Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Did this really happen? Did the arguably greatest cinematographic adventure to date culminate in a huge continuity error? Please tell me that I missed something. What I remember seeing (and I saw it twice) was that Aragorn and a somewhat diminished army are sitting on their horses in front of the great black gate at Mordor. Aragorn, from his horse, gives a rousing speech as he prepares his men for what may well be their doom. When we see them next, they charge at the oncoming Orcs -- on foot!! What happened to the horses? Did I miss something? Please tell me I missed something. Please tell me there was an incident that frightened all the horses away or that the warriors dismounted for some reason and sent the horses to safer realms. Tell me that so great a trilogy did not in fact contain so great an oversight so near its climax.
Mystery Men
What went wrong? The idea has huge potential: a local superhero with corporate sponsorship really succeeds in wiping out crime, but that leaves him without a job so he releases one of the great villains and is captured by him. Meanwhile, a rag-tag group with hilariously dubious powers have to take on the crime fighting role in the city. Throw in some equally bizarre henchmen for the villain and a mad scientist creating non-lethal weapons like canned tornadoes and blame throwers, and you've got a great idea for a superhero spoof movie. Line up a talented cast, and it should be a hilarious blockbuster.
So why is it only a mildly funny movie? Most of the scenes look great on paper, but somehow don't feel right on screen. I don't know why. I don't have the answer.
The Matrix
OK, there are entire libraries that could be filled with what people have said and written about the religious and spiritual messages of The Matrix. The last thing we need is yet another interpretation. (And I've only seen the first movie of the trilogy, so I'm even less qualified to make overarching statements.) But the concept behind it is so easy: take some names that have obvious religious weight ("Trinity", "Zion") and some in which it is only slightly less obvious ("Morpheus", "Neo Anderson" [="New Son of Man"]). Then (and this is central) you bring the idea that the mass of humanity is under a great illusion, and their most basic a priori assumptions are dead, dead wrong. They would never guess what is "really" going on. And everything they do to enhance or prolong their life actually ends up feeding their enemy.
This is the core of every philosophy. Whether it is Christianity, humanism, Buddhism, or any of the myriads of self-concocted variants of semi-New Age spirituality, the implication is always that there are only a few who are "in on it", who see through the illusion and recognize the reality, and who, through this recognition, are able to control the illusions to make a new reality. These few enlightened ones, if the rest of the deluded world would just finally open their minds and listen to them, could lead all to enlightenment.
And of course, since everyone sees his or her own worldview symbolized in The Matrix' real world and everyone else living in the fantasy world, the movie caters to an almost universal crowd.
(Don't interpret more cynicism into this statement than I intend: I still think it's a great movie.)
The Truman Show
...the point is, of course, that what we call "reality TV" is taking more and more liberties with what we call "privacy", and that the success of the whole genre depends on how much suffering (physical pain, backstabbing, tension, betrayal, etc., etc.) can be seen on the screen.
Truman Show takes this to the superlative. But the logistical problems are massive, and are never really addressed. How do you build a gigantic superstructure around an unsuspecting "star" without him noticing? Sure, once you're finished with the thing (still something out of science fiction) you can imitate sunshine, clouds, weather, etc. But while you're building it? It would take years. Wouldn't all that construction work on the horizon arouse his suspicious?
But the creators and cast are sure dedicated, aren't they? I mean, all those kids he grows up with never really knew another world than the "Truman Show" world. And his "family members",... when do they go on vacation? Do they really spend decades in a gargantuan TV studio and never leave to see the world outside?
The ultimate question, of course, is this:
What does Truman watch on TV?
