Shattered Glass, 2003

Another Blockbuster rental [yuck, I know, but the library that I went to sucked big time, so when I spotted Blockbuster in that suburban stripmall, it was like a beautiful water fountain mirage in the desert].

I've been wanting to see Shattered Glass since it came out. I was in a journalism class and just cultivating my passion for the medium [oh okay]. I was reintroduced to the idea, I suppose, freshman year of college in a media class, where we talked about journalism scandals.

Stephen Glass was a young journalist who wrote mainly for The New Republic. [I was also interested in this movie because I have a friend who currently works at the magazine]. His stories were seemingly almost too good to be true- turns out they were.

The film chronicles the deception by Glass and skims the service of his motives. It shows him in the editorial meetings, charming his co-workers with his colorful story pitches. It's sort of confusing, though, because it shows realizations of the stories as he tells them. I don't mean to spoil it for you, but his stories are NOT REAL. But they show them happening. It's confusing, mostly because we don't really learn Glass's motives for the whole thing. Then again, Glass apparently hasn't been willing to explain why he's done either, even five years later.

Hayden Christensen portrays Glass. I was hesitant because of the way my peers lament the actor, claiming that he ruined Star Wars. But I think he did a good job of playing a man that was so in need of peer-approval and success. Glass is busy working at TNR but applies to and attends law school at Georgetown. He constantly asks his boss and co-workers if they are "mad" at him. Though Glass doesn't explain his full intentions after the fact, you can understand how something like this happens.

Also I think this is the first film of modern cool-girl fashion icon Chloe Sevigny. I like her. Also Peter Saarsgard is pretty cool, though I didn't get the praise from the back of the DVD case [loads of awards], but then again I liked him more then I did in Garden State.

Overall a worthwhile film, especially if you're interested in a glimpse inside of the magazine world, or interested in people who ... like to make things up?

[Photo from http://thecia.com.au/reviews/s/images/shattered-glass-poster-0.jpg]

BATMAN - Batman Begins, 2005

Again - those big-action Hollywood superhero films rarely catch my eye. I didn't even know that this film had come out until I started paying more attention.

This glossy, full-of-attitude and darkness Batman franchise is extremely stylish, and I like the way we're taught to really think about Bruce Wayne as a human, and the implications of his crime-fighting. That line of thinking is really interesting, and an asset to the film. 

That said, I really didn't like Batman Begins - not as a film on its own and especially not after having seen The Dark Knight. I thought that there was far too much focus on his strange Martial Arts fight training, and that plotline was weird - plus Liam Neeson looked like a catfish. There wasn't enough focus on Bruce Wayne's and Rachael's adult relationship, and also not enough focus on the public reaction to his superhero persona. I thought the crime plan was weird and not engaging. The shining beacon of light was of course Cillian Murphy.

[Photo from http://v4.valkiria.net/skin/film/pic/misc_img/b_batman_begins.jpg]

BATMAN - The Dark Knight, 2008

All the hoopla around The Dark Knight forced me into actually wanting to see it. I'm typically not interested in the big-budget Hollywood action films, but I have to say - I fucking loved TDK. It was shiny and action-packed and realistic in an unrealistic way. I don't know if Heath Ledger's death affected the way I judged his performance, but it was really, really great- dedicated and fucking creepy. I was engaged for the entire two-point-five hours, and would see it again in a second. I'm thinking IMAX.

Seeing TDK has gotten me on this Batman kick. I now plan to watch all its prequels. I should have done this before seeing it, but you can't always get what you want. I'll be talking about/reviewing those as I see them.

[Photo from: http://www.reelmovienews.com/images/gallery/the-dark-knight-characters_472x312.jpg]