The movies that truly frightened me

I'd like to note right off the bat that this is not necessarily a list of "recommendations." Some of these I'm not sure I'd actually recommend to anyone. It's a list of the movies that got through the hardened exterior of a shock-cinema veteran and sent me away freaked out. Some are old terrors from my childhood, others I've seen fairly recently. Proceed at your own risk!


A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - One from my childhood days. Repeat viewings and my advancing age would ultimately dull the impact, but the first time I saw this, I got freaked right the hell out. There's something totally ingenious about the concept of a villain who attacks in your dreams...think about it, if you watch this movie, get scared, and then go to bed and have a nightmare where Freddy appears (as I did, back then)...you're experiencing exactly what the characters do. There's no way to be sure you're safe until you wake up...hopefully alive.


Ju-On (2003) - One of the only horror films released in the last decade that scared the crap out of me - not to be confused with the dumbed-down American remake. From the gritty, terrifying opening to the breathless finale, this movie was a knockout that really got at some primal fears. This particular film can be polarizing - this ghost can do a hell of a lot more than just knock a picture frame off the wall, her powers are so crazy that it can often lead viewers to say the movie doesn't make sense. I'd argue that's the point - the characters are facing something with power beyond their comprehension - as soon as you enter that house, you're powerless.


Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Do a google image search for this movie at your own peril - it took me a while to find a picture I even felt comfortable posting. A popular true story about this film is that the crew had to go to court to prove that one of the cast members wasn't really killed during production. Yes, the gore effects are that impressive. Almost thirty years after its production, it remains one of the most brutally violent movies ever made and has an interesting commentary on human nature. Unfortunately, what detracts from an otherwise effective, intelligent movie is that real animals are killed on screen - in lengthy, nauseating detail. It's a revolting attempt to wring some extra shocks out of the audience. This was one case where being disturbed did not mean the movie had done something right. The "most controversial movie ever" label is a little much, but it's close.


Martyrs (2008) - The unbelievable, spectacular brutality of this movie (one of the most memorable additions to the current French wave of horror) knocked me right on my ass. The story chronicles a young girl who escaped after being brutalized by some sinister shadow organization. She has visions of a decaying, demonic creature...and it's some of the most horrifying makeup I've seen in years. Eventually, the plot takes a crazy left turn and introduces some wild, intriguing ideas into the narrative. This film would be an outright masterpiece if it weren't for the third act - a protracted sequence that seems ripped right out of Saw or Hostel, two lesser franchises a film like this has no business borrowing from. Still, I'll never forget this movie. Only recommended for the hardcore - seriously, if you have any reservations about your own reaction to violent images, stay far away.


Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - A film so disturbing and shocking it may have gotten its director killed. Pier Paolo Pasolini was murdered the same year that his final movie opened, and the case has never been fully explained. This movie is very ambitious thematically, it aims to show the horrifying results of authoritarianism unchecked, as a group of wealthy fascists in Mussolini-era Italy kidnap a group of young children and proceed to hurt and humiliate them in methods inspired by the writings of the Marquis de Sade. All the revolting proceedings are filmed dispassionately and without cinematic excess, which makes it all the more frightening. This is not a movie that gave me nightmares, but I felt unsettled and just plan crappy for the rest of the day. This film almost always tops "Most Disturbing Movies Ever" lists, and with good reason.


Imprint (2006) - No list of twisted cinema is complete without Takashi Miike...but which one to add? Audition has its moments, but in the end, I shook it off pretty easily, and Ichi the Killer's gore is too cartoonish to be all that disturbing. Imprint is an episode of the "Masters of Horror" series on Showtime, which invited revered horror directors to contribute to the anthology. The series paraded its "edginess," but in the end, Miike's entry was too, well...edgy. It wound up going straight to DVD. Imprint takes on a lot of themes you don't often see explored in mainstream film, and damn it's nasty. Of particular note is the final revelation, which features gruesome makeup and hideously effective sound work.


The Exorcist (1973) - The big one. You may have noticed that a lot of the movies on here are foreign. American horror certainly has gotten bloodier, but it's been a long time since someone made a film as complex and unnerving as this legendary film. I think everyone knows the story by now, and this classic continues to inspire nightmares decades since its release. I saw this movie when I was 14, and went many nights without a good rest. I haven't seen it since, and I get the feeling I would be able to take it now. Still....why can't I work up the nerve to watch it?


They (2002) - This one greatly disturbed me...because it was so terrible! Why Wes Craven put his name on this I'll never know. About ten minutes in, a loud guy with an afro got up and walked out, shouting loudly "This movie SUCKS, YO!" Looking back, my friends and I should have joined him.

Happy Halloween!

