Simple, Cheap, Obscure, Tailored, Tactful, You.

It doesn’t mean this.

1. SIMPLE is not relative. Your costume should take you only a few minutes to put on. 5 minutes max for every hour you’ll be wearing it.

2. CHEAP is also not relative. It means, affordable on minimum wage. Remember, this thing is basically disposable.

3. OBSCURE is the key to keeping it simple and cheap. Delve into your mind for an esoteric character or creature. Main characters or figures from popular sources require all the right props and styling, esoteric ones only require one or two things.

4. TAILORED just means it fits right. After all, you want to look good. Putting on a giant ghost sheet just makes it look like you’re hiding.

5. TACTFUL is a reminder that obscure doesn’t mean crass. Halloween is a social event and people shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable just because you’re an art major who thought Picasso’s blue period would be appropriately esoteric.

6. YOU should be reflected in your costume of choice. Skip the pop topics for something that speaks to you on a personal level. That’s how legendary conversations are made, and best friends are found.

Some SCOTTY costume suggestions:

• Harvey Dent, pre-two-face – a suit, a patriotic tie, a double sided coin from your local magic shop, and if you’re feeling social, some propaganda for your election.
• Bruce Banner, post hulking-out – Nice geeky clothes that have been ripped up. Don’t forget the glasses.
• Guy from Memento- Regular clothes, but write notes all over your body in pen.  This one is fun because as you learn things about people throughout a party, you can write it down.  “Zombie guy = Jim, his girlfriend is Fern Gully fairy”.
• Tyler Burden- Crisp suit and a few bruises and bandages on your face and hands.
• Mulder- Any suit will do, but regulation black shoes and black socks, no fancy business.  Also, you’ll need a badge and ID for around your neck.
• Wesley, a la Princess Bride- Unfitted, flowy black clothes and a black bandana wrapped around your head.
• Pre-Wolverine Wolverine-Scar makeup for your knuckles, a lot of gel to spike your hair, and a white t-shirt and jeans. Unless you’re more of a fan of the movie pre-Wolverine Wolverine, in which case a wifebeater, not a t-shirt.
• Original invisible man- Gauze around your head, and any clothes you want.
• Arthur Dent- Bathrobe and a towel.
• Holo-person, a la Red Dwarf- Just put a sparkly H on your forehead and wear whatever you want.
• The First Slayer- Cloth or gauze wrapped around you, and ashy paint all over.
• Willow- A big ugly yet adorable sweater, jeans, and a stake.
• Green Lantern – Dress however you want, but you gotta have the ring.
• Poison Ivy – Green swimsuit and tights, and draw ivy all over yourself.
• Cloak from Cloak and Dagger- A big white cloak over black clothes
• Tomb Raider – Boots, wifebeater, small shorts, and harnesses wherever you can attach ‘em.
• Battlestar Galactica random soldier- Sleeveless grey shirt, with backwards army green wifebeater, and matching pants.  Boots and dogtags a plus!
• Random street Vulcan- Normal clothes, just buy the ears at any costume shop.

Now you’re probably asking, is Rarasaur planning a SCOTTY costume?  Indeed! I will be Liz 10.  As in Queen Elizabeth the 10th, from Doctor Who.  Red cloak, basic white mask, and guns.  I’ll wear my normal all black ensemble and be out the door in minutes.

Do you have a SCOTTY costume suggestion to add to the list?

(WARNING, CONTAINS SPOILERS TO EVERY SINGLE MOVIE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN)

It’s been two and a half months since the awful events of July 20^th in Colorado. I suspect that there were many who followed the story in the successive weeks in a way similar to me—with reserve when approaching the subtext or outright claims of the media, with a careful mental tally of the damage done out of a seriousness towards what happened and respect for the victims, and with curiosity concerning the roots of the criminal’s motive.

Also, if you were anything like me, you felt immediate revulsion when reviewing the thematic makeup of the event; an unavoidable thematic makeup to review in light of the event itself and how the said criminal carried out his plan. We’ve all heard the details: the ‘emotionless,’ ‘confused,’ ‘dazed,’ ‘uncommunicative’ James Holmes with dyed-orange hair sitting in court, avoiding the eyes of the judge and the victim’s family members. We all heard from the officers who said that James called himself ‘The Joker.’

We all heard how many copycats were stopped all over the country in the following weeks as well, along with the threats, half-threats and close calls—each with some thematic tie to the batman mythology, the most popular thematic tie being The Joker. He seemed to be the character that most of the suspects identified with.

Now, in order to steer-clear of anything that may resemble a now inappropriate celebration of The Joker—which, since the 2008 release of Nolan’s The Dark Knight has, among fans, taken form precisely in their fascination with the darkness of the character—I feel the need to strip the darkness of this curiosity in the face of the much woollier curiosity of the often overlooked positive themes in Nolan’s series (which is a trilogy comprised of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.)

Long after the release of The Dark Knight The Joker’s scarred, menacing face appeared on T-shirts, sometimes with his more (I suppose) thought-provoking quotes from the movie, as if we were meant to see him, even in his violence, as some sort prophet from the underground. Many people used The Joker as their profile picture on various social networking sites and forums, as if to say ‘I’m subversive,’ though it could also have said, ‘I was gonna do Charles Manson, but, just as well.’

Much has been said about the surprising and dynamic performance of Heath Ledger in his role as The Joker. Delivering us one-part Hannibal Lector and three-parts Tom Waits, Ledger graduated himself from hunky pretty-boy to the only villain in recent history who doesn’t resort to such winning pieces of writing as ‘Say goodnight, Spider Man!’ or ‘You can run but you can’t hide, Iron Man!’ and who doesn’t sit around arbitrarily explaining his master-plan to a tied-up hero, giving time for the hero to escape from his binds. His character is sociopathic, amusing, playful, sick, and impossible to pin down. One may recall the several different conflicting stories The Joker gives as to how he got his scars.

