Recent discussions about THE DARK KNIGHT (maybe not the 3rd discussion)

Note: I am tired so please pardon my bad writing on this one.

1. There has been a lot of debate about The Dark Knight replacing The Godfather from being #1 on the IMDb Top 250. If you’re wondering what my opinion is on the situation, I’d have to say that The Godfather deserves its #1 ranking back. But after all, The Godfather has been #1 for a long time so it is quite nice to see a change.

Do you think The Dark Knight deserves its current spot on the IMDb Top 250?

2. People have been saying Heath Ledger’s performance is worthy for an Oscar nomination. Me, I guess he does deserve a nom, even though we have yet to see many more performances before next year’s Oscars. But even if he doesn’t get nominated, I don’t mind.

Do you think his performance is Oscar-worthy?

3. Now to my knowledge this topic hasn’t had any discussion at all, so it’s time to give this one a start; I saw an ad for Hungry Jack’s’s (Australia’s version of Burger King) Dark Knight happy meal, where if you’re a kid you will receive a Dark Knight toy if you buy a meal from them. Whilst I have no problem with Hungry Jack’s providing Dark Knight merchandise for children, I think it is a bit odd that a company is providing youngsters with merchandise for a superhero film that is more for adults. Well, I hope that one day they shall realise that many of the later superhero films won’t be for kids, especially the (hopefully) next Batman film.

How do you feel about Dark Knight merchandise for kids?

THE BEAST (1975)

Director, Walerian Borowczyk’s The Beast, is without a doubt one of the most depraved films out there. It tells the story of Lucy Broadhurst (Lisbeth Hummel) who agrees to be married to the son of a dysfunctional aristocratic family. As she and her aunt, Virginia (Elisabeth Kaza) stay at the son’s family mansion, Lucy begins to discover a legend of a sexual beast.

The Beast is very good at exploring sexual taboos. There are scenes that contain some unsimulated and explicit sex between horses (!), very odd masturbation scenes, a bit pedophilia and of course, the infamous scene in the end where we see a woman having sex with a beast, which kind of looks like a cross between a wolf and a gorilla. This is the scene that made the film so notorious and to this day it still has the power to shock. But don’t worry, these scenes can be humorous but only if you have the taste for black humour, although the masturbation scenes aren’t very funny (don’t think they are even supposed to be in the first place).

But apart from those bizarre scenes in the film, there really isn’t that much else. I cared neither for the characters nor the situations they were in. And the twist at the end was interesting but same deal – why care? I just felt like Walerian Borowczyk only made this film so he can include bad taste and gain notoriety for the sake of it.

But why do I give this movie a high score? Well, I just love the way Walerian Borowczyk handles the film’s tasteless nature. I know bad taste ain’t everything but Borowczyk handles bad taste so well. So I guess what I just said proves that this movie is definitely not for everyone.

4 roses out of 5

THE BEAST review to come tomorrow (29/07/08)

-Max Gettler

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the most bizarre, yet celebrated b-grade cult films of all-time. And for a b-movie it is quite unique; we all know that b-movies are usually films that you can’t take seriously, either because of their unintentional humour or ridiculous plot. This b-movie has both, but done intentionally. It is pretty much a homage to the trashy old b-grade sci-fi films, as mentioned in the theme song. As the film progresses, it strangely becomes more serious and once it reaches the end, it leaves you amazed – something that trash cinema doesn’t normally do.

Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) and Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) are driving in the countryside in the pouring rain. But when one of their tyres blows out, Janet and Brad search for help in the nearest place as possible – a castle. Once they are welcomed in by Riff Raff (Richard O’Brian), they know that they are in for a night they will never forget as Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), an alien transvestite, is about to bring his creation, Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood) to life.

I love this film’s intentionally bad acting, mostly Susan Sarandon’s. Tim Curry is also very good as the evil doctor.

The film’s soundtrack is legendary. With catchy songs like Sweet Transvestite, What Ever Happened to Saturday Night? and the most famous one, The Time Warp, really do make the film a lot of fun.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is quite a ride and perhaps it would be more fun if I saw it at a midnight screening in the theatre with a live audience. I sadly haven’t gone to one yet. Hopefully the Astor theatre will do one.

4 carving knives out of 5

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW review to come tomorrow (26/07/08)

-Max Gettler

THE DARK KNIGHT

This sequel to the film Batman Begins is the most anticipated film of this year. The hype was absolutely ridiculous, especially after Heath Ledger’s death and the wait for this film’s releasing went on forever.

But it arrived and I shall give you my thoughts: it is a very different film compared to its predecessor, Batman Begins. This one is more of a heist whereas the other one is more of a character development. But there are things that I can compare The Dark Knight to its predecessor: no dullness, better bat-suit, better action and better acting. Now don’t get me wrong, Batman Begins was good but it was a bit dull at times and the action scenes were poorly shot and far from memorable.

This instalment is the most serious approach in the Batman franchise or probably in the whole superhero film genre itself. This movie shows us that superhero films are getting more serious and adult-ish than childish and comic book – and I like that.

Christian Bale returns to his role as millionaire businessman Bruce Wayne, who at night dresses up as the masked superhero and vigilante, Batman, fighting crime in Gotham City. Another person contributing to the crime fighting is Gotham’s so-called white knight, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who is in a relationship with the love of Bruce’s life, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes’ replacement, Maggie Gyllenhaal). But Gotham is now in total chaos, when a face-painted villain known as The Joker (Heath Ledger) is terrorising the city. With the help of Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne or Batman for that matter, must team-up to put a stop to The Joker’s reign of terror.

