Sunday, January 31, 2016

Despicable Me 2




IMDb
When Gru, the world's most super-bad turned super-dad has been recruited by a team of officials to stop lethal muscle and a host of Gru's own, He has to fight back with new gadgetry, cars, and more minion madness.


Plugged IN

MOVIE REVIEW

It hasn't been easy, but Gru is adjusting to his new life.
I mean, just figuring out a while back that he wasn't really rotten to the core was a difficult first step, one that hit him like a photon death ray. After all, training to be the most megalomaniacal meanie ever takes a certain dedication. And then there's all that investment in diabolical contraptions and dastardly thingamajigs. It's not like he can just put that lot up on eBay and get his money back.
But, hey, when it's right … it's right. And Gru—the former supervillain who once swiped the moon and left the world screaming while he postured and mwoohahaed—has come to grips with the fact that he's really a softy down deep. He's an average, bald-headed mastermind who simply lovesbeing a dad to three completely adorable adopted daughters.
And he's getting the swing of things, too. He knows the ins and outs of helping with school projects and kissing everyone goodnight at bedtime. His army of gibberish-spouting, goggle-wearing, yellow minions have successfully rejiggered his manufacturing plant from creating fearsome inventions to producing jellies and jams (though having the Mad Scientist who invented the so-called "fart gun" as your taste tester isn't always a win-win).
There is another sticky situation at hand, though, one that has Gru grimacing grimly. And, no, it's not just Margo's interest in boys or that nosey woman who's incessantly trying to set him up on dates. This is serious, folks! It's a big little something called the Anti-Villain League.
This secretive group wants Gru to track down the evil perpetrator of a fiendish heist. In fact, the Anti-Villain League is seeking a furtive fugitive felon who filched an entire arctic research lab to get his mitts on a transmutation serum that can turn innocent creatures into indestructible monsters. It's the kind of plot Gru himself might have cooked up not long ago. And it's a plot the Anti-Villain League thinks Gru can foil.
But does Gru really want to go out and fight crime? Hmmm. He's not so sure.
There are a few potential advantages, of course. First off, the girls really like the idea of their dad being a secret agent. Then, he would get the chance to break out a few of those old gadgets of his. And there's that lanky agent Lucy Wilde he'd be teamed up with. She's a little obnoxious and overbearing, but when she starts throwing those karate chops and zapping people with her lipstick Taser, it just makes Gru go all weak in the knees. (Especially when she's aiming all those chops and zaps at him!)
Well … the kids have been telling him he ought to date more. Maybe this is the best way to go about it.

Full movie on Pubfilm

Despicable Me




IMDb
When a criminal mastermind uses a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, he finds their love is profoundly changing him for the better.


Rotten Tomatoes
A mysterious criminal mastermind has stolen one of the pyramids in Egypt, sparking a fit of jealous envy in evil genius Gru (Steve Carell), who hasn't managed to make headlines since he and his minions swiped the Times Square JumboTron years back. Ever since Gru was a little boy, he dreamed of going to the moon. Now, if Gru can just build a rocket and get his hands on a powerful shrink-ray, he can cement his reputation as the greatest thief who ever lived by stealing the Earth's satellite right out of the sky. But immediately after Gru heists the shrink-ray, the cunning super-nerd Vector (Jason Segel) swoops in and snatches it right out of his hands. Now, in order to claim the moon, Gru must first reacquire the weapon from Vector. Armed with the knowledge that his nemesis has a mean sweet tooth, Gru adopts cookie-selling orphans Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Fisher), and Edith (Dana Gaier) and commissions a new line of cookie robots from the evil Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), his personal weapons specialist. But as Gru and his diminutive yellow minions prepare to carry out the biggest heist in history, something strange happens. Gru discovers that the three little girls who have come into his life are much more than simple pawns. They actually seem to care about Gru, and it turns out the scheming evildoer makes a pretty good father. When Gru realizes that his upcoming moon mission clashes with a ballet performance by the girls, he must decide what's more important -- being a present parent or cementing his nefarious reputation once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Full movie on Pubfilm
And HDmovie14

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Sebastiane 1976




IMDb
Reassigned to a lowly outpost, a Roman guard's Christian beliefs clash with his gay commander's desire for closeness. Being tortured becomes pleasurable.


Rotten Tomatoes
Filmed entirely in vulgar Latin, this experimental film recounts the life of Sebastiane, a puritanical but beautiful Christian soldier in the Roman Imperial troops who is martyred when he refuses the homosexual advances of his pagan captain. When this film was released, it was the only English-made film to have required English subtitles, and it is an early film by the noted experimental and outspokenly homosexual director Derek Jarman, who died in 1994. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi


Full moviue on Film1K
and Dailymotion

Friday, January 22, 2016

Dumb Criminals The Movie




IMDb
Rabbit and Rongo, two dumb but kind-hearted criminals, want to help a young girl get the medical treatment she needs. Inspired by true crimes around the world, they attempt to raise money through a series of dumb plans and hopeless schemes.


Pubfilm
Rabbit and Rongo, two dumb but kind-hearted criminals, want to help a young girl get the medical treatment she needs. Inspired by true crimes around the world, they attempt to raise money through a series of dumb plans and hopeless schemes.


Full Movie on Pubfilm

Marfa Girl



IMDb
A story centered on a directionless 16-year-old living in Marfa, Texas and his relationships with his girlfriend, his neighbor, his teacher, a newly arrived local artist, and a local Border Patrol officer.



Rotten Tomatoes
Filmmaker Larry Clark (Kids, Wassup Rockers) employs a cast of unknown actors to tell the story of a teenager coming of age in the multi-cultural border town of Marfa, Texas. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi


full movie on HDmovie14
and NowVideo

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Street Car Named Desire




IMDb
Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.


Rotten Tomatoes
In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to visit her pregnant sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), in a seedy section of New Orleans. Stella's boorish husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), not only regards Blanche's aristocratic affectations as a royal pain but also thinks she's holding out on inheritance money that rightfully belongs to Stella. On the fringes of sanity, Blanche is trying to forget her checkered past and start life anew. Attracted to Stanley's friend Mitch (Karl Malden), she glosses over the less savory incidents in her past, but she soon discovers that she cannot outrun that past, and the stage is set for her final, brutal confrontation with her brother-in-law. Brando, Hunter, and Malden had all starred in the original Broadway version of Streetcar, although the original Blanche had been Jessica Tandy. Brando lost out to Humphrey Bogart for the 1951 Best Actor Oscar, but Leigh, Hunter, and Malden all won Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovimore


Full movie on FFilms
and Solarmovie

Bongo:killer Clown




IMDb
A bad 'teen mom" creates a monster in her child by leaving the TV on to serve as a babysitter. A twisted TV clown enters the child's psyche, leading to depraved violence as the persona of Bongo the killer clown emerges. Violence, topless nudity and gore in a psycho-dynamic plot. Bongo is a must see for fans of the genre. Director Geraldine Winters delivers a good story in a matrix of violent dark irony.
Written by G Winters



Rotten Tomatoes
The doctor who had cannibalistic serial killer Bongo the Clown locked-up in a mental asylum is engaged to be married, but as the guests gather at his secluded country home to celebrate, the vengeful jester prepares to stage his biggest bloodbath yet.


Full movie on film24
And HDmovie14

LumberJack Man




IMDb
As the staff of Good Friends Church Camp prepares for a spring break filled with "Fun Under the Son", a demon logger rises from his sap boiler to wreak his vengeance and feast on flapjacks soaked in the blood of his victims.

Director:

 


As the staff of Good Friends Church Camp prepares for a spring break filled with "Fun Under the Son", a demon logger rises from his sap boiler to wreak his vengeance and feast on flapjacks soaked in the blood of his victims.


Full movie on HDmovie14

Barefoot




IMDb
The "black sheep" son of a wealthy family meets a young psychiatric patient who's been raised in isolation her entire life. He then takes the naive young woman home for his brother's wedding.