The Future of this Blog

Whenever I start a blog (and I have authored many over the years), there's always a certain amount of pressure to maintain it and add content regularly. Unfortunately, for a while now, it has felt like too much effort to put fingers to keyboard and produce something substantial. I don't really care for smaller entries like "I got a raise! Hooray!" (incidentally, that entry would be classified as fiction).

Very rarely do I feel compelled to share anything about my personal life. Not because I don't trust readers, I do. It's more a question of me wondering "Does anyone really want to know this?" If so, I could go on at length about my recent horrific car accident and the lingering whiplash that keeps me from even sneezing successfully because the pain in my chest is too much. But that's depressing and to go into details would probably bring back the flashbacks, which I can do without. Personal life can be pretty interesting, in fact, with enough Harvey Pekar-esque minutiae and comedy, it can be really fun. But I just don't have that in me.

Politics is exhausting. I still read my collection of favored websites each day and get some info, but trying to maintain a political-themed blog is a real hassle. The internet and 24-hour cable news networks create for a climate of constant "revelations" and "alerts." As a political blog, you feel like you have to give your two cents on each one...and who really has time for that...unless it's your sole profession. In that case, I would do it happily, because that's a hell of a racket. But honestly, there's so much political commentary on the web that just about any thought I have has probably already been expressed somewhere else.

Master of the Wind is difficult to blog about when it's in production. I don't like to reveal story details, and posting updates just to showcase new sprites/maps/etc just makes me feel like a tool. The MotW website generates enough activity on its own by now. Once the game's done, though, things might change.

So what's that leave? Well, one subject that always really gets me in the mood to write is movies. Unlike most film buffs with a blog, I actually have a degree in Cinema Studies and am highly qualified to talk about it. The sad thing is, professional film criticism informed by any kind of actual scholarship rather than just someone's kneejerk opinions is a dying art. Because I get so little use of that degree (thank God I studied journalism also), that's probably why I feel so compelled to write on this subject.

I always dissect and hypothesize during Oscar season, which I know some people find baffling. The Academy routinely makes boneheaded decisions and often just goes with whatever movies have the strongest publicity campaign, but I can't help trying to guess the results each time. After all, I don't give a shit about football or baseball or any other sport, this is really all I have when it comes to following pointless competition.

So I'm guessing this will be primarily an Oscars blog, inactive for most of the year but busy when the movies start going head to head for that gold statue. Though if other inspiration strikes, it may find its way here...I've had a Halloween themed idea for a while now, guess I should hurry if I want to be in time. Try and remember me when Oscar season starts!

Oscars 2009 Educated Guesses

Best Animated Feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Who Will Win: Wall-E, though this race is closer than I would have thought if I had made this prediction a month ago. Kung Fu Panda unexpectedly swept the Annie Awards (for animation), walking away with nearly all the top prizes. That said, I still think the widespread critical and popular adoration for Wall-E (plus the fact that Pixar almost never loses this category) will pull it across the finish line.

My Choice: Wall-E. It ought to be up there in the Best Picture category, but we won't get into that right now.


Best Adapted Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare for The Reader
Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley for Doubt

Who Will Win: This should be just the beginning of a lot of love for Slumdog Millionaire. People love the structure of the film and this category (as well as editing) is the place to reward it. A possible upset is David Hare's adaptation of The Reader, should that happen, more wins from that durable underdog may be on the way. For now though, Slumdog looks to claim the prize.

My Choice: Slumdog.


Best Original Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black for Milk
Courtney Hunt for Frozen River
Mike Leigh for Happy Go Lucky
Martin McDonagh for In Bruges
Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Jim Reardon for Wall-E

Who Will Win: Interesting category full of unique work, but the winner seems pretty clear. Since opening in more theaters, Milk is really developing a following and this is one of its best chances for a win. Producers struggled for decades to try and create a film about the Harvey Milk's career, but Black started from scratch, did the research, and hit it out of the park.

My Choice: Milk.


Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in Doubt
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Who Will Win: This category is evil. My average with it is not good, and this year it's not any easier. Many pundits are banking on Cruz, but I don't think she has all that much momentum. It seems to be that if Doubt has so many acting nominations, the voters will want to make sure someone in the cast gets a trophy. Davis won very enthusiastic raves for her work, but splitting the vote with Adams will hurt. On the other hand, Henson could pull this off if the voters decide Benjamin Button needs some love somewhere. All in all, very tough, but I'm going to bank on Davis.

My Choice: Tomei.


Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey, Jr in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Who Will Win: I'm always more nervous when I'm personally invested in a particular category's outcome, but a win by Heath Ledger seems overwhelmingly certain. The performance itself is amazing, but likely would not have made it this far were it not for his tragic death last year. If anyone could upset, it would be either Hoffman or Brolin, but that seems highly unlikely. There are plenty of people who feel Ledger should have won for Brokeback Mountain, and this will be the last chance for the Academy to honor his devastatingly short career.

