As indifferent as I was towards Batman Begins, I was enthralled by The Dark Knight. This is particularly impressive considering I tend to play devil's advocate against over-hyped media vehicles such as this one. More significant, still, is the fact that The Dark Knight has been subject to hype nearly impossible to live up to. Did it succeed? Obviously, no movie will ever surpass the hyperbole that its greatest champions attach to it (Garden State changed my life!) but if we are going to agree to make such a big deal over these things there aren't many other films as deserving. Retarded technological fantasies aside (cell phones can't do that), I was amazed that a superhero movie so dark and so devoid of levity could be made. It's the anti-Iron Man. There was humor, but no comic relief ( a device I absolutely despise). There was action, but it only defied physics when necessary--you didn't have mortal men jumping around as if they were crickets. There were villains, but they were reasonably produced and nearly all had mob ties that made sense of their criminal activity. It wasn't The Wire, it wasn't an Italian Neo-Realistic picture, but it was handled as well as the subject matter could have been, considering the audience. That said, I would never, ever, ever take a kid to see The Dark Knight. I like it that way, though.
Having ignored the past two Pixar releases (Cars and Ratatoullie), I could not resist the adorable-ness of Wall-E and went ahead and watched the movie named after him. I have two observations: 1) The reason I stopped watching Disney and/or Pixar movies is because they employ this bullshit combo of having a multiple, intense climax scenes followed by a heart-tugging fakeout and then a heart-warming resolution. I am sick to death of it. The heroes lose something important, fight, get it back, lose it again, fight some more, then you think they are fucking DEAD, then you find out everything is okay and everyone is happy and HOORAY. I GET IT. Truly, I get it. It makes for an exciting movie, and it makes people root for the main characters whose action figures and dolls are so prominently on display at every fine retailer of children's toys. It is a reasonable formula and if I worked at Disney I would do the exact same thing every time. However, as an adult educated in film and storytelling I am completely finished with this formula. Unless the next Pixar film is a remake of Grave of the Fireflies, I will likely not be seeing it. 2) Wall-E had some less than sublte political undertones, and there has been plenty of interesting articles written about them, but I think it's pretty shitty when people can't appreciate a ridulously cute rubot for being just that without turning it into red-state blue-state bullshit. As much as I don't like the movie's formula, I do realize that I would have loved it as a kid and thought much, much less about the so-called "indoctrinating" plot and more about just how I can get my eight-year old hands on my own Wall-E. Apparently, though, many people saw this film as Pixar's liberal cousin to the conservative/objectivist The Incredibles, so you can take that for what it's worth. Actually: what do you think of all that? Just to be clear: the only thing I didn't like about Wall-E was the plot. Everything else about it was awesome, so don't get the impression I hated it. Why talk and talk about the good things, anyway?
Last movie bit: last week I caught a sneak-preview of the new Adam McKay-directed Will Ferrell comedy Step-Brothers. The film also stars my #1 favorite actor John C. Reiley, so regardless of Mr. Ferrels less than stellar past few films (Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro) , I couldn't miss this one. The McKay/Ferrell directing/writing combo has always produced good work: Anchorman has already acheived a tremendous following and Talladega Nights is generally regarded as being good as well, so I had positive expectations for Step-Brothers. I really enjoyed it. It was very funny. What I appreciated most is that the movie dealt with characters who were polar opposites of the traditonal Will Ferrell characters in terms of their achievements; he has spent most of his career playing a person successful despite his buffonery. In Step Brothers, he is unsuccessful for the very same reason and it's extremely refreshing. What I like about both Will Ferrell and John C. Reiley is that they are great actors; their comedy is not born out of wit or carefully-timed pratfalls, but honest reactions by carefully constructed characters. Both actors are funny because they are able to convince you that they--as that character--truly believes everything they said, regardless of how absurd it sounds. John C. Reiley is exceptionally good at this, and is equally successful doing this in his dramatic roles for which he shines just as bright.
Speaking of movies (I know I said the last part would be it), I spend the better portion of last week hitting up all the Big Lots stores in the area because it turns out that they are selling DVDs for $3. You may be expecting the usual crap that you might find at the bottom of the $5 "dump bin" at Wal Mart, but Big Lots' selection was very impressive. For less than the cost of renting it, you can own newer indie hits and/or classics such as Art School Confidential, The Squid and the Whale, Silver City, Scanners, Pretty Persuasion, 3-Iron and many more. Each Big Lots I went to had something different so if you collect DVDs like I do I highly recommend checking it out.
I initially was under the impression that The Perry Bible Fellowship had been discontinued, but it looks as if they have come out with a new strip, but even still I thought I'd take the time to suggest Truck Bearing Kibble which you can look at while wating for new PBF strips to come out. That brings the total tally of good webcomis up to 2.
Bad news for people named me: I have arthritis! Or at least it's starting to look that way. It makes sense being that my psoriasis and allergies are a result of an over-active immune system (The good news? No AIDS!), but it's real bummer waking up with knuckles so sore that you can barely button your pants or brush your teeth. Some days are worse than others, so don't expect me to start popping pain pills all the time but just remeber this one thing: Life can, and will, always, always get worse.