Star Wars

While the original Star Wars trilogy required millions of dollars in special effects, countless cast and crew members, and years of filming, one man has managed to bring all three of these science-fiction classics to the stage. But Charles Ross isn't backed by a production company, a cast, a crew or a special-effects team. He uses nothing but black clothing, knee and elbow pads, a spotlight and his vivid imagination. From Luke Skywalker to Chewbacca and from Darth Vader to R2-D2, Ross, 33, has made a living impersonating every Star Wars character's mannerisms and voices and acting as both narrator and background orchestra in his One Man Star Wars Show, which will come to D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre on Tuesday.

INSIDE TODAY WHAT THEY'RE SAYING TODAY' SUN COLUMNISTS Myopic NBA nostalgia By constantly being compared with how things were during Michael Jordan's career, today's NBA can't seem to be viewed as anything but inferior. But that ignores the way things really are. Sports baltimoresun.com/steele OTHER VOICES Michael Dresser on crosswalk hazardsMaryland Edward Gunts on Pratt Street visionsToday 5 THINGS TO DO TODAY Night Strike Unlimited Bowling -- Enjoy unlimited glow-in-the-dark bowling and DJ music at Strike Bethesda.

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The soundtrack is here. The novel, too. Even breakfast cereals with the appetizing face of Darth Maul on the box. But for most Europeans, "Star Wars" is the phantom presence.Under the vagaries of international film distribution, "The Phantom Menace" opened this month in Britain, nearly two months after its U.S. premiere and six weeks after opening in Australia. Next month, it will reach Germany and France. And finally, about the time it vanishes from screens in the United States, it comes here, to Eastern Europe.

Nimble is, his trainer says, a little crazy, an awesome animal, a monster. Take your pick.Yesterday, Nimble displayed his finest qualities and tied the Laurel Park seven-furlong record of 1 minute, 21 2/5 seconds set by Tappiano in 1989. Stabled at Philadelphia Park, Nimble devoured three foes in the $50,000 E. William Furey Memorial Stakes, a race honoring the late chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission.Nimble won his fifth race in a row for the trainer Scott A. Lake, who tried to talk his clients, the brothers Eric and Gregg Frahl, out of claiming the 7-year-old gelding for $32,000 in February.

Important reader advisory regarding "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace":Here are just some of the stories we understand U.S. newspapers are planning in advance of the movie's May 19 opening -- just 12 days from now! -- perhaps the most important event of this or any lifetime. Additional stories will undoubtedly appear, warranted or not.* STARWARS-IMPACT: How the first movie focused the industry on special-effects blockbusters aimed at teen-age boys, helped create the summer movie season, changed movie sound systems, and led people to believe Mark Hamill could act.* STARWARS-HISTORY: How does "The Phantom Menace" fit into this "Star Wars" trilogy?

There are visible seams down Leia's sides where the front and back molds meet. The leg-body joints are crude. For a weapon, Leia carries what appears to be a generic German Luger. However, despite the figure's crudity, there is no doubt that Hungarian children enjoyed them ...-- A bootleg Hungarian Princess Leia doll, as described in the journal of the "Star Toys Museum"And we mustn't forget the tortilla chips. Among the 5,000 pieces of "Star Wars" ephemera in Thomas Atkinson's museum, a Papa John's pizza box holds the single greatest tribute to the pop phenomenon that is "Star Wars."

Fast-paced and engaging, LucasArts' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D is a spiffy, arcade-style flight game for Star Wars aficionados who don't have time to master sophisticated flight simulators.In fact, the hardest part of this game may be getting it up and running. More on that later.Set in the period between the original ``Star Wars'' film and ``The Empire Strikes Back,'' Rogue Squadron plops you into Luke Skywalker's seat as you pilot the various craft he made famous in George Lucas' films.

Smoking issue swirls in Miami airportThe June issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine is back on newsstands at Miami International Airport after authorities rescinded a ban issued last week. The magazine was taken off the shelves because its cover featured pictures of Fidel Castro and Bill Clinton with the headline, "Is It Time to End the Embargo?" "We don't want to be part of enhancing Castro's government," said airport spokesman Hernando Vergara. The ban was lifted after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue, and Miami Mayor Alex Penelas ordered the magazine placed on sale again, saying its removal "goes against some of the very principles which make this nation the free society it is."

WASHINGTON -- Missile defense has cost the United States tens of billions in research dollars, soured relations with Russia and China and roiled congressional and presidential politics.All this from a high-tech Pentagon system only in the testing phase, beset by numerous and embarrassing malfunctions.Since March 1983, when President Ronald Reagan envisioned an elaborate space-based shield of sensors and weapons that would protect the entire nation from a Soviet nuclear attack, missile defense has enthralled many Republicans and some Democrats.