My Choice: Ledger. The curious thing will be who presents the Oscar for the category. Normally, it would be the previous year's Supporting Actress winner (Tilda Swinton), but the producers of this year's telecast say they're shaking up the formula and keeping the identities of the presenters a secret. One rumor says that Joker Emeritus Jack Nicholson will present this award. We'll know for sure Sunday.


Best Actress
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kate Winslet in The Reader

Who Will Win: This category is nasty this year. We can rule out Melissa Leo. She was a surprise and her nomination will probably be seen as the reward itself. Angelina has won before, and I think she will have to find a way to stay out of the tabloids for a while before the voters feel more comfortable giving her more attention. Meryl Streep, who has the most nominations of any performer in history, hasn't won for over 20 years. This year, her work in Doubt has earned her the SAG award, a good sign. There's a lot of goodwill out there towards Anne Hathaway, and I could see a scenario with her winning...though the Academy doesn't seem to be all that crazy about her movie - this is its only nomination. Winslet is the one who really shook up this contest. She's been riding most of the awards circuit in the Supporting Actress bus, but the voters are so into The Reader that they bumped her up into the lead category. She's been due for a long time (5 previous nominations), and I'm thinking the stars will finally align.

My Choice: Winslet. As I've said, she's really overdue. In my opinion, she should have won this category years ago for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I'm not a big fan of The Reader, but the best performers rarely win for their best work.


Best Actor
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Who Will Win: This is hard too. For whatever reason, this category always seems to devolve into a two-man race. This year, it's a nail-biter between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. Rourke has the more compelling backstory, and seems to really want the victory more than Penn, though he's an odd guy and may turn off some voters. Penn floored audiences as Harvey Milk, and the Academy seems to be very fond of the movie, but then again he just won in this category 5 years ago. A very close competition, but I think in the end, Penn will squeak ahead because of the broader support for the film in general.

My Choice: Rourke.


Best Director
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

Who Will Win: Boyle, and commandingly so. He's been turning in unique, interesting work for a long time, and Slumdog Millionaire's visuals nearly jump off the screen. He's already got the Director's Guild win which almost always forecasts this category.

My Choice: I would be pleased with a win by either Boyle or Fincher.


Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Who Will Win: Slumdog. Don't listen to Harvey Weinstein - The Reader was a surprise, but it's too controversial to go the distance. There's a bit of poetic justice going on here. Following an ugly smear campaign against Slumdog, which I'm just about positive was perpetrated by Big Loud Harv, plenty of articles have sprung up dissecting The Reader's view of the Holocaust, which is morally questionable at best. If a film will upset, it will be Milk. Will the Oscars want to make up for Brokeback Mountain's infamous loss by honoring another film about gay rights? Probably not this year.

My Choice: Slumdog if the question is just about my favorite out of the five nominees. Milk if the question is about which victory would have the most important cultural power. I really wish The Dark Knight was up here...bastards.

The Oscars decided not to be cool this year.

Judging from the Oscar nominees this year, the Academy seems determined to reinforce stereotypes about themselves. Said stereotypes had been absent for a few years as edgy movies like The Departed took home the top prize. The Oscars were close to being...cool. Well, they put a stop to that!

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

The Reader? Come on. This proves once again that even a mediocre movie about the Holocaust can bump out a great movie about anything else. Was The Dark Knight really out of the question? It was the movie of the year, the most seen, the most talked about, and in my humble opinion, the best. And if it was just too badass for these old fogeys, they could have at least given that fifth slot to Wall-E, an amazing movie which will have to settle for the annual consolation prize of an easy win the Animated Feature Category. For the record, I have no problem with the other four nominees. They're all good. But The Reader, though it has its moments, is not worthy of the movies that could have been here. But it is produced by the Weinstein company. Don't forget that the Weinsteins are responsible for that incredible act of mass hypnosis that convinced the Academy that The English Patient was the best film of 1996. These guys know how to work the system. They should enjoy it, because Slumdog is going to stomp on them in the final vote.

Best Director
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

The directors all line up with the nominees for Best Picture, which is actually unusual. Generally, there's one wild card. Not this year.

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt for The Curious, oh let's just call it Forrest Gump II. Come on, you know it's true.
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Jenkins was a surprise. I didn't know if anyone had seen that tiny movie, I've barely heard of it. A lot of the prognosticators thought Clint Eastwood's scowling in Gran Torino would get him another nomination, but it seems the Academy decided that he has enough Oscars. Some very good performances here.

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kate Winslet in The Reader

Leo is another nice underdog suprise, but the interesting part of this is how they decided to deal with Kate Winslet. The studios were hoping to get her dual nominations, lead actress for Revolutionary Road and supporting for The Reader. However, this was kind of stupid because if you've seen The Reader, it's obvious that's a leading role. But since Oscar rules say actors can't be nominated twice in the same category in the same year, the studios distort things. It's clear by now that the voters like The Reader a lot better than Revolutionary Road, and Winslet was definitely the high point of that movie. It is kind of nice to see the voters ignore the marketing BS and just go with their gut.

