It's a new day and SAMURAI II - DUEL AT ICHIJOJI TEMPLE (15)

In the words of the eternal tunesmiths Pusher T and Malice, "Goddamn, it's a new day."

Seriously America, good work. Thanks for one brief moment stepping away from your lakeside Mcmansions, troughs of fried food, and Nascar rallies to actually make a difference in the leadership of America. Lord knows what the next four years are going to look like, but they're going to look different, and that's all that really matters. There was something so touching last night, to spend half the evening drinking expensive wine and champagne with a bunch of slightly intoxicated 60-plus women (sounds a lot weirder than it is) and then to head out to Capitol Hill and drink PBRs in the street with a bunch of, far more, intoxicated, uh, younger people. George Bush and his army of robo-cronies have met their match, John McCain has turned off and put back in to the dark regions of the robo-warehouse, and Sarah Palin, well, thanks for helping us win the election. You might be dumb and hot, but you're certainly not a Vice-Presidential candidate! There you go Alaska, you can have her back!

I'm just rambling now, but I'm excited, and you and everyone you know should be too. I got a little teary-eyed last night during Obama's speech. After the last two years of fretting and fussing, the day has come. Be proud of yourself America, you've actually done something decent for once. Now please return to your 30-pack of chicken nuggets, I didn't mean to pull you away from your goal of making it on The Biggest Loser.

Samurai II - Duel at Ichijoji Temple (15) faces the same problems that every second film in a trilogy does. It has to prove itself as good as the first film, but at the same time, progress plot, introduce characters, and set everything up for the explosive finale. Samurai II does this well, placing our new found Samurai, Musashi Miyamoto, in the path of a chain-and-sickel wielding opponent, unleashing a girly-looking assassin on him, introducing a second, more sinister love interest (I'll warn you ladies, Toshiro Mifune only screws with honor, not the ladies) and finally pits him against a literal army of blood-thirsty warriors ... whom he deftly kicks the shit out of. Just be warned, this is an older film, so all of those things look a lot more exciting then they actually are. I warned you. There's probably some sort of correlation I can posit between a second film in a samurai trilogy and the new President-Elect Barack Obama, but my head is still pounding from the seventeen glasses of wine consumed last night, so it eludes me, but it's there and I was the first to acknowledge it's presence, don't you forget that.

O-B-A-M-A.
Tomorrow: Samurai III - Duel at Ganryu Temple (16) & Taste of Cherry (45)