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It’s impossible to watch The Dark Knight and not miss Heath Ledger. The man was absolutely brilliant in this film and it makes me a bit sad that they won’t be able to continue his character’s storyline in the franchise. They may recast eventually, but whoever takes that role will be measured against his Oscar winning performance.

In this film Bruce Wayne begins to think that he wants to give up the bat and hand this job of saving Gotham over to someone else but he discovers that it’s a mantle he can’t shake. Batman & Bruce Wayne learn a great lesson in this film, one that comes at a price.

The theme of this film is stated by one of the characters – “It’s always darkest just before the dawn” – it’s a theme that I am hoping will influence the next installment as well. Perhaps, a glimmer of light will begin to break on Gotham again.

Paul Sheldon is a romance writer tired of writing his heroine Misery. Annie Wilkes is a former nurse who is Paul’s number one fan. After finishing up his latest non-Misery manuscript in the country he ends up in a car crash during a blizzard and Annie rescues him; Paul is badly injured and bed-ridden and Annie assures him that once the phones are restored or the roads are plowed she will get him help. However, as time wears on it becomes evident that Annie has a psychotic fixation with Paul and when she discovers that he has killed off Misery in his latest novel she holds him hostage while forcing him to write Misery’s resurrection.

Misery is one of the creepiest films I have ever seen anchored by two of the best performances I’ve ever seen. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her depiction of Annie Wilkes and I have to say that the award was earned; Kathy reaches a level of insanity that shouldn’t be possible in a sane member of society and I think that it is up there with the performances of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight or Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - it’s chilling.

James Caan is no slouch either. He has the equally hard task of being the victim in this film and walks between pain, paranoia, gratitude and determination with great aplomb and not a moment feels false. It is incredibly hard to play the straight man to such a irregular character like Annie Wilkes.

One thing I did not expect from Misery was the comedic elements added by the town sheriff and deputy; they are an old married couple who obviously don’t see much action in their area and instead banter like the old couple they are. I feel in love with them immediately and thought they brought a nice relief to the otherwise nail-biting story-line.

I am still in shock that the writer and director behind Misery are the writer and director behind The Princess Bride. While I think that William Goldman and Rob Reiner are immensely talented people there could not be a film more diametrically opposed to The Princess Bride than Misery.

Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: William Goldman
Paul Sheldon: James Caan
Annie Wilkes: Kathy Bates
Buster: Richard Farnsworth
Virginia: Frances Sternhagen
Marcia Sindell: Lauren Bacall

Annie: God came to me last night and told me your purpose for being here. I am going to help you write a new book.
Paul: You think I can just whip one out?
Annie: Oh, but I don't think Paul, I know.

Every time I watch The Dark Knight it holds up. It is just as tense, thrilling and masterful as the first time.

What I have to compliment Nolan and crew on most of all is how well they stayed to the mythos behind Bruce Wayne & the Joker while making the story their own. They spent the time alluding to enough of the comic book cannon that fans feel vindicated and honored rather than ignored; it’s something that only Christopher Nolan and Jon Favreau have done with the characters they’ve been given. No one has ever done this with Superman, and only slightly so with Spiderman, and a whole slew of other characters.

I hope Gary Oldman was not guessing at Comic-Con when he said the third film would begin filming next year. I want them to make a movie as great as the first two but I am quite anxious to see Bruce Wayne on screen again.

Harvey Dent: The famous Bruce Wayne. Rachel's told me everything about you.
Bruce Wayne: I certainly hope not.

A lot of anticipation preceded The Dark Knight and I am sad to say that one of the most tragic deaths of 2008 with Heath Ledger also aided in the buzz surrounding the film. However, after watching this film multiple times I can still say that The Dark Knight deserved the praise it received.

I never truly expected The Dark Knight to be nominated for best picture but I do think that it deserved it, and that Christopher Nolan deserved a nomination for best director. The Dark Knight is a technological and artistic masterwork that simply put should have received some kind of recognition beyond technical awards, especially in light of the films that actually ended up nominated. However, I suppose this does give me room to make a Superman movie that perhaps the Oscars will recognize and break the taboo.

Everytime I watch The Dark Night I am astounded by the performance of Heath Ledger. Watching him not only makes me sad that he can never reprise his role at Joker but that he can never again bring his talent to the screen.

