"The Dark Knight" rules

Hello,

I finally had a chance to see the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight". I will tell you this movie is not as good as I thought it would be. However I think that might have been impossible. I stay as far away as possible from reviews and the hype until I have seen the movie. I did know that the reviews were generally positive, but I did not read any of them. Anyway this review adds to the positive praise and I strongly reccomend you go see it.

I'll start with all the good things about this movie first. What more can I say about Heath Ledger's performance that already hasn't been said. Quite simply his performance is masterful. His performance is every bit as good as Jack Nicholson's in the 1989 "Batman". However Heath Ledger's Joker is a completely different character than the one played by Nicholson. Ledger's Joker has no rules, he is all about chaos. He has no loyalty to anyone, only to chaos. I have not seen a better performance this year. If Ledger does not get a nomination for his role that is criminal. If he does get a nomination, I may actually watch the Oscars for the first time in years. I just wished he was alive to enjoy all the well deserved praise he is getting for this movie. R.I.P. Heath.

The story is great as well. It's one of those movies that you are into from the first second and not in a hurry to leave when the movie is over. "The Dark Knight" is an intense movie as well. Not only is Heath Ledger great in this movie. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gylenhall are all outstanding as well. (For me any movie that has Morgan Freeman in it gets thumbs up from me. His part is also great in this movie.) The special effects are fantastic, expecially with the use of the sky hook at the start of the movie. Also the instrumental score is fantastic.

The main criticism I have heard most about this movie is that the story drags a bit. I definitely have to agree with that assessment. However that is the only flaw in the whole movie. Although at the end of "Batman Begins" it is obvious they are setting up for a sequel. I thought it was strange that there wasn't more effort put into giving us a hint of what's coming in the third Batman. There definitely will be a third installment, Christian Bale is already signed up for it. It's a great, great movie. Surprisingly on a Monday night, where the movie is playing on four screens, the theater was two-thirds full.

One more brief movie note, there were some cool previews as well. Previews included the new James Bond movie, "The Quantum of Solace" or some such gobbledy-gook title. Also there were previews for the the new "Watchmen" movie and the preview for the first of the "Twilight" movies. (The new "Twilight" movie looks sort of lame, I loved the book. The actor playing the main vampire is unimpressive. I hope the actual movie is much better than the preview indicate.) Finally there was the preview for the fourth Terminator, "Terminator Salvation". Christian Bale is in that movie he portrays rebel leader John Connor. It looks like we have quality movies coming soon.

I know that I promised a Motion City Soundtrack piece. I have not been able to work on that as much as I would like. I am working on that and hopefully I can post that in the next week. They are a great and underappreciated band. I previously mentioned the "Lost Boys 2" movie .It's officially titled "The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe". The preview is available on youtube.com. Not to be too pun-ishing but Haim's acting sucks. I am not sure why they brought him back. Apparantally Keifer Sutherland was busy, Haim wasn't. After seeing his lack of acting skills in this preview I am not surprised. (There is also a video showing Corey Haim and how drugged out he is.) It's a straight to DVD movie. That usually is a sign that the movie sucks. Although the preview is kind of cool.

Other music news: one of my favorite new websites, rcrdlbl.com has a 1987 video of the Smiths. They look positively young. In the video they are riding around on bikes. The video is for the song, "Stop Me If You Have Heard This One Before". That is just one of their many great songs. If you are having a relationship that you are considering ending, I have a great kiss off and piss off song for you. It's the Maroon 5 song "Not Coming Home" (Live). The live version is the best version. The lyrics are perfect and the singer sings it with feeling like he may have been through that experience before.

Finally songs rocking my iPod. I added a whole bunch of Madonna to my iPod today so expect to see more of her in upcoming blogs. 1) "Rocket Queen" Guns n' Roses 2) "Let It Roll"- Velvet Revolver According to ew.com, VR are considering hiring the lead singer of Spacehog to become their new singer. Stay tuned.) 3) "Bleeding Love"- Leona Lewis 4&5)"Rollin" and "Love Train" by Big and Rich 6) "Sheep Go To Heaven"- Cake 7) "Still of the Night"- Whitesnake 8) "Material Girl"- Madonna 9) "Bungle in the Jungle"- Jethro Tull 10) "Today"- Smashing Pumpkins 11) "Ringfinger"- Nine Inch Nails 12) "When You Come Back to Me"- Garth Brooks 13) "When The Show Is Over"- The Donnas 14) "Modern Swinger"- The Pink Spiders 15) "Here With Me"- Dido 16) "The Kid Is Hot Tonight"- Loverboy 17) "Young Lust"-Pink Floyd and 18) "Geek Stink Breath"- Green Day.

If I am not back tomorrow I will be back on Sunday. Have a good weekend, themusicaddict