With that said, one may see an inevitability concerning The Joker’s celebrity when paired with the just-okay performance of Christian Bale as Batman—a character who seems perpetually distracted by the lighting of the set until the character Rachel appears on screen. (Luckily Bale steps his performance up a few notches in ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’) It’s hard to revere such a self-serious character when on screen next to a character who doesn’t take much of anything seriously at all and who accidentally ends up being an antonym to perhaps more than the movie intended him to be. The Joker became, for his audience, a symbol of chaos, deliberate distortion and power in the form of playfulness.

Because of The Joker’s screen time, we often overlook the potentially more frightening character—Harvey Dent (Two Face). If there is anything that violent theocracies have taught us throughout history, it is that the greatest acts of evil are often committed with a sense of conviction. Those committing the acts always believe that what they are doing is right. This is precisely where The Dark Knight ends. We spend the whole film rooting for Dent as he allies himself with Batman and Commissioner Gordon to clean the city up, only to see him switch abruptly into a menacing deterministic judge at the film’s climax, distressed by the death of his girlfriend and by his own disfigurement (both The Joker’s fault).

There’s a messianic thread in the last two films of Nolan’s trilogy. When Harvey Dent turns out to be a pretty bad guy—threatening to kill Commissioner Gordon’s son—it’s inevitable that batman would whack him. To keep the symbol of hope alive that Dent, Gotham’s ‘white night,’ represented, Batman convinces Commissioner Gordon to tell the public that he [Batman] murdered Dent, diverting the attention of the police. This theme goes to the next extreme when in the following and final film, The Dark Knight Rises, Batman flies a nuclear bomb out over the ocean before it detonates over the city of Gotham.

Under this extreme refinement of good versus evil is a more complex character in Bruce Wayne. The murder of his parents when he was only a child caused him to become a masked vigilante and take on criminals. While doing good in the long run for others, he keeps this drive going by constantly dragging that pain back into his life and focusing on it. In Batman Begins, we see the sacrifice Wayne makes in taking up such a life for his cause. He has to pretend to be a jerky playboy so that his ‘other side’ can continue to do good at night. In The Dark Knight, we first a get a sense that Wayne foresees if not simply desires a day when being Batman is no longer necessary. In The Dark Knight Rises, batman is pushed to his final emotive conclusion: that one could only hope to counter the greatest possible danger with the most extreme act of selflessness. For Batman to exist as a symbol, he has to put himself right between the dichotomy of good and evil, aware all the while of the moral gray areas involved in accomplishing good—thus the reason for anonymity behind a mask. In The Dark Knight, The Joker warns a group of criminals that batman has no areas of jurisdiction and that they would not be safe. In other words, Batman has chosen ‘goodness’ instead of rules.

This is not a call for people to become masked vigilantes (though it would certainly make the world a little more interesting). But I do think that, in light of Nolan’s complex interpretation of goodness, it is sad that people find more provocative the characters who destroy very much without replacing it with anything. The character Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, while an amusing character, is not as complex in his drives. He seems to be all about power, though he hides behind a veil of liberation. He wants to destroy Gotham and we’re never really sure why at the end of the day. He just carries out this goal in an amusing way with a funny-sounding voice.

If there is one thing that the villains of the latter two films have in common, it is that their final aim is the destruction of what is common. Some of the things they want to destroy might be worth destroying—thus their appeal—but much of it is just adjacent to what is worth destroying, or fixed immediately around it. If there is a common characteristic that one can glean from these two and others like them, whether the characters are real or imagined, it is that their solution to the investigation of their problems stop at the destructive element. How does this happen? They’re obviously not stupid. They think they’re doing something good, or at least, doing something ‘free.’ I think one might be able to trace it to their reaction to their own impulses and drives. They are reactionaries, not merely politically or socially, but in a biological sense. Whatever excites their blood, interests them or impassions them becomes important because of its effect, resulting in the fetishization of perceptions where they relate to sensations of power. This becomes important to them, addictive and endless. Of course, being chemically imbalanced complicates this as do all kinds of social conditions which would be too lengthy to get into here.

My point is that the characters who dive headlong into their passions—the villains—become provocative on the surface because of their major effects. It takes longer not to stop at mere sensations in order to form a conclusion, which is what heroes do. This is why there are so few heroes; it takes longer to be one. It takes a more rigorous study of situations and a more dedicated partiality to a goodness that exists beyond the mere drives and impulses which, if embraced to the extreme, result only in a solipsistic destruction. One could say that the extremes of evil are only attractive because they are an eventuation of impulses that could be called, in their milder stages, ‘complacency.’ Perhaps people are attracted to big gestures of destruction because they don’t want to be reminded of the difficulty—or their inability—to stop, to wait, and to watch. The mindset of evil doesn’t allow itself the sobriety of reason but continually drinks from the wines of immediate passion. The most successful evils form dogmas around how to stay drunk on that wine of immediate passion, thus giving it the appearance of sobriety and objectivity.

All that to say, it is unfortunate that a very simple message, like the message that goodness might be a little harder to achieve, is forgotten or ignored in the face of its inability to reach great immediate effects. Heroism is possible if one is willing to wait, to study, and to collaborate with others on what it means to react to a situation.

I don’t mean to write some heavy-handed analysis of a popular film to show just how evil evil can be, but hopefully, how good good can be. I would not insult anyone’s intelligence by trying to prove merely that goodness can be provocative as well (though it certainly is) though I do hope that people would have a readier mind to scrutinize the merely ‘alluring’ in favor of a greater and more beneficial common ground between all of us.

My greatest sympathy and prayers go out to all the families who lost loved ones that day in July. Though it is hard to make good of one’s words in these situations, my hope would be that they would find the strength to take the path of heroes: never perfect, never without mistakes, but always working toward something better.

