Double-feature:

last night the wife and I finally got to see Sophia Coppolla's Lost in Translation, which was fan-freaking-tastic. Although I've yet to see Mystic River, I'm now convinced the Bill Murray was out and out robbed of the Oscar this year for Best Actor. I suspected that if Murray's performance had been even a third of what it had been in Rushmore, that it would have been Oscar-worthy. But alas, I guess Hollywood prefers bawling hysterics to quiet desperation. Who knew, though, that Bill Murray would have been so good at portraying the latter? I hope at least the nomination will lead to more such roles for one of America's best actors (and props for Scarlett Johansen as well, who didn't even get the Oscar nod, but should have!).

The other film on our twin bill was a repeat viewing of Attack of the Clones, which proved more enjoyable than the first time we saw it only because we could bust on this shining example of George Lucas' unbelievably mediocre latter-day hacktitude in the comfort of our living room without having to try and whisper over a movie theatre's Dolby Sonic Death Super Mega Surround sound system. The CGI looks as fake as the dialogue sounds, and even the climactic lightsaber battle that redeemed the film somewhat in my eyes when I first viewed it seemed tame and - like the Darth Maul scenes in The Phanton Menace - way too fucking short. This is a movie about Jedi knights, Georgie boy! Enough with the stupid Charlie Chan Trade Federation and the Galactic Senate on C-SPAN. Give us swordfights, and lots of them.

The action sequences of AoTK are strangely unengaging overall and connected by a plot better suited to a videogame than a full-length motion picture. That this movie continues to enjoy a passionate fanboy following (unlike its predecessor, which is now pretty much universally despised) is indicative of how much the "Playstation aesthetic" has contaminated genre culture. I guess if your frame of reference for action and adventure is Lara Croft, you probably worship the ground that George Lucas walks on, even factoring in for Jar Jar Binks! But the absolute worst thing that this movie does is criminally underuse the acting talent at its disposal. The sheer waste that is Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu is screamworthy in and of itself, but on second viewing I also realized that Hayden Christensen was actually a damned good actor, and that the real tragedy of AoTK is watching him try to conjure a tangled, dark, and complicated character out of the shit lines that had been handed to him! If anything saves Episode III next year, it will be Mr. Christiansen.

What a contrast in one night though - from a movie that gives its actors the roles they deserve to one that treats them like so many pieces of masking tape arranged on the floor. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so harsh on Attack of the Clones, had I not chased it immediately with Lost in Translation. Somehow I doubt it, though.