MOVIES: The Dark Knight (2008) - The Joker's Movie

It'll come as no surprise to anyone that this second installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman series, The Dark Knight, is about Batman's arch nemsis, The Joker. Where does he come from, what is his real name, what is in his pockets aside from lint and knives? None of those questions are revealed in The Dark Knight and it doesn't even matter. This movie is fantastic. It's in my list of top movies ever made. What number is it on that list? I'm not sure...that's next week's blog post.

I won't say that Batman doesn't matter in this movie, because without Batman, the Joker would have nothing to do. OK...that may not be entirely true, because the Joker is all about chaos and doesn't care who he destroys. What I will say is...where Batman is the hero...the good guy...uhm...well, technically Batman is a masked vigilante who has rules. And the Joker...well, he wears a sort of mask...and has no rules. What that gives you, is a chaotic movie about a Dark Knight and his nemesis. A movie that I would not want to spoil for you by revealing any plot points, so I won't. The movie is definitely overshadowed by Heath Ledger's untimely death, which is unfortunate, because I'd be curious what the box office would be like it this hadn't happened. Don't go to see the last movie by Heath Ledger...go check it out to see one of the best superhero movies ever made. BUT...don't bring your kids if they get scared easily, because the Joker is a bit creepy...and he does start to make sense at some point.

The movie does make a political statement as to the current state of the world, so pay attention...OK, you don't really have to pay attention, it's very obvious. So go and see it...you might even learn something about yourself.

All Good Movies Come Out in the Summer

There are so many movies I want to see this summer...I've only seen a small fraction of them. OK, one of them I've seen twice in one week. If you haven't seen The Dark Knight, you should see it already. I'll tell you about that on the other side of the cartoon. Yeah, over there on the right hand side of the site. See it?

Iron Man was fantastic, and I didn't think Robert Downey Jr. was a good fit. Journey to the Center of the Earth was pretty good if not only for the 3D of it all. Wall-E was very well done, but it didn't hold my attention during the "silent movie" portion of the program. Wanted was different than the graphic novel it was based on, but an excellent movie on its own. I missed The Incredible Hulk, but I actually ran into the Hulk on my second time seeing The Dark Knight last night.



The Hulk is scary. I have not yet missed Hellboy II or The X-Files...The Mummy 3 is coming up too at the end of the week. So little time...not to mention all that candy and popcorn you must eat at the theater. You just have to. My movie food of choice is peanut M&Ms, popcorn, and soda...I have to have this no matter what I've eaten minutes before the movie. Last night, that was a table full of Chinese food. Did that stop me from enjoying my movie candy goodness...oh no it didn't.

What movies have you seen this summer?

What's in Your Fridge?

What's in your fridge? I never really cared about it or thought about it until I heard this on the radio. I started thinking...what is in my fridge? It's a fairly clean fridge. Fairly.

As you can see right away, there's enough soda for a few people. Coke is it. There's a lone bottle of water in the lower right...no drowning anytime soon. Why did I start in the lower portion of the fridge? I'll work my way up from there...work my way to the top. Some ketchup, an almost empty container of milk from all those cereal dinners, and some apples. I hate apples...those must be Katharine's apples. There's a bunch of bread and english muffins on that second shelf. Not a big fan of cold bread, but it keeps the creatures away. Top shelf appears to have some Gatorade, some other green liquidy thing (which is really an almost empty jar of pickles...don't freak out, some plums, Banilla yogurt, and a package of turkey burgers (got to eat those tomorrow so they don't go bad).

The door looks like a whole mish-mash of shit. Squeeze jelly, Miracle Whip (mayo sucks), some maple syrup, brown sugar, and a bit of horseradish mustard (got a bit of a bite to it). Second shelf has got some minced garlic for American Chop Suey that I haven't made in years, BBQ sauce, and some Hershey chocolate syrup...I guess we need to see what's in the freezer, but that's for another day. Bottom shelf has assorted beer on it...not so horrible since I actually drink it now. But good beer...none of that shitty beer that I drank at 19...uhm...20....uhm...21. I won't mention brand names since some of you might drink it.

