With “Batman Begins“, writer/director Christopher Nolan explored how Bruce Wayne became the legendary hero known to the world as Batman. When Nolan returned with “The Dark Knight“, Batman has now defined Bruce Wayne’s true identity.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) begins to realize that he has unleashed a symbol, this Batman, and that symbol can’t have limits. He can’t show weakness. So there is now a conflict between what’s good for Bruce and what’s right for Batman to do, and “the two of them are not always compatible,” remarks Bale.

The dark knight has taken over the billionaire’s life, and it is something he cannot escape from, anymore.

Bruce initially saw Batman as a short-term crusade, as a symbol to inspire the good people of Gotham to take their city back. In Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), he finally sees the hero that Gotham needs—the hero with a face, not one wearing a mask.

The respect for Batman is mutually returned by Harvey Dent. “Harvey sees Batman fighting crime in a way that he would like to, but cannot,” remarks Eckhart. But Harvey’s thoughts on the billionaire? “He thinks Bruce is a complete upper-class twit,” director Nolan affirms. “It would astonish him to find out he is really the man behind the mask.”

And then there is assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is the one true love of Bruce Wayne… and the current girl of Harvey Dent. “Rachel made the decision that it is impossible for her to be with Bruce as long as he is Batman. Then Harvey Dent came into her life, and she is crazy about him.”

The Dark Knight also stars Nestor Carbonell as the Mayor of Gotham City, and Anthony Michael Hall as a television news reporter. With Batman are his two closest confidants- Alfred (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).

Sources: superheroprofiles.com  [Photos and production notes courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. TM & © DC Comics]

Reviews: superheroprofiles.com, rollingstone.com

YouTube: clip 01, clip 02

David Letterman Review: HERE

Official Website: HERE

You know what pleases a guy the most? I mean, other than photographing his girlfriend using his Sony SLR digital camera. Perhaps photographing someone else’s wife-to-be? Nah, I’m just kidding.

See, I was on Facebook the other day, and I happened to chance upon some photographs of an ex- no, not THOSE photographs in my encrypted hard disk, just some random photos of her. Well, it is certainly times like this when I truly understand the meaning of the phrase ‘love is blind’, because honestly, I must have been f*cking blind. I mean, no sour grapes or anything, she looked like her face had a high-speed collision with a lorry. No sh*t- a few of you guys should know who I am referring to. I would like to think she wasn’t this bad when we were still together, but, really, she totally let herself slide after we broke up, and it is absolutely no fault of mine. Come on, it’s just a break up, it’s not f*cking Armageddon or anything. Get a grip, lady.

So, you must be thinking I was pretty pleased and all. But wait, I saw something else that completely made my day- her current boyfriend. And his collision with a Boeing A380. Not only did her looks slide, her taste in guys deteriorated as well. Well, all in all, a great day for me. And now that I have talked the talk, it’s time to walk the walk.

You can be pretty damn sure my next girlfriend has got enormous shoes to fill. Over to you, Miss Y.

Or click HERE if you are somewhere in the Amazon.

Are you seeing what I’m seeing? I have never seen an older left

winger in the history of Manchester United. Die already, old fart-

kindly move over for the South Korean marathon runner, Ji.

With more medals put together than the whole Chelski, Arsenal and

Liverpool squads, why the f*ck can’t Gary and Ryan retire while

they are still on top? I can’t see us winning anything with these two

pensioners around.

I’m enjoying the Spanish sun with Nereida while Shrek is enjoying

the English one with a bunch of sweaty men. Life is beautiful.

Maybe he’s on the phone with my agent. Or maybe it’s the Senor

Calderon. Or he’s checking out the prices of houses in Madrid. For me.

Got this interesting story from a friend’s friend’s blog. Interesting. Here goes:

~

A wandering traveller, passing through a small town. It was sunset. He was travelling for 4 days straight and was thirsty. He walked towards the town well and found that it was guarded. A burly villager stopped him.

