The Dark Knight (Contains Spoilers)

I took the afternoon off to pamper myself, and one of the things I did was take in an early showing of The Dark Knight. Wow, that movie is incredible!

Seriously, I think that's one of the best and best made movies I've seen in a long, long time. Both the writing and the visuals are great, and that is really rare. The writing is tight. Great plot development (well, I did think turning every cell phone in Gotham into a sonar-emitting microphone was BS, but I can forgive one.) Characterizations were wonderfully human. (I have no idea how a comic fan would view them, but I thought they all came across as believable people, while still keeping Batman and the Joker Larger Than Life.) Pacing is excellent; no wasted time but it's not rushed either.
I have to take an aside for the Batman voice, though. Every time Batman, as Batman, talked, I had to squelch giggles. As I saw someone somewhere say, it's because nothing normal could ever be said in that voice. He would talk, and I'd imagine that voice ordering a pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese and a side of crazy bread, and I'd want to lose it. Come on, admit it. Imagine that voice saying "crazy bread", and tell me you don't want to laugh your ass off.
The effects were amazing. From the trailer, I was afraid that the computer effects would pop out badly. They only did in a few spots, and no more than is inevitable with this level of use. The Two-Face effect was absolutely incredible. Before I looked it up, I would have laid money that the effect was done with animatronics instead of CGI, which I have to admit means the eye in particular is far too inorganic and hard looking, and the teeth also have a bit of that. But the blend with the real half of his face is amazing.
I feel I should also address the idiot who thought that it was all pro-Bush and basically a propoganda film (except he thought that was a positive). Yeah, I can see where you might get that... if you only watch half of it. It's also helps if you completely disengage your brain for that whole last hour. Did we miss the "no killing" part, Batman's all important rule that leads to major plot points? 'Cause last I checked, Bush was directly responsible for the deaths of, oh, over 100,000 people. Or Batman declaring at the end that he's not a hero? 'Cause you'll never hear Bush do that. How about the convicts turning out to be decent people, or the real life hardship leading Ramirez (one of the bad cops) to become a 'terrorist'? (Ha! If we had Universal Single Payer Health Care, this movie would have been totally different. Well, not really, but it's fun to say.)
There's both liberal and conservative points in here. It might lean a little conservatively, but I wouldn't call it a propoganda film. (300, THAT was a propoganda film.)
That does remind me, though; I also did love the Joker calling his ferry scenario a "social experiment". I bet just about everyone's seen that recent New York Times article on trolling, but if you haven't (or if you're just wondering where I'm going with this), it's common for sociopaths to use that as an excuse when they screw with people just because they can. From trolling scenarios so extreme that they literally destroy families, to real life crimes, that excuse has been used.
And one last thing I really appreciated: the movie was PG-13. That could have been as much of a bloodbath as they wanted it to be, so I really appreciate that there wasn't gore. (Or gratuitous sex, for that matter, but it's the violence I'm concerned about today.) It also proves that you don't have to be gross to be dark, serious, even "gritty" for those who find that a positive descriptor.
I've totally got to buy this when it comes out on DVD.
That "The Day The Earth Stood Still" remake also looks like it might have something going ... although with that many differences, can you really call it a remake?
I've seen the original, and one thing that pisses me off is people saying "Oh, that's such a great passivist movie." That is not a passivist movie! It's blatantly in support of the Cold War arms race. The message of the film is that the only way to ensure peace is to make sure that everyone can be blown off the face of the universe. And remember that when it was made, people were iffy about that astronomical miltary spending thing that was starting up. (See, that's what a propoganda film looks like.)
I'm thinking "if the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives" is more to build a movie on.
One last thing that occurred to me, though. Movie theater corporate chains are always wondering why movie attendance is going down. They don't like to admit the obvious: high costs, crappy movies. But here's another thing. It is now completely possible to get better quality viewing in the home than in the theater. I personally can't do it (yet), but with a large screen HDTV and a good quality home theater system, a person could. I'm sitting there in the theater watching, and some of the scenes were we're walking across big white rooms make all the scratches and dust on the film strip really obvious.
I'm thinking its time for theaters to upgrade to some sort of digital projection system. I bet some have, but it'd be nice if the local ones joined in.

Movie Review: 40-Year-Old Virgin

I am muchly enjoying the Netflix subscription, and it's giving me the chance to see movies I'm vaguely interested in seeing but have never gone out of my way for. Now, when The 40-Year-Old Virgin was in theaters, my reaction to trailers was basically summarized by a loud groan. But in the last year or so, some friends told me "No, it's not at all what you're thinking. It's actually a pretty good movie; I think you'd like it."

So, I gave it a try. Now, the geek in me is not offended. When you get right down to it, the movie's message is that you gotta be yourself, and when "normal" people try to change you, you'll just make an idiot of yourself if you follow their advice. Oh, and they're not so normal and emulation-worthy anyway. I probably would have liked it more if not for two things:
1) I'm a woman.
2) I'm a writer.

I understand that the premise of the movie, 3 "normal" guys trying to get their virgin kinda-friend laid by any means, basically dictates the objectification of women, in those segments. But, it's not very well balanced out in the "real relationship" segments. I think this movie could be done in a less offensive way, putting more effort into showing the 3 'normal' guys as REALLY messed up in their attitudes towards women. Maybe if we showed some positive women. Like, plural? (Bechdel's law is, as usual, totally in the toilet.)

I think part of the problem is that Hollywood was tripping over its own messed up ideas of sexuality that it tries to push down our throats. For one, I refuse to believe that sex on the first date is normative. Most of my female friends want to at least be reasonably sure their new beau is not Jack the Ripper, and you really can't be sure of that after two hours. I know that having your boyfriend of 3 1/2 weeks take your teenage daughter to the birth control clinic is not normal, nor is "I love you, let's get married" less than two months in! This movie really needed a more realistic and healthy attitude towards sex, and relationships, and especially towards women, and for whatever reason the makers couldn't bring themselves to do that.

That nicely leads into my second problem with the movie: People just don't act like that. I don't even know where to start. Just picking something at random, the store they work in apparently changed its name from Prohibited Harrassment R Us. One call to corporate HR would clear this place out. Andy is far too intelligent to let someone too drunk to stand, actually drive. I spent half the movie thinking "why didn't they just hire a prostitute", and then a good chunk of the second going "OK, now what if you hire a real prostitute instead of a movie prostitute?" What guy is going to say "I cheat because I'm insecure"? Honestly, who even has that kind of insight into themselves? I don't really see a woman freaking out upon finding out her boyfriend has a huge collection of porn; I personally half expect it in this day and age. And I'm just hitting some random points. I lost count of how many times I said "No one talks like that" or "No one acts like that." It's like watching a bunch of hand puppets try to act out a sex comedy.

Oh, and it is officially the winner for weirdest ending segment I have yet seen. And I saw the 2003 Zatoichi remake with the Japanese Riverdance bit out of nowhere, just to put that in perspective.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

The magic of Netflix brought me "Breakfast at Tiffany's" this week. So, my opinion of this great classic?

It really sucks. A lot. So what exactly is the message here? Everyone's an asshole, so fall in love with the slightly abusive guy who thinks he owns you -- and likes to tell you so. So this is the quintessential Audrey Hepburn, huh? Can't say I'm impressed. But, that's nothing compared to my new hatred for Mickey Rooney. :P