The Dark Knight

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The Aceman
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Post by The Aceman » Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:28 pm

There are very few movies where the sequel is better than the original, or a series of movies get better as it goes along. Examples of bad sequels include the second and third matrix (some of the most disappointing sequels ever, after the first one blew us away.), every land before time movie after the first one (and they made like TEN of them for some ungodly reason). etc. etc. I'm sure y'all can think of many more examples. Some have actually been better, such as The Dark Knight, the Lord of the Rings series, The Resident Evil series.
Go read "Ishmael" a novel by Daniel Quinn. It will literally change your life.
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Hostrauser
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Post by Hostrauser » Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:14 pm

Nreuest wrote:what i don't understand is the big deal people are making over whether or not kids should see it. i didn't take my 7 year old brother who's dying to see it so i can see if it was good for him to watch, but there is no way anything in this movie could scare him to death, and he's already seen some intense movies. i'm definitely taking him to see it.
I don't think it's the "scare factor" that has people questioning whether or not this movie for kids, it's the extremely advanced emotional conflicts and developments within the movie. Most seven-year-olds aren't capable of understanding WHY the Joker is so frightening, WHY Harvey Dent goes so far off the deep-end (it's got a heck of a lot more to do with than just Rachel Dawes; that was merely the straw that broke the D.A.'s back), WHY Bruce Wayne is so possessed with his "duty," or the complex emotional and philosophical progression Gordon goes through during the course of the film.

Yes, the wife and I finally saw it last night. It's a very impressive film; not perfect, but very, very good. While popularity is not necessarily an indicator of greatness, I think it says a lot that the movie was still sold-out at the showing we went to, now weeks after its initial release.

My abrupt review of the film that I posted on Facebook...
4.5 stars out of 5.

Heath Ledger's performance is everything it's been hyped up to be. At the very least he deserves a Best Supporting Actor oscar, and he has enough screen time to warrant consideration for Best Actor. Ledger flawlessly blends "totally insane" and "just sane enough" together to create the most terrifying psychopath I've seen on film since Anthony Hopkins' turn as Hannibal Lector in "Silence of the Lambs." Unlike Nicholson's take, Ledger is never a laughable cariacature and is always creepy, imposing and scary. Not to be overlooked is Gary Oldman's equally brilliant turn as Gordon. Oldman gets a ton of screen-time and aces possibly the deepest character in the film. Lastly, Maggie Gyllenhaal is about 1,000 times better of an actress than Katie Holmes.

This movie is more thriller and character study than action movie, and the middle 90 minutes rachet up the tension to almost unbelievable levels. That said, the movie has a couple of flaws that keep it from being a perfect 5 for me. Number one is that Christopher Nolan does not handle several of the numerous jump-cuts very well. Some scenes end so abruptly it's jarring. Number two is Harvey Dent. Aaron Eckhart's performance is fine, but the development of the character after his tragedy and (most glaringly) the final denouement between Gordon, Dent and Batman fails on almost every level.

But in the grand scheme, these are relatively minor distractions, and the movie is not to be missed for the incredible acting performances within.

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From camp to kampf

Post by Gonzofoto » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:24 pm

The innocence and, for lack of a better word, sheer "cheesiness" of prior interpretations of Batman never ceases to amaze. I love this video of Batman and the Joker surfing the waves! Quite a counterpoint to the Christopher Nolan movies, but then again, the 60s Batman series always was an exercise in pure camp.

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