Holy inevitable "holy" joke, Batman!

Fanboys and girls of the world rejoice! Darker, grittier and funnier, Chris Nolan's "Batman Begins" reinvents and reinvigorates the mythos of the masked avenger. Now, let me preface this by saying that I am something of a soft-core comic book fan. I've read what my comic-fanatic friend Rishi has given me, and flipped through Frank Miller and Brian Bendis titles, but I am certainly not obsessed. No no, that's saved for "The West Wing." Which I'll get to in another post. So let's bypass the talk about Adam West, which I have had to read in every other review, and move straight to the early 90s, where a man named Tim Burton ("Edward Scissorhands", "The Nightmare Before Christmas") directed "Batman" and "Batman Returns", casting Michael Keaton in the iconic cowl. Close, but no cigar. Then came "Batman Forever", which brought us Robin, as played by Chris O'Donnel. Ouch. And then... yes... Joel Schumacker's infamous "Batman & Robin"... featuring, among other things, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, George Clooney as Batman... and, wait for it... Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Campy. Unrealistic. Self-hating. Unmotivated. Even Clooney admits it. Almost a decade after that trainwreck, The Bat-Man is back. And for the first time... He's there. Chris Nolan's vision of gritty, violent, philosophical Gotham City brings "Batman Begins" to the forefront of current American cinema. Certainly, the self-depricating, funny, dark script gave "Batman Begins" it's best shot, but nobody can deny the power of the cast. Michael Caine as Alfred. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Liam Neeson as Bruce Wayne's shadowy mentor, Ra's Ah Ghoul. But giving the best performances are Gary Oldman (wonderfully) breathing life into the starchy role of good-cop-in-a-bad-town Police Lieutennant Gordon, and Christian Bale. Bale gives Bruce Wayne depth and a bizarre likeability I can't forsee anyone else bringing. Otherwise, the film gives a great time at the movies, throwing back to the days of the gangster movies, while blending with modern day film's penchant for grit. I suppose I can best sum up my review with a quote from the film:

Dr. Crane: He's here.
Henchman: Who?
Dr. Crane: [short pause] The Batman.

Well, it's about damn time. My grade: A.

Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" sets reality straight.

I'm not a big reality TV fan. "Who Wants To Marry My Dad?" reached something of a critical Freudian mass for me, and all of the "Bachelor" spin-offs turned me off right from the premise. The only reality TV show to pique my interest would be "Project Greenlight", which I may have been fascinated by because I am, in honesty, something of a media whore. I read Entertainment Weekly, for chrissakes. But this isn't about me. This is about Morgan Spurlock (the documentarian behind last summer's "Super Size Me") and his new program, 30 Days, on FX (Wednesdays, 10:00 pm.) "30 Days" has your basic fish-out-of-water reality premise: a person is transplanted away from his family, friends, and comfort zone, into a new and unfamiliar environment. Putting his money where his mouth is, Morgan and his fiancee spend 30 days living on minimum wage in the pilot. Over the hour, we see what it's like in an ER without health insurance, scraping together nickels and pennies to afford food, and living literally, on the streets. In the second episode, a West Virginian Christian goes to live with a Muslim family, and lives as a Muslim. While scared and anxious at first (the phrase "There is no God but Allah," gave him trouble) he grows to enjoy the company of his hosts and even defending Muslim concepts to his fellow Americans, who begin to treat him as "...a traitor." The show's zenith thus far is in the latter half of the second episode, as the episode's protagonist and four Muslims are heatedly debating the issue of hate crimes against American Muslims. However, at the argument's "apex", it is time to pray. And the anger stops. Seeing the transformation and information is, in two words, perfectly timed. But what seperates the show is it's seemingly bleary-eyed desire to actually foster tolerance and spread knowledge. Tastefully shown, with Spurlock narrating with basic information about the topic, reality TV is finally living up to it's potential. My grade: A.