A Director's Arrogance: The Star Wars Saga

When I was six years old, I was treated to a movie whose impact on my life and my imagination I don't think has an equal: Star Wars. I'm pretty sure that I went for my birthday, like I did for the next two films, since they were all released at the end of May and my birthday is at the beginning of June. I remember being in love with this movie: I got all the action figures, including two Jawas and one of the Imperial lackeys, an X-wing and tie fighter, a land speeder, and the special comic book with some scenes not in the movie. I didn't play with dolls. I played Star Wars.

By the time the movie had left theaters, I had seen it seven (7) times. (Do you hear that Lucas? Seven times in the theater. And that means at least one other adult ticket. Seven times.) After my brother was born and discovered it, I can safely say that I've watched the original film over 50 times. (Do you hear that Lucas? My brother watched it every day for probably six months. Daily, at least once.)

As a kid, I salivated at the idea of prequels and sequels; there were supposed to be both, for a total of 9 films, and I couldn't wait. I had all three soundtracks on record; the Death Star, complete with the monster that almost strangled Luke; the 12" Leia and Han; the collectors case; Wicket, the girl, and a baby Ewok; and the glass set. I pretended I was Han and Leia's daughter, who was gifted with the Force. My friends and I reacted with disbelief when Vader told Luke he was his father and swore that it was a lie to try to corrupt Luke. We talked about it while waiting in the lunch line. We wondered what Yoda meant when he said 'there is another' and how Han was going to be saved from carbonite. It was something that stuck in our consciousness.

In 1997, I was one of millions who traveled to the theater to watch the so-called "Special Editions" of Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. They didn't seem so special to me. In fact, some of the stuff that Lucas added was pretty lame. Some of it was irritating. And some of it was darn-right insulting.

Contagion (2011)

The movie starts on Day 2 with Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) talking on the phone. Her nose is slightly red and she has a cough. Nothing to worry about. She's on the phone with someone and it's soon clear that her recent rendezvous is not her husband. During her layover from a business trip in Hong Kong, she hooked up with an old flame.

A montage of other people: a young man in Hong Kong, sweating. A model in London, who skips her go-see and is later found dead in her hotel. A Japanese businessman convulses and dies on a bus. It is captured with a camera phone. The young man in Hong Kong wanders out of his apartment, obviously sick, and stumbles out into the street where he is hit by a bus.

We see Beth returning to Minneapolis to her husband, Mitch (Matt Damon) and their son, Clark (Griffin Kane).

Day 3.

We meet Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) who works at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). Mitch picks up his son from school, who has started feeling sick. At a newspaper, a blogger named Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) has a theory about the Tokyo bus incident: mercury poisoning in fish. He threatens the editor with a lawsuit if she steals his story.