30 Days

I was listening to NPR today - did Rumsfeld actually say what I think he said? Because that was basically an admission of failure.

Ordering Chinese food.

My favorite new TV show now is 30 Days, produced and hosted by Morgan Spurlock, the happy-go-lucky dude who did Supersize Me. Supersize Me was, in Spurlock's own words, "a really great bad idea" in which he decided to experiment on himself and eat McDonald's food 30 days in a row. He's been compared to Michael Moore, favorably and unfavorably, but I think he's a lot more fun. He takes so much obvious joy in what he does - it's like he lucked out into the best job in the world and is wickedly gleeful about it, like a little boy running around after being told he can have all the video games he wants.

30 Days is about taking random people and placing them in other people's shoes for 30 Days. It's like they created a show just for me! Originally Spurlock wanted to do all the experiments himself, but his girlfriend told him he wouldn't "have a girlfriend for long" if he did that. Which is just as well. He and the girlfriend did do one episode - the opening, where the two attempt to live only on minimum wage for a month.

I think everyone needs to see this episode. It is so great, and sad, and brought back so many memories. All I could think was, I am so glad I'm not poor anymore.

One of the things that they brought up was the fact that during this time, they were basically living from check to check. They didn't have any money for anything, including the unexpected health care issues.

While I was watching, I couldn't help thinking that they weren't strategizing very well. They go to a dollar theater, but then Morgan stocks up on a bunch of snacks that cost as much as at a regular theater. I was like, fool, sneak the food in! This sparked a fight between the couple that was pretty familiar-the money fight. (Parents don't necessarily want to have this fight in front of the kids, but they're so tired and stressed and cranky that they do it anyway.) I cringed as I watched the vegan chef girlfriend chop up some broccoli and totally throw most of it out.

I cannot wait for next week's episode, where a hardcore Christian guy has to live with the Muslim family for a month. From the preview:

Christian guy walks away, waving his hand.
Muslim guy: "Did he just flip me off?"
Muslim girl: "No, he did like this. That was the peace sign, dude."

For some reason, that just totally cracked me up.

Alton Brown has a new show! Feasting on Asphalt follows Alton Brown as he tries road food on Route 66, traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles. Dammit, I want his jobs. I want to get paid to eat and travel.

Batman Begins

I guess I am in a really good writing mood tonight. We saw Batman Begins over the weekend.

The bad stuff first:

1. Asian guy (Ken Watanabe), as usual, dies.
2. Morgan Freeman is reduced to playing Q? Travesty.
3. The Girl (Katie Holmes), as usual, is stupid. Have any of the scriptwriters met an actual woman before? I had this epiphany - the only superhero movie where I could actually believe that the women were real is The Incredibles. (Past Batman movies? Stupid. Spiderman movies? Stupid and morally dumb. X-Men? Ok, they all had superpowers, but why was everyone in love with Wolverine? Superman? Well, she's brave, but she's got no sense.)
4. The fight scenes were really difficult to follow. I realize that Batman is supposed to be like a ninja and invisible, but it would help if I could actually see him when he knocks people out. (This is why people have Yuen Wo-Ping choreograph stuff.)
5. I have an overall problem with the morality in the Batman world - people are either evil or they're good, with no chance for redemption - that fact annoys me.

Overall, though, I really liked the film. I never read American comics, because the art puts me off, but I loved the stories and cartoons growing up. Batman has one of the least plausible storylines, but he's kind of interesting because he doesn't have any superpowers. Dude, you know who he is? Buddy from The Incredibles, except not evil. Think about it - he doesn't obsess over superheroes, but he does obsess over events from the past, makes gadgets to give the appearance of superheroes, and makes his own costume with a cape. (I guess Edna's ban on capes wouldn't make sense in this one.)

I loved the Art Deco look of this movie, and the way that Nolan shot Gotham, dark and moody. I liked the contrast between the cleanliness of Wayne's memories and the gritty, graffiti'ed Gotham of the present. The fight scenes could have been better - the ones in the beginning were much better than the ones at the end, because I could actually tell what was going on during those battles. Bale was believable as Batman and as a billionaire playboy. I liked him, but loved the supporting actors more - Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, the guy who played Scarecrow. (I thought that actor would have made a great Joker.) I liked the way the story was set up, too, so that there's a lot of disconnect between what Batman wants to do, and the consequences of what he actually accomplishes.

The chase scene was awesome. I really liked how the gadgets made sense in this movie, and how they didn't just pop out of nowhere. And also, thank god, no nipples on the Bat-suits.

I hear Bale is committed to three Batman movies. Here's hoping that Nolan's signed on, too.