So does The Dark Knight live up to the hype? It certainly does.

The acting is fantastic. Maggie Gyllenhaal is better than Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes and Aaron Eckhart delivers a very powerful portrayal of Harvey Dent. And yes, Heath Ledger is very good as The Joker.

The Dark Knight contains very deep characters, who eventually become people who we come to care for and even think about, especially Harvey Dent, probably the most thought-provoking character in the whole film. But The Joker is probably the most likeable. He is one of those rare villains who are so frightening and out of their mind that it’s funny. And that pencil trick he does is classic.

The action is a big improvement and it is not filled with constant quick cuts and close-ups compared to the previous film. But like Batman Begins, the action in The Dark Knight contains barely any CGI. CGI is something a lot of the Hollywood action movies of today contain too much of but this one doesn’t. Probably the only CGI we see in this film would be in the scenes where Batman is flying.

The Dark Knight is about as dark as any superhero film has ever gotten. Whether you enjoyed Batman Begins or not, The Dark Knight is essential. But believe me, the dialogue contains a lot of concentration so pay attention. And since this movie really does live up to the hype, then imagine the hype for the next Batman film. Or was this film so hyped because of Heath Ledger?

4.5 oil drums out of 5

TOTAL RECALL

After Paul Verhoeven’s entertaining RoboCop, he decided to give us another fantastic sci-fi tale. Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is living in the year 2048 A.D.. He is an average Joe, within an average job but lives in a nice house with one hot wife (Sharon Stone). He is having obsessions about going to Mars and decides that since he is bored and somewhat disappointed with his life, he decides to take a virtual holiday in Mars at a place called Recall, where fake memories are implanted. After being given choices as to who he can go as, like a millionare playboy, for example, he decides to go as a secret agent. Whilst he is getting his memory implanted, he violently wakes up as another person in another world where he is chased by assassins but cannot tell whether he is dreaming or not.

I love films where I’m totally oblivious as to what will happen next and Total Recall is one of them. The whole film keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, whether it be a scene where Douglas is trying to find out what is going on, to the thrilling action scenes.

But what I like about Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi movies is that they are always intelligent, yet they are disguised as popcorn flicks. Even Starship Troopers wasn’t very good but it did require a brain. Anyway, the ending to Total Recall really does make you think by questioning what’s real and what’s not. It is a very haunting end, even if it does not look it.

Total Recall is a fun and intelligent thrill ride. Zero dull moments.

5 human shields out of 5

HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER

This is one of the most of the most disturbing films of all-time. This low-budget horror is based on the confessions of real-life serial killer, Henry Lee Lucas but this is not supposed to be an accurate re-enactment of his life.

Henry (Michael Rooker) is someone who kills people during his spare time, sometimes with his friend, Otis (Tom Towles). One day when Otis’s sister, Becky (Tracy Arnold) arrives in Chicago after a failed marriage, she decides to live with Otis and Henry in their house in the lower-class part of town. Eventually Becky and Henry form a relationship, where she discovers his good side as well as his darker one.

The characters in this movie are very believable, particularly Henry. The scene where he tells Becky what life was like for him as a kid, we are seeing him give us subtle hints as to why he kills.

A lot of the Henry’s violence is unseen but the viewer does witness the aftermaths, where the camera focuses on the dead bodies, with sound from the murders playing in the background. But when we do see the murders, John McNaughton forces you to watch and witness the brutality, particularly the scene where Henry and Otis kill a family, which could be considered as one of the most disturbing scenes in film.

My only problem with Henry is that some of the synthesised music seems cheesy and out of place. A part of the music in particular sounds like someone thumped the keyboard of a synthesiser, which sounds like something that would be more suited for a b-grade film of that decade – the 80s. But at least most of the music doesn’t take away the film’s shock value and neither does it make the movie itself, silly.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is amazing low-budget horror but is far from entertaining.

4.5 beer cans out of 5

I cannot leave this saga unfinished (Warning: contains possible spoilers)

We all know the Terminator saga should have ended with Terminator 2: Judgement Day but then came a third Terminator movie, which was actually pretty good but unnecessary. However, the third film left us on a good cliff-hanger – or was it even cliff-hanger in the first place? Either way, they are in the middle of making a fourth Terminator film called Terminator Salvation. The teaser below left me gripping onto my seat with excitement.

If you want to see another fantastic Terminator Salvation teaser, click here.

Can you leave the Terminator saga unfinished?

Controversial film #3: KEN PARK

Due to the film’s graphic content, involving scenes of explicit and unsimulated sexual activity, Ken Park has found itself banned in three countries: Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, even though New Zealand has had limited screenings of it.

Ken Park was banned in Australia because the OFLC (Office of Film and Literature Classification) claimed that the movie offended the ’standards of morality’. I do not know why unless it could be because the film contains real sex scenes with actor playing as teenagers. Film critic, Margaret Pomeranz organised a protest screening of it in Sydney, which was unfortunately raided by the police.

Here is another piece of trivia: this film did not get a releasing in the UK after director Larry Clark got into a fight with Metro Tartan’s distributor, Hamish McAlpine. Mr. Clark broke McAlpine’s nose after having an argument with him about the September 11 attacks.