Wednesday 30 July 2008

The Dark Knight


MOVIE REVIEW TEXTUAL THOUGHT ORGANIZER TO RECORD INITIAL FILM FIRST IMPRESSIONS FOR PERSONAL FUTURE REFERENCE

MOVIE TITLE:
The Dark Knight

THE WAY I INITIALLY TYPED MOVIE TITLE A FEW SECONDS AGO:
The Dark Night

DIRECTOR:
Christopher Nolan

FAMOUS ATHLETE THAT DIRECTOR’S NAME MAKES ME THINK OF:
Nolan Ryan (from Wikipedia: Nolan Ryan played in a major league record 27 seasons. A hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, Ryan threw pitches that were regularly recorded above 100 mph, even past the age of 40. The media tagged him, or more specifically his pitching, as "The Ryan Express", a reference to the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express).

DID IT BEAT SPIDEY?
Yes. The Dark Knight grossed $155.3 million over the opening weekend, breaking the previous record of $151.1 million set by Spider-Man 3 last year.

WHERE I SAW IT:
AMC Empire 25 on 42nd in Times Square

WHEN:
Matinee

FAVORITE PART OF MOVIE GOING EXPERIENCE:
When after a particularly spectacular bat feat a little boy’s voice from somewhere in the packed audience behind me exclaimed in complete sincerity, “Wow!”

FAVORITE PART OF FILM ITSELF:
The short shot from which the above screen still is taken. Even though shown in every trailer I’ve seen, the shot takes on additional weight in the context of the moment it appears in the film.

WHAT THE FILM MADE ME THINK OF:
At some point in my social anthropology studies in college I remember reading about or being told about a tribe somewhere in the world, and I think it was Australia, that did not believe that a dead person should be shown on film. Preliminary attempts to figure out the name of the tribe that I’m thinking or even the particularities of the belief that I’m trying to recall have been unsuccessful. Also possible that I am colliding several memories or imagining this one entirely.

Throughout film, which for the most part swept me away, I would occasionally suspend the suspension of my movie going disbelief and remind myself that Mr. Ledger passed away earlier this year. Then a spectacular bat feat would grab my attention.

I wish I could think of the name of that tribe.

WHAT I PROBABLY SHOULD BE DOING INSTEAD OF WRITING THIS:
Sleeping.

IF YOU SEE ME IN A COFFEE SHOP AND YOU HAVE ALSO SEEN THE DARK KNIGHT AND YOU FEEL LIKE TALKING ABOUT IT, THE SCENE AND TOPIC THAT I WOULD MOST LIKE TO BEGIN THAT DISCUSSION WITH:
The ferry scene and the point made by that scene and the film at large about human nature.

DESIRE TO SEE THE DARK KNIGHT AGAIN?
Yes.

DESIRE TO SEE THE DARK KNIGHT ON I-MAX?
Not really. Unless I’m watching sweeping aerial shots of wildebeests stampeding across the Serengeti with James Earl Jones narrating, I-MAX doesn’t really do it for me.

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