just wrote an outline for the review, then saw the movie, and added a bit to the outline that was already bad, viola!

Jesus, I'm glad she gave AOTC a bad review because if Crossroads is what she considers great filmmaking, we all know exactly why she isn't directing or in the movie industry. Critics = failures who didn't make it, and that is pretty much exactly why their reviews never make any sense. They wouldn't know a good movie if it ran up and bit them in the @$$.

[CMJ]

Dude she loved FOTR. It was like her #1 film of the year. She didn't care for AOTC...so what? I'm sure alot of people won't. Obviously she can give sci-fi/Fantasy a chance, otherwise she wouldn't have liked Jackson's film.

[Dutchy]

Originally posted by JonathanLB
Here is a CRITIC who gave CROSSROADS a B+ telling us that Episode II is not a very good movie. I mean, first off, WHY would anyone have a female movie critic review a Star Wars film? How stupid can you possibly be? That's like having several available critics and choosing ME to review a chick flick. It makes no sense. I am not a chick, how could I appreciate a chick flick the same as a girl could? Not to mention she doesn't understand Star Wars at all. I realize we have many loyal female fans, but this is a lady who cannot understand a series of movies that are WAY above her head.

You are so role-reinforcing with dividing movies into guy and girl movies. There sure are movies that would appeal generally more to either gender, but the way you state it is just so narrow-minded.

[Charley]

Well, the only thing that irked me about her review was that she said the cliche' bit "Its better than TPM", yet gives AotC a lower score than she gave TPM.

It smell of hypocrite in here.

[CMJ]

She didn't review TPM for EW....Owen Glieberman did. So unless you read her review somewehre else we really don't know WHAT she thought of TPM at the time of its initial release.

[Charley]

I do believe they both reviewed it. Owen's was the public (and scathing) one.

[JonathanLB]

Most girls do not understand Star Wars, simple as that. You need look no further than a few official polls, both on SW.com and TFN, to see that. 85% of our fanbase is reportedly male, which is not surprising because the young kids especially LOVE Star Wars and the action figures, while the girls are into dolls, barbie, etc. I mean, lol, sorry but anyone who wants to sit around and pretend guys and girls are the same is just a fool!

Guys are far far different from girls. There are very few similarities in the way guys and girls think besides we are all human, other than that, you're talking about two entirely different attitudes and trains of thought. It's not at all a bad thing, it's just the way it is.

I do not believe the Star Wars movies are guys movies at all, I think everyone can enjoy them with an open mind. But I don't think that a female critic should ever exclusively review a Star Wars movie when you have a male critic onhand, although Owen is an idiot too. That's why I'm cancelling my EW subscription this summer, no later than August, maybe as soon as tomorrow, but it just depends. I want to keep the AOTC stories for my archives, so as long as they have a few, I'll keep subscribed until that time passes and then I'll just buy individually at a later point, but not subscribe. I cannot contribute to such an obviously awful publication. My problems with them carries far beyond just Star Wars, but even if it were just Star Wars that'd be way more than sufficient reason to drop them. A Christian would not remain subscribed to an anti-religious publication, no more than I would want to remain subscribed forever to an anti-Star Wars publication as a SW fan. It's absurd.

Lisa did like LOTR, that is true, but I read all of her reviews and she is one of the worst critics I have ever read. Just liking ONE movie that was great doesn't make her a great critic by any means.

Regardless, though, most critics are fools and will not fully understand AOTC even if they give it a positive review. I expect/expected to see mostly good, 3 star reviews, but with a lot of STUPID comments like, "Gee the dialogue sucks," or "The acting is bad," blah blah. Not like they would know. The Star Wars dialogue always has been the best ever written. It's awesome. If a critic says ANH has bad dialogue, I obviously have no reason to care about whatever else they say regarding Star Wars because that script received an Oscar nomination, but aside from that (because I really don't care what the Oscars think), it's just unquestionably the most quotable dialogue ever written. I love all Star Wars dialogue, so such silly commentary is just cut and paste work from other reviewers. I see hundreds of movies per year, I know what is bad dialogue (i.e. Crossroads and Jason X) and what is great dialogue (i.e. Changing Lanes and The Count of Monte Cristo).

