Knights]

Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood
$13.99
My husband liked it. The world of the boy is so grey in regards to when a boy turns into a man Plus, the boy's world is do different. In the past, there were distinct male roles, and today they are faded. It reinforced the need for chores so boys learn responsibility- especially when so many boys are being allowed to have none.

He didn't like the ceremony aspect, but he is still tossing around the idea of needing one.

Vampire Knight, Vol. 8
$9.99
Ok so I have a guilty secret... I'm ok with what I found out about Kaname and Yuki... gross right? I do read a lot of Egyptian and Greek myths so the concept isn't new or exciting. Vampire 8 leaves us with not a cliff hanger ending so much as too much information, then a sudden black out. You find yourself gasping for breath with everything that was disseminated, then it gets taken away and not to be revealed until next year.

Wow, Zero plays a very small role, but his relationship with Yuki is becoming strained to the point of breaking apart completely. And Kaname, I don't blame him and I don't really think of him as self serving. He plays a political game yes, but ultimately everything he does and plans to do is to build a world where Yuki will be safe. That's the reason he founded the Cross Academy, that's the reason he protects her and loves her, everything is for her. Man I'm telling you people I want to be Yuki.

This manga got 5 stars because it divulged more information then the last installment, and had more going on then the smoke and shadows from book 7. The author/illustrator is also my top favorite and if you haven't already check out Meri Puri... fantastic, also the anime is also to die for.

Ok, ok, one last thing, there are absolutely amazing drawings of Kaname and Yuki on the chapter pages of the manga.... woah... that's all I can say!

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
$14.99
I got this because everyone raves about it so I felt obligated as a comic fan. I was not a fan of Sin City or 300 and found Miller's Daredevil kind of slow. And its true, the story is driven by the writer not the artist so you have to read it at a different pace than modern comics but if you do you will be blown away. I was AMAZED at Miller's ability to write an action sequence. Don't expect the faster page turning of a Jeph Loeb Batman story and focus more on the writing than the art and you will find one of the most bad-ass comic stories ever.

The Dark Knight (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]
$35.99
When is a movie more than a movie? When it can transcend the very genre it's in and becomes an event, something that can cause people to think, to talk, to debate, to embrace it so much you feel you need to see it again and again because you feel you missed something the other ten times you saw it.
"Gone with the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Star Wars", "The Lord of the Rings" films....all great event films. Add Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to this list.
As a lifelong fan of comic book superheroes, there are quite a few that i've taken to my heart: Superman, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, X-Men,the Hulk, etc, etc. I've always loved Batman. Even through the numerous comics, which i still read to this day, the cartoons, even the campy 60s tv series, as well Tim Burton's great, dark reimagining of the mythos in the late 80s, Batman remains one of my all-time favorites.
What Nolan has created with "The Dark Knight" cant truly be put into a few, simple sentences. Impossible. This film is one of the few true definitions of a masterpiece. It's intelligent, cold, unrelenting, extremely dark and at times disturbing and it's these adjectives that, for me, make it perfect.
In the brilliant "Batman Begins", Nolan dissected and broke down the origin of The DC Comics vigilante, giving us a glimpse of the very twisted, emotional elements that drove one man to assume the identity of a creature of the night. He presented this as a character study of a man, seemingly normal on the outside, with wealth, power, and influence, yet tortured, driven, disturbed, trying to find a way to unleash his demons upon those who live to choose to break the law and destroy the moral fabric of "society".
In "The Dark Knight", we go a few levels further....into the very bowels of HELL. This time, Batman struggles not just with the questionable choices he has made to protect Gotham City, with many people divided over how they feel about his presence, he also must face a new criminal who spreads anarchy and uncontrolled chaos all over town, the Joker.
Now, we all know much has been written and said about the late Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker....BUT HE'S SOOOO GODDAMN BRILLIANT!!!! This is the Joker the way he should be portrayed. As much as i loved Jack Nicholson's Joker from Burton's '89 film, hes a punk compared to what Ledger created. Ledger's Joker is cold, calculating evil in its purest form....a man so unfeeling, so depraved, so demonic...he doesnt commit crimes for reward, notoriety, or what we'd consider intimate pleasure; he does because he simply wants to, plain and simple. He sees the world as a place to be broken and manipulated, consequences be damned. Scary, aint it? Think of the killers of Columbine, or V-Tech, even the Unabomber. Even Satan. No conscience. Evil for evil. Ledger won a very deserved posthumous Oscar for his work.
The great Christian Bale is the ultimate Batman for our time. Driven, dark, cold-blooded but not without a sense of honor. He digs deeper into the psychology of Bruce Wayne, creating a portrait of someone fighting a war he might never win, a war that creates more demons and more pain than he can stop, yet doesnt give in to the monsters he opposes. Bale and Ledger are magnificent together.
As great as they are, its the supporting performances that help them shine. Overall, theres not a bad performance from anyone, AT ALL. Only the best caliber of actors dominate this film. Gary Oldman's Detective James Gordon is a picture of powerful moral conviction and simple passion as he stands by Batman in the fight against crime; Michael Caine's Alfred is the deep, fatherly, yet caring voice of no-nonsense reason to Wayne/Batman; Maggie Gyllenhall makes a more intense Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes; Morgan Freeman is dignity personified as Lucius Fox. Special mention should be made, though, for Aaron Eckhart, who plays D.A. Harvey Dent/Two Face. Like Batman and Gordon, he wants to wipe out crime in Gotham City, yet he suffers from a fatal flaw: he's idealistic. Its this flaw that the Joker will exploit and twist and ultimately damage, and it leads to Dent becoming Two Face, a scarred, deranged, hopeless man broken and twisted almost as much the Joker himself.
There are no easy answers in this film, with its nihilistic view of good and evil and how sometimes, even good men can be pushed to their moral limits. Thats what i loved about this film. Nothing is simple, nothing is easy, and isnt that the way life is? Films about superheroes are a mixed breed: some are great, some not. I love the original Superman w/Christopher Reeve, and Spiderman, and Bryan Singer's X-Men, yet "Dark Knight" is, to me, the epic for our troubled times. Intelligent, huge, well written and acted. Director Christopher Nolan takes his place among the newest generation of filmmakers who dont treat their audiences like simple-minded children. A powerful film from a powerful visionary.