The Dark Knight

I had been thinking on and off about starting a blog for a couple months, but I never thought about it for more than a couple minutes. But watching The Dark Knight during my vacation back to Chicago put me over the top. When I like something I like to profess my love for it, and this movie is definitely worth a profession of love. I didn’t post on it right away because I wanted to get my blog feet underneath me so to speak. I didn’t want it to be mediocre. Not that this post will be amazing, but I have more of a feel for it.

The Dark Knight really transcends the comic book action genre in every single way. It’s not about over the top stunts, explosions (although there are plenty of those), or one-liners (once again, plenty). It’s really about choices, chance, and humanity.

As a set-up for all of the themes of the movie it uses terrorism as its main vehicle, and the way people respond to it in stressful blink of the eye situations. The pressure is always on. There is always a crisis to respond to, a decision to make that not only alters the situation, but alters one’s life. All of the tension makes this the shortest 2 ½ hour movie I’ve ever seen. It did leave me a bit drained at the end though.

When I heard how Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker was pretty amazing, I immediately thought that he would receive an Academy Award because of the sentimentality of the situation involving his abrupt death. But after seeing the movie, I’ve decided he totally deserves it. He delivered one of the most sinister and engrossing villainous performances in movie history. He is as charming as a terrorist can be. Money meaning absolutely nothing to him. He simply wants to wreak havoc on Gotham and to toy Batman around like few are capable of. The Joker is a user. He plays with people's emotions to accomplish what he never could on his own. He is evil, but he’s smart. Everything is calculated. He knows (until the very end) what the result of all of his actions are. He allows himself to be captured by Batman to set up one of the most climactic scenes in the movie.

I’m the type that doesn’t like to give away too much in light that the surprise or shock of a scene is the best pay off. But Batman is basically given the decision to save the life of his love, Rachel Dawes, or the District Attorney, Harvey Dent, who has the power to clean up the city and end The Joker’s reign. The result provided the biggest gut wrenching moment I’ve ever had watching a movie. That’s saying something.

The Joker manipulates many noble people, using them for his advantage as I’ve said before. So you never know who’s up to what, or how a situation is going to unfold. Almost nothing is predictable.

Will Harvey Dent clean up the city? Will Batman and Rachel live happily ever after? Will Batman continue on as the protector of the city? All of these questions are answered in a way where the movie gives you many fulfilling conclusions. And it leaves just enough of an opening for the next movie to come.

This blog isn’t my longest because it would be completely unfair to spoil any of it. Some reviewers didn’t give Batman high marks because it didn’t follow the theme of a normal comic movie. "Too dark" some would say. Not all movies have happy endings. But that’s what makes the movie great. It’s not typical. It makes you think. But if you like explosions and quirky one-liners, focus on those and you should be happy as well.

Before Sunrise/Before Sunset

My love for Ethan Hawke never ceases to amaze me. I realized I had a man crush on him one day when I started browsing my DVD collection. I realized I had a disproportionate number of movies starring Ethan Hawke. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Gattaca, Great Expectations, Training Day, Lord of War, Waking Life, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. 8 movies in full from a little over 100. I started adding up who I thought would be his next closest competitor and I came up with Matt Damon with 7. So I'm now realizing I need to profess my man crush for Matt Damon in a later blog. But ANYWAY, I find Ethan Hawke to be an endearing actor. He always plays his rolls with a certain sort of humanity. He seems like a real person who you could hold a nice existential conversation with. Which lead to a perfect segue, I must say, into 2 movies that have little to offer except fantastic conversation.

Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are two movies that take a picture in time of two romantics spanning 10 years. Before Sunrise takes place in Vienna where two young adults, Jesse and Celine, meet on a train heading towards two separate destinations. Based on a short conversation, the two have the crazy idea to hop off the train in Vienna and spend one day/night together not exactly sure what will transpire.

