Dark Knight - Aftermath

I recently read an imdb.com article that claimed that The Dark Knight “has become one of the most mistake-ridden films of the year so far” with movie-goers catching 16 mistakes in it. Granted, some of these film flubs are minor, such as hair being out of place from one shot to the next. Some, such as an extra S.W.A.T. truck appearing during a chase scene, are more major. All that said, the cold showers I took after seeing the movie are kicking in. I still love the movie, but I’m starting to view it in another light.

Essentially, after all is said and done, I still prefer TDK over Batman Begins. However, that is for one major reason – The Joker. Had The Joker not been so devilishly fun to watch, had Heath Ledger not been so completely immersed in the character, I am not sure I would have enjoyed the film as much as the one that preceded it. The biggest difference to me between the films is that, in Begins, I felt as though Christopher Nolan was really targeting a few key themes, which were explored in depth. In Dark Knight, there was so much going on that a lot of potentially interesting themes were lost or superficially explored at best. For example, when Bruce Wayne says that he’s “seen the man [he] would have to become” to defeat the Joker, I recall thinking that I’d not seen it. Had that line been absent, I’m not sure I would have come away with a feeling of Batman’s internal struggle. Sure, he was torn by what ramifications Batman’s existence has had on Gotham (criminals, copy cat vigilantes), but the darkness he felt growing inside him eluded me.

Another point that snagged me *SPOILER ALERT* was the Gordon “death”. There’s really little way that Gordon, the police, Batman, or The Joker could have planned that incident. More so than anything in Begins, this beat seemed something thrown in purely for the audience, something that did not further the plot in any particular (or plausible) way. *END SPOLIER*

What I’m getting at – and it’s odd, because Onyx, who can barley name a bat-gadget to save his life – was defending the film against me – the Dark Knight of Queens, NY – is that, overall, I think the movie had more poorly explained plot gimmicks and superficial thematic explorations than Batman Begins did. However, Joker reigned supreme in The Dark Knight, and, due in no small part to Heath Ledger’s performance, the movie was much more exhilarating and entertaining than Begins. Of course, I’ll still see it again in theatres and buy it as soon as it comes out (not to mention the poster and t-shirt I’ll probably pick out online this weekend). I’m just being a knit-picky fan (and former film student).

But *FINAL SPOLIER* how the hell was Eric Roberts standing in the hospital scene, when his character was dropped four stories just nights before?

Wonderful Life

I've realized recently that since graduation, my days can be divided into three types:

A) In which I write nothing. I don't even pretend I'm thinking about my script. These days I cook, I clean, I go running, I hang out with friends, I watch TV, I go to the library or read in the park, I remember to eat fruits and vegetables, I consider getting a pot of lavender or a cat. I am a normal, functioning human who is generally happy.

B) In which I write. Or at least I say I'm going to write. In reality I usually only accomplish one or two pages, five if it's a super good day. Most of the time is actually spent in self hatred, pretending to write, getting distracted by TV or the internet, and punishing myself by doing dishes.

C) In which I WRITE. These are the days I really. Fucking. Write. I don't eat, I don't drink, I hardly go to the bathroom, I don't pick up my phone, cups of half-drank tea or water surround me. Usually with consecutive days like these, I can pound out a script from anywhere between a month to a week. During this time I don't sleep: I pass out, and dream unsettling dreams.

The past few days have been C), and I finally finished my rewrite, as according to my angry vow that I will complete it within a month. I mainly sustain off of left overs during this time. On Tuesday, it wasn't until I got up to get another cup of water, did the warning signs finally reach my brain, and I realize that the food has gone sour. By then I finished half the bowl without noticing. Scenes after scenes are bulldozed through. Chunks of script are ripped out and new characters/scenes put in place. And around 11:30, I finished the script (which, might be total crap filled with spelling mistakes, but I refuse to think about it right now). By then my brain has been rendered into a lump of tofu. Electrically charged, but with no higher function than bean curd. My apartment is a mess. The dishes are piling out of the sink. I haven't ran for a while and adrenaline is at an all time low (although in the past I've been able to get adrenaline rushes from writing). I needed to vacuum. I REALLY needed to do my laundry. I can smell my trash rotting in the kitchen. I realized that I didn't pick up my grandmother's calls three times in a row.

It's funny, but I never thought I had to choose between living healthily like a normal person, or writing and feeling like there's meaning to my life. During days which I don't write, it never ceases to amaze me how much time I have to do so many things. Is that what normal people feel like? To have HOURS after work doing whatever they please? At times I feel that somehow I can REALLY WRITE and carve out an hour or two to make sure my living standards have not gone subhuman, but so far no luck. It seems that I either go all the way or not at all.

Perhaps, in a few years time, I'd be able to achieve a balance.

Trailer Trash IV: The Van

"Bobby couldn't make it... til he went Fun-Truckin' in a Van!"



Show of hands, based on what you just saw, how many of you need to see this movie?

The trailer gives the impression that the movie is short on plot, but REALLY delivers on van accessories.