I hope that Nolan’s Batman films break the comic book conventions and the third one knocks it out of the park.

Alfred Pennyworth: Know your limits, Master Wayne.
Bruce Wayne: Batman has no limits.
Alfred Pennyworth: Well, you do, sir.
Bruce Wayne: Well, can't afford to know 'em.

I've watched all of these, but haven't had the time to review them yet. I will get them up as soon as possible. I've decided to add TV shows on here, but only when I watch the entire season at once, so True Blood: season one will be on here first and soon I'll have my thoughts on Battlestar Gallactica: season one.

X-Men is a tale everyone is pretty familiar with now. In a near future mutants have started to become a part of society and like any deviation from the standard this has begun to make the public uncomfortable; the mutants are viewed as “others” that cannot be controlled and are probably dangerous. The government is working to pass legislation that will force mutants to register, and this makes mutant leader Magneto and his minions take action against the public. The only ones who can stop them are the X-men, the students of another mutant Professor Charles Xavier.

When X-Men was released it was truly the beginning of the contemporary comic book film. We would not have The Dark Knight, Spider Man, or Iron Man the way we have them now if it wasn’t for this film and the film is an excellent movie. That being said, X-Men is nowhere near the level of comic book movie that the fans expect nowadays it is not nearly faithful enough to the source material. I won’t bore you all with the details but the major issues are Rouge being a teen and the absence of mutants like Gambit & most importantly Beast.

What is great about this movie is Bryan Singer. Singer gets X-Men on top of being a fantastic director; many people have speculated that because Singer is an “other” himself he could identify with these characters. Singer himself has admitted that he doesn’t know or read comic books; this didn’t seem to be a problem when he directed his X-Men movies, but it did become a problem when he made Superman Returns.

Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Tom DeSanto
Wolderine: Hugh Jackman
Professor X: Patrick Stewart
Magneto: Ian McKellen
Jean Grey: Famke Janssen
Cyclops: James marsden
Storm: Halle Berry
Rogue: Anna Paquin

Dr. Jean Grey: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution. These mutations manifest at puberty, and are often triggered by periods of heightened emotional stress.
Senator Kelly: Thank you, Miss Grey! That was-quite educational. However it fails to address the issue which is the focus of this hearing. Three words: are mutants dangerous

Walt Kowalski is a war veteran who feels like society around him has changed utterly and completely; his children think he is a burden, his priest doesn’t understand him and his old neighborhood has been populated by the Asian races he learned to despise when he fought overseas. However, while Walt will not be defeated in his personal mission to remain the same man he becomes shocked as events are set in motion that allow him to get to know his Hmong neighbors and the teenage children change his outlook on race and life.

Gran Torino is a movie that took me by surprise. I expected to like it, I did not expect to still be thinking about it a day after I first saw it. The film is haunting me in a very good way. I must say that my favorite visual item in the film is the American flag hung on Walt’s porch; this flag is not only used beautifully in the setting, but it is a subtle queue that sets Walt off from the rest of the neighborhood and clues the audience off as to Walt’s true character. Walt is a good old American man through and through and wants everyone around him to bleed American as well.

What Eastwood does as a director and actor in this film is absolutely amazing. Walt is man that for all intents and purposes you shouldn’t like; he is a cantankerous, racist, rigid man who does not want anyone to say or do anything that he thinks is out of the norm. By the end of the film Walt has transitioned and it feels completely natural because of the director and actor – Walt has finally come completely into himself and how he can matter in the present day amongst a world that he didn’t think he could understand or could understand him. My favorite scene is actually a simple one between Thao and Walt near the end of the film when Walt truly confesses to Thao and admits that Thao is his friend; the moment is both visually stunning and beautifully acted.

In the end I think that it is a true travesty that Gran Torino was utterly ignored by the academy voters. Every member of that cast and crew deserves some kind of recognition for the prolific piece of cinema that they created, one that will be remembered much longer than a film like Benjamin Button. I now have another film to add with The Dark Knight to my list of films that should have been up for best picture this year.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Nick Schenk
Walt Kowalski: Clint Eastwood
Father Janovich: Christopher Carley
Thao Vang Lor: Bee Vang
Sue Lor: Ahney Her:
Mitch Kowalski: Brian Haley
Karen Kowalski: Geraldine Hughes
Ashley Kowalski: Dreama Walker
Steve Kowalski: Brian Howe
Martin: John Carroll Lynch

Sue Lor: There's a ton of food.
Walt Kowalski: Yeah, well just keep your hands off my dog.
Sue Lor: No worries, we only eat cats.

The Oscar nominations are coming out tomorrow and though at one time I wanted Defiance to be on the list of nominees now that I have seen it I can safely say that the only nominations I truly would enjoy Defiance receiving are for Daniel Craig & Liev Schreiber. Not that Defiance is a bad movie, but in a year that had movies like Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight & In Bruges a movie like Defiance has its flaws pointed out instead of ignored.

What is truly remarkable is the story of Defiance; it is about a group of Jews at the outbreak of Hitler’s Germany and genocide that manage to evade capture by the Nazi’s by creating a settlement in the forests of Belarussia. It begins with four brothers and near the end of the war has grown to over 1,200 Jewish refugees. There story is awe inspiring, perhaps only equal to the likes of Oskar Schindler.

What is wrong with Defiance is the fact that parts of the story seem to be missing – it is as if the director trusted his audience to put two & two together too often, or that there were merely scenes still on the editing room floor waiting to be inserted into the film. A prim example of this is the romance between Tuvia & Lilka; she comes to the otriad, throws Tuvia a few meaningful looks and suddenly an ancillary character informs Tuvia that everyone knows that Lilka is hands-off. While not a killing point to the film, the leaps in story telling that occur do make Defiance slightly less than it could have been.

Defiance is an entertaining movie, but not a great one. I do believe that perhaps the film might have been helped if it was released in summer instead of Oscar season, but perhaps I can hold out hope for Craig or Schreiber getting an Oscar nomination.

Director: Edward Zwick
Writers: Clayton Frohman & Edward Zwick
Tuvia Beilski: Daniel Craig
Zus Bielski: Liev Schreiber
Asael Bielski: Jamie Bell
Aron Bielski: George MacKay
Lilka Ticktin: Alexa Davalos

Gramov: How come it's so f---ing hard to like Jews?
Tuvia Bielski: Try being one.

Of course I bought the deluxe edition of The Dark Knight the day it came out and I bought the Target exclusive version that had the cowl packaging. I actually sat around all day at work, excited that I would own the DVD in a few hours. Yes, I am a dork, but you all knew that. However, my love of this movie goes well beyond my adoration of Christian Bale. I am one of the people that truly thinks this film is one of the best Batman stories committed to the Batman cannon.

One of my favorite things about The Dark Knight is the script itself; everything about this movie begins with such a well written script. It has been hard to place what is my favorite moment in The Dark Knight but waiting for it to come out for me to own, and watching it again I realized what it was. There is one image, one scene that has stuck in my head since the my first viewing. [Do not read if you do not want to be spoiled.]

Batman is in the high rise building with the Joker pinning him down, he manages to turn the tables and flip Joker off the ledge to what you assume will mean he is plummeting to his death; instead Batman fires one of his handy grappling devices and catches Joker by the feet hauling him back to the ledge and suspending him upside down. Joker blows in the breeze and laughs maniacally. What makes this scene work for me so well is the synchronicity of the dialogue and camera work that comes next as Joker delivers a speech that sums up the relationship of Batman & Joker perfectly starting with “this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object”.

Verbally every line that is delivered in this monologue is perfect and succinct. Joker will never give up and he loves having an opponent like Batman to fight, he knows Batman will never give up because he can’t have peace in a world where someone like Joker exists but he will not cross the line that it takes to defeat men like Joker. Joker & Batman know that to defeat Joker, Batman would have to become like Joker. This speech is hook, line and sinker the perfect summary of everything Joker is an always has been in any serious form of the story – he is a psychotic, conscious-free villain to the very core who doesn’t wreak havoc for the profit but for the joy of it.

While this beautiful bit of writing is going on visually Chris Nolan clues his audience into the meaning of this exchange. Batman strong and powerful is consistently large and visible in his shots, but Joker goes on a visual journey. When Batman first hoists him up he is portrayed visually as powerless – upside down and swaying, he has no control. However, as he verbally defeats Batman the camera begins to turn until Joker is right side up, visually this is a more powerful and dominant position to be in. When you combine the visuals with the monologue it becomes incredibly obvious – Batman has won the battle, but Joker is fighting the war.

