da na na na na na na na (batman)

[OP ED]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1qP-NglUeZU

Just saw Dark Knight for the second time since it came out. Had to be sure.

Opinions?

Also. One word: Watchmen.

[Jeff]

I meant to yesterday, but had to make it Hellboy 2 instead. (That was fun, and I liked the development of Abe and the introduction of Johann Krauss, but much of the menace of the first was missing.)

I'm struck by how much the Watchmen trailer looks like the Watchmen.

[Jeff]

And crap, I miscast my vote. Meant it to be No. 2 instead of No. 1.

[8bitagent]

Hard to think just a decade ago there was a much different Batman franchise...this doesnt represent that world at all.

I was startled by how serious the Dark Knight film was treated...it felt like a serious drama, like Mystic River or something. This film felt like the real world, that just happens to have Batman in it.

Also as a fan of cinematography, I was quite in awe of the look of the photography and lens' used, as well as post color correction.

Leger's Joker was...I don't even know how to put it. I definitely need to see it again soon, just amazing how epic in scope it felt.

(I didnt care for Hellboy one bit, but I thought the first one was fun)

[annie aronburg]

Baman & Piderman

[Et in Arcadia ego]

but much of the menace of the first was missing.

Aww man, I didn't want to see that said. I loved the first one's toe dipping into Lovecraftian elements.

[8bitagent]

It'd be a trip if when at the Academy Award next year, they give the oscar posthumously to Heath Ledger...and right when family is about to walk up to recieve it...Ledger comes onstage as the Joker, and to the gasp of everyone in the auditorium says "Why So Serious?"

[Jeff]

but much of the menace of the first was missing.

Aww man, I didn't want to see that said. I loved the first one's toe dipping into Lovecraftian elements.

Well, there is this one character who turns up near the end who could have been lifted straight from Pan's Labyrinth:



He gave me the Pale Man willies.

Other than that, not much in the way of metaphysical dread or awe, which has to be scored as a disappointment for a del Torro film.

[8bitagent]

but much of the menace of the first was missing.

Aww man, I didn't want to see that said. I loved the first one's toe dipping into Lovecraftian elements.

Well, there is this one character who turns up near the end who could have been lifted straight from Pan's Labyrinth:



He gave me the Pale Man willies.

Other than that, not much in the way of metaphysical dread or awe, which has to be scored as a disappointment for a del Torro film.

Hellboy 2 felt kind of silly to me, the first one I felt seemed much darker.
Tho, that character and some of the other overt Pan's Labyrinth-esque creatures were pretty cool eye candy.

Hmm...no Hollywood cgi "Bye Bye Man" or "Solway Giant" monsters?
If Hollywood read your blog Jeff, they'd have so many ideas they wouldnt no what to do with themselves.

[Jeff]

Finally saw The Dark Knight this afternoon.

IMO, this is the moment that set it apart from everything else in the genre:

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

The Joker's taken half of the mob's wealth, and what does he do with it? Makes a pyramid of cash and sets fire to it.

Ledger's Joker is closer to Spacey's John Doe in Se7en than Jack Nicholson's jester, who was really nothing but another mobster. This Joker is a psychologist, and psychotically righteous.

I hope the character lives on - and Ledger's performance should have been fierce enough to create a tulpa - because I could care less about the Riddler or the Penguin or even fucking Batman.