Lest I be accused of film snobbery...

I did see X2: X-Men United over the holiday, and I liked it very much. Better than Spiderman (and I quite dug the look of Spidey, but it must be said: Tobey Maguire has a nerd voice. And what the hell was up with Kirsten Dunst's teeth?) I thought the continuity with the first film was good*, the acting was decent, and I wasn't seized with an urge to punch Patrick Stewart like I usually am, probably because they didn't give him any extended soliloquies to perform and the wheelchair limited his Heroic Posing options. On the whole, I was able to suspend my disbelief and plunge in, and that's all I ask of an action flick.

*Admittedly, I'm not a nitpicker in this area when it comes to comic book movies, so don't leave any lists of continuity errors in the comments unless they're really amusing. And no, I will not use the term "graphic novel", since I was born before 1970.

Bruce Almighty review.

Well-written, scathing review in the Washington Post. I have no personal animus against Jim Carrey, apart from the fact that I find him too antic to watch half the time and don't share his love of the butt joke, but a number of red flags went up on this one. The director from Patch Adams? To quote a friend's reaction, "Yikes."

Strange Bedfellows Dept.

Bob Geldof: "Clinton was a good guy, but he did fuck all."

Well, he's half right.

[Link via the Corner.]

Flash in the pan.

Lileks panned Matrix 2. I haven't seen it, but I'm not really inclined to, as I don't care for invulnerable protagonists. Neo's Deus Ex Machina man, like Harry Potter on steroids, and the villains aren't interesting enough to make me want to see it. Pass.