Rotten Tomatoes
The "black sheep" son (Scott Speedman) of a wealthy family meets a free-spirited, but sheltered woman (Evan Rachel Wood). To convince his family that he's finally straightened out his life, he takes her home for his brother's wedding where an improbable romance blooms, as she impresses everyone with her genuine, simple charms. (c) Roadside Attractions
barefoot movie | Barefoot (2014) - Cover DVD Movie:
Full movie on Pubfilm

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Coffin Baby




IMDb
Hollywood, California is turned upside down by a series of strange and horrific murders creating chaos and turmoil in tinsel town. One particular victim is kidnapped, held captive and subjected to witness the torture and murder of numerous other victims. It is by her will, strength, and faith that she must survive the ordeal. Her escape seems hopeless and only worsens when outside supernatural forces become more difficult to contend with than her captor...
Written by Dean C Jones



Rotten Tomatoes
Thought you saw the whole nail-biting, gut-wrenching story? Think again. The handyman of horror is back with a new box of tricks in Toolbox Murders 2, a terrifying sequel to Tobe Hooper's 2004 reimagining of the 1978 cult favorite. Picking up directly after the events of Hooper's shocking film, Toolbox Murders 2 ratchets up the terror as it follows one of Hollywood's most twisted killers. Resurfacing in the darkest corners of the L.A. underworld with a serious axe to grind, the killer hammers out a plan to put the screws to a new victim: Samantha, the sister of his prey from his previous rampage. Soon Samantha finds herself held captive in a house of horrors and forced to undergo the most unspeakable tortures... with little hope of escape. Starring Chauntal Lewis, Brian Krause, Chris Doyle, and two-time Academy Award (R) nominee* Bruce Dern, Toolbox Murders 2 will disturb even the most level-headed fright fan while pushing every envelope imaginable and drilling shocking imagery into their minds!


Full Movie on HDmovie14

Love Life




Rotten Tomatoes
The marriage of convenience between a former professional baseball player and his trophy begins to crack at the foundation in a provocative examination of modern mores from director Damion Dietz. Joe is a former MLB star who now works as a coach. Mary is a trust fund girl who only wanted an emotional partner. Despite their agreement to permit extramarital affairs as long as there is no outside emotional attachment, things begin to slowly fall apart as Joe begins to succumb to his driving homosexual desires. When Joe becomes involved with a handsome-but-unstable landscaper and an old college friend coerces Mary into confronting her lesbian past, the couple is forced to choose between a comfortable life defined by lies, or an uncertain future in which both embrace their true natures regardless of the social ramification.


IMDb
An intimately observed love story, LOVE LIFE carefully examines the sexually secretive marriage of Joe and Mary Hahn. When a passionate extra-marital encounter leaves Joe with an emotional connection he can't break - and when a beautiful friend from Mary's college years resurfaces with her own agenda, the marriage of convenience begins to crack, revealing the truth, strength and hope buried within all of them.
Written by new media entertainment, llc


Full movie on Movieovh

The Water Diviner



IMDb
An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons.



Rotten Tomatoes
An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons.


Full Movie on Pubfilm

Monday, January 18, 2016

Star Wars The Revenge of the Sith




IMDb
  • During the near end of the clone wars, Darth Sidious has revealed himself and is ready to execute the last part of his plan to rule the Galaxy. Sidious is ready for his new apprentice, Lord Vader to step into action and kill the remaining Jedi. Vader, however, struggles to choose the dark side and save his wife or remain loyal to the Jedi order.
  • In Coruscant, the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker rescue the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from the Separatist General Grievous' spaceship and Anakin kills Count Dooku with his light-saber after a fight; however Grievous escape from the Jedi. When they land on Coruscant, Padmé Amidala comes to tell Anakin that she is pregnant. Soon he has premonitions of his wife dying during the delivery. Palpatine requests that Anakin joins the Jedi Council against the will of the members but his is not promoted to Master and stays Padawan; further they ask him to spy Palpaline. Anakin is manipulated by Palpatine about the true intentions of the Jedi and is tempted to know the dark side of the Force that could be capable to save Padmé. Further Palpatine discloses that he is Sith Lord Darth Sidious. What will Anakin do?
    Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil




George Lucas comes full circle in more ways than one in "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," which is the sixth -- and allegedly but not necessarily the last -- of the "Star Wars" movies. After "Episode II" got so bogged down in politics that it played like the Republic covered by C-Span, "Episode III" is a return to the classic space opera style that launched the series. Because the story leads up to where the original "Star Wars" began, we get to use the immemorial movie phrase, "This is where we came in."

That Anakin Skywalker abandoned the Jedi and went over to the dark side is known to all students of "Star Wars." That his twins Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia would redeem the family name is also known. What we discover in "Episode III" is how and why Anakin lost his way -- how a pleasant and brave young man was transformed into a dark, cloaked figure with a fearsome black metal face. As Yoda sadly puts it in his inimitable word order: "The boy you trained, gone he is, consumed by Darth Vader."
As "Episode III" opens, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and his friend Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) are piloting fighter craft, staging a daring two-man raid to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). He has been captured by the rebel Gen. Grievous (whose voice, by Matthew Woods, sounds curiously wheezy considering the general seems to use replacement parts). In the spirit of all the "Star Wars" movies, this rescue sequence flies in the face of logic, since the two pilots are able to board Grievous' command ship and proceed without much trouble to the ship's observation tower, where the chancellor is being held. There is a close call in an elevator shaft, but where are the guards and the security systems? And why, for that matter, does a deep space cruiser need an observation tower, when every porthole opens on to the universe? But never mind.
Back within the sphere of the Jedi Council, Anakin finds that despite his heroism, he will not yet be named a Jedi Master. The council distrusts Palpatine and wants Anakin to spy on him; Palpatine wants Anakin to spy on the council. Who to choose? McDiarmid has the most complex role in the movie as he plays on Anakin's wounded ego. Anakin is tempted to go over to what is not yet clearly the dark side; in a movie not distinguished for its dialogue, Palpatine is insidiously snaky in his persuasiveness.
The way Anakin approaches his choice, however, has a certain poignancy. Anakin has a rendezvous with Padme (Natalie Portman); they were secretly married in the previous film, and now she reveals she is pregnant. His reaction is that of a nice kid in a teenage comedy, trying to seem pleased while wondering how this will affect the other neat stuff he gets to do. To say that George Lucas cannot write a love scene is an understatement; greeting cards have expressed more passion.
The dialogue throughout the movie is once again its weakest point: The characters talk in what sounds like Basic English, without color, wit or verbal delight, as if they were channeling Berlitz. The exceptions are Palpatine and of course Yoda, whose speech (voiced by Frank Oz) reminds me of Wolcott Gibbs' famous line about the early style of Time magazine: "Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind."
In many cases the actors are being filmed in front of blue screens, with effects to be added later, and sometimes their readings are so flat, they don't seem to believe they're really in the middle of amazing events. How can you stand in front of exploding star fleets and sound as if you're talking on a cell phone at Starbucks?
"He's worried about you," Anakin is told at one point. "You've been under a lot of stress." Sometimes the emphasis in sentences is misplaced. During the elevator adventure in the opening rescue, we hear "Did I miss something?" when it should be "Did I miss something?"
The dialogue is not the point, however; Lucas' characters engage in sturdy oratorical pronunciamentos and then leap into adventure. "Episode III" has more action per square minute, I'd guess, than any of the previous five movies, and it is spectacular. The special effects are more sophisticated than in the earlier movies, of course, but not necessarily more effective.
The dogfight between fighters in the original "Star Wars" and the dogfight that opens this one differ in their complexity (many more ships this time, more planes of action, more detailed backgrounds) but not in their excitement. And although Lucas has his characters attend a futuristic opera that looks like a cross between Cirque de Soleil and an ultrasound scan of an unborn baby, if you regard the opera hall simply as a place, it's not as engaging as the saloon on Tatooine in the first movie.
The lesson, I think, is that special effects should be judged not by their complexity but by the degree that they stimulate the imagination, and "Episode III" is distinguished not by how well the effects are done, but by how amazingly they are imagined. A climactic duel on a blazing volcanic planet is as impressive, in its line, as anything in "Lord of the Rings." And Yoda, who began life as a Muppet but is now completely animated (like about 70 percent of what we see onscreen), was to begin with and still is the most lifelike of the non-humanoid "Star Wars" characters.
A word, however, about the duels fought with lightsabers. When they flashed into life with a mighty whizzing thunk in the first "Star Wars" and whooshed through their deadly parabolas, that was exciting. But the thrill is gone.
The duelists are so well-matched that saber fights go on forever before anyone is wounded, and I am still not sure how the sabers seem able to shield their bearers from attack. When it comes to great movie sword fights, Liam Neeson and Tim Roth took home the gold medal in "Rob Roy" (1995), and the lightsaber battles in "Episode III" are more like isometrics.
These are all, however, more observations than criticisms. George Lucas has achieved what few artists do; he has created and populated a world of his own. His "Star Wars" movies are among the most influential, both technically and commercially, ever made. And they are fun. If he got bogged down in solemnity and theory in "Episode II: Attack of the Clones," the Force is in a jollier mood this time, and "Revenge of the Sith" is a great entertainment.
Note: I said this is not necessarily the last of the "Star Wars" movies. Although Lucas has absolutely said he is finished with the series, it is inconceivable to me that 20th Century-Fox will willingly abandon the franchise, especially as Lucas has hinted that parts VII, VIII and IX exist at least in his mind. There will be enormous pressure for them to be made, if not by him, then by his deputies.

