Ian On The Red Dot

Watched “The Dark Knight” with the gf last night. It is the best superhero movie from the two mainstream comic houses DC and Marvel.

I have long learned to disregard anything the Straits Times movie reviewer Ong Sor Fern says about movies. In fact, I have a theory. Whenever she says a movie is ok or so-so and then continues to say it could have been better if the director, actor, or writer had explored and expounded on story themes, character study and whatever nonsense only a literature student will love, and then gives the movie 3.5 stars because it does not live up to her idea that every movie has to be like a prize winning novel studied by literature students, I know the movie has to be good if not great.

And no, the movie wasn’t too long. What needed to be said was said with good pacing.

Anyway, the movie is the best because this was probably the first movie adaptation of a comic book superhero that my gf got and liked and also one that me a comic book lover loved. You can’t argue with a movie that stays true to the best of it comic inspiration as well as be accessible to mainstream audiences like my gf.

I like this movie because it really covered a lot of the themes found in the best writing done for Batman.

In the recent major story arcs for the DC universe, two questions were basically asked:

1. Why don’t the superheroes just kill off all the villains who can’t be reasoned with or reformed?

One time, do it once, do it good and no more worries. Strangely, I find parallels with the above question and that which I always asked my cell group leader - why doesn’t God just right everything now instead of promising a better afterlife.

2. Are superheroes actually a good thing? Are they consequence of evil or the bringer of greater evil?

No easy answers to those questions. Just like there isn’t an easy answer to why the people like the Joker exist in the multiverse or for that matter, ours.

Humans like to see things as cause and effect. We enjoy simple explanations too much. It is just too comforting.

Ok. Anyway, I like how the movie captured the dynamics of the relationship between Batman and the Joker. In a story arc where Joker had cosmic power, he still couldn’t kill Batman because their identities are so intricately linked.

I also loved how the movie ended. It captures what sets Batman apart from a lot of the pantheon of popular superheroes - he walks alone.

He chose to walk alone.

Update: I thought it might be worth noting that the Joker isn’t just some archenemy. The Joker is a clown and a fool which are useful literary devices.

The Fool plays an integral role in the manipulation of the audience’s evolution of feeling. Lear walks through a world of deceit; the Fool walks with him like a halo of truth.

Clowns spread in cultures of any time and place, because they meet some deeply rooted needs in humanity: violation of taboos, the mockery of sacred and profane authorities and symbols, reversal of language and action, and a ubiquitous obscenity.

The performance is symbolic of liminality - being outside the rules of regular society the clown is able to subvert the normal order, and this basic premise is contemporarily used by many activists to point out social absurdity.

Spoilers ahead for the movie “The Happening” but if you have considered watching the movie, reading this review might save you from wasting money and time. Be warned - lots of spoilers.

via:kottke

Thanks to this post by busycowboy I learned of this video - The Story of Stuff.

It is a great video and the site is filled with important information.

The blog is here.

Personally, I like the absence of her holier-than-though attitude which seems to be a defining trait in a lot of green activists.

You get the point. Everyone needs to find their own path; find the projects that we each can each do well and which excites us. There are so many options that we don’t even have to do something boring! And there are loads of organizations that can help provide direction on specific issues once we get started.

….

It is less important what we chose to do than how we do it. To make all these activities add up to more than a list of “teachnological tweakings at the margins,”as Maniates describes it, whatever we each do must be part of a larger effort. We’ve got to get toxics out of cosmetics and reform the health care system and build local community and stop incinerators not as ends in themselves but as part of strengthening an active democracy, as part of transforming the current system to be in the service of community health, ecological stability and social justice.

I watched The Incredible Hulk last night and it was awesome. Much better than the first one with Eric Bana - there were no pretensions about creating a movie with philosophical musings, just raw brutal exciting action.

The two comic heroes that I first fell in love with were Superman and Batman. Till today, Batman is my all time favorite hero. Why? Because in the Tower of Babel JLA story arc, Batman was shown to have devised ways to defeat every single hero in the JLA which had a pretty impressive roster. Also, in the Marvel versus DC storyline, it was the two humans who trained themselves to be heroes (i.e. Captain America and Batman) that saved the day and not aliens or people who were ‘accidentally’ blessed or divinely bestowed with powers and abilities. Lastly, I love heroes teetering on the dark side especially one who said, “I don’t believe in killing but I have no problems causing extreme pain”.

At the end of the Hulk movie, there will be a cameo from Tony Stark pitching to General Ross about the Avengers. If you have watched the Ironman movie and stayed till the end of the credits, you will have seen the scene where Colonel Fury approached Stark about the Avengers Initiative.

Totally awesome. The next couple of years will be good times for comic book fans hoping to see more movie adaptations.

Now, you might be wondering why I brought up Batman and Superman. The reason is because DC has always been trying to get two movies made - ‘Superman versus Batman’ and ‘Justice League Of America’. The problem with the approach taken by DC was that they wanted to make a movie where we would be introduced to the characters for the first time.

