Batman Begins (2005)

Ah, the good ol' Batman franchise. For some reason I've never been enthralled by Batman, although I really SHOULD be, seeing how dark it is and how, really, Phantom-like it is. Except Erik's obviously not fighting for justice. Nor is he a billionaire playboy. But whatever. I only actually saw the first Batman movie, but when this one came out people were raving about it so I figured I'd check it out and, really, I'm very glad I did. It was action, sure, but it really was very much about the drama of the situation. Plus, hallucigenic (sp?) drugs are WAY SCARY. Whee. Christian Bale was fantastic as good ol' Batman, too. Definite kudos to him. The movie wasn't quite as dark as I expected (surprising since it was directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan - director of Memento, Insomnia, and Following, all very dark movies). Quite well-done, however. I'd recommend it, you bet. 3.5 stars.

A Time To Kill (1996)

Plot: A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

Except for the ending, which I hardly find just, this was a fairly decent movie - well-acted, melodramatic in all the right ways. I will say I groaned through most of the summation speech, thinking, "What kind of thing is that to do to a jury?" but then there was that final statement that I found very powerful. It honestly made it worth all the previous sap. This movie is also really, really long. But still . . . pretty good. 2.5 stars.