Batman Begins

Well, since I seem to keep going to movies, I might as well review them, right?? For third Friday in a row, I have ventured off to see the big budget movie. This time of course, Batman Begins. (Incidentally, I have also seen Madagascar and Kingdom of Heaven ... and have not reviewed them ... strange).

One final note before I review Batman Begins, my next book review will be about July 18th or so. It will be of course on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I am currently rereading books 1-5. I feel like a Harry Potter nerd, but they are such good books!

Anyway, we are supposed to be talking about Batman, right? Right. So off we go. The title happens to be an apt one as in this movie, we see how Bruce Wayne became Batman. The plot is straight forward enough. Boy falls in well, gets freaked out by bats, boy's parents murdered in front of him, boy struggles, boy becomes man, man becomes bat. We get to see this evolution and how Bruce Wayne learned how to fight and managed to get ahold of all those nifty gadgets. This movie's story, however, pretty much just said "to heck with those other four batman movies". That's not necessarily a bad thing.

The first thing I want to say is that I love Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Morgan Freeman always does such an incredible job and always has such great roles to play. Michael Caine, on the other hand, is apparently enjoying a resurgence in his career. His Alfred is much more fun that previous Alfreds. Christian Bale is a great actor as well, if just a bit too pouty as the Dark Knight. Liam Neeson seems to be enjoying taking roles as mentors. Fair warning though, his mustache in this film is a bit strange and distracting!

On the whole, this Batman is thousands of times better than Joel Schumacher's takes (although, my favorite batman moment is in one of them ... "Holy rusted metal batman! You know, the metal its all rusty and full of holes" ... gloriously cheesy!). It is just as good as Tim Burton's Batman adventures. I certainly wouldn't say Batman Begins is the best movie of the year (so far, from what I have seen, that honor goes to Crash) but it is good fun, good action and great helpful old guys! I did find the actions a bit too ... blurry. But I was thinking about it, I shouldn't have expected anything else from Christopher Nolan (director of the very good Memento)

Last Words: Good move, I recommend it. I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD.

The Death of Innocents by Sister Helen Prejean

Sister Helen Prejean is a spitfire of a nun. She's passionate and compassionate. Tough as nails yet not immune to the pain of life. Many people got a first glimpse of Sister Helen as she was portrayed by Susan Sarandon in the move Dead Man Walking based on Sister Helen's book of the same name. But to listen to Sister Helen Speak (as I have now on two occasions) is an even more enlightening experience.

I will share with you this most poignant story. At a conference here on my little college campus, an audience member asked Sister Helen deals emotionally with being so up close to the machinery of death known as the death penalty. Sister Helen's first encounter with this horrific bit of machinery was in her home state of Louisiana and was documented in Dead Man Walking. In answering the question posed to her, she reminded those of us who read the book that she had to have the car pulled over so she could vomit. She also had to take some sleeping pills to help her sleep. And to my, and many audience members', horror she told of how sometimes, in her dreams she is the one committing the horrendous murders.

Yet despite her personal struggles and knowing that some people commit some terrible, terrible crimes, she still remains strong in her battle for justice for all, even the condemned. She remains a spitfire.

Her newest book, The Death of Innocents, documents the stories of two men that may have been innocent of their crimes, but were put to death anyways. Each man had his own battles to fight (mental incapability, inept defense, unrealistic legal procedure to name a few). Each man had potentially exonerating evidence. But the courts, the United States legal system that promises equal justice under the law, failed them. As I have become more familiar with death penalty issues, this sort of failure has become less of a surprise. It is however, disgusting.

Sister Helen takes her readers through the journeys of Joseph O'Dell and Dobie Williams. She manages to, at once, touch our hearts and teach a thing or two about constitutional law in capital cases (and all its flaws). If you are already an opponent of the death penalty, this book might spark some anger. If you are ambivalent about the death penalty, this book will teach you a thing or two. If you are a supporter of the death penalty, I think the stories Sister Helen presents are enough to change your mind.

The book is so important that its quality is almost irrelevant. However, the book is a great read. The first two chapter focus on Dobie and Joe, the third chapter on constitutional issues and the final on the progress (or, in some cases, the lack there of) of this country regarding the death penalty. While the third chapter especially takes a bit of brain work, Sister Helen's humor and spitfire-ness shine through and make the reading easier.

The machinery of death is flawed. Action is needed. The (legal?) homicide of two potentially innocent men should illustrate that. So, I will share the links that Sister Helen included at the end of the book. I hope you check them out. I'll list Sister Helen's site first.