So there it is...that's what's in my fridge. What's in yours? Come on...I shared with you!

GRAPHIC NOVELS: What You Used to Call Comic Books Are No Longer Just for Kids

Whenever you ask people if they read graphic novels, the first thing they ask you is, "Oh...you mean comic books...like Batman and Spiderman". No I don't mean Batman and Spiderman...although there's nothing wrong with Batman and Spiderman, I read books that are so much better and not exactly written with kids in mind. Here I will list my Top 10 graphic novel series (in reverse favorite order saving the best for last), and tell you a little bit about why I like each one.

#10 Some of the Marvel and DC stuff has it's place in my collection, but nothing I must have to date.

#9 Ex-Machina by Brian K Vaughn is one that I pick up when there is nothing new out for number 8 through number 1 on this list because Brian K Vaughn is an excellent storyteller. See some of the best episodes of LOST.

#8 The Boys by Garth Ennis is a new one for me. I've read the first book and I loved it. It's about a CIA funded group of people that basically keep tabs on superheroes and take them out or deal with them when they start to commit acts that are not really superhero-like.

#7 Star Wars: Dark Times takes place between Star Wars Episode III and Episode IV and tells the story of the last of the Jedi. Fills in the gaps of a story that's been gapped for 3o years.

#6 Wanted by Mark Millar was just turned into a major motion picture. The movie retained the framework of the book, but if you didn't know it was a book, you should read it. It's a bit different from the movie...a bit darker, but it's also excellent.

#5 The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn may seem like a boring old zombie book, but it's not about the zombies. It's about people and what happens to you and your neighbors when the world goes to shit. You have to read this series, but don't expect happy stories.

#4 Star Wars: Legacy...I know what you're thinking...another Star Wars book, but this one takes place 125 years after the events of Return of the Jedi with a whole new set of characters and a brand new story. You'll see some familiar faces, but the Skywalker featured in this series might not be such a good guy. I guess that sort of runs in the family.

#3 Fables by Bill Willingham takes the fairy tales you heard as a kid and spins them into a fantastic story about fables that were forced from their fable worlds when the Adversary invaded and how those fables live in secret in our world. Nothing is sacred.

#2 Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming was the book that got me started reading graphic novels. I'm not even sure what made me go out and buy it, but WOW. This is about a time and place where Powers are registered and crimes by Powers are investigated by Christian Walker (a former Power) and Deena Pilgrim. This one has my favorite artwork of all of them by Mike Oeming which makes this series an amazing read.

#1 Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughn just completed it's 10 trade paperback run and will never be published with a new story again. That's just sad...you should pick up all of the issues since the complete story is now available.

TELEVISION: 1960s Batman on Bluray

Last night, while Katharine was out, I took pleasure in watching the Bluray release of Batman: The Movie from 1966.

Yes, for those people that remember it...it was the pilot movie for that campy 1960s Batman television show with Adam West and Burt Ward. I've never seen campy 1960s Batman looking so clear, thanks to Bluray. I used to watch campy 1960s Batman every morning before I went to school. ZWAP, KABAM, POW...the graphics would popup on the screen as The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, Egghead, The Bookworm, and the Mad Hatter all got their butts whooped by Batman and Robin. The colors were comic book vivid...the dialogue was cheesey as hell, but I loved it. I still love it I realized as I watched the whole hour and a half last night. Holy DVD Batman came the voice of Dick Grayson...Bruce Wayne's youthful ward, as the credits rolled for one of the many documentaries on the disc. Now if only they would release the full series on DVD...it would be awesome...but they never well because it's all caught up in licensing, ownership, and copyright battles. Bah...too many agencies getting in the way of my reliving some childhood entertainment.

Who could ever forget this: