I've spent some time the last few weeks watching movies. My reviews:

Worth Multiple Viewings

Primer – Wow. I’ve watched it four times, and I’m still in awe. Plot: Some engineers working in a garage invent a machine with revolutionary properties that can make them rich beyond the dreams of avarice – presenting them with problems and ethical dilemmas no human has ever had to deal with before. This independent film was made on a budget of $7000, by some friends that had never made a movie before, and there’s a certain clumsiness to the shots, a roughness around the edges, that highlights the brilliance of the plot rather than detracts from it. The last third of the movie is virtually incomprehensible on the first viewing – but that’s part of the charm. It demands that you make the connections yourself, rather than having a character explain it all to you.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Despite clumsy dialogue and plot holes, this film recaptures the Star Wars “magic” in a way the previous two prequels didn’t. This is the film we’ve all been waiting for since Return of the Jedi, and it’s worth it.

Worth a Single Viewing

House of Flying Daggers – Clichéd love triangle. Made bearable by the wuxia.

Kingdom of Heaven – I could tell they were getting stuff wrong historically (the Atomic Fusion Catapults give it away), and the theology was a mish-mash of liberal Protestantism and Hollywood New Age, but the story itself is moderately worthwhile.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – If you think you might read the books, read them first. If you doubt you’ll ever get around to it, this is a worthwhile adaptation. The casting is great.

Blade: Trinity – A good action flick; as good or better than the previous two. I liked the new characters.

Not Really Worth Viewing

Appleseed – A beautiful anime. Not particularly interesting, otherwise. Actually, it was about as good as House of Flying Daggers. Not sure why that one made “worth a single viewing” and this one didn’t.

I have a shiner. It’s a beaut, too. Now I look like some Fight Club freak. (Which, I guess, I am.) I was training last week, and this big wrestler guy kept picking me up and slamming me on the mat. When I got home, I saw I had a black eye.

I’m only sorry I didn’t get it before the end of the semester. Now it’ll be gone before school starts back in the fall.

Straight after graduation, I went to Alabama with my parents to spend the better part of a week helping my sister work on her cottage. We got her porch painted and screened in, as well as fixing screen and rabbit wire under all the eaves to keep the critters out. While we were there, we celebrated my grandmother’s 95^th birthday – I saw more of my relatives in one place than I’ve seen in a decade.

Last weekend I went to a conference in Atlanta. I saw several friends of mine, some from Kansas City, and some from Athens. I hadn’t seen them in years, and it was good to reconnect.

Ah! Done! Just finished entering all the final grades online. Now I've got to rush home and change in time to hear my dad speak at the Baccalaureate.