A little War, a little Chocolate, a little Mozart. And Batman.

Call this the great miscellany. I havn't had time to write up anything in the past two months, so I'm going to put out my general thoughts on the films I've seen.

War of the Worlds: In terms of action, suspense, and everything involved in that, this movie was great. The Martians (except they aren't Martians) are well-realized, and the tripods were better than I pictured them (and better than the earlier fifties version). But on the whole, I don't think this movie can compare to its fifties counterpart, of which it is in many ways a remake. But as to all that, I'm sure my reader can produce a thousand problems with it. What interested me was the treatment--or non-treatment--of religion. In the older film, religion is key; in fact, the climax takes place in a church, and the defeat of the aliens (really Martians in that one,) is indicated to be a response to prayer! None of this in the new movie, though; the only church is destroyed when the Aliens first arrive. (Interestingly, it's a Lutheran church. Meaning, anyone?) Watch it for thrills, watch it for chills; it isn't Indiana Jones but it's pretty entertaining.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Visually stunning, Depp is great as always. Not much else to say on this score. The punishments of the children seemed a bit tepid at the time, but memory makes 'em more chilling.

Amadeus: Strangely, it's not about Mozart. It's about Salieri, his rival, played by F. Murray Abraham. Salieri is interesting to me because he begins with the desire to glorify God in his music (rather like Baroque composer Bach). However, this older view is in conflict with the more humanistic view, represented by Mozart, who recognizes no authority but his own genius. Salieri struggles with the fact that he himself is rather mediocre, despite his desire to glorify God (though he did not recognize this mediocrity before he met Mozart), while Mozart is a genius while acknowledging no God other than his own desires. At last, Salieri turns against God and attempts to thwart Him by killing Mozart. In the end, he fails. Mozart dies, but his genius is recognized universally. Salieri goes insane. The last scene is particularly chilling: Salieri is wheeled through the madhouse, crying out "Mediocrities of the world, I absolve you!" as Mozart's irritating laugh swells behind him. The laughter of genius at mediocrity? Or is it, as Salieri suggests, the laughter of God at those who oppose Him?

Batman Begins: Pure genius. The Tim Burton take on the tale was twisted and sick--rich, true; gorgeous, true, but diseased. This new version is dark, but it has a whole heart--it is healthy. And it easily trumps Spiderman 2, which is a favorite of mine. I hope the sequels live up to expectation.