So, I guess you're in for a treat...otherwise, this is going to be absolute torture. However, fear not, for I will be including many fantastic pictures to look at; lest you be bored.
The Dark Knight Review:
I suppose film quality is just as good a place to start in this.
As I've mentioned before, I've had the pleasure of watching this movie on a few different formats. I've seen conventional 35mm, the Imax 64mm, and finally the amazing version on the internet. For those out there that believed there was no difference in quality and decided to save the money and go to the conventional film theaters, YOU GOT OWNED!
The quality was so notably different, that I felt the movie experience overall was more immersive. The colors were crisp to the point that they popped. Even in the characteristically dark scenes, the shadows were more pronounced which led to a better view of movement. One such example I can give is in the "prologue" scene (ARG players know what I'm talking about) when the final robber is about to be slammed by the bus, the eyes, in 35mm are dark, however, in the Imax version you can SEE the eyes as though you were standing in front of him.
It was definitely worth the extra going to see this movie in such a format.
Now onto the meat of this review.
Casting:
Alright, so Maggie Gyllenhaal looked a little old. Yes, I know her face has a jowled appearance. It still doesn't take away from the fact that she played a stellar Rachel Dawes. A character who is fiesty yet still reserve. She never has shyed away from her ultimate goal which is the protection of Gotham. Given the characters motivation, I don't believe she needed to be some stunning actress that would fufill the stereotypical hollywood roll of a "love interest;" it just would'nt match the feel of the movie.
The rest of the cast was superb. My feelings in regards to Christian Bales portrayal of the caped crusader are nothing short of veneration. I believe that he brings the darker nature of Bruce Wayne to the screen and fufills a void that has been missing. Need I even mention George Clooney's "Bat Nipples," or Val Kilmer's Topgun speech to Robin, or even Michael Keetons Princeton Jackass Batman? Bale's is so much more real, tormented, and gritty. To me, which is exactly what Batman is. Not a character motivated by cool gadgets, but a character motivated by vengeance and obligation. A perfect pick indeed.
However, the show was stolen by THE MOST captivating character to hit the silver screen in years. The late Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker. Whatever praise I have to sing of this incredible character, cannot even begin to be put into words. What Ledger brought to this character, is a performance that I believe will go down as one of THE MOST iconic villian performances in cinematic history. This Joker is a vast departure from the likes of Jack Nicholson, which don't get me wrong, was a fine joker; just not what I always pictured the real Joker would be like.
Ledger brought out the sadism, the disturbed, the genius aspects of the Joker. If he doesn't get a posthumous Oscar for this role, I'll truly be surprised.
The movies construction itself is a work of fine art. Everything from the script to photography was like watching an artist at work. Chris Nolan did an amazing job with this film and I believe he deserves a great deal of credit.
Now looking beyond the incredible technical aspects of this movie, was a generous helping of thought provocing subject matter. The main parts of which focused on the characters/people themselves. To me, this seemed to be a very Gotham oriented movie. In which the a lot of the events were to help the people decide what it is the ideals of morality, integrity, and perception meant to them. As a viewer, you to were faced with these same moral postulations. Is Batman a vigilante or is he a necessary element that must be supported? Is the Joker truly an evil person, or does he inspire free thought? Does the Joker allow the opportunity for people to decide what is wrong, right, or easy? Many questions were brought up after the movie, and ultimately, you must answer them for yourself.
I personally found myself rooting for the Joker. Because of what he represents. I believe that his rebellion against the organized groups or "schemers" as he calls them, is really a motivation for the people to stand up to those in charge of making the decisions and taking back government for themselves. The evil in this world and in Gotham happens when people become apathetic and no longer stand up for what is right, but instead opt for what is easy. They'll always complain but will they act upon their convicitons? Of course, there is the more obvious side of the Joker, where he clearly has no interest in tangible wealth, but instead is more committed to showing the people of Gotham that no matter how upright somebody is, they have a price and can fall.
At anyrate, the moral facets are many and while intriguing, are best left for another time. Contact me directly if you'd like to chat about them.
In conclusion, the movie was incredible and is definitely welcomed after so many box office flops. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone regardless of how they feel about "comic book" movies.
A+
IPHONE NEWS:
Yep, as I've said, I have purchased one of those lovely little Iphone 3Gs.
IT IS AMAZING! To say the least. Once you learn how to navigate the nonsense that is the App store, many possibilities open up for it.
There are of course complications, that if you've been following it, are sure to have heard. Yes, it does crash, although not so much at the frequency some have reported. Yes, it doesn't have "cut and paste" features. Yes, the bluetooth capabilties are limited. Finally, Yes, it doesn't have voice dialing. The real shaft to some of these problems, voice dialing, is that there are applications that you can PURCHASE to obtain some of the features. Which of course, I find ridiculous, considering it is common practice to include these features with the phone.
However, in the news is rumor that the new Firmware 2.1 update will have Cut N Paste, considering that they have found some source code in the leaked beta release that hints at it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. In addition, they've added some fixes for some stability and crash fixes.
Am I still going to Jailbreak it? Hell yes, oh HELL yes! At this point, I want to wait for the 2.1 software to hit, have Winpwn get updated, and then Jailbreak the living hell out of the phone. There is nothing I want more than to have my chat applications run in the background (No thanks to Jobs and his great idea of what you can't do with the SDK).
All in all, I'm super happy to have waited in line for this phone. I was #30 in line for it at the South Coast Plaza Apple Store. It truly is an amzazing piece of technology and I've used it for even more situations than I previously anticipated. Which makes it even cooler.
I could talk for hours on how awesome and intuitive the interface is, and how it has amazing bluetooth device support, or how its pretty damn fast even on the Edge network. But my last phone was a crappy Razr that I've had for years, so I don't have much else to compare it to. So, lets wait another month and I'll write a real comprehensive review for the Iphone.
Comic Con:
WOW, I've been going to Comic Con for a number of years now and it never ceases to amaze me how much it grows each year. I'll save what I thought about it for tomorrow. Its almost 4am and I can't believe I sat here and got this much typed.
Night all, and hey....FOLLOW my Twitter once and a while!
Random Thoughts:
I was going to post the picture of this guy on my blog, but then realized I didn't want to subject people to that. So instead here is a link to the always creepy, "zune guy" now known as "Creepy Ipod Touch guy that was formerly known as creepy Zune guy."
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