Three things
Jul. 21st, 2008 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apocalypsos1. My mom is getting a tattoo for her fiftieth birthday. That's just awesome. I'm still trying to convince her to let me go with her, though.
2. Some girl at Borders knew what my LotR tat was and loved my anti-Twilight shirt. I don't know why I didn't get her online info. *headsmack*
3. I saw The Dark Knight!
I went alone, but I called my brother afterwards because I knew he'd seen it and we always talk a LOT after we see comic book movies. Bryan's not exactly talkative or enthusiastic about a movie, but if a comic book movie is really good he'll talk for a good long while because he's got that much to say. He and I were on the phone for about a half hour freaking out, mostly over the Joker.
I know a lot of people are saying that Heath Ledger is only receiving the Oscar talk in regards to this role because he passed away, but ... no. No, it's not that. This Joker is fucking terrifying. And the reason is because he feels real. Christopher Nolan has built a Gotham completely different from Tim Burton's Gotham, where the Joker defaced paintings while dancing to Prince, and -- thank God -- Joel Schumacher's Gotham, where Batsuits have nipples and Dr. Freeze dribbles out more bad puns than a Bell's Palsy patient at a cut-rate linguistics convention. Nolan's Gotham is definitely the most closest-to-reality Gotham we've ever had, and the consequence of that is that Heath Ledger's Joker isn't playfully nuts (although he does have his moments), he is entirely fucking batshit INSANE.. Even he knows he's fucked up. Just ask him.
And then there's Harvey Dent. Bryan and I talked about how much we both loved the different stories they told with both villains -- a hero we see grow into a villain, and a villain who emerges fully formed from the shadows. It's such a fabulous difference how we don't get to know a damn thing about the Joker. No name, no past ... hell, we think we get the story of his scars and then he slips us another one and it's obvious he's just making them up just for fun now. We learn next to nothing about the Joker other than that he's a clever chaotic psychopath. But with Harvey Dent, by the end of the movie we know him. He's not just a good guy because people point it out. He's a good guy because he IS a good guy. And then he goes and falls apart, and it's fucking heartbreaking. (Also, the makeup on Dent was phenomenal. I love the fact that they went so far, although I kinda felt uncomfortable about it if only because I knew there were kids in the audience.)
Also, JIM GORDON. Man, I love him. Gordon's always been this fairly down-to-earth character in a sea of weirdos in monster need of free therapy, and Gary Oldman -- who can play a nutjob as good as the next guy if not better -- turns him into someone you can trust. Even when he's covering for Batman, there's something to trust there. He's a good man. When they first called him commissioner, I nearly cheered.
I suppose most of my praise for Christian Bale is for the fact that he really let Ledger and Eckhart have the stage. He could do an amazing job performing as the mascot at a Cubs game, honest to God.
I think the only place where I hesitated was with Rachel. Maggie Gyllenhaal does a damn sight better with the character than Katie Holmes did, that's for damn sure, but the ending of her storyline left me cold for the same reasons so many others have said. Thanks to recent discussion, I had Women in Refrigerators in my head and ... well. *shrugs*
Bryan and I may go see it again tomorrow. Which means I have to spend the rest of tonight and most of tomorrow writing. *cracks knuckles*
2. Some girl at Borders knew what my LotR tat was and loved my anti-Twilight shirt. I don't know why I didn't get her online info. *headsmack*
3. I saw The Dark Knight!
I went alone, but I called my brother afterwards because I knew he'd seen it and we always talk a LOT after we see comic book movies. Bryan's not exactly talkative or enthusiastic about a movie, but if a comic book movie is really good he'll talk for a good long while because he's got that much to say. He and I were on the phone for about a half hour freaking out, mostly over the Joker.
I know a lot of people are saying that Heath Ledger is only receiving the Oscar talk in regards to this role because he passed away, but ... no. No, it's not that. This Joker is fucking terrifying. And the reason is because he feels real. Christopher Nolan has built a Gotham completely different from Tim Burton's Gotham, where the Joker defaced paintings while dancing to Prince, and -- thank God -- Joel Schumacher's Gotham, where Batsuits have nipples and Dr. Freeze dribbles out more bad puns than a Bell's Palsy patient at a cut-rate linguistics convention. Nolan's Gotham is definitely the most closest-to-reality Gotham we've ever had, and the consequence of that is that Heath Ledger's Joker isn't playfully nuts (although he does have his moments), he is entirely fucking batshit INSANE.. Even he knows he's fucked up. Just ask him.
And then there's Harvey Dent. Bryan and I talked about how much we both loved the different stories they told with both villains -- a hero we see grow into a villain, and a villain who emerges fully formed from the shadows. It's such a fabulous difference how we don't get to know a damn thing about the Joker. No name, no past ... hell, we think we get the story of his scars and then he slips us another one and it's obvious he's just making them up just for fun now. We learn next to nothing about the Joker other than that he's a clever chaotic psychopath. But with Harvey Dent, by the end of the movie we know him. He's not just a good guy because people point it out. He's a good guy because he IS a good guy. And then he goes and falls apart, and it's fucking heartbreaking. (Also, the makeup on Dent was phenomenal. I love the fact that they went so far, although I kinda felt uncomfortable about it if only because I knew there were kids in the audience.)
Also, JIM GORDON. Man, I love him. Gordon's always been this fairly down-to-earth character in a sea of weirdos in monster need of free therapy, and Gary Oldman -- who can play a nutjob as good as the next guy if not better -- turns him into someone you can trust. Even when he's covering for Batman, there's something to trust there. He's a good man. When they first called him commissioner, I nearly cheered.
I suppose most of my praise for Christian Bale is for the fact that he really let Ledger and Eckhart have the stage. He could do an amazing job performing as the mascot at a Cubs game, honest to God.
I think the only place where I hesitated was with Rachel. Maggie Gyllenhaal does a damn sight better with the character than Katie Holmes did, that's for damn sure, but the ending of her storyline left me cold for the same reasons so many others have said. Thanks to recent discussion, I had Women in Refrigerators in my head and ... well. *shrugs*
Bryan and I may go see it again tomorrow. Which means I have to spend the rest of tonight and most of tomorrow writing. *cracks knuckles*
