The Dark Knight

[grady]

What is the anticipation level for everyone?

[viddy]

Restrained giddiness. :)

Going to the IMAX.

[gambit]

Restrained giddiness. :)

Going to the IMAX.The same minus the IMAX. I keep hearing great things about Heath Ledger's performance. Like possible Oscar nomination greatness.

[King of Snake]

anticipation level is off the scale here

[BeautifulBurnout]

Very much looking forward to this. Batman Begins was outstanding.

[potatobroth]

very giddy, slightly sad, preparing for "isn't it weird how he..."

[third.toughest]

It comes out on my birthday so I am about to pi$$ my pants with antisipation...

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

The same minus the IMAX. I keep hearing great things about Heath Ledger's performance. Like possible Oscar nomination greatness.


What do you think of the IMAX experience?

[IsiliRunite]

Hellboy II > Batman, but this still looks extremely entertaining.

[dubman]

i think for the first time in awhile im actually anticipating a movie. usually i'm perfectly content to let the date come around when i'll be seeing a film, but i'm actually a bit impatient.

[gambit]

What do you think of the IMAX experience?The IMAX is awesome; it's just that there isn't an IMAX anywhere near me is what I meant. :)

[grady]

I was fortunate enough to see the film last week at an exhibitor screening. Over at another forum I posted some very broad *spoiler free* thoughts about the film. Anyone have any interest in reading them here?

[gambit]

If they contain spoilers or any hints of spoilers, no. At least not until the movie comes out for the rest of us schlubs. :cool:

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

The IMAX is awesome; it's just that there isn't an IMAX anywhere near me is what I meant. :)


I'm amazed from what it does for a live concert.

As far as movies go, I'm not so sure yet.

[grady]

If they contain spoilers or any hints of spoilers, no. At least not until the movie comes out for the rest of us schlubs. :cool:
Yeah, they're spoiler free and just that, broad statements.

[IsiliRunite]

post that hot fire!

[grady]

I'm amazed from what it does for a live concert.

As far as movies go, I'm not so sure yet.
The only thing I saw in an IMAX presentation was the opening of The Dark Knight before I am Legend, and while it was impressive, it was a very large square frame. I know only three or four sequences of the film were shot in the IMAX format and when I saw the film it was in a standard presentation cinema. I'd imagine the action sequences will be pretty great in IMAX, but the film on it's own without the IMAX sequences was still just as impressive.

Did you see the Rolling Stones film in IMAX jOHN?

[grady]

What Batman Begins did efficiently was being an origin story that started with the right foot forward. With all those pieces in place, in film two we can get down to business.

The film is structured and paced at such a fine clip that you don't notice the time. A great deal of this is attributed to the story and how involving it becomes very quickly. Christopher Nolan and his co-screenwriter and brother Jonathan have focused more on the dramatic elements of the story. That's not to say that the film lacks action, there is plenty of it, but for what seems like a first, Nolan has made an almost entirely chronological film.

The next point of issue is Heath Ledger, who does a fine, fine job as The Joker that is truly quite startling at times. The Joker's dominance of the story is such that he's a catalyst, but not always primary. Expect praise for Ledger's work here, and rightly so, you cannot tell it's him throughout the film. Ledger is exquisite and has some of the best scenes in the film. His nihilistic behavior and antics are quite something to behold, and have been built up a bit, to the point that pessimism could enter the viewers mind, but then something disturbing occurs that throws that pessimism to the wind.

Ledger's portrayal reminded me of a lot in reflection of a wild, anarchic version of the killer John Doe in se7en, portrayed by Kevin Spacey. I'm surprised no one has made this analogy yet. The Joker has an utter lack of regard for anyone or anything. The difference being, John Doe's intention was a bit deeper, The Joker is much more surface, chaotic, anarchic(not to be redundant using the same word twice), and malicious, with the selflessness that he doesn't care, even about himself.