A Comic Book Look™ Issue #59

We Switched Sites!

http://RetrospectRealm.com/

As you might have saw in our post last week, Warner Bros. Youtube channel accidentally let it slip that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ would be on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 3, 2012. Well, now it is official with Blu-Ray and DVD covers, Limited Edition statue, and Trilogy Box Set covers revealed courtesy of Comicbookmovie.com.

See the UK DVD cover below:

Click For Full Size

So first of all, who designed this cover? Second, who approved of this cover? This is ugly. Sure Batman looks cool but look at the rest. It’s just random police cars with the bat behind Batman’s head which we can’t see well. Not to mention that Batman photo is from a different TDKR poster in which they took it from a still in ‘The Dark Knight’. It still looks cool nevertheless, but it still looks stupid. They should’ve hired some fans to do this or had a contest to use fanmade covers. Seriously, some of the stuff people make on the internet is freaking amazing.

Click For Full Size

And there is the little statue sort of thing that comes with the limited edition Blu-Ray combo pack. The broken cowl that doesn’t even match up with the way it was broken in the movie but who cares! It’s still cool!

Click For Full Size

As you can see, that is the same Batman image used on the UK DVD cover. But anyways, this poster. is starting to grow on me. I like it.

Click For The Full Size

This is the Blu-Ray trilogy boxset that will be used. It’s pretty simple, but still cool nevertheless.

Click For Full Size

Here is all of the contents for the Blu-Ray tril0gy boxset. Pretty cool stuff. Am I right?

Click For Full Size

YESSSS. I am so glad that the DVD trilogy boxset has this cover. This concept was fanmade by, you guessed it, a fan. Looks like Warner Bros. came across it and decided to use it. I’ll definitely be getting this.

Click For Full Size

And there are the contents of the box set. Just like the Blu-Ray box set pretty much, just a different and better cover.

Pick up ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Blu-Ray or DVD on December 3, 2012.

As you might have saw in our post last week, Warner Bros. Youtube channel accidentally let it slip that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ would be on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 3, 2012. Well, now it is official with Blu-Ray and DVD covers, Limited Edition statue, and Trilogy Box Set covers revealed courtesy of Comicbookmovie.com.

See the UK DVD cover below:

Click For Full Size

So first of all, who designed this cover? Second, who approved of this cover? This is ugly. Sure Batman looks cool but look at the rest. It’s just random police cars with the bat behind Batman’s head which we can’t see well. Not to mention that Batman photo is from a different TDKR poster in which they took it from a still in ‘The Dark Knight’. It still looks cool nevertheless, but it still looks stupid. They should’ve hired some fans to do this or had a contest to use fanmade covers. Seriously, some of the stuff people make on the internet is freaking amazing.

Click For Full Size

Click For Full Size

Click For Full Size

And there is the little statue sort of thing that comes with the limited edition Blu-Ray combo pack. The broken cowl that doesn’t even match up with the way it was broken in the movie but who cares! It’s still cool!

Click For Full Size

As you can see, that is the same Batman image used on the UK DVD cover. But anyways, this poster. is starting to grow on me. I like it.

Click For The Full Size

This is the Blu-Ray trilogy boxset that will be used. It’s pretty simple, but still cool nevertheless.

Click For Full Size

Here is all of the contents for the Blu-Ray tril0gy boxset. Pretty cool stuff. Am I right?

Click For Full Size

YESSSS. I am so glad that the DVD trilogy boxset has this cover. This concept was fanmade by, you guessed it, a fan. Looks like Warner Bros. came across it and decided to use it. I’ll definitely be getting this.

Click For Full Size

And there are the contents of the box set. Just like the Blu-Ray box set pretty much, just a different and better cover.

Pick up ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Blu-Ray or DVD on December 3, 2012.

SPOILER WARNING!

A little late, I complete my ruminations on the cinematic excursions of the Caped Crusader, with consideration of how Christopher Nolan and his collaborators re-constituted Batman after the quality vacuum that was Batman & Robin, as well as offering my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises.

When I read that the reboot of the Batman franchise was to be directed by the man behind Memento and Insomnia, I was pleased because those films impressed me (indeed, Memento clarified that my favourite type of film is a good thriller and I haven’t gone wrong with that approach yet).  Just how impressive Batman Begins turned out to be took me (as well as others) quite by surprise.  Not only did Nolan (along with brother/co-writer Jonathan, as well as David S. Goyer, DoP Wally Pfister and producer/wife Emma Thomas) deliver a detailed, consistent and plausible reboot and reinterpretation of the Batman mythos, they also created the best superhero movie made up until that point.  The superhero sub-genre had been growing since Blade in 1998, got better with X-Men in 2000 and really exploded with Spider-Man in 2002.  Blade II, X-2, Daredevil, Hulk and Spider-Man 2 followed in quick succession, so when Batman Begins arrived in 2005 (along with Fantastic Four), the superhero stage was already crowded.

What Batman Begins managed to do was delve deep into the psychology of a superhero figure, and strike a balance between character interplay and thematic exploration with spectacular action.  Not that others had not done this as well – Spider-Man 2 and X-2 especially have plenty of action and plenty of character – but Batman Begins actually made the action sequences the least interesting parts of the film.  Which is not to say they were bad: the explosive escape from the League of Shadows’ lair; Batman’s first appearance at the docks; the attack on Wayne Manor; Batman’s rescue of Rachel Dawes and the finale in the Narrows and aboard Gotham’s elevated train are all masterfully handled set pieces.  In a year when Spielberg’s War of the Worlds was more Run of the Mill, and Lucas’ Revenge of the Sith went too far into CGI flamboyance, it was most refreshing to see a relatively new director stake such a claim in the blockbuster field.  Yet despite the impressive set pieces, the inter-personal dramas between Bruce and Alfred, Jim Gordon, Ra’s Al Ghul and the Scarecrow, as well as the careful development of the Batman persona, make Batman Begins a remarkable investigation into identity, in relation to one’s own ideology, family background and social position, not to mention a varied exploration of the theme of fear.  No other superhero film managed to accomplish so much and so efficiently.

