The Amazing Spider-Man was alright. Andrew Garfield did a great job, while everyone else was just kind of okay. That scene with the car-jacker was absolute perfection, and I hope the second movie has more of that.
Good...god...I've been shaken up and disturbed for the first time in a quite a while. I just saw this film called "The Plague Dogs" which is an animated adaptation of a book written by the same author of "Watership Down" (which I love; both the film and the book). Curiously enough, the man who directed the animated version of Watership Down also directed The Plague Dogs. This film might be one of the most soul-crushingly depressing films I've ever seen in my life.
The basic premise of the film revolves around two dogs who are prisoners in a lab that regularly (and without conscience or caring) performs vivisection experiments on their subjects. The older dog, Rowf, has been subjected to various drowning experiments and is, appropriately enough, afraid of water. The younger dog, Snitter, has been subjected to countless brain surgeries and is thus unable to tell what is real or what is imaginary (sometimes with both bleeding into one another from his perspective). They plan a successful breakout in order to escape from the inhumane experiments. In order to recapture their subjects, the lab makes up an awful rumor that the dogs are carrying The Black Plague (hence the title) which sends both vigilante hunters and the British Armed Forces against them. The rest of the film is a harrowing and horrendously sad story of the dogs not only trying to escape...but to survive as well in the terrible conditions that face them. By the end I was weeping and pouring buckets of tears.
Independent of how sad the film was, I must acknowledge that it was an incredibly well-executed film and did what it set out to do unbelievably well. That said, I don't think I will ever see it again, because it would be too painful.
If you are an animal lover then stay the hell away as it will crush your soul. If you think you have the steel nerves to handle it, then it comes highly recommended by me (especially considering it was one of Patrick Stewart's very first films (in a bit role) and one of the first professional gigs Brad Bird had).
So... That's how you wrap up a Batman trilogy. Absolutely loved The Dark Knight Rises, my only real complaint about the movie was the echo-y effect on Bane's voice, made it kind of hard to understand in some scenes. It's hard to explain what I liked about the film without spoiling it; but the excellent use of foreshadowing and tone carried the movie along to a satisfying and complete feeling conclusion.
Now my life is filled with an empty void, knowing that there will never be another Nolan-directed Batman.
EDIT: My only other complaint is that it needs more Michael Caine, But I think this rule just applies to life in general.
I disliked "Batman Begins" so strongly that I can't bring myself to watch the other two.
I'm with you. Begins was bad. Dark Knight wasn't as bad, but is ridiculously overrated. 1989 Batman is still the best by a zillion miles. As far as the new one goes, people have to chill the fuck out. Save it for The Hobbit.
Now now, 1989 is essentially the pinnacle of 1960's batman and is good in different ways.
I VASTLY prefer Dark Night over Begins. Its greatest strength is, however, its greatest weakness; The Joker.
On one hand, its an amazing performance and incredibly fun to watch. On the other, the Joker's plans are simultaneously ridiculously complex or rely totally chance at face value.
This does open the door to many a conversations about how he could possibly do all the things he does (apparently) on purpose.
Personally, I like to think:
1. He rivals a Dunyain in his ability to grasp a situation, find the shortest path and take it.
3. He has total faith in (his vision of) humanity and is usually right
and
4. He's just constantly seeding Gotham with crazy people and explosives (and explosives in crazy people). He never really knows when those crazy people or those explosives are going to come in handy but combined with points 1, 2 and 3 it accounts for his most ridiculous plots.
Either that or the script is just a mess, but what fun is that?
Begins is perhaps the worst non-Schumacher adaptation of Batman to film, but that doesn't make Dark Knight and Rises not kick ass. The only problem either of them have is that the Batman is not Goddamn enough... (DKR spoilers)
...especially for the ending of Rises. That film had one too many cuts. Had Nolan ended the movie as Alfred reacted to Bruce sitting in the cafe but not shown Bruce, it would have been an "A+ possibly better than Dark Knight movie". Because of that shot, it was lowered to an "A- still a lot better than Batman Begins but that's not saying much".
Kevin Conroy's Batman was not Goddamn enough for me. I have yet to see a Batman on film who made me think "oh yeah, that is Batman." Keep in mind that I haven't seen the Keaton Batmans. Fixing that this weekend.
Wasn't All-Star Batman and Robin (which is where the phrase "Goddamn Batman" comes from) a horrible piece of trash? I haven't read it myself, but that is the overall impression from what people told me.
Wasn't All-Star Batman and Robin (which is where the phrase "Goddamn Batman" comes from) a horrible piece of trash? I haven't read it myself, but that is the overall impression from what people told me.
Wasn't All-Star Batman and Robin (which is where the phrase "Goddamn Batman" comes from) a horrible piece of trash? I haven't read it myself, but that is the overall impression from what people told me.
