Recent Movie Watchings - III, Arthur, and Kung Fu

I've recently had the pleasure of watching several movies. I'll try not to spoil anything. Here are my thoughts in brief:

Episode III - A HUGE improvement over the last two. Yes, some discussions between Anakin and Padme are still horribly done (and she's a good actress otherwise...I don't understand!). And yes, there are some other really bad lines. But it is not as bad, partially because there is a whole lot more fighting. And yes, there is quite a bit more. The action in the movie is great, and the special effects are once more stupendous. Some of the lines were genuinely great, I thought (Obi-Wan at the end in a few places). Is there some to critique. No doubt. But it's a much better flick than the last two.

King Arthur - It is a testament to my endurance and patience that I actually finished that movie. It is actually impossible for me to spoil anything in this movie, because it was just so bad. The only interesting thing in the movie was the centrality of Pelagius as Arthur's hero, and how Pelagius was a great man, teaching on the ability of man to determine his own destiny, free will, blah blah blah. What about the fact that Pelagius was a heretic? Well, that was mentioned later, that the church rejected him. Of course, this was seen as a tragic moment because of the hero's affinity with the fellow. And this was a turning point in Arthur's character in the movie, whereafter he bravely stood with the English to fight off the invading Saxons, something you saw coming 30 minutes into the movie. From a purely movie drama perspective, it really could never seem to pull it off. You could even tell all the times that the director was trying to make you have one of those moments. You know those Braveheart ("They can take our lives, but they can never take our FREEDOM!") or Gladiator ("For us, what we do in life echoes in eternity") moments (imagine cool accents) where you think "man this guy is cooler than anyone else in this movie or real life". Well, you could see them and you feel...nothing. Empty. They just couldn't pull off a real epic. So, really, don't waste your time.

Kung Fu Hustle - If you like slapstick humor and you like movies that can incredibly odd, this is the movie for you. I loved it! Very humorous with lots of fun kung-fu action. My friends and I were able to catch it at a smaller local theatre (3 tickets for $9) and we all really dug it. If you have the chance, and you like those kind of movies, check it out.