With the superhero genre effectively deconstructed and reconstructed, Nolan could go to strange new places with the sequel, which is why The Dark Knight feels like something different and special.  It is a superhero film only by virtue of having names, costumes and a few gadgets; otherwise, it is effectively a straight crime thriller.  Except it is also more than that, as crime thrillers seldom have a criminal as malevolent and uncontrollable as the Joker.  The Joker truly is the trump card in The Dark Knight, as discussions of motivations and objectives go out the window: as Alfred tells Bruce (and as we were warned in the teaser trailer), “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”  Nolan shows us the world burn in The Dark Knight – rather than Batman being a resource for law and order, Gotham becomes more violent and chaotic than ever.  Much of the Joker’s power has been credited to Heath Ledger’s incendiary performance, but both as a character and an element within the plot the Joker serves to elevate the film into a thought-provoking philosophical discussion on chaos and order.  The most dramatic sequences are, again, dialogue scenes such as the confrontation between Batman and the Joker in a police interview room, which infamously turns into a torture sequence, as well as the final stand-off between Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent.  That these sequences stand out despite the tremendous opening bank robbery, the gripping battle between massive truck and Batmobile/Pod, and the high rise assaults in Hong Kong and Gotham, is testament to Nolan’s mastery of the cinematic craft, blending high octane thrills with serious themes and characters that can explore these themes in uncompromising ways.  More than the best superhero film ever, The Dark Knight is a true genre-blender, merging elements of crime and political thrillers into a potent and compelling cocktail.

It would be fair to say that my reaction at the end of The Dark Knight Rises was one of relief: relief that it managed to live up to expectations.  It did not supersede them – I think after the extraordinary nature of The Dark Knight, the expectation that it would be topped was unreasonably high.  However, being aware of this, my hope was simply not to be disappointed, so I was relieved not to be.  Earlier this year, my local world of ciné were nice enough to screen Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in a single programme, so I got to see both on the big screen again before The Dark Knight Rises.  Therefore I was well prepared to compare Christopher Nolan’s trilogy climax to his previous instalments.

The Dark Knight Rises succeeds as a trilogy closer because it builds upon yet does not deviate from what came before.  We have much of the same: Alfred being regretful, Bruce being committed, Lucius being supportive, Gordon being fretful, and we have much that is new: Selina being deceitful, Bane menacing, Blake simultaneously idealistic and realistic, and Miranda being vengeful.  I also expected Nolan’s remarkable ability to deliver superb action sequences, yet make these sequences the tip of the iceberg, two characters talking being even more dramatic than attack vehicles shooting at each other.  Combining the two is effective as well: Bane and Batman taunting each other while they fight helps to draw the viewer in, feel the emotional as well as physical blows.  Speaking of emotional blows, it was on the second viewing that I actually welled up during Alfred’s final speech, as he grieved for the Waynes and told Bruce’s parents how sorry he was that he failed to protect their son.  Clearly, the film was powerful.

A key part of this power, like the previous installments, are the ideas that feature so heavily (but not heavy-handedly) in The Dark Knight Rises.  Slavoj Zizek gives a very interesting discussion on the politics of the film, concluding that it is in some ways impressive and in others ham-fisted.  Other reviews comment on the film’s engagement with the Occupy Wall Street movement and the potentially disturbing politics the film suggests.  For me, a great element of the trilogy as a whole and its finale in particular, is the presentation and engagement with a debate over a type of heroism that is surprisingly egalitarian.

In my last post, I discussed the failures of the previous Batman movies to deliver a truly compelling take on the Dark Knight.  I think a key reason was a specific failure to explore the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne in much depth.  Crucially, this was what Nolan indicated he would be doing with his reboot of the franchise, so that was another reason I had high hopes for this re-interpretation.

When first conceiving of his vigilante persona in Batman Begins, Bruce describes an incorruptible symbol.  Alfred tells Bruce in The Dark Knight what the “point” of Batman is: “He can be the outcast, no one else can”.  For Nolan/Bale’s Batman, that is indeed the point of Batman, he can be and do what no one else can.  In The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce explains to John Blake and Jim Gordon that Batman is a demonstration that anyone can be a hero.  I think this may be the reason Batman has always resonated with me, and why my work on the character thus far has focused upon discussions of heroism.  Nolan’s trilogy is distinguished from the previous interpretations of the Dark Knight through its emphasis on “realistic” feats and devices rather than more outlandish events in such franchises as Spider-Man (Raimi and Webb) and The Avengers.  Critics have pointed out the implausibility of such features as the Bat, Bruce’s trip from wherever the prison was back to Gotham without passport or money, and Selina Kyle’s heels, but nonetheless the films still take place in a world far-removed from genetic mutations into lizard creatures and devices that open portals to distant parts of the galaxy.  However, being closer to our reality extends beyond the gadgets and the vehicles.

In my previous post, I argued that Batman Forever impresses me the most of the earlier Batman films, because we have an internal and external struggle for Bruce Wayne.  This dramatic tension is played out on a far wider scale across Nolan’s Dark Knight Legend, as we focus upon Bruce’s attempts to deal with his past, present and future.  Batman is a form of therapy, but ultimately lacks catharsis: he can make a start of helping the people of Gotham, but when it all goes horribly wrong in The Dark Knight, he gets stuck, as Alfred identifies, he never moved on.  Yet by the end of The Dark Knight Rises, he has moved on, “rising” out of the pit of depression that made him a recluse by the start of the film.

