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Jul 21 2009
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opinion

I Miss The Dark Knight

andy-trista-arg

Do you? Do you miss The Dark Knight? It occurred to me on the bus this morning that it was a year ago last Saturday that the wonder that is The Dark Knight graced the screens of movie theatres all over North America. And it was a year and a week ago tomorrow that I saw it for the first time. I remember the weeks leading up to it. I remember making t-shirts with my husband. I remember message boards a-plenty. I remember being excited. I remember being more excited about the opening of this movie than about any that had come before it.

That’s what I miss. Continue reading →

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Aug 29 2008
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The Joker: Best McGuffin Ever

It’s taken me a little over a month to post this, but after seeing The Dark Knight for the third time in IMAX, I ran across an article from SlashFilm that quoted Chris Nolan as saying that he wanted the Joker to be like the ‘…shark from Jaws…’ Essentially, he wanted the Joker to have no back story, to stalk his way through the film crating chaos and to have no story arch of his own. That’s a MacGuffin. Wikipedia defines a MacGuffin as:

“A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story, but the details of which are of little or no importance otherwise.

The element that distinguishes a MacGuffin from other types of plot devices is that it is not important what the object specifically is. Anything that serves as a motivation will do. The MacGuffin might even be ambiguous. Its importance is accepted by the story’s characters, but it does not actually have any effect on the story. It can be generic or left open to interpretation.”

Am I the only one who sees it? It’s not important what he specifically is. He comes, he wreaks, he leaves. The plot thickens. He’s the catalyst for Harvey (in a number of ways) and he’s the center of all of Bruce’s inner angst. He’s the reason that Lucius has to invent a ‘sonar’ type device so they can retrieve a businessman from China and he’s the reason that Lieutenant Gordon is now the Commissioner. So basically, Nolan’s Joker is the most elaborate and most celebrated MacGuffin of all time…. and the best joke is, 33 million of us payed to see him do his thing…. and loved every.single.second.

How about a magic trick? I’m gonna make this pencil disappear….

Source and Source

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Jul 16 2008
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reviews

The Dark Knight Revisisted

Since I woke up this morning with this movie’s spectacularly dark soundtrack running through my head and I’m already two hours late for work, I thought that I would take a moment to note that I left a few people out of my fevered and SPOILER free review last night (er… this morning…).

Aaron Eckhart created a character that is both meek and humble with great vision, but also fiercely determined to do what is always right in the face of losing everything. It’s the most heartfelt and sympathetic Two-Face I’ve ever seen, but also drawing heavily from The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, in which his life and relationships with Batman and Commissioner Gordon are central to his character. Maggie Gyllenhaal does an incredible job of making her character a credible and important person in this movie, a job at which Katie Holmes failed abysmally. She actually makes Bruce seem more adult and responsible, simply because he loves her. It’s really quite something.

More reflections – I’m sure – will come as the day progresses….. It’s just so much to take in.

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Jul 16 2008
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reviews

The Dark Knight

It is a rare thing when I get the opportunity to review a movie so ‘far’ in advance of its public opening. Despite this very rare occurrence I am reluctant to say anything at all. I really have no words and, for me, that is really saying something. But I do feel that I have to say a few things. Don’t worry this will be praise-laden, but spoiler free.

It’s amazing and terrifying and everything you expect while being nothing you expect. The world completely envelops you and coerces you in with a shotgun, but puts on an epic show the likes of which has not been seen on the big screen in some time. Each character has a purpose and builds to a specific, purposeful conclusion. This is a movie that completely satisfies.

While Heath Leger’s scenes are compelling, visceral, terrifying and unforgettable, it’s actually the entire ensemble that makes him look so good. With a lesser cast, his work would simply not stand out as much. Bale has done something really special with what is, let’s face it, a one dimensional character. It’s Batman we really come to see but between Nolan’s writing and his characterization the two — Batman and Bruce Wayne — really begin to come together as one man, always, rather than being fragmented and tortured lives independently.

Lastly, I just want to say that there is nothing about this movie you won’t like, so just go see it. What you expect to see from the trailer is nothing like what you are going to see in the movie, so just for kicks and giggles watch the trailer one last time before you go. It would have been impossible to create a trailer that adequately represents what you are going to see, but they’ve done some excellent work with what they could show you. I have never — NEVER — seen a movie that matched the hype, but can honestly say that in this case, I don’t think there is enough. Once you’re in there and the IMAX screen is staring you in the face [incidentally, if you don't see this in IMAX don't bother] you will not only not regret any moment of the time spent, but you won’t be able to wait to see it again. I know I can’t.

Isn’t it nice that it’s fun to go to the movies again.

One more BIG thank you to Warner Brothers and 42 Entertainment for an amazing, engrossing viral marketing campaign, which only helped to make this a better experience for the fans. Tonight we were the 404 luckiest nerds in the city.

**Writer’s note: If any part of this does not make sense, or has egregious typos, please forgive. It is 1:45am and I got up for work at 5:45am yesterday morning. I am a wee bit tired, but soooo happy. Here’s a recent pic of the Tumbler to placate you.

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Jul 11 2008
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The Dark Knight: Thanks 42E

I can honestly say that I have never had two weeks worth of appointments surrounding the release of a movie. I can also honestly say that my husband has never mobilized in such a way to make it to them. After being mildly disappointed by the BatSignal on Monday night, chasing the BatPod and the Tumbler all over Toronto yesterday (with admittedly great success), and then coming home to discover what it means when the Joker says he’s going to ‘Leave a big mark,’ I have to say the I’ve reached a fever pitch that has yet been unparalleled in my moviegoing lifetime. While my initial impressions of the contract staff 42E had in Canada were a little off-putting, I can honestly say that the rest of the viral campaign has been nothing short of extraordinary and will, I believe, become the ‘Gold Standard’, thereby setting the benchmark for virals.

The idea that they would harness the sheer power of the internet nerd to do all the work to promote the movie, but then actually give them their due by offering a free screening FOUR days in advance and ONE day in advance of the actual ‘advance screening’ (making this a completely exclusive experience) is genius to say the least. My husband has done everything to participate since finding out about this just days after the ‘I Believe in Harvey Dent’ pic cutoff and that’s had me — literally — running all over the city to participate. The kind of total immersion in this world that 42E has created is something to genuinely be celebrated. All those people behind their keyboards pushing this viral were going to go see it anyway and if it is as good as they say (of which I have no doubt) then they were going to go more than once. But to tap into the kind of fan base that Batman has, coupled with a creative team for the movie itself, you have to marvel at how much someone has finally ‘got’ it. And it’s a relief. The ‘get’ that the fan base for genre movies doesn’t want to be pandered to. We don’t want to see what we saw in the comics, we want to see something entirely new that tickles us in the way the comics do. It’s not the same thing. No one disputes that movies need to be accessible to a wide audience because they are, after all, for profit, but it is the fans that are at the crux of the experience and I’m just so elated someone finally figured it out.

So here’s to the people at 42E for putting it all together and, especially, here’s to Warner for letting them go at it. For not restraining this or the cast and crew of the movie. There will be no end to the ‘profits’ for this movie because — for once — those directly involved were not only and exclusively in it for the money, they were in it for the story… and for the fans.

Cheers.

P.S. Clearly we were two of the lucky ones who were online at the time and got tickets to the screening. We’re trying to work with people who didn’t get tix to make sure everyone gets a chance, because there were a few ‘die-harders’ who weren’t online. As always, I can’t keep up with the sheer volume of this stuff. Go to Super Hero Hype to catch the fan reaction and here for the Wiki.

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