Finally caught The Dark Knight last week, a week after its release, and it was so worth it! Chris Nolan and his team did not disappoint.Where shall I start?
The Good:
1. Chris Nolan definitely captures the troubled persona of Batman and Bruce Wayne. The great thing about Nolan as a filmmaker is that he doesn't just give it to you, he gives it his all. With the title of The Dark Knight, you'd expect the movie to be scarier and that the Dark Knight referred to Batman having his dark moments and giving in to the taunts. But it could also have referred to Harvey Dent being the White Knight or even the whole mood of the movie, which never became bright, only grim and dark.
2. The absence of Katie Holmes. I still think the character of Rachel Dawes was unnecessary but Maggie Gyllenhaal definitely gave it her best and if she had played the original Rachel Dawes, I would have had a different opinion about the character. Probably.
3. Detective Gordon and his sneaky ways. He's a very sneaky, sneaky man. That's why he became Commissioner Gordon. I love Gary Oldman.
4. Heath Ledger rocks as The Joker. He simply rocks. We never see his face because of all the make-up but the mere sound of his voice sends shivers down my spine and not in a good way. It's so much different from Jack Nicholson's Joker but so good. It's not better because those are two different portrayals but it was an awesome performance. It was simply wow.
5. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. I love Aaron Eckhart! I love what he did for Harvey Dent. Everyone was so focused on Heath Ledger and his portrayal of the Joker that people forgot about Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent.
The Bad:
1. The disappearance of Wayne Manor, which is only obvious since it burned down in Batman Begins. I just miss it. Hehe.
2. The Wayne Enterprises employee who wanted to reveal the identity of Batman. It was kind of unnecessary but relevant in a way. I think it would have worked better if it wasn't done so half-heartedly.
3. The brief appearance of Cillian Murphy. Well, Scarecrow was defeated in Batman Begins so it was highly unlikely that he would appear in The Dark Knight. Oh well, at least I saw him even for just a bit.
Overall:
I loved it! I loved the entire movie! I wanna watch it again and again and again! But I won't because ticket prices are obscenely high now. If you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you run to the movie theater and watch it ASAP! Because I promise you, you will never get bored and you will enjoy yourself. So go now!
Have you watched The Dark Knight? What did you think of the movie? Did you enjoy watching it? Did you hate it? Let's discuss via the comments section.
What is it with Aga Muhlach and his younger co-stars? I mean, Aga, c'mon. You're handsome and all but even you can't pull off a cradle-snatching act like that. Imagine. His last three movies, he was paired with Kristine Hermosa, then Angelica Panganiban, and lastly Anne Curtis, all in their early or mid-20s while Aga's pushing 40. It's not just the age. It's very obvious producers are simply pushing the love teams without any thought on its effect on the movie simply because Aga Muhlach and his younger co-stars have no chemistry on film!
My advice to you, Aga, stop doing the romantic love story about a boy and girl who fall in love because frankly you're already near 40 and you be already be past that stage and trying to concentrate on more mature roles. I mean, c'mon, younger actors than you are already playing father roles. I'm not saying you should do the father roles but please pick some other character. Or at least if you're going to do the love story angle, pick a co-star who's closer to your age naman!
1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting.
2. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
3. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off. Even while scuba diving.
4. On a police stake-out, the action will only ever take place when food is being consumed and scalding hot coffees are perched precariously on the dashboard.
5. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.
I've seen only 3 of these "must-sees". Do you agree with this list?
Radio Times film editor Andrew Collins, who compiled the list, said: "Snobbery does not belong to the film buff."
He added: "To understand the 1980s/1990s blockbuster, you must accept producer Jerry Bruckheimer into your life. Armageddon is the pinnacle of Bruckheimer excess."
3 years have passed since the last X-Men movie. And I've waited for 3 years for the next X-Men movie to be shown on the big screen. Then I found out Bryan Singer was not returning to direct the third movie and is, instead, focusing on bringing back Superman. Then I heard news that Halle Berry was the only one coming back for the third movie.
Fortunately, the whole cast is back and even brought in my favorite X-Man, Henry McCoy, a.k.a. Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast. The only thing that stands in between not good and amazing is the new director, Brett Ratner, of the only-good-for-laughs Rush Hour 1 and 2 (where Jeremy Piven plays a blonde, gay fashion consultant, I just had to sneak that one in).