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey, Jr in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

This is probably the category I'm happiest with. Not just because Ledger made it, but Downey was hilarious in that movie and it's nice to see a comedic performance get recognized.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in Doubt
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Ca, yeah yeah yeah.
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Damn, seems like the whole cast of Doubt was nominated. Problem is, when a movie doubles up in an acting category, the two nominees seem to always cancel each other out. This category is famous for upsets, though, so don't rule anything out.

The other nominations can be checked out at the official site. Closer to the ceremony, I'll make my "official" predictions.

Top Ten Films of 2008

A little late like usual. As per tradition, the Oscar contenders all came out in bulk around Christmas and trying to see them all is a bit like drinking from a firehose...especially when it can take them weeks to open in CT. The year as a whole wasn't especially filled to the brim with great films, and indeed for most of the year the cinematic landscape seemed somewhat barren. However, the movies that were great...were really great, and by the time I was ready to write this up, I had a respectable list.


10. Frost/Nixon - Frank Langella's Richard Nixon vividly illustrates the contradictions that defined our nation's second most reviled president, the offbeat charisma that allowed him to make his way up the political ladder and the deep-seated bitterness and paranoia which led to his downfall. Ron Howard directs Peter Morgan's adaptation of his own play about the famous interviews of Nixon conducted by British journalist David Frost shortly after the president's resignation. Frost/Nixon is not a documentary; Morgan's script takes liberties with the true story and turns up the "epic" dial more than is probably warranted. Yet the movie is very valuable as an examination of the symbiotic role the media and politicians in shaping the public's perception of history, especially recent history.


9. American Teen - I sure don't miss high school. Nanette Burnstein's documentary followed a group of students through their senior year of high school in Warsaw, Indiana. It often feels like "reality" television, and thus has to be taken with a grain of salt...the camera does have a tendency to always be in the right place at the right time. Yet even if the entire thing were scripted, it would be the most well-written teenage drama in some time. There's a timeless quality to the dilemmas these characters go through, but the genuine emotion within this film elevates these scenarios, as the audience becomes attached to real people with real flaws, all amplified by the stress of adolescence.


8. Iron Man - The character has never achieved the same kind of widespread adoration as Superman or Spider-Man, but this film stands out in this decade's deluge of superhero films. Iron Man's effectiveness owes a big debt to Robert Downey Jr's performance, and director Jon Favreau deserves big kudos for pushing the studio big-shots to cast the right man for the job. Downey's Tony Stark is drastically different from his brethren, a materialistic SOB who slowly discovers that he "really does have a heart." In addition to that, the movie delivers first-rate action without overdoing the effects. A great piece of well-crafted fun.


7. W - A few years too early? Maybe, but Oliver Stone's movie does provide a unique catharsis after eight years of political frustration, and anyone who has followed the news over that period of time will have a pleasant familiarity with the detailed events being discussed in the movie's script. Brolin digs deep as the title character, while a superb supporting cast fills out the rest of the cabinet. The war-room showdown between Jeffrey Wright's Colin Powell and Richard Dreyfuss's Dick Cheney is one of the most riveting scenes I saw in the movie theater this year.


6. Gran Torino - Now older and wiser, Clint Eastwood now seems to find the ethics behind his own famous "Dirty Harry" persona questionable, and Gran Torino is the latest examination of the fine line between tough talk and actual violence. Directing himself as an old curmudgeon living in a racially diverse neighborhood, his latest film is both hilarious and very poignant. Surrounding Eastwood is a mostly nonprofessional cast of Hmong actors, providing a truly unprecedented insight into a group of people who have never been presented on screen. Gran Torino manages to be both highbrow and totally entertaining.


5. The Wrestler - If you've read anything about this film, you've no doubt heard that the on-screen story of a former icon who trashed his own career though a series of bad choices parallels the life of its star, Mickey Rourke. But don't worry - There are plenty of non-meta reasons the movie is so effective. Director Darren Aronofsky packs his usual visceral punch, but this emotional story is quite different from his other more abstract work. The drama here is so intense that you may find your stomach in knots during certain scenes, and the ending is both triumphant and achingly sad. Rourke's comeback is just a nice bonus, I've been rooting for it since his awesome work as Marv in Sin City.


4. Milk - A movie of breathtaking importance, probably more than its creators even intended. If you think Proposition 8 is bad, wait until you learn about Proposition 6, which would likely be law now if it weren't for the efforts of San Francisco businessman Harvey Milk and the group of gay activists he inspired. Sean Penn's sensitive performance has all but guaranteed him another Oscar nomination, and it's a fascinating departure from the actor's usual work. Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and Director Gus Van Sant don't seek to define Harvey Milk by just his untimely end, but as the happy warrior he was in life. America needs to hear this man's story now more than ever.