Big strong guy: The well cannot be used by anyone today. The holy man needs it. You have to wait till sunrise, for then the holy man will be gone.

As a wanderer looking for no trouble, he retreated to a corner of the town square. Looking around, he saw villagers gathering. Many of them looked thirsty for the looks of their dried lips.

He went to sit beside an old man.

Traveller: Who is the holy man? What are you people waiting for?

Old man: No one knows. He knows everything and told us not to drink for a day. He is going to make a speech soon. Hush.

A crowd starts to gather. Everyone was quiet. Waiting for the holy man.

As it approaches dusk, a small hooded figure walked towards the centre of the square.

He took of his hood. Grasps and noises emerged from the crowd. The holy man is a young girl!

Old man: I see, he appears in different forms, aha, he was an old man when I saw him 60 years ago.

Girl: Come let’s drink. Everyone hold a cup of water from this well for it has been blessed. BUT drink only after I tell you to.

Every villager took a cup. The young girl took a cup, walked towards the traveller and the old man.

Girl: I remember you, old father. Do you want to take a cup too?

Old man: Thank You. I am old, give it the traveller. If I understood, I don't need it anymore.

The traveller humbly took the cup and looked into the contents of the wooden cup.

What’s so special about the water?

The young girl walked backed to the centre. She smiled.

Girl: Now drink as much as you liked from the cup. Any amount you want. After that, give me the remaining water if you have any, for I have some use for it.

They drank, some gulped down everything, others drank half. Everyone was different.

Old man: Drink, my friend.

The traveller was thirsty, but he was weathered and he could wait till sunrise.

He only took a sip.

Traveller: Let me see what is she going to do with my water.

Girl: Ah, I see everyone has finished. Let me say something, the water in the cup is actually all the sorrows, fears and sadness everyone is going to face in the future. I shall drink down your sorrows, fears and sadness for you.

There was a commotion again. A man that drank the whole cup fell onto his knees and cried. Many like him followed.

Some that drank only a little like what the traveller did smile.

Old man: Well done, my friend.

The young girl drank the remains of every single cup. The traveller was last in line. When it was his turn, the girl looked terrible. She had too much.

Traveller: Why did you do this?

Girl: Your sorrows are mine. That is my job, because you believed.

She took the traveller’s cup and smiled.

Girl: Only a sip.

She drank every single drop and collapsed into the traveller’s arms.

No one knew what happened to the girl. A carriage came and picked her.

The traveller set off at the next sunrise. He was different inside, he knew it. For the girl whispered something into his ears when she collapsed.

Girl: __________________________________________

Lalala, Don't tell YOU!

~

Pupils are being rewarded for writing obscenities in their GCSE English examinations even when it has nothing to do with the question. One pupil who wrote "f*** off" was given marks for accurate spelling and conveying a meaning successfully. His paper was marked by Peter Buckroyd, a chief examiner who has instructed fellow examiners to mark in the same way. He told trainee examiners recently to adhere strictly to the mark scheme, to the extent that pupils who wrote only expletives on their papers should be awarded points..."It would be wicked to give it zero, because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for - like conveying some meaning and some spelling. It's better than someone that doesn't write anything at all. It shows more skills than somebody who leaves the page blank" - The Times.

Now, for Prison Break season 4. As with Heroes, spoilers are listed.

It will debut on 1^st September with a two-hour premiere. TV promo’s already out here.

The single, most important fact about season 4 is the return of the one and the only Doctor Sara Tancredi! I totally miss her, and I cannot wait for her and Michael Scofield to get it on. I’m pretty sure Wentworth Miller shares my exact sentiments. She will be making her appearance in the very first episode, entitled ‘Scylla’. As for Michael, expect him to be re-arrested pretty soon, as the plot shifts back to the States eventually. And oh, Michael will be getting his tattoos removed as well- maybe that was Sara’s condition for her return (this will be addressed in ‘Scylla’ as well). But I suppose it’s great news for the ladies, as this would translate to more shirtless scenes of Mister Miller.

