I had planned to do a column ranking the boys of summertime the way I had with the women – but as I've been plotting it out, I realized it wasn't going to work. The roles men are given are infinitely more heroic, interesting, and complex, and any ranking would quickly become a list of favorites rather than best. And it's predictable – Tony Stark, Wall E, Harvey Dent, end of story, and totally boring. The more I tried to make it less so, the more slippery the concept became, and I realized it was all a thinly veiled excuse to write about one of the characters in particular: Harvey Dent. And with Devin Faraci's call to analytical arms, it's like a sign from the movie gods to get into meatier territory.
The most highly anticipated element of The Dark Knight for me was also what ended up being the most disappointing – Harvey "Two-Face" Dent. In the afterglow of opening weekend, people looked askance at me when I voiced this aloud before half-heartedly defending Christopher Nolan's vision. But in all the is-he-isn't-he-dead debate of late, it's became apparent that more people agreed with me than not.
As we all know from The Dark Knightcommercials, Two Face makes his grand, grotesque entrance. But there's an interesting twist in the whole story now. Beware of spoilers ahead ...
... spoilers below ...
Did he die -- or didn't he? That's the big question. He sure looked like he did, but then again, there was that whole spiel about how falling such a short distance won't kill a man. Why put that in there if there's no point? And couldn't the lovely Commissioner Gordon have lied to save the hopes of Gotham's populace?
I like to believe he lived, for a myriad of reasons. But if a few new tie-in books are to be believed, the dream is completely dead, and the nightmare won't continue. IGN reports that in the new novelization, it says: "Dent was sprawled, neck twisted, the mutilated side of his face exposed, his left eye open and staring sightlessly. He was obviously dead." This is joined with the shooting script, which says: "Dent lies at the bottom of the hole, his neck broken. DEAD."
I am not entirely convinced. There's just something about using the word "obviously" that seems too redundant for it to be accurate. All of the emphasis of his death just makes it seem like they are trying too hard to convince us. But maybe that's just my hope to see more Aaron Eckhart.
Right about here is where all the gushing and excitement and enthusiasm should begin, because I'll tell you right off the "bat" that Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is cause for celebration indeed. But then you'll figure out -- after only one sentence -- that I pretty much loved this movie, and then you'll head off to another, more unpredictable film critic. But it's the WHY that interests me so much. What I enjoyed about Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Hellboy 2 could probably be covered in one lengthy -- and inevitably nerd-tastic -- conversation between the two of us. But The Dark Knight... Well, clearly we're approaching a whole new level here.
Several of the pre-release gushings are accurate. Some say "Scorsesian" and others reference Michael Mann. Many spend paragraphs on the (truly amazing) penultimate performance by Heath Ledger, while others will revel in the grown-up tone or epic scope of the film. What amazed me most about The Dark Knight, among several things, is that the flick's got more layers than an onion farm -- and yet it never loses touch with the idea of FUN. True that we're talking about a comic book fun that's decidedly more melancholy than the cinematic exploits of The Marvel Gang, but dang if TDK isn't supremely satisfying for about a dozen different reasons.
The pop-culture appetite for Batman seems inexhaustible; thousands of comic books, several movies, endless animated iterations, some of which are quite good and some of which are rather bad. Is there any real need to return to the character beyond the profit motive, though? After the financial and critical success of Batman Begins, the powers-that-be behind The Dark Knight could have made a safe bet of a sequel; a little more action, a few more actors, more of the same and a few extra explosions.
What's telling about The Dark Knight, though, is how risky it is -- how it's bold and brave and truly exciting, full of rich and strong performances and some real ideas along the way. Why return to Batman? It turns out that for Christopher Nolan, the reason to come back is that there's something to say about, and with, the character even after decades of stories and multiple reinventions. I was hoping The Dark Knight would be good; I had no idea that director and co-writer Christopher Nolan was going to make a film that not only addressed the philosophical and political conflict between the rule of force and the rule of law but also takes on the timeless clash between order and chaos ... and, along the way, evokes everything from Michael Mann's Heat to John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. ...
A bunch of bloggers and Peter Travers have already weighed in with glowing early reviews of The Dark Knight, but you were justified if you reserved judgment. The bloggers who were fortunateenough to get a look at the film were pretty squarely in the geek demographic -- which is not any sort of indictment, but just an indicator that they had a very specific perspective on the film. And Peter Travers is... Well, he's Peter Travers. Now, though, come some reviews you shouldn't so readily ignore -- and they're gushy, (almost) unqualified raves.
This from Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter: "[Nolan] builds movies around ideas and characters, and "Dark Knight" is no exception. The ideas here are not new to the movie world of cops and criminal[s], but in the context of a comic book movie, they ring out with startling clarity. In other words, you expect moralistic underpinnings in a Martin Scorsese movie; in a Batman movie, they hit home with renewed vigor . . . . With the film's race-car pace, noise levels, throbbing music and density of stratagems, no one will follow all the plot points at first glance. Not that the story with its double crosses and ingenious plans isn't clear, but to enjoy the full glory of these urban battlefield strategies, multiple viewings are required."
A brand new clip from The Dark Knight has landed over at WhySoSerious.com (see it above or over on that site), and in it we get to watch Two Face make what I imagine will be his first appearance in the film. Don't worry spoiler-nerds, they don't actually show you his face (like they'd ruin that one on a random Monday night in June) -- but we see him from a side angle and briefly hear his voice. I truly hope this isn't some sort of very very short tease over to the third film and that Two Face is an actual character in the movie for a little while. Then again, perhaps it'd be better if he wasn't in it; cut down on the number of villains and all that. However, Christopher Nolan has said that this is Harvey Dent's story and not the Joker's. The latter maniac just happens to be wreaking havoc on Gotham while the real plot develops around Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
Look, all I know is that I really want to see this sucker, like, yesterday. 32 days till July 18th. Sweet!
Above: Aaron Eckhart as the villain Two Face in a very brief appearance during the latest trailer for The Dark Knight.
Fresh on the heels of the new trailer comes a Los Angeles Times interview with Aaron Eckhart. Possible spoilers abound -- in fact, I think there is a fairly huge one in there that I cannot believe slipped by. And people rag on us for being spoil sports! So, in order to preserve your innocence (I'm upset that mine is now gone), I shall copy the best quotes here.
Eckhart addressed the fact that the world has not been given a glimpse of his scarred district attorney, and promised that whatever fans have cooked up in their brains is nothing like what we're going to see. "That's right, people don't really know yet. I can tell you that, basically, when you look at Two-Face, you should get sick to your stomach. Being the guy under all that, well, that was a lot of fun for me. It's like you would feel if you met someone whose face had pretty much been ripped off or burned off with acid. I can't talk about it beyond that because I don't want to give away too much of the plans by Chris. There are fans on the Internet who have done artist's versions of what they think it will look like, and I can tell you this: They're thinking small; Chris is going way farther than people think."
Finally, the wait is over! The second full length trailer for The Dark Knightis up and it is all kinds of cool. Unlike the feeling left by the two Incredible Hulk trailers, I feel like there's plenty of scary Joker goodness waiting for me in the theatre.
Maybe it was the long wait, maybe it's just that there's a point of excitement one reaches, but this trailer seems kind of ... understated? I don't want to say flat, because it is anything but -- yet compared to the explosions and shrill laughter of the first, this one suddenly brought Batman back into the real world. When the bootleg was leaked, my e-mail box was flooded with people complaining that Ledger was too "gritty" and "realistic" in his performance. I don't share the complaints, but the Joker is definitely missing the eerie, superhuman element. I like it, but I can see why many might not.
Love the foreshadowing surrounding poor Harvey Dent. I'm already half in love with the handsome D.A.; I can't wait to see how Nolan handles his fall from grace. Watch it, and rave about it. Or complain. I think this might be the trailer that divides an audience -- I'm watching the comments to see! The Dark Knight hits theatres July 18th.
Last night we took the crew to see Iron Man. You can read James's and Scott's reviews of the film, but I'll just add that this movie ROCKS, and in case you're a parent debating whether to bring your kids to see it, I felt that what violence is in the film is mostly cartoonish, Indiana Jones-level stuff, so if your kids can handle those films, they'll be fine. All of my kids were engaged in the film from start to finish, and there was nothing in it that scared them as much and that damn sea lion in Happy Feet.
But I digress. Before the film, of course, they had the usual array of trailers (Speed Racer, Indy 4, Prince Caspian), and one of them was for The Dark Knight. Now, I've generally been avoiding seeing or reading too much about The Dark Knight, so this was the first time I'd seen the trailer. And my reaction to it was ... I don't know if I want to see this film. Much as I love Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart, I just found the scenes of Heath Ledger as the Joker oddly painful to watch.
You know those kinds of movies that you want to see, but you also know that it won't be a fun time at the movies? Well, that is exactly how I felt after watching the theatrical trailer for Towelhead. The film is based on Alicia Erian's novel about a young girl adjusting to her new life with her strict Lebanese father in Houston, Texas.
Summer Bishil stars as the young protagonist, Jasira, whose budding sexuality is either ignored or fetishized by the men in her life. Aaron Eckhart stars as a friendly neighbor who quickly degenerates into someone who should maybe have one of those 'meetings' with Chris Hanson; and the cast also includes Toni Collette as an understanding neighbor, and Maria Bello as Jasira's self-centered mother.
The book caused a stir when audiences were little shocked by the frank sexuality in the book (Jasira is a 13 year-old girl). I don't know if they made Jasira a little older in the film, but there is still plenty in the story to freak out conservative audiences. The film originally premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival and at Sundance under the name, Nothing is Private. I guess they figured the movie is bound to offend people anyway, so why not keep the original title?
Six Feet Under's Alan Ball wrote the screenplay, and Towelhead marks his directorial debut. Some early reviews for the film were positive, but, I'm still curious to see if mainstream audiences will be lining up for what looks to be an equally funny and disturbing film. Towelhead is scheduled for limited release on August 15th.