3. Slumdog Millionaire - This movie blindsided the awards scene this year and will likely have a Best Picture Oscar to show for it. Danny Boyle's terrific film would be a deserving winner, it's beautifully shot, ingeniously written and unashamedly romantic. The story of a poor boy in Mumbai whose youthful experiences contribute just the right amount of knowledge to perform well on a game show is an engrossing fable which has already touched audiences everywhere. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it.


2. Wall-E - The artists at Pixar must enjoy getting on this list. Their films seem to consistently pop up here. Where do I even start with Wall-E? It's some of the most gorgeous CG I've ever seen. It defies audience expectations and relies on ingenious character animation to carry viewers through a dialogue-free first act. Its story has ingenious and penetrating satire about a pampered society that indulges its inhabitants into passivity. It builds to a stunningly moving finale. It's an incredible work of art. It rules.


1. The Dark Knight - I realize it's not the most original choice. I concede that this choice is informed by my own lifelong fondness for both Batman and The Joker. That said, I walked out of this one knowing that not only was it the best movie I'd seen this year, but one of the best films I'd seen this decade. Not only is it an uncannily gripping new vision of this classic conflict, but it's so full of ideas that a convincing case can be made that the movie is both liberal and conservative. Director Christopher Nolan has created a crime drama for the ages, led by a fantastic cast, including the late Heath Ledger as the Clown Prince of Crime. His legacy (something tells me nobody will attempt to play The Joker for at least 20 years), and the movie will endure.

Finally Fixed the Blog

Holy crap, I finally figured out what was wrong with this thing. I stopped writing for months because this annoying pop-up window kept coming up and asking for a password. I didn't want to be responsible for any of my readers getting a virus, so I basically let the blog die.

However, I realized that the source of the disturbance was one of the images I had hosted in my annual Oscar predictions entry. That entry's been deleted...if you really want to read it, I can put up a picture-free version, but given that a new Oscar season is in full swing now, it's not very relevant anymore.

I missed so many months, I didn't even get to comment on the election. (I got drunk and boisterous, it was fun). My usual features will be back soon though, aiming to have the Top 10 up around January 20 or so. Then of course we'll have Oscar analysis and whatever else I can think of. Check back here every so often if you're so inclined and there will indeed be new content.

A Better Class of Criminal

It isn't often that you walk out of a superhero movie invoking the work of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann as opposed to, say...other superhero movies, but Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is a complex, disturbing and intensely powerful crime drama that is far closer to the work of those greats than something like The Fantastic Four.

Since the events of Batman Begins, the first installment of a new continuity doing wonders to restore the Caped Crusader's reputation after the spectacularly awful Batman and Robin, Batman (Christian Bale) has taken a big bite out of Gotham City's crime, and has inspired the police force to step up their game. With the help of the new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), it seems like the forces of law enforcement can finally claim victory over the numerous mobsters in town...until the arrival of The Joker (the late Heath Ledger).

We see briefly that Batman has inspired a handful of other vigilantes, but the Joker is seen as his equal and opposite reaction. The brilliant street thug barrels onto the scene with his trademark purple suit and green hair without any explanation, though he does like to make up various backstories for himself. There seems to be no building he can't infiltrate, no intricate plan he can't pull off, no complex moral puzzle/nightmare he can't inflict on Gotham's citizens.

Faced with the mastermind's reign of terror, Batman joins with Lieutenant James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Harvey Dent to fight back. For a while, it goes well...but not forever. At its core, The Dark Knight is a tragedy about three man who come together to save the city they love, and are all severely punished by a world gone mad.


If the relentlessly grim story wasn't heavy enough, the script (written by Nolan, his brother Jonathan, and David S. Goyer) is a multi-layered, though quite unsubtle, commentary on post-9/11 America. The Joker's rampage threatens to tear the city apart, and to the strained police force, bending the rules starts to look like a better and better idea. What principles are worth compromising to get him off the streets? What's a greater victory for a terrorist...causing mayhem and destruction? Or provoking a society to destroy its own moral foundations?

Even Batman wrestles with how far he should go to end the violence, installing his own wiretapping program in his headquarters to try and track The Joker. (And with the FISA law that just passed, he could probably get immunity as the head of a major corporation...)Thankfully, both the loyal butler (and former British secret service agent) Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) and inventor Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) function as Batman's conscience, do their best to keep him from the edge. Yet even the final decisions made by characters at the movie's conclusion, while noble, seem short-sighted, aiming for a quick fix instead of a long-term solution.