So, the first time you see our generation’s Green Lantern will be in Justice League Of America. The problem with such movies is that the roster of heroes is greater than one which usually means there won’t be enough time to establish the back stories of these characters and make them more than just another run-of-the-mill hero with powers. It is hard for the audience who are not fans to establish any sort of positive connection with the characters and root for them - the characters become bland.

Marvel is taking the right approach. One movie at a time to establish the characters’ back story can create a connection with the audience. Each movie about an individual hero like Ironman and Hulk hints at the bigger movie to come and are all threads of a bigger, more rich tapestry.

Basically Marvel is creating the Marvel universe with each movie. DC isn’t. Now, they might have a chance with Superman versus Batman with two very strong actors in Christian Bale and Brandon Routh in the titular roles for their individual story arcs. I’m surprised they don’t seem to be working to thread these narratives together.

I always cringed when people said Marvel was better than DC because I loved Wayne and Kent. Yet as I read more of the comics especially the older ones and see what Marvel is doing with the movies, I’m being to get won over that Marvel might be a better story telling company. Fan boys flame away!

So Marvel is teaching us something. It is good to have a view of the bigger picture. However, the execution of it can and probably should be done in smaller parts that ultimately can fit together. Good software engineers know this concept of modularization. A great business, a great website, a great online service, a great life - all can be reached with similar principles.

Final note - Those who were disappointed with how the X-Men story arc ended may have hope that the Avengers movie could revive the X-Men’s storyline with a cross-over.

Also, if the Hulk and Abomination were fighting in New York City, where was Spiderman?

I remember first watching this movie in Australia at the end of 2000. My NS unit had flown up for exercise Wallaby at Shoalwater Bay Training Area. We had finished the exercise and was on R&R. Our first stop was a local university (gosh, i can’t seem to remember the name, anyone can help?) and it was our last night there. We were waiting for the buses to take us to a resort and were hanging out at the lounge where the movie was being played on TV.

Some scenes of the movie left an impact.

I didn’t get to watch finish the whole movie. Today, I finally did.

American History X starring Edward Norton is an amazingly powerful movie which reminds me yet again that the price of our sins is rarely just paid by ourselves.

It is also another showcase of the acting ability of Edward Norton. I really hope he pulls The Incredible Hulk part of.

More importantly, after watching the movie, I am reminded about things in Singapore. Thankfully, things aren’t that bad yet. The movie however gives a lot of meat to chew on when pondering issues about race, immigration and foreigners in Singapore.

Last Saturday I decided that I will try to make Mondays my ‘watch-movie-alone-day’. Previously I have only watched movies alone at the cinema 3 times - the first time was the re-released version of Star Wars with the new scenes and special effects. The second time was Legally Blonde 2 - I had a free ticket. Emphasis on the free ticket. The third movie was The Cooler.

All of the previous experiences were totally enjoyable affairs. Decide movie. Go cinema. Buy ticket if have to. Watch. Eat popcorn. Go home.

No hassle in having to plan the watching of the movie.

Watching movies alone is really time efficient. No need to spend time coordinating which movie the group of friends want to watch. No need coordinating which date and time. No need coordinating how many tickets are needed; no need checking whether partners are coming. No need booking of tickets to make sure we get the seats we need. Maybe one day Widgeo.us will help solve the problem of coordinating movie outings. I can only hope.

How about just two people going to watch a movie? I have started to increasingly feel that watching a movie is a passive anti-social activity and if I am going out with just one friend, watching a movie is the last thing that should be done especially if we want to catch up. For two hours, all that is happening is both of us staring at a screen. Unless of cause I turn and make comments within a screening which can be pretty irritating - not everyone is that kind of movie-goer. Or if I clap and cheer when something awesome happens like Optimus Prime transforming - which can also be pretty irritating to some people.

How about the gf?

I’ve come to a certain point where I believe that watching a movie should be the last recourse when trying to do something as a couple. While it warms the heart, I think the gf shouldn’t be subjected to watching a movie just because the boyfriend wants to and they want to spend time together - it is a waste of the gf’s time which can be better used for her own interests as well as rest. The only time a couple should watch a movie together is when both parties are interested in the movie.

So, anyway, I watched Indiana Jones 4 last night and I totally liked it. Some spoilers ahead.

1. I liked how I got faked to think they were looking for the Lost Ark from the first Indiana Jones movie. After all, the movie started with the same cavernous warehouse that the first movie introduced at the end. The director was nice enough to toss a bone by showing the Ark in a damaged crate as the movie raced away from the warehouse.

2. I liked the reference to Sean Connery’s Jim Malone from “The Untouchables” when Indiana Jones commented to Shia LeBeouf’s Mutt Wiliams about bring a knife to a gunfight.

3. Cate Blanchett sporting the classic femme fatale hairdo. Nice. I love it when movies make it easy to spot the bad guy.

Joker:

Tell me something, my friend. You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

from “Batman” starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton.