George Lucas draws the Star Wars film series to a close with this dark sci-fi adventure which sets the stage for the events of the first film and brings the saga full circle. After a fierce battle in which Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) join Republic forces to help free Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and his minions, Anakin is drawn into Palpatine's confidence. Palpatine has designs on expanding his rule, and with this in mind he plants seeds of doubt in Anakin's mind about the strength and wisdom of the Jedis. Anakin is already in a quandary about how to reveal to others the news of his secret marriage to Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) now that she is pregnant, and visions which foretell her death in childbirth weigh heavy on his mind. As Anakin finds himself used by both the Jedis and the Republic for their own purposes -- particularly after Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) expresses his distrust of the young Jedi -- he turns more and more to the Force for help, but begins to succumb to the temptations of its dark side. Many of the Star Wars series regulars returned for Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, including Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Kenny Baker as R2-D2, and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Full movie on Pibfilm

Star Wars Attack of the Clones




IMDb
Ten years after initially meeting, Anakin Skywalker shares a forbidden romance with Padmé, while Obi-Wan investigates an assassination attempt on the Senator and discovers a secret clone army crafted for the Jedi

RogerEbert
It is not what's there on the screen that disappoints me, but what's not there. It is easy to hail the imaginative computer images that George Lucasbrings to "Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones." To marvel at his strange new aliens and towering cities and sights such as thousands of clones all marching in perfect ranks into a huge spaceship. To see the beginnings of the dark side in young Anakin Skywalker. All of those experiences are there to be cheered by fans of the "Star Wars" series, and for them this movie will affirm their faith.
But what about the agnostic viewer? The hopeful ticket buyer walking in not as a cultist, but as a moviegoer hoping for a great experience? Is this "Star Wars" critic-proof and scoff-resistant? Yes, probably, at the box office. But as someone who admired the freshness and energy of the earlier films, I was amazed, at the end of "Episode II," to realize that I had not heard one line of quotable, memorable dialogue. And the images, however magnificently conceived, did not have the impact they deserved. I'll get to them in a moment.
The first hour of "Episode II" contains a sensational chase through the skyscraper canyons of a city, and assorted briefer shots of space ships and planets. But most of that first hour consists of dialogue, as the characters establish plot points, update viewers on what has happened since "Episode I," and debate the political crisis facing the Republic. They talk and talk and talk. And their talk is in a flat utilitarian style: They seem more like lawyers than the heroes of a romantic fantasy.
In the classic movie adventures that inspired "Star Wars," dialogue was often colorful, energetic, witty and memorable. The dialogue in "Episode II" exists primarily to advance the plot, provide necessary information, and give a little screen time to continuing characters who are back for a new episode. The only characters in this stretch of the film who have inimitable personal styles are the beloved Yoda and the hated Jar-Jar Binks, whose idiosyncrasies turned off audiences for "Phantom Menace." Yes, Jar-Jar's accent may be odd and his mannerisms irritating, but at least he's a unique individual and not a bland cipher. The other characters--Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme Amidala, Anakin Skywalker--seem so strangely stiff and formal in their speech that an unwary viewer might be excused for thinking they were the clones, soon to be exposed.
Too much of the rest of the film is given over to a romance between Padme and Anakin in which they're incapable of uttering anything other than the most basic and weary romantic cliches, while regarding each other as if love was something to be endured rather than cherished. There is not a romantic word they exchange that has not long since been reduced to cliche.
No, wait: Anakin tells Padme at one point: "I don't like the sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating--not like you. You're soft and smooth." I hadn't heard that before.
When it comes to the computer-generated images, I feel that I cannot entirely trust the screening experience I had. I could see that in conception many of these sequences were thrilling and inventive. I liked the planet of rain, and the vast coliseum in which the heroes battle strange alien beasts, and the towering Senate chamber, and the secret factory where clones were being manufactured.
But I felt like I had to lean with my eyes toward the screen in order to see what I was being shown. The images didn't pop out and smack me with delight, the way they did in earlier films. There was a certain fuzziness, an indistinctness that seemed to undermine their potential power.
Later I went on the Web to look at the trailers for the movie, and was startled to see how much brighter, crisper and more colorful they seemed on my computer screen than in the theater. Although I know that video images are routinely timed to be brighter than movie images, I suspect another reason for this. "Episode II" was shot entirely on digital video. It is being projected in digital video on 19 screens, but on some 3,000 others, audiences will see it as I did, transferred to film.
How it looks in digital projection I cannot say, although I hope to get a chance to see it that way. I know Lucas believes it looks better than film, but then he has cast his lot with digital. My guess is that the film version of "Episode II" might jump more sharply from the screen in a small multiplex theater. But I saw it on the largest screen in Chicago, and my suspicion is, the density and saturation of the image were not adequate to imprint the image there in a forceful way.
Digital images contain less information than 35mm film images, and the more you test their limits, the more you see that. Two weeks ago I saw "Patton" shown in 70mm Dimension 150, and it was the most astonishing projection I had ever seen--absolute detail on a giant screen, which was 6,000 times larger than a frame of the 70mm film. That's what large-format film can do, but it's a standard Hollywood has abandoned (except for IMAX), and we are being asked to forget how good screen images can look--to accept the compromises. I am sure I will hear from countless fans who assure me that "Episode II" looks terrific, but it does not. At least, what I saw did not. It may look great in digital projection on multiplex-size screens, and I'm sure it will look great on DVD, but on a big screen it lacks the authority it needs.
I have to see the film again to do it justice. I'm sure I will greatly enjoy its visionary sequences on DVD; I like stuff like that. The dialogue is another matter. Perhaps because a movie like this opens everywhere in the world on the same day, the dialogue has to be dumbed down for easier dubbing or subtitling. Wit, poetry and imagination are specific to the languages where they originate, and although translators can work wonders, sometimes you get the words but not the music. So it's safer to avoid the music.
But in a film with a built-in audience, why not go for the high notes? Why not allow the dialogue to be inventive, stylish and expressive? There is a certain lifelessness in some of the acting, perhaps because the actors were often filmed in front of blue screens so their environments could be added later by computer. Actors speak more slowly than they might--flatly, factually, formally, as if reciting. Sometimes that reflects the ponderous load of the mythology they represent. At other times it simply shows that what they have to say is banal. "Episode II-- Attack of the Clones" is a technological exercise that lacks juice and delight. The title is more appropriate than it should be.

The second prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy takes place ten years after the events depicted in Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. Now 20, young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is an apprentice to respected Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Unusually powerful in the Force, Anakin is also impatient, arrogant, and headstrong -- causing his mentor a great deal of concern. The pair are ordered to protect Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), the former queen of the planet Naboo, now representing her world in the Galactic Senate. Someone is trying to assassinate her on the eve of a vote enabling Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) to build a military force that will safeguard against a growing separatist movement led by mysterious former Jedi Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). After another attempt on Padme's life, Obi-Wan and Anakin separate. The young Jedi and Padme fall in love as he escorts her first to the security of Naboo and then to his home world of Tatooine, where the fate of his mother leads him to commit an ominous atrocity. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan travels to the secretive planet Kamino and the asteroid-ringed world of Geonosis, following bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) and his son, Boba (Daniel Logan), who are involved in an operation to create a massive army of clones. A vicious battle ensues between the clones and Jedi on one side and Dooku's droids on the other, but who is really pulling the strings in this galactic conflict? In late 2002, the movie was released in IMAX theaters as Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones: The IMAX Experience, with a pared-down running time of 120 minutes in order to meet the technical requirements of the large-screen format. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Full movie on Pubfilm

Star Wars The Phantom Menace




IMDb
Two Jedi Knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to reclaim their old glory.



RogerEbert
If it were the first "Star Wars" movie, "The Phantom Menace" would be hailed as a visionary breakthrough. But this is the fourth movie of the famous series, and we think we know the territory; many of the early reviews have been blase, paying lip service to the visuals and wondering why the characters aren't better developed. How quickly do we grow accustomed to wonders. I am reminded of the Isaac Asimov story "Nightfall," about the planet where the stars were visible only once in a thousand years. So awesome was the sight that it drove men mad. We who can see the stars every night glance up casually at the cosmos and then quickly down again, searching for a Dairy Queen.
"Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace," to cite its full title, is an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking. If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that's inevitable: This is the first story in the chronology and has to set up characters who (we already know) will become more interesting with the passage of time. Here we first see Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda and R2-D2 and C-3PO. Anakin is only a fresh-faced kid in Episode I; in IV, V and VI, he has become Darth Vader.
At the risk of offending devotees of the Force, I will say that the stories of the "Star Wars" movies have always been space operas, and that the importance of the movies comes from their energy, their sense of fun, their colorful inventions and their state-of-the-art special effects. I do not attend with the hope of gaining insights into human behavior. Unlike many movies, these are made to be looked at more than listened to, and George Lucas and his collaborators have filled "The Phantom Menace" with wonderful visuals.
There are new places here--new kinds of places. Consider the underwater cities, floating in their transparent membranes. The Senate chamber, a vast sphere with senators arrayed along the inside walls, and speakers floating on pods in the center. And other places: the cityscape with the waterfall that has a dizzying descent through space. And the other cities: one city Venetian, with canals, another looking like a hothouse version of imperial Rome, and a third that seems to have grown out of desert sands.
Set against awesome backdrops, the characters in "The Phantom Menace" inhabit a plot that is little more complex than the stories I grew up on in science-fiction magazines. The whole series sometimes feel like a cover from Thrilling Wonder Stories, come to life. The dialogue is pretty flat and straightforward, although seasoned with a little quasi-classical formality, as if the characters had read but not retained "Julius Caesar." I wish the "Star Wars" characters spoke with more elegance and wit (as Gore Vidal's Greeks and Romans do), but dialogue isn't the point, anyway: These movies are about new things to look at.
The plot details (of embargoes and blockades) tend to diminish the size of the movie's universe--to shrink it to the scale of a 19th century trade dispute. The stars themselves are little more than pinpoints on a black curtain, and "Star Wars" has not drawn inspiration from the color photographs being captured by the Hubble Telescope. The series is essentially human mythology, set in space, but not occupying it. If Stanley Kubrick gave us man humbled by the universe, Lucas gives us the universe domesticated by man. His aliens are really just humans in odd skins. For "The Phantom Menace," he introduces Jar Jar Binks, a fully realized computer-animated alien character whose physical movements seem based on afterthoughts. And Jabba the Hutt (who presides over the Podrace) has always seemed positively Dickensian to me.
