I killed the hero.
Burnt him alive.
I watched the angel's wings turn to ash.

I killed the love.
Burnt it alive.
Fuck love. Give me fire.

***

The sun is scorching the earth. Making the air I breath a hot, dry, 110 degrees. Life in the desert. 110 degrees is nothing to me.

I smell like I'm on fire, burnt flesh. But I'm driving the convertible as fast as I can so I don't have to smell it. On this long, lonely, paved road in the middle of the desert, I can really open this rust bucket up.

I scratch some of the dried blood off my forehead as I look myself over in the mirror. I'm a shock blond. All white hair. It looks rather dirty right now however. The sweat, dirt, and blood act as hair gel, spiking it up, a gray mess.

I can see road and desert for miles. Just... nothing. Straight road. Dry desert. An occasional dead animal on the road. Road runners that didn't run fast enough. Lizards soaking up the heat from the pavement that were too caught up in their cold blooded euphoria to notice the speeding tire until the second before it crushed their skull. That's all.

I've only seen two other people driving down this road. And I've been driving all day. Like I said. Nothing.

The up side to that, of course, no cops. Since I'm going 70 above the reccomended speed limit, I'm sure they'd love to pull me over. A 26 year old, blood stained, naked white haired man nearly doubling the speed limit wearing burnt flesh cologne, it's kind of hard to explain. Not to mention Neva laying next to me. Almost naked herself. She looks more like a skeleton than the girl she used to look like. Lost about 40 pounds since we met. She's a god damn succubus, a fucking cannibal, but she's still alive. I think.

I see a flicker of light about a mile in the distance. About time I see someone else.

I reach for my smokes, between Neva's legs. She's passed out on the bench seat, her legs resting on my lap. I grab the corner of the pack of cigarettes. I hit a bump on the road and the smokes fall back on the seat. I push Nev's leg out of the way and grab a lung dart out of the pack.

I cup my hand around the end so the breeze doesn't put the flame out. I just about light it when I hear that idiot slam on his horn. Dumb fuck probably hasn't seen anyone all day either. I ignore it as a flame darts out of the tip of my finger. I've learned to control it, but the flame still burns. My hands are a blistery mess. As long as its not in one place for too long, I'll be fine.

The first hit off the cig is always the best. Fills your lungs with gaseous cancer. Better than sex. Sometimes. That fucktard is still blaring his horn, waving at me.

The flame on my finger tip is starting to seer the skin. I bounce the flame around my fingertips. Roll it around my hand. Hide it like a magician hiding a playing card, making three reappear. Juggling them with my fingers.

I hate people sometimes. That idoit passes me. Shouts "HEY!" No more flames on my fingertips. But I still see them.

I rub some dirt off my side mirror with my thumb. I watch the three flames dance around the gas cap of the other guy's ride. Seeping into the cap. Then foosh!

Gasoline is a flame's best friend. Its a cheap hooker, or a frail little girl in an alley to a sex addict. Fire loves gas. Gas isn't a fan of flame however.

That guy is lost in a giant fireball that used to be his car. Pieces fall from the sky as the flame burns everything inside. Cleaning it in a sick, twisted way. The guy probably died from the explosion. But hopefully he was still alive as he got surrounded by the burning red fire. He felt the explosion, held his breath, hit his brakes, and immediately tried to push the button that would release the seatbelt. The flames would melt the plastic button in an instant, making it impossible to release. He'd still hit the button as his hair singes. He'd run out of air, struggling for his life, and he'd instinctively take a deep breath. The heat from the fire would collapse both of his lungs. Then its a race. A race between blood and fire. Who will kill first? Will the lack of oxygen to the brain make him pass out and die. Or will the fire cook him alive? Hopefully the fire will win.

The car is just a red dot with rising clouds of smoke on my mirror now. I guess I'll never know. The explosion woke Neva up. She lets out a mumbling giggle. She knows what just happened. She was awake the last two times it I did it. I smack her ass as I try to get this shit pile on wheels up to the speed limit plus eighty.

We aren't running from anything. We're running to the next chapter. I burnt the angel with the devil horns until he was a pile of ash in the incinerator. Or maybe he was the devil with the angel wings? I'm not justifying it as good or evil. I'm just saying I did it. It's done.

The bitch beside me killed the she-skunk, a beauty and a beast all wrapped up in one, just like Neva. Two dead heroes. One in a casket, the other in an urn. Job finished.

Now, the road ahead is teasing us with the unknown. We don't have a plan. Don't care to. We're just turning the page to the next chapter. Looks like the next chapter starts with an old roadside store.

I hit the brakes and glide this shit pile into the dirt next to the gas pump.

"Fill it up, I gotta piss," I shake Neva until she gets up.

