2008 November 02 « Rev. Danny Fisher

November 2, 2008

My Review of The Dark Knight for the Latest Issue of The Journal of Religion and Film

I have a review of Academy Award-nominated director Christopher Nolan’s new, incredibly successful Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight in the latest issue of The Journal of Religion and Film. You can read it online here.

I previously blogged about the film in this post. So far, it’s the best American film I’ve seen this year.

My review contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the film and you don’t want to know how it ends, you might wait to read what I have to say. If you haven’t seen the film, you can get started by watching the extraordinary, seven-minute opening sequence for free and totally legitimately, courtesy of the good people at Trailer Addict. It’s embedded below.

[Photo by Warner Brothers.]

November 2, 2008

Goodies from the Last Couple of Days

Here are a few good items from the last couple of days:

The New York Times has a piece about a new program organized by Donna Karan and the Beth Isreal Medical Center to transform a hospital wing into “a testing ground for a trendy, medically controversial notion: that yoga, meditation and aromatherapy can enhance regimens of chemotherapy and radiation.”

Tricyle: The Buddhist Review has a rare interview (conducted via email) with Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai International–”the world’s largest Buddhist lay group and America’s most diverse.”

Barbara over at Barbara’s Buddhism Blog reflects on World Vegan Day with provocative questions for her readers.

Theravadin offers a timely post on “Economic Principles in Early Buddhism.”

Lastly, the Buddhist Channel points us to a great piece at The Progressive on nonviolence. In a recent study published in the Journal of International Security, findings show that “major nonviolent campaigns have achieved success 53 percent of the time, compared with 26 percent for violent resistance campaigns.”

November 2, 2008

Burma News (11.2.08)

Here’s the pertinent Burma news for today:

The Associated Press reports that nine leaders from the pro-democracy 88 Generations Students group have been sentenced to six months in prison “for interrupting a judge during a closed trial held inside a prison.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Burma’s controversial new constitution has been translated into English. The Times explains:

The constitution, drafted under the junta’s influence without input from the pro-democracy movement, was passed by a national referendum in May.

The junta said it received the backing of 92.48 percent of voters. But Myanmar’s main opposition party charged that the authorities used coercion, intimidation, deception and misrepresentation to get voters’ approval.

Critics say the constitution is designed to maintain the military’s decades-old grip on power.

November 2, 2008

AFP: His Holiness the Dalai Lama Says He Will Be "Semi-Retiring" Because of Dialogue Stalemate with China

The Agence France-Presse reports more strong comments from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, including the assertion that Chinese rule is handing Tibet a “death sentence” and that he will be “semi-retiring.”

November 2, 2008

Not Computer-Less After All

Well, as you can probably tell by now, I’m not offline at all. I made a last-minute decision to bring my computer with me on my journey back to the midwest, and so I’m able to blog while I’m on the road. AAR is great fun–as always–and I’m having a blast with Justin Whitaker. Stay tuned for more.

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