I'm just sorry so many people are so stupid they cannot comprehend the Star Wars movies. It's sad because they are missing out on such a wonderful experience, but why should I care? I guess there is no use being concerned about them, I'll just enjoy the best movies ever made myself with the knowledge that they are the best films ever made. Regardless of what any critic or anyone else may say, doesn't change the obvious.

[CMJ]

I'm not debating whether Lisa S. is a good critic or not Jonathan...I don't really think she is either. The point I was making was she CAN and HAS given Fantasy/sci-fi a chance in the past. That is all...no more no less.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I never much cared for her really most of the time she hates the movies that I like so I virtually ignored her opinions. Owen is a better critic I think and I wonder why they didn't let him review the movie, I bet he would have given it a better review. Really it doesn't matter EW is trash I stopped subscribing to when it started reporting tabloid stories like who is dating who crap and reporting rumors as fact they aren't any better than the Enquirer.

[Mu Satach]

Originally posted by JonathanLB
I mean, first off, WHY would anyone have a female movie critic review a Star Wars film? How stupid can you possibly be?

:: Rolls up sleeves and begins to walk forcefully towards Jon ::

You wanna re-think that comment???



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;)

[sirdizzy]

mu your not a real chik though your a trekie chick ;)

[Admiral Lebron]

You know, I have a lot of female friends who loved LOTR why? Because of one thing. Legolas.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I'm just sorry so many people are so stupid they cannot comprehend the Star Wars movies.




I can't believe you have the gall to say that.

[Charley]

Well my girl luvs SW, and is one of the most fanatical fans I've ever seen in my life. Its a little scary, and a lotta intimidating, but I love her all the same. She'd put alot of SW fans here to shame.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Not only did she give Crossroads a better rating than AOTC it also got a higher rating than get this




A Beautiful Mind which she gave a B-, this woman is obvisoly a moron anybody that thinks that a POC like Crossroads is a better movie than an Oscar winning film has really lost their minds. It makes me wonder about LOTR, EW is owened by Time Warner and LOTR was made by a Time Warner company maybe she wrote that review to help the movie (she could have been paid to do it and it would not surprise me) By the way who made Crossroads? If somebody says WB I am going to begin to wonder.

[CMJ]

No conspiracy theory...it was Paramount. ;)

[ReaperFett]

COuld be a deep conspiracy :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I thought I was on to something, still how could somebody think Crossroads is better than ABM, I haven't seen either but I can tell which one is better from the darn trailer, maybe she is on drugs.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Well, after reading the EW review she did of AOTC, I have to say she's a kook. She wants us to take her seriously?!?! That wasnt a review, that was a hatchet job. I have seen a negative review of AOTC and it was well wriiten and well reasoned. I could understand why the reviewer disliked AOTC. With this, I have to ask - does she just hate Star Wars, full stop? I believe that resonable reviewers will be B at least.

And She gave Crossroads B+ ?!?!?!

Okay, that is quite wrong.

[CMJ]

LOL...now you're sounding like Mr. Bowen Carr. ;)

The deal is it's ALL ABOUT OPINIONS people. Try to find people who match up with you most of the time. I have critics I generally agree with...and those that I don't. It's really not that big a deal :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

LOL did I really? My point was how could anybody like Crossroads, everybody that I know who have seen that movie tell me its bad (and that is not very many though) the movie tanked badly at the box office and she raves about it thats just weird to me, that is why I completely discredit her, her opinion means nothing to me, also I was reading on the JC boards and somebody said they did a review in college newspaper and she stole it and said it was hers while she was at CNN. It really doesn't surprise me she sounds like a hack to me. Still, most of the critics have been postive, I'd say 80% so far.

[CMJ]

Hey I rarely agree with her...so I don't really take her reviews to heart. I'm just saying, to each his own. I mean c'mon every person on this board enjoys a film that I'm sure 90% of the rest of us hate. Critics are no different than us(other than it's there job). Opinions are strange beasts....that's why you will NEVER make a film that pleases everybody. :)

[Figrin D'an]

We've just all been bitten by the Star Wars bug again... same thing happened with TPM, it will happen again with Episode III. It increases our desire to defend Star Wars and criticize those that just don't get it.


