More Than a Hero

Well, folks, like a blow job on prom night it is all over way too soon. I've waited over a year for The Dark Knight and now it's all over. Sure, I'm destined to enjoy it a few hundred more times before I die, but nothing can compare seeing it for the first time. I read the sites, checked out the leaked footage and photos, did everything I possibly could to ruin the film. Even with all the plot points and spoilers I knew, The Dark Knight still shined. I loved this movie. Everyone will want to talk about Heath Ledger. Damnit, I want to, too. He was fucking awesome. The best villain I have ever seen, and I've seen Live Free or Die Hard. He was absolutely perfect. I am grateful that he lived long enough to complete this role. As a viewer, you just love watching the man on camera. I wanted him to be in every scene. On that note, Eckhart as Harvery Dent was brilliant. He played both sides of the pun-intended coin so well. I'm just glad that the Nolans had enough film smarts to make Two Face a crucial character and not a kill-off like Venom in Spider-Fuck 3 or any bad guy in a Brett Ratner assmockery. I cannot even call what that man makes films. The characters are so crucially woven in to the larger-than-one-man story that every decision is a domino effect, for better or worse. It's what we do that defines us. With The Dark Knight, the Nolans have brought to the table their visionary choice: to turn art into life.

The Not So Low End Theory

I think I need a change of pace. The highlight of my day should not be adding album artwork to my iTunes collection. On my day off I have priority mailed a letter, watched Grandma's Boy twice, and written on a forum dedicated to Nike Skateboarding.

Where the fuck is the action?

I'm going to get high in the backyard, by myself, in my pajamas and watch Batman: the animated series. Fuck my life.

The Dawn in Coming

So I guess the Dark Knight comes out pretty soon. I haven't really heard too much about it up to this point. It kinda feels like dead weight. Straight to DVD kinda of dead. We'll see because I have been wrong before about these summer busts.
Here is what I am least looking forward to dealing with after The Dark Knight premieres:
1. People who feel heath ledger deserves an Oscar. His performance may be the best thing since I can't believe it's not butter garlic flavor, but it will assuredly be overhyped because (and we can be honest) he is dead. If he was set to to headline the cast of Brokeback Mountain 2: The Search for Curly's Golden Shower in theaters this fall than it would just be a good performance from that crazy guy who dated Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You.
2. People who say the movie is overrated because god forbid they just admit that it was as good as everyone said it was. They'll say it was too long or self-serving. They will read rottentomatoes and highlight the more grammatically intimidating sentences of the few rotten reviews the movie will receive from critics who cannot admit that the movie was good. It is a vicious cycle.
3. People who will overrate this movie. It cannot be just a great movie. It has to be a masterpiece. Iconic. A triumph of cinema. Only because Peter Travers said so.

No one wants this movie more than me. I have waited years for this. Batman. The Joker. Amazing cast. Amazing director. Amazing writers. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. So what happens if it is short of?

I hold my breath for Quantum of Solace.

Further Down the Road

Someone was paying attention when No Country for Josh Brolin won best picture. Apparently, adapting a Cormac McCarthy novel equals cinematic success. Well, at least critically. THE ROAD, old Cormac's postapocalyptic journey is set to hit theaters around Thanksgiving with Viggo Mortensen leading an amazing cast (Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Robbie Duvall). This movie is guaranteed an Oscar nomination somewhere. The only thing I worry about is everything else. I have never heard of the director or the screenwriter. So the good news is I can't blame Brett Ratner for fucking another movie up. I hope the film takes advantage of the engulfing silence of the novel. The interaction between the father and son is all about exactly that: their actions. If there is a narrator I will never forgive Joe Penhall. Unless said narrator is Morgan Freeman. I have a bad feeling that THE ROAD may get the I AM LEGEND treatment. Screenwriters just don't know how to handle the apocalypse anymore. At least Deep Impact knew it sucked so much that at the last minute the writer asked Morgan Freeman if he would be the President.