A Dark Knight’s Tale

Just this past Wednesday, I had an amazing experience viewing The Dark Knight for the first time on IMAX. Not only was the whole IMAX experience satisfying and worth the extra money over regular theaters, it was even better that I saw one of the best film I have ever seen on that glorious wraparound screen.

Like what everyone is saying, I feel that the highlight of The Dark Knight is definitely the Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger who sadly passed away in his acting prime. The little quirks that Heath Ledger gave to the character of the Joker added several layers to an already deep character. It was a flawlessly executed part, one that to me has risen to the top of all-time villain/antagonist list.

But what made this movie really GREAT is the entire cast. If only Heath Ledger had a great performance out of the entire cast, then it would only be a good movie. Thankfully, other characters such as Harvey Dent/Two-Face and Commissioner Gordon were great as well. They weren’t perfect, but it doesn’t matter. Unsurprisingly, Christian Bale was still great as Batman(although I feel he was overshadowed by Joker). Somewhat surprisingly, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight was a more convincing performance than Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins.

The screenplay is brilliant. It felt like the fastest two and a half hour movie I’ve ever seen. It didn’t feel that long at all. The score is terrific. Everything about this film is fantastic to me. And I’m running out of words to describe it. In less than a week, this film has broken records and garnered rave reviews. All it needs now is to be recognized at the awards.

Ploning: A New Age of Philippine Cinema?

A bright new film in the horizon for Philippine cinema. “Ploning” will be released in the Philippines at the end of this month. It’s an indie film by a new production studio, Panoramanila. Their goal is to create a new brand of Filipino cinema that will hopefully ignite the fire under our cold film industry. I support this movement all the way!

For a long time, I’ve wondered why the Philippines has not produced a breakout film that will attract critical attention not only in the Philippines but also internationally. Not just something that will be successful critically, but also something that will change the film industry. I feel like this will be the film that breaks the mold.

Teaser Trailer:

Official Trailer:

Pixar Releases New Wall-E Trailer

 

I’ve just witnessed what will most likely be another Pixar masterpiece. The new Wall-E trailer was released yesterday, and while I’ve always been interested in this film since it was Pixar, it is the premise that hooked me from the beginning. It also hopes that it is being helmed by Andrew Stanton, one of the creative minds behind Finding Nemo.  The trailer shows definite promise for the film, showing the cuteness of Wall-E and the newly introduced Eve robot. The cinematography and music is usual Pixar brilliance. I will watch this in the theaters, and I will love it just like all Pixar films.

Watch the trailer here. It is under “Trailer” and if you can watch it in HD, please do! The CGI in this film looks outstanding. Pixar tops itself yet again.

Indiana Jones 4 Trailer Released!

The trailer for the upcoming Indiana Jones was released today. I guess it was a Valentine’s Day gift from Paramount for everyone. I’ll gladly accept, thank you. <3

The Indy series is one of the series that defined my early experience with films as a kid, including E.T., and Back to the Future. So the prospect of a new Indiana Jones movie was really exciting to me. I believe it was as early as 2000 that rumors of a new Indy movie being in development began to go around. Seven years later, I’m glad it’s all finally coming together and will be released on May 22.

Living the Star Wars Life, No Really

Almost 30 years after the first Star Wars film debuted on the big screen, the film sets of the Star Wars movie in the sandy deserts of Tunisia have become home to poor Tunisians who have nowhere else to go. Who knew that the sandstone dwellings that housed Anakin Skywalker in the movies would become a refuge for poor desert people?

…he explained to me that since he had neither family nor money, he came to live in the movie set. He looks after the place, the real roof of the fake house protects him from the sandstorms, and if a tourist throws him a small coin every once in a while, he can buy some more tea and some food. And he is hardly the only one living in the Lucas-built wonderland in the middle of the Sahara.

It seems that Tunisia has got itself a lil’ tourist spot. I’d like to go there someday. If it weren’t so hot I would so go there, bring my lightsaber and live the Jedi life. I’m afraid I can’t handle the two suns.

Read the very interesting article here.

Frank Miller’s “300″ Theatrical Trailer

 The theatrical trailer for “300″ has been released at Yahoo! Movies. “300″ is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel that tells the story of the 300 Spartans that fought against thousands of Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae. Frank Miller’s comic is of course not a literal account of the famous battle. It has taken some liberties in rewriting history, perhaps to make the story interesting and not too sterile. The film follows the exaggerated style of the graphic novel.

As for the trailer itself, it is quite nice. I prefer the teaser trailer that came before this, but this is still great. The film looks to be a good one. It looks like Gladiator to the extreme! I kid, I kid. Although the shot of the wheat field didn’t help much.

Gandalf Wants Jackson to Direct “Hobbit”

Ian McKellen, better known as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie, has released a statement on his website saying that he is saddened to hear that Peter Jackson may not be directing the Hobbit movie.

“On my own account, I am very sad as I should have relished re-visiting Middle Earth with Peter again as team-leader. It’s hard to imagine any other director matching his achievement in Tolkien country,” — Ian McKellen

Casino Royale Review

I watched Casino Royale last night with a bunch of friends. The best Bond movie in a long time. Then again, the older ones I never saw, except for Pierce Brosnan’s 007 movies. And Casino Royale was about 21 times better than those movies.

Spoilers in the full review inside!

March of the Penguins

Over the weekend, I watched March of the Penguins. I’ve been wanting to watch it for over a year ever since its release, but I had never gotten to doing that until now. I had heard good things about the movie, so I was going into this film expecting something good, and I definitely was not disappointed.

New Line: ‘Peter Jackson will not direct The Hobbit’

In a letter to Lord of the Rings fansite, TheOneRing.net, Peter Jackson states that New Line has decided to not let him direct The Hobbit due to an unresolved lawsuit that Wingnut Films (Jackson’s production company) has filed against New Line.

This is really a disaster as Peter Jackson is what made the vision of Lord of the Rings to come alive, and his production company created a fitting world for Lord of the Rings. It’s sad as I think that many of the actors in LOTR will refuse to return for The Hobbit and the planned LOTR prequel should someone else other than Peter Jackson direct it. And I can’t imagine a place as Middle Earth better than New Zealand. This is a wreck in the making.

But I will still be there day one. :(