It is true that summer films rarely get noms, mostly because 90% of them are shitty, and because they are released like 7-9 months prior to the awards. And we all know that the Academy has a worse attention span than an average Michael Bay fan.

It sucks that here in the UK we have to wait until 25th. May die of anticipation long before then.

But then the main problems were with the script: the theme of this movie is FEAR, so we will make sure that the word FEAR pops up in the dialogue every twenty seconds to reinforce the theme of FEAR - because we're not good enough writers to SUGGEST, IMPLY or otherwise COMMUNICATE a theme other than have characters TELL THE AUDIENCE that the theme is FEAR all the time. So the theme is FEAR, okay? For those at the back: FEAR. And if you forget in the next twenty seconds or so, don't worry, because I'm here to remind you that the theme is FEAR. That's with a capital F. And E. And A. And R. FEAR!

Batman Begins was good. But scenes filmed on a sound stage LOOK like they were filmed on a sound stage.

Katie H didn't have the moxy to carry her role. (least I didn't think)

I have high hopes for this.

Teenagers: Exaggerating Everything to the Point of Lunacy Since 1500

Look, I understand the appeal of Empire. But Star Wars was a tight, strong, centered film (well, at least until the special edition). Empire was bloated, with a lot of unnecessary sequences. Empire is the reason that the prequel movies sucked so bad, because Lucas was trying to duplicate Empire instead of the original like he should have. I would argue that Return of the Jedi was a much, much better film than Empire, but it's impossible to argue it because the immediate response is 'Ewoks'.

What it comes down to is: are you a Luke fan, or a Han fan? If you're a Luke fan (as I have always been), than ROTJ in many ways is the best film, with ANH a close second. If you're a Han fan, though, it's all about Empire.

Never mind, not much point getting in to that again. I am curious about this new one, though. Ledger looks good, I always like Eckhart, and I suppose dreary and overly serious Batman is better than no Batman at all.

"The nineteenth century centered on debates regarding the moral message of the play. David Garrick created a version of the play which excluded Rosaline, as Romeo's abandonment of her for Juliet was seen as reckless love at the time. Critics such as Charles Dibdin argued that Rosaline had been purposely included in the play to show how reckless the hero was, and that this was the reason for his tragic end. Critics of the time also debated whether Friar Laurence was actually Shakespeare's direct spokesman in his frequent warnings to the two lovers regarding their hastiness." (Copy/pasted from Wikipedia)

It's always one way or the other around here - ludicrous over-praising or preposterous over-criticism.

Wrong. The water in your body is a component of blood and plasma. Not the same thing as unadulterated water coming out the tap. Here, test my point: Drain a fucking pint of your own blood and leave the glass out. Then fill another pint glass with tap water. Leave that out. In two days, see which one has evaporated. Then finish draining the rest of your own blood into a bathtub.

And it's accepted in academic circles that Shakespeare did write his own plays you sanctimonious bag of dogshit. Good to see you've discovered Wikipedia.

Not a bad film, but have we lowered our expectations to the point that The Prestige is considered great?

Memento, granted, is pretty much a masterpiece. For that, I'll always at least be interested in whatever Nolan does.

My god, you're a shit stain on a pair of yellowed underwear. The kind of dude that tries to be the smartest guy working the food service line, huh?

As for Shakespeare's authorship, all I said is that there was some dispute. I never said he wasn't the author. And I was using it as an example to draw a comparison between Shakespeare and King.

So you were wrong, and now feel the need to attack me. Get over it.

You win 'Biggest Asshole' troll.

Nice assumption that the ONLY reason someone would save the person they knew in a house full of burning ninjas is 'racism'. Fuck, your kid's got a long, long road ahead of him being raised by a fat loser at a keyboard.

I also don't understand Ras' point in the whole thing. Didn't he consider something like that might happen? If Ras isn't Liam Neeson, ok, it's understandable. But Ras IS Liam Neeson, so how did he totally misread the guy he was mentoring?

Friendly Fred

And I can already smell a Talkback war a' brewin'. The Batnerds will arrive in force, they'll try to tell everyone what to think, and the hilarity will ensue.

This PC society really has to let up sometime (I hope). Let's hope we can raise our kids to be better than the riffraff.

But now all I can think about is going to see TDK.. All I can say is that this better not leave me feeling like I did way back in the 80's with the first Batman movie.

I was completely geeked to see it and all the reviews from the papers and friends got my expectations WAY WAY high. Unfortunately, I left the theater feeling amazingly underwhelmed. I kept asking my friend who had already seen it, "When does it start getting good??"

I hope to God this lives up to the hype...

Honestly, there's some appaling bollocks in there, but more than enough cool bits to carry it. It is better than T3, but both pale in comparison to the original.

Not that T2 is bad. Shit, I'm really mangling my meaning today.

I apologize for speaking in terms the lowest common denominator could understand. Sometimes you have to speak to the masses.

Romeo wasn't in love with Rosaline. He was just another dumb teenager (albeit one gifted with Shakespeare's words) who was trying to get laid. It's all over the first act, when Romeo and Mercutio talk.

NOW THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!

Uh, no. I was old enough and I did not like it. In fact, coming out of the theater, I told everyone standing in line that Batman dies. That's how much I disliked it.

What's that? He doesn't die? whoops.....

Supes was indeed epic. It was a throwback to the big costume epics of fifties and early sixties. It told the story on a grand, and drawn out scale. In that it did a magnificent job. Fred can not quibble with the casting choices either - although Brando was a stretch. The plot, the ridiculous Lex Luthor plot, which still rears ugly head, Fred can forgive that - in this movie, because Hackman was very good. But what Fred can not forgive, and what ultimately sinks this film, is poor pacing.

Fred has seen a lot of movies that had epic scope, and very few directors can consistently pull off such while keeping the audience engaged throughout.

Superman does not appear on screen in his own movie until 50 minutes into it! And even then, only for a fleeting second. Too much emphasis was placed on telling the origin and giving the big name stars their moment to shine, than on showing the audience what they came to see - namely Superman doing super things.

When he finally appeared, with rousing helicopter rescue, it was great. Fred can even forgive bad effects - on cable TV in HD you can see the strings. But it was too little too late. The film had dragged. Fred liked cat and mouse between Supes and Lex, it was genuinely good moments due to great acting. But it could not save overall film, because of slow pacing. BUt Fred movuie viewing is subjective, and Fred know for a fact that some people think Mystery Men is the greatest superhero movie ever made.

BTW - I've got to hand it to you. Your hate on BATMAN BEGINS ranks right up there with I am Batman and Jeff Albertson.