Joker’s speech is a perfect one from an intellectual stand point. I have been sitting and wondering for quite awhile between Joker and Batman who is the “unstoppable force” and who is the “immovable object”. Immediate evidence would suggest that Joker is the former and Batman the latter, but when you really sit down I am pretty sure you could come up with evidence for the other side as well.

For all the people clamoring for the follow-up film I have one thing to say. Be patient. There was about three years between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight but it was worth waiting for wasn’t it? Nolan & Bale’s next movie’s won’t be Batman movies, but this doesn’t mean they won’t make another; both of these men are seriously committed to their craft and don’t want to make a movie just to make some money. So ignore the rumors about who’s been cast as Catwoman, Riddler, etc – they are fake – and just let the men work at their own pace otherwise you’ll end up with a movie more like Spiderman 3 and less like a genuine tale worth telling.

The Joker: You just couldn't let me go could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you, because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
Batman: You'll be in a padded cell forever.
The Joker: Maybe we can share one. They'll be doubling up, the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds.

There are always those movies that get caught up in a critical or fan frenzy when they come out and become absolutely huge. Some of these movies are big movies to begin with and are elevated even further (The Dark Knight) and some of these incredibly praised films are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum so that when they begin to be praised so greatly they are elevated beyond the little films they are and raised onto a national or international platform. One of these little films that grew big was My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

I loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding when it came out. I thought it was just amazing. My opinion has changed since then; I was pre-film school at the time I saw the film, and while I had a large film vocabulary, I didn’t have a gigantic one like I do now. Rewatching this film I realized not that the film was bad, but that it possibly suffered from being elevated beyond its level. It is well written, it is well acted, the film is even pretty darn entertaining – but worthy of a Oscar nomination for best original screenplay? Probably not. I think this can partially be evidenced by the fact that a film lauded as much as this was when it was released no longer a part of pop culture, it is not referenced on any of the AFI lists, never on top 10’s, etc. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is good, but it was not capable of reaching beyond the small movie that it really was into the film cannon. That’s not to say it doesn’t have a place in people’s collections, or that it won’t be watched frequently by those that enjoy it – hey, it’s part of my DVD collection.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is in reality a very small, simple story. Toula is a child of parents who immigrated from Greece; pushing 30 she still lives at home and works for her parents because that is what’s expected – the only thing she hasn’t done as expected is get married. She finally gets so fed up at being unhappy all the time that she decides to change her life for the better and begins a journey of self discovery which leads her to meeting Ian Miller a non-Greek school teacher. Knowing that his non-Greek heritage will be as horrible to her family as telling them someone died she hides her relationship until it gets serious and eventually they become engaged which leads to the real comedy of the situation – the merging of the two cultures and families.

Nia Vardalos is pretty much 100% responsible for this adorable film. She wrote and acted in the play on which it is based, and wrote and is the main character in the film. With the help of Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks the film took off. What is great about this film is that it portrays a main character, the romantic heroine of the piece who is not your typical twiggy, perfect, proper girl. She is as close to a normal girl that film can get; that is really refreshing to see and it makes her character very relatable.

I know that I am partly to blame for my opinion on My Big Fat Greek Wedding changing some. My tolerance for romantic movies has gone down a great deal since I got out of high school, that trend started in me even before I hit film school.

Director: Joel Zwick
Writer: Nia Vardalos
Toula: Nia Vardalos
Ian: John Corbett
Gus: Michael Constantine
Maria: Lainie Kazan
Yiayia: Bess Meisler
Aunt Voula: Andrea Martin
Nick: Louis Mandylor
Angelo Joey Fatone
Mike: Ian Gomez

Toula Portokalos: Nice Greek girls who don't find a husband, work in the family restaurant. So here I am, day after day, year after year, thirty and way past my expiration date.

As most of you know Iron Man 2 is being fast tracked by the studio. They have realized that Iron Man is a hot commodity and want to strike while the iron is hot, pardon the pun. Who can blame them? Because of Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. is hotter than ever and Jon Favreau can write his own ticket in Hollywood for the time being. If it wasn’t for the sweeping success of The Dark Knight, Iron Man may have been the #1 film of summer 2008.

