Farkin' Links Vol. 94 6/21

I've finally watched Batman Begins this past weekend so I figured I'd put in my two cents with a little review. First off, it was much better than Batman and Robin, but so is getting your foot crushed by a moving car. This particular Batman has been getting rave reviews and I can only attribute that to the fact that the last one was so terrible. This one is a nice little popcorn movie that attempts a psychological analysis of why Batman is who he is, but it's nothing special.

I don't want to give off any spoilers, but, honestly, if you can't predict the "plot twists" on your own, you either haven't watched many movies or you're not allowed out in public without supervision. The last 2/3 of the movie is a by the numbers super hero action plot with no surprises and horribly directed action sequences. It should be hard to get bored of people getting beaten to a pulp and things going boom, but this movie managed to do it. The main problem seems to be that the director Christopher Nolan, who made one excellent movie, Memento, and one alright movie, Insomnia, doesn't know the first thing about directing an action sequence. The blurry confusing fights in darkened rooms was reminscent of the Bourne Supremecy by which I mean it gave me a headache. Seriously, invest in a tripod so we can tell what the hell is going on in a particular scene.

The performances were decent enough; Liam Neeson plays the wise man jedi who spouts idiotic new age psycho-babble perfectly as he should. I mean, he's been doing it every movie since the Phantom Menace. Christopher Bale is serviceable as is most of the cast. I think that's the problem; you have all these talented people like Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, hell, even the coolest killer replicant Rutger Hauer makes an appearance, but none of them is given much to do. While the beginning was a bit different for a Batman flick, the rest of it was same ol' same ol'. Oh no, madman set on destroying the city...been there, done that, already bought the dvd. I'm probably sounding as though I didn't enjoy the movie; I did, to a certain extent. It's just so lacking in anything substantive that just like Batman himself, the movie is already fading into the shadows of my mind. Although, I'm pretty sure he saved the city...oh darn, I just gave away the ending. For the attempt at something new in the beginning, I'll give it a 7/10, which I would say is generous.

"Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today."
--Herman Wouk


How Stuff Works shows us today how to pick locks. I wonder if next week's lesson is how to hotwire a car?

This belongs in that "With Friends like these, who needs enemies" category. Ouch. What a bastard.

McDonald's is going to be selling bikes and skateboards to encourage kids to quit getting fat by eating Big Macs. If they're as small and poorly made as their food, I smell a lawsuit.

If we can afford to pay for PBS and pork barrel products, we can definitely pay for a super laser, dammit!

Damn...people talk about bold magazines with sex and violence today, check out the stuff from the past! NSFW

Too bad I didn't have this link in time for father's day...although the visions of it being put to use probably far outweigh the benefit.

I guess one of the other side effects from joining Scientology, other than insanity, is a lack of sense of humor.

Hell ya! Teddy Ruxpin is back and digitized! I wonder if this means that weird worm friend of his is coming back as well...that thing used to scare me.

That's just sad...although this kid looks far too happy about it. NSFW

I guess your first instinct is to run away when a big black man starts charging you, but I expect more from the Japanese...don't they know judo and stuff?

Speaking of "Japanese people being crazy," why on Earth would they keep sports records on 90 year old men? I thought all the aged kung fu masters were in China?

I'm not even going to comment on this grusome story; I'm just going to let you check it out.

Damn...Leroy would be ashamed of these people. World of Warcraft is not supposed to actually kill anyone.

If you ever wondered what clubbing in the 70's was like, here's an interesting pictoral. It seems there was a lot more sex, nudity, and body hair. NSFW

Whoa...surely this guy can get a better job than this! I wonder if he leaks water like a cartoon character who gets shot.

That's one hell of a tree house. I'd be jealous, except for the fact that my place has plumbing.

Talk about the wheels of justice moving slowly. I hope our system is a little better...but probably not.

This is a fun little breakdancing game...although I'll be damned if your character is a boy or a girl.

Not even Chuck E. Cheese is safe anymore. Funny, I would have figured one of those annoying costumed fellas would have gotten the beat down.

...and one more side scroller for the heck of it.