The usual suspects are present from the last film. Scary Gary Oldman as Gordon, who is now becoming a bigger fish in the food chain, Lucious Fox still doing the R&D for Bruce Wayne, and now Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel. Gyllenhaal is quite an improvement over Katie Holmes, not that Holmes was bad, but Maggie is a far superior actress. Also new to the cast is Aaron Eckhart as Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent. His role and prominence in the film only grows as the film progresses.

These characters are so well composed within this large mosaic of a story that weaves from act to act with relative ease neither feeling forced or noticeable to the viewer with one or two exceptions in the last act of the film.

Each of these characters mentioned above, exude a strong emotional pull that begins subtly and swiftly. With some events that occurred in the film I found myself reacting quite strongly. Not to demoralize the film for it's time of release or content, but the emotional responses it elicited I find myself experiencing more often during the pandering award season later in the year. I'm convinced that while this is a 'tent pole', 'comic book film', it's also quite serious in it's tone and structure and treatment of the story and characters that most audiences will fail to see or acknowledge. The story just wraps you up and takes you away from the beginning. Just like the previous film, there are no titles, the film just starts.

People were raving back when Spiderman 2 came out about it being the best comic book sequel. I should clarify before progressing any further that I found that film difficult to sit through. This film, as a sequel is leaps and bounds above Spiderman 2 or any other film in this genre. Close comparisons could be made to X-Men 2 and that is a very valid comparison that The Dark Knight exceeds. But this film while not quite at the level of say The Empire Strikes Back or The Wrath of Kahn is pretty damn close. It's that good. A great deal of this should be attributed to Christopher Nolan's respect and treatment of the source material and the property and some bright folks having faith in a filmmaker for once instead of undermining them.

I realize I've been quite vague and this has been a very deliberate choice. If there is more that would like to be known, please ask.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

The only thing I saw in an IMAX presentation was the opening of The Dark Knight before I am Legend, and while it was impressive, it was a very large square frame. I know only three or four sequences of the film were shot in the IMAX format and when I saw the film it was in a standard presentation cinema. I'd imagine the action sequences will be pretty great in IMAX, but the film on it's own without the IMAX sequences was still just as impressive.

Did you see the Rolling Stones film in IMAX jOHN?

Unfortunately, no. I'm kind of on hardcore restriction.

[potatobroth]

oh I had no idea Holmes had been replaced. Thats great news! This has nothing to do with her personal life blah blah but I thought she was quite unbelievable in her role in the first flick.

[viddy]

A great article about how they shot key scenes of the movie with the IMAX camera & film, and the lack of CGI FX throughout the film.

Dark Knight Director Shuns Digital Effects For the Real Thing
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/16-07/ff_darknight

[dubman]

oh I had no idea Holmes had been replaced. Thats great news! This has nothing to do with her personal life blah blah but I thought she was quite unbelievable in her role in the first flick.
yeah though it was fun when she slapped him twice.

[TheBang]

Thanks for the general overview, grady. Looking forward to the film!

[gambit]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1117563/

Batman: Gotham Knight comes out tomorrow. It looks amazing, and it takes place within this movie's universe. Can't wait to watch it myself.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1117563/

Batman: Gotham Knight comes out tomorrow. It looks amazing, and it takes place within this movie's universe. Can't wait to watch it myself.


I got my allowance today!

[viddy]

I wanted to see this opening weekend in IMAX, but tix are basically sold out for every showing in every IMAX theater, unless you want to sit in the very front on one of the far sides. This sucks. I wish someone had told me they'd go on sale three weeks in advance.:(

[grady]

For what it's worth about not being able to see it IMAX due to the sell outs so far in advance, this popped up in a paragraph over at Anne Thompson's blog on Variety:

Finally, I would have preferred to see The Dark Knight in 35 mm, not IMAX. (I will go see it again when it opens July 18.) While the sequences that were shot with giant cameras were stunning at the IMAX venue--especially the deep detailed helicopter shots over Gotham and the amazing car/truck chase filmed in Chicago's freeway tunnels--I found the movie overwhelming.

link (http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/07/dark-knight-rev.html)

When I saw the film it was also in standard 35mm and it was just as engrossing, that said, IMAX would've been great, but 35mm was suffice.

