Sick Day

Ugh. Yeah, I was sick. I didn't sleep well last night at all. When I went to bed, I was freezing, I had a nasty sore throat, and my head hurt. I slept fitfully until about 9 AM...then tried to go back to sleep until noon. When I finally gave up, I finished Red Harvest and wrote in my journal, at least as well as I could think to.

I didn't eat until nearly 1. I didn't really want to eat, but I figured I needed something in my stomach. Did some Backyardigans while I had vegetable-barley soup. Uniqua, Tasha, and Tyrone are pursuing "The Yeti" across the frozen north. Actually, it's just Pablo being cute, but Uniqua insists that's a Yeti making those tracks. Tasha says there's no such thing.

Since I was already awake and sprawled on the couch (and didn't really feel like moving), I put on Revenge of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is chafing under the restraints of the Jedi Council, especially when they won't make him a Master. He's falling under the influence of the manipulative Chancellor Palapatine (Ian McDermid) as well. The Council wants him to spy on Palapatine. Anakin's decision is made easier when his wife Padme (Natalie Portman) announces she's pregnant...and he has a vision about her dying. Palapatine tells Anakin he can cheat death if he comes over to the Dark Side. Anakin's ultimate decisions have explosive and unhappy consequences for him and those he loves, including his teacher and best friend Obi-Wan (Ewan MacGregor).

While I don't love any of the prequel movies, this is by far the best of them, if only for the hilarious beginning (with Anakin and Obi-Wan rescuing the Chancellor) and that stunning duel in the lava in the end. (I've read in a few places that Christensen and MacGregor did so well and were so intense during that duel, some of the staff actually gave them a standing ovation when they finished.) Alas, what's in between is often muddled and rushed. Anakin turns way too quickly to the dark side! One minute, he's listening to opera and folk tales, and the next, he's killing everything in sight. And yes, there's still the problem of clunky dialogue to get around.

If you must see any of the prequels, see this one. There's still problems, but they're not as evident as in the other two movies. (However, be warned that this one isn't really for little kids - by it's very nature, this is one of the darker Star Wars movies. There's a lot of violence and discussions of death, kids are killed, and the ending isn't the happiest.)

I spent half of Revenge nodding off. After it finished, I decided I needed another nap. When I got up, I felt well enough to have oat bran and a half of a grapefruit for dinner and watch Can-Can. Satine Pistache (Shirley MacLaine) owns a cafe in Paris in the 1800's where the scandalous can-can dance is performed. Her boyfriend and lawyer (Frank Sinatra) and a local judge (Maurice Chevalier) don't mind, but another, more uptight, judge (Louis Jordan) has her raided and arrested. Even after he tricks her into almost giving up the list of cops she bribes, Satine still finds herself falling for the judge. Her boyfriend doesn't like that one bit! She has to decide whose world she belongs in, especially after she signs the club over to him and it's raided.

Mom used to rent this one a lot for the girls and Keefe and me in the early-mid 90's. This is fluff, and overlong fluff at that, but there's a decent cast having fun with some of Cole Porter's best songs. Fun for fans of the big 60's-70's musicals or any of the cast.