Justin Thorn

Friday night I watched the new Batman movie “Batman Begins”. I had heard many good things about it in the week leading up to its release. Lots of positive reviews from critics (8/10 for whatever that is worth) and the trailer looked like they might have done things right this time. After pulling in $71 million this weeekend I must not have been the only person to like it. Forget all that colorful, candy coated, over-the-top, comic book style trash that poisoned the last two Batman movies. Joel Schumacher should be embarassed for creating Batman Forever and Batman & Robin which became the ultimate low for the charecter since his creation in 1939. This new film thankfully has nothing in common with those embarrasments. Batman Begins is a prequel to everything we have seen before. It takes us back to young Bruce Wayne as a boy. The film has a very dark, gritty feel to it. In fact, I found it harkening back to Tim Burton’s unique style found in the original Batman movie with The Joker and Batman Returns with The Penguin and Catwoman. If you liked those then you will love this new one. I think it is even better.

Without ruining it for those who haven’t seen it the new Batman Begins shows the transformation that took place from young Bruce Wayne to Batman. It turly recaptures what the original story about Batman was meant to be. You witness the initial training, the beginning of the batcave, the early gadgets, and of course crime fighting at its finest. All of this is carefully executed to keep your attention and entertain you without overloading you with special effects and other Hollywood tricks. I am looking forward to grabbing this one on DVD when it comes out. Speaking of dvds…

Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to go through my stack of Netlfix rentals waiting to watch and chose “Super Size Me“. It has been out for a while and I am sure most of you are familiar with the story behind it. This is a documentary made by a guy from West Virginia actually who now lives in NYC. The overall premise of the film is he eats nothing but McDonalds for 30 days. Three meals a day, no cheating. If asked to super size his meal he must agree to. Everyone knows fast food is bad for you but this is the most graphic example of it. While making this film he regularly got checkups from three doctors. 21 days into the expiriment he was having such difficulty with his pickled liver that he could seriously injure himself or possibly die if he continued with his diet. He trucked on for the full 30 days somehow.

Many other great points were brought up by this film and discussed. They review the diets that kids have in school lunches and if their meal is actually as nutritious as it should be. Marketing tactics are broken down into startling statistics showing why fruits and vegetables are so commonly overlooked as snacks. They also interview some strange McDonalds fanatics. An old couple who has collected decades of merchandise in their garage and a man who is known for eating two or three BigMacs every day of his life! He is still relatively healthy though (he doesn’t eat the fries). The wildest expirement involved placing regular food and McDonalds food in glass candy jars (not airtight) and letting them set for many weeks. The regular food naturally decomposed as expected. Some McDonalds food like the BigMac lasted a couple weeks without any signs of trouble. Scariest of all was the McDonalds french fries which sat in the jar for over two months and showed no visible signs of decay whatsoever. Makes you think twice about eating fast frankenfoods. I haven’t eaten at McDonalds in years but I know other fast food chains aren’t any better for you. This is definetely an interesting film that you should check out when you have some time.