Movies of '08

[square-enix]

I love how people say how awesome a movie is, but then have their entire assessment dwell singularly on everything they happened to dislike about it. As if for the sake of making oneself appear discerning.

That's because there's a difference between the word "great" and "perfect", which you clearly don't understand. If you'd stop thinking you were such a clever bastard, you'd be able to read that the flaws of the movie are the limiting factor in deciding that the movie was only "great", and not "perfect".

[Finito]

Well spoken S-E, but I think prince is just being an emo who as some needs to make an ass of himself sometimes. I didnt mean to insult you with my opinion about the movie prince and if you need me to give you more reasons to go see the movie let me know instead of trying to appear discerning yourself. Now please take a bow to S-E and go watch the movie if you havent.

[Eldo]

The Dark Knight is awesome. I thought the first part was a bit slow though.

[War Machine]

Dark Knight is definitely a great movie, I was a little shaken by the pace of the movie, it's starts a bit slow and then you keep getting twist after twist, and when you think it's over, it goes on for another half hour (unexpected = good). The Joker was a bit different from the one in the animated series, but I still liked him. Heath Ledger did one last great performance.

Dark Knight was great, plot wise mostly, because of a couple of flaws, I think it could have been better. Fighting wise it was worse than the first with lots of unagile robotlike moves, but the action was more intense and amusing. [spoiler]The joker's plans are so full of flaws that you just cant stop being mad at the ridiculously bad performances of the ones he faces(batman just gets a 10 lvl reduction when he goes against him for some reason...). The new Rachel pretty much ruined anything related to the character... I think 2 face didnt make much of an impression in this movie, if your a fan of him you might be deceived by his performance. Long movie, but it was definitely worth it, incredible movie, must see it.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I'm glad they got rid of Rachel, she felt like extra baggage to me since the first movie. As for Two-Face, they probably should've emphasized more on his attachment to Rachel to make his transition a little more believable, but I really liked his prior attachment to the coin.[/spoiler]

[The Prince]

Well spoken S-E, but I think prince is just being an emo who as some needs to make an ass of himself sometimes. I didnt mean to insult you with my opinion about the movie prince and if you need me to give you more reasons to go see the movie let me know instead of trying to appear discerning yourself. Now please take a bow to S-E and go watch the movie if you havent.

Fair enough frenchie......

Seen it.....Great movie.

Nolan did a masterful job of taking so many plot devices and weaving them together into an entire body of work that works. Dark Night really are what movies are about in terms of drawing the audience in and taking them for a ride....IMHO.

[spoiler]Can't wait for the next one, though Eckhardt is going to have a lot to live up to.[/spoiler]

[MrFelony]

Does anyone know if they plan to use the joker again? after heath ledgers performance, they're going to have a very very hard time finding someone who can live up to it.

[Starnum]

Yeah, The Dark Knight was awesome. I'd prefer they not bring the Joker back since Heath Ledger passed away, it would seem awkward IMO, and it would be hard to beat his performance.

[Eldo]

[spoiler]Can't wait for the next one, though Eckhardt is going to have a lot to live up to.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I don't think Harvey's coming back next time. He's dead.[/spoiler]

What I love about Nolan is that there is some sort of underlying theme in the Batman movies. The first one was about fear, and conquering it, with Scarecrow. This one was about 'no rules', with Joker. For a guy with 'no plan', he really has some smarts in him. That's why Joker is a criminal mastermind, I guess. What I also loved about the Joker was, despite not knowing who he really is:

[spoiler]The way he talks about his father, and reveals how he cut his mother, and how he got those scars...they worked to provide what may have brought the Joker into his psychotic state, and really fleshed out the character instead of having him just mentally balanced with no reason besides falling into some toxic chemicals.[/spoiler]

Ledger really made the other actors bland in comparison. As for some of the complaints of why the action in Batman seemed stiff and robot-like, well, I guess it's the suit. At least in this movie, we got to see the action instead of the camera swirling around.

Yeah, The Dark Knight was awesome. I'd prefer they not bring the Joker back since Heath Ledger passed away, it would seem awkward IMO, and it would be hard to beat his performance.