If conversation doesn't cut it for you, this movie will put you to sleep. This is the only movie I know of where EVERY chapter is designated by the topic of conversation. But if you like dialogue that you can't predict (which is what attracts me to movies in the first place, the lack of ability to predict what's coming next, for good movies anyway), then you'll be in for a treat.

From the moment they get off the train the two obviously have a strong attraction for each other. Early on in the day they venture into a vintage record store and head to a booth together to listen to some tunes. As the song plays lyrics such as "I'm not impossible to touch, I have never wanted you so much" they try to make eye contact but both shy away at every glance. The scene is filled with so much sexual tension that you'd think the door to the booth would blow off.

As the day turns to night they delve into too many topics of conversation to cover. But needless to say, they play off each other and develop a bond about as quick as you can. They eventually trade a kiss on a lift, and share their passion for each other under a full moon in the park. They wake early the next morning and are hurried as Jesse must make a flight back home. They quickly dismiss trading phone numbers because "they call once or twice" and then it "fizzles out." So they take the romantic route and decide to return to each other in the train station they met exactly six months to the day. They part ways and both "promise" to make that return trip.

That basically sums up Before Sunrise. In my mind it's a precursor to the best movie I've ever seen that doesn't involve explosions of some sort.

Needles to say, the two never meet six months later which we learn during the beginning of Before Sunset. The movie takes place 10 years later from when they met. Jesse is on a book tour promoting his novel that disects his night together with Celine. It has become a best seller and Paris is his last stop on the tour (which happens to be where Celine lives, or he hopes she still does). Surprise, surprise, Celine shows up at the bookstore where he's giving his interview about his book. He sees her in an aisle while he's trying to answer a question. He stumbles through the rest of his response and then quickly ends the session.

He meets up with her and they have one of those moments. You know the type. "So hey.....what's up?" "How you been?" "Good good?" "And you?" . . . silence . . . ackward look . . . silence . . . laughter. They eventually get over the uncomfortable moment and start with some good natured talking about how each other has been and the such. We learn that Jesse actually DID show up in Vienna six months later, while Celine stood him up because she attended her aunt's funeral. They have one of the funniest, "oops smack on the forehead" trades of dialogue I've ever seen when they wonder why they never traded phone numbers, addresses, anything! Ironically they learn that they both lived in New York for a brief time.

The movie is shot in real-time as Jesse and Celine try to cram as much catching up as they can before Jesse has to catch another flight home. They talk and talk from coffee shop, to beautiful garden, to water taxi, and eventually to Celine's apartment. During the time they spend together, they slowly open up more and more to the point where they are sharing their devastations in their relationships and in their lives stemming from that hopeful night in Vienna. The limo ride to Celine's apartment is a memorable moment. Jesse even shares that his SOLE motivation for writing the book was that one day he would find her. How romantic is that???

Jesse prolongs their encounter, putting off leaving for the airport, offering to drive Celine home to her apartment. Before Jesse is to go, he invites himself up to see her flat with little fight from Celine. In the apartment is one of the best scenes I've encountered. Celine admits she plays a little guitar and Jesse coaxes her into playing one of her tunes which she calls a "waltz". Julie Delpy, Celine, actually plays the song and sings, showing off her musical talents. The sexual tension during this scene is escalated by the lyrics of the song:

Let me sing you a waltz about this one night stand, you were for me that night everything I dreamt of in life, But now you're gone, far gone, to your island of rain . . . it was for you a one night thing, but you were much more to me . . . One single night with you, little Jesse, is worth a thousand with anybody . . . I'll never forget this one night thing, Even tomorrow in other arms, My heart will stay yours until I die

The looks Jesse is shooting her during this waltz are simply amazing. Ethan Hawke does so much with this scene by doing so little. He lightens the tension after the song by saying "Do you just plug that name in for every guy that comes up here?" Her response: "Oh, yes, of course!"

