Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Is Two-Face alive?
By Brian Jacks,splashpage.mtv.com
January 11,2009
In the past, Aaron Eckhart has had no problems stating matter-of-factly that Two-Face was done for, telling SuperHeroHype back in September that his character was as “dead as a doornail.” Well…maybe not that dead.
When MTV News caught up with “The Dark Knight” star on the Golden Globes red carpet, he was notably less fatalistic about the possibility of reprising his role as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in a sequel to the record-breaking film.
“I think Harvey — if he’s not dead — is in a serious coma,” stated Eckhart, “and I’m not sure he’s coming out. They might pull the plug on him.” Seemingly firm words, right? Except even the notion that his alter-ego is still alive is a clear departure from previous statements where the actor was perfectly fine confirming Harvey’s death at the business end of a freefalling drop.We know from our recent interview with producer Charles Roven that screenwriters Christopher Nolan and David Goyer have begun brainstorming ideas for a third “Batman” film…could something out of that have led to Eckhart’s about-face on Two-Face? His wink-wink-nod-nod answer seems to suggest that something else may be at play.
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Friday, December 12, 2008
Dark Knight Flying Off Shelves
Three million copies of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight were sold on Tuesday, the first day of its DVD and Blu-ray release, Warner Home Video announced Wednesday. Some 25-30 percent of them were in the Blu-ray format, a record. The previous record was set by Iron Man, which sold 260,000 Blu-ray discs on its first day in release last September. "The Blu-ray sales of Dark Knight were exceptionally strong and much higher than our projections," Warner Home Video President Ron Sanders told the Los Angeles Times. Some writers attributed the record sales of Knight to strong demand for Blu-ray players over the Thanksgiving holiday. (IMDB)
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Dark Knight Review
The Dark Knight,the sequel to the brilliant Batman Begins.One of the most anticipated films of the year,an anticipation which was increased by the death of Heath Ledger and the rumours about his portrayal of Joker and about the impact of this role on him.As the months went by,TDK became the movie event of 2008.The reviews confirmed the predictions that TDK is one of the best,if not the best,movies of the year.Many box-office records are already broken and some analysts predict that the gross may even be close to the gross of Titanic.
I could not decide whether or not to write a review.There's so much you can write about this movie.Anyway,i will write some of my thoughts .The Dark Knight is a film with many layers.It's pointed out that it's character study.That's true,because one of the aspects is the conflict between the radically different characters of Batman and Joker,along with their struggles and the struggles of the other characters,who have substance and are not just a part of the main story.Batman is more vulvernable than ever.The results of his effort are not what he expected :"I did not have that it mind when i said i wanted to inspired people".The conflict in his soul ,the conflict between Batman and Bruce Wayne becomes more intense.In the face of Harvey Dent he sees the chance for the retirement of Batman.But these hopes,remain just hopes.The adversary is unpredictable and the casualties lead to doubts,despair,emotional pain.In the end,self-sacrifice is the only solution. "Know your limits Mr.Wayne" "Batman has no limits" It seems that even Batman has limits.
The Joker,the menace for Gotham.Harvey Dent,the hope.The darkness.The light.The light that becomes the darkness.
"This city deserves a better class of criminals'' "Madness is like gravity,all it takes is a little push" "Some people want to watch the world burn" Joker quotes or quotes related to him.The two (or three) versions of the story about the scars.Is this man crazy,twisted,a criminal mastermind,someone who enjoys chaos?
Christian Bale is once again great.But the most talked about actor is Heath Ledger.This is a perfomance of a lifetime.His portrayal of Joker is riveting and at times terrifying.And if you've read about how he prepared for the role,his level of dedication is evident.He's the Joker.The very least,he should be nominated for an Oscar.However,we should not ignore another very good perfomance,the perfomance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face.Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are also very good.Maggie Gylenhaal who replaces Katie Holmes is good too.As i've written and in my review for Iron Man,rarely the cast selection is so successful and that is proven by the invidual perfomances and by the interaction of the cast.
As i said in the beginning of the review,there's so much you can write about TDK (you can write also about the cinematography,the music,the philosophy,etc).It's a great movie,a sophisticated movie,for which we'll talk about for a long time.I may write soon some more of my thoughts.
Recent casting rumours about the third movie:Angelina Jolie (Catwoman),Johny Depp (Riddler),Philip Seymour-Hoffman (Penguin)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Christian Bale Agrees To Third Batman Movie
Actor Christian Bale will reprise his role as Batman for the third time - but only if director Chris Nolan is at the helm.
