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If you listen to the show with any regularity, you probably already know where I stand on J.J Abrams’s upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but I’m not sure I’ve ever really expressed just how much Star Wars once meant to me. As a child I was a huge fan of the original Star Wars films. For years I popped in a VHS tape of Episode IV, V, or VI every night before going to bed. If my love for film has an origin story, it begins with those three movies.

But as I grew older my horizons expanded, and Star Wars slowly drifted from my orbit. This was in no small part due to the prequels. I’ll attempt to spare you the redundant laundry list of complaints everyone throws out for Episodes I, II, & III, but I will say this; those were the first Star Wars films I ever saw in theaters, and they likely play a key role in my lack of fanboy enthusiasm for anything today.

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