Watched the replay of 300, followed by the replay of 300: Rise of an Empire, on HBO last night. The latter was a good clone of the former, meaning that contemporary screen direction may not be as easily trademarked as in the days of Alfred Hitchcock. I saw the former on the big screen, I have the hardbound comic book, and I have the lunchbox.

The visuals in both films remain mesmerizing, like music videos minus the music. I still don't like the Persian king's and queen's Beyond Thunderdome wardrobes, though. It seems that, when production designers get overexcited about villains, they forget everything about period costume and go Christopher Street. It doesn't help that the queen also speaks with a New York accent and doesn't move and act in the "classical" manner--disturbing, because everyone else does--coming across as a character study from a future Van Helsing.

All of that blood splashing across the screen never fails to make me feel that the characters badly needed breaks and took red Nestea plunges.

Finally, the one flaw that runs through both movies: how can one give an emotional, Marc Antony speech (a.k.a. pep talk) to hundreds or thousands of soldiers spread out over a field or shore and be heard without a microphone?