Not many updates on Lincoln Burrows, but I heard LJ is going to have a vastly diminished role this season. And McGrady has been written out completely as well. On top of that, new characters will join the brothers as they attempt to bring down The Company- namely a FBI agent played by Michael Rapaport, and a computer hacker (Roland Glenn) played by James Hiroyuki Liao (yes, an ASIAN, like, finally). Brad Bellick will be on the team as well, though I am still figuring out what purpose he serves.

Alexander Mahone, last seen crossing over to the dark side, will have his reasons explained for betraying the brothers, and his family will be a big part of that. The ‘bird book’, currently in the hands of T-Bag, will be of great importance to the plot, much more so than its owner, James Whistler, who will be playing a much smaller role than before. There will be a Company assassin, played by Cress Williams, charged with hunting down the two main protagonists. The lovable b*tch Gretchen "Susan B. Anthony" Morgan will as usual be in the thick of things, but she appears to be much more vulnerable this time round.

Here is the official press release from Fox:

After engineering an escape from the hellish Panamanian prison Sona, brothers Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows are determined to seek justice against The Company, the shadowy group responsible for destroying their lives and killing the woman Michael loves, Dr. Sara Tancredi. During their quest for vengeance, Michael's world is turned upside down when he learns that Sara is still alive.

Realizing the only way they will truly be free, Michael and Lincoln avenge to find Sara and take down The Company. With the help of a government handler, they assemble a group of allies and familiar faces including Mahone, Sucre and Bellick to aid in their seemingly impossible task. Unfortunately for the brothers, they must also enlist T-Bag, who unknowingly possesses a vital clue to help them pull off their most difficult challenge yet. They'll soon discover the only thing harder than breaking out is breaking in.

So, Sara will be meeting Michael in the third episode since God knows when. I hope she still kept the origami swan he gave her, and I expect a bed scene at the very least.

There are going to be some spoilers listed below, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. So, let’s start on Heroes Volume III: Villians.

Firstly, Claire and Peter are in love, off the set. No sh*t- Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia hooked up recently. However, one of the first scenes of the new season will be a future Claire (in a new brunette look) killing a future Peter (with the huge scar across his face) in an alternate future. Sad to say, West (Claire’s boyfriend from season 2) has been written out of the story. I kind of like him, flying girls everywhere in a bid to bed them and all.

Anyway, Heroes will debut 22^nd September (one week later than previously announced) with a two-hour premiere. The promos and teasers are already out, and you can have a look here and here.

Secondly, the bad news- Kirsten Bell (the cute little blonde Elle Bishop) will no longer be a regular on season 3. She will appear in no more than five episodes- big mistake, just like what those insane producers did with Sara Tancredi in Prison Break, they will live to regret this. Anyway, Nathan Petrelli (last seen shot by an unknown assassin at the end of season 2) will return, but Ali Larter’s character Niki Sanders seems to have been killed off by the writers.

And as we all know from the last episode of season 2, Sylar has regained his full powers, and Takezo Kensei aka Adam will also somehow escape from being buried twelve feet underground by Hiro Nakamura. The last time we saw H.R.G (“horn-rimmed glasses” aka Noah Bennett aka Claire’s Dad), he was lying somewhere half-dead in a Company facility. Well, guess what? He’s alive and he will be working with the great Sylar- it can only be bad news.

Well, Mohinder Suresh will relinquish his role as the narrator of the story, while Angela Petrelli (the evil mother-b*tch) will have a more prominent role at the helm of The Company. There will also be a scene where major Heroes die as twelve Sylars run free- Peter lying in a pool of blood, Hiro pinned to the wall with his own sword and Matt Parkman with his throat cut open.

The executive producer Allan Arkush has said, “One of the things that we're going to explore is the very nature of these powers- where they come from, who has them, what the different aspects are of how they each got their powers and how it affects them. That's going to be a major storyline this year- the actual genetic essence of the power."