Uh-oh.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as well as planned. I hated the way the story progressed. I hated the way they developed the storyline. I hated the way they turned Logan into this weeping romantic still in love with Jean Grey. I hated the way they killed Professor X. I hated the way they kept every other character hanging. I hated the priorities they gave the others' characters.
In short, I hated what Brett Rattner did to the movie.
But I still "love" it because it's X-Men but I probably will not watch it a second time. It's that bad.
This movie is so in love with itself. It oozes so much confidence in itself that it comes off as pompous and arrogant. And it is a movie that is very pleased with itself even when results aren't even that great. I love the cast (Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, Bruce Willis, even Josh Hartnett coz he's my crush). But c'mon, don't shove it in our faces that you're trying to do a good and original movie coz it's not.
"Nanny McPhee, we need you!" I love this movie! It's all so cute and colorful and just plain wonderful! I love it! It's a typical kids movie but such a great stress reliever. Watch it! Watch it!
This is one of the sweetest and cutest movies about puppy love that I've seen since Diane Lane's A Little Romance. Love at its finest because it's so pure and innocent. Still painful though. Imagine falling in love and getting rejected at the age of 11. Ouch!
I love them! No matter what they do, no matter how insignificant their roles can be, I will always love them!
4. Bryan Singer
Why couldn't you have done both X3 and Superman Returns? This movie had focus, X3 didn't. Why? Why? Why?
5. Superman Returns
I love the fact that they focused the story on Superman and not the life in Metropolis now that Superman has returned. I love it!
4 Things I Don't Like About Superman Returns 1. Kate Bosworth
So many people have already said it. It's hard to imagine Kate Bosworth as a veteran, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. This isn't Kate Bosworth playing Lois Lane. This is Kate Bosworth trying to act. Because let's face it, Kate Bosworth is not the world's best actress. Even Teri Hatcher pulled off a better Lois Lane than Bosworth ever will.
As with Kevin Spacey. He is not Kevin Spacey playing Lex Luthor. The whole time I was watching him on the big screen, I kept seeing Kevin Spacey and not Lex Luthor.
Huhuhu!
No!
That shouldn't be happening! Because he's Kevin Spacey! No!
Yes. He does resemble Christopher Reeve, the original Superman. But boy! Routh cannot act! He may be able to act as Clark Kent, the fumbling, nervous, geeky reporter but he does not have the confidence and charisma of Superman!
4. Superman Returns
Story was soooo thin. It was so obvious that the producers are just riding on the popularity of comic book movies today. Gah!
This is one of my favorite books by own of my favorite authors, Jhumpa Lahiri. I didn't even know it was being made in to a movie. And starring Kal Penn! Yeah!
I wasn't interested at first but when I found out Rachel Bilson was gonna be in it, I watched the trailer. Nothing new. But I'm not watching it for the story. I'm watching it for Rachel Bilson!
I am so glad Crash won Best Picture at the just-concluded 78th Annual Academy Awards! Brokeback Mountain was the favorite to win but Crash was clearly the better film.
Why did Crash win against Brokeback Mountain?
I believe it's because everything in the movie was so real, the emotions, the experience, the stories, the people. Brokeback Mountain's story may really be about two gay cowboys but I felt no sympathy for them. In fact, I didn't feel anything for them. I wasn't moved by the movie and I felt nothing of their plight. Although I have to add, Michelle Williams was simply remarkable in this movie. I know I said that the four principal actors were very good but Michelle Williams was the one who, I believe, stood out.
Back to Crash...
Crash was an ensemble movie. There wasn't just one lead character. No, actually there was one lead character, the city of Los Angeles. And the actors were not who they were, they were their characters. I believed Sandra Bullock was the DA's wife who was too scared and too proud (bad combination). I believed Matt Dillon as the cop who had a heart of stone that can still be penetrated. I believed Ryan Philippe as the cop who seems innocent yet subjects himself to the system. I believed Don Cheadle as the dutiful detective and son but always a failure. I believed all of them were someone else and that's where the beauty of the movie lies in.
Brokeback Mountain was, in my opinion, mechanical. And I really believe that Ang Lee is losing his touch. How sad. But I still love him.
I am glad though that the Oscars this year wasn't very predictable. No one dominated the affair. If you noticed, the productions/movies nominated for the technical awards were quite different from the productions/movies nominated for the directing and acting awards.
I loved Ben Stiller's spot! I was laughing so hard with the green unitard. Only Ben Stiller can pull off something like that. Remember when he presented with Owen Wilson and he was wearing his Starsky and Hutch outfit while Owen Wilson wore his tux and Owen was like, "Why are you wearing that? Didn't they tell you we weren't wearing that anymore?" And Ben was like, "No." Haha!
And Jennifer Garner was quite graceful. To slip like that and recover quickly, like nothing happened. Well, almost.
Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep were hilarious as they introduced Rob Altman. And Rob Altman didn't disappoint us, too.
Too bad Pia Clemente didn't take home the golden man but it's still an honor to be nominated.
I loved the look of Michelle Williams and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Classic looks that I didn't really expect from them.
Not too many colors this time, though. Almost everyone toned it down. Well, except for Jada Pinkett Smith, Michelle Williams, Tim Burton and Dolly Parton. And speaking of Dolly Parton, I love the shoes she wore when she was performing "Travellin' Thru" from the movie "Transamerica"! Haha! My brother couldn't help but laugh when he heard me say this. He wasn't expecting it, he said. Well, hers were the only footwear I saw. Well two, if you count Felicity Huffman's black pairs. But I didn't care much for that.
Now that the 78th Academy Awards are over, I'm now looking forward to the 2006 movies and hopefully, there'll be a better turn out this year.
I was talking to my sister about a story my friend told me when she was still in the food industry, about putting up a corner in the resto where a certain individual talks to different guests about various topics and calling the corner "Conversations with *certain individual's name*".
Funny concept. But when I told my sister about it, she was almost tempted to do that at our store. It'll be me or her, though, talking to the guests about nothing, anything and everything. It'll be fun and uit'll be a great way to get to know our guests. I think the only problem will be if the guests will like the idea.
***
I was in ATC last Friday and was able to catch two new movies.
First up was Brokeback Mountain starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Ang Lee. I am such a big fan of Ang Lee and I was not going to pass up watching this movie. I tell you, it's really hard when you have strong expectations from a movie because 8 times out of 10, you will be disappointed. I tried so hard to make sense of the whole movie, which is hard not to because it was terribly simple, and to just enjoy it. But how can you enjoy a movie that is so anti-climactic? It's really sad because all the actors were exceptional. It was the perfect vehicle for them to come out of their shell, especially for Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway, who played the cowboys' wives. And in the end, you ask yourself, what have I learned from this movie? Hmm... That sheep should never be left alone in the woods at night? That my business is my business and is not yours? That fishing trips are not what you think they are?
****SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!**** Ang Lee loves characted-driven stories and Brokeback Mountain is one but you gotta have a story, too. It's supposed to be a movie about two gay comboys living in 1960s America where everybody did not understand and shunned the gay lifestyle. But it was never clear in the film that society shunned the gay lifestyle. But the only indication of this was near the end when something terrible happened to one of the characters. And when one of the wives left one of the characters. Or when their recruiter implied that they found a way to entertain themselves while taking care of the sheeps.
Ennis and Jack had to hide their lifestyle and relationship. But from who? Their wives? Their families? We can see that. But who else? Was there anyone else? Who was it?
Maybe I just need to watch it again, you know? So I can really watch it with an open mind. But if this is it, then I'm just terribly disappointed. And if this winds as Best Picture at the Oscars, well, it will be travesty.
***
The second movie that I watched was the Close-Up movie for Valentines, Close To You starring John Lloyd Cruz, Bea Alonzo and Sam Milby and directed by Cathy Garcia- Molina.
Let me just start off by saying that I wasn't expecting this movie to be a fullhouse at ATC but it was! And there was even a line outside the cinema waiting to go in!
I wasn't in the mood for the other movies that time so I decided to watch this movie since some people said it was a very good movie that was really light and funny.
And it really was. John Lloyd was particularly good here. He was the perfect best friend to Marianne (Bea Alonzo). All the acting looked and felt so natural. And it also helped that a lot of people can relate to the story in so many ways.
The story was well-written. The progression between scenes never felt stifled or pilit. Everything in its own time. And the lines! The lines were so funny!
I'd definitely watch this again! In a way, it's still the typical romantic comedy but, unlike the other Pinoy romantic comedies, it didn't try to become someone else. It just told it like it is which is always better.
***
Next up on my Movies To Watch list is Syriana, Munich, Capote, Nanny McPhee, Nasaan Si Francis? and Fearless.
Ack! I hope I have enough money to watch all those!
I was just checking my email when I received an e-mail notice about this. Omigod! I am so excited! Release date is on April 12. I am definitely buying this one!
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