As with Batman Begins, this film's pacing and attention to story detail are phenomenal. The story rockets ahead thanks in large part to the driving score and terrific editing. The cast is uniformly terrific, particularly Eckhart as Dent, though it looks like he will be inevitably overshadowed by...

Ledger.
I've always been careful to keep my enthusiasm in check while writing these sorts of things, lest I lapse into that one-sided fanboy ranting that's become so fashionable on the internet that it is a real danger to the future of film criticism that's actually informed by some kind of scholarship. Despite that, I'll say right now that I can't think of enough superlatives to describe Ledger's work as The Joker. He is every bit as good as you've heard, if not better. The idea that he could also play the cowboy in Brokeback Mountain feels nothing short of mindblowing at this point.

Cesar Romero's 60s Joker was good for a laugh, with his bizarre plots like turning Gotham's water into jelly. There will always be much to appreciate about Jack Nicholson's classical approach to the character back in 1989. And of course, I'll always love the hilarious voice over work from Mark Hamill in the 90s animated series. But this is the darkest, most frightening version ever imagined of one of the great villains in the history of fiction. The Joker's battle with Batman is just as much philosophical as it is physical. He's out to prove that laws and society are a joke, and if he can get Batman and the Gotham police force to betray their own laws and principles to stop him, then he's won.

As marvelous as it is, the movie isn't quite perfect. Christian Bale is a great Bruce Wayne, but his raspy Solid Snake growling as Batman veers dangerously close to self-parody. Some of the action scenes, particularly the final big one in a skyscraper incorporating SWAT teams and a weird blue "sonar-vision" gimmick, are not as well-staged as they could be. The film's intent to keep rollicking forward takes a bit of a toll as well, leaving a handful of little continuity issues. Despite the long running time (over 2 and a half hours), the ending is abrupt, leaving a number of loose ends in the story. It's still one of those endings that will give you chills, but it also makes you wonder what sort of storytelling gymnastics will be required to piece it back together in a third movie.

But of course all of these things are easily forgiven. This masterful epic seems poised to break box-office records, and it deserves to.

Deliver Us From Intellectual Laziness

So if you've been following politics recently, you've no doubt heard about Senator Obama's decision to forego public financing for his general election campaign. It's hardly a surprise, but it is controversial.

The rationale is pretty obvious. His campaign has already raised amazing amounts of money via the internet, mostly smaller donations from millions of different people. Why lock yourself into a set amount of money when it's possible the current method will yield several times that amount?

McCain has committed to public financing, even though there's growing evidence to suggest he's been violating election laws left and right. That, of course, hasn't stopped him from going after Obama on this issue. Hardly a surprise, but I expect that sort of shit from Republicans at this point, and this post isn't about him.

With Obama's decision, it's a classic head vs. heart issue...and this time, I think I'm leaning toward heart. While it is admirable that Obama has struck a chord with so many regular folks giving small private donations, the decision also reeks of the "everything to win" approach that so often made Hillary Clinton off-putting. It seems beneath someone who talks so often about changing America's typical politics.

So I'm disappointed, but I'm obviously going to still vote for the guy. At this point, he would have to bite the head off of a baby before I wouldn't. If Hillary won, I would have (reluctantly) voted for her as well, because after 8 years of Bush, the Republicans need to sit in the corner and have a fucking time out.

So I'm about to put forward a concept which may blow the minds of most political commentators: I'm criticizing a candidate for a particular action....without endorsing his opponent.


Hard to grasp, I know. At least that's the impression I get from a lot of Obama's internet supporters.

So why is Jon Stewart at the top of this entry? Well, The Daily Show recently had some fun with Obama's decision, and dug up a tape from one of last year's Democratic debates. In it, the moderator asked who among them supported public financing. There's Obama with his hand up. Oops.

And here's the typical response:

From Joseph A. Palermo:

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show should be mindful whenever Obama is the target of their satire that they don't end up regurgitating Republican talking points. The producers should be careful when poking fun at Obama not to provide fuel for the right-wing slime machine. Poke fun at Obama all you want, but do it in a way that also reveals the Republicans' mendacity and hypocrisy.

Okay, that's just lame. Obviously Republicans are not short on either mendacity or hypocrisy, but come on. Every Obama joke has to be balanced by a joke about the Republicans? What if every time someone made fun of Bush, they had to also mock a Democrat? That's stupid. Another annoying element of this is the implication that Stewart has some responsibility to help get Obama elected. No. The guy makes fun of people. That's his job.

During his routine, the normally wild Daily Show crowd was pretty quiet, prompting Stewart to say "It's okay to laugh at him. Really."

It's sad to see normally astute commentators become close-minded zealots just because it's election time. Why can't more of them be like Katie? The other night, she asked me "Did you hear about Obama? That he's a jerk and won't do public financing?" Is that intellectual honesty I smell? I knew there was a reason why I'm gonna marry her.

