mattsmudge

If I win the lottery, or somehow come into a lot of money (and I mean a lot), I could say with a 359.94 degree of certainty I’d buy a car the very next day.

There are about five cars that would be in the mix;  The Nissan GT-R would be top and I’ve already worked out which dealership to head to if/when this day happens.  As for the classics, I’d have to go for the AC Cobra (although a replica would do) and I’ve always had a soft spot for the MGA.  The Alfa 8C would also be a top contender, especially as I’ve yet to see one in real life (which saddens me greatly) and being sensible realistic, I’d have to buy an Alfa Giulietta but I’d go the whole hog and buy the dirtiest Cloverleaf model I could get!

I’ve been in my new living quarters for a month now and I can easily say that I’m very much enjoying it and wished I’d done it a great deal sooner.  It’s just such a relief having my own time and space and to feel a bit more grown up.  Now that I’ve finished decorating my room (bar some minor touch-ups) and furnished it with nice expensive things, I’m feeling very settled and begun becoming creative again, starting with a major revamping of my website (coming soon).

It's 6:00am on a nice Summer's morning.  I'm with my Sister, Uncle and his (now ex-)girlfriend.  We're in my beige Fiat Uno and we've just parked up by the Warner Village cinema in Croydon, Purley Way.  Some people are already waiting by the entrance dressed in costume.  We head over and join the queue.  Turns out they are the staff waiting to get in.  An hour passes and the queue grows to at least six (including us) when two students join us.  An hour later a van pulls up and a TV news crew come out, looking slightly alarmed by the lack of people.  They're from the BBC breakfast news and want to do a live report on the 1^st public showing of Star Wars: Episode One The Phantom Menace.  By 8:30am there's, thankfully, at least 50 people now eagerly awaiting the doors to open for the 9:00am showing and the BBC breakfast news crew could just about justify their news story.
It's 12:00pm and the film has finished.  I don't know what to think or do even.

That was my Phantom Menace experience back in 1999.  Despite it being quite a bit crap, it was an exciting time in my life and one that will always have a special place reserved in my heart.  I'm not sure which part of the heart; somewhere near the back I suspect, or least vital area.  
Nearly 13 years on I would be experiencing it all over again, only this time in 3D.  I don't really like 3D.

It's a bloody cold Wednesday evening and I'm feeling as ropey as hell due to some kind of bug.  We head into the Empire cinema, Leicester Square, London, for the FDA multimedia screening of Star Wars: Episode One The Phantom Menace 3D.  I'm not sure what FDA stands for and the only multimedia aspect to it are the demos of the new Star Wars Xbox Kinetic game due out soon (which didn't like me).
The core audience seemed to be all of a similar age and no doubt went through the exact same spectrum of emotion(s) as I back in '99.  I came up with the analogy that it felt a bit like discovering time travel and going back to 1912, only to be given a free ticket for the maiden voyage of the Titanic and duly boarding it knowing full well that it's not quite going to reach its destination and that there's a good chance you may die.  Of course we weren't going to die just by watching The Phantom Menace in 3D.... er, were we?

The Empire has a lovely large screen, which we sat and admired while eagerly awaiting the film to start.  We were distracted by the guy in front playing what looked like an awesome game on his iPhone.  We guessed that Anthony Daniels would have some involvement with the intro so we’re surprised when Chris Green was announced on stage.  Chris Green isn't famous.  He just works for 20^th Century Fox and I suspect was the one in the toilet when his co-workers made the decision who would be introducing The Phantom Menace in 3D later that evening.  Chris didn't want to be there, you could kinda tell.  He then introduced Anthony Daniels on stage.

After the camp intro where Daniels would have you believe that if he didn't exist, nor would Star Wars, the film started.  We did an ironic cheer when Star Wars belted on screen and then just sat back for the (mis)adventure.  It was hard not to chuckle at the beginning as it was as cheesy as memory served.  The 3D was pretty much non-existent through-out which I kind of expected but was also pleased about because it once again showed that 3D only has a tiny role to play in cinema.  But despite all the flaws, despite being ill and tired, despite the light level being reduced by 30% due to the 3D, I was actually really enjoying it.  I hadn't seen Phantom Menace for a good few years and my hankering for watching it had been pretty high for a good while.  It also felt highly relevant given all the political up-risings and numerous countries facing bankruptcy that have occurred in recent times.  It was a bit like a CBeebies re-enactment of it all.

Needless to say everyone was only really there to see the podrace.  It's still an outstanding piece of film making and holds up very well years on.  It had everyone gripped and for the geeks out there it was the DVD release version which meant even more CGI pod porn.  The 3D was still rubbish though.

Now I do have something to confess. Due to my pending illness, I did have my eyes shut for a fair old chunk of the film.  I didn't fall asleep, I just took the opportunity to rest my very tired eyes and given that I did see the film fourteen times during its first release, I think I had a pretty good idea of what was going on visually at least.

Come the 30-minute finale, I was wide eyed and very willing to be seduced by some double-ended lightsaber stuff.  I wasn’t disappointed by that either.  The duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul has always been one of the few highlights of the prequel trilogy and  once again it was just nice to see it again on the big screen.  I also rather enjoyed the space battle which had always been a bit of a damp squid but just seemed to work better this time round, although I rather suspect that was more down to the size of the screen and certainly nothing to do with the 3D, which still felt non-present.

And then it ended.  I’d go as far as to say it was my most enjoyable viewing experience of the film, which is a bit odd considering I did have my eyes shuts for a portion of it and the darkened image.  Maybe that says it all though.  I’d be very hard pushed to recommend anyone going to the time, trouble and expense of seeing it, especially as the 3D added nothing at all, but all I can say is that it’s good seeing it on a big screen again, and with a crowd of people who had the lowest of low expectations and weren’t disappointed.

I have no idea if I’ll be writing future reviews on the rest of the saga in 3D.  I’ve just researched that in the UK, TPM 3D has made a very respectful £1.5 million and over $7 million in the US.  Based on those figures, I suspect Attack of the Clones 3D probably will happen next year and I also suspect I will succumb again, which contradicts the start of this paragraph but there you go.

I’ve already declared my main resolutions for the year of 2012 in a previous entry, but now I’m going to do a more mundane list of things that I would both like to, and in some cases need to, attempt and achieve.

Despite working at a cinema for most of the year, I’ve actually seen hardly any films this year.  I’ve mostly been too busy, knackered or busy & knackered fixing the fucking things that project the films.  Even at the London Film Festival I only managed to sit down and rehearse one film properly.  Anyway, I have seen enough quality films to justify a top three countdown as is my usual tradition this time of year.  I shall do this in descending order, starting with number three: