I tried to go to Manhattan today to see "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster", but I got a flat on the way to the bridge. A big ol' double-prong staple in my back tire. I foolishly pulled it out and *sssssssssssss......*. I had a patch kit with me, but no pump (duh) and no coins for compressed air at a gas station. So I walked it back to my parents' house, a little over a mile, switched bikes and figured I still had time to make it to a theater in Edgewater to catch Hero.

I thought it was really good. Not perfect, but I didn't expect it to be since I wasn't impressed by the fake looking trailers. There was the potential for the story to get really messy, but director Zhang Yimou helped by color coordinating scenes, making it easy to differentiate the stories. Is that what the color was about? The temptation was to look for some meaning behind the color, but until I read something about it, I'm going with the theory that it was just a device for the audience to differentiate the various stories. The various stories being told being the thematic device of the film.

In fact, I think the film is better compared to Rashomon than to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which has been the media tendency. But storytelling and subjectivity wasn't the point of this film as it was in "Rashomon". It was more like a game of chess using stories, fine-tuning it to get to a final version where the story is clarified.

I like what Jet Li said about the film regarding heroes, that it would be nice if there weren't any heroes since the existence of heroes of this sort are only made possible because of some great conflict. The existence of heroes means people are suffering, and it would be better if conflicts could be resolved peacefully. Another point that was quick on film was that this emperor was supposed to be a tyrant, even in his own court, but where his wisdom is established and there's an opportunity to show compassion, it's the faceless chant of his courtiers that seem more tyranical.

Point of history that I'm not positive about: I think it was during the Qin (pronounced Chin) dynasty that outsiders came into contact with the land, thus the name "China" was given for the whole country even though it represented only a part of it.

Definitely worth seeing, definitely worth seeing in a theater.