It's trash, but it's the best kind of trash.
Yeah, less a horrible piece of trash than a wonderful piece of trash.
Wasn't All-Star Batman and Robin (which is where the phrase "Goddamn Batman" comes from) a horrible piece of trash? I haven't read it myself, but that is the overall impression from what people told me.
Yes it is and that's why I use Goddamn Batman mostly as a negative term. Goddamn Batman kidnaps kids and laughs as he destroys cop cars. He is kind of a dick.
Goddamn Batman to me means Dark Knight Returns Batman. He is a mortal deity completely intolerant of all crime and fascism that isn't his ownFrank Miller.
The Dark Knight > Dark Knight Rises. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good, but the pacing and story of Rises was not as good as The Dark Knight. I also think Dark Knight had better visuals and locations.
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was completely uninteresting as written, the character was a complete dud.
I loved The Dark Knight Rises. I look forward to watching it again tomorrow. It's so far the best movie I've seen all year. I may even like it more than The Hobbit, because I am not into LOTR vs Batman.
The Bat Pod had me throwing my arms out at how insanely cool it was.
I totally called Miranda being Talia Al Ghul. I haven't really paid any attention to most news and I heard it was rumored, but I whispered to Jeremy, "I bet she's going to end up revealing that she's the daughter."
Also I liked how Blake is going to be Robin. I liked JGL's character overall.
The first fight with Bane had me cringing from how loud each hit was.
I think it was a great way to end the trilogy. Once again, Nolan does not upset.
Blake can't be Robin. Bale had it in his contract that there will be no Robins in his Batman movies. I like that version of Robin's back story more, but it won't happen. They're not even making more in this continuity -- according to the IMDb page "Untitled Batman Reboot." I was embarrassed to not catch the Talia plot twist because I knew that Ra's had a daughter instead of a son.
I don't think anymore movies will be made, nor do I want anymore made, but it was seemed like it was inferred that because they revealed his name was Robin and he was given directions to the Bat Cave.
Comments
Magic Mike was good. Real good.
The basic premise of the film revolves around two dogs who are prisoners in a lab that regularly (and without conscience or caring) performs vivisection experiments on their subjects. The older dog, Rowf, has been subjected to various drowning experiments and is, appropriately enough, afraid of water. The younger dog, Snitter, has been subjected to countless brain surgeries and is thus unable to tell what is real or what is imaginary (sometimes with both bleeding into one another from his perspective). They plan a successful breakout in order to escape from the inhumane experiments. In order to recapture their subjects, the lab makes up an awful rumor that the dogs are carrying The Black Plague (hence the title) which sends both vigilante hunters and the British Armed Forces against them. The rest of the film is a harrowing and horrendously sad story of the dogs not only trying to escape...but to survive as well in the terrible conditions that face them. By the end I was weeping and pouring buckets of tears.
Independent of how sad the film was, I must acknowledge that it was an incredibly well-executed film and did what it set out to do unbelievably well. That said, I don't think I will ever see it again, because it would be too painful.
If you are an animal lover then stay the hell away as it will crush your soul. If you think you have the steel nerves to handle it, then it comes highly recommended by me (especially considering it was one of Patrick Stewart's very first films (in a bit role) and one of the first professional gigs Brad Bird had).
Now my life is filled with an empty void, knowing that there will never be another Nolan-directed Batman.
EDIT: My only other complaint is that it needs more Michael Caine, But I think this rule just applies to life in general.
But yeah, I was always of the opinion (even as a kid) that the 1989 Batman was the overrated one.
I VASTLY prefer Dark Night over Begins. Its greatest strength is, however, its greatest weakness; The Joker.
On one hand, its an amazing performance and incredibly fun to watch. On the other, the Joker's plans are simultaneously ridiculously complex or rely totally chance at face value.
This does open the door to many a conversations about how he could possibly do all the things he does (apparently) on purpose.
Personally, I like to think:
1. He rivals a Dunyain in his ability to grasp a situation, find the shortest path and take it.
2. He's the master of the Xanatos Gambit
3. He has total faith in (his vision of) humanity and is usually right
and
4. He's just constantly seeding Gotham with crazy people and explosives (and explosives in crazy people). He never really knows when those crazy people or those explosives are going to come in handy but combined with points 1, 2 and 3 it accounts for his most ridiculous plots.
Either that or the script is just a mess, but what fun is that?
Don't get me wrong, I think it's good, but the pacing and story of Rises was not as good as The Dark Knight. I also think Dark Knight had better visuals and locations.
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was completely uninteresting as written, the character was a complete dud.
The Bat Pod had me throwing my arms out at how insanely cool it was.
Also I liked how Blake is going to be Robin. I liked JGL's character overall.
The first fight with Bane had me cringing from how loud each hit was.
I think it was a great way to end the trilogy. Once again, Nolan does not upset.