:p

[Jedi Master Carr]

I guess I am getting the SW mood too and want to see postive reviews even though I know critcs are meaningless so go figure about that. I think I have bashed Lisa enough tonight I still can't figure out how she thought Crossroads was better than ABM:huh

[JMK]

Who gives a rat's behind about what gender reviews Star Wars. Afterall, these movies are supposed to have universal appeal, aren't they? Plus, this movie is supposed to be combining the gooey "chick" romance stuff with the "guy" action, so why not let a female voice her OPINION of the movie.

And again, I'll preach my theory, any press is good press. Of all the reviews out there, this is the only one with an ongoing thread that has now reached over 20 messages. I'd say the editors of EW are pretty happy that we're all talking about this, whether we agree with her review or not.

[Master Yoghurt]

From the EW review:


Zip and butt-kicking. That's what's missing now in this venerable 25-year-old franchise.

LOL! Every other reviewer praised AOTC for the same reason. Did she bother to see the movie? :)

[BUFFJEDI]

I just thought I'd throw some insight here) Critics SUCK!! :)

I also have no doubt in my mind they are bought and paid for , How can they give good reviews to Junk and bad to those that are atleast Decent? I don't know to tired to think right now :(

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Star Wars? Yuk I hate those movies! I wanna go paint my nails again!"

^ :lol some girls give us Star Wars ladies a bad name. :mad

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well it looks like I found more evidence for Jon to cancel his subscription to EW, they have an article saying Spiderman is better or some crap, I really didn't read any of it, and I think they have lost a lot of credibility especially since AOTC is getting great reviews from everywhere else (Variety, Rolling Stones.).
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,236327~1~0~whyspider-manout-entertainsstar,00.html

[JonathanLB]

I was thinking of cancelling sooner rather than later because I'm getting pretty tired of their BS.

I don't pay other people for stupid opinions. There are opinions, and then there are really DUMB opinions. If you don't like Star Wars, that is a dumb opinion. It's not informed. It doesn't mean you're a bad person, it's just a dumb opinion that's all. I don't pay for a corporation to sit around all day and smoke weed while reviewing movies and then bash the best films ever made. If I wanted to do that, I'd just burn my money instead of sending it to EW.

Reviews so far have been impressive. Most of them are just "good," not "great," but that is exactly what I expected and was hoping for.

AOTC is actually, currently, the second BEST reviewed Star Wars film on first release! Behind only ANH, way ahead of ROTJ, significantly ahead of ESB and TPM, which were about tied. Only slightly more than half of the critics even liked ESB on its first release, and the others all said the same thing as some people are about AOTC: "Oh the romantic dialogue is cheesy, blah blah, Lucas can't do romance, the fun of the original is gone," etc etc.

AOTC should have about 75% positive reviews I would say, which is a lot more than TPM and ESB. Of course, on the Special Edition re-release ESB now has like 97% positive reviews; what a difference 17 years made! :)

You have to figure that 15 to 20 years from now, both TPM and AOTC will be classic films and much more critically acclaimed, just as ESB and ROTJ were.

So far I'm very impressed: Variety, Rolling Stone, and even that idiot at DVDFile.com gave AOTC a positive review!

I have read 30 reviews or so, perhaps a few more than that, and all were more positive than negative. Not ONE bad review. Lisa's C+ is the worst so far and C+ means "above average, slightly." C+ is a 2.5/4 star rating on my site, for instance, and I assume the same is true anywhere. A film I give 2.5 I do not consider bad at all, like I am giving Hollywood Ending 2.5 stars and I did enjoy it, but I just had too many problems with it, mainly Woody Allen, so I couldn't give it 3.

Lisa is stupid, you cannot take her opinion seriously about anything. She is a stupid chick. There are many very smart chicks, then there is Lisa.

