Archive for July, 2008
07-28-2008
The Dark Knight - review
So, yesterday, after playing some tennis with Elizabeth, I decided to go and see “The Dark Knight.” I had hoped that waiting a week might make the theater a little less crowded, but such was not the case. It was completely packed. However, the crowd wasn’t peppered with screaming children, unlike some movies I’ve been to this summer, so it wasn’t bad.
I didn’t see “Batman Begins” in the theater, but did catch it on DVD. I had no idea that R’as al Ghul was actually a character from the comics until I did a little research, since I am, as mentioned before, not a comic girl. I enjoyed the first one, though I felt Christian Bale was a little wooden at times, but I got that he was trying to project gravitas and pathos, both weighing him down at the same time.
You can’t talk about “Dark Knight” without talking about Heath Ledger. This was one of Ledger’s last films that he made before his untimely death. Ledger was a gifted actor, and I can honestly say, his complete hotness aside, that I enjoyed him in everything I saw him in. Whether it was the earnest young knight-to-be of “A Knight’s Tale,” the wildman courting Julia Stiles of “10 Things I Hate About You,” or the closeted cowboy of “Brokeback Mountain,” Ledger consistently found new emotional depths and made you like him.
What then, to make of his performance as the Joker, perhaps the most iconic villain of the Batman universe? From the moment he steps onscreen at the start of the movie, Ledger’s Joker projects more darkness, more menace, more evil, than any villain in any previous Batman movie. There is a scene very early on involving a pencil and a mob henchman that made me, as well as several people around me, jump. The casual brutality, the joy that Ledger’s Joker takes in creating chaos, is terrifying and almost too much to take.
The performance is all the more brilliant because you don’t really see Ledger. He completely disappeares into the role, and his haphazard clown makeup adds even more to the craziness he inhabits.
In fact, knowing that Ledger, a meticulous method actor, died shortly thereafter, it is hard not to wonder whether the depths he must have plumbed to convincingly portray such manic evil didn’t somehow affect him.
Michael Caine, as Alfred, says to Christian Bale, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” It is clear that Ledger took this part of the script to heart. Ledger’s Joker likes to set up no-win situations, trying to bring the entire city down to his level of gleeful anarchy.
I won’t talk too much about the rest of the movie. Christian Bale was good again, though I don’t know why he speaks so differently when he is in costume than when he isn’t. Maggie Gyllenhaal is much better than Katie Holmes as Rachel, Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend, and Aaron Eckhart is great as Harvey Dent. Supporting players Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman are also excellent.
There is one very poignant moment which shows how different Batman is from his fellow superheroes. Waking up in bed when Alfred brings him breakfast, Bale’s Bruce sits up, and the camera pans over his back, covered in bruises. Bruce Wayne is not endowed with super powers. He is a man, fighting crime with all the technological prowess he can.
I definitely recommend this film. It is much grittier, more real feeling than most “superhero” films.
Posted by Candace in Movies | No Comments »
07-05-2008
Did Pearl Jam kill taping?
Last night, I went to see Blues Traveler. A week ago, I was at Widespread Panic. What I noticed, aside from the fact that the audience never really seems to age, is the diminishing size of the taper sections at both shows. Five years ago, the taping section at Panic was 5-6 rows deep. Last week, there was one row of tapers.
I have a theory that Pearl Jam unintentionally destroyed taping as it used to be. I love Pearl Jam, and they always said they were fine with audience taping. Then they started their bootleg series, where they record EVERY show on a tour and release it, in full glory. These releases sound fantastic. They are soundboards with some audience thrown in. Each date costs about $15.
Shortly after Pearl Jam embarked on this epic project, bands in the jam community started doing it too. When the surviving members of the Grateful Dead reunited in 2003, they offered the entire tour up for sale. String Cheese Incident and Widespread Panic soon did the same. Now, if I want a Panic show, for $15 I can get a perfect copy. I’ve noticed that since around 2005, trading is down and the number of tapers is reduced.
In a way, it makes sense. Why lug all that gear around, deal with drunk people who may fall into it or spill beer on it, rain threatening to short it all out etc., when for $15 you can just buy a better copy than you can make?
Nevertheless, I miss the taping community. It was always so welcoming, and there is something great about hearing a true audience recording. While the quality doesn’t match the official releases, there is something electric that is captured on those recording, a palpable audience community releasing joy at hearing their favorite songs played live and in the moment.
To all my fellow tapers, we’ll see you at some future gig. May we never disappear!
Posted by Candace in Music | No Comments »
07-05-2008
Hancock
So, in between playing tennis and going to Blues Traveler, I went and caught Hancock yesterday. It was, overall, an entertaining 100 minutes or so. I laughed a few times, appreciated the action sequences, and found it a fun mindless popcorn movie.
Will Smith is completely playing against type in this movie, and to me he doesn’t quite pull it off. He’s supposed to be completely unlikeable, but I think, in a too heavy-handed attempt at foreshadowing, they make it too obvious that he is just misunderstood.
The opening sequence where Hancock stops a getaway car while drinking straight from the bottle, then flips the car onto a building antenna, is hilarious.
I thought the most poignant moment came when Hancock, in jail at the suggestion of his new PR agent, played well by Jason Bateman, is playing basketball and shooting long range shots. The ball goes over the fence on a rebound and rolls away. Hancock looks at it for a few moments, then jumps over the fence to get the ball. When he does that, the guards radio in a security breach, and while the sirens go off, Hancock holds the ball and looks back at the jail, clearly debating whether to ditch the jail and go his own way. It’s a very suggestive moment, because it clearly encapsulates the superhero pathos; if you can do anything, what’s to stop you from doing anything?
Charlize Theron is also in the movie as Jason Bateman’s wife. There is a twist associated with her character; in fact, she is quite crucial to the movie as a whole. Whether the twist makes sense or not I’ll leave to you. I actually kind of liked it, the usual critical snarkiness aside. Besides, Charlize totally rocks. I fell in love with her in Italian Job (if I ever win the lottery, I’m getting a mini-Cooper for sure!).
There’s nothing earth-shatteringly good about Hancock, and nothing really earth-shatteringly bad about it either. It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: summer escapism. At that, it succeeds beautifully. It’s fun and holds together in its own narrative.
Posted by Candace in Movies | No Comments »