Bruce’s rise is only one of a number of appearances of the trope of rising in the film.  Once imprisoned by Bane, Bruce literally rises out of the hole in which he is imprisoned, as did the previous inmate of the prison, whom both viewer and protagonist believe to be Bane, but turns out to be Talia/Miranda. The components of Bruce’s lair rise out of the water in the Batcave, a walkway rising under Alfred’s feet as he approaches his master/charge.  In his final act of sacrifice, Batman rises out of Gotham in order to carry the bomb out of harm’s way.  This final rise is also Bruce’s way of moving on, as he effectively “kills” Batman.  The film’s finale might have benefitted from the ambiguity of not seeing the reverse shot of Alfred’s POV in Florence, when he sees Bruce and Selina, free of Gotham, but I choose to believe it is what he sees, allowing us the viewers to share in the catharsis of all three characters: all have risen from the darkness, the anguish and the pain that we have spent three movies sharing with them.  How fitting that we share their rise as well.

Metaphorically, not only does Bruce rise out of isolation, but Batman rises from the state of pariah, and Gotham must rise above the state of martial law imposed upon it by Bane.  Selina rises from cat burglar to freedom fighter, James Gordon rises from the depressed and injured state that he has fallen into, while John Blake rises from the rank of uniformed cop to something more distinguished.  Indeed, the final shot of the film both presents and expresses rising, as it is filled by the platforms of the Batcave, rising with Robin Blake (the new Dark Knight?) upon them, literal and metaphorical rising encapsulated in a shot that both ends this legend, yet allows us to imagine what more could happen.

This, perhaps, is the final point of Batman: we can all be heroes in one way or another.  We need not put on costumes or fight crime, but “A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.”  So perhaps that is the message we can take from The Dark Knight Legend – whomsoever, in whatever circumstances, helps out fellow people, is a hero.  That is the power of the Dark Knight Legend, taking the idea of heroism seriously, both as a dramatic device, and as an in-depth thematic exploration.  To that height, Nolan rose, and certainly delivered me the Batman I always wanted.

 “This should be agony. I should be a mass of aching muscle — broken, spent, unable to move. And were I an older man, I surely would… But I’m a man of thirty — of twenty again. The rain on my chest is a baptism — I’m born again… I smell their fear — and it is sweet.” 

Twenty again?  More like fourteen, actually.  I first read those words the night my parents took me to see Batman in 1989.  I stopped by the merchandise stand before the movie started and bought my first copy of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.  I was introduced to the most influential interpretation of the character since his inception in 1939, and I was so lost in those words and images that I didn’t want to put the book down once the lights dimmed.  Since then, I have wanted to see an animated adaptation of the story more than any other before it or since.

For sale on Tuesday September 25^th, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 tells of an aged Bruce Wayne and his inability to resist the pull to resume his war on crime after ten years of retirement in a Gotham City overrun by a hyper-violent street gang.  Directed by Jay Oliva, the direct to home video release stars Peter Weller (Robocop) in the title role, David Selby (Falcon Crest) as the seventy-five year-old Commissioner Gordon, and Ariel Winter (‘Alex’ on Modern Family) as Carrie Kelly/Robin.

This particular movie is difficult to view without considering its powerful connections to other Batman texts, such as the source material from 1986, or the recently completed Dark Knight Trilogy from writer/director Christopher Nolan.  I would like to simply review this seventy-six-minute animated feature as if it existed in a Bat-bubble, but how can we not compare it with its source material or with ‘Rises’?  ‘Part 1’ is a very faithful adaptation of the source and, in contrast to ‘Rises’, it is not devalued after multiple viewings because of plot holes or other short-comings.  Miller worked out a more direct narrative that would have been adjusted by screenwriters if need be.  It’s been just over twenty-five years since the graphic novel was published and creative minds have had decades to contemplate the strengths and weaknesses before rushing out a movie.

Most of what Miller drew in the graphic novel makes its way on to the screen in the movie.  Those pages were clearly and lovingly used as storyboard inspiration to a greater degree than what has been produced so far by DC Entertainment’s previous adaptations, like Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) or All-Star Superman (2011).  The character models are close to Miller’s work, but with the consistency of a major animation studio and production company.  The action scenes are strong, with the highlight being Batman’s showdown with the gang leader at the dump.  Where Miller provided an explosive fight, the animated adaptation is longer, more detailed, adrenaline-filled, and more satisfying on a primal level.

Gravitas and roughness are in abundance from voice actor Peter Weller.  Although he plays the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman straightforward, it feels as if more depth could have brought to the delivery of some of the dialogue.  Weller suits the tone of the movie perfectly, but comes across as a little wooden and demonstrates a singular direction, where an experienced Bruce/Batman would express layers and layers of thoughts and emotions through tone, pace, timbre, and breath.

The pace is built beautifully, with additional dialogue where it is needed for a good translation from the book.  The impact of the more powerful scenes is effectively adapted to the small screen, almost as if the animated medium is the original and natural method to deliver a Batman story.  Although I did miss the internal monologue famously featured in the graphic novel, I was able to supplement my viewing experience by memory.  A secondary audio track featuring additional narration would be a very cool bonus for fans.  Even though Part 1 is clearly an incomplete tale, the original narrative lends itself beautifully to being cut neatly in half.  Batman’s initial conflict is resolved yet the seeds of tension are well in place for the larger second movie.

This movie is pretty much what I wanted to see since 23 years ago.  The action, the seriousness, the intensity – it’s all there.  Looking at Batman: The Animated Series, Mask of the Phantasm, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Batman: Year One, and now ‘Returns’, one could make a strong case that the medium best suited to tell powerful Bat-narratives is actually animation; it features the strength of comic book creativity mixed with the viewing experience of a live-action movie.

While Part 2 comes out early next year, I am confident that the viewing experience will bring me right back to my youth and remind me what made me love that version of the character.  That young man in me, like Batman, feels somewhat reborn.