Agreed. If they did bring the Joker back, I'd rather he be referenced than bringing a new actor on board, like what they did with Rachel. But Maggie Gyllenhaal did a better job as Rachel Dawnes than Holmes did.

[The Prince]

[spoiler]Can't wait for the next one, though Eckhardt is going to have a lot to live up to.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I don't think Harvey's coming back next time. He's dead.[/spoiler]

What I love about Nolan is that there is some sort of underlying theme in the Batman movies. The first one was about fear, and conquering it, with Scarecrow. This one was about 'no rules', with Joker. For a guy with 'no plan', he really has some smarts in him. That's why Joker is a criminal mastermind, I guess. What I also loved about the Joker was, despite not knowing who he really is:

[spoiler]The way he talks about his father, and reveals how he cut his mother, and how he got those scars...they worked to provide what may have brought the Joker into his psychotic state, and really fleshed out the character instead of having him just mentally balanced with no reason besides falling into some toxic chemicals.[/spoiler]

Ledger really made the other actors bland in comparison. As for some of the complaints of why the action in Batman seemed stiff and robot-like, well, I guess it's the suit. At least in this movie, we got to see the action instead of the camera swirling around.

Yeah, The Dark Knight was awesome. I'd prefer they not bring the Joker back since Heath Ledger passed away, it would seem awkward IMO, and it would be hard to beat his performance.

Agreed. If they did bring the Joker back, I'd rather he be referenced than bringing a new actor on board, like what they did with Rachel. But Maggie Gyllenhaal did a better job as Rachel Dawnes than Holmes did.

[spoiler]LOL.....I didn't realize Harvey died. I assumed he was just out from the fall.....are you sure?

Regarding the jokers explanantion for the scars....he kept changing the story (3-different ones if I recall.....ex. Story about his wife leaving him, and what he was telling Batman in their final confrontation). In other words the movie really gave us no clue of his origins or what brought him to become who he became.

As far as Rachel, I couldn't stand MG's portrayal. Hate to be an AHole but she really isn't all that pleasant on the eyes, and having a differsnt actor made it seem she was an entirely different character than what was built up from the original movie. I wasn't a big fan of the Rachel Dawes character to begin with, so seeing her go was not all that bad considering the impact it served as a plot device.

Gary Oldman was awesome though.

BTW....that scene with Batman and the Joker in the interrogation room was amazing. Despite the Jokers predicament he made it seem he was the one in control with Batman at his mercy. IMO that scene really stuck out to me as far as how brilliantly demented the Joker's character really was.[/spoiler]

[Eldo]

[spoiler]LOL.....I didn't realize Harvey died. I assumed he was just out from the fall.....are you sure?

Regarding the jokers explanantion for the scars....he kept changing the story (3-different ones if I recall.....ex. Story about his wife leaving him, and what he was telling Batman in their final confrontation). In other words the movie really gave us no clue of his origins or what brought him to become who he became.

As far as Rachel, I couldn't stand MG's portrayal. Hate to be an AHole but she really isn't all that pleasant on the eyes, and having a differsnt actor made it seem she was an entirely different character than what was built up from the original movie. I wasn't a big fan of the Rachel Dawes character to begin with, so seeing her go was not all that bad considering the impact it served as a plot device.

Gary Oldman was awesome though.

BTW....that scene with Batman and the Joker in the interrogation room was amazing. Despite the Jokers predicament he made it seem he was the one in control with Batman at his mercy. IMO that scene really stuck out to me as far as how brilliantly demented the Joker's character really was.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]At the end part, where Gordon does his monologue, he was seen making a speech in front of a large poster of Dent; presumably about his death and 'honouring' it.

With Joker's explanation for the scars, he said that his father carved a 'smile' on his mother, and because she didn't have any money to do plastic surgery or whatever, the Joker cut himself with a razor blade so he could just be like his mother, and she left him. Then he saw 'the lighter side of things'. I'm not quite sure about the wife leaving him part, I can't remember that bit.