It is not a "Republican talking point" to note that Obama's position on public financing has changed. Not when a tape like that exists. Again, I don't think it's an egregious offense, just a disappointment. It's not going to change my vote or the vote of most people I know who don't like this turn of events. And I'm not worried this issue is giving the Republicans a chance to dust off the old "flip-flop" accusations, since on that front, McCain still has Obama outnumbered by a ratio of about 20 to 1.

So as we look back on the last eight years, let's not forget one of the main things that made Bush and his supporters so obnoxious - shit like this.

Intergalactic Hate Crime

I wish I could make this kind of stuff up.


From the BBC:
'Darth Vader' Attacks Jedi Church Founder
Dark Lord Could Face Jail Time for Striking Back

A man posing as Darth Vader attacked a Star Wars fan who had founded a Jedi Church, a court has heard.

Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, from Holyhead, Anglesey, admitted assaulting Barney Jones and cousin Michael with a metal crutch. They suffered minor injuries.

Hughes, who was drunk and dressed in a black bin bag, shouted "I am Darth Vader!"

Earlier, when Hughes failed to arrive on time, District Judge Andrew Shaw issued an arrest warrant, adding: "I hope the force will soon be with him."

In the event, Hughes turned up and the case at Holyhead Magistrates' Court resumed.

The court heard that he had jumped over a garden wall wearing the bin bag before the attack.

Prosecutor Nia Lloyd said Barney Jones had recently started the Jedi Church in Holyhead, in honour of the good knights from Star Wars.

It had about 30 members locally and "thousands worldwide," she said.

The cousins had been filming themselves playing with light sabres in the garden before the attack.

Hughes admitted two charges of common assault.

The court was told he had a "chronic alcohol problem" and had drunk the best part of a 10-litre box of wine.

Mrs Lloyd said: "He was wearing a black bin bag and a cape and had a metal crutch in his hand."

Hughes hit Barney Jones over the head with the crutch, leaving him with a headache, before laughing and hitting Michael Jones in the thigh, causing bruising.

Both men were left upset by the incident and they believed it was pre-planned.

She added that the pair believed "very strongly in the church and their religion".

Hughes could not remember the incident and only realised what had happened when he read about it in local newspapers, the court was told.

Defending, Frances Jones, said alcohol was "ruining his life" and he had no idea where he got the crutch from.

The court heard that Hughes had previous convictions, including affray, assault and disorderly behaviour.

Out For A Week

There were two messages on the machine. His wife set down her bags and hit the flashing red button. The first was from his boss, asking why he hadn’t come to work. She shrugged. He must have gotten stuck in traffic that morning. The second message unnerved her. The boss again, sounding increasingly flustered.

His car was in the driveway, so she walked upstairs looking for him. She called his name, but there was no answer. She walked into their room and there he was. She was annoyed now. How could he not have heard her coming up the stairs and calling for him? Why wouldn’t he wake up? She told him she was tired of whatever game he was playing.

She heard something vibrate. It was his cell phone, trying to notify him that he had a voicemail. She didn’t know his password, but she looked at the call log. Sure enough, it was his office. She asked him what he was trying to pull. No response. She slapped his face gently, and then harder as she got more annoyed. She tickled his underarms. This always worked. No response.

Now she was growing frightened. She ran into the bathroom and filled a glass with water. There was no reaction when she threw it on his face. Her heart was pounding now, and she held back panicked sobs. She grabbed his cell phone off the floor.

After coming home from work, he reclined on the couch and grabbed a newspaper. There was an article about the city’s budget for the coming fiscal year. City officials had proposed an increase in funding for their community services department. The director of that department had spoken at a recent public hearing, excited that the additional money would pay for more food baskets and help needy residents deal with painful fuel costs.

There was another quote. An angry man claimed to be speaking for all of the city’s taxpayers. He asked how the city could be so irresponsible. Putting down the newspaper, he let out a heavy sigh. The reporter had tried to present a balanced view of the issue, but he had a sinking feeling.

He walked to his computer in the other room, jostling the mouse to turn off the screen saver. He pulled up the city’s website. Official Minutes. Click. Sure enough, there had been a whole stampede of angry speakers blasting the increase in funding. Pleas for altruism were drowned out by a parade of indignant city residents worried about their own individual tax bill.

His parents had joined his wife in the hospital. His brother was expected soon. The doctors were mystified. They said they had never seen anything like this. For days, they performed dozens of tests. Had he hit his head? Any injury severe enough to put someone in a coma would certainly stand out, but there was nothing. Every test came back negative. He was in remarkably good health. If only he were awake to enjoy it.

After three days of anxiety, his brother lost his temper. He grabbed a paper clip, bent it and stabbed his brother in the arm. Blood dripped down from the small hole left behind, but he didn’t react. His parents pulled his brother away. His wife fell to her knees. She didn’t understand why this had happened, or why it had to happen. He had made so much progress, gotten past so many obstacles. What cruel cosmic joke had been played on her husband?