Death of Innocents
The Moratorium Campaign
Sister Helen
Death Penalty Information Center
Equal Justice USA/Quixote Center
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Amnesty International
Restorative Justice
Murder Victims' Family for Human Rights
Bridges to Life

Last Words: You must read this book, I HIGHLY recommend it, we must take action.

Crash

Part two of the Friday double feature: Crash.

This movie follows several characters and their lives in Los Angeles. It certainly focuses on race relations. It features quite a stellar cast. Don Cheadle is always good, gotta love (a racist) Sandra Bullock plus Brendan Fraser, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Matt Dillon and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges. Heck, even Tony Danza shows up.

The movie is difficult for me to summarize without giving up too much of the plot. And trust me, if you haven't seen this yet, you don't want me to give up to much of the plot! Suffice it to say, each of the major players is the victim and/or purveyor of racism in some way shape or form. At first it seems there are very few connections to all of them.

There is an incredible, moving and jarring point in the film in which the interconnectedness of these lives begins to show. From then on, the connections become clearer and are at times more rattling than the gunfire you'll hear.

I was constantly on edge throughout the film, it was that intense. For such a harsh and divisive subject, it is treated with care by Paul Haggis (who penned, along with this screenplay, Million Dollar Baby - by the way, if you have not seen this, you must!). Mr. Haggis certainly is no stranger to handling controversy.

Haggis wove in some touches of humor, most of them courtesy of Mr. Ludacris and Larenz Tate. There were also moments of laughter that made me a tad sad. There was certainly some lines that were inappropriate, but humorous. It reminded me of times where friends make a racist, sexist, homophobic or similar joke and everyone laughs. They usually contain some sort of stinging slur or stereotype. Those moments certainly inject even more reality into the film. Because it is comments like those that we, as a civilized, open and accepting people (I wish) would call out: "Hey, don't say that/laugh at that, it is hurtful/wrong/inappropriate."

Generally, this is one of those movies that is almost hard to watch, but while you are watching you know you need to keep going ... and hopefully learn something from it.

Last Words: You must watch it, I highly recommend it, I need to show it to my students!

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

It was double feature Friday! Saw both Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Crash last night, but I will write about them in the order that I watched them.

So, in case you have been on some other planet, you probably have heard of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Basically, the movie follows a nice suburban couple who happen to be assassins. Of course, neither knows the truth about the other. That is, until, they are assigned to take each other out. You may have also heard of a little something dubbed "Brangelina" (which just sounds horrible). But we won't get into that here!

Anyway, this movie is a bundle of fun. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane Smith (of course) certainly have some chemistry on screen. They play off each other really well in every aspect: romantically, comedically and in the action (no, not that action!). They are great exchanging spit (ew, I know, but I could not resist) insults and punches. It doesn't hurt that they are both pieces of eye candy.

The one complaint, albeit a minor one, I have about the movie is the middle part of it. We seem to see a bit more of Mr. Smith's reaction to the news that his wife is an assassin than vice versa. But, like I said, that is pretty minor. The movie still has some great action and some great comedic moments.

Last Words: Good movie, I recommend it, I will buy it!

49ers' "Training" Video

49ers' personal foul / Team's in-house training video includes lesbian porn, racial slurs, barbs at Newsom

I am not even sure how to start. The title just about reflects everything. Good for Mr. Ross and Mr. Mattier at The Chronicle for brining this news to our attention.

The full video is available to view (in segments) at SFgate.com. The folks there blurred out nudity but did not "bleep" the numerous expletives. It is posted, after all, with the intent that it will only be viewed by adults.

So, presumably, this is attempt at a training video for 49ers on how to handle the media. It is however, yet another of example of proliferating stereotypes. It also exploits women. I think it was meant to be funny. I can almost hear the reaction of a room full of football players to the "funny" parts and to the parts with topless women.

Almost ironically, one of the lesson being taught in the video is that the guys will be judged on their actions and those actions are not only a reflection on the individual, but the entire organization. The video is case in point.

It is inappropriate. "Mayor" Reynolds said in an interview about the matter that the video does not represent his personal views. I think at this point he is just saving face. If these were not his views then he should have stopped the production before it began.

It terms of teaching the 49ers to embrace diversity, it certainly was not the way to go about it. You don't teach by acting out the stereotypes that diversity training try to dispel. It just does not make sense.

Last Words: I think the video is stupid and ridiculous, BOOOO to the Mr. Reynolds and everyone who allowed the video to be made and played, I recommend real diversity training.