TRAILER - Watchmen

People are always stopping me on the street and asking me, "Do you have any spare change? Maybe a dollar?" As I dig through my lint-infested pockets, they fill the awkward silence by asking, "Hey, Doc, what's up with that Watchmen movie? Think it's gonna be any good?"

And I am forced to admit that I just don't know. Also that I think I lost my wallet.

For every thing that's spot-on perfect in this trailer there's something just slightly off from the source material, so ultimately I guess I'm adopting a wait-and-see attitude. It's impressive, though.

Anyway, here's the trailer for all you folks who haven't seen The Dark Knight yet, or just want to relive the experience:Watchmen hits theaters March 6.

REVIEW - The Dark Knight

Note: It’s nearly impossible to discuss this film without at least SOME spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film, please stop reading now and go to the theater at your earliest opportunity. It's that good. Seriously.

So people have been foaming at the mouth to see this film for it seems like forever, and now that The Dark Knight has finally been released, the question everyone is asking is, “How well does Maggie Gyllenhaal do in replacing Katie Holmes?”

Okay, so that’s the question nobody’s really asking going in, or, if they are, it’s pretty far down the list. Really, everybody wants to know if it’s as awesome as everyone is saying it is. The hype factory has gone crazy with this particular film, mostly due to the untimely demise of one of its best performers, but even if Heath Ledger were still alive today I think he’d get every bit of the accolades that are being bestowed upon him posthumously. Such is his performance that I will not mention his shuffling off his mortal coil again, as I feel it does a disservice to his performance by harping on it, lamenting it, and otherwise drawing attention to it as much as the media vultures seem to.

Escalation. Everyone’s talking about it. Crazy guy in a bat costume taking out criminals; there’s gonna be some crazier guys willing to raise the stakes. It’s as much a plot point as it is a mission statement for this reset Batman franchise; in one fell swoop, director Christopher Nolan raised the stakes for comic book films in every possible way. We’re seeing the results of that now with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and the upcoming Watchmen, but the days of mediocre stuff like the Fantastic Four as directed by the director of Barbershop and Bryan Singer’s Superman Has A Kid And He Creepily Stalks The Boy are, I think, a distant memory. At least they should be. Even the X-Men films, which were pretty darn good in my opinion, are heavily outclassed. And Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series looks like an exercise in retardation compared with even the trailer for Batman Begins. So, with Batman at the top of the superhero heap, what is there left to do?

Raise the stakes again.

If we recall the final scene of Batman Begins, Batman and Jim Gordon discuss the concept of escalation, and how crazy costumed people are going to be gunning for the Batman. The Dark Knight picks up with these exact themes. As the film begins, Batman is dealing with the following: organized crime on the brink of extinction thanks to the combined efforts of himself, the police, and crusading district attorney Harvey Dent; an easily dispatched Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy in a great cameo appearance, returning to the role); novice vigilantes in hockey pads pretending to be Batman; and dogs.

Predictably, Batman deals with these issues easily (though the dogs give him pause), but the combined efforts of justice to bring down the mob gets all messed up when one crazy guy decides to stroll in and change the rules entirely.

Heath Ledger’s work as the Joker is pretty amazing. To say that he steals the show is an understatement made grander by the company he shares the screen with. When was the last time someone stole a film out from under the feet of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman or Gary Oldman? Seriously.

Inevitable Joker Comparisons: Ledger’s Joker isn’t even in the same weight class as Nicholson’s; Nicholson’s Joker was an amped-up Cesar Romero Joker. Ledger’s is cut from a completely different cloth than any previous incarnation and shares more in common with Hannibal Lecter or Alex DeLarge than anyone else in film. His pencil trick alone is worth the price of admission, and forces the audience into the uncomfortable realization that they too are at the mercy of a madman. This Joker is a cunning strategist and a master manipulator, despite his claims to the contrary. Frequently, I found myself laughing at the horrible things the Joker was doing despite feeling horrified at the same time. I haven’t had so much fun watching a bad guy since Ian McDiarmid threw Samuel L. Jackson out a window, and even that pales in comparison to anything the Joker does in this film. This incarnation of the Joker is tailored specifically for the times we live in, and has raised the bar for film villains going forward. The performance will be much imitated, but I doubt anyone could improve upon it, since they don't have the benefit of the Nolan Brothers' highly quotable dialogue.

Leaving the Joker aside for a moment, probably the biggest surprise of the film is Harvey Dent. Aaron Eckhart is by no means an unknown actor (if you haven’t seen his awesome performance in Jason Reitman’s Thank You For Smoking, check it out), but I think it’s safe to say that this is his first big Hollywood blockbuster, and he does not disappoint. I was a bit surprised at the mostly-subdued nature of his Two Face, but I think they were going more for a brooding intensity than a raving madman, since they already had enough overtly crazy people in the film.

Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors ever, and he continues to impress in the role of Jim Gordon. When you look at his other roles, particularly Stansfield in Leon (The Professional) or the Russian bad guy in Air Force One, or Zorg in The Fifth Element or whatever, and then you say, “This is the guy who’s going to play Commissioner Gordon,” my brain esplode. But Oldman turns in yet another excellent performance, carrying his share of the storyline and honestly, I don’t mind admitting that not only did I buy it hook line and sinker when they killed him off, I was pretty annoyed, which I’m sure was their intent. LOOK AT ME I’M CHRIS NOLAN I CAN KILL OFF ANYBODY I WANT I CARE NOT FOR YOUR CONTINUITY SNIVELING FANBOYS but thankfully this situation was resolved with Nolan’s typically deft magician’s hand.

Speaking of character mortality, did anyone really expect Rachel Dawes to get all blowed up, especially after her character was so carefully recast? Maggie Gyllenhaal did a great job of making Ms. Dawes a grown up human being and not some fish-eyed woman-child play acting. Holmes got blown off the screen every time she appeared in Batman Begins; Gyllenhaal actually manages to hold her own against all the heavy-hitting actors in the cast.

I actually think I preferred Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne to his Batman. Wayne was hilarious, especially when stealing away with the entire Russian Ballet or crashing his Lamborghini. The humor was never at the expense of his character, however; we can always tell that Bruce is only acting like an idiot, and maybe even allowing himself to enjoy it just a little. Batman, as a character, is typical (though it seems like it's really not even his film), but Bale’s hoarse growl when donning the cape becomes a bit tiresome and even slightly ridiculous after a while. This is the probably biggest problem with the film, and it’s a reeeeally nitpicky one.

While Rutger Hauer does not return (more’s the pity), the old guys are well represented by the incredible Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. It was cool to see Alfred get at least a bit of a backstory that hints that maybe he hasn’t been a butler at stately Wayne Manor his whole life, though the story he tells about some jewel thief in the jungle is a bit tedious. At least it has a point, and a valid one. Also, I loved the scene where Lucius Fox stares down a potential blackmailer (who, surprisingly, has a larger role than one would expect).

One would expect a certain amount of action in a superhero film, and The Dark Knight does not disappoint. There is an action sequence in the middle of the film involving an armored truck and an 18 wheeler that may actually be better than the sequence that I’ve always held as the gold standard for such things, the Truck Chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Don’t quote me on it yet, though; I’d like to watch The Dark Knight again to make sure. Seriously though, it is pretty much the greatest thing to happen in filmed action all year. I think it was at that point of the film when I realized that I had no idea how long I’d been there, and that this could be the climax of the film - a similar feeling as when I was somewhere in the middle of No Country For Old Men. And just like No Country, I was very wrong and pleased to be so.

The film ends in an interesting place. Rather than allowing Batman to kill the Joker, he lives (this is a common occurence in the comics). Two Face is killed, though somewhat unintentionally. I was kind of hoping this film would be a setup for the next film to be a Two Face film, but apparently that isn’t going to happen unless they cheese out and bring him back from the dead, but Nolan seems to want to keep the comic book cheese to a minimum. No, it looks like we’ll probably be seeing some new villains in the next one, though who it could be we can only speculate.

Names have been thrown around like Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin or Johnny Depp stepping in to play the Joker. These are good actors, and I think Depp could definitely do some interesting things with the Joker, but putting them aside I just question the real-world sensibilities of Batman’s remaining rogues’ gallery. I guess they could do the Penguin, but what is the Penguin without his umbrellas and waddling and “waah waah waah” all the time? And how cheesy would that be? Are people going to buy a realistic Riddler? Some could possibly work as side villains, like maybe Poison Ivy or Killer Croc. I’d like to see a Patrick Stewart or Ben Kingsley take on Mr. Freeze, if people can get past that whole Schwarzenegger debacle. Bane could also work, I guess. Catwoman has been done to death, but I fully expect her to show up in the next one in some fashion since they blew up the only lady character this time around. Hush is too recent to register with the general audience. If you even bring up the Mad Hatter I will kill you.

The Dark Knight is indeed comparable to The Godfather Part II or The Empire Strikes Back, in the sense that they are superior sequels to also-awesome, genre-defining films which have had a lasting impact on the medium. It is better than any comic book film has a right to be (if that statement makes any sense to begin with), and transcends genre completely and is simply a great film. It’s going to take something pretty amazing to come out of nowhere and supplant The Dark Knight as the best film of the year.

Movie Review Update

Guys, I have been super busy lately dealing with things that are way beyond my maturity level, but in between all that I did actually get to see some pretty neat movies so we're just going to do a recap here and cheesily cover them all in a short period of time.

This is shoddy work and there's really no excuse and I apologize.

The Fall

So Tarsem, the guy who famously directed "that REM video" and "that crazy Jennifer Lopez movie that wasn't all that good really but Vincent D'Onofrio plays yet another type of crazy person", took like 5 years to make this film. It looks amazing. Thematically, it steals shamelessly from all sorts of sources; it's kinda like what would happen if you threw The Wizard of Oz, The Princess Bride, Lawrence of Arabia and Fight Club in a blender and poured the results in a tall steaming glass of Kubrick, which really doesn't even begin to describe it. Put it this way: there is a character in this film named Charles Darwin. He is a naturalist who walks around in a bowler hat and one of those furry coats that make people concerned for the mental state of Lindsay Lohan when they see her wearing one in all those paparazzi photos in the supermarket tabloids. And he has a monkey sidekick. And he is chasing after a rare butterfly. And he's just a side character. This film is unimaginably insane and I highly recommend it due to its amazing visuals and the incredible performance from the young actress in the film, Catinca Untaru. It's probably a bit too weird for "some people", but it's totally the kind of film that makes me love going to the movies.