I agree that Maggie Gyllenhaal is not a good looking woman but I have to say that she's a way better actor than Katie Holmes. She provided some depth to the Rachel character that Holmes should have in the first movie, because I simply did not care for her in Begins. When Rachel died in the second, I actually felt for the loss of the character. Gary Oldman, as always, is a brilliant actor, and he has some humour in him, doesn't he? I laughed at the scene when he told his son that 'this time, I saved Batman'.

The interrogation room was incredibly well done. Throughout the entire movie, Joker was always, always the one in control. Ultimately, he won, didn't he? He corrupted Harvey, he destroyed hospitals, he wrecked havoc throughout the whole movie - all so he could 'have some fun'.[/spoiler]

[The Prince]

Perhaps you're right about the explanation thing. I may have just confused the context of the dialogue.

But I agree totally with everything you say.

[DrPepperPro]

about the joker's stories:
[spoiler]I think both stories told by the joker could be true. Maybe the first story was how he got the smile scar on the left side of his mouth, and the one with his wife was on the right. But more likely is that the 1st one is what got him both sides and the 2nd one is made up.

edit: I reread Eldo's description and see what needs clarifying. I DLed a cam version which really sucks but it gets the job done for dialogue confirmation. The first story is basically this: Joker's father is about to beat joker's mom. Mom gets knife, dad gets angry, takes knife and kills her (he doesn't specify if she is given "smile scars"). Then joker's father takes knife and (supposedly) gives him the scars. I say supposedly because he doesn't finish the story in words, but instead says "why so serious" to the other guy watching, then cuts the guy in front of him.
The second story told during the party goes like this: Joker's wife says he doesn't smile enough. Joker gets in trouble with the mob, wife is taken and her face is cut up. They can't afford surgery. Joker wants to see her smile again. In his words, "so I stick a razor in my mouth and do -this- to myself." Wife leaves him.[/spoiler]
about Harvey:
[spoiler]My thought about what happened at the end is that 2 Face did survive. While batman was running away and being chased by all those cops, they may have forgotten about Harvey. The memorial service was a cover up, with the only people knowing about Harvey surviving are Gordon and possibly Batman. But then again it's just speculation, we'll have to wait for the 3rd movie to know for sure (if there is one).[/spoiler]
some stuff:
[spoiler]One noticeable thing about the joker is that he was much less of a "magician" than in say the 1989 batman movie or the animated version. While I like all his tricks and whatnot, doing it that way made the movie seem darker; I guess because he was more evil than just ridiculously psychotic.

I'm not sure if there'll be another movie that follows in sequence with these. Remember in the ending of Batman Begins, Gordon is saying that there's a new guy in town causing trouble, and hands the joker card to batman. In Dark Knight, instead of having something like that it has a real ending with meaningful thoughts and stuff. Maybe they just didn't know what villain would be in the next movie or maybe they're actually done. In any case if they make another movie I'm hoping for the Riddler.

Oh ya and I want to clear something up. My brother, who saw the movie with me, said that the guy that Harvey was interrogating and was about to kill was the scarecrow. I don't think it was, but what do others think? I don't care if I'm wrong I just want to know which it was.[/spoiler]

[Eldo]

about the joker's stories:
[spoiler]I think both stories told by the joker could be true. Maybe the first story was how he got the smile scar on the left side of his mouth, and the one with his wife was on the right. But more likely is that the 1st one is what got him both sides and the 2nd one is made up.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Actually, with the first story, I thought he was talking about how his dad cut out his mother's face, which was how she got the scars. The second story, told to Rachel Dawnes, was how he himself got the scars, by cutting himself with a razor blade. I'm recalling this from memory so I might be wrong.[/spoiler]

about Harvey:
[spoiler]My thought about what happened at the end is that 2 Face did survive. While batman was running away and being chased by all those cops, they may have forgotten about Harvey. The memorial service was a cover up, with the only people knowing about Harvey surviving are Gordon and possibly Batman. But then again it's just speculation, we'll have to wait for the 3rd movie to know for sure (if there is one).[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Unlike Batman, Harvey was not wearing body armour to cushion the fall, which is why I believe that Harvey was dead. I think there's a reason for having Batman fall over and be seriously hurt because of it; he was fully prepped with body armour and Harvey was just wearing a suit. I don't think they can 'fake' his death, seeing how big a character Harvey Dent was. Gordon couldn't manage to fake his death for more than a day. I believe that during the monologue, Gordon stayed behind at the same spot with Harvey's dead body until the cops showed up.[/spoiler]

some stuff:
[spoiler]One noticeable thing about the joker is that he was much less of a "magician" than in say the 1989 batman movie or the animated version. While I like all his tricks and whatnot, doing it that way made the movie seem darker; I guess because he was more evil than just ridiculously psychotic.