Iron Man came out on DVD a few weeks ago and of course I bought it the day it came out. How could I not? I spent more than enough money watching it on the big screen, I think it was time for it to transition to the small one for me. And I do mean small – I have a thirteen inch TV.

It occurs to me that I’ve never really talked about the writing in Iron Man, but it is as equally brilliant as the rest of the film; that’s true for most great films, they usually come from a great screenplay that is paired with the right acting, directing and production talent. While good actors and directors can take a mediocre script and make it better, they can take a good script and elevate it to the stuff of cinema legends. It’s what writers hope for when they hand their work over – that it not be butchered but that it be honored and produced in the way the writer saw it.

The dialogue in Iron Man and the cohesion of the story prove that it was very well written and very well planned before it ever reached the first day of production. While rewrites, ad libs and various other things undoubtedly happened during production the basis from which it started had to be strong. That is why Iron Man is such a good character piece, the writers took time to stay true to the source material, make the character human and not stray away from his flaws.

Because Iron Man is such a dang good story it holds up over multiple viewings and doesn’t get stale or old in any way. I should know. I’ve seen it at least a half dozen times by now.

The only news that makes me sad about Iron Man 2 is that it is not being written by the same team; however, an equally good writer is taking the reins, Justin Theroux; Justin wrote another movie you would have seen recently – Tropic Thunder.

Nick Fury: "I am Iron Man." You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet.
Tony Stark: Who the hell are you?
Nick Fury: Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Tony Stark: Ah.
Nick Fury: I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.

So once again, I saw The Dark Knight. My best friend loved Batman Begins, and just finished taking the BAR so she hadn’t had a chance to see it yet and we went.

This film still thrills me. Each time I watch it I appreciate Aaron Eckhart and Christian Bale more.

I don’t know how else to explain it, but Christian Bale understands Batman, and he understands that delicate balance between the public image of Bruce Wayne, and the reality of his life as Batman and how that touches every aspect of Bruce Wayne. I cannot watch the scene between Bale & Eckhart in the restaurant discussing Gotham’s need for Batman and not think how much fun it must be as an actor to get to play the defender and the one claiming the defender is unessential.

Eckhart is a similar joy for me to watch as I have been following him since I saw a little film called In the Company of Men when I was in high school. The most surprising thing about Eckhart is the sheer charisma he brings to every role he plays, and Harvey Dent is no exception. It takes very little build up for the audience to believe that Dent is on the level merely from seeing the way Eckhart carries himself and until his downfall he walks the very careful line between following the rules and creating his own. We see the first glimpse of this when Dent kidnaps one of Joker’s wounded men in an attempt to interrogate him. He’ll push through his rules, but he has barriers in place to keep them from breaking; these barriers would be his “own luck” (a.k.a. his coin) and reliance Batman. This perfectly sets Dent up as a hero, but one much more capable of breaking than Wayne.

The more I see of Christopher Nolan’s work the more I adore him. From lighting to set decoration there is no wasted visual element in The Dark Knight. This is a movie born from a man that enjoys the world he is creating and wants to draw you completely into it so that you enjoy it too.

Lt. James Gordon: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a dark knight.

Once again I saw The Dark Knight. I have to say that the more I see it the more it holds together as a perfect movie.

One of the things I loved most about the first film was the dialogue between all of the characters, but most importantly between Alfred and Bruce. The Dark Knight has the same banter that I love so much.

Seriously, go see this movie. I think you will all love it.

Alfred Pennyworth: I suppose they'll take me in as well, as your accomplice.
Bruce Wayne: Accomplice? I'm going to say the whole thing was your idea.

I told you I was going to, and I bet you all didn’t believe me. I saw The Dark Knight twice in less than 24 hours. That wasn’t originally my intention, but my friends kid begged me to take her and I thought it sounded like fun. On second viewing The Dark Knight is even better than the first time; I could sit back, pay closer attention and notice the details.

One of the things I didn’t have time to spend enough time noticing on the first viewing was the use of daylight in the film. Unlike Batman Begins, this film has a large chunk of activity taking place in the daylight. This underscores the fact that Batman and his activities are infecting more than the dark side of society; he’s begun to infect all of Gotham’s people not just the criminals. The citizens of Gotham are gaining strength, and the criminals are being forced into the daylight and out of the shadows they hid in. Sure everyone knew they were there, but they ignored them until Batman showed that they could be fought against. However, it is this change that makes the most dangerous of them all come out – the Joker.

