Brett Archive at iconogeek

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Why…So…Serious?!

Published

on July 20, 2008

. 5 Comments

This might be the most difficult review/commentary I’ve had to write in my time as an iconogeek poster. The Dark Knight was cast into movie history on early Friday morning, amid hype bigger then Jack Nicholson’s shit-eating grin way back in 1989. I’ll admit that I had enormous expectations for this flick for several reasons, including the immense Batman Begins, my love for all things Batman (minus a little misstep known dearly as “the nipple suit”), Christian Bale, and oh by the way, Heath Ledger tragically and unexpectedly passed away right after his filming and post-production. Needless to say there was a minute amount of mystique and anticipation surrounding TDK.

Now that the weekend is over, Bale and Co. have broken the records for Midnight Opening Gross (over Revenge of the Sith), Opening Day and Weekend Gross (over Spider-Man 3). So the fans liked it….which, is a good thing, I think.

As far as what I thought about the movie is difficult to describe. In recent weeks I suppose I’ve been labeled as a rather stringent critic, which I have no problem with. Maybe you’ll hear more of my side on the next podcast. But to discuss how I would score The Dark Knight feels near impossible. Entertainment Weekly touted the flick by saying “This is what you call raising the bar.” In a way I both agree and disagree with that statement. The bar for comic book movies was certainly raised in a sense, but I feel more inclined to describe the bar as being broken down into little pieces and upgraded to a newer, shinier, nipple-less bar.

The Dark Knight is less a comic book movie and more an investigation into the human condition and the emotions shrouded behind a bad-ass bat suit, and psychotically applied white make-up. This summer has now seen three phenomenal comic book-based films in which the first 2 started the trend and the 3rd and most spectacular broke the mold. It seems that The Dark Knight has ushered in the era of Oscar-buzz worthy chatter amongst previously lighter fare.

It took me 2 days to finally post because the movie had so many story arcs that it took that long for me to process. That’s not to say that there were too many plot lines, its just an observation that no comic book movie has ever bitten off more than its ADHD riddled fanboys can chew at once (hence all the sequels). Where Batman Begins revitalized a tired franchise, The Dark Knight revitalized a tiring genre.

It’s an understatement to say Heath Ledger was superb as the Joker. Once the final credits rolled, and the Joker had already exited stage left, it was apparent that all the other players including a solid Bale, Aaron Eckhardt, Maggie Gyllenhall, and Gary Oldman among others, were simply a big name supporting cast to true work of acting genius. Ledger clearly had a vision in mind of what the Joker is and why he is that way. If for nothing else, this movie soared because of what Ledger added to it. Jack Nicholson…stick to Boston-based mob movies…because you just got out played.

The two scenes that stood out most were when Ledger and Bale are face to face in rather quiet and alone situations. I started to forget that the Joker was wearing ridiculous face paint and began to see him as a deranged criminal, with an ominous past, which I couldn’t even imagine, that would set him off the straight and narrow so far. He became a psychotic murderer the likes of which hasn’t been seen on the big screen since the aforementioned Nicholson in the Shining.

I’m going to use the old >I<score system for this one because it’s all too confusing as of yet.

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But where did the lighter fluid come from?

Published

Brett

on June 30, 2008

in TV

. 0 Comments

Finally, Hollywood has thrown us weary fans a frickin’ bone and apparently decided to green light a big screen version of Fox’s short-lived phenomenon that was Arrested Development. IMDb.com has it set to release in 2009, and with the writer’s strike over, I think this is a possibility.If this flick turns out to be half as good as season 2 of the show, I’ll be satisfied. For a show that was so short lived, I have supreme confidence in presenting a list of past/present comedies that AD is better than.1. Friends 2. Will & Grace 3. Everybody Loves Raymond 4. How I Met Your Mother 5. Family Guy .That’s right, I said Friends, watch the show and you’ll be looking forward to the movie as much as I am.

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JB is the KFP

Published

Brett

on June 11, 2008

in Movies

. 1 Comment

I have to say I’m more of a Pixar guy rather then Dreamworks, blame my inherent bias toward all Steve Jobs’ endeavors. However, Dreamworks’ recent addition to the animated motion picture universe was phenomenal. I was a little skeptical at first because Jack Black has been in some clunkers of late, but this flick was awesome.

I really began to care about Po, the lazy, sweet toothed DragonMaster-elect, and Dustin Hoffman was superb as Master Shifu. With voice-over appearances from Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, and a rather disappointing Angelina Jolie, what’s not to love. By the end of the movie, I was elated at Po’s successes.

Note: Don’t think I didn’t notice the Kill Bill reference with the 5 point palm exploding heart technique…(well it was a kid’s movie so maybe they’re hearts didn’t “explode” persay.)

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That’s not what MINE looks like?!?!?!

Published

Brett

on April 25, 2008

in Movies

. 3 Comments

I recently saw the latest entry into ApaTOWN(copyright) and went into it with relatively high expectations. I’ve enjoyed Jason Segal in all his incarnations including Freaks & Geeks, How I Met Your Mother, and even Knocked Up. Needless to say, I expected to be wowed by some wild and crazy take on the standard rom-com. I was sorely disappointed. There were 2 or 3 specific points in the movie where I was waiting for them to turn a corner, but director Nicholas Stoller sent me down the same old, cheesy path.

The movie wasn’t completely bogus. The afformentioned Segal was stellar and Mila Kunis played a decent love interest. However it did become a bit of a sausage fest (and I don’t mean it was like my Friday and Saturday nights in college). If you haven’t heard, Segal shows his wiener…multiple times. As I am in the last week of medical school, it’s not like I haven’t had my fair share of penises to inspect, but it kept appearing in the movie like a recurring theme in a Shakespearan play.

Anyway, the true low point for me was Kristen Bell. Just because she’s a pretty face doesn’t mean she has chops. Her character felt very constrained and her emotions were nearly non-existent.Despite this low point I’ll probably netflix it in a few months to remember the hilarious opera that Segal’s character composes that I won’t ruin for you.Note* Jason Segal based the break-up scene and the opera on his real life experiences.