Tag Archive for 'Heath Ledger'

The Dark Knight

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 4, 2008
in Action, Based on a comic, Black Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sequel and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Liz and I were able to catch the latest installment in the Batman series over the weekend.  We’re both glad we were able to catch it on the big screen.  After all the buildup, hype, and raving reviews, we finally got to see what everyone was talking about.


I was very impressed with Batman Begins and I wasn’t in any way disappointed with The Dark Knight.  I’m already looking forward to the next one.  Heath Ledger did an amazing job with The Joker.  I was reading someone’s comments somewhere and they were talking about how they’ve never been a Ledger fan until now.  They also never realized how menacing and diabolical the Joker could actually be, and after thinking about Jack Nicholson’s portrayal from 1989, they realized that Nicholson was just delivering the same role he had been for the previous 20 years or so.  You may or may not agree with that, but it was a little mind blowing to me.  Maybe I haven’t seen enough of Nicholson’s films, but I’ve never quite understood why people are so enamored by him.  Yeah, he has some good films out there with great performances, but I’ve never been that impressed.  It’s really too bad Ledger isn’t with us anymore for any follow-up films.

Often times in sequels, it’s hard to make something that lives up to the original.  I think Christopher Nolan did a good job in raising the bar by bringing in the Joker, but there’s always room for some improvements.  I don’t think Christian Bale had to really act that much this time around.  The gutteral “batman voice” got a little annoying and old, but it makes sense he was talking differently to try and hide his identity.  Aaron Eckhart did a decent job.  I’ll always remember him as Nick Naylor from Thank You for Smoking.  It’ll be interesting to see if he makes a comeback in the future.

I think Gary Oldman had a much more active role this time around.  He’s such a great actor and it’s nice to see him able to spread his wings a bit.  I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal more than Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes.  She also fit in pretty well.  It wasn’t like some films where actors change for a particular character and the whole time you’re confused as to who exactly that person is.  Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were wonderful as usual.  Some friends of mine complained after the first film that they were grossly underutilized.  I kind of agreed, however, it was nice to actually have a “real” actor play the role of Alfred for a change.  I was just happy to have a live body in the role.

Some of the scenes with the Joker are a bit disturbing, but this is rated PG-13, so there’s not a whole lot to worry about.  They cut away at just the right moments in certain scenes.  Liz and I both said we got a little bored in the middle, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I would highly suggest getting out and seeing this one before it leaves the theaters.  You won’t be sorry.

Rating: ★★★★½

Lords of Dogtown

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 11, 2006
in Action, Biography, Drama, Skateboarding and Sport
. 0 Comments

I first thought this movie was just going to be a lot of fluff about skateboarding. It turned out to be a pseudo-documentary and all-around sweet movie about some of the original badboys of skateboarding. It turns out there’s three main kids that were part of a skating “team”, who eventually went their separate ways, that pioneered what we now know as the extreme sport of skateboarding. Tony Hawk learned from these guys.

The extra stuff was very interesting to watch as I kept learning more and more about the people this movie was about. Another very cool feature was a lot of the original kids, now adults, were in this movie. Some were security guards, judges…pretty much random people throughout. Stacy Peralta, one of “the three” wrote the film and even had a cameo where he was directing himself in a commercial shoot.

This movie was more than just a lot of cool stunts, crazy parties, and drugged up/drunk wild children of the 60’s and 70’s. This movie showed a peek into the lives of the children and what made them them. I think it’s the humanity and realness in movies that really suckers me in to watching them. It makes you feel connected, it’s like you know these people even though you’ve never actually seen or talked to them.

This is definitely worth a watch if you have the time.

Ned Kelly

Published
by
Chalupa
on October 10, 2004
in Australia, Based on a novel, Biography, Drama, History and Western
. 2 Comments

Last night I picked up Ned Kelly, previously viewed, at Blockbuster and then watched it with some guys on the deuce. This movie is about an Irish guy, Ned, who becomes an outlaw while trying to stick up for his family. The movie takes place in Australia in the 1870’s or 1880’s. The cops basically rule the land and do whatever they want…so if you get on their bad side you’re screwed. Eventually Ned, his brother, and a couple friends start robbing banks to give the money back to their friends and family so they can pay bills, mortgages, etc and basically survive. Pretty soon a bounty is put on their heads, they are declared outlaws, and the crown sends a big bad lawman, played by Geoffrey Rush, to bring the men to justice. Towards the end of the movie there’s an interesting shootout where the 4 outlaws have created steel plating so deflect the police’ bullets. Reminded me a lot of when those guys had flack jackets and AK-47’s and robbed a bank out in CA. They walk out of a building, the cops open fire. They just stand there. The cops get confused. They open fire and start taking them out left and right til they have to reload and then go back inside. Besides the whole pseudo modern Robin Hood theme going on, there is the issue of unjust imprisonment and unchecked governmental authority. Definitely something worth checking out.