Yet within the rules he has established, Lucas tells a good story. The key development in "Phantom" is the first meeting between the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and the young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd)--who is, the Jedi immediately senses, fated for great things. Qui-Gon meets Anakin in a store where he's seeking replacement parts for his crippled ship. Qui-Gon soon finds himself backing the young slave in a high-speed Podrace--betting his ship itself against the cost of the replacement parts. The race is one of the film's high points, as the entrants zoom between high cliff walls in a refinement of a similar race through metal canyons on a spaceship in "Star Wars." Why is Qui-Gon so confident that Anakin can win? Because he senses an unusual concentration of the Force--and perhaps because, like John the Baptist, he instinctively recognizes the one whose way he is destined to prepare. The film's shakiness on the psychological level is evident, however, in the scene where young Anakin is told he must leave his mother (Pernilla August) and follow this tall Jedi stranger. Their mutual resignation to the parting seems awfully restrained. I expected a tearful scene of parting between mother and child, but the best we get is when Anakin asks if his mother can come along, and she replies, "Son, my place is here." As a slave? The discovery and testing of Anakin supplies the film's most important action, but in a sense all the action is equally important, because it provides platforms for special-effects sequences. Sometimes our common sense undermines a sequence (for instance, when Jar Jar's people and the good guys fight a 'droid army, it becomes obvious that the droids are such bad fighters, they should be returned for a refund). But mostly I was happy to drink in the sights on the screen, in the same spirit that I might enjoy "Metropolis," "Forbidden Planet," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Dark City" or "The Matrix." The difference is that Lucas' visuals are more fanciful and his film's energy level is more cheerful; he doesn't share the prevailing view that the future is a dark and lonely place.
What he does have, in abundance, is exhilaration. There is a sense of discovery in scene after scene of "The Phantom Menace," as he tries out new effects and ideas, and seamlessly integrates real characters and digital ones, real landscapes and imaginary places. We are standing at the threshold of a new age of epic cinema, I think, in which digital techniques mean that budgets will no longer limit the scope of scenes; filmmakers will be able to show us just about anything they can imagine.
As surely as Anakin Skywalker points the way into the future of "Star Wars," so does "The Phantom Menace" raise the curtain on this new freedom for filmmakers. And it's a lot of fun. The film has correctly been given the PG rating; it's suitable for younger viewers and doesn't depend on violence for its effects. As for the bad rap about the characters--hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called "Star Trek" movies. Give me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day.

In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars, the ultimate sci-fi popcorn flick-turned-pop-culture myth machine. It quickly became the biggest money-making film of all time and changed the shape of the film industry. After two successful sequels (1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi) that extended the story of the first film, Lucas took some time off to produce movies for others, with mixed success. In 1999, Lucas returned to the Star Wars saga with a new approach -- instead of picking up where Return of the Jedi left off, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace would be the first of a trilogy of stories to trace what happened in the intergalactic saga before the first film began. Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a nine-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter, but when they arrive on Naboo they are brought to Amidala (Natalie Portman), the Naboo queen, by a friendly but opportunistic Gungan named Jar Jar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan plan to escort Amidala to a meeting of Republic leaders in Coruscant, but trouble with their spacecraft strands them on the planet Tatooine, where Qui-Gon meets Anakin, the slave of a scrap dealer. Qui-Gon is soon convinced that the boy could be the leader the Jedis have been searching for, and he begins bargaining for his freedom and teaching the boy the lessons of the Force. The supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother, Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi master Mace Windu. Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's release that the best part about doing the film was that he got to say "May the Force be with you" onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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