Most girls do not understand Star Wars, though, it's a fact. It's not my biased opinion. It's just the way it is. There are MANY girls though who love the saga and are some of our most loyal, die-hard fans! They are great. It's awesome to see them, like at Celebration II, but I just wish we had more. As said before, it's the girls who are like, "Eww, I don't like the weird creatures, I'm going to go paint my nails" that do a disservice to all SW fangirls, hehe. Anyway, any girl who talks about painting her nails over doing something meaningful is a bimbo. Just as any guy who talks about lifting weights and working out all of the time instead of anything intellectual has to be a dumb jock. I work out twice per day as far as lifting (because I prefer to lift less per session and still keep the time I spend per day up), but I don't sit around and talk about it nor is it important besides just keeping in good shape and staying healthy. Same goes with all that painting your nails crap. Come on, you should never spend hours trying to look good instead of having fun. Every hot girl I know is hot with or without any makeup and she can wear ragged jeans and a t-shirt and still look incredibly hot.

Wait what? What are we talking about, lol.

Oh yes, MIKE CLARK of USA TODAY = THE MAN.

I like him a lot...

I would admit I will be disappointed if he doesn't like AOTC because he is definitely my favorite critic. Perhaps the only critic I really like, actually. He is just dead on most of the time, totally an awesome critic who is never afraid to say, "This movie kicked butt!" even if it isn't a "critic's" movie and he also will trash the bad films without any reservations. I love it that he gave The Sweetest Thing an F because it WAS an F. I also gave it that. My star ratings are almost invariably within 1/2 of his.

[Mu Satach]

Originally posted by sirdizzy
mu your not a real chik though your a trekie chick ;)


We're growing in numbers though... =)


*sigh* sadly yeah, you know it sucked growing up loving things like cars, action movies, explosions, swords and football...

My barbies were secret agents who performed death defying stunts and occationally became maimed. :D

[Master Yoghurt]

Mu is cool :cool

[sirdizzy]

yes mu is cool

[Q]

WHY would anyone have a female movie critic review a Star Wars film?.... and this is why I don't give a rat's rear what you think. This is so unabashedly narrow-minded that it gives new definition to the term "sexist".

[Marcus Telcontar]

I'm glad Helenias didn't read that. She would have torn him a new butt.

Honesty Jon, think sometimes. Blanket statements like that are not on

[Mu Satach]

:: curtsies to dizz & yogs ::

Why thank you.

:: pulls out AK-47 ::

Now if you'll excuse me...

:: lock and loads it ::

I have business elsewhere. :D

[Shawn]

Mu: Your avatar is from Witchblade, no?

[Mu Satach]

roger roger...

Sara Pezzini!!!

new season starts next month. >=}

it's a terrible show... terrible... and yet... I love it. :D

it fufills all my butt kicking action needs...

[sirdizzy]

yea but mu no read comic book she just watch show and they had no red dress :)

[Mu Satach]

yeah but she's got a .45, cool leather jacket and a Buell. :)

[Shawn]

I tweaked the light levels on your avatar slightly. Hope you don't mind. :) (if you do, I saved the original and can easily replace it).

[sirdizzy]

yea but nothing beats the red versaci dress

[Mu Satach]

Didn't even notice. I don't mind. :)



alright.. I give... where's a pic of the red dress...

[JonathanLB]

I stand behind what I said. No girl critic should review a Star Wars film when a clear alternative exists, i.e. a guy who probably understand the saga a lot better.

As we all know, many girls do not understand Star Wars. I review everything myself because I AM JLB Movies, I don't have the luxury of a backup critic who has different tastes to review movies that I know I will not like. I have to do my best to review them myself and be as fair as I possibly can, something I feel I do well because I do give good ratings to chick flicks, if they are good.

Serendipity got 3.5 stars, Legally Blonde got 3.5, I really enjoyed both.

As for Star Wars, well why have a female critic review it when you could have a male critic review it? Why have a male critic review a movie like Sleepless in Seattle or Legally Blonde when you could have a female critic do it?

You people just don't get it. Ever heard of a film that is intended for teen girls, or for young males, or for adult males? They do exist, you know. There is no such thing as every movie appealing to every gender and age equally, go no further than CinemaScore.com for proof.

Now you tell me what you see with TPM, for instance. The girls obviously liked it less than the guys. So why have a girl review it when you know that most Star Wars fans are guys? It makes no sense.

That is not to say that girls cannot enjoy Star Wars. I personally think it should be just as enjoyable for both genders, but the facts speak for themselves. Most girls feel less strongly towards Star Wars than guys and Lisa obviously doesn't get sci-fi. She gave The Matrix a C+ too. She's a horrid critic.

