Movie Madness
Despite having an insane week comprised of sick daughters and groomsman duties, I did have the opportunity to hang out with the Pajama Brother. Whenever my brother and I get to spend time together, it is usually spent either watching or discussing movies.
This weekend was no different. On Sunday afternoon/evening, the bro and I got out to our very own double-feature.
1::: at 4:40 p.m. on Sunday, we caught a matinée showing of Wanted, the most recent flick starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman.
Please believe me when I tell you that this. movie. rocks. A great adrenaline rush of a film. Oh, sure--I could poke some pretty large holes in the plot (the Loom Of Fate, for example), but that's not what made this movie great. This movie was fun because it had guns. Lots of guns. Remember The Matrix? Wanted employs a similar "bullet-time" effect.
While I am not a huge fan of Jolie, her character was something more of a supportive role to James McAvoy's. This made her much more tolerable. Bottom-line: Wanted is a popcorn-eating, Coca-cola sipping, shoot'em up movie that I'm guessing just about any guy's guy will enjoy.
2::: Following the violent escapades in Wanted, the Pajama Brother and myself hit College Avenue in State College, Pennsylvania for some dinner. We grabbed a quick bite at Five Guys and then it was back to the cinema. The 8:00 p.m. showing of The Dark Knight was packed. So packed that when we arrived back at the movieplex with our pre-paid tickets--20 minutes early--we were still some of the last people to enter the theater.
What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said? (and said very well, I might add)
I went into this movie thinking that it was going to be good--but I have to admit that I thought the media hype over Heath Ledger's performance was a bit too much. I thought, 'Oh sure, he's a good actor. But everyone is saying all of these great things because he passed away earlier this year.' I thought that all of the Oscar talk was premature and probably over-hyped.
Boy was I wrong.
Heath Ledger took this film to the next level. He was the Joker in this flick. Period. Ledger took elements of what we--the audience--knew of the Joker (from the TV series, comics and the Jack Nicolson variation) and combined them with his own brand of twisted dramatic characterization and troubled comedy. Blunt: the Joker is one f**ked up dude. Ledger really brought that out. If Ledger doesn't win an Oscar, I'll be shocked. And, I normally don't give a hoot about the Academy Awards.
Christian Bale was great as Batman (again), as was Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman ably played Lucious Fox once more (yes, in case you didn't notice, that was two movies with Morgan Freeman in one day. Love that dude). Aaron Eckhart played Harvey Dent/Two Face--and left me surprised at the end of the film (I won't say why as not to spoil anything).
The other notable item about The Dark Knight was it's running time: two hours, thirty minutes. Long. Friggin'. Movie. And I loved every minute of it.
3:: On Monday evening, after the Pajama Brother returned home from work, we watched Jumper on DVD. He owns the film and had been recommending it to me for some time--so we decided to fire up some oven pizza and watch. I don't have a lot to say about the film, except that it was entertaining. After watching The Dark Knight the day before, it was difficult to get truly excited about Jumper. All I can really say is that Hayden Christiansen surprised me with a moderately strong performance. After seeing him in Star Wars, Episodes II and III, I had my fears.
Now, if I could only score some tickets for Step Brothers...
