wanted

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493464/

i just want to say that you should consider quenching your curiosity about this film. it was bad, so bad. very very bad. the only thing it really had going for it was the special effects, and let me tell you, they were covered throughly by the trailers. watching the matrix (the first one) would give you better special effects, better story, and better acting. yes, really. better acting.

watching "wanted" was a nearly heartbreaking experience. they had so much potential for coolness, and they squandered it all, probably with the expectation that the movie could live on coolness alone. alas, crazy driving stunts and funny-shaped bullets are not enough to make a movie good. or even watchable.

i give "wanted" two thumbs, one for each of the eyes that it made me want to gouge out. note that i am going to guide the trajectories of these thumbs with MY MIND.

the dark knight

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/

i gave it 4/5 stars. it was on par with the previous one. dark knight was basically an entertaining thrill ride, but it was also too long and tried to push too many messages about morals. it was not so egregious that i am unwilling to overlook it. if you ignore the messages about morals, you are left with a pretty highly polished action flick.

in other words, if you do not think about it too much, it is pretty enjoyable. the amount of thinking i did about it in order to write this quickie review has caused me to spot internal inconsistencies and weaknesses in the character portrayals that make me downgrade it to 3/5 stars.