A couple days ago, rare images from 2008′s ‘The Dark Knight’ appeared online courtesy of tone_is_everything user on Reddit.

The images in question are of Batman (Christian Bale) and Joker (Heath Ledger) at a photo shoot.

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Take a look at the full album here: http://imgur.com/a/reNSM/all

There are 64 images total in that album which are all very interesting with many different poses from the two stars.

If you look closely, you may find familiar photos that were used in posters. Here are just some of the photos. Via Screen Crush

Obviously, the photos from the photoshoot look much different since they have no special effects or color correction/grading on them. Even so, it’s still cool to see how they looked in the beginning.

In other news, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is on Blu-Ray and DVD December 3, 2012.

A couple days ago, rare images from 2008′s ‘The Dark Knight’ appeared online courtesy of tone_is_everything user on Reddit.

The images in question are of Batman (Christian Bale) and Joker (Heath Ledger) at a photo shoot.

Click For Full Size

Click For Full Size

Click For Full Size

Click For Full Size

Take a look at the full album here: http://imgur.com/a/reNSM/all

There are 64 images total in that album which are all very interesting with many different poses from the two stars.

If you look closely, you may find familiar photos that were used in posters. Here are just some of the photos. Via Screen Crush

Obviously, the photos from the photoshoot look much different since they have no special effects or color correction/grading on them. Even so, it’s still cool to see how they looked in the beginning.

In other news, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is on Blu-Ray and DVD December 3, 2012.

Warner Bros. actually uploaded the 3rd trailer of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ onto their Youtube channel again a couple days ago. Why did they do this? The description of the video told us that the film will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital Download on December 3. A tidbit little message added to the end of the trailer was added too, if you decided to watch the whole thing.

To our suprise, Warner Bros. removed the description of the video not too long before uploading the video, then deleted it. Why did they do this? Some speculate it was because they decided they did not want to announce the date yet. Considering everyone in the world who loves the new summer box office masterpiece heard of the news, taking down the trailer was pointless.

Some proof courtesy of Batman-News.com in case you didn’t believe me.

Warner Bros. actually uploaded the 3rd trailer of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ onto their Youtube channel again a couple days ago. Why did they do this? The description of the video told us that the film will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital Download on December 3. A tidbit little message added to the end of the trailer was added too, if you decided to watch the whole thing.

To our suprise, Warner Bros. removed the description of the video not too long before uploading the video, then deleted it. Why did they do this? Some speculate it was because they decided they did not want to announce the date yet. Considering everyone in the world who loves the new summer box office masterpiece heard of the news, taking down the trailer was pointless.

Some proof courtesy of Batman-News.com in case you didn’t believe me.

I don’t know if Nolan will give an answer similar to mine or not, but the mind of atul bhat says, Joker was a necessary character meant to test batman, Like Alfred says,” Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.  “Referring to the Burma incident. And there is something more to it. Joker was though marvellously portrayed by Heath Ledger, was never there to destroy batman, or the people responsible for him being joker. Joker was there to show that every man can fall. Every man has in himself a part of him that can get down to the lowest level to achieve something. In the movie he proved it by making Dent a bad person, but it only means that no matter how much rich, poor, educated, illiterate or even self-content the man is, there is something in this world that will always shake him off balance and make him do things against his principles or simply considered impossible by us. Even the joker did. Joker as described by him was a nice man, he was affected by the behaviour of his father as he describes in one of his stories. Or even the part where he describes Himself having given him the scars just to make his wife feel that her injuries doesn’t matter to him. Everyone have has one moment in life, or has that one thing for which we can do anything, may it be kill a person, hurt ourselves or even donate everything we own. That task cannot be defined as that which is Low or high. That task is simply the one which we consider to impossible at most points in our life. Batman though Unintentionally, Killed Harvey dent to save Gordon’s family. Thereby breaking his one rule. Dent who fought against corruption, and was known to do good deeds, became a killer to get his revenge.

Not only that the movie also has a line “The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. “This is again said by Joker. Tell me which one of you has never broken a rule? Life is so much bound with rules, don’t do this, don’t do that, Parents, Friends, Partners, Boss, Government, even God when he gave the 10 commandments, they were rules. Things that we should do and other things that are forbidden. And turns out, in our lives there at least a hundred instances where we broke the rules. Of course rules are required for harmony, else everything would be chaotic. But every rule cannot be followed, nor the same rule be followed by everyone.

So in a way every one of us has a joker in us and the best part is the joker always smiles. Even in the movies, though he had the scars that were made, or at least painted upon to look like a smile, he always smiled throughout the movie, living his moments, spreading chaos, you can’t find one scene where joker is sad. In the earlier versions of the joker, when batman beat the shit out of him, he finally had that shocked or non-smiling face. But this joker even hanged upside down by The Dark Knight, still talks normally, and is never sad. He still laughs in that state. That is what a true joker is.

So based on all this, I have just two lines to say about the joker in us:

“Every one of us has a joker in us who always knows how to smile. You just have to let him out and smile.  And you can live carefree like the joker did.
Then, WHY SO SERIOUS??? ”

Here is a small tribute by me to The Joker (The Character that will forever live on)

 Dedicated to one of the greatest acting by Heath Ledger.

Note: The reference to 10 Commandments is only referred to as the rules given by god to man, and there no religious provocation meant here.

Check out the entire gallery at Geeks are Sexy.

This Torah verse from Deuteronomy 16:20 is the inspiration for the name of the synagogue that I am honored to lead through the High Holidays starting tonight. They chose the name Congregation B’nai Tzedek (Children of Justice) inspired by that verse noting, “Our sages pointed out that the word tzedek is repeated in the verse to show us that justice must be our goal and that our means of achieving that goal must also be just.”

