Friday, June 17, 2005

- I saw Batman Begins Wednesday afternoon. I must admit that the movie left me slightly disappointed. I thought the action sequences were poorly done. I didnt care for the music, which is a must in a comic-book hero movie. I was annoyed by some huge plot holes (for example, is there anyone in Gotham who doesnt know that Bruce Wayne is Batman?), and I found Christian Bale's version of Bruce Wayne to be rather boring, and un-intellectual.

However, there certainly were things that I liked about Batman Begins. I liked the look of Gotham. I thought Christian Bale was quite good when he was in the Batman costume. He is ferocious, even bordering on feral. Most of the minor characters were good, especially Morgan Freeman. My favorite part of the film was the very end. It makes me believe that the sequel will be better than Batman Begins. The very end of Batman Begins is pure Batman-magic.

I am guessing that Batman Begins will make between 240 to 270 million in North America. If it makes less than 200 million, there wont be a sequel (even though the end of the movie clearly sets up a sequel.) If it makes more than 300 million, then it will be considered a major blockbuster, and we will get a whole slew of new Batman movies.

On a scale of 1 to 100, I give Batman Begins a 74. Its the second best Batman movie (the 1989 movie is the best.) I want to see Batman Begins again. I think it deserves a second look. Here is an article from a columnist at the National Review, expressing the idea that Batman is a conservative, who fights crime using Republican idealism. I got a kick out of this article:
http://www.nationalreview.com/hibbs/hibbs200506150751.asp

- In the late 1930s Jacques Coustea, the famed ocean naturalist, invented the SCUBA gear. Underwater breathing devices have remained roughly the same for the past 65 years, but that is about to change. An Israeli inventor has created a device that allows humans to breathe underwater, just like fish! Here is a link to the article:
http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/050606_breathe_underwater.html?fark

- Here are 30 things you can do on the internet, that you probably didnt know you could do:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,120784,00.asp