The British star has appeared as Bruce Wayne and his caped alter-ego in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
And Bale is willing to star in another film as the superhero - but only if it means working under Nolan again.
He tells Britain's GQ magazine, "I would certainly hope (Nolan) would be on board for a third installment of Batman. If he wasn't I'd have to think long and hard about whether I'd want to continue myself." IMDB
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Dark Knight -Clips Compilation
SPOILER WARNING
Twelve Clips of The Dark Knight courtesy of IGN.COM
The Clips Are:
A Better Class Of Criminal
There's A Batman
Travel Agent
Batman Has No Limits
Batman Will Have To Answer
Break In
Going To Come After You
He Can't Endure This
If You're Not Getting Shot...
You Can't Ask Me To Wait
I've Heard All About You
We Need Lau Back
Uploaded by DarthHomer16
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Dark Knight Interviews:Michael Caine,Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman
Micheal Caine and Morgan Freeman (The Today Show)
Uploaded by falcounderground
Gary Oldman Interview Excerpts
Uploaded by babyklisa
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Michael Caine:”I became an actor in order to have beautiful girls”
With the opportunity of the second adaptation of Sleuth,the great actor talks about his role,his relationship with Jude Law and about the beginning of his career.
-I wonder,Sir Caine,how it is to adapt a play to the cinema;
Logical question,which many people do it.It is difficult but when you accomplish that you see that you have all the good elements of the play in a movie.You should pay a lot of attention to succeed in having the pros of the play.And Sleuth does that.In other words it is a play with quick movement,power and soul of a movie.The play does not have by itself the movement that a movie can have.At first,it crossed my mind,I must confess,that Harold wasn’t ok (laughs).
-What made you decide to do the remake;
I disagree with the term remake.I don’t think that the movie is a remake.I would not do a remake of a movie in which Joseph L. Mankiewicz had done a great job.I think that what we did is a movie in an evolved screenplay by Harold Pinter,who never saw neither the previous movie nor the play.The movie is based in a play by Anthony Schaffer,which was made into a movie in 1970,directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and in which i had the luck to be a protagonist.I know Pinter for 50 years,when we were both actors and I appraise him.His name at the time was David Barron.He decided later to write plays with his real name.His first play was called “the room”.When Jude brought me the text,i decided to do it without reading it,because I trusted Pinter.I read later the screenplay and I loved it.So,i am here now.
-What differences you see between the two movies?
Firstly,all these that have to do with technology.Cellphones,computers…We didn’t have them in 1972.However,it is not only them.Filming for the first movie took 16 weeks.This time only 4.Furthermore,this movie is one hour shorter than the other.I have not seen the other movie for 30 years and I have forgotten some things.Pinter,as I said before,never saw it and that is the whole point.
-You believe that actors become more comfortable with experience?
Of course.After all,it is logical.I do a movie today,having played in another 85.I am more sure.
-Judi Dench has said that in time she became less and less sure…
Really;I think that you become more comfortable,not completely comfortable.You’ll never say I’m perfect in something.You’ll always have a stress,a nervousness,like doing it for the first time.If you don’t have there’s probably a problem.I watch sometimes these talent shows where many participants state “I am the best”,”I am the new Whitney Houston”.I am surprised,because they sing without soul,without nerve and of course they are useless.To return to the movie,I think that me and Jude are comfortable as much as we can,because none of us has not done rehearsals for a movie for three weeks.On the other hand,we knew exactly what to do.I work with an actor who is as good as i am-he is also a producer-and of course with a very good director(Kenneth Branagh),who knows what he’s doing.
-Which are your similarities with Jude Law,as men and as actors?
There is no similarity.His approach is totally different.He is darker.After all we don’t have the same background.I come from a working class with different experiences.
Jude’s parents were teachers.I come from a tough environment.I am a big fan of him
from”Mr.Ripley”.I watch English actors and I think he is very good..We’re friends too.
We have both done theatre,we have the experience of the stage actor.Theater educates,no matter how we do it.
-You’re also friends.What do you like doing together?
We love food and we go out frequently at night to eat.We talk,we make fun,we comment on various things.However,basically,we have nothing in common.
I live in the coutryside,away from the lights of publicity,and with other habits.
I am also a hundred years older(laughs).However,we enjoy a lot the company of each other.
-Many of your colleagues have said that they became actors to have women…Do you agree?
Absolutely.That is exactly why I became an actor.I began when I was 14.I entered an amateur theatre school,because all the beautiful girls were there.I was in the basketball team and I remember,when I returned from the field,I was passing outside the door of that school and I saw that all the beautiful girls were in there.And i ask myself:”What the hell I was doing in the field playing basketball;”A lady saw me and opened the door.She says to me:”Come,because we don’t have much men”.You know,at that time a lot of men did not participate in these in order not to be characterized..you can imagine.I got in and I never regretted it.
-Closing the interview,I would like to ask you how is it,the erotic atmosphere between two men..
Threatening.That is why i also wear glasses.I have very strange eyes(laughs).In school they called them “snake eyes”.
Source:Proto Thema ,original text in greek
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Sleuth Review
"A millionaire detective novelist matches wits with the unemployed actor who ran off with his wife in a deadly serious, seriously twisted game with dangerous consequences."
According to most accounts, this is a remake of the 1972 film, but Pinter's screenplay offers "a fresh take" on Shaffer's play and "a very different form" from the original film. In his review of the film's debut at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, Morris observes: "The reworking of the play is not just an adept transformation of theater to film ... but also casts a revealing light on social history, reflecting the enormous changes in English society, language and morals in the nearly 40 years since the play first appeared on the London stage."
Caine played the role of Milo Tindle in the original film. In the 2007 film, Caine performs the role of Andrew Wyke, originated by Laurence Olivier, and Law performs Caine's original role of Milo Tindle. This is the second film in which Law performs a role originated by Caine (The first was the title role in Alfie).
Pinter, the actors, and the director say this version of Sleuth is not strictly a "remake." Law has called it "a completely reinvented Sleuth" ... It didn't feel like a remake. I always loved the idea at its heart of two men battling it out for a woman you never meet....'"Law further felt that, "I was creating a character [Milo Tindle], I wasn't recreating one.'" Caine said, "I never felt that I had gone back to Sleuth", and called the Pinter script "an entirely different thing. There isn't a single line in it that was in the other one, and Pinter had never seen the [1972] movie. Jude [Law] gave him the stage play and said, 'Write a screenplay for me' ... It was a completely different experience'". In a television interview conducted on RAI TV during the Venice International Film Festival, Caine states: "If the script hadn't been by Harold Pinter, I wouldn't have done the movie".
Pinter said, "'It's a totally new take. ... I had not either seen or read the play, and I hadn't seen the film adapted from the play either, so I knew nothing about it. So I simply read the play and I think it's totally transformed. I've kept one or two plot things because you have to but apart from that, I think I've made it my own'" (wikipedia.org)Sleuth is a mind game,a quite elaborate one.It is one of these movies that you either like their concept from the start or you don't.One of the points of criticism has to do with the scenery and the direction of the movie.Many critics find the movie too dark or claustrophobic.In my opinion the scenery is not by any means a drawback,it is actually a positive element.It helps in the creation of the suggestive,dark atmosphere of the movie which reflects the content of the plot, the emotions of the main characters.The minimalist nature of the domicile is theatening and so the characters are ,a threat to each other.
As i said before ,Sleuth is an elaborate mind game.The elaborate nature of the plot,while at first it seems simple,leads sometimes the audience to be fooled or to be confused.One very strong aspect of the movie are the dialogues.The script of Nobel prize winner Harold Pinter is full of smart,straight-forward,even cynical lines."Caine and Law are in fine form bantering cleverly in this entertaining cat-and-mouse game, thanks to the inspired dialogue of Harold Pinter. They parry, using witticisms instead of swords." says Claudia Puig in her review.
The dialogues aid the verbal battle between Wyke and Tiddle,which is the main focus of the movie.Jude Law and Micheal Caine engage in a ruthless battle,from which only one will survive.While Jude Law's perfomance is adequate,the perfomance of Micheal Caine stands out.
His portrayal of Andrew Wyke as a smart,deceiving,cynical detective novelist is brilliant.
The music aids to the suggestive nature of the atmosphere.The movie "slows" down towards the end but comes to a fitting conclusion."Goodbye darling."
Sleuth is a mind game in which either you participate (along with the characters) or you don't.As far as i am concerned,i participated and i enjoyed it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eDrdGPhs7vg&feature=related