The United States is certainly no stranger to the challenge of doing justly while seeking justice. The amazing George Takei’s musical Allegiance, which premiers this month in San Diego, tells the shameful story of the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Abu Ghraib torture, Guantanamo, and even the arguments to enter in the war in Iraq are all examples of the striving to balance justice, the challenge of the end justifying the means. America – who has rightly been a champion and model of justice in its history – is also confronted by the huge lapses in it to this day – our dealings with people unlike those in power – race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, country of origin, etc. – are littered with attempts to make a difference, but often fall short of doing so justly.

Such is the theme, obvious or underlying, of most every courtroom drama ever made. I cannot type these words without hearing Al Pacino shout, “You’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order!” from …And Justice for All. But outside the court and its structure, justice gets even murkier.

Vigilante justice is the most challenging. Working for a higher good, but outside the legal system – which is typically ineffective and corrupt in the movies reflecting truths about our world. Sometimes I watch cop movies where they pursue some criminal or try to save an individual and I am horrified by the collateral damage that fills the film in the pursuit of specific justice. A single minded desire ignores the double “justice” of the Deuteronomy quote – just in our goals and just in our actions.

Superhero movies, one of my favorite genres, are especially rich in possibilities. Take the financial and critical blockbuster The Dark Knight. Batman is the epitome of vigilante justice. He works with very select members of the establishment (James Gordon), but on his terms and methods. As a fan we revel in watching him drop a mobster of a roof to break his legs (who oddly heals them remarkably quickly later in the film). But such justice only works because we trust Batman to only harm those who are deserving.

Harvey Dent, the District Attorney, represents the better way in the film – the “White Knight.” He represents the good way to achieve these goals while Batman is the flip of the coin, the necessary evil. With such intense expectation on him by Gotham City and by himself, he flips to madness and becomes Two-Face when his moral center is murdered and his moral self-sacrifice is ruined.

A partial aside/rant: While Katie Holmes was merely okay as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins, I found the talented Maggie Gyllenhaal rather dull and not compelling in a much more important plot point. Batman’s entire morality has been based in the trilogy on Rachel’s goodness and his love for her. Harvey Dent’s entire character arc is based on his true love for her. But she was boring and did not convince me in any way that Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent were both that taken by her. In The Dark Knight Rises this was compounded as the entire set up of the film was based on these points. It reminded me of The Godfather: Part III. Winona Ryder, at the height of her talent and appeal, was set to play Mary Corleone. But she dropped out at the last minute to check into a clinic for depression and exhaustion. Sofia Coppola was hastily cast. Her looks and lack of an on-screen personality made it impossible to believe the Andy Garcia and Al Pacino (2x in one blog!) based their entire movie journey on their love for her. I thought The Dark Knight was brilliant. But Gyllenhaal’s weakness in a cast of genius stood as a stumbling block. Aside/Rant complete.

The Joker, of course, is a wild card. He does whatever he wants, however he wants, with no actual regard for good, evil, justice. He isn’t in it for money or power. He’ll kill a mobster, burn a pile of money, and blow up a ferry of criminals or civilians without any moral issue at play. In fact, we never learn his history or motivations (“Wanna know how I got these scars?”), which makes him all the scarier.

The intersection of Dark, White, and Wild Card gives the film its incredible tension and challenge. At the end of the film, with Harvey Dent now Two-Face and having killed several people include (corrupt) police offices, Batman decides the symbol of the White Knight is needed. He, the figure shrouded in dark, will take the fall for the murders preserving Dent’s legacy and setting up the plot of the sequel. I wondered then and I wonder now: Why not just blame the Joker? He is already a murdering sociopath. He is up on so many other charges, it’d be easy to add these to his docket. But that would violate the double notion of justice – ways and means – and be unacceptable to Batman’s moral code, but my own sense of justice is tempted. What about yours?

For another take on justice and the superhero, look for Dredd coming out next week. The ultimate bringing of judgment with means that might challenge your sense of justice, he abides by strict adherence to the law and believes “justice has no soul.” Check out this article for more.

We all seek justice. In the real world we live in, how we achieve and what we are achieving are both challenges we must struggle with and there are few easier answers.

For more on the justice in a superhero world, you might want to check out these articles by Michael Karounos and Todd McGowan.

As this is the final #BlogElul post, I’ll return to occasional posting on a variety of subjects especially Judaism and Movies soon. Thank you to all of you who read some or even all 29 of the posts. Thanks especially to Rabbi Phyllis Sommer who both organized #BlogElul and gave me the idea and encouragement to do it via the movies.

For those who start Rosh Hashanah tonight, may it be a time of great reflection, inspiration, and renewal. And if things get slow during services, think about any movie and try to figure out how it relates to the process of Teshuvah and change.

Shanah Tovah!

When I set out on this preparation quest a fortnight ago (yes! got to use that word again finally), there were some things I had planned, and some things I didn’t. Every step of the way, I had always intended for the Day 14 post to be called…

“Hope”.

As I’m sure is no secret by now, I am a massive fan of “one-word titles”, so when I mapped out this countdown, I thought Day 14 would never come. If it did, I was sure I’d have some reason to believe that the unthinkable wouldn’t happen tomorrow.

I’m a positive person at times, and a negative one at times, but so long as there is something to hope for, everything swings in the direction of +.

(Another shout-out to both my comic nerds out there.)

But today, instead of believing “all will be well”, I’m forced to face the facts, discard hope and embrace the strongest emotion the day before the lockout:

Day 14 – Panic

(I Believe in Preventing Lockouts)

In the immortal words of Liam Neeson in “Batman Begins”:

“Gentlemen, time to spread the word. And the word is… panic”.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a decent clip of him saying that, but I did find that insufferable little puke Joffrey from “Game of Thrones” getting face-palmed right before Neeson says it.

You’re welcome.

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p7vFV7meZw%5D

It’s tough to look at the facts and not panic at this point.

