Reviews

I have never really been a Batman fan. I like the 60's series with Adam West, but I've never been particularly drawn to the story, especially not in other mediums. So, why, when I saw the trailer for the Dark Knight, did I instantly want to go see it? I'm not quite sure, myself. I think it was the eerie darkness portrayed in the trailers, the dramatic music. Or maybe it was the Joker.

Obviously, due to Heath Ledger's untimely death, the film has been receiving enormous buzz. One can only assume that, had he lived, the film would have been celebrated, but not as "big" (think Ironman's buzz). Sadly, of course, we will never know.

The plot can be easily found on this page, so I won't go into detail. All I will say is that Gotham (a dark and nearly unrecognizable Chicago) is under attack from the mob and,of course, the Joker. Batman is not being regarded as a hero, more as a vigilante, and the citizens are crying for him to turn himself in.

Christian Bale as the Batman was passable. I have never been a particularly big fan of his, and his deadpan throughout the movie did not stir up any emotion in me. I found myself not caring much about his character- never a good thing. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart were all good at their respective roles in the film. But, of course, everyone I've heard from is talking about Heath Ledger as the Joker.

And he is superb. His voice, his laugh, his character's little quirks (licking the jagged scars around his lips), all make Heath Ledger melt away and the Joker emerge. I felt somewhat the same way as I did the first time I saw Edward Scissorhands- Johnny Depp became the character, and he as an actor was practically invisible. You saw only Edward. The same holds true for Heath Ledger-- you see only the Joker, except for the one time his greasepaint was taken off; he was shown only for the most fleeting of moments, but I practically did a double-take: "Heath Ledger??" I heard a film critic say that the Joker did not appear to be having fun. I watched the film and can say that it looked to me that he was. He laughed maniacally at the things that made others cringe and he appeared to really enjoy being supremely evil.

This film was very good, and I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone that had any interest in it. Even if you only go to see the Joker, that is reason enough. He is the reason that I have rated it 9/10, not the Batman.

First of all, I must be biased and say that this is the first movie I've ever seriously considered walking out of. And I shelled out $10 for the ticket to this one; I am very conservative with my money and do my best to buy as little as possible. But about 10 minutes into this, my friend and I were looking at each other and going, "So when does 1408 start?"

Okay. Now that I'm done with that, a plot summary is in order: Essentially, Nancy Drew is herself, but living in current times. This is a bit odd-looking, especially when the town she is living in seems not to have changed since the early 1960s at latest. Nancy and her father are moving to California (Hollywood, to be more precise) for a few months so that he can do something or other with his job. He keeps pointing out that they are pressed for money, but for some reason Nancy gets to pick out a mansion in which to live. Oh, and Mr. Drew insists that Nancy stop sleuthing and try to be a normal teenager. So, Nancy and her father move into an old mansion that, surprise! has a mystery behind it. This one is about a starlet who died some 20 years back after returning from a mysterious absence. Nancy is very prim and proper, and speaks of her love for "old-fashioned things". This shocks and, frankly, amuses her fellow classmates. There are two in particular who terrorize her at first, then somehow decide that she is worthy of their attention and to give her a makeover (you can imagine for yourself whether or not that "sticks"). She has new friends and old ones (i.e., (boy)friend Ned) in this movie, and apparently is accomplished in the art of stunt driving.

The mystery itself was rather predictable, but perhaps it would be more intriguing for younger children, I don't know. I feel compelled to add that parents should mention to kids that, if someone is choking, don't do CPR on them; and if you do CPR on someone, don't do it on their stomach.

If you want to see this movie, go ahead. Some people really liked it and said that it stayed very true to the books; I don't know about that, having never read the original series. But there were some cute moments. Go into it expecting nothing and you may get more out of it than you think.

Well, I agree with many of the reviewers I've seen. This show is, on the surface, incredibly stupid and full of dumb fart and sex jokes. But if you look a little bit closer, you can see strangely intelligent, and extremely humorous, ties to our own society.

For example, there is one where people from the future come to South Park for work. Because they work at jobs that none of the South Park residents want to, and because they do it cheaply... well, you can probably guess what ends up happening, something that makes the residents furious. Can you spot the ties to current US issues? If not then you probably won't get it; but if you do you'll see and understand more than just the sex jokes.

I originally watched only a little bit of South Park, and went, "What a piece of garbage!" and turned it off. I voiced my disgust to a friend of mine who is apparently a loyal South Park watcher, and they insisted that I see it through. And I did. And now I watch it all the time. It's really the sort of show that grows on you, and once you start watching you realize that the way they use the farting and sex jokes is really quite funny. But you do understand more than that. So don't just pass it off as a dumb show, watch it a couple times and see what you think.

I found this show mildly interesting, and funny sometimes. I mean, who can't help but laugh at a show where the main character is so... interesting. It's an original show, I'll definitely give them that.

But some parts make me shudder. Anneliese van der Pol, who plays Chelsea, was funny and fairly witty, if naive, in the first season. But as the show progressed, she became steadily stupider. It started out as a funny sort of stupidity, but at this point in the show you start to wonder what toxic fumes she has inhaled.

All in all, though, it's pretty amusing. Not something I'm going to go racing to the TV for, screaming 'That's So Raven is on! I MUST WATCH IT!', but something that's good for a chuckle when you stumble upon it.