IMDB offers up the following (god-awful) logline: "Bobby is a shy Los Angeles teenager who buys a sleek chevy van for himself to impress, pick up, and seduce various teenage girls to spruce up his dull life while trying to get money by drag racing other vans to finance operating it."

Hey, Cake-Man - Lose your "pizzazz"? Not "making it with the chicks"? Then it's time to buy a van. And then drag race it. The Chicks love that!

"It's Van-tastic!"

The Writing Week part 30

The big re-read!

It’s strange, as I was sitting at my computer reading through the post-Apocalyptic spec in its third incarnation, I had the most fleeting sensation of hating the words before me, not because they are dull or unmoving, but because they might still not be the final words in the final draft. The feeling passed nearly as quickly as it came, but the sense of being ready to be done with this project and the uncertainty of whether that will be the case this go around.

I like the project a lot. I think it’s something that can certainly appear on screens across the country (and, dare I say, world). Even in its first draft stage, I felt that way – but that’s mostly due to the universally low quality of a lot of movies out there. (Mine wouldn’t have been that low, I’d hope, but it would have been flawed.) With this draft, though, after so many late-night pow-wows and extended discussions over pints throughout the city, I’m not sure anymore. I doubt whether the script is working, but that’s because I’ve restructured it, which I didn’t really do in any previous re-writes. I’ve simplified some things, streamlined others (both of which I needed to do), but I worry they might have lost something vital to them in earlier drafts. I tried to play up the themes more, but in doing so, I wonder if I made them either too blatant or too separate.

All those questions, alas, are why I’m doing the big re-read. Well those, and the fact that I jumbled things around and changed this and that so much that I need to make sure nothing appears twice or lacks consistency, because I thought I’d added a scene that never made it in. This is certainly the slowest read through I’ve done. That’s probably because I’m looking at every scene, every line, every single word for things I can cut. I’m a street sweeper, and I have no idea whether the road ahead is paved or mud. Somehow, I’ve got to drive to the other end and make it spic and span. The League might just have to get out and push if I sink into a pothole.

Back from sunny San Diego...

My final costume count was 36 Jokers at Comic Con International - a whopping 27 based on the Heath Ledger Joker, and only nine of the classic look.

On the screenwriting front, Ken Levine has posted a great article on his blog about finding a perfect screenwriting partner.

Death Neglected I: There Can Only Be One

For many, middle school was the worst time of their lives. Sexual tension, cat fights, pretense of friendship, bullying. Secrets, shame, awkwardness. It's all there. It is, however, also the first time people start to take control of their lives, and not just stand up for themselves, but also for the things they find important to them. In addition, it is when most have their first real crush. And there's something about first loves that, despite how ridiculous and fragile they often are, makes it real and lasting in one's mind.

And now, take this nostalgic moment to remember all those young, savage yet innocent friends and foes from in middle school. Give them each a weapon (don't forget one for yourself), and start killing. Because there can only be one.

Nope, not that movie.

Battle Royale, the cult classic Japanese film, is not actually legally banned in the US, but no distribution company want to touch it. And understandably so. When the next Columbine happens, no one wants to take the blame. Plot: Forty-two normal 15 year olds going on their middle school graduation trip, are sent instead to an island and made to kill each other within three days' time. If more than one is alive at the end of 3 days, the exploding collar on their necks will, well, explode.

Good times.

One can still get the bootleg version of the film in the US though, so skip down to your local chinatown and grab this fun-for-the-whole-family!

Here's a fan trailer that I think introduces the movie better than the official one:

After the movie, one does think about (well, at least I thought about) if you can kill your best friend. What if he/she is coming at you with an ax? What if he/she is coming at you with an ax, and your girlfriend stands behind you? And, even if you are able to answer yes or no with certainly, if the situation does happen, would you actually be the person you always thought you were?

The thing that I truly enjoy about Battle Royale, is that hardly any of the students are "nameless meat". You're introduced to near everyone, with flashbacks or individual goals and dreams, before they need to make the decision to kill or to be killed. Some characters you only get a line or two from them, but those lines, and the action that follows it, go a long way of revealing who they are. In general, I'm actually quite impressed with it.

The two actors that American audiences have the highest chance of recognizing are Chiaki Kuriyama, who was Gogo in Kill Bill, and Tatsuya Fujiwara, who played Light Yagami in the two giant Death Note movies. The first 30 seconds of the film is the hardest part to swallow. The prologue, or, the reason why Battle Royale is happening, makes little to no sense. But if you can chill out, sit back, and say, yeah why not, this is Japan we're talking about after all, you'll have a wonderful bloody time with this movie. Especially if you're watching it with classmates.

Trailer Trash III: Hercules in New York

While we're on an Arnie kick, here's a classic one. I only wish it was the original theatrical trailer and not the post-Terminator VHS release...

Best Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? Definitely. Onyx would agree.



At 0:50 - do we really need to see that? REALLY?
At 1:10 - Can anyone translate this for me?