3 out of 5

Yesterday the boys and I went with Grandpa B and Coby to see the new Clone Wars animated film (2008,PG).  It was enjoyable enough as another piece of the Star Wars franchise but it would have been pretty weak standing on its own.  You're not setting up yourself too well when the foundation of the whole story is something as silly as Jabba calling on the Jedi to recover his kidnapped child.  The film continues the pre-occupation of the Clone Wars TV cartoon with warfare between the clones and separatist droids it city settings.  The seemingly endless rain of laser battles was getting a bit old for me.  I thought the interplay between Anakin and his young padawan Ahsoka was tolerable at least.  Jabba's uncle Ziro was not.

I give it 3 out of 5.

Another film watched during a recent few days of bachelorhood was X-Men: The Last Stand (2006,PG-13) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

A group of superhero mutants battles other mutants who are upset about a cure that's been developed to turn all of them back into regular humans.

It was OK.  I felt like it had been a little too long since I'd seen the previous two and so was missing some of the back-story.  I was kind of surprised that there would be a last stand so soon, but I see now that there are several "origins" films planned.

I give it 3 out of 5.

During a few days of bachelorhood several weeks back I watched 300 (2007,R) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

A Spartan king leads his small, but fierce army into battle against the immense invading Persian army.

I liked it OK.  Didn't care for all of the violence, but what could I expect given the subject matter?  I'm curious about which aspects are realistic.  Wikipedia has some discussion of that subject.

I give it 3 out of 5.

Tonight we finished watching The Constant Gardener (2005,R) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

A British diplomat learns about his social activist wife as he tries to find out about her murder and who's responsible for it.

I know it received some critical acclaim, but I thought it was kind of a dud.  I give it 3 out of 5.

Earlier this week I watched This Revolution (2004,R).  Following a cameraman during the Republican National Convention in New York city (from Wikipedia):

...the docu-drama film blends fiction with reality, focusing on the effects of the media's bias in order to maximize profits.

Another nugget from Wikipedia:

During the filming of a protest scene, the cast was mistaken for an actual subversive group, leading to the arrest of several cast members, including Rosario Dawson. The entire third act of the film was rewritten on the fly to explain her absence. Footage of Dawson's actual arrest made the final cut of the film.

The film had an amateurish feel and somehow didn't really grab me.

I give it 3 out of 5.