March 12, 2007
This is Sparta!
300 has its share of problems -- the pacing is a bit odd, and I think one or two of the many honor/glory/freedom speeches could have been dropped without losing anything. But the visuals are truly stunning. "It's most silly when it's trying to be a movie, and it's most beautiful when it's trying to be a graphic novel. Fortunately, it mostly just tries to be a graphic novel," says this reader of Andrew Sullivan's, and he's right. The over-the-top reaction of some critics -- racist! fascist! -- is totally absurd. (Dana Stevens -- not surprisingly, given her feminine aversion to war movies -- wins the dumbest-of-the-dumb award in that set.) It's hard not to wonder if some of these reviewers just can't stand the message that some things are worth fighting for.
I still think Team America is the best war movie every made.
When Queen Gorgo said to the senator, "Freedom isn't free," I nearly busted out singing "No, there's a hefty in' fee. And if you don't throw in your buck 'o five, who will?"