Recent rents:

OK, let's see. I recently watched Batman Begins. I enjoyed it. Cool story, Christian Bale was good in the title role and it was a fun film overall. The dude who played Scarecrow was kinda freaky looking (without the mask), and the way they did the technology and all to make it somewhat "realistic" was decent. For some reason I did not like Katie Holmes. She annoyed me for reasons I can't explain and I think she's too young looking for the role, but maybe I'm just getting old. No, it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise or any of that business. In fact, I wasn't even sure of who she was until the ending credits. Anyway, this one's worth the rental and I'll be looking forward to the next installment if there is one (please re-cast the Katie Holmes role, though).

Also, Fantastic Four found its way into the DVD player. Again, I enjoyed it, thought it was well-cast, although I thought it took too much of the movie to have the four "discover themselves." In the next episode at least they can skip the "wow, look what I can do" and get straight to the superheroing. Very cool effects. Jessica Alba is distractingly gorgeous as Sue Storm, although she's going to need to keep an eye on her thigh girth. Cellulite's a bitch. I'd recommend a little liposuction touch-up. Michaell Chiklis was a good Ben Grim (Jewish, BTW) -- hmmm...I didn't know he was the voice of Chihiro's father in Spirited Away, I always thought that was Alec Baldwin. I'm not sure about the Reed Richards characterl. He looked OK, but acting-wise...? He could have been a little more professorial. And how is that they have all those unpaid bills but still manage a giant high-rise loft with construction teams to build multi-million dollar custom equipment for them? What's up with that? I'd like to know their financial secrets. Anyway, another worthy rental.

Recent reads:

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades) by Robert Spencer: I don't consider myself enough of an expert on either Islam or the history of the Crusades to criticize the book in substance. It's well laid out and easy to read. Full disclosure: I have met Robert Spencer, like him, and think he does an enormous service through his writing, speaking and web site. This would be a great gift book for the moonbat in your life. The side-bar juxtapositions of the statements of Jesus and Muhammed that recure throughout the book are eye-opening. It leaves you wondering how Christianity and the world would be different if the example of Christ's life were different -- if he had been a warrior, a leader of armies and an orderer of massacres? Don't have time to read Jihad Watch every day? Don't have the patience or time for longer works like Andrew Bostum's, The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims? Read this book.

The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Will Eisner. This is a solidly done graphic novel (really non-fiction, though) by one of the masters of the genre who died just recently. The history is surprisingly solid and this version is accessible and well recommended for anyone looking for a history of the slander but who doesn't have the patience for a more scholarly work like Norman Cohn's, Warrant for Genocide. In fact, I think the information in Eisner's graphic novel is even slightly more up-to-date.

The Da Vinci Code, Special Illustrated Edition by Dan Brown: Am I the last person on the planet to read this book? I picked up this edition that includes photos of all the places they visit for cheap at B.J.'s Wholesale and the pictures were a big plus, although I accidentaly saw the picture at the very back that ruined the last few pages for me, but that's OK. I think this boook is worth the hype. I enjoyed it a lot. No, I'm not going to use it as a history text, but it does leave me wanting to go out and find what was accurate and what was nonsense. Great story with only a twist or two that I didn't care for but can't discuss as almost anything you say about it would be a spoiler.

Update: Left off two other recent rentals.

March of the Penguins: I was suprised about this. I didn't know what to expect and found out it's just a penguin documentary. Well, good for Disney for lifting up something that could have disappeared into Animal Planet history and making a big hit out of it. The extra featurettes on the DVD were pretty good, too.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Maybe it's just me, but this one didn't do it for me. I was a big fan of the books and the old, campy, low-budget BBC production, and maybe that's what it takes to make this better -- it needs to be cheesy. The production values were too good on this new version, and I found it fairly boring, actually. Maybe it's me that's changed, but the humor just didn't work. On the plus side, this is one of the few times I've liked Henson puppets -- the Vogons were very, very well done, but that didn't save it for me.