Having exhausted all options, the doctors sheepishly asked the family to take him back home. There were a lot of patients with more familiar ailments who needed treatment. His parents protested, but were unable to make a real case for keeping him in the hospital. One doctor tried to console them, said they could check in with him regularly, assured them they would continue to look over the test results.

It was the weekend. He was not an early riser like his wife. When he finally lurched out of bed, she had been up for hours organizing various piles of clutter. She didn’t know the meaning of the word “relax.” He fired up the computer, and began his usual round of news websites. Here was a shocking item. Someone had unearthed records which revealed that several high-ranking government officials had signed off on torturing prisoners of war.

This was huge, he thought. He grabbed the remote and turned on the television, hoping to find out more. The first news channel he came across had nothing. A prominent politician had been seen in public without an American flag pin, and talking heads were reacting with outrage that he found rather disproportionate.

Maybe he would have better luck with another channel. Now a young television actress crashed her car into a fire hydrant. There were two correspondents on the scene. He squinted and watched the crawl of information at the bottom of the screen. No mention of the torture, but an Oscar-winning actor was apparently a “prankster” on the set of his last film.

He turned off the television and tossed the remote to the other end of the bed. After a few moments, he cursed and brought his fist down onto the mattress. His wife turned and asked what the problem was. He felt too frustrated to even speak, preferring to simply shake his head.

Friends and family were now a frequent sight at his home. The atmosphere was like that of a funeral, but all of the guests were careful not to let his wife hear that particular observation. Old friends who had not seen each other for years came together and discussed their astonishment at the circumstances which had brought them there.

The initial shock of his predicament had faded, and the guests now sought to lighten the mood by pointing out small details on their sleeping friend. An old college roommate noted that he seemed to have a lot more gray hairs these days. His wife was now reluctant to even set foot in the bedroom, and threw herself into making sure the guests were well-fed. His dog patiently waited beside the bed, leaving his post only to eat and go outside for brief periods of time.

At one point, his sister-in-law had to rush into the bedroom to gather her children, who were walking all over him and enjoying not getting scolded like they might with someone who was awake. His wife had to leave the house. She stood outside in the driveway, fighting back the tears again. She had cried so much in the last week. She wondered how one person even had so many tears. What would she do if he never woke up?

No. That was impossible. Even if he didn’t wake up, it was only a matter of time before some other cause of death claimed him. He had not eaten in six days, surely that would catch up to him. This realization made her feel worse. Were these the two possible ways her marriage would end? Death or eternal sleep?

As the family gathered for Easter Sunday, he walked around the suburban neighborhood where he grew up. He recalled a farm within walking distance from his home. The fields there seemed to stretch on forever. He remembered running wildly through them as a child, and occasionally hiding from the farmer when he spotted a tractor on the horizon.

As he grew older, he had begun to appreciate the place for more than just its recreational possibilities. It was beautiful. He thought of it as his own little slice of Europe, right on his street.

But now it was different. There were deep scars in its surface, treaded tracks carved deep into the landscape which once seemed impossibly flat. His father had quietly walked up behind him, and broke the news that the land was being developed into several retail stores. He clenched his teeth together, fighting an urge to cry that was so fierce it surprised him.

Most of the guests had left for the evening. His wife, exhausted, slumped onto the couch and fell asleep within minutes. One friend remained, and walked into the bedroom. This friend had known him perhaps the longest, and remembered the days when it seemed uncertain whether he would even make it through school.

He grabbed a chair and set it beside the bed. He paused for a few moments, and finally spoke.

“I don’t know how you’ve done this, but you’ve got to stop. People here need you.”

It was near the end of a long day. He called his wife to inform her he would be late for dinner. She seemed mildly irritated, but after a ten-hour day, he didn’t find anything about it mild. Little pet peeves became insurmountable odds. He lashed out at her, criticizing her for things that didn’t even bother him on a good day.

When he got home, she was standing alone on the porch. He couldn’t bear to make eye contact at first. She said nothing, and instead held out her arms. He was a child again, reduced to tears by a world that seemed constantly cruel and unforgiving. He wondered what was wrong with him. Everyone else seemed to know how to deal with it. Everyone but him. Except now it was different. He wasn’t alone.

It was hard to believe how often he forgot that.

The next morning, he woke up and began his usual routine. He fired up the computer, but decided to look someplace different today. He found a video of a dog growling at its own leg. Laughter rang through the house. His wife ran in, and cried for what seemed like hours. His growling stomach brought the emotion of the moment to a halt. She said he must be hungry. He nodded.

He was quiet during breakfast, but content. His wife sat across from him. The dog stared at him, hoping for scraps.

For now, this was all he needed.