[IsiliRunite]

I wanted to see this opening weekend in IMAX, but tix are basically sold out for every showing in every IMAX theater, unless you want to sit in the very front on one of the far sides. This sucks. I wish someone had told me they'd go on sale three weeks in advance.:(

Sitting on the sides is not nearly as bad as it seems, depending on how close you are. Just lean to one side and enjoy. I saw Iron Man from the side and middle (side first), and I was able to get hold of more visual effects the first time around.

Is 35mm focal length? Never shot a movie and never had a camera.

[den]

They were filming this movie for forever in Chicago last year. They tried to keep it under wraps, but EVERYONE knew it was the Batman movie. They even made up a fake name calling it "Rory's First Kiss" but it was so friggin obvious when you'd walk down the street and see all the cop cars labeled 'Gotham City Police Department'.

[TheBang]

Is 35mm focal length? Never shot a movie and never had a camera.
The width of the film stock. 35 mm is what most films are shot on and displayed at in movie theaters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35_mm_film

IMAX is shot on 70 mm film, so it has significantly more resolution that normal film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX#Technical_aspects

[grady]

The ASC finally got their text online from the most recent issue involving the Batman. Worth a read, either before or after the film in regards to the process of shooting in the IMAX format.

link (http://www.ascmag.com/magazine_dynamic/July2008/TheDarkKnight/page1.php#)

[viddy]

Heath Ledger as the joker is the best part of the movie. I was absolutely glued every second he was on screen. This movie was a lot of fun, apart from it feeling a little too long.

....and Chicago has never looked so badass. :)

[TheBang]

The ASC finally got their text online from the most recent issue involving the Batman. Worth a read, either before or after the film in regards to the process of shooting in the IMAX format.

link (http://www.ascmag.com/magazine_dynamic/July2008/TheDarkKnight/page1.php#)

That was a really good article. Thanks for the link.

[gambit]

Damn, that's one great film. Heath Ledger was the Joker. There wasn't even a trace of him there. And Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face was spot on casting. Hell, Christian Bale pretty much had third billing here, and he was Batman.

I wonder who the next villain(s) will be in the next film.

[gillenium]

The quintessential comic book movie?

I would venture a "hell yes."

[IsiliRunite]

spoiler?

SPOILER

felt a little long but heath ledger had obviously come a long way since '10 things i hate about you.' he was by far the best part of the movie... I'm not sure I was very drawn into the film by the other characters as much. There were no real light moments to make the dark moments impact you so much more. The light moments for me ocurred during what were intended to be some of the darker moments, for me... when real sadistic things happened, I laughed, because Ledgers's performance was quite good.

[the mongoose]

Amazing Movie, totally blown away by Heath's performance......actually....I don't even think Heath was ever on set, the Joker was played by the Joker instead. :cool::cool::cool:

[holden]

Say it last night (after waiting for two sold-out shows to finish :o).

It was indeed very dark, suspenseful, and raised some interesting issues.
There are amazing action sequences, but between the sustained tension and moments of heightened terror, i felt pretty dark myself upon leaving.

Such a marvel the difference between Nolan's two films and the increasingly comic and cheesy 4 predecessors.

[dubman]

good enough to see it twice in one day? yep.
yeah yeah yeah it's great and all that. i actually wanted the movie to keep going as long as it did, and the joker was obviously the best part of the movie. the hospital scene was just... beautiful.

[GforGroove]

good enough to see it twice in one day? yep.
yeah yeah yeah it's great and all that. i actually wanted the movie to keep going as long as it did, and the joker was obviously the best part of the movie. the hospital scene was just... beautiful.

