As I get older, the other “Star Wars” movies – even “A New Hope,” particularly in the wake of “The Phantom Menace” – just seem sillier and sillier. But “Empire” is pure music. Buoyed by John Williams’ sinister, romantic score [I ask you: Was any film composer trafficking in glorious bombast ever better than John Williams was between 1975 and 1984? “ESB” is my favorite Williams score by an order of magnitude.], the movie itself ebbs and flows like a symphony. Unlike the later “SW” films, which more or less marinate in noise, “Empire” embraces the quiet moments before the storm: a soldier stands above a trench scanning a snowy plain before a brutal ground war; Princess Leia sits in a cockpit pondering a love affair before her ship is attacked by wire-chewing space bats [I know, I know: “Mynocks.”]; Luke silently stalks a catwalk before Darth Vader, exploding out of nowhere, chops off his hand and blows his mind. Even the acting is better: Remember how many times you forgot Mark Hamill (Mark Hamill!) was talking to a puppet?I want to throw some love also at two of Kershner’s other movies, one terribly underappreciated and another that just isn’t on anybody’s radar. 1) “Never Say Never Again,” Sean Connery’s final movie as James Bond, came out the same year as “Octopussy” and was so much better than the Roger Moore entry it makes my teeth hurt. (It also came out the same year as “Return of the Jedi.") I recently stumbled on the fight scene that Bond wins by throwing something that seems to burn the assassin like acid. It turns out to be Bond’s own precious bodily fluids. Love this movie. 2) Connery also worked with Kershner on a forgotten but shockingly accomplished 1966 romantic comedy titled “A Fine Madness.” It could be Connery’s best movie and why more haven’t embraced it is a bit of head-scratcher. Its logline, admittedly, demonstrates little promise: It’s about a New York poet and lady magnet who finds himself trying to cure his writer’s block with the help of a psychiatrist. Joanne Woodward plays his ex-wife; Jean Seberg plays his hot waitress of a roommate. If something falls out of BNAT 12 and Harry stuck this into the line-up, it would be one of the most buzzed about entries of the fest. LOVE this movie. A great filmmaker was Irvin Kershner, yes.