NOUS AMERICAN

Batman Begins

It took a recent re-viewing to reaffirm startling conclusions made months ago.  Result?  Indeed, summed up, Batman Begins is a marvelous movie, and it is the perfect "bookend" match to the Daniel Craig Casino Royale.

Batman Begins and Casino Royale reinvented both Batman and James Bond, both of which suffered severely in all of their earlier versions (with the exception of the first Sean Connery Bond).  The Adam West 1960s silly Batman continued unchanged into the new series starting in the 1990s.  All were "camp," "funky," and tongue-in-cheek.  All were horribly alike, regardless who played Batman.  The only decent characterization in any of them was Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

Bond Is Back--Reinvented

This weekend I finally saw the new Casino Royale James Bond movie, starring Daniel Craig.  Unless future Bond films with Craig get corrupted (like the previous ones), Bond is back because he has been reinvented, thus reinvigorated.

Time to Lighten Up

Iraq is going down the tubes. Iran is preparing to nuke us. The EU pulled out a hair and pee'd all over itself. The UN's popularity is rising. GWB is still president. Democrats and Republicans still occupy Congress. Condi Rice and the State Department still cannot find their derriers with both hands. Hiliary is running for president. Barak is running for president. All the rest of the Democrats and Republicans are running for president. Illegal aliens and illegal terrorists are deluging us.

Mein gott! We are hardly in a mood to laugh. 'Till the following came in.

Cesar, This Is What I Am Talking About

If You Liked Hirsi Ali's Book, You Will Like This Also

This article falls into the classification of a book review, but it may be the oddest I have ever wanted to write.  I will get into why shortly, and explain why I think someone who appreciates the developmental autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, called Infidel (reviewed by us here), might well like this book.

The book is Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan [Harmony Books; 2006; ISBN 0-307-33733-2].  Its subtitle is "The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems."  How, then, could this book compare in any way with that of Ms Hirsi Ali?