By the way, I only brought this subject back up because today I finally cancelled my EW subscription with a nice, long, nasty e-mail to those flamers at EW. The straw that broke the camel's back was the article today from that STUPID you-know-what (it ryhmes with WITCH) who has never seen a SW film and now put her opinions about AOTC online. Then she topped it all off by saying The Fast and the Furious is her favorite action movie (oh my god, what a STUPID idiot!) and the MTV movie awards can never be wrong. Of course, the piece was blatant baiting. It was intentionally supposed to rile up the Star Wars fans, and sure it succeeds, but I pay these people to write this. I directly contribute money so that staff members as stupid as her can write her opinions (very uneducated, stupid opinions, at that) and get paid for them.

ENOUGH!

No Star Wars fan who is loyal to the saga should remain subscribed to their publication and I deserve a beating for not unsubscribing back in 1999 with their horrible TPM coverage. I should be exiled from SW fandom for that stupidity, lol. Now I have attempted to amend the situation by cancelling, and way too late, but at least it is done.

No more stupid EW for me, thank you. I'll buy Movie Line.

[flagg]

I agree JLB. Not so much about girls not reviewing Star Wars (after all, most of the vicious attacks on the prequels have been my male critics) but with the fact that magazines and papers should choose critics who actually enjoy that type of film to review it. How many reviews have we read of AOTC by people who obviously hate Star Wars or hate all blockbusters? There's no point in them seeing the film. It would be like a classical music fan reviewing a heavy metal album :)

[Jinn Fizz]

Well, EW is at it again...they put AOTC on 2 collectible covers to make extra money off of fans, and then they have their reviewers and columnists rip it to shreds.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,252164~1~0~trueconfessionivenever,00.html

I just skimmed this article, couldn't stand to read it word for word, but it seems like more proof that it's mondo cool to bash SW with everything you got. This columnist appears to take great delight in mocking every aspect of AOTC that she can. :headbash :rolleyes :headache :shootin

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah I read that ontheforce.net that is the person who has never seen a SW movie, that was stupid of EW of course she would be lost. It would be like picking up the Two Towers and reading it you would be lost too, or Reading Act 3 of Romeo and Jullet, if you don't know nothing about the story of course you will be confuesed and hate it so that was waste of time by EW that shows how stupid they are.

[JonathanLB]

I don't like to suggest things that are unrealistic given my current streak of bad luck, BUT...

If I ever am a wealthy and influential person in Hollywood, I will buy Entertainment Weekly with the sole purpose of firing any staff who even once made fun of Star Wars, and if they are not around at that point, so be it, I will print an official apology to the readers for EW being such a silly and idiotic magazine for so many years. Then I will say that under new ownership, all stories will be more rigorously checked for factual accuracy and Star Wars bashing will no longer be allowed. lol, man would that feel so cool. When I get the money, that magazine is MINE! :)

I bet it wouldn't cost much buying a magazine company like that. In the tens of millions, probably not into the 9 figures.

Then there is another thing I will do if I'm really rich and bored. There is this STUPID hotel type of thing called the "Furama" down in LA, and they screwed me over when I was trying to stay there with my mom before going to LMU. Long story, but we walked in on two people, ahem, well you get the idea, because they gave me the wrong key, then they screwed up two more keys that didn't even work on the building at all. Then we waited an hour for a taxi to get us out of there. I will buy that stupid place, tear it down, and put something useful there! Damn stupid hunk of junk.

Man I'm going to have some fun, ala The Count of Monte Cristo, when I get the money to take pot shots at my s**t list ;)

EW has some of the worst coverage, in general, of the entertainment industy I've ever seen. Why do they feel they MUST constantly bash Star Wars? It's just like the officiating in the Lakers' games: totally blatant! It's funny occassionally to make a SW joke, like Conan or Leno, and they don't sit around bashing Star Wars, they just have a few good-natured ribs. I saw this hilarious 10 minute video Conan had making fun of some Star Wars fans in line, man oh man I was laughing so hard. It was all in good taste, it was funny as hell. But come on, EW just CONSTANTLY has some new anti-Star Wars article. I cannot imagine any SW fans are still subscribed. I talked to a lot of people on TFN who said they ditched their subscriptions too, then the talkback forums at EW.com there were many people saying, screw it, I quit.

