Sine O' Sanity
Is there any?
Sunday, June 1, 2025
April + May Festivities
Thursday, May 1, 2025
365 Films in 365 Days — May 1: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
This series is dedicated to matching memorable movies with the signature day each year upon which I could watch them forever. It may seem sacrilegious to debut this film before the original, but it makes the most sense thematically, and recent reevaluations of this movie and its sequels have shown that its legacy is worthy of the saga and enhances its overall appeal. May marks the month of Star Wars Day and this movie's original release, and so it must be:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999, Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox, George Lucas)
Ep I opens with all the pomp and circumstance of a Shakespearean play. With crosswise swords and words. The strange austere nature of the Jedi's arrival to the Naboo system, sent on behalf of the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic to settle a trade dispute, is soon after ruined when the Trade Federation, who is performing a blockade of Naboo in protest of the planet's refusal to do crooked business, resolves to have them killed on the word of a hooded holographic figure with a sinister voice. This all advances past the viewer with pulpy, high adventure vibes, as the performances by Neeson and McGregor as Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi suggest they are above any of the dangers. This instills us with a confidence in our heroes, grounds the villains without making the outcome a foregone conclusion, and establishes some early stakes. The first twenty minutes of the movie play out like a solid episode of a limited series. There are three brief action scenes demonstrating the Jedi's abilities, several scene changes from ship bays to forest floors to underwater cities to decadent palace courtyards, and a daring rescue and escape that sends us into our first plot point. It's a breakneck pace, but it's primary intention is to bring all the major players together and give them reason to land on Tatooine, a core location important throughout the saga.Friday, April 18, 2025
365 Films in 365 Days — April 18: The Passion of the Christ
This series is dedicated to matching memorable movies with the signature day each year upon which I could watch them forever. This next movie is so good and yet so jarring that I always swallow hard when preparing myself to watch it. It's Good Friday, so I can do none other than:
The Passion of the Christ (2004, Icon/Newmarket Films, Mel Gibson)
The opening of the Passion is rich with dark beauty and menace. The music has a dark sensuality to it, and the performances are raw and theatrical. Jim Caviezel's Christ is the modern template, and productions like The Chosen have definitely benefitted from his portrayal. It simultaneously goes to places no other actor has gone to before and sets itself apart by not inviting imitation. The whole movie plays out that way. Simultaneously setting itself apart and provoking reactions that no other film might dare to emulate. It's indicative of the life Jesus lived—wholly unique and unimpeachable by human standards.Go to next! Go to last!