YES. I felt kind of a mega dork because i went out straight out to get another ticket... and... i went today with a friend today again.. but.. it was sold out. I would watch it 3 or 4 or whatever times i think.

might spoil might spoil might spoill:






Uff. simply incredible. Gun powder bombs, patriot act, money burning and Fuck Morality. I love it!. The hospital scene is tops but i kind of love more the billions of dollars burning more and the "patriot act" machine is amazing too.

But i could pretty much say one word about the movie: Joker.

[cured]

I caught it on IMAX tonight. Goddamn, I'm so happy a big budget movie from Hollywood could be so entertaining.

I really liked the Joker's magic trick.

[gambit]

I too want to make pencils disappear!

[Jafs]

Went to watch this yesterday, and it's soooo good. Almost everything has been said here in a better english than mine, so I will only stop on a little default: the music never stops.

[Sean]

The wife and I went to see it this weekend. As my wife put it after it was over - "Who's responsible for that? Whoever it is, they're great!"

[big screen satellite]

saw this last week, forgot to post, but i don't think you can overstate how good Ledger is in this...

although its not worthy of an Oscar, because Oscars don't deserve to go to films like this... its better than the Oscars piffle

maybe Michael Caine can get best supporting actor because he is a genius :D

[Sean]

although its not worthy of an Oscar, because Oscars don't deserve to go to films like this... its better than the Oscars piffleNot to get off topic or anything, but I disagree completely. I think the fact that oscars only go to "serious" films is idiotic. Why not give best picture to a great comedy, even if it's slapstick? Or an adventure film, even if it is a summer blockbuster action spectacular? Or an animated film, even if it is...well...animated? Frankly, drama is probably one of the easier genres out there to successfully execute compared to creating great comedy, or following great action, etc. And the disrespectful view of animation is a story all to itself. But for an "oscar-worthy" drama, just do some crap like make a character sick, watch their loved ones go through the agony of seeing their friend/husband/wife/family member slowly die, everyone cries, have a bunch of tormented dialogue screamed passionately along the lines of "you don't know what it's like!", blah blah blah.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Not to get off topic or anything, but I disagree completely. I think the fact that oscars only go to "serious" films is idiotic. Why not give best picture to a great comedy, even if it's slapstick? Or an adventure film, even if it is a summer blockbuster action spectacular? Or an animated film, even if it is...well...animated? Frankly, drama is probably one of the easier genres out there to successfully execute compared to creating great comedy, or following great action, etc. And the disrespectful view of animation is a story all to itself. But for an "oscar-worthy" drama, just do some crap like make a character sick, watch their loved ones go through the agony of seeing their friend/husband/wife/family member slowly die, everyone cries, have a bunch of tormented dialogue screamed passionately along the lines of "you don't know what it's like!", blah blah blah.


Yeah, or like a horror where Satan takes over all the religious peoples minds and there's, like, all these warning, flashing, train-wreck, red(whistling winky) signs, but, like, every is soooo compelled with the devil's pie that they don't see it. ay, ay, I mean COMEDY because it was all so funny at one time. ooops.

That'd never win anything.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Nice little article with some interesting video clips in today's Guardian. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2008/nov/12/the-dark-knight-batman-christian-bale-heath-ledger)

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Anyone notice how IMDB's movie $$ earnings have not changed during the past 4 weeks or so?

Been watchmening the earnings for Dark Knight, just out of curiosity...

[mmm skyscraper]

Well the movie did close on March 5th in the US, so there are no more box office earnings from that date on.

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=darkknight.htm

The movie is still playing in other countries.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Well the movie did close on March 5th in the US, so there are no more box office earnings from that date on.

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=darkknight.htm

The movie is still playing in other countries.



I thought DVD sales were figured into the numbers as well. My bad. I think, maybe.

I didn't think worldwide totals were changing either, I might be wrong.

I wonder if it would have done better if the economy didn't tank when it tanked. THAT'S IT! Cameron's responsible for the mess! Prima-donna just HAD to stay on top.

Tank you, tank you very much. (bows)