They continue on talking for a bit, and time is running short for Jesse to make his flight. Celine playfully says, "You are gonna miss that plane", and just soft enough that Celine can't hear, Jesse says, "I know". End of movie, closing credits. Probably the best ending scene of a movie in the history of man. Slight over statement, but you know. A perfect ending in my view. It leaves open so many possibilities and sets up a sequel due out in 2015. I sure hope so anyway.

I watched Before Sunset BEFORE I had seen the first movie, Before Sunrise. I thought to myself this is a pretty good movie. Then I realized it was the second movie and I hurriedly watched Before Sunrise. It was at this point that I had some context for Before Sunset so I watched it again. It was one of the most gratifying payoffs I've ever had. I beg any fan of great movies to watch these movies in sequence. Both movies are short running around 90 minutes, so I'm not asking for too much. These types of movies are unique and timeless. Anybody that likes to think a bit out of the box will appreciate these movies.

Just remember: YOU HAVE TO LIKE DIALOGUE!!!

Once

Self-deprication is something I've developed into an art form and one thing I like to kid about is my lack of diction. Not that I don't have an extensive vocabulary, but it does get misused quite often. The best way to put it is in my placement tests for college I tested out of one english class while at the same time the university decided I needed remedial english, like Eng 080, or something because I couldn't handle the word analogies. Thank God I never needed to take the SAT's. So when I find a great word that I understand I obviously use it quite a bit, ok WAY too often, but I like my words.

So when I first watched the movie "Once" it spawned one of my favorite words: endearing. I use this word all of the time now, but it is the very best way to describe this movie.

En-dear-ing (en-dir ing): inspiring affection or warm sympathy

The movie is basically a modern rock musical which uses real musicians as the two main characters. The two characters are very unassuming. They would be people that just blend into every day life. That's probably why the writer/director, John Carney, doesn't even give them names. The Guy, Glen Hansard of the Irish rock group "The Frames", is an aspiring musician by night and a Hoover repairman during the day. The Girl, Marketa Irglova, sells roses and cleans houses to make due.

They meet while the Guy is playing one of his original songs on a street corner and the Girl happens to walk by. This starts an amazing relationship of friendship, love, and loss. Both of them seem to be treading water in their lives and by them meeting it inspires musical creativity and a new sense of purpose. The Guy is an excellent guitarist while the Girl is a classically trained pianist.

I never like getting too specific about movies because it ruins the fun. But it seems like every movie I love has at least one "scene". I mean a scene you will remember and you can say that it made the movie all by itself, or that it made a movie memorable instead of just good. In a later blog I'll get into the discussion of great scenes, but for now I'll just mention it from "Once".

The Guy and the Girl have just recently met and decide to go to lunch together. After lunch she takes him to her favorite music store where the owner lets her play piano for short periods at a time. This is the only way for her to play because she can't afford a piano of her own. After she dabbles on the piano for a bit, she gets him to play one of his songs for her (with his guitar which seems to be on him 90% of the movie). He agrees to as long as she will play piano along with him. The way this scene develops is classic. He teaches her the chords. She learns quickly. He sings a verse, let's her know the chorus is kicking in, she keeps up and eventually provides some back-up vocals. The song struck me as amazing, and the track, "Falling Slowly", eventually won an academy award for Best Song in a Motion Picture. I knew I had good taste.

The story unfolds pieced together by tracks of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Some are live performances that stand alone while others provide a back-drop in explanation of different plot developments.

The movie would be so-so, if the music wasn't unbelievable. The soundtrack for Once stands alone as an excellent CD, definitely the best soundtrack I've ever heard. It's hard to pick a genre for the music, it's just good. Anybody that can appreciate beautiful chords, a good beat, and some sappy lyrics thrown in for fun would really enjoy the CD. I'm sure by watching the movie you'll be as eager as I was to pick up the soundtrack.

All in all, if you love movies that develop a life of their own, and can make you laugh, cry, and everything in the middle, this is a must see. I can't really think of any other way of putting it, it's simply endearing. (sappy I know)

"X-Men: The Last Stand" . . . Best Movie Ever?