Sidenote: I might have actually watched this at the cinema, same with Batman 2, which to me is pretty amazing. I really grew up with movies thanks to my Uncle. Also, I’m still debating whether Michael Keaton or Christian Bale is the best batman we ever had. For the Joker, after watching the trailers for “The Dark Knight”, I think Heath Ledger might be the best Joker ever.

Colonel Nathan R. Jessep:

You can’t handle the truth!

from “A Few Good Men” starring Jack Nicholson

Benjamin Martin:

I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost would be more than I could bear.

from “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson

George Jung:

So in the end, was it worth it? Jesus Christ. How irreparably changed my life has become. It’s always the last day of summer and I’ve been left out in the cold with no door to get back in. I’ll grant you I’ve had more than my share of poignant moments. Life passes most people by while they’re making grand plans for it. Throughout my lifetime, I’ve left pieces of my heart here and there. And now, there’s almost not enough to stay alive. But I force a smile, knowing that my ambition far exceeded my talent. There are no more white horses or pretty ladies at my door.

from Blow starring Johnny Depp

Quintus Arrius:

Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That’s good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength.

from “Ben Hur” starring Charlton Heston.

Yoda

Everything! Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.

from … pretty obvious where this one is from.

Larry:

Depressives don’t. They want to be unhappy to confirm they’re depressed. If they were happy they couldn’t be depressed anymore. They’d have to go out into the world and live. Which can be depressing.

from “Closer” starring Clive Own, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts.

Sitenote: Closer is most definitely among the top-3 fucked up movies I have ever watched. Fucked up not because it is bad, but in its commentary about relationships in these modern times, it is probably one of the most honest and brutal movies I have seen. After watching it, you just want to run back to a Tom Hanks / Meg Ryan flick. Also, almost all the quotes from the movie deserve to be here.

Duane Hall:

Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist,I think you’ll understand. Sometimes when I’m driving… on the road at night… I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The… flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.

And Alvy Singer says it best:

There’s an old joke - um… two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of ‘em says, “Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.” The other one says, “Yeah, I know; and such small portions.” Well, that’s essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it’s all over much too quickly. The… the other important joke, for me, is one that’s usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I think it appears originally in Freud’s “Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious,” and it goes like this - I’m paraphrasing - um, “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” That’s the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women.

from “Annie Hall” starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton and Christopher Walken.

Iron Man was an awesome movie. I would say it is the best Marvel comic to movie adaption I have watched. I’ll try to post my thoughts on why once I get the time. Anyway, if you do watch the movie, remember to stay till the end of the credits. As a movie and comic lover, I would say the end is an exciting sign of things to come.

After reading this article about Charlton Heston on the New York Times, I had a thought that Keanu Reeves, at least in terms of how critics panned his acting, could be the Charlton Heston of our generation.

The paragraph that triggered the thought:

In long shot and choking close up, Welles directs Mr. Heston brilliantly, making particularly memorable use of the actor’s physicality, his big, rangy body and the hard, clean right angles of his face. The ramrod straight, straight as an arrow Vargas, with his impossibly long and loping stride, could not look or register more different from Quinlan, an amorphous blob who all but rolls across the screen. Welles exploits Mr. Heston’s rigidity as a performer (and his American movie-star presence) for the character, using what in other films sometimes seemed like a limitation of craft and technique to the great advantage of the story’s texture and meaning. He turns Mr. Heston’s jutting jaw into the wagging finger of righteousness, deepening the film’s complex morality.

Compare the above to this review of Constantine:

Overall, this was an enjoyable movie to watch. The CGI graphics were shit, but who knows perhaps Hell and hellspawn really does look that pathetically bad. I’ll let you know when I get there. Keanu Reeves has only one facial expression. He uses it well in this role (he used it well in the Matrix trilogy too)

Both have played iconic roles in landmark movies of their respective generations while confounding critics with their successful careers which should not have been due to their supposed lack of talent.

Charlton Heston has passed away.

IMDB’s page on him.

Heston’s career surged in an era when “the difference between good and evil, and the eventual triumph of the good, the reward of the virtuous, of the heroic, was almost always recognized,”

That was the thing I loved about the movies I watched when I was younger. The movies were a form of escapism, a way to run away into a world where everything was possible and anything could happened yet things were always simple, black and white and more importantly to me, it was a place where the ending always seemed to give hope about life and the choices we make.

Movies and going to the cinema have always been a big part of my family. Two of my favorite movies starred Charlton Heston - Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. Charlton Heston was this rugged heroic screen figure with the chiseled jawline that would make even Superman jealous. In a way, he was moral absolutism personified. I remember my family going to watch them when the old Picturehouse, in a building of its own next to Cathay building, screened classics like Doctor Zhivago, Gone With The Wind, Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. Those were the times of really epic movies when they had an intermission - toilet break. Incidentally, the only modern film I’ve watched with an intermission is Lagaan which is also one of my favorite movies - it finally helped me understand the game of cricket.

I actually enjoyed seeing Charlton Heston in the movie True Lies more than the Jamie Lee Curtis striptease.

From Metafilter:

3 Rules for being a man:

1. No Whining
2. Suck it up and take it
3. What would Charlton Heston do?