Movie: “Batman Begins”

Until I saw this, I had no idea of the deep connections between the Jedi and the Batman.

Movie: “The Blind Side”

When I read the book, I pictured a woman exactly like Sandra Bullock. I normally dislike her as an actress, but she nailed this role. The best part of the film is seeing the actual pictures of Michael Oher and his adopted family. And yes, I cried when I read the book too.

Book: “The Blind Side”

Since reading it, I stopped watching the ball and started watching the huge giants push each other around at the line of scrimage. Also, I now notice when a quarterback is blessed with more than three or so seconds to scan downfield.

Book: “Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code”

Bart D. Ehrman’s dissection of maybe a dozen pages turns out to be far more interesting than anything in Dan Brown’s entire novel. It’s also full of genuinely controversial material that’s taken seriously by actual historians. Worth reading even if you disagree with his conclusions.

Movie: The Peacemaker

A big, dumb, Hollywood action flick that makes one good decision: giving the bad guy a sympathetic back story. But then it messes the whole thing up by focusing on George Clooney and Nicole Kidman’s surprisingly dull relationship.

Book: “Crime and Punishment”

Raskolnikov really isn’t any different from me except for circumstance. That makes this novel so harrowing and so brilliant. Splaying open the inner-working of our souls pains us, but does great good as well. Avoid it at your own peril.

Movie: “Brave”

King Fergus was not voiced by John Cleese, but by the guy from “Mrs. Brown” who looks (and apparently, sounds) just like him. Among Pixar movies, this rates just above “WALL-E”.

Movie: “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”

Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) directed and it makes all the difference. I skipped the third installment (I think) so there’s some continuity and character development material that didn’t resonate, but the classic caper setups and resolutions worked. Well done.

Movie: “Mission: Impossible II”

I think this is the first movie I ever fell asleep watching in the theater. Yes I was critically sleep-deprived, but I think there was nothing to the film but action sequences. It’s hard to care about a character in mortal danger when you don’t really know who they are or why they do what they do.

Place: ComedySportz Los Angeles

Los Angeles County is awash with comedy clubs, so what makes this one different? Well, it isn’t stand-up, but “competitive improv”. It’s also “clean”. (There’s a foul if anyone is foul.) And it’s cheap (call ahead for a discount), free parking is available, and it makes me laugh.