She gives me that look. That 'I could kill you in a second, You know it, and you love it' look. She scratches her scalp and in the sun you can see dirt blowing off her blond hair.

I step out, barefoot, into the dirt. Sand and rocks find a resting place in between my toes. I stretch, feeling the tense muscles in my body expand, hear several of my joints crack from being in one position for so long. It's been a long drive.

I reach into the back seat, grab my jeans and pull them on. The last thing the guy in this place is a naked pyromancer.

I walk around the back of the car, watch Neva filling up the car in her pink underwear and tiny little white shirt you can see through.

I nearly trip over some fucking cat on my way to the store. I bend over and scratch its head with my blistered index finger. It purrs at me like its got a tiny little engine in its throat. The smell of burning flesh from my skin returns to my nostrils. The only smell worse than burnt flesh is burning fur. I really hate that smell.

Frankly, since we're talking about Wolverine here, we'd like to see Jackman (as Wolverine), somewhere about mid-film, break into a Seth Macfarlane-penned showtune about Magneto's sexy helmet. Three words: oh, hell yes.

Comic Con: New Wolverine Poster at Cinema Blend »

“[Perlman]: But I can't tell you how vindicated we all feel and what a tough struggle it was for Guillermo [del Toro] to get the movie made with me and seven years of struggling. We got the first one out to modest success and we got a second one out and the stories – you could fill volumes just talking about the stories of what it took to get that movie made and here we are. The world has given us this cosmic hug. It feels really good.”

I hear tell cosmic hugs are a little like smoking weed. Only without the whole THC part. I don't think I'm jonesin' for a cosmic hug, but if Perlman's happy, so be it.

Perlman also drops in a bit of flirtatious fan-boy teasing about The Hobbit, Guillermo's next project:

“[Asked whether Del Toro has asked him to be in The Hobbit] [Perlman]: No. He has not, except to say that when I first saw him after it had been announced that he was going to be in New Zealand, I said, ‘I'm going to miss you, pal.’ He goes [imitating del Toro] ‘Oh, no you're NOT!’ That's all I know [laughs].”

Careful, Ron. Good way to get a crazed Tolkien stalker.

Perlman on Hellboy II Success, Sequel & Hobbit at ComingSoon.net »

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Transfer the Spotlight-Gangway Portmantologism Silent prayer

“The Magdalena will star Jenna Dewan as Patience, a woman who realizes she’s born to a line of female warriors who are descended from Mary Magdalene.”

Wait a minute, wait a minute. What?

“The Magdalena will star Jenna Dewan as Patience, a woman who realizes she’s born to a line of female warriors who are descended from Mary Magdalene.”

I was afraid I'd read that right. A line of female warriors who are descended from Mary Magdalene. I don't even know where to start with material this good. And don't think this is gender biased. Hell no. If it was about Justin who'd found out he was born to a line of male warriors descended from the apostle Paul it wouldn't make any more freaking sense, now would it?

Criminy, who's idea was this?

Only good thing I see is that Luke Goss is in it. And that sonofabitch is intense.

Comic Book Adaptation Will Fight For God at Cinema Blend »

“The fantasy, which was recently set up for movie treatment (Daily Variety, May 12), involves a jewel-encrusted gauntlet that bestows extraordinary powers upon the possessor, one chosen female from each generation.”

Well, we're running the gauntlet with comic-based films. Why not one with an actual gauntlet? But can we maybe offer the part to someone besides Angelina Jolie? Hello? Maybe?

Michael Rymer directing 'Witchblade' at Variety.com »

“Amazon.com is currently accepting pre-orders for Iron Man and lists the title as being offered in three different versions - a Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition, a Special Collector's Edition Blu-ray Disc and a Single-Disc Edition.”

Marvel will also pass out a flash drive sneak-peek of the DVD. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Iron Man DVD Confirmed for Sept. 30 at ComingSoon.net »

As predicted, Heath Ledger and the Dark Knight crushed the world’s favorite webslinger Spiderman, taking in $155.34 million in its opening weekend. Spiderman 3 had the previous record with $151.1 million. In what appears to be the perfect storm of media, publicity, positive reviews, and possibly the biggest superhero following ever, Dark Knight also broke records for IMAX theaters, raking in $6.2 million. Once again, Spiderman 3 held the previous record generating $4.7 million.

I can’t wait for my beautiful wife to get home later this week. I’m dying to see this movie after going on the Dark Knight ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey over the weekend. I’m definitely psyched to see this one and you can bet your ass that I’ll be going to the IMAX  at the Palms.

More so in films that have super-heroes as their linchpin. They, who can spin webs, face bullets and save the day with a display of physical prowess and cap it with a smart one-liner to an eager, adulating crowd. No matter what the threat the super-hero promised light at the end of the tunnel. The super-hero exists because of the super-ordinary; one who is assailed by fears, insecurities, helplessness and loss of faith.

For children, a Super – hero is God made visible - a person who makes a last-minute entry and saves the world on screen and possibly giving a similar hope that a hidden, last-second entry is possible even in his/her life. The super – hero is also the God of adults – who refuse to grow up. Emaciated by the world and its wile ways we close our eyes, pray and beseech – and our prayers are answered.

No more.

The Dark Knight, the latest Batman edition is bleak. It is a hopeless world, inhabited by an extremely serious criminal called the Joker. The Joker has no reasons. Imagine a love that exists without pre-conditions and excuses and reasons – we would be flattered and over-whelmed. Now, imagine ‘evil’ without any excuse, reason, bias. Heath Ledger’s terrifying performance (RIP) as evil incarnate envelops the film in its malevolent grip. A callous and focused villain, Ledger imbues the role with a primal hate that has no history, no journey or destination. He just hates.

This is the current state of the world Nolan seems to say. Super-heroes are not all-powerful, all-conquering, divinely ordained beings who can set any and everything right. They are fallible. And more importantly they are fallible only because they have morals. Their veins carry the milk of human kindness in them which makes them vulnerable.

Can we understand or negotiate with someone with whom we don’t share any common human qualities and traits? In that sense Batman and Joker are not equals – Joker is superior to Batman because he has no qualms or uncertainties. The world is subservient to the Joker’s whim, desire and agenda. He wiggles his tongue at the world and asks – why so serious? and leaves a trail of death and destruction behind.

Is Joker a realist or a nihilist then? A man reviled as a comic relief hell-bent on proving otherwise in a world that has lost all center and doomed to self-destruct. Joker is also not ‘part’ of anything organized. He is outside the parameters of organized crime and also of society. He is a pariah and is his own ideal, inspiration and messiah – and unfortunately, in today’s world, an idol, both for the powerful and the weak, to seek retribution.

But Jeffery Dean Morgan, what is your problem man? Can't you pick one role where you don't die? I mean, on Grey's Anatomy, there I was - like the rest of the world - all excited about you and Izzy getting married. And you died. So, okay, I can head over to the CW where you kill demons and ghoulies with your sons/homeboys Sam and Dean Winchester. But NOOOOO, you had to go and make a deal with the yellow eyed demon for your son's life and go to hell. 

Which basically means ya died.

And now the Comedian? Great character? No doubt. Complicated? Shit yeah! Does he die right at the frakkin' beginning? Yes he does. Does your agent understand the concept of being locked into a certain role? Oh, I know you're in a movie where you accidentally get married, but I wouldn't be surprised if you died in that one too and had to haunt her until she fell in love with your hot, ghostly body. 

So Jeffery Dean Morgan, I ask you, would you please pick a role that requires you be on the screen each and every week instead of the roles where they kill you off? Please and thank you!

I made it to the theatre to see The Dark Knight.  It was worth every penny and every second.  Absolutely amazing.  For my review on it: CLICK HERE! Co-Star Michael Caine said,

Heath will surely get a posthumous nomination, and I think he will get [the award].  

Heavy words from a well respected actor who’s won his own Oscar.  Everyone is going to be talking about this movie and Heath Ledger’s performance is going to be remembered indefinitely.  The director/writer Christopher Nolan said of Ledger’s performance:

[He] constructed an iconic performance.

According the people magazine Gary Oldman (Lt. James Gordon) had his own take on Ledger’s state of mind during the filming.

People want a dark story, [that] he was contaminated with the Joker, that he couldn’t sleep, but in between takes he would sit on the curbside, and laugh and talk about his daughter Matilda.

According to Christian Bale:

He was a fierce talent, and I was fortunate to witness that talent.

Only six months after his death, with his final role finally here it is difficult not to focus on Ledger and his performance as The Joker, and as outstanding as the rest of the film and performances are, you’ll find it just as difficult when you are watching the movie itself.  The excitement of the film is also filled with a bittersweet feeling, knowing the Joker will never come back………at least never like this again.

That comes from my own training in martial arts and seeing how long it takes people to respond to simple situations—let alone the complexities of smoke bombs going off and people having big Batsuits on. No matter how much training you have, when we're subjected to a lot of psychological stress, we make a bunch more mistakes.

How many of us do you think could become a Batman?
If you found the percentage of billionaires and multiply that by the percentage of people who become Olympic decathletes, you could probably get a close estimate. The really important thing is just how much a human being really can do. There's such a huge range of performance and ability you can tap into.

