For the Academy's consideration: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is not a popcorn-summer-movie-tentpole-event-action-comic-book-based movie.

It is a drama.

Oh sure its all that other stuff too, with things going boom and such. But...

Let's just say that all the talk about a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger is not just sentimentality for him in the wake of his death. His was a master performance, don’t even think of comparing him to Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Compare him more to Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter. It was the perfect portrayal of the Joker.

Heath shouldn't be the only one getting an Oscar nomination:

Christopher Nolan for Directing.

David Goyer, Christohpher Nolan, and Jonathan Nolan for Writing.

Christian Bale's good for a Best Actor as well.

Maggie Gyllenhaal for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (can we digitally insert her into Batman Begins, and forget all about Katie Holmes?)

Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. (maybe a stretch here, but both did a damn good job)

Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine gave solid performances too, but too many others surged ahead in this effort, that they will not be adding to their nomination counts or their statue counts, but years ago I've said the Academy should add an "ensemble cast" category (for the sake of the Lord of the Rings films), this film would in my mind qualify for this as well.

Best City in a Supporting Role: Chicago, playing the part of Gotham City. What makes this film work so well is the fact that it looks like a real city in the real world. That was one of the strengths of Batman Begins too, but towards the end, they let it slip, and made it look a bit more stylized, and less real feeling. The setting in The Dark Knight was clearly a modern American city from beginning to end.

Hong Kong makes a cameo too as itself.

Oh yes, and another Best Actress nomination for Meryl Streep. Oh wait, she wasn't in The Dark Knight. Well, she earned it in Mama Mia!, which I saw before The Dark Knight.

She pulled off singing "Winner Takes It All" brilliantly, not because of singing talent (which was kinda average), but via her acting talents, as you could feel the emotions of the character as the words were sung. In fact I believe that much of that song wasn't lip synched, but sung by her on-set which added to her superior performance.

It was a brilliant dramatic moment in an otherwise light and frivolous film.

Christine Baranski has a fun moment turning "Does Your Mother Know" into a 'cougar' anthem.

I'll review The Dark Knight in more detail later. It will be spoiler laden and talk about the themes and very bold moves they make with major characters that you thought were untouchable.

Don't get spoiled, go watch The Dark Knight as soon as you can.

Hancock: A review.

Don't catch it in the theaters. There are too many good superhero films in theaters this summer, this one can wait until the DVD comes out.

It's okay, and does have a few good laughs, some good action. And one sequence with excellent blending of the two. But the comedic premise of the film isn't fully taken advantage of and the big plot twist (double-twist actually) sets up a dramatic premise that never really pays off at all.

The back half of the film is one where if you thought you knew the plot of the whole film from the advertising, you would have been proven wrong. Only if that back half had a more compelling story.

It's also been said that the quality of a superhero story is defined by the quality of its villain. No villain really steps up, just opportunistic guys with guns. The only thing that distinguishes them is in how get humiliated by Hancock.

One wonders why Hancock was even scheduled for release at this time? Iron Man is still drawing in ticket buyers, Incredible Hulk only just came out a little while ago, and Batman: The Dark Knight is a short ways off. Jammed in the middle of a supposed superhero movie glut, Hancock will fare far worse than it would set apart from the competition.

More comment (and spoilers... you are warned) at the Comic Geek Speak forums.

Summer Movies & Superheroes

Ross Douthat & Dana Stevens talk about the summer movies, and the "glut" of superhero / comic book movies.

Both seem to feel that its all too much at once. They grasp for reasons why they have proliferated. Apparently they think there's just too much of them and the concepts and characters are recycled too much. 

When they discuss where Hellboy fits in the comic book pecking order, they acknowledge that they could have really used someone with knowledge of comic books in the discussion. With both of them hating on the genre, I agree.

A pundit who's knowledgeable about comics culture… I wonder where they could have found one. (Yeah, okay I'm not exactly an A-list online pundit. Heck, I've yet to crack the N-List.)

But, too many comic book movies? There ain't no such thing. Face it, the geeks have won the culture wars.

300: Respect and Buzz; who knew they could go together?

Over at ComicMix, Mike Gold finds respect for comics in a movie review:

(Roeper) commented at length about the evolution of the graphic novel-based movie without once referring to costumes and capes (oddly, 300 had both – but you get my drift) and Frank Miller’s influence on comics, film, and our culture in general. He spoke of Miller’s work the way arts critics speak of Martin Scorsese, John Lennon and Philip Roth. Not a single word was condescending. Not one.

Also at ComicMix, Elayne Riggs notes the phenomenon of commentary about 300:

It's not very often that a movie comes along with something for just about everyone -- it even serves as a great discussion topic for those who've seen it and don't particularly care for it!