What I also noticed was something that had the film school academic geek in me absolutely floored. What I assume some of you know, is that symbolically the left side represents evil, and the right represents good; when Tow Face is created it is the left side of Harvey Dent’s face that is permanently scarred and in the process of getting that scar (the actions that led up to it) begin the act that brings to darkness out of Harvey Dent and start the chain reaction that turns him into Two Face. Once the scars are caused it’s quite obvious; more subtle however, is how Dent is lit in all the scenes prior to his turn as Two Face. During every shot I noticed, no matter how subtle Dent is always lit with the major light source illuminating the left side of his face so that the right “good” side of his face is always in somewhat of a shadow, no matter how slight. Thus creating the foreshadowing that Dent will lose his good side and be taken over by the dark natures he has strove to suppress.

This is a summer movie that subtly defies all the rules of summer movies; it is dark, brooding and in essence the good guy doesn’t win. As Christopher Nolan is the masterful filmmaker behind Memento, The Prestige and Insomnia I know that the more I watch The Dark Knight the more layers I will be able to strip away and grasp the deeper meaning behind this film, just like Batman Begins.

The Joker: Where do we begin? A year ago, these cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean, what happened?
Gamble: So what are you proposing?
The Joker: It's simple: Kill the Batman.

When the hype about The Dark Knight began I was skeptical. I knew after Batman Begins that everyone in the production was capable of making astoundingly good films, but I thought people were probably over-hyping Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker a bit as it was not a posthumous role, and that there was little chance that you could surpass a perfect film like Batman Begins.

I was wrong.

The Dark Knight deserves every bit of praise it has received and more. This is not a comic book movie, this is a crime epic that tells a tale of a hero who has to make impossible choices in the name of doing what is right and defeating villains that are so evil they cannot completely be defeated no matter what he does. It is the most real crime film in that sense since Godfather and it pits a clown and a bat against each other.

We pick up with Batman approximately a year after he has begun to reform Gotham. The right things are starting to fall in place: the police are slightly less corrupt, Gordon has been promoted and is working with the Batman, Harvey Dent has been voted the new DA and is cleaning up the city, the mob is running scared, etc. Batman is creating inroads to change that are now taking root on the social level – the people of Gotham are trying to change their city.

The problem is that as Gordon predicted at the end of the first film escalation has occurred. Batman has begun to clean the streets, but created a criminal so devious that no one can predict his actions – the Joker. He has hits the scene hard and is at first regarded as a crazy know-nothing by the entire criminal world and Batman but soon has the entire city running even more petrified than before; he’s trying to create chaos and sees no one he should side with even amongst the criminals. He just wants to see the anarchy he creates play out. Singlehandedly he has made Batman question his position as Gotham’s protector, and made the underworld terrified of not just Batman, but him as well.

This is an artfully layered story crafted by people that obviously know that the Joker is the embodiment of everything that Batman strives to quell. The Joker wants to create chaos for the sake of chaos and Batman wants to create order for the sake of peace. They are polar opposites and will forever remain in struggle as Batman will not kill the Joker as that would change what he stands for, and the Joker will not kill Batman because he’d lose the best thrill of his life.

The Dark Knight is the best film about that struggle between being the needed hero and the wanted ideal that has ever been made. Bruce Wayne struck out to be an incorruptible ideal, only to find that striving to be incorruptible, to have rules, has made him vulnerable to the people he is trying to fight against.

I am the first to admit that when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker I doubted Christopher Nolan’s skills at casting. I could see so many other actors working better as the Joker than Heath – and I was wrong. When you watch The Dark Knight Heath disappears and the only person present is Joker and he is everything that ever terrified you about the Joker. He has no rules, he is brilliant and scheming, he would do anything, and his greatest joy is watching the anarchy he creates. The Joker is such a perfect character that I want to see him in another Batman film, but I don’t know how you can recast a perfect performance. While watching Heath, no one even thinks of comparing him to Jack Nicholson – there is simply no comparison.

Just as phenomenal is Aaron Eckhart as Gotham’s new, tough DA Harvey Dent. Eckhart steps perfectly into the shoes of the man who dances around the line he upholds until he tragically takes the path of Icarus and flies too close to the sun…and plummets into the darkness he was fighting against by becoming Two Face. No one can blame him for his turn –he has lost everything, but by letting his pain take over he further destroys everything he stood for as Harvey Dent. It’s not an easy role, to go from being lauded as the white knight of Gotham to the criminal that decides the fate of his victims on the flip of a coin, but Eckhart makes it natural and just dark enough that we know that Dent is not coming back.

However, Christian Bale cannot be ignored in this film. His performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne is still why the movie remains so believable. He is able to take the character from brash playboy to lurking superhero in only a few minutes of screen time. The audience can see Bruce Wayne’s conscious lay heavier on him with every act that the Joker perpetrates.

The only detractor to this film for me is that it was shot in Chicago and you can tell. Gone is my beautiful yet-unlike-the-real-world Gotham and inserted is Chicago. I don’t know why they made this artistic choice and it is forgivable as most of Gotham is destroyed in Batman Begins but I miss it.

To wrap up my review I have only one thing to say. If I were on the Oscar committee Christian Bale, Robert Downey Jr., Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger would all be nominated for various Oscars – yes, for “comic book” films.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan
Bruce Wayne/Batman: Christian Bale
Rachel: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Joker: Heath Ledger
Harvey Dent/Two Face: Aaron Eckhart
Jim Gordon: Gary Oldman
Alfred: Michael Caine
Lucious Fox: Morgan Freeman

Bruce Wayne: People are dying. What would you have me do?
Alfred Pennyworth: Endure. You can be the outcast. You can make the choice that no one else will face - the right choice. Gotham needs you.

Again I watched Batman Begins last night in preparation for The Dark Knight.

I don’t need to tell you all that I adore this film. One of my favorite things about it is that Gotham is so obviously a city on its own; it is styled after Chicago, but is touched and rebuilt in a soundstage in a way that is completely different than any city I have ever seen. Gotham is a character on its own.

The feat of doing this must have been astronomical.

I could go on more about this movie, but I think that my other reviews have sufficiently covered this in detail...and you really want to hear about The Dark Knight.

Alfred Pennyworth: Why bats, Master Wayne?
Bruce Wayne: Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread.

Yes, I saw it again.

Yes, I enjoyed it just as much.

Yes, I need to buy the special edition of the DVD the day it comes out.

I swear I saw it for acedemic reasons this time. Really. I wanted to see a Spielberg movie to see how they did somthing but was not going to sit through Indy 4 again so I saw a Spielberg-esque movie.

Just wait till Dark Knight.

I’ve been anticipating The Dark Knight for months and finally couldn’t take it anymore; since I don’t get The Dark Knight for two more weeks I watched Batman Begins. It is a testament to the skills of everyone involved in that film that it is just as enjoyable on the first viewing as it is the tenth viewing (though I am probably far past the 10th viewing as I saw it four times in the theatre alone).

As I know that her character has been recast, I inadvertently paid the most attention to the performance of Katie Holmes as Rachel. While I do like Katie Holmes, and don’t mind her performance in the film, I am genuinely excited that Maggie Gyllenhaal has stepped in to take on Rachel Dawes. Perhaps it is only that Katie Holmes “private” life has overshadowed the character, but in the whole film the only thing that seems to pull me out is Katie Holmes. I look at her and I see Tom Cruise jumping on a couch, or the happy couple toting baby Suri around, or Katie on Jay Leno saying she hopes War of the Worlds beats Batman Begins opening weekend. Katie Holmes just seems a little too light in such a dark world.

What also stood out to me was Gary Oldman. For years in the film franchise starting with the Tim Burton Batman, Jim Gordon was never right. They portrayed him as fat, sloppy and the cheesiest/stereotypical police officer ever who managed to become chief of police. The Commissioner Gordon that I knew in the comic books was lean, mean and would kick the ass of anyone who put a toe out of line; he was constantly thankful for what Batman could do and afraid of what Batman might be capable of. Gary Oldman embodies this in every way. He is how Gordon should be.

I could go on boring you all with my thoughts on the geek perfect storm that is Batman Begins for quite awhile; however, as The Dark Knight is just around the corner, I’ll wait for that one.

Bruce Wayne: Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.