Yeyui

The current world population is roughly World 6,709,979,465 (according to the US Census Bureau at 16:02 GMT (EST+5) on Jul 14, 2008)
There 946 (known) current billionaires in the world which is roughly 0.0000141% or the world population.
There are roughly 13,000 Olympic athletes in a given Olympiad (official max of 10,500 at the summer games and roughly 2,500 for the winter games -- there were 2,508 in 2006) which is roughly 0.0001937% of the world population.

If we assume that being an Olympian and a being a billionaire are independent events (a very bad assumption, but one I will make anyway) we get that the probability of any given human being both as roughly 0.0000000000273144277685%

If we further assume that the only reason that someone would be both an Olympic athlete and a billionaire is to become "Batman", then the probability that there is at least one "Batman" in the world this year is:

1-(1-946/6709979465*13000/6709979465)^6709979465 which is roughly .1810054328% or 1 in 552. Not bad really, esspecially compared to the odds of Spiderman or Superman.

Well here's your silver lining: Since the conviction came from a jury of your peers, that means that the "Streets" respect your "Gangsta". When your on the inside you'll have 5-10 years to get that cut physique that only prison can give you. After years of being assaulted in the showers and witnessing several shankings, your powers of perseption are now super hero like. You don't get that awkward feeling anymore if you see another man's penis. The tattoos in the joint only cost you 3 packs of smokes and 5 desserts. As a comparrison that's a street value of $28.00 tops. A tattoo on the outside easily costs $80.00, and that's for a small one. The most important thing however is bond one forms with his fellow inmates. You now have a friend forever, or at least until the injection. :)

So I woke up this morning already planing to see The Dark Knight with my son. I decided before hand to do something i rarely do, i checked reviews and the IMDB rating. I often check out a movie based on good reviews or a high rating when I was not planing on seeing it but don't like to when i plan on seeing it. It always leads to being put off by disappointed reviewers. Nothing sucks more than Being excited to see a movie and read a bunch of reviews panning it or see that it has a 3.1 rating on IMDB. I fully understand that the reviews mean nothing (as does this one), but it is still disappointing and I think may actually sway your view before you even see it. Besides everyone knows it can be fun to bash a movie when it is deserved, so if you know it sucks before hand then it ruins the fun. I am not sure why I looked at the reviews but when I saw how great they all were plus the fact it had a 9.7 rating at IMDB I was shocked and got even more pumped up. I kept telling myself that it can't possibly be this good so I wouldn't get let down.

I forgot about all of that stuff within minutes as I was instantly sucked in. Like its predecessor this movie looked fantastic. Christopher Nolan did a wonderful job at capturing the visual feel of the darker comics. Gotham city has never looker better. the big buzz is about Heath Ledger and his Oscar worthy portrayal of The Joker. It doesn't take long to see him and I must say that i instantly believed him. His performance is honestly one of the best I have ever seen. People are saying he is the best villain ever but for my money I would still take Robert DeNiro as Max Caddy. Ledger does deliver though an comes across as crazy in a big way. Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent was spot on and like Ledger's was light years ahead of the franchise's previous version of the character. The rest of the cast is not to be over looked though as they all gave great performances.

The script was easily the best script for a superhero movie I have ever seen (to be fair i have yet to see Iron Man which i hear good things about). Christopher and his brother Jonathon have shown they could write several times before but I felt this was their best work since Memento. The movie is pretty long for this type (two and a half hours) but never felt long to me. The movie flowed very well and kept a fairly complex plot without seeming rushed or drawn out. It had several twists and turns that always kept me on my toes and enough action to satisfy the biggest of explosion appetites. All in all i would Say this movie should satisfy even the pickiest of movie goers. It should go down in history as one of the best in the last 10 years regardless of genre.

My rating 9.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

At the beginning of the Smallville series, we are shown Clark standing in front of his high school with friends Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan. In Clark's hands are a collection of books, on top is a collection of the writings of German philosopher Nietzsche. Clark notices the love of his life Lana Lang standing near the stairs at the entrance of the school. He decides to walk towards her but eventually trips; Lana approaches him to help him pick up his books. When she hands him the Nietzsche book, Lana asks, "So Clark, are you man or superman?" Clark simply responds, "I haven't figured it out yet." Clark, due to his special nature, is forced to walk a thin line which helps conceal his identity and yet helps those who are in need. As a result, Clark doesn't attempt to break the laws of Smallville or Metropolis whenever it is possible. It is hard to peg Clark as a vigilante as you can Bruce Wayne. Clark has no qualms to settle with criminals throughout his two beloved cities. But it is also clear that Clark is a messiah of sorts, sent by his father to Earth to help save humanity. In another episode of Smallville the young Clark and Lana are seen in a cemetery, where Clark is conveniently shown with a statue of an angel behind him giving the allusion of Clark having wings.

