Fit to be Fried

Holy crap, Batman’s in jail.

Or at least he was, for about four hours.

For beating up his mom.

Allegedly.

Christian Bale, star of the recently released “The Dark Knight” turned himself in to a London police station after his mother and sister made allegations that he assaulted them. He was not charged, and continues to deny that an assault took place.

Unlike in his role as the Batman, in which he completely kicked the asses of not only every evil-doer in the film, he also completely reigned over every other film out right now. Bale, known for intense performances such as 2000’s American Psycho, 2006’s The Prestige, and of course, Batman Begins, has cemented his ownership of the role that almost saved Michael Keaton’s career, portraying what many are claiming to be the greatest Dark Knight to date. Bale’s Bruce Wayne is the billionaire playboy straight out of Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One”, a role within a role; as Wayne he must appear to be shallow and conceited, enjoying the life of privilege he was born into, and bored with any sort of responsibility.

As the Batman, he reveals a tortured soul, yearning to set right the wrongs in the world, even if he must become one of those wrongs to do it ¹. This theme, often overlooked in the past in film, television, and the comics, is explored in depth in The Dark Knight, yet another facet that makes this flick a jewel of a film. Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey “Two-Face” Dent is also a welcome sight to anyone whose introduction to the character might’ve been from Tommy Lee Jones’ portrayal in Joel “If you’re a homo and you know it, make a Batman movie” Schumacher’s God-awful 1995 travesty, Batman Forever, in which Jones and Jim Carrey’s Riddler both seemed to be channeling Cesar Romero’s Joker from the old 60’s TV show ² I still think Schumacher should’ve stuck with Tim Burton’s choice for Dent, Billy Dee “Stop calling me Lando, you pimply crackers!” Williams, but hey, the past is past. Eckhart does a great job as Gotham’s golden boy Dent, a dedicated, take-no-prisoners District Attorney who, along with his fiancee Rachel³ gets caught in the crossfire of the Batman/Joker war. Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine also return in this outing as bat-allies Lucius Fox, Lt. James Gordon, and Alfred Pennyworth, respectively, and all three should be given due credit for being the backbone of this series.

Of course, one can’t review The Dark Knight without paying homage to perhaps the greatest Joker ever to slap on the grease-paint and grin, namely the late Heath Ledger. Although I’d been looking forward to seeing this film anyways, I thought, before seeing this film, that all the posthumous platitudes he’d been receiving were mere meaningless hyperbole given to an actor who died young just before the release of his final film. In short (too late, I know) I thought everyone was just being nice. Boy, am I both glad and at the same time saddened to admit I was wrong.

I’ve long been a fan of Ledger’s work in such films as A Knight’s Tale, The Order, and, inexplicably, the Brothers Grimm⁴ I didn’t like all his films, but he had talent, and boy, did he ever prove it with his scary-ass psycho portrayal of the Joker in this movie. I never thought I’d be able to say it, but even the venerable performance Jack Nicholson put in for Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman can’t hold a candle to even a minute of Ledger’s scarred, vicious Clown Prince of Crime. A complete, stone cold sociopath caring for nothing except violence, destruction and mayhem, there have been few moments even in the comics that exemplify the sheer craziness of the character quite as well as here. Ledger seemed to be drawing directly from the mind of (comic scribe)Grant Morrison, who’s written (bar-none) the scariest Joker in comics for at least the past decade, and for that alone, he ought to be commended. Could this be the first comic-book inspired film to win a Best Actor Oscar? It should be. Everything everyone has said about Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker is true- he ceases to be the boyish heart-throb he’s been known as in nearly all his previous body of work, and instead becomes the face of nightmarish insanity. Just think of what the world’s missing out on, now that this talented young actor is no longer with us-

semperfried76 is the last hope for humanity.
Too bad he hates you all.

he could have been the next DeNiro, and this would’ve been his Taxi Driver. No, Ledger wouldn’t have brought world peace, or ended hunger, disease, or inhumanity towards our fellow men, but art and culture are both lessened for his passing. At least he guy went out like Elvis, without making any of the mistakes the King did when he kicked the bucket⁵.

OK, that’s enough gushing about The Dark Knight. Go watch it already, what are you waiting for, a switchblade to the corners of your mouth?

There’s been quite a few great moments in comics recently, along with some not so great. Yes, I’ll admit, I’m an avid comic reader. I honed my vocabulary on old Lee/Kirby issues of Thor, Fantastic Four and Lee and Buscema’s Silver Surfer. I expanded my horizons with Miller’s Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One as well as both Ditko and Cowan’s versions of The Question, gaining a taste for dark, noirish tales that led me to explore underground and small-press comics. I learned to respect Manga not for the frenetic artwork (although it can be killer), but for the positive message most of them carry. (more…)

There’s only so much darkness one man can take, before the stress overtakes him and he either has a heart attack, or begins to go a little mad…

Balancing on such a precipice has become something of a bad habit of mine, I tend to dwell on the negative in the world far too much, and it leaves me drained, I’ll admit. Many’s been the night I’ve watched the hours speed away into the early morning while I spew burning vitriol all over the internet, so often that I tend to forget the things I actually enjoy in this world.(HOLY CRAP!!! Be right back, my wife is hollering, and I think my house is on fire…)
(Okay, I’m back) I was feeling my equilibrium slipping last week, hence the shortage of posts. I was feeling more than my age and down in a funk that just seemed to get deeper as the weekend approached. I wasn’t about to sit around moping all weekend, so I indulged my mental sweet tooth, and went to the movies.

(more…)

Ok, I hated Even Stevens, a show my kids insisted on watching 3 times a day on the Disney Channel. Holes was alright, for a kids movie. I absolutely despised Constantine, for ruining one of my favorite comic characters of all time. Transformers was decent, even if they did give Optimus Prime a mouth. I never saw Disturbia, but I hear good things… It seems that this Shia LeBouf kid is everywhere in Hollyweird these days, for good or ill, so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that he’s in the new Harrison Ford flick, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Yeah, it took me a week to finally get around to seeing it, but what the hell, nobody’s paying me to sit around and watch movies as soon as they come out, just so I can tell other people about it. (more…)