I'm not sure if there'll be another movie that follows in sequence with these. Remember in the ending of Batman Begins, Gordon is saying that there's a new guy in town causing trouble, and hands the joker card to batman. In Dark Knight, instead of having something like that it has a real ending with meaningful thoughts and stuff. Maybe they just didn't know what villain would be in the next movie or maybe they're actually done. In any case if they make another movie I'm hoping for the Riddler.

Oh ya and I want to clear something up. My brother, who saw the movie with me, said that the guy that Harvey was interrogating and was about to kill was the scarecrow. I don't think it was, but what do others think? I don't care if I'm wrong I just want to know which it was.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I think with the third Batman (considering the amount of revenue it generated, they will definitely make a third one) would open with the cops hunting Batman. I believe that is what the end of the Dark Knight was meant to set up - a new status quo for Batman as the Dark Knight, rather than having the public believe him as their guardian and protector. I'm not sure about the Riddler, Jim Carrey's version did haunt me, and any way to make him psychotic would be too close to the Joker in this movie. I thought Scarecrow was an odd choice for Begins, as he was not always one of the well-known characters in Batman's rogues gallery. So who they announce as the next villain would definitely surprise me. Catwoman, maybe?

With Harvey interrogating the guy, are you talking about the part right after Joker's attempted assassination and before he became Two-Face? No, that wasn't Scarecrow. He had the same facial cheekbones as Scarecrow though. It was some schizophrenic patient/prisoner from Arkham (Fritz or Skitz or something).[/spoiler]

EDIT: Just read the IMDB FAQ page for Dark Knight. I might be wrong about the Joker's explanations, if what it says is true. I want to see it again, but I have no time...dammit.
EDIT 2: Just talked to some of my mates who have seen it who could remember it. Apparently he does make an new story for the scars. You were right, Prince.

[Buzkashi]

Yea the Joker was just recreating the story to fit any given occasion. Kinda recreating himself.

[Tempest]

Yea the Joker was just recreating the story to fit any given occasion. Kinda recreating himself.

I myself thought it was a kind of toungue in cheek joke about how almost everyone who has written the Joker has taken it upon himself to change the finer points of his origin story, with the exception of his "scarring" in the original sense (falling into a vat of acid). I think the point of the changing stories as it related to the movie was to show the Joker was more like us than we would like. There is no origin story to go "Oh THAT'S why he's so messed up." Just like with the boat scenes, the whole thing ties into what I felt was the overall premise of the movie:

[spoiler]In the face of adversity, what will people do? Do they follow Batman and Harvey Dent and do what is right with respect to social order? Or do they follow the Joker and Two-Face and just whatever they can do live, thrive and survive? Given the right situation, anyone could have conceivably turned into the Joker, and that is one of the scariest thing about the man.[/spoiler]

The movie was just fantastic in my eyes. Ledger did an amazing job bringing the character to life with the perfect amount of insanity, criminal genius, and shtick. One of the things that made it so great was the way that what the Joker in almost everything was both absurd and macabre.

[spoiler]One of the best examples of this is when they go through all his knifes and they find a peeler. At first you chuckle at the absurdity of it, then you realize, "Holy shit, this man has a peeler in his coat pocket, and I can guarantee you it isn't for fruit." Also, the when the old commissioner gets killed, you know it's poison, but only after they show the smoking desk do you realize it's acid. This man just got killed by chemical burns basically from the inside out. And of course there is the "Magic Trick" in the begining.[/spoiler]

One thing I wasn't too keen on is Bale's Batman voice, I kind of noticed it in the first one, but in this one especially I thought the super gravelly, almost unintelligible rasp was a little bit over the top. I understand he is trying to differentiate so you don't have the Batman's of the 90's who sound like Bruce Wayne to a tee, but Bale needs to back off a little in my midn, maybe watch some of TAS and take notes for vocalization.