Bruce Wayne on the other hand is the orphaned son of a billionaire who himself attempted to save Gotham before being shot down in the back alley of an opera house along with his wife. Bruce is distraught with grief over his parents' death and eventually leaves the U.S. for Asia. In Asia, Bruce attempts to understand the criminal mind by putting himself in their shoes until he is eventually caught and imprisoned. While imprisoned he is saved by Raj Agul the leader of a group called the League of Shadows, a vigilante group who seeks to help maintain "true justice." Bruce eventually returns to America to take up the identity of Batman, the alias chosen because he fears bats and hopes that his enemies will eventually grow to fear the one thing he fears most. Batman for better or worse is a vigilante, though Bruce wants to serve justice. Unlike Clark, who more or less does actually serve justice, Bruce puts himself above the laws of Gotham as a Nietzschen "superman" might.

Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent each toe a similar line between being simple heroes and realizing their full potential as saviors in their respective universes. For Clark in Smallville the struggle with becoming a savior is accepting that he must put himself above the laws of man in order to save Metropolis and the world from those who wish to destroy them. Bruce on the other hand, who has already crossed the line, struggles in The Dark Knight with whether or not he is able to be a true savior; if he is that means he must cross that line and not just once in a while but always and forever. Batman is considered by the police of Gotham to be a villain, after all he has broken numerous laws time and again. Bruce is finally confronted with the true struggle before him in The Dark Knight, by the Joker who refuses to see good and bad or morality at all. Bruce has maintained that their is good and there is bad and that there is a set way for things. But if Bruce is to be a savior, it appears that he must be willing to transcend morality and simple understandings of good and bad.

Take the model for both Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent: Jesus Christ, the savior of most of the world's population. Jesus in the New Testament continuously breaks the laws of Judea and the laws of his Jewish religion. He is ultimately crucified by the Romans for high treason on the charge he has claimed to be superior to Caesar. Jesus is forced to transcend the social norms and laws in order to fulfill his destiny of saving God's children. Where Clark Kent in Smallville and Bruce Wayne in the most recent adaptation of the Batman comics fail to meet Jesus Christ as messiahs is in different parts. Clark is unwilling to transcend the social norms, in fact his own motto is "Truth, Justice and the American way." For Bruce, he is more than willing to transcend those norms and create more or less his own morality in the name of justice and salvation of Gotham; Bruce isn't willing, at least up until the end of The Dark Knight, to take up his cross and become the villain that Gotham needs him to be. For Clark, who essentially is immortal, he can't do this and so he is constrained by his own very nature to the norms of society in that way. The Superhero, unlike the typical hero, must be willing to imitate the model of Jesus Christ if he is truly willing and able to become the savior of his time and place. Clark eventually does match up to the Christ messiah mosaic because he represents a Nietzschen superman model; Clark as Superman transcends the understanding of justice adopted by the people of Metropolis and establishes his own justice and morality.

Question is, was it worth the hype? I know Spiderman 3 sure wasn't.

The director of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has yet to make a bad film. Remember when Steven Speilberg could say that? Nolan has directed Insomnia, Memento, Batman Begins (BB), and The Prestige. All great movies in their own right. But, with all the hype surrounding TDK, he had a lot to prove.

(This review does have spoilers, but I'll make sure to give you fair warning in case you haven't seen it yet.)

Okay, so first thing you should know is that this is not your kid's Batman. This is the adult's Batman. The Batman that fans have been wanting to see for decades. This means there is a high level of violence that pushes the PG-13 boundary farther than I've ever seen. My only explanation for why it is not rated R is that there is virtually no cussing and absolutely no sexuality in it. And not only is it violent, it's intense! There is only one happy moment in the whole movie that's happy and it doesn't last long. Do not go to the theater expecting a happy movie with a super happy ending. And parents beware of the violence.

What worked:

Superb dialogue. This movie has so many quotable quotes, it's hard to keep up with them all. And they all have at least one line that's memorable. Here's some to chew on:

"Bruce, don't make me be your only hope for a normal life."

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villian." (I know this quote was in the trailer, but in context it means so much more.)

"You complete me."

"Got a little fight in you, I like that."  "Then you'll love me!"

"Some criminals do it for the money.  Others just want to watch the world burn."

Better fight scenes... and more of them. Batman can stomp the mess out of any thug. This is something Nolan passed on showing in BB- instead showcasing his ninja skills. In this one he's slamming people around, using cords in the most creative ways, and cutting through thugs like a hot knife through butter. It still needed some cleaner camera work, but it was better than BB.

Better villians. Yes, Heath Ledger as the Joker is that good. When I saw the first Batman in 1989, I don't remember anyone laughing at the Joker's lame jokes, but this Joker made you laugh and you felt bad for laughing! He is this movie's Jack Sparrow. He stole every scene he was in.  (But, unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, the cast of TDK is much more balanced.)