The Force will be with us for at least another six weeks, and exhibitors can live with that.Thanks to George Lucas and 20th Century Fox's insistence that theater owners show "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace" for at least 12 weeks, the summer's big blockbuster is still only halfway through its contractually mandated run.And while the box-office returns haven't been enough to make the film the unprecedented blockbuster some had predicted, there's...

This year's stream of escapist extravaganzas has kept crowds coming to the multiplex. But they haven't always left it happy. Watchmen disappointed Alan Moore fans and novices alike with its slavish, dated devotion to the ultimate dirty-hero graphic novel. Inkheart squandered a potential franchise for all ages about the power of reading, while the slick, empty Angels & Demons proved that Tom Hanks' haircut wasn't the only thing wrong with The Da Vinci Code. Monsters Vs. Aliens was so silly-stupid it made some of us wish we were watching a good version of a grisly film like Aliens Vs. Predators.

At its funniest, Fanboys, the far-fetched tale of five Ohio Star Wars fans who, in 1998, storm George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal a working print of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, depicts the clash between Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans as the nerd equivalent of Crips and Bloods. They hate each other on sight and glory in pathetic pitched battles. They exult in the illusion of danger otherwise absent from their bland suburban lives. Fandom in Fanboys offers peer-group power surges to guys who may never grow up. The fever of fandom in this movie is like that of an adolescent crush.

Of the 1,200 performances that Charlie Ross has given of his One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, the most memorable might have been a show he performed in Dubai in early 2006. "Some people in the audience were in full Lawrence of Arabia gear, with flowing robes and head-wraps," he says. "It was quite strange to see that mixed crowd genuinely enjoying themselves. I shudder to think that there might be people living in the desert who watch Star Wars on televisions in their tents, but it's completely possible."

THEATER 'One-Man Star Wars Trilogy': Being able to recite Star Wars dialogue verbatim is a common affliction of the nerd population. But Canadian actor Charles Ross takes the practice into hyperdrive. In Baltimore for a two-week run, Ross' off-Broadway hit re-creates all the characters, sound effects and even John Williams' score with nothing but some lights and elbow pads. Opens 8 p.m. Tuesday at Center Stage. For more: centerstage.org DVD Heath Ledger: in 'The Dark Knight': Despite what the fanboys say, this Batman flick is not the best movie ever made.

(Warner Bros. Interactive) For Microsoft Windows, PlayStations 2 and 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. One to two players. Rated E for players 10 and older for cartoon violence. Retail price $49.99. *** game This summer's box-office champ, The Dark Knight, was unleashed with all the merchandising force befitting its mega-blockbuster status. But amid all the Batman action figures and lunchboxes there was one notable omission - a video game. We're still waiting, but for now, Lego Batman: The Videogame will have to suffice.

If you thought Star Wars was finally over after Episode III (that's film six for the uninitiated), think again. The force - it seems - will always be with us. Creator George Lucas has repeatedly denied plans to film yet another blockbuster trilogy, but that hasn't stopped him and his co-conspirators at LucasArts from cultivating adventures from the gaps between the existing films, such as last month's animated feature The Clone Wars. Released today, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a new video game for most major platforms, has the ambitious task of bridging the 20-year gap between the two trilogies.

BOOKS "Indignation" by Philip Roth: Known lately for his older protagonists, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist returns to his literary roots for his latest novel, focusing on angst of youth rather than dissatisfaction of old age. The book follows young Marcus Messner as he comes of age during the Korean War at a conservative college in Ohio. In stores Tuesday. GAMES "Stars Wars:: The Force Unleashed" : Mining an untold period of the Star Wars saga (they may run out of those soon)

HOLLYWOOD - George Lucas, looking overheated under the midday sun, gamely worked the red carpet recently at the world premiere of the latest cinematic installment to his space saga, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. At one point, Lucas was photographed with one of his most avid fans, a grinning, chubby fellow from Pennsylvania who showed up at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre wearing two-day stubble, a sweat-stained shirt and a brimmed frontier hat that Indiana Jones would admire. That guy, Dave Filoni, also happens to be the director of Clone Wars (which opened this weekend across the U.S.)

Lucasfilm's new feature-length cartoon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, has a light heart and a spring in its step. It's not exactly thrilling, and it doesn't cover much new ground. But young audiences will lap it up like ice cream, and its good humor and faith in the Force will put adults in a Saturday-morning frame of mind even at midnight showings. Ever since Luke asked Obi-Wan, "You fought in the Clone Wars?" in Star Wars: A New Hope, fanboys (and, let's face it, fangirls too) have wondered what the cataclysm would look like on the big screen.

Action/Adventure THE INCREDIBLE HULK -- (Universal Pictures), Maryland native Edward Norton steps into the role of the green, rage-fueled giant. With Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt. Opens June 13. WANTED -- (Universal Pictures) James McAvoy stars as a cubicle-dwelling slacker who is recruited by a secret society and transformed into a lightning-fast hero. With Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. Opens June 27. HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY -- (Universal Pictures) The big, bad and red superhero battles a merciless dictator and his band of marauding monsters.