Darkon

I freely admit that I'm a geek. I have no problem with that. In fact, the only thing that really bothers me about it is that it is suddenly becoming okay to be a geek. These days, everybody is letting their freak flags fly.

Nowhere moreso than in Darkon, a documentary about a marauding band of LARPers from the Baltimore area that have their own fantasy world in which they have battles, etc. with foam weapons and they look like they're having more fun than is humanly possible. There are different kingdoms in the realm of Darkon that fight each other for land, money or honor; there's even a band of elves that will side with your army if the price is right. There is politics, there is intrigue. And these people are totally serious about all of it. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever. Actually, check that - if it were an all-cardboard LARP than it would be the coolest thing ever, but until that gets invented I guess Darkon will have to do. If you're a fan of all things geeky, if you thought that The King of Kong wasn't geeky enough for you, check out Darkon. I'll see you on the field.



Wall•E

I was surprisingly unmoved by Wall•E, which is not to say that I didn't think it was awesome. My expectations for this film were incredibly, impossibly high, and they were met. Not exceeded, which would have been nearly impossible, but met. The graphics, of course, were amazing. The story was solid. The characters were memorable. Ben Burtt should get a special Oscar for his sound work on the film, there is no question.

I'm not sure I like the live-action elements of the film. The blending of live-action and CG into the story gives me logic problems in my brain that make me want to hide under my bed. Which is not to say that Fred Willard wasn't awesome, or that the Hello, Dolly stuff wasn't appropriate; they work very well, they just make my logic circuits short out when later on they have those potato people floating in their chairs. I know they have the pictures on the bridge of all the captains showing the de-evolution of mankind, but still. I'm sorry, but my disbelief suspensors are malfunctioning in this instance; this shouldn't be an issue.

It's a minor quibble, and one that I'm probably alone in. Many other people (these people are known as "d-bags") have been carrying on that Wall•E looks like the homo love child of E.T. and Johnny 5, when really the only person who should be putting together an intellectual property suit are the makers of those cheapo binoculars you can get in Chinatown for like a dollar next to the bootleg copies of The Dark Knight with Cantonese subtitles, and you know the last thing those guys want to do is let the legal world know that they exist.

Anyway, as usual the secondary characters steal the show, especially the ragtag bunch of misfit robots that Wall•E unintentionally lets loose, as well as M•O the cleaning robot, and Jeff Garlin was great as the captain.

Ultimately this was a great film, and in any other year it would have been far and away the best film of the year. But this summer is so packed that Wall•E will probably not even be the best film of the summer. Unfortunate scheduling aside, Wall•E is a film that should be seen by everyone because it is amazing.



In Bruges

In Bruges is basically what would happen if Quentin Tarantino had grown up on a steady diet of film noir, Cassavetes films and My Dinner With Andre instead of exploitation films, 70s caper films and Shaw Bros. chop-sockey movies. However, writer-director Martin McDonagh is not, ultimately, Quentin Tarantino, so we miss out on all the self-conscious pop culture references, and the excessive violence is kept to an "only-when-necessary" level. The film is better for it, and reaches a level of maturity that Tarantino doesn't even know (or care) exists.

Basically what the film is about is these two hit men hide out in the sleepy tourist town of Bruges, Belgium, after a job went horribly wrong. They make the most of their downtime by seeing the sights while they wait for orders from their boss.

I am pretty much not a fan of Colin Farrell at all, but I have to say that after watching this film I was impressed. He's actually a really good actor. Also, he is hilarious. Just goes to show what the right material can do for a skilled actor. Brendan Gleeson is equally awesome; I'm waiting for him to win an Oscar for something at some point, because if anyone in films deserves to have his work recognized, it's Brendan Gleeson. Ralph Fiennes shows up and puts his own spin on the Ben-Kingsley-in-Sexy-Beast organized crime-type person, which works fairly well. There is a midget (Jordan Prentice), which makes the film an automatic must-see for many of this blog's regular readers.

I really liked this film because it's about a couple of hit men walking around and talking about random stuff in a beautiful medieval cityscape. It's a bit like Before Sunrise, except without the budding romance but with the odd bit of horrific violence.

The script is amazing. The dwarf's speech about racism alone is worth seeing the film for. But mostly the film is just about a couple of coworkers who get along pretty well and the sort of shenanigans they get up to in a town where there's nothing to do except look at architecture and drink Belgian beer, so you can't go in expecting a film chock full of gunplay, though there is some - they are hit men, after all. Anyway, I liked this film a lot, it was pretty cool.


So there are some films that I saw recently. They were really cool so I say you should check them out if they sound cool to you too.