But as good as Ledger's Joker is, this story really is more about Harvey Dent/Two-Face. In fact, I'd say it's more about him than about Batman. Batman is Gotham's Dark Knight while Dent is its White Knight. Which makes his spiral into madness hard to watch.  You can tell that the Nolan bros. borrowed heavily from such comics as the Long Halloween and Dark Knight Returns to tell Dent's story. They also did a good job differentiating between the Joker and Two-face, something Batman Forever failed to do. Two-face kills out of a warped sense of justice. Joker kills because he's a danger junkie.

Better Rachel.We all know that if that had been Katie Holmes in that warehouse, we would have been cheering to see what happened to her! Great move on Nolan's part to get a new actress. I usually dislike switching actors between sequels, but this one called for it. Although I can see what they were going for in BB with Holmes playing a sweet, innocent ray of hope, but, her off-screen antics with Mr. Cruise and her cheesecake performance made her quite undesirable.  Maggie Gyllenhaal was better. Not the best performance in the movie by far, but better.  There's a scene where she's doing her lawyer stuff and walking around like she owns the place and I just remember thinking, "There is no way Katie Holmes could have pulled off that look." Go Maggie!

Plot twists that you never see coming.     This is self-explanatory.

Musical Score. Hans Zimmer outdid himself this time. I especially loved the Joker's music. Every time that high-pitched screech was heard, you know the Joker was about to throw down. And the main theme has grown on me and every now and then I find it running through my head.

What didn't work:

Too many good parts.You read that right. It was too much! None of it was bad or weak. It's just that it felt crammed. It was like was reading a Jeff Loeb comic. There were a lot of plot twists and it got confusing even for a veteran movie-goer like me. The movie could have very easily ended after Gordon made a very important arrest. Yet, because of Ledger's untimely death, I can let this minor detail go. It is good to know we got all we could up on screen from his performance. Yet, I wonder how in the world is Nolan going to top this one? He could've easily saved some of that material for a third movie. It would be very difficult to do a third movie without being immediately and unfairly compared to this one. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Editing. Nolan is known for intertwining scenes together and never giving you the full picture until the very end of a scene. But, even for him, TDK had too many quick cuts. This worked well during scenes with heavy dialogue, but not so much the action sequences.

So, is it worth the hype? Yes. But, just remember, if you haven't seen it yet, keep in mind that this will probably be the "Empire Strikes Back" of Nolan's Batman franchise. Meaning, that by the end of the movie, things will look bleak, but not hopeless. 

Also keep in mind that it is a much different movie than that of Batman Begins. BB was a character study- a journey, if you will of one man's experience of dealing with the death of his parents. TDK is a crime drama and suspense thriller. There is very little of the fantastic in this movie.

9.5/10  Not a perfect score simply because there was too much in it. I remember thinking there were some sub-plots that could have been left out. Is it the best comic book movie ever made? To be honest, I'd have to watch it again to decide, but that is something I wouldn't mind doing. :)

Major spoiler alert!

For those of you who did see the movie, my favorite parts were the batpod's introduction, Joker's magic trick!, Joker walking out in a nurse's uniform while comically trying to get the detonator to work, the interrogation scene, and of course Gordon's big arrest.

It was also nice to see the Scarecrow loose end being tied up.

I have some questions for anyone who is willing to answer them: What was with that one little punk trying to reveal batman's secret? I forgot, did he get whacked? I like how Lucius Fox handles him. Which reminds me, how did he change his mind?  And another thing, how did Rachel and Harvey get kidnapped? How did the Joker get that big pile of cash? Who was driving the bus that left the hospital with Joker in it? Did the Joker shoot Gordon- which lead to Gordon faking his death?

I have GOT to see this movie more than once just to catch all of it. I thought BB had a lot!

My predictions for a third batman movie: Nolan will want to keep in line with his own 'real world' approach to Batman so there will be no Penguin, Clayface, or Mr. Freeze. I'd count out Poison Ivy, too, just because it would be hard to pull off a realistic explanation for her mind control powers. But, with Rachel gone, they'll have to introduce a new female lead. I'm thinking Catwoman. Now, there's a character that needs redeeming! Or maybe, just maybe Vicki Vale. (edit: I read someone else's suggestion recently that the female lead in the third movie could be Talia, Ras Al Gul's daughter. Back for a little revenge, perhaps?)

They could allow Joker to appear in the shadowy prison of Arkum Asylum much like they did in Alex Ross's Justice story- you know, heard but not seen. Just so you know he's still there. They could very easily show him from behind and fake the voice.

Two-face would surely be in it, but I'm not sure if there would be another male villian. Two-face and Catwoman would be enough. But, if not Catwoman, I'd like to see somebody who is physically imposing like Deadshot or Bane.

