What the Flick

Yeah, it's a mish-mash of a title concept, but so was at least one of these movies. Let's start with the good-ish news: HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, then move back in time to the golden age of the Crusades with KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Unlike many people, I've never read the Douglas Adams book or books nor have I ever seen some TV show that's been mentioned as based on said books. Basically, when I saw the coming attraction for the first time and my movie pal J said "42," I had no idea what he meant. Luckily the movie came out and now I DO know what he meant. No, I"m not going to tell you. What I will tell you is that it won't kill you, and may very well amuse you, to see this wry little movie and find out for yourself.

Summer's here and the time is right, as the old song said, for blowing up crap. Oh, it was "dancing in the streets?" Whatever, here are some not-so-explosive opinions on BATMAN BEGINS and RIZE.

First, my opinion of Katie (future Mrs Tom Cruise) Holmes. Not that my opinion of her was so great at the outset, but after her tepid performance in BATMAN BEGINS, I feel I can safely say she should quit her day job when she gets married. Happily, she was one of the few weak points in this new Batman tale, which overall was an enjoyably dark and interesting telling of the roots of Gotham's Caped Crusader. (The other weak point, BTW, was the tank-like Batmobile. Is it just me, or should Batman not be driving a really hot car, like a Maserati? With wings? And rocket launchers?)