While on some level one could make the argument that, for instance Iron Man, is a better movie, and The Dark Knight plot/story wise doesn’t necessarily hold up as a great movie. It often gets bogged down in the dialogue as characters say exactly what they feel or explicitly spell out the themes of the film. In a number of ways it stands out. First, because, it is a summer blockbuster that at the same time is definitely the work of an auteur. Christopher Nolan really brings a distinctive voice to the superhero movie, that, outside of maybe The Hulk (which really doesn’t work), hasn’t been seen before in the context. Also it has an all encompassing operatic sense to it that, while not as good as say “The Godfather part II” or “The Empire Strikes Back”, is an epic urban tragedy. What’s odd though is that it often seems like it would be a better movie without Batman (although I have no idea how that would work). Ultimately what I think is so powerful about it, despite its many flaws, is that the misé-en-scene speaks to our times like no other mainstream movie in recent memory. The audience connects most powerfully with that sense of the world crumbling around them. In that nearly universal shared experience this summer everyone came together and experienced a collective catharsis through the film. So will it mean nearly as much in twenty years as something like “Wall-E” certainly will? probably not. It was though, undoubtedly, the defining movie of the year.
Also, it goes without saying, that Heath Ledger’s Joker was amazing. Not only did he totally disappear into the character, but he was somehow able to make himself more than a character, but a physical embodiment of chaos, a force of nature rather than a person.
Alfonso Cuaron doing Nabokov’s Bend Sinister, since no director has really been able to nail down a Nabokov adaption, except maybe Kubrick in a few moments of Lolita.
A Scorsese adaptation of The Alienist could be cool, sort of like Gangs of New York minus the self-conscious myth-making and macho posturing.
Just for the sake of being controversial how about John Landis doing A Confederacy of Dunces?
Most Traumatic or Dramatic Film Endings over 3 years ago
That final shot in “Public Enemy” when Mike Powers opens the door to the house and Tom is tied up and falls to the floor dead.
Maybe not the most dramatic or the greatest, but it sure traumatized me when I was 10.
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Help make The Auteurs totally awesome over 3 years ago
I can’t invite people to join through facebook (of course this could be part of the beta thing).
Freaking sweet though!
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Last movie you saw and rate it over 3 years ago
Gran Torino 8.5/10
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Does anyone else feel THE DARK KNIGHT is way overrated? over 3 years ago
While on some level one could make the argument that, for instance Iron Man, is a better movie, and The Dark Knight plot/story wise doesn’t necessarily hold up as a great movie. It often gets bogged down in the dialogue as characters say exactly what they feel or explicitly spell out the themes of the film. In a number of ways it stands out. First, because, it is a summer blockbuster that at the same time is definitely the work of an auteur. Christopher Nolan really brings a distinctive voice to the superhero movie, that, outside of maybe The Hulk (which really doesn’t work), hasn’t been seen before in the context. Also it has an all encompassing operatic sense to it that, while not as good as say “The Godfather part II” or “The Empire Strikes Back”, is an epic urban tragedy. What’s odd though is that it often seems like it would be a better movie without Batman (although I have no idea how that would work). Ultimately what I think is so powerful about it, despite its many flaws, is that the misé-en-scene speaks to our times like no other mainstream movie in recent memory. The audience connects most powerfully with that sense of the world crumbling around them. In that nearly universal shared experience this summer everyone came together and experienced a collective catharsis through the film. So will it mean nearly as much in twenty years as something like “Wall-E” certainly will? probably not. It was though, undoubtedly, the defining movie of the year.
Also, it goes without saying, that Heath Ledger’s Joker was amazing. Not only did he totally disappear into the character, but he was somehow able to make himself more than a character, but a physical embodiment of chaos, a force of nature rather than a person.
Go to Comment
You choose the book to make into a film. Then choose the director. Go! over 3 years ago
Alfonso Cuaron doing Nabokov’s Bend Sinister, since no director has really been able to nail down a Nabokov adaption, except maybe Kubrick in a few moments of Lolita.
A Scorsese adaptation of The Alienist could be cool, sort of like Gangs of New York minus the self-conscious myth-making and macho posturing.
Just for the sake of being controversial how about John Landis doing A Confederacy of Dunces?
Go to Comment