We saw V for Vendetta tonight. We have a large screen / DLP projector set-up here in our living room and some air-popped popcorn, so it was just like getting to see it in the theaters, only better because I can lay naked on the foof while I watch.

Great film from the makers of The Matrix. After they’ve made such horrible sleeping pills as the Matrix sequels, V for Vendetta wins me back. It’s a romantic movie, excellent action scenes, but this is not a revolutionary film in the political sense. The story, based on the comic book series, parallels what most conspiracy theorists spout of our current political events, and the screenplay is loaded with inspiring one-liners about freedom. But for a film to incite revolution, it cannot have a happy ending.

Happy endings are the opium of today’s masses. Think Bollywood for India’s overpopulated lower caste. It’s all about catharsis. If the audience is satisfied at the end of the movie, then there is nothing left to do. No call to arms. You just get up, go to the bathroom, and then go out to get some more Coca-Cola or Red Bull or whatever? If the audience is left wanting, they leave the theater needing a cathartic release: maybe they’ll come home to blog, but maybe they’ll go out and blow up some buildings and start a riot. I have to admit, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a truly revolutionary movie, one that made me think beyond the rolling of the credits, much less take action toward social change. Okay, Supersize Me was pretty revolutionary, but that’s like preaching to the choir for me, so that doesn’t count.

Natalie Portman is beautiful, as always. It’s hard for me not to still see the gutsy little girl in Leon The Professional, another great film. That was the same block I had watching her in the Star Wars epic, in which she played heroine opposite the pre-masked Darth Vader. It still works, though. She always plays a strong woman, it’s not a big jump to think that little Mathilda grows up to be the elegant Senator Amidala or Evey Hammond.

Hugo Weaving brings the soul of a masked character to life. Unlike Natalie Portman, I can never recognize him in any of his roles. He just becomes the character he plays, and I just instantly buy that he’s the soulless Mr. Smith in The Matrix, or the kitschy Mitzi Del Bra in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. So much fun.

Join the Revolution, pitches Warner Brothers. Ummm… yeah, can I have fries with that?