Dang it! You sit online all week digging up stories for your Cinematical readers and the Sunday you duck offline to take your pug to the dog park, Harvey Dent holds a press conference.
It seems Gotham's D.A. hopeful was supposed to hold a press conference on Sunday at 3pm. Those who were able to get on Dent's website discovered that the press conference had been pre-empted by a hostage crisis. Lawyer Joseph Candoloro Frank Nataro (who was apparently sending e-mails and voice mails giving hints as to what he was up to) took a girl hostage at a coffee shop. Dent ended up breaking into the coffee shop, negotiating with Nataro, and rescuing the girl. What a guy.
Edward sent us a run down of the whole thing that was posted on EyeCraveDVD's forums. Thanks, Edward! And if you'd like to hear the audio of the entire event, it's up via Dent's official site.
I'm not entirely too sure where this video came from (I believe a few links popped up in the SHH forums), but it's up on YouTube now, so we're all good. Check out the first video of Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes above, as she speaks out to members of the Gotham City press on why she feels everyone should support Harvey Dent (as played by Aaron Eckhart in the sequel). Gyllenhaal, as most of us already know, took over for Katie Holmes after the actress decided not to return for The Dark Knight. It's not much, and this doesn't look to be part of the film (though maybe it will show up on a TV screen in the background somewhere), but those who were curious to see Gyllenhaal in action can finally do so now.
Personally, at this point I'm dying to see a Harvey Dent political commercial. I want children asleep in their beds, and a calm voiceover to say something like, "It's 3am in Gotham City, and the phone rings. Who do you want answering that call? Batman? No ... how about District Attorney Harvey Dent." Check out the video above, and let us know what you think of Maggie Gyllenhaal in this role? I've always had a thing for this gal, so I dig her in just about anything. You?
Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Towelhead(click on the image to enlarge),based on the popular book by Alicia Erian and directed by the very awesome Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under). With a superb cast that includes Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette, Maria Bello, Peter Macdissi and Summer Bishil, Towelhead premiered earlier this year at Sundance to a whole lotta praise. Personally, I didn't get a chance to see it and have hated myself ever since. Love the poster too; it has that dysfunctional cookie-cutter look to it -- not far from Ball's prior material.
Kim summed it up nicely when she wrote about the film from Sundance: "It's about the sexual awakening of a young girl, and the situations she gets into as she wrestles with her blossoming sexuality. Very intense, but a very well done film that a lot of women, especially, will relate to from their own teen years -- particularly the conflicting messages young girls get about themselves as sexual beings and learning to express that sexual power in a world where a girl who has sex is a slut, but a boy who does the same is just 'becoming a man.' Very powerful film."
Harvey Dent's viral campaign has ended with a rather disappointing announcement that Dent is running for D.A. But, no doubt, this political campaign has been leading up to something more.
I was one of the thousands who received a voice mail from Dent Sunday afternoon urging me to help him fight the Citizens for a Concerned Gotham, the latest viral site to be launched. They've been very busy slandering poor Dent in the press as a corrupt and media crazed inquisitor. (I have to say, when my cellphone announced it had a voice mail, I was super excited. And then let down when it turned out to be Aaron Eckhart and not someone I actually knew.)
He's holding a meeting on April 1st, 3pm -- presumably Eastern time -- to answer all the questions of concerned citizens. The problem is, the Joker has also launched a new site, Clown Travel Agency. A departure is announced for April 1st, 3pm. He's also told followers that they'll hear from him again on April Fool's Day.
Gotham City is starting to rumble again -- and it is all centered around a certain D.A.
While Harvey Dent hasn't yet updated his site, Aaron Eckhart has been busy. He gave an exclusive interview to Wizard Magazine full of character goodness. Those looking to remain pure before the film might want to avoid it, as he gives some vital character bits away.
He does confirm what the Internet knew all along -- Harvey will become Two-Face during the course of The Dark Knight. But my feeling from this interview is that Two-Face might be the villain left standing by film's end. Nothing here confirms those early rumors that, despite all we've seen of the Joker thus far, Two-Face is actually the main villain of this film.
This follows rumors that the new trailer (which is supposed to premiere with 10,000 B.C. last I heard) will be entirely Harvey Dent oriented. Will we see Two-Face in that, or just revealed through viral marketing? I hope they follow the pattern they set with the Joker, and reveal Two-Face via Harvey Dent's site.
A bunch of bloggers and Peter Travers have already weighed in with glowing early reviews of The Dark Knight, but you were justified if you reserved judgment. The bloggers who were .jpg)
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You know those kinds of movies that you want to see, but you also know that it won't be a fun time at the movies? Well, that is exactly how I felt after watching 
Dang it! You sit online all week digging up stories for your Cinematical readers and the Sunday you duck offline to take your pug to the dog park, Harvey Dent holds a press conference.
Harvey Dent's viral campaign has ended with a rather disappointing announcement that Dent is running for D.A. But, no doubt, this political campaign has been leading up to something more. 
Gotham City is starting to rumble again -- and it is all centered around a certain D.A.