All of that is speculation, of course. Chris Nolan said he wouldn't do another Batman unless he could find a way to top TDK. It may be difficult, but I'm one fan who sure hopes he does.

Well, who did not see this coming?  Maybe some so-called blogger thinks they are "it" when actually they are the shhh--.

The Dark Knight as we said all along despite it's length would have the biggest opening weekend ever to go along with more record breaking stats in weeks to come.  The Dark Knight grossed over $155 Million, which surpasses Spider-Man 3's take of just over $151 million.

When the first Batman film came out with Michael Keaton, it got rave reviews and broke records as well.  The weekend of it's release, some critics, to be edgy, started to diss the latest Batman movie and all involved with it.  If you were not dissing the movie, you were seen as a "Bat-Nerd," so to speak.

So, interestingly enough, a couple bad reviews of saying it was good, but not great surfaced this weekend.  It seemed to us, they were trying to be the first to say they were not impressed.  It's a super hero movie, it should be more light-hearted.  Dude, have you taken blows to the head?  The Dark Knight DC series is dark dark dark.  The title says it right there:  The Dark Knight.  In this day of the Internet age, people strongly disagreed with the reviewer/blogger, showing again why he is losing his touch.  If you come out against this movie and the acting in it, it is not the cool thing to dis it.  Guess the plan back-fired.

This movie will land Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar win, and after this maybe the Oscar board will make some adjustments.  Heath should have won for "Brokeback Mountain" but maybe the academy thought he was too young, still needs to pay his dues.  "We passed up Denzel in "Hurricane", did not even nominate him and we were wrong, but we gave him the Oscar for "Training Day," and that worked out fine.  No it didn't. 

Heath will get the win because how great he was in this movie in the opinion of the movie public.  To the Oscars, he will get the win because now when you look at his body of work that he left, it was different and showed panache, the stuff that Legends, and now Ledger's, are made of.-Dr.FB

Hence on video game officially impanelment storm center wane this abundant year, One and only put in words one geeky ways so solemnize video Highland games' flushed silver wedding anniversary.

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It's what makes you go back to musicals. You know how you never really want to watch musicals, but sometimes you get trapped into watching one that turns out to be good? Moulin Rouge, Rent, Sweeney Todd... You can add Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog to that list.

But this isn't just about musicals. This is about world domination, good over bad, love versus hate - all the things that make the world go 'round. And this isn't just about world domination - it's about just how much we want to get noticed.

Okay, so I made that last part up.

So there's this guy who wants to get into the Evil League of Evil run by the infamous Bad Horse: The Thoroughbred of Sin. Dr. Horrible, played by Neil Patrick Harris, has a PhD in horribleness and blogs about his evil adventures and his love for the lovely redhead, Penny. She is the girl Dr. Horrible, AKA Buddy, knows from the laundromat. Soon his real evil world and the girl of his dreams combine and he has to decide if being evil is truly worth it.

It's a superhero story told from the POV of the villain. A villain that knows how to hold a note. I like it. You will too. 

Check out Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

The New Trailer for Watchmen had finally launched, and we are delighted to finally have seen it.

Watchmen, is the most acclaimed graphic novel ever. It's recommened that you read the novel, as it's focuses on superheroes being exposed as real human beings, and making them relate to you.

Watchmen's unmasking of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation resulting in an almost cinematic orchestra , frequent and precise use of symbolism and transcending dialogue has influenced both comics and film.

You should have fun watching this one... get it? Watching ....( not funny )

You can watch the Trailer here:

Take at look at the screenshots of the trailer for an appetizer:

I remember the Animatrix fondly, not because I actually remember the shorts, but because the night I watched it was the night the ball got rolling in my relationship with my husband.

But that’s a story for another day.

Gotham Knight puts Kevin Conroy back in the voice driver’s seat in six different stories by different writers and animators. The art, while widely imaginative also presents wildly different views of the Batman.

In the first tale, Have I Got a Story for You, kids meet each other at a skate park with crazy and different stories and description of the vigilante Batman. In the end, the fight comes to the skate park and the only kid that hasn’t yet seen Batman finds out who he really is – some fat guy in a suit fighting crime…  or at least that’s what Studio 4°C wants us to believe.

The second animated short, Crossfire, find two cops fighting over whether Batman can be trusted. The reality of how much they can trust him is revealed after they find themselves in the middle of a shootout between two rival gangs. For my tastes, this one was actually well animated, well written, and well voice acted.

Next on the Gotham Knights agenda is Field Test.  This story revolves around what would happen if Lucius Fox invented a device that worked too well. In this anime, Bruce Wayne is not just a billionaire playboy, he is a boy. He doesn’t look like he spent years learning how to fight and manage pain and all that. He looked like someone should be setting a plate of cookies down in front of him and asking, “Do you need more milk with that, hon?”