All in all, this new season of Heroes is definitely going to be a whole lot darker than the first two. So, that’s it. Remember the line from the teaser- in every hero, there could be a villain. That is the theme for season 3.

I simply cannot wait.

I decided to blog about this particular topic first instead of my hectic weekend because today’s the first day of work for Ben the Man, and coincidentally, the lovely Sumiko Tan also wrote about the topic work in her Sunday column. As I am typing away, Ben the Man should be on his way home now, squeezing with a few hundred thousand others on the train. More on that later. First, my ex’s article.

Unless you are a student, retiree or housewife, so much of a person’s life centres on that concept called work. Work is a crèche for adults, providing structure, stimulation and sustenance.

She made it sound as if working is a good thing. I cannot comment much on that as I have never held a permanent job before and the closest thing to work I have ever done is waiting on tables and a couple of part-time stuff here and there just to supplement my pocket money. Like any other undergraduate, my concept of work these days is to improve the education of Singaporean kids (for instance, K-Fad). I don’t see it as a real job, if you know what I mean, just an opportunity for me to pay back the society for the education which has moulded me into the fantastic person I am today. I charge twenty-five dollar an hour, by the way.

Who needs dating agencies when you can lock eyes and check the other person out across the conference table? Who needs speed dating when there are as many potential dates to consider as there are cubicles (of single people, of course) in the office?

Spot on, Sumi- that is exactly why the term ‘sleep your way up the cooperate ladder’ exist. That is also the reason why there are a hundred letters written each night to Love Songs Confidential by gullible c*nts about dating (read: f*cking) this charming superior who in the end turns out to be married with two kids. That is the reason why sh*t like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky happened.

I started to miss my colleagues, I missed dressing up each morning and setting off for work looking and feeling “professional”; I miss being needed; I missed the sense of having a purpose in my life.

I have to admit ladies in office wear get my attention every single time. I like older women, women with confidence, women with power, women who know their sh*t. Picture this smartly dressed lady at Starbucks in her $250 Louis Vuitton heels, typing away on her Blackberry with a copy of today’s paper beside her steaming espresso; and then, picture this Ah Lian with a tattoo on her neck at the void deck in a pair of jeans that exposes half her ass, spewing obscenities and all, pretending to be powerful and confident. It’s a no-contest, I tell you. Well, it reminds me of this wonderful quote by the great Margaret Thatcher- “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

People are investing such long hours at work that we can’t help but measure our self-worth by what happens there. So much of how good we feel about ourselves hinges on how well our careers are going.

Well, if that’s the case, Andriy Shevchenko should be feeling like a pile of dog sh*t right now. I mean, come on- if only those flashy footballers were able to take as much pride in their work as Sumi.

I’m not a workaholic but I veer towards the view that one should live to work rather than work to live.

At this point, I am beginning to think that Sumiko is actually using her particular column to suck up to her superiors. This is what I call ‘sleeping with your bosses in print’. Then again, I might be wrong. But still, I believe one shouldn’t base one’s life on work- if that’s the case, Andriy Shevchenko ought to have a pretty sh*tty life. There is definitely a lot more to life than just simply work.

Honestly, I can understand what Ben the Man is going through. Working sucks, period. Unless of course it’s my dream job- but then I would suppose I will become more of a Joey Barton than a Cristiano Ronaldo. But seriously, our parents put us in schools for a good seventeen, eighteen years just to prepare us for the day we step into the cooperate world, or the rat race, or whatever you call it. It will be the day you actually contribute something to the society and your country’s economy, and your CPF.

Personally, I don’t really dread the day I really start a proper eight to five job in the office. In fact, I am sure I would love the challenge (and the pretty office ladies too, of course). I would love the challenge of being a two-headed snake, sucking up to the bosses, backstabbing my colleagues, sleeping with my secretaries, the politics and all that sort of stuff.

I enjoy that. I enjoy being someone I have always hated. Totally.