New reviews from Movie Man Mike:

Batman Begins. B+ (for this genre of movies)
I went to this movie as a skeptic. While prior Batman movies have been mixed in their success, I didn't like the idea of yet another Batman movie being made with yet another actor playing Batman. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Christian Bale makes a pretty good Batman. And, it's hard to criticize the all-star cast, including Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Kate Holmes. The psychological background on Batman is intriguing and includes a sketch of his early training. Some of the stunts are a little hard to believe and I found my self questioning how he did some of them even though he had state-of-the-art technology to assist him, but by suspending reality and enjoying the moment and the action, I found the movie really quite entertaining. In fact, I think it is my favorite of the Batman movies.

The Final Cut. B-
This is a 2004 film starring Robin Williams. It's out on DVD and I decided to check it out because it got some pretty good reviews. This film reminded me a great deal of a film from the early 1980's called Brainstorm, which starred Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood. The premise of The Final Cut is that technology has been developed to allow people to implant a chip in their head that will record everything the person sees or hears during his whole life. After the implanted person dies, the chip can be retrieved and surviving family members can relive the person's life to help them to remember their dearly departed. The most interesting thing about the movie is that it makes you think about your own life and how you would feel to know that after you are gone, anyone could look back on all the things you did, good or bad. In the movie, Robin Williams plays the role of a "cutter" who's job it is to take the implant chip and creates a "rememory" or condensed video of the deceased's life for the benefit of his family. Williams' character is pitted against a group of opponents to the technology who believe that cutters are distorting the truth and memories of the deceased. The ending of the film is a bit abrupt and leaves questions--as the director probably intended, but I am not really sure the questions are all that relevant to our every day lives. I enjoyed this film as a concept, but not immensely.