Moody CI & The Dark Knight
I have just spent 2+ hours downloading, uploading, and setting my LJ moods with Logan/Barek screencaps. But alas, I did not create them, just found them at strangevisitor.org. I had to download the pics (which ended up being the easiest part of the whole shebang), upload each of them to photobucket (which on a slow connection takes a year and a half) and then the really fun part, picking through the create/edit moods page and putting in the URLs for each pic. Good grief! But they do look rather smashing. I may have to use really random emotions just so I can post my favorite ones. Today's is true though because the building I work in is rather cool and rather frigid for me as I am mere feet from the A/C duct.
In other news, I saw The Dark Knight this last weekend. I waited 'til almost the last minute (Thursday afternoon) to get tickets for me, my roommate and my former roommate. I was surprised (thought it was a happy surprise) to discover that they still had tickets for the nine o'clock showing on Friday, which to my estimate was the third most popular showing, trailing behind the "Thursday" 12:01 showing and the Friday Midnight showing. That Friday, after a day of dancing about in my Batman shirt and loudly singing the Danny Elfman Batman theme (in vain hopes that someone would stop me and say "aren't you singing the Batman theme?") I went to Chili's with my friends and we excitedly discussed the Caped Crusader (most of the excitement coming from me). We then scurried to the theater, after a pit stop at the grocery store to get some illicit goodies to sneak in to the movie, and stood in line for thirty-five minutes. We were later herded in like so many heads of cattle and we found three seats not to close but not too far from the screen. After several minutes of disappointing trailers (with the exception of Terminator: Salvation, thank you Christian Bale), the movie began. And what a movie it was! If you are reading this (HA! Nobody reads this blog!) and have not seen The Dark Knight, the following is a SPOILER! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! AH-WOOGA! AH-WOOGA!
I have loved Batman since I was a kid sitting in front of the TV watching Batman and the Boy Wonder, Robin "Biff!", "Pow!", and "Kersplat!" the hell out of their many spandex-wearing opponents. I also have fond memories of running home from school so I wouldn't miss Batman: The Animated Series. Ah, the good old days...Not withstanding this love of Batman, I am ashamed to say that I have never seen any of the "old" movies all the way through except for Batman & Robin, which by many, is considered the worst Batman film. I will soon rectify that error with Netflix but until then the new ones with Christian Bale (THUD! What a hunk!) are my favorites. The Dark Knight as many, many people have said (including me) is much darker that in predecessor, Batman Begins. Heath Ledger is unrecognizable as the Joker, Batman's greatest and most frequently reoccurring enemy. But unlike his cartoon/comic counterpart (the ones I've seen anyway), this Joker is not trying to be clever (though he is) and is not humorous (though he thinks he is). Joker, even though he is a complete psychopath who kills for absolutely no reason (other than, as Alfred so eloquently puts it, "to watch the world burn"), Ledger gave him a human side. Not a nice human side mind you, but just enough to make you think about how close you can really be to the tipping point of what the Joker is. Great action sequences coupled with Batman's soul searching quest to define why he is not like the Joker, though they share many more characteristics than he is comfortable with, made for an edge of your seat, heart-wrenching film. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman return as Batman's support team, much to my joy. Freeman's Fox seemed more in the loop about Bruce's secret double life than the first film but I expect when you need a new Batsuit you can't just pretend like you're NOT Batman. I also loved Caine's performance as Alfred, who has taken a more fatherly role than any of the other films I've seen (remember I've only seen Batman & Robin). He protects Batman and reassures him that he's doing the right thing. He always seems to have to have make the "you can't stop being Batman, Bruce" speech so he won't run and hide in the mountains. Maggie Gyllanhaal was a better Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes, whose acting made me want to cry (and not in a good way). Come on! Bruce Wayne says he loves you and you make a face like you've got indigestion. Gyllanhaal was a much better choice and I would have rather seen her in the first one as well. I was sad when Rachel's life was cut short in a fiery explosion and Harvey Dent, District Attorney and later Two-Face, was saved but horribly scarred. That would have been a handy time to have Robin go run and rescue the other victim. Too bad they haven't introduced him yet...Since Batman has long since been considered an anti-hero, I believe it was an appropriate consequence for the old "choose your love or another citizen" ploy. It's the way I thought Spiderman's choice between MJ and a gondola full of people should have ended. But then again, Spiderman is more of a regular hero and not quite as dark and brooding as Batman. Poor, poor Bruce...
