Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Star Wars vs. American Pie

I know what you're thinking, just by looking at the title of this entry. "Blashphemer! How dare you! We're kicking you out of the Nerd Group!"

Actually, you may want to kick me out of the group anyway when you learn that I'm not really a huge Star Wars fan. I know! On paper, it really seems like I should be. Genre movie fan? Check! Knowledgeable about the Whedon-verse? Check! Versed in comic books and video games? Check mate. Just not a huge Star Wars fan. I think the movies are FINE, but I'm not a Warrier? Warlockian? What's the Star Wars equivilant of Trekkie?

ANYWAY. Last weekend, the BF and I were having dinner and I had a couple of delicious margaritas. This lead to me comparing the two trilogies Star Wars (I refuse to acknowledge Episodes 1-3) and American Pie (Likewise, I refuse to acknowledge all of the terrible sequels that followed American Wedding). Clearly, the plots vary greatly, but think of the film in terms of careers launch and careers deferred.

Let's compare.

Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) vs. Jason Biggs (Jim)
Mark Hamill is Luke Skywalker. End of story. Yes, he's had a lot of luck with voiceover work and he's a good actor in his own right. Yet he will always be known as LUKE. Likewise, poor Jason Biggs will always be the dude that had sex with a pie. I'm sure that both thought that they had career making roles on their hands. Sadly, it didn't work out that way.

Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) vs. Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia)
Both hotties primarily remembered for not wearing a lot of clothes. Using the Carrie Fisher theory, I predict that Shannon Elizabeth will have a career resurrection later in life when people will discover that she's actually pretty funny.

Harrison Ford (Han Solo) vs. Eugene Levy (Jim's Dad) vs. Seann William Scott (Stifler)
This was the subject of great debate. Of course, Harrison Ford was the biggest star to come out of the Star Wars series. That would be difficult to argue (feel free to do so in the comments), but what about the American Pie series? Those movies made Eugene Levy relevant again. He's turning up left and right these days. Likewise, Seann William Scott has worked consistently (the quality of his movies is also up for debate). So...thoughts? Who's the Han of the Pie flicks? Jim's Dad or Stifler?

I know you're probably thinking that I should include Alyson Hannigan (Michelle) in this post, but come on. Girlfriend was Willow on Buffy. Saucy lines about band camp aside, that's a pretty badass career move right there.

And just like that, we've arrived back at my nerd-dom.

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