The blogosphere took a big hit when Steve decided to go on summer hiatus. Support groups are forming nationwide.
There's no way I can pick up the slack but at least I can pass on, courtesy of Felix, that there's a wrestler at UNC named Long Wang. Other bloggers have suggested this is the best sports name since Mike Hunt. For my money, though, we have to go back to Pete LaCock. I'm surprised to see that LaCock's middle name is 'Pierre', meaning we could've had the all-time best 'Lucky' Pierre LaCock.
I saw The Dark Knight..... Sheesh, I hate to spoil the party but watching an actor who clearly had serious mental illness play a homicidal clown while the audience titters over his tardive dyskinesia was about all I could take. And, wow, if you thought the 'random-chance-is-the-only-morality' theme was a little clumsy and trite in 'No Country', the Dark Knight makes that look like a revelation. Anybody see Step Brothers? I think I need a little lighter summer fare.
8 comments:
Dark Night stood for the exact opposite of chance posing as morality. Harvey Dent never relied on chance, UNTIL he turned evil. The coin was 2 headed, so he always knew how the flip would fall.
And when the Joker counted on humans to kill each other, they didn't.
In the meantime, a terrorist attacked a strong man using the cowardly tactics of hostage videos, torture, roadside attacks, and calls for capitulation.
Instead of crumbling, the hero made the hard choices that many would critcize (breaking some legs, spying on citizens) while the world cried for him to give in and hated him. He made some tough calls and let the people hate him, because he can take it.
Sound familiar?
Don's first paragraph was so strong .... second, great, and apt! Then, what happened?
I was just saying I think the movie is an allegory on the tough choices we have to make when forced with terrorism. I don't think the movie applauds Batman's heavy-handed response (Lucius Fox destroys the spying network in the end), but I think it raises important questions and makes us think. Wayne desperately searches for answers to end the terror and asks Alfred how he and his English brothers caught the Burmese bandit. Alfred responds "We burnt down the forest." So, Batman is confronted with tough choices. Forsake everything in which he believes or cross lines he never wanted to cross. Perhaps a better hero would have found a better way, but leave that for the lily white aliens from Krypton. Batman has to live in reality. He is human. He did the best he could. But maybe that wasn't good enough. Maybe the Joker won before the movie even started.
And I am not the only one who has noted this idea. Google Batman and George Bush and you will see.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121694247343482821.html
http://jaajoe.com/Movie-Reviews/Is-Batman-actually-George-W.-Bush.html
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/91131/batman_secretly_george_bush.html
I think it is interesting that conservatives have to find their messages buried in movies like 300 and Batman.... But I am less surprised those movies are blockbusters. I also laugh at every news article I read about hand wringing Hollywood executives wondering why their America-bashing anti-war movies just don't sell. It is obviously because Americans are not enlightened enough, I know, I know.
In any event, I don't think Chris Nolan was supporting W's tactics (and nor do I - the libertarian in me cringes at Gitmo and FISA and such) as much as making us (even those blind with Bush hatred and those blind with terrorist hatred) about the reality of dealing with terrorism in a "free" society.
Any movie that makes my eyes widen in wonder and my mine widen in thought is a great movie.
It made me think, too. But by the 150 min mark I felt like I had been sledge-hammered with the 'Joker-lives-by-the-rules-of-anarchy-and-is-thus-impossibly-dangerous' theme (and was stated about as subtly in several instances) and then the coin-flipping, which I apparently didn't even get but started to feel like an SNL skit. Two-face shows up at a hot dog stand and can't decide on condiments...
As a comic book fan, I probably was more forgiving of the coin flipping. I think, though, that I focused more on the response to the Joker's anarchy than his theme. I thought the real subtlety was in Batman's struggle to respond to the sledgehammer. Still, I can see why it may have beaten you down.
I was just so caught up in Heath's performance that I did not even notice the time until after he blew up the hospital. And that's when I checked to see if we'd reached the halfway point yet.
My biggest problems with the movie are Batman's voice and his costume (still a silly looking mask up close).
yes, the voice.... hmmm... I'm assuming Batman must alter it so that it isn't obvious to all who he is. But if Batman has the infrared googly contacts that let him GPS/wiretap everyone, you'd think Lucien Fox could've whipped together a voice scrambler.
Exactly. I also hated the googly eyes. They were not necessary and distracting. Tim Burton turned Batman into Iron Man. Ross Perot could be Batman according to Burton. I hope Chris Nolan does not rely on tech so much that Bruce Wayne is lost in the story.
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