Todays rash of signings provided us hockey fans with tons that talk about and a lot of twitter traffic. Hockey fans going back and forth about all the big news surrounding Alex Burrows (yay!) and Shane Doan (boo!) is one of the major reasons I love hockey. But sadly the thing  I love most about hockey is the thing that will suffer due to this work stoppage.

The fans.

(Should’ve made “Don’t Go Canucks, Don’t Go” signs)

After all the opinions and jokes and sardonic commentary was expressed in regards to the new signings, all was quiet on the news front. That is when panic set it, In all honesty, it was a pretty fun day until the dust settled and I realized we are now less than 24 hours away from the third straight NHL lockout.

Even NASCAR is laughing at us.

(Keep your eyes on the road. The gently gradually curving road)

It’s kinda sad to think that might be the last shot I take at NASCAR during this countdown. Aside from hockey, I think that’s what I will miss the most.

WAIT! WHAT’S THIS?

A new article on NHL.com regarding the lockout? Have my “Day 2″ prayers been answered? Can I shave off my terrible beard I’ve grown since “Day 3″ and wear a Canucks jersey again after “Day 6″?

Could it be? Could it be?

“Quebec Labour Board Rules in NHL’s Favour”

I’m a fan of the internet, if for no other reason than it provides me with a picture that can express my emotion better than my words ever could.

You had one job, Quebec! And ya blew it! I hope Bettman and his NHL “Death Star” give you the old “Alderaan special” and you never get a team.

You see what I’ve been reduced to? Star Wars analogies. I’m about 5 minutes away from suggesting we try to Jedi mind trick him. And if that doesn’t work, we should attack him with one of those laser sword things from the movies.

(That was me trying to take it down a nerd-notch and pretending I don’t know they’re called lightsabers… or that they are made from Adegan crystals and are coloured to indicate a Jedi’s chosen class)

Yeah, so after that last sentence I’m fairly certain I’m never going to go on a date ever again.

However at this exact moment, “Bowmantic” struggles finish a distant 2nd on the “things I’m panicking about” chart. The loss of hockey, even half a season, almost appears to be unavoidable at this point.

The sky is falling. The first to die will be the Ewoks in their sweet treehouses.

Then come the hockey fans.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be listening to “Panic” by The Smiths for the rest of the night. Morrisey might not have mentioned it, but there also panic of the streets of “Hockeytown”

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJdiE0l23c%5D

So that’s what I’m doing today, and while I’ll start to regret that decision tomorrow, that’s what “Day 15″ is for.

Let us all hope a deal is miraculously reached and there is no… lockout.

PREVIOUS ENTRIES:

DAY 1 – “Breathe”

DAY 2 – “Pray”

DAY 3 – “Beard”

DAY 4 – “Ignore”

DAY 5 – “Football”

DAY 6 – “Jerseys”

Day 7 – “Research”

DAY 8 – “Rage”

DAY 9 – “Denial”

DAY 10 – “Giants”

DAY 11 – “Alternatives”

DAY 12 – “Movies”

DAY 13 – “Activism”

You can follow j.Bowman on twitter (@jBowmancouver). In keeping with the theme of “panic”, I’d like to use today’s bumper to wish my good friend Sean Grant (“HAMHUIS!”) a happy 30th birthday. Today (and only today!) will I admit he is a better dancer than I am.

I am very much a newcomer to Batman.

I read The Killing Joke a while ago, which I expected to enjoy, being the brainchild of the wickedly unpredictable Alan Moore–and enjoy it I did. Then I bought four hardcover Batman books, which are sitting on my shelf: Killing Joke, Year One, Arkham Asylum, and The Dark Knight Returns. The big four. The must-reads.

I was pumped. I attempted Dark Knight Returns, and got confused, and stopped.

The entire Batman comic universe is undoubtedly daunting to the uninitiated (i.e., me and all of us who were unfortunately born after the great age of pulp paper comics). There are just so many characters and so many story arcs. If you Google which Batman graphic novel to read, you get a list of twenty-five books. (Refer here for the advice of someone much better informed than myself.)

Then, in one glorious hour, I read Year One.

I can’t think of a better way to kick off your tour of the Batman universe. It’s the tale of how Bruce Wayne came to be Batman (Batman Begins is based loosely off it…loosely I say); how Jim Gordon, through sheer willpower and a sense of honour, rose through the ranks of a corrupt police squad; and how Batman and Gordon’s friendship begins.

The art style is simple but deeply evocative, bold and gritty. Purples and reds and blues. Thick swooping line art. It’s perhaps not the most amazing artwork I’ve seen, but David Mazzucchelli captures what I think can only be described as the spirit of the work–urgent, straightforward, emotional. The beginning of something big.

Frank Miller (Sin City, 300, Dark Knight Returns) introduces a number of key side characters, including the tragically noble Harvey Dent, Catwoman and mafia mobster Carmine “The Roman” Falcone. The two main plot arcs, however, are Bruce Wayne’s deeply personal quest for an effective method to rid Gotham City of corruption, and Gordon’s struggle to do the right thing in the face of unscrupulous and often ruthless law-enforcers.

I found Gordon’s story by far the most compelling. The storytelling is just beautiful; in a superhero action graphic novel, Miller makes you feel.

An animated film adaptation of Year One was released in 2011. It’s definitely worth watching, as well. It’s only about an hour long and is very faithful to the text and the atmosphere of the original graphic novel. It’s like reading the book all over again, but with moving pictures. The pace is quick and the characters develop quickly with the use of interior monologue. Also, you get to see Gordon being an astonishingly hulking bad-ass good-cop. Interestingly, it features the voices of Eliza Dushku as Selina Kyle, and Grey DeLisle (also known as Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender) as Barbara Gordon.

Writers: Bob Goodman

(Based on a comic by Frank Miller)

(Characters created by Bob Kane)

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