Anyone catch the image in which diesel fuel costs $123/gallon? Whoa.
Batman Begins (his war on Terror) One Sheet
It is poster day here at Row Three, and yes, this one bounced around the web yesterday, and furthermore, personally, I do not have a lot of interest in the continuation/re-branding of the Batman Movie Franchise. But give credit for this particular edgy One-Sheet design that echos 9/11 in both the visual imagery and the ominous tag-line, “Welcome to a World Without Rules“.
If Batman desires to be the comic book mascot of our vigilante/private-enterprise-goes-to-war age, then this is the poster to do it. Co-incidentally the recent War Inc. also makes light of events much more recent. I hesitate to bring up the ‘too soon’ debate that surfaces with so many things in cinema when entertainment and tragedy collide (Batman Begins also has the Heath Ledger factor going for it). I did very much like Spielberg’s holocaust and 9/11 imagery and the edge it injected into the War of the Worlds remake; the 9/11 factor made the most of Cloverfield, not to mention the still unreleased in these parts Spanish horror film [*REC] which took the famous 9-11 documentary as an aesthetic template.
With regards to [REC] it already opened here in the UK a few weeks ago and let me tell you it’s one of the scariest and most effective horror movies in ages. Since The Descent (which I found to be one of the best and scariest horror films of the last decade). Such effective control of mood, the in-camera technique and good old fashioned, perfectly timed jump scares. Definitely one to check out once it opens where you are. Btw Hollywood has remade it with a different title “Quarantine”. It’s sickening to see them remake a film that hasn’t even opened everywhere yet. Next thing you know Hollywood is going to be remaking films just after the final letter has been typed on the original script!
Btw Kurt I’ve been wanting to know for a while - what is it you had against Batman Begins (you have it listed on your profile on this site as the film that everyone loves that you don’t) and the reenvisioning of the franchise? It brought Batman down to it’s gritty truth, providing a sense of realism that the others seemed to ignore.
Comment by Ross Miller — April 30, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
It also provided Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Ken Watanabe with precious little to do. It leaned on the old ‘Liam Neeson as mentor’ crutch which was already still warm from George Lucas’ Phantom Menace and Narnia’s Aslan. It really didn’t have much to add to the origin story that Burton didn’t cover in flashback and Christian Bale seemed stiff and uncomfortable in the role. For me it came way too late with a string of Superhero movies that peaked with Ang Lee’s the Hulk (still the most ‘adult’ comic book movie)
But the films biggest crime is simply wasting Christopher Nolan’s time. Between the fabulous Prestige, the unique Memento and the interesting for a remake Insomnia. Much like Sam Raimi’s Spiderman sequels, I just hate to see good modern directors tied up in comic franchises. Thank Goodness David Fincher, Michael Mann, Stephen Soderbergh and Darren Aronofsky have thus far avoided these films (and that Ang Lee only did a single).
I sort of like what del Toro did with the first Hellboy though (flawed as that one is…) and look forward to The Golden Army more than IronMan or most of the other summer blockbusters, but del Toro is a born genre-blockbuster director, it’s his niche and he is best in show at what he does (same for Peter Jackson and yes, Sam Raimi - But Christopher Nolan (I believe) has better things to do.)
Comment by Kurt — April 30, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
The last five minutes or so of REC is truly nightmarish
Comment by rot — April 30, 2008 @ 6:05 pm
@rot indeed. I highly doubt that Quarantine (the US remake) will carry the weight of the closing moments of [*REC]. It is more than a little shameful that the original has been ‘kept off the shelves’ (outside of film festivals) in this part of the world before the remake has been available.
Import the Spanish DVD if you can or buy it from the UK if it is available and you have a computer or PAL/R2 DVD capability. This one would indeed rock in the cinema though with a crowd. I know there are YouTube clips out there of audience reactions to the film…
Comment by Kurt — April 30, 2008 @ 7:42 pm