[flagg]

EW seems to be leading the backlash this time. I remember Letterman said bad things about TPM in 99, but he hasn't said anything bad about AOTC, so I think it's only a minority who think its cool to bash Star Wars now. But they're a very vocal minority.

[Jinn Fizz]

I have cancelled my subscription to EW based on this column, because it was just the last straw. I was able to cancel the subscription online, and I had to check a box next to the reason why I was cancelling...I checked the box next to "editorial content," because I'm sick of all the petty negativity.

I have a stack of unread back issues that I think I just might create a bonfire with. >D

[Jedi Master Carr]

I got fed up with them last year and cancelled it, I got sick of all the tabloid stuff they cover,they are a terrible Entertainment magazine. To me the best two Entertainment magazines are Cinescape and Premier they are the best because all they cover is movies and don't get into tabloid junk.

[JonathanLB]

Cinescape has annoyed me from time to time because of that stupid idiot who writes those columns, uhh... Mark something? Dang his name is on the tip of my tongue. You know, the guy who HATES Return of the Jedi, didn't like TPM at all, and yet he really thinks he is a great Star Wars fan and that Lucas has lost it! LOL. That guy is a fool.

Also I got sick of Cinescape's, I dunno, almost Internet-fan-site type of writing and reporting. If I want that, I'll go to Dark Horizons or FilmForce.net or whatever it is, then AICN, etc...

Premiere is really good, I'll agree with that. I personally don't think Movieline is bad. One of the publications is going to get a new subscriber, though, because I will have to find another magazine to cover that area now that I am not an EW subscriber. I am sick of their poor quality, not just with Star Wars.

I will say even if everything else in EW was wonderful, I would cancel my subscription based on their Star Wars insults alone. I just cannot open up an issue without seeing my absolute favorite movie series getting torn apart and dissed. That is not acceptable. To me, it's the same as insulting someone else's religion. Nothing comes closer to religion for me than Star Wars, so insulting it every issue is personally offensive and I cannot continue to support an organization that does that.

Way to go, Jinn Fizz! lol, you rock! :)

I also checked editorial content, then I sent them a pretty long e-mail. Not super long, because you know how long is long for me, so for me it was more like medium sized. I didn't swear at them, but I did end my e-mail by saying they can take their magazine and shove it up their colective ass!

I have to think their subscription count is going down lately because I haven't heard anyone who actually likes reading. I mean, how would I know what their numbers look like, but I don't see them gaining too rapidly.

The Star Wars Insider, speaking of gaining, is so far up in the last 5 years it's stunning. At one point it was at like 15,000 when it was Bantha Tracks, then that ended totally. I have almost every issue of Bantha Tracks, btw, wasn't cheap getting them but it's the pride of my collection (those and the other magazines such as 1980 Time, 1983 Rolling Stone, and MANY more older magazines). Then they restarted the Insider, which did well at first, but more like in the range of 50K to 100K well I think. Last I heard, numbers were well above 500,000 subscribers making the Insider THE BIGGEST sci-fi magazine in the world, including Cinescape and any other magazine that covers a vast array of films. Now that's impressive, I think! :)

No doubt our numbers will dwindle, sadly, when Episode III has come out and the DVD's have come out, but let's hope most of our fans stay onboard. I will always be a subscriber as long as they have it, and if they stop having it I will be one depressed fan. I'll have to start my own publication or something, haha.

I'd like to think there enough people like all of us who would NEVER stop our fandom so that they would always continue, even if numbers hit more like 75,000, that would be good enough to justify the magazine, on a smaller scale.

[flagg]

You guys would love Empire. It's the most popular film magazine in the UK and they always have loads of positive Star Wars features. They also gave AOTC five out of five.

[JonathanLB]

I DO love Empire! It rules. I have bought most of the Star Wars Empire Magazines, from Borders here, which gets international magazines like that. It's a great magazine, you guys are lucky you have that and not EW. Hehe, wanna trade?! ;)