In Darkness Dwells introduces Killer Croc to the re-imagined series, even if only for one short. Croc abducts a Cardinal from a cathedral while under the control of The Scarecrow’s fear toxin. Batman goes to help and works through getting poisoned by the toxin himself.

In Working Through Pain, Batman finds himself gut shot and in a lot of pain. As he wanders through the gutters to a point where Alfred can pick him up, he muses over his life of learning how to deal with pain. In the end, he finds himself sitting on a mess of guns and, collecting them all in his hands, is not sure how to let them go when Alfred finally arrives to help. I’m sure this is some sort of commentary on the pain caused by guns in his life, but I think the next short does a better job of that commentary.

Deadshot is the tale of the best assassin of them all. Hired to kill Batman, Deadshot uses an attempt on Gordon to call Batman out. The art was well done in this one (although we did go on and on about Batman’s chin, but that’s a little petty). At the end, Bruce Wayne is talking to Alfred about how close it was on that train with Deadshot and all the bullets coming at him. He says, “I’ve been trying to stop those two bullets all these years.” While the previous short, Working Through Pain, tried to make the same kind of commentary, I think it failed because the animators chose to show it as weakness versus pain. This line, filled with pain, goes into the next line where Bruce feels that he is not making a difference and should quit. Definitely a much better commentary.

The thing with these shorts is that while they may have been well done anime shorts, some of the animation styles just didn’t work for Batman. The one that stood out as such, Have I Got a Story for You, where Batman and every other character have huge lower halves, bore no resemblance to anything Batmanesque – except maybe that Batman: The Animated Series episode Legends of the Dark Knight (which is included on the disk and features kids with their own views and stories of Batman before actually meeting the real thing). While there was a lot of action, the drawing and the animation seemed to have a lot of drag and hesitation, something you just don’t expect in a Batman story.

The best think about this DVD isn’t the shorts so much as the nostalgia. We got the two disk set and watched the four episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. We all began to reminisce about when we watched the show. 1992, when the series first aired, was on Fox. I didn’t catch it in its heyday. I didn’t start watching it until after it moved to the Kids WB. I know, I was a grown ass woman watching a kids television show, but I’m alright with that. Of course, I followed the cartoon into its then new incarnations of The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond.

The other thing that I was excited about was the preview of the Wonder Woman animated movie. More on that later.

I think, like most people, we are hesitant to say whether Gotham Knights is good or bad. The stories are not bad, the animation is not bad, and we were all eagerly waiting the Dark Knight. For what it was and for what it did, it fills a need for the fans and it fills that need well. Will I go back and watch them over and over again? No. After all, it’s no Batman: The Animated Series.

Untuk menemani tier kuenya, dibuatin kue ulang tahun dengan tema Spiderman juga.
Aku bikinin belakangnya kue dibentuk gedung-gedung lalu ada nama Roofi, rencananya ada lilin juga, tapi ntar aja karyawan sekalian jalan beli, hahahaha.........ngga punya stock.
Kali ini........gw lupa bawain kamera, alhasil pesta ulang tahun di Planet Holliwood lagi-lagi ngga kerekam, hahaah........gpp lah hargai privacy yang pesta.
Vera tadinya minta aku dan anak-anak dateng, thx undangannya ya Ver....maaf aku ngga bisa dateng....

Btw....Cealy penggemar berat spiderman, malahan kadang kala ke sekolahan dia pake baju spiderman, nah ini fotonya...hahaha...akhirnya ada juga kue yang dia bilangin baguuussss..........nyam.......hahahaha

Ini sich ngaku, kalau pesanan mendadak untuk gw, hehehehe........
Hanya 3 minggu sebelum hari H.......awalnya Vera, Roofi's mom, pesen kue ini via email, ditolaklah......
Email ke-2, mulai Vera bilang bahwa suami kerja di Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) juga, di bagian yang sama dengan gw, tapi ngga mau sebut nama, hanya bilang, aku mau minta suamiku bujukin Niken dech supaya orderanku diterima..........waduh...
Sempet bingung aduuuhhh......ini siapa ya, pesen aja kok pake KKN, hehehe...........ini bini siapaaaa.....oiii.......di kantor yang isinya laki-laki melulu ngga ada yang ngaku, sebel dech....
Tapi gw juga gigih lah, tetep tolak.....hahahah....
Email berikutnya, ngaku dech siapa nama suaminya.........wahhh temen kerja banget, berhubungan setiap hari, ngga enak juga ya ditolak...pinter banget nich Vera......bawa nama yang ngga mungkin aku tolak, hahahaha.........
Akhirnya diterima, tema yang dipilih spiderman dan.......aku bikinin spesial liner dengan tema gedung-gedung.......