Important Matters
Last night my wonderful wife asked me a question that comes up in our relationship every now and then. "When," she inquired, "are you going to update your blog???"And so today, I take a break from my 5-page essay on Kingdom models and reflect on the world around me. America has an African-American President-elect...a double-hyphenate (triple if you count that last one). We have come a long way and mustn't lose sight of the fact that we have far to go. We are embroiled in two wars and in the midst of a global economic crisis. Our ecology is threatened as never before. And my home state is sharply divided over a proposition concerning same-sex marriage.
It is in that light that I reflect on what deeply concerns me today:
Why was the new Batman movie so good while the new Indiana Jones movie was so bad?
I shall answer that question with several comparisons.
Dark Knight: Amazing performances by Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Aaron Eckhart were completely overshadowed by that of Heath Ledger, who made cinematic history with his portrayal of the Joker.
Crystal Skull: I am too biased to objectively assess Harrison Ford's acting. But Cate Blanchett made for a very silly Russian: "I vant to know. I VANT to KNOW!!"
Dark Knight: The corruption of goodness and question of ends vs. means is heady stuff for a superhero movie. Wait, movies can be entertaining AND make you think??
Crystal Skull: Was humankind seeded by aliens?
Dark Knight: There's a guy dressed in a bat costume and he's fighting for justice and all I'm thinking is how we really need some of those guys. Nolan never treated it like a "superhero movie." Start to finish it was just an alternate reality.
Crystal Skull: Indy escaped a nuclear blast by hiding inside a refrigerator. Later, his kid swung through the jungle on vines.
Dark Knight: Great soundtrack. The music played when the Joker was about to do something made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
Crystal Skull: Yeah, okay, great soundtrack. Whaddaya want? It's John Williams!
Dark Knight: A group of master craftsmen got together and poured their hearts and souls into making a movie about Batman that may very well be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
Crystal Skull: A group of master craftsmen got together and made millions of dollars so they could buy new stuff.
It may have been unreasonable to expect the new Indy to be as good as the old Indy's. It may even have been unreasonable to expect it to be as good as what Nolan and Co. are doing with The Bat these days. But it seemed reasonable to think it might be as good as Iron Man...or at least as Kung Fu Panda! Nope. Months later I am still, as Kevin Kline said in A Fish Called Wanda, disaPOINTedddddd!!!
posted by Thurman8er @ 1:47 PM
6 Comments:
You made me laugh aloud! I have yet to see the new Batman movie, but will schedule it on my Netflix now that I've read your comments.
I left your birthday present on my blog post today.
John Williams is the man.
I did not like Dark Knight. I will never be able to sharpen a pencil to a neat point ever again.
Ever.
I had a friend tell me this about the new Batman movie:
"If Batman was real, the movie depicts how it all works and works out."
I'm with Brady, I'm sticking to my teacher red pens.
The Dark Knight was truly dark, but awesome at the same time. The Crystal Skulls was disappointing. The whole fridge scene was too over the top for an Indy movie. I was waiting for Jar Jar Binks to be the alien or jump out in the jungle. I also do not like how the film seem to of been shot differently than the other three...it reminds me of another Lucas series.
You should of done, Joker's pencil magic trick vs the army of red ants' Soviet General magic trick. Both were gross, but one is was more clever.
Nonetheless, I have to complete my collection. So both movies are on my Christmas list. :o)
That gives the challenge, "Compare and Contrast" an all new meaning.
I MUST update my Netflix queue.
"Batman" the First is still my favorite, as well as "Indiana Jones" #1 and #3.
You betcha, gosh darn-it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! A cruise is a cool celebration! But Wendy's BD present HAD to be the most original...and most entertaining.
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