8.5 IMAX Attack of the Clones

Had a good time watching this one – beautiful panoramic scenes filling your vision while you can feel the bass of huge spaceships with those great Star Wars sound effects move your clothing. And of course who could get bored watching a 50 foot tall Natalie Portman? Ready for the next big thing now… guess that would be the next LOTR movie…

[9.0] Monsoon Wedding

The Ladies

Monsoon Wedding has a dozen or more well-developed characters, all involved in the whirlwind of activity preparing for an arranged marriage. There are lots of great little subplots, bringing out the weaknesses and strenths of each of the characters. You’ll find something (or someone) to love in this one for sure.

[9.0] Enigma

English and Scottish accents, bad Nazis, lots of fun plot twists, cute smart girl-next-door that beats out the bombshell, and ENCRYPTION! How can you go wrong?

I would see any movie weird enough to have cyptography as the main theme, but I would have never thought I would get to watch it with my wife. And then that she would actually enjoy it. Fun!

[9.5] Attack of the Clones

I dug it. Achieving suspension of disbelief has become nearly impossible for the average viewer, given the hype surrounding Star Wars TM copyright Lucasfilms all rights reserved blah blah blah. Transcend the cynicism and see this as a good story that ties together an epic saga. This is the movie that gave me the first sense of a huge interconnected Star Wars world. Kinda cool.

[expectations rising] Attack of the Clones

[rant begin]
I came to the realization this morning that Attack of the Clones is going to be as big a downer as The Phantom Menace was…

because there is no hero to relate to!

From what the trailers have shown, it will be Anakin, not Obi-Wan, on center-stage vying for our attention. Who cares about some punk kid with a bad attitude on a downward spiral?

The real reason all 12-year-old boys loved “the real” Star Wars was the trio of characters at its center, and the real reason we all loved them was because we had not one, but two, heroes to idolize, compare, and contrast.

Attack of the Clones will be a great high-tech rollercoaster ride, after which we will get a queasy feeling in our stomachs from the continued void at the center of it all.
[rant end]

At least they nailed the beautiful-princess-with-moxie-to-spare thing. :P



UPDATE: OK, after watching all the TV commercials, I take it all back – this is going to be one heck of a good ride! :>

[8.0] Mulholland Drive

Another full dose of trippy David Lynch atmosphere, alternating between anything-goes playfulness and suspense of an intensity limited only by your imagination. Don’t expect much traditional resolution, but if you like David Lynch, you’ll enjoy this ride.