Batman Begins - movie review

Simply put, the dark is back in the "Dark Knight." Because I believe in full disclosure, I must make it clear that Batman is far and away my favorite comic book hero because Bruce Wayne has no superpowers and is forced to use his intellect to defeat his enemies. I have been waiting for this movie since the debacle that was Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin in 1997. This is truly a rebirth of the franchise and we couldn't ask for two greater people involved at the top with Christopher Nolan (of Memento fame) directing and Christian Bale as the Batman. Bale is the ultimate Batman (though I did love Michael Keaton). He can actually act (see American Psycho if you don't believe me) and he played both Bruce and the Bat wonderfully. The movie was a breath of fresh air as it focused on the origin of Batman and Batman himself, rather than the villains taking control of the movie as was the case in Burton's and Schumacher's, though you can't blame Tim Burton for casting Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the original.

This movie too was brilliantly cast with typically great performances from Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Ken Watanabe and Liam Neeson, but my favorite was Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow. I enjoyed Cillian's prior work in 28 Days Later, but this performance blew me away.

There were a handful of problems, such as the techniques used for the fighting which is all too common these days, but you can read about those in other reviews. This movie was a drama with elements of action. This was far and away my favorite comic book adaptation ever. Yes, even better than Spiderman and X-Men. (which I greatly enjoyed). I also loved the foreshadowing of who will be the villain in the sequel, but you have to see it for yourself.

Batman Begins quite simply earns a full 6-pack, using that 6th beer to toast Nolan and Bale for reinvigorating the franchise.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith - movie review

This is exactly what I look for in a summer movie. Lots of action, some good comedy and the ability to leave reality for almost 2 hours. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were perfect for their respective roles and just as in every other movie review, the chemistry between the two was electric. Huge props to Vince Vaughn, though not starring, seems to steal the show in every scene in which he is involved. Finally, a shout out to Doug Liman, who has never failed me in directing great movies, beginning with the grossly underrated "Getting In" to the ultimate bachelor movie "Swingers" to the enjoyable "Go" and the fairly intelligent action movie "The Bourne Identity." Here's to Doug doing a movie more than every other year.

I give Mr. & Mrs. Smith 4.5 out of 6 beers.

Oil & Gas Law

Today at BarBri, we learned about oil & gas law. What the professor neglected to tell us (during the 4 hour lecture) was what was the difference between oil & gas. Thankfully, for bar exam purposes, we do not need to know it. I just found this to be pretty funny.