Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Dark Knight Review

Let me first start off by praising my wife Sharen. She got an Albertson's ad last week that offered two free movie tickets for buying 10 specific General Mills products. The stuff we bought was 1.50 each. It came out to 15 bucks and I got a 25.50 movie ticket. Pretty solid deal. So I got the tickets for the Imax for The Dark Knight. I was very giddy and very excited. Apparently, so was much of Boise. We went after getting some dinner. We got there at around 6:50 for the 7:30 show and there was already a big line waiting to get in. The show was sold out and I had already gotten the tickets last Thursday, fortunately. But we got the farthest row back because this screen is HUGE! Sharen and I had the best seats in the house! It was great. Now on to the movie!

I don't know if Sharen noticed the Imax pictures, but I sure did. I could tell when the movie went from Imax cameras to normal movie cameras but it was still cool. I might have to make The Dark Knight my first Blu-Ray DVD. As for the movie itself, this is the 2nd greatest Batman movie ever made. It beat its predecessor Batman Begins. No dialogue goes wasted and the action scenes were crazy. But what was crazy is that the majority of the action was done by the actors or by stuntmen. There was some CGI but it was all people based. I loved the fact that there was a back story to every main character. Batman and Rachel Dawes had history. The Joker and his insanity. Harvey Dent trying to save Gotham City. Commissioner Gordon becoming more of a major player and Batman becoming more and more a big time figure. Cristian Bale had done an excellent job as Bruce Wayne. He epitomizes what Bruce Wayne/Batman really are. This movie has just a great feel and a great flow. It kept going and going. It didn't have any bad scenes and no bad parts.

Heath Ledger's performance as the psychotic Joker was just insane. The movie theater laughed at how freaky and crazy he was. He was just great. You could not tell it was him being The Joker. Little things like him constantly licking his lips, his twitches, his hair, and his walk even made him a great Joker. He played a totally different Joker as well. Since this is a different story, it is fitting to have a totally different Joker compared to Jack Nicholson's rendition. The first Batman, tried more to have more of a comic book feel and these two new movies show more of the dark story that there is behind the comic book hero and his archenemies. Heath Ledger did exactly what he was supposed to. He showed that The Joker was not just about jokes, he had a dark history and his purposes are to darken people's lives. But the great thing is that he was not the main focus. He was the main villain, but the story was more central around Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent. The movie left you wanting more Joker but not giving you too much of the late Heath Ledger.

To me, the real surprise is Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. He did a great job as a person who is trying his hardest to help the people of Gotham City and yet getting the short stick when it comes to his personal gain. He does a great job at being Two-Face. It is pretty gross but his outrage that comes from him having half of his face burned off is pretty good.

All in all, the movie did live up to my expectations. Out of the 6 Batman's, it is #2 to the first Batman. It did overtake its predecessor as #2. I absolutely loved it. I got a movie poster at the movie theater. I am going to frame it. And since this is my first Batman movie with my wife and I was happy. This was an experience and I loved it. This is something that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Thanks to her smarts and he noticing things, I got the best movie in years on an Imax screen for cheap! Great night and great experience!

Monday, July 21, 2008

The Dark Knight

This is a quick notice to the two people that read this. I will be doing a review of The Dark Knight tonight or early tomorrow. I will be watching it at the Imax tonight and I am oh so excited. From what I have read and from what I have heard, Heath Ledger does an insane job of doing The Joker. It is going to be hard to beat the over the top Jack Nicholson rendition. But there are several differences between these two movies. The orginal Batman came out and it was great. It was somewhat dark yet exciting and funny and it had everything that a movie should have. Michael Keaton does a great job at being Batman and Bruce Wayne. Jack Nicholson should have won an Oscar for his performance as Joker. I love Batman and I can say that movie word for word. When Batman Begins came out, I was eagerly waiting to see what different writers and directors did with the story and they did not disappoint. Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, is the new Tim Burton, director of the first two Batman's. Tim Burton also did A Nightmare before Christmas and more recently, Sweeney Todd. But fortunately for the public and all of us in general these two directors have their own style and have done a great job with movies. I am anxious to see the movie tonight. But know this, it will be dug into with a fine tooth comb because I am a huge fan of Batman. My review will not be bias at all! So see ya'll later!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

J'z!

I was watching the BET awards the other day and Nelly came on with a pretty cool song. I didn't know the name of the song but I liked it. So I was on YouTube today and I saw the video for the song I liked. It is called "Stepped on my J'z." It is with Jermaine Dupri and Ciara. Pretty cool video, especially when they do the shout out to the old Michael Jordan commercials with Spike Lee. The song is about stepping on Jordan shoes. I didn't own any Jordan's. In fact, one of my biggest regrets of my childhood is not begging for a pair. But I know that my parents gave me what they could and those expensive shoes were not one of them. But I have told Sharen which ones I would like someday but I am sure that she doesn't remember. But here goes the list of my top 5 Jordan shoes that I have always wanted. There are some hits and misses in the 23 years the brand has existed.

#5-Jordan XIII

Jordan XIII

I loved this combination. The hologram was awesome and the look of it was great. Unfortunately, this was one of the last good look shoe that Jordan has come out with.

#4-Jordan VIII

Jordan VIII (Aqua's)

These were the pair that I almost got. I remember that I was just one size to big to get the kid's size. They would have cost 50 bucks. But the adult size was 120! Go Figure! That is why they are so dear to my heart.

#3-Jordan XII

Jordan XII Playoffs Wht/Blk

This is the combination that I loved! The original came out inverse to this. In other words the white was the black and the black was the white. They were cool still but I liked the black on white. Great look. This is when the Jordan Shoe came back. It was still down after Jordan retired the first time and I think this was the shoe that he won the 4th of 6 championships, but I am not sure.

#2-Jordan XI

Jordan Xi

When Boyz II Men arrived at a award show and had these on with a tuxedo, you know you made more than just a shoe. Patent leather and the shoe just looked fly. This was the first show that I remember that had the leather that was shiny. At first I didn't like it, but as I have gotten older, I have realized that this was one of the best looking shoes EVER!!

and DRUMROLL!!!

#1-Jordan VI

Jordan VI

Jordan Retro VI's "Infrareds"

It deserves two pictures. This is one of the last shoes that I remember that has the Nike Air logo on the back of the shoe. I love the black. I love the red. I love the little air pocket. So subtle, yet it has the Nike touch. This was the pair that I really wanted. I remember seeing a kid on my school bus and he had these shoes. They were sweet! Ever since then, they are the pair that I have always wanted. They just a good looking shoe. So Sharen, the Jordan VI. I know it might never happen. But I guess that was the fun of growing up poor, you can get by it and appreciate the British Knights I did have! HAHAHA! Later!


P.S. Sorry that the pictures are too big for my column. But if any of you know how to make it bigger just tell me!