Star Wars, Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

I am a hardcore “Star Wars” fan, I love the lore, the amazing mythology and It’s taken hours before I could summon the emotions I took from this last installment in the “Star Wars” franchise and somehow manifest it in to words, and surely this last “Star Wars” movie was an emotional experience for me. When I stepped in to the theaters and watched the theme blast from the speakers I felt a swell of emotion build up in my chest–maybe it was gas, who knows?–but regardless, this was quite possibly the biggest experience I’ve had in theaters in years. I liked the “Star Wars” prequels, I thought they were okay, but they still just did not add up to the original trilogy and Lucas did a poor job of displaying Anakin Skywalker’s descent in to the dark side.

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Secret Window (2004)

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The surprise twist in the end concerning our character Mort isn’t really surprising when you come to think of it in the end. It’s unexpected, that’s for sure, but it’s also very expected, an expected twist to a story that isn’t even that interesting. You’ll most likely assume to your partner what the ending is at the first thirty minutes of the movie, and then in the end you’ll be right. What a shame. You’ll more than likely find this derivative as I did with the laughable ending which was such a horrible mimic of “The Shining.” The story which was basically a take off from “The Dark Half,” and one question came to mind when the climax of “Secret Window” finally approached. Is Stephen King just repeating himself? I was honestly stunned and a bit amused when the ending finally came, because it was so derivative of past King stories.

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Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) (2001)

spiritedaway“Spirited Away” has had the unfortunate distinction of being compared to “Alice in Wonderland”, and while they bear similarities in themes, characters, and oddities, but Miyazaki’s animated tale is highly superior. Miyazaki takes us into an incredible land of creatures, landscapes and spooky villains, along the injecting truly heartfelt emotions, and thematic undertones. Miyazaki’s animation and storytelling bear an aspect sorely missing in American animated films, which heart, and true sincerity. Chihiro and her parents are on the way to their new home, and while driving they stumble upon a weird tunnel. Curious, they enter the tunnel and end up in a magical field and begin journeying into a village. But when Chihiro discovers her parents have been turned into pigs, she finds that there may be no going back where came from.

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Sin City (2005)

Cannibal teens, psychotic hookers, talking dead bodies, yellow skinned child rapists, and a disfigured psycho with an affinity for trench coats. The third corner of hell? No, it’s all mundane in Sin City, thus is the oddities presented in the Frank Miller created series of graphic novels. Miller set forth a legacy in 1991 when he created a series of incomparable visionary graphic novels called “Sin City” which had no superheroes, no intergalactic madmen, and no demonic entities, only the horror of mankind and the back alleys of the worst city in the world.

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

MPW-11727I suspect one of the reasons why “Sky Captain” failed to bring in any money and make any profits was because a movie such as this only appeals to a certain audience. Director-writer Kerry Conran is a lover of old serials and comic books, so when he created Sky Captain in 1998, he had in mind only a certain audience for the movie. Also, it was poorly advertised, but aside from that, there’s an exclusive audience who loves pulp novels and serials, and yes, I’m one of them. I love it all; serials, pulp superheroes, comic books, and anyone who loves either of these genres will appreciate “Sky Captain” as I did. Taking nearly ten years to make, this was a personal project for Conran who hit a basic luck streak casting people such as Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow on its bill. But great casting is only one of this film’s main achievements.

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Starsky & Hutch (2004)

starsky_and_hutch_ver6_xlgUnlike “The Brady Bunch”, “Starsky & Hutch” was a show that tried to be taken seriously, but clearly warranted spoofing. I mean seriously, how can you take a cop show seriously when it’s two inept cop characters ride around “undercover” in a very noticeable conspicuous large bright cherry red gran turino? It was a fact that caused many television viewers to make fun of, and it’s also very focused on here with an exaggerated sequence that brought the spirit of the show very well. Now, the teaming of Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller would be very funny to see had it not been the thousandth time they’ve teamed up together as partners as seen in movies like “The Royal Tenenbaums”, and the awful “Zoolander”.

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Species III (2004)

key_art_species_iiiAfter the sequel to Species, the army is now transporting her body to the morgue for testing, but discovers she’s not exactly dead and has given birth to two offspring. Sil, the original species (cameo by Natasha Henstridge) is killed, but not before she gives birth to a child which is stolen by a soldier and taken in. The name of the child is Sara a brand new species/half-breed. Sara is played by the beautiful and angelic Sunny Mabrey, who pulls in a good performance as the new creature forced to discover the world. She presents the same sexual appeal predecessor Henstridge did, and is just as threatening.

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