The Dark Knight (2008)
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Date Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 7:10 pm

The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to Batman Begins.

The Dark Knight finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis — the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup previously worn by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero.

Just as it begins to appear as if Batman, Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the criminal element, a maniacal, wisecracking fiend plunges the streets of Gotham City into complete chaos.

My boss forcefully gave me the day off today to save some money for the company. Thankfully, I won’t be working for her much longer, so I don’t have to worry about any more of these days off. I dreaded having a whole day off, making no money and just sitting around the house. A friend of mine also had the day off so we both decided to do something with it and go see The Dark Knight.

I saw Batman Begins when I was still living in New Orleans before the hurricane. I thought it was a good effort but not a great film. The Dark Knight takes things up a notch, much like Spider Man 2 did with its franchise. The first Spider Man film was just okay but the second one was great. Better special effects, better writing, better acting (even though I hate Kirsten Dunst), and better action scenes. The Dark Knight does all those same things.

I don’t think The Dark Knight is as great as Spider Man 2 was but it does have moments of greatness. The action scenes are great, with most of them having no loud background music which makes them kind of stand out more. The film’s dark tone throughout the movie is great, it’s probably the most serious and terrifying comic book movie ever. The acting is great, with the whole cast doing an awesome job, thank god Katie Holmes left.

Heath Ledger probably plays the best villain I have ever seen as the Joker. A lot of people are saying that Ledger gives an Oscar worthy performance and he does. The whole film does really. I have no doubt that he will be nominated for best supporting actor and the film too for best picture. Eckhart is also really good, especially when he becomes hard to look at as Two Face. Oldman gets more screen time then he had in Batman Begins and uses every second of it to be awesome. I kind of forgot that Bale was in the movie since we see so little of him and more of all the other characters. Even though he also plays Batman it was a surprise every time I saw him on screen without the costume. Although no one stands out or gets left behind, all the performances are equally great.

After Spider Man 2, the third one in the series was a complete mess. Everything that was great about the second one seemed to disappear. I hope that doesn’t happen to Batman and it continues with Nolan behind the wheel.

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Rating: 4.0/5 (2 votes cast)

I’m Not There (2007)
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Date Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 6:23 pm


I’m Not There is a 2007 biographical film inspired by the life of iconicsinger-songwriter Bob Dylan. It depicts six distinct stages of Dylan’s life and public persona portrayed by an ensemble cast of actors: Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett, who play characters based on Dylan but with different names.

The film tells its story using non-traditional techniques, similar to the poetic narrative style of Dylan’s songwriting. It takes its name from the Dylan outtake “I’m Not There”, a song never officially released until its appearance on the film’s official soundtrack album. Critically acclaimed, I’m Not There made many top ten film lists for 2007, topping the lists for The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Salon and The Boston Globe.

The film intercuts stories featuring different actors playing characters based on the life or the legend of Bob Dylan. Marcus Carl Franklin, a young black actor, plays a version of the 11-year old Dylan, who calls himself “Woody Guthrie” and escapes from a juvenile correction center by hitching a ride on a train, carrying a guitar labeled “This Machine Kills Fascists.” Christian Bale plays Jack Rollins, a version of Dylan as a young folk singer with a political conscience, and who later becomes “Pastor John,” a version of Dylan the born again Christian, here singing gospel songs in a small town church. Cate Blanchett plays Jude Quinn, a version of Dylan at the height of his fame in the 1960s, when his original fan base was rejecting him as a sell-out. Ben Whishaw plays a version of Dylan as a young rebel who calls himself after the poet Arthur Rimbaud. Heath Ledger plays a character named “Robbie Clark”, a fictional Hollywood actor presented as best known for his performance in a film about Jack Rollins (the character played by Bale); he also represents Dylan the divorcĂ©, estranged from his wife Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Richard Gere plays the elderly Dylan as an aging Billy the Kid in a surreal Wild West town, who defeats an even more elderly Pat Garrett (played by Bruce Greenwood). Read the rest of this entry »

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