[Finito]

One thing I wasn't too keen on is Bale's Batman voice, I kind of noticed it in the first one, but in this one especially I thought the super gravelly, almost unintelligible rasp was a little bit over the top. I understand he is trying to differentiate so you don't have the Batman's of the 90's who sound like Bruce Wayne to a tee, but Bale needs to back off a little in my midn, maybe watch some of TAS and take notes for vocalization.

Yeah I think they really wanted to point that out, because it was the same for the French version and its the first thing that surprises you in the movie. What the f happened to his voice, it really stands out.

[Buzkashi]

Well I'm off to go see Pineapple Express. I'll let ya'll know how it is.

EDIT:

Damn I went to the theatre and it was full. Guess no early screening for me... =( T_T

[Starnum]

One thing I wasn't too keen on is Bale's Batman voice, I kind of noticed it in the first one, but in this one especially I thought the super gravelly, almost unintelligible rasp was a little bit over the top. I understand he is trying to differentiate so you don't have the Batman's of the 90's who sound like Bruce Wayne to a tee, but Bale needs to back off a little in my midn, maybe watch some of TAS and take notes for vocalization.

Yeah I think they really wanted to point that out, because it was the same for the French version and its the first thing that surprises you in the movie. What the f happened to his voice, it really stands out.

I thought about that at first too, but I just dismissed it as a handy way to sound intimidating and disguise his voice at the same time. I know what you mean, but to me it doesn't detract from the character. However, the Joker's constant lip smacking was a little annoying, but it was still a great performance. Also, I agree that the Joker was definitely changing the origin of his face scars. The second time he said he cut his face to match his wife's scars, and she rejected him. No telling what the truth is, I agree that that's probably the point.

[Loeviz]

Batman doesnt have preimier here until Friday so have to wait a little while longer.
Saw Kung-fu Panda, was pretty funny but didnt quiet get there.
[spoiler]The funniest part was when Po starts eating Monkeys cookies and says "Dont tell monkey" [/spoiler]

[The Prince]

Batman doesnt have preimier here until Friday so have to wait a little while longer.
Saw Kung-fu Panda, was pretty funny but didnt quiet get there.
[spoiler]The funniest part was when Po starts eating Monkeys cookies and says "Dont tell monkey" [/spoiler]

Who gives a shit about Kong-Fu Panda?!?










J/K.......

[Eldo]

I saw the trailer for the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and I seriously cannot draw any sort of anticipation or motivation to go and watch it.

[Albator]

I saw the trailer for the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and I seriously cannot draw any sort of anticipation or motivation to go and watch it.

Haha, when I saw it, my first thought was that they were advertising a video game. WoW gameplay almost have better animation!

It looks like crap, maybe the story will save it, is Lucas involved in this? They should have take lessons from Animatrix.

[Starnum]

I saw the trailer for the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and I seriously cannot draw any sort of anticipation or motivation to go and watch it.

I feel ya. As Albator suggested, couldn't they afford to make the graphics like, amazing? Okay, one thing though, is the main character Luke Skywalker, or Anaken? At first I was thinking it was supposed to be Luke Skywalker's son, I heard he has one in the novels, but wasn't the clone wars back in the day before Luke was born? I'm guessing it's Anaken. *shrugs*

[Tempest]

I saw the trailer for the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and I seriously cannot draw any sort of anticipation or motivation to go and watch it.

I feel ya. As Albator suggested, couldn't they afford to make the graphics like, amazing? Okay, one thing though, is the main character Luke Skywalker, or Anaken? At first I was thinking it was supposed to be Luke Skywalker's son, I heard he has one in the novels, but wasn't the clone wars back in the day before Luke was born? I'm guessing it's Anaken. *shrugs*

It's Anakin. The movie is set between Episodes 2 and 3, and will flesh out more of the actual Clone Wars, including Anakin's padawan.

[Starnum]

Yeah, Anakin, that makes sense.