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hazmat63
Reviews
The Dark Knight (2008)
James Dean, Marilyn and Elvis are old news.
Heath Ledger, like James Dean, had the misfortune to die before his talents could be truly appreciated on the big screen. In the case of Dean, only one of his three great roles appeared before his untimely death. While he was a bit more prolific, Ledger's greatest work is only now being comprehended by film-goers. His larger-than-life genesis of The Joker can only be described as legendary. I believe it will stand the test of time as the definitive portrayal of Batman's true nemesis. Sadly, this will likely mean no more Joker in Christopher Nolan's franchise.
Making the creative choice of minimal make-up, unkempt appearance, and no back-story, Ledger, with Nolan, births a Joker whose pathology is genuine, whose menace is as oppressive a part of the dark canvas as the cityscape of Gotham, and is yet tempered with a child-like, and infectious sense of play. Early in the film, his "magic trick," in which he makes a pencil disappear, had a packed, noontime audience at the Hollywood Arclight theatre howling. And every appearance after that simply built upon the audience's relish. Throw in a perfect Joker cackle, and Heath secures eternal identification with this role. It sits on the mantle proudly as his best work. It's also the best Batman film ever, bar none. Ledger's phenomenal performance in no way eclipses the flawless work of the other world- class actors sharing the screen, most notably Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. It helps their talents in no small measure to have a powerful, intelligent and unpretentious script.
To briefly digress: We in America (or at least our media) tend to get stuck in our ways -- "oldies radio" still plays the same 100 songs they have played for the last 30 years; even on satellite TV, there is nothing good on during the day; and souvenir shop windows on Hollywood Boulevard are still full up with James Dean, Marilyn and Elvis. But there are decades worth of performers who are more than pretenders to the Mount Rushmore of talent the above three always seem to monopolize. Forget that many of the best crop of actors in the 21st century are British, or from one of the other colonies. It IS a new century after all, and a global culture, and while it still behooves many Americans to have home- grown deceased icons of stage, screen and jukebox they can display in velvet over their mantelpieces next to Dale Earnhardt, it's just not realistic. Most people under the age of forty have never seen "Giant," or "Viva Las Vegas". This in no way deflates the star power or the accomplishments of the Holy Trinity. But aside from his "dreamy" voice and classic (or classical) records - which at this point in history belong in a bin next to Pavarotti, rather than PIL - Elvis Presley did not earn his Christ-like status through much more than charisma and chutzpah. Hold any of his films (with the possible exception of "Jailhouse Rock") up against "The Dark Knight". Go ahead. Do it.
I'm getting some TNT and a crew up there on Hollywood's Mount Rushmore. I'll rappel down the face myself and carve out a NEW row of icons, for the new Millennium.
On the basis of his body of work, capped so beautifully by his portrayal of the Joker, Heath Ledger deserves some consideration -- in my humble opinion -- for a spot on the hill.
Blood Diner (1987)
My Blood Diner Nightmare
I played a zombie in BLOOD DINER and believe me when I tell you, it was such a bizarre and sickening experience that I plan to devote an entire chapter to the nightmare in my memoirs. I have worked on a lot of films, and I mean a LOT, and I can say with all confidence that the depravity of the project, inhuman working conditions and incompetence of the production have been unequaled, and will be fresh in my mind if I die of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 300.
So many people walked off the set in the middle of production, that they ended up hiring homeless people and crackheads off the streets of Hollywood to fill in the ranks. They probably even gave some of them lines. Half of the female cast were literally called into casting on the basis of spreads in JUGGS magazine. The writer, who later became a good friend of mine (before I knew he had written the thing), had played Mengele in SURF Nazis MUST DIE (one of my favorite, and the most depraved of all Troma films).
Jimmy Maslon, the producer, has a reputation as one of the cheapest and most thoughtless coke-head producers in Hollywood (he forgot to feed the zombies on so many occasions, that to keep the rest of us from walking off one day, he ran to the store and bought us some generic white bread and baloney, from which we made our own sandwiches).
And don't get me started about Jackie Kong. "The Dragon Lady," as she was known to all who worked with her, will have a special mention in the book.
Suffice to say, that she once spent six hours on a 2 minute dialogue scene, while her zombies were sitting around in cheap gel make-up, which had completely melted off our faces by the time we got around to our scenes.
All that said, it actually is a pretty funny movie. I don't think any of the actors realized it was going to be though. In fact, I don't think anybody did but the zombies, who were all wasted on weed and CLUB margaritas the whole time -hic- ;-)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Academy of Robots' Choice Awards Special (1998)
I'm sad :-(
God I miss MST 3000. -sniff sniff-.
Am I alone in this? With the state of "entertainment" today, with so much time wasted on Desperate Apprentice Survivors on Trial, there's a big Robot-shaped hole in our culture. They gave me a reason to get up on a Saturday morning. Now I don't even turn the TV on on the weekends. I Tivo a few things on basic cable, and with rare exceptions, delete them later. At least I get outside more. But I still have a whole library full of MST3Ks I taped during a period of several years, which I occasionally dust off, and after turning the crank on the old VCR, feed into my head like a video Quaalude.
Usually, Mike and the bots would make fun of older turkeys as they sat facing a "movie screen" like they were obnoxious adolescents in front of you in the theater. But occasionally they would do something more topical, like their "Little Gold Statue" special, or an awards show. This is one of those specials. In this one, they get a chance to stick it to the current ( at the time ) crop of losers. Lovingly, of course.
Sigh....
Alas, Mike and the bots never got to take on *Catwoman*
--jb