Dark Knight Rises

It’s chilling to think that the same carnival atmosphere I experienced at the midnight showing here in Ohio turned into a bloodbath in Colorado. There is some more poignancy to a light-hearted exchange between Batman and Catwoman/Selina Kyle about the ethics of eschewing guns.

You know the plot from the reviews: Batman has been in self-imposed exile for eight years, paying the price for the canonization of Harvey Dent. Bane arrives in Gotham to complete the cleansing task begun by Ra’s Al Ghul in the first movie of the triology. Batman comes out of retirement, is beaten and humiliated by Bane who engages in assorted terrorism and mock class warfare until Bruce Wayne has recovered enough for the final showdown. This movie links back satisfyingly to Batman Begins in countless ways, large and small, so that we really do see the trilogy as part of a common arc. Continue reading Dark Knight Rises

safe house

if only.

actually, the first 40 odd minutes are not bad. then it goes downhill fast, doubling its rate of descent every 15 minutes. i hate to say it but one of the biggest problems with this film is denzel. he’s one of the executive producers and this i think is what led to his character essentially going through the entire catalogue of charming denzel washington tics. casting a lesser known actor, or even someone like jeffrey wright who could disappear into the role, would have been a better idea.

[spoiler warning]
Continue reading safe house

The Walking Dead

No wolves or vampires here, just zombies. Do we have a Walking Dead thread? I was wondering if anyone else is a fan. I am, and would like to talk about it. We now do TV, right? Hello?

Okay, I’ll throw this out there: Sarah Wayne Callie is the weakest thing in the series. Her acting is so bad at times it makes me cringe. Here’s a tip, Sarah: when you need to emote powerful feelings, do NOT lift your head up slightly, breathe deeply, and look around wildly EVERY TIME.

Strongest thing in the series: Spike Milligan. He’s my favorite.

tintin

i watched this last night. i’d wanted to see it on the big screen when it first came out but fear of seeing a major part of my childhood destroyed kept me away. i’d read that the film mashes up the plots of a few books and rewrites characters etc. and all of this seemed like more desecration than i could take. and, of course, i feared the spielbergization of the whole thing: tintin as a young man trying to gain the love of his father (captain haddock probably) and so on.
Continue reading tintin

Prometheus

more like plotholetheus or portentous, amirite? nonetheless, it held my attention. michael fassbender is a delight, channeling o’toole as lawrence of arabia. idris elba has some moments and the set design is beautiful. all else is crap. the lack of explanations at the end was nice, but i fear that this was done a) to set up the sequel, and b) to force fanboys to watch it over and over to come up with theories of their own. still, it’s rare to see a summer blockbuster that is willing to leave so much ambiguous and open to interpretation, even if it seems that this may be a byproduct of a shoddy script.