Considering this is my first blog, I figure I should pick a topic that would be a good representation of what things I find interesting to post.

Now I do pose the question "X-Men: The Last Stand" Best movie ever? with some level of sarcasm. Just a touch. Now I never did think that this was a GREAT movie, but at a point in my life I did consider this to be extremely entertaining. I thought it was one of the best comic movies I'd ever seen. I must admit that at the point I watched it I did have somewhat of a skewed perspective. I had such a keen reaction to the movie that I bought the trilogy about 3 weeks ago and watched them in order from the original to X-Men United, to The Last Stand.

Now my motivation was to watch the first two in order to build up for the The Last Stand which I had enjoyed so much over a year ago. The first two were totally decent with me liking the original a bit better than the second. I was so looking forward to watching the conclusion that I invited my roommate, Brad, to watch it with me. He said he had seen it when it first came out and that it was totally unimpressive. I scoffed at that and convinced him to sit there with me while the drama unfolded.

I was sucked in from the beginning with the premise that the cure for mutation was found. I loved the part where Jean Grey emerges from the water and establishes herself as a bonafide bad-ass. Her fight with the professor was a memorable scene. I was really into it pretty much until the final act when it seemed like EVERYTHING fell apart.

The great thing is that Brad was there to remind me of how terrible the movie becomes. There were three things that stuck out from this viewing as a mixture of cheesiness and bad writing.

For starters, the army knows that the "evil" mutants are going to attack for a decent amount of time before it happens and when the time comes the general is given the unfortunate news that the ground troups are 30 minutes away. In response the general busts out the cheesiest/most outrageously satisfying "MAY GOD HELP US ALL!" I've ever heard. It's a totally cliche line and he actually said it in a serious tone. At this point I knew the movie was taking a turn for the worst. The best part of this line was Brad and my reaction. We laughed hysterically and then somehow pulled it together. And now when we watch any movie together we both try and find a point in the movie to blurt out "MAY GOD HELP US ALL!" I highly reccommend anyone try this. It is quite hilarious and almost any movie you watch will have a point when it totally makes sense. Thank you X-men.

Next, the cure is located on an island and that's where the mutants are headed to destroy it. There method of transportation was interesting to say the least. Several of the mutants have the power to fly/levitate/float whatever. And instead of transporting this way or on a boat, Magneto tears apart the local suspended bridge and turns it to connect to the island. The shot of this floating bridge is quite funny and completely illogical. It's almost like the director was trying to use his entire budget and create some sort of eye candy for the average movie goer.

Finally, the "head" of the island/complex is captured by the mutants. And instead of killing him straight off, they decide to drop him off the edge of the building which looks to be about 3 stories high. In retrospect I was reminded of "The Dark Knight" where Batman is about to drop the mob boss off the building and the mob boss says something like "this drop won't kill me" and Batman replies "I'm counting on it" and down he goes spraining or fracturing the evildoers knee. So this feeble attempt at dropping this man is solely for the purpose of his mutant son that happens to have wings to swoop down and save him (from a minor injury I guess). The son hadn't been in the movie for a good 45 minutes so I couldn't think of a less dramatic/trying to be dramatic part in the entire movie.

These things along with the terribly choreographed fight scene made me realize how goofy this movie really was. But at the same time, I realize how unique of an experience watching a bad and or cheesy movie can be with a somewhat humorous friend. It gives plenty of opportunity to show off ones wit and is quite a bit more satisfying than seeing a decent movie.

I highly reccommend watching this movie with a good friend or in a chemically altered state and I assure you it will be a great time.

On my trip to Chicago at this Italian restaurant in the Ukrainian village, by complete chance this movie was brought up from a waiter commenting on the Dark Knight. Not quite sure how X-Men: The Last Stand was brought up but it was. I had told my girlfriend, Hillary, about my experience and poked her so as not to bring up my previous love for the movie considering everybody else was knocking it. Well this is my admission, and I'm not ashamed.