A fantastic movie I will probably see again before the week's out.
In other news, I saw The Dark Knight this last weekend. I waited 'til almost the last minute (Thursday afternoon) to get tickets for me, my roommate and my former roommate. I was surprised (thought it was a happy surprise) to discover that they still had tickets for the nine o'clock showing on Friday, which to my estimate was the third most popular showing, trailing behind the "Thursday" 12:01 showing and the Friday Midnight showing. That Friday, after a day of dancing about in my Batman shirt and loudly singing the Danny Elfman Batman theme (in vain hopes that someone would stop me and say "aren't you singing the Batman theme?") I went to Chili's with my friends and we excitedly discussed the Caped Crusader (most of the excitement coming from me). We then scurried to the theater, after a pit stop at the grocery store to get some illicit goodies to sneak in to the movie, and stood in line for thirty-five minutes. We were later herded in like so many heads of cattle and we found three seats not to close but not too far from the screen. After several minutes of disappointing trailers (with the exception of Terminator: Salvation, thank you Christian Bale), the movie began. And what a movie it was! If you are reading this (HA! Nobody reads this blog!) and have not seen The Dark Knight, the following is a SPOILER! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! AH-WOOGA! AH-WOOGA!
I have loved Batman since I was a kid sitting in front of the TV watching Batman and the Boy Wonder, Robin "Biff!", "Pow!", and "Kersplat!" the hell out of their many spandex-wearing opponents. I also have fond memories of running home from school so I wouldn't miss Batman: The Animated Series. Ah, the good old days...Not withstanding this love of Batman, I am ashamed to say that I have never seen any of the "old" movies all the way through except for Batman & Robin, which by many, is considered the worst Batman film. I will soon rectify that error with Netflix but until then the new ones with Christian Bale (THUD! What a hunk!) are my favorites. The Dark Knight as many, many people have said (including me) is much darker that in predecessor, Batman Begins. Heath Ledger is unrecognizable as the Joker, Batman's greatest and most frequently reoccurring enemy. But unlike his cartoon/comic counterpart (the ones I've seen anyway), this Joker is not trying to be clever (though he is) and is not humorous (though he thinks he is). Joker, even though he is a complete psychopath who kills for absolutely no reason (other than, as Alfred so eloquently puts it, "to watch the world burn"), Ledger gave him a human side. Not a nice human side mind you, but just enough to make you think about how close you can really be to the tipping point of what the Joker is. Great action sequences coupled with Batman's soul searching quest to define why he is not like the Joker, though they share many more characteristics than he is comfortable with, made for an edge of your seat, heart-wrenching film. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman return as Batman's support team, much to my joy. Freeman's Fox seemed more in the loop about Bruce's secret double life than the first film but I expect when you need a new Batsuit you can't just pretend like you're NOT Batman. I also loved Caine's performance as Alfred, who has taken a more fatherly role than any of the other films I've seen (remember I've only seen Batman & Robin). He protects Batman and reassures him that he's doing the right thing. He always seems to have to have make the "you can't stop being Batman, Bruce" speech so he won't run and hide in the mountains. Maggie Gyllanhaal was a better Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes, whose acting made me want to cry (and not in a good way). Come on! Bruce Wayne says he loves you and you make a face like you've got indigestion. Gyllanhaal was a much better choice and I would have rather seen her in the first one as well. I was sad when Rachel's life was cut short in a fiery explosion and Harvey Dent, District Attorney and later Two-Face, was saved but horribly scarred. That would have been a handy time to have Robin go run and rescue the other victim. Too bad they haven't introduced him yet...Since Batman has long since been considered an anti-hero, I believe it was an appropriate consequence for the old "choose your love or another citizen" ploy. It's the way I thought Spiderman's choice between MJ and a gondola full of people should have ended. But then again, Spiderman is more of a regular hero and not quite as dark and brooding as Batman. Poor, poor Bruce...
A fantastic movie I will probably see again before the week's out.