Spiritual Geography Lesson

Poor David Denby. In this week's "New Yorker" magazine, the critic screens "Batman Begins" and "Mr.& Mrs. Smith" and doesn't like what he sees.

Regarding the Batman script, he writes

Working with a screenplay he [director Christopher Nolan] wrote with David S. Goyer, he has attempted a solemn creation myth... Neeson, wearing a pointy little beard, teaches Bale to be tough by knocking him down as he tells him things like “You fear your own power, your own anger—the drive to do great or terrible things” and “To conquer fear you must become fear.” The dialogue sounds as if it were written after taking a course in self-realization on Santa Monica Boulevard. To conquer banality you must become banal.

The sentence highlighted above shows that this New Yorker has a better grip on cinema aesthetics than Los Angeles geography.

Exactly what self-realization establishment is headquartered on Santa Monica Boulevard?

We think someone should tell Mr. Denby that enlightened types can more likely be found between eastern Sunset Boulevard/Fountain Avenue than Santa Monica Boulevard unless the seeker is after lessons in a more street-wise philosophy.