ok, i laughed
batman begins **** after the nefarious meddling of schumacher* in his previous two incarnations, the detective finds redemption. if you liked any super-hero movie of the last 5 years, this is better.
i, robot **1/2 i, bored
coach carter *** virtually every scene without mister jackson drags. however, i have to give props to rick gonzalez (I) for delivering a standout performance. a relative newcomer, you may remember him from old school as spanish. he could be the next big thing.
ghost in the shell 2: innocence ***1/2 a gorgeous blend of traditional and computer generated animation. some of the transitional sequences are exuberantly moving. while this is certainly no place for anime newbs to start, my second favorite critic, marc savlov of the austin chronicle, touches on my sentiments exactly:
And unlike so much of the animé that makes it to the West (and discounting the wealth of terrific underground stuff that circulates on DVD and DiVX these days), Innocence is possessed of a highly literate, almost classical story, the search for the meaning of human life itself, and the unshakable belief that it encompasses much more than skin and bones.
*this mentioned, it should be recognized that joel schumacher is a good director whose works include:
the lost boys
the client
tigerland
a time to kill
phone booth
veronica guerin
falling down
and st. elmo's fire, which i have never seen but have heard it is in league with the shmeakfast club