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Review: THE DARK KNIGHT / Christopher Nolan (2008)

July 18th, 2008 by Scott Marks

The Dark Knight (2008)
Directed by: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan &
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhall, Morgan Freeman and Eric Roberts
Running Time: 142 min.
Aspect Ratio:

Rating: ★★★☆☆

As summer thrill rides go, it’s certainly not boring and it’s a helluva lot smarter, better put together and infinitely more watchable than Speed Racer, Indiana Jones and Hancock combined. Yet after a two-and-a-half hour trip to Gotham City, Illinois, there are these quiet feelings of indifference that are hard to buck.

With the exception of some of The Joker’s (Heath Ledger) elastic outbursts, the film takes itself far too damn seriously. Christopher Nolan has no sense of humor. I’m not asking for another helping of Tim Burton’s bat guano, the always “Socko” Adam West or, dare I mention, Joel Schumacher’s gay Ice Capades, but lighten up, Chris! This is a comic book tale about a pent-up millionaire playboy who likes to spend his evenings dressed in a latex bat costume beating guys up. Add Robin and a couple of bat poles to slide down and they could call the third installment Rough Trade. Come to think of it, maybe Joel Schumacher did have the right idea.

There were a couple of red flags in the film’s opening bank robbery sequence. After a traditional “hit the deck” spray of bullets to announce his presence, The Joker wraps a patron’s hands around a grenade and pulls the pin. What’s to stop this hapless victim from throwing it back in the Joker’s direction the minute his back is turned? (We later find out that Gotham City is loaded with makeshift vigilantes.) The same goes for bank manager William Fitchner who has a gas cannister shoved in his mouth. The detonator pin is strung to the bumper of the getaway car, and instead of spitting the smoking cylinder across the room (and possibly saving his skin) he opts for a lecture on morality as the Joker hits the accelerator.

***SPOILERS AHEAD!!!***

Continue reading Review: THE DARK KNIGHT / Christopher Nolan (2008)

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Oscar Show rundown, complete and timed to the second!

February 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks

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I don’t know when or how, but some time during tonight’s
broadcast, there will be Hope!

Want to know the perfect time to throw a bag of corn in the microwave or pay a visit to the commode during Hollywood’s yearly reenactment of the Bataan death march? Here’s your blow-by-blow breakdown of tonight’s festivities.

Looks like there will be no Irving Thalberg award (never liked him anyway after what he did to the Marx Bros.) or a Jean Hersholt giveaway for that matter. There is buzz about Nicole Kidman paying tribute to either Sydney Pollack and/or Heath Ledger, but nothing is confirmed. The only honorary award will go to production designer par excellence Robert Boyle.

The show starts at 5:30 (PT). The picture runs three hours and twenty-nine minutes (giver or take a commandment); there will be many intermissions.

I want to thank all of you who read Emulsion Compulsion on a daily basis. I love everybody! Gotta’ go…the red light is blinking. (Blows kisses to audience.)

OPENING MONOLOGUE: 6 minutes

AWARD #1: COSTUME DESIGN
Jennifer Garner: 5:50 PM (PT)

AWARD #2: ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway

AWARD #3: MAKEUP
Katherine Heigl: 5:57

BATHROOM BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #1 :6:03:09
“Happy Working Song” 2:07
Amy Adams-vocs, orchestra

AWARD #4: VISUAL EFFECTS
Dwayne Johnson: 6:09

AWARD #5: ART DIRECTION
Cate Blanchett: 6:13

Laughter ensues when Jon Stewart jokes about Blanchett’s double nomination as Queen Elizabeth and Bob Dylan.

AWARD #6: ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Hudson: 6:18

PRESENTER INTRO PERFORMANCE
Keri Russell: 6:27

POPCORN BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #2: 6:27
“Raise It Up”
Jamia Simone Nash, Impact Repertory Theatre of Harlem, Total Praise Community Choir, Orchestra

AWARD #7: LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Owen Wilson: 6:30

AWARD #8: ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Barry B. Benson: 6:36

AWARD #9: ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin: 6:39

SCI-TECH AWARDS RECAP
Jessica Alba: 6:49:20

AWARD #10: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
James McAvoy, Josh Brolin: 6:50

PRESENTER INTRO PERFORMANCE
Future Oscar winner Miley Cyrus: 6:57:38

PHONE BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #3: 7:00
“That’s How You Know”
Kristin Chenoweth-vocals, Dancers, Marlon Saunders-singer, Steel Drummer, Kids, Tuba Players, Chorus

AWARD #11: SOUND EDITING
For you youngsters in the audience, Jonah Hill & Seth Rogen: 7:06

AWARD #12: SOUND MIXING
More with Jonah Hill & Seth Rogen: 7:09

AWARD #13: ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Forest Whitaker: 7:15

SMOKE BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #4: 7:27:43
“Falling Slowly”
Glen Hansard-vocals, guitar, Marketa Irglova-vocals, piano

Jack Nicholson to present a montage of Best Picture winners over the last 80 years.

AWARD #14: FILM EDITING
Renée Zellweger: 7:33

HONORARY OSCAR TO ROBERT BOYLE
Nicole Kidman, Randy Thomas, Robert Boyle: 7:38

AWARD #15: FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Penélope Cruz: 7:47

PRESENTER INTRO PERFORMANCE (Patrick Dempsey)

OXYGEN BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #5: 7:54:46
“So Close”
Jon McLaughlin-vocals, Featured Dancers, Ballroom Dancers , Band Member Extras, Bill Conti

AWARD #16: ORIGINAL SONG
John Travolta, Ballroom Dancer-Valentina: 7:55

AWARD #17: CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cameron Diaz: 8:04

IN MEMORIAM TRIBUTE (3:00)
Hilary Swank: 8:11

AWARD #18: ORIGINAL SCORE
Amy Adams: 8:15

AWARD #19: DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Tom Hanks and Special Guests: 8:19

AWARD #20: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Tom Hanks: 8:22

AWARD #21: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Harrison Fordz-z-z-z-z-z: 8:30

AWARD #22: ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Helen Mirren: 8:37

AWARD #23: DIRECTING
Martin Scorsese!: 8:47

AWARD #24: BEST MOTION PICTURE
Denzel Washington: 8:49

GOODNIGHTS 8:53:49 (Jon Stewart)

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Joker 2 Joker: Jack Nicholson “warned” Heath Ledger

January 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks

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Notorious party-hound Jack Nicholson doling out advice on how to walk the straight and narrow is like Brando telling James Dean to see a psychiatrist.

According to the Daily Mail, “A revealing – if ambiguous - comment made by Jack Nicholson hints he was aware Ledger was battling personal demons. The acting veteran, who played the Batman’s most famous Joker, said in London: “‘I warned him.’”

It appears as though the official cause of death will be “the Joker.” In November Ledger declared himself exhausted and desperately in need of sleep while filming the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. The actor was eating sleeping pills to catch up on his rest after the grueling shoot. Ledger had never taken on such a dark role and even Nicholson warned him of the pitfalls involved in playing such a complex character.

I thought it was called acting where one picks up an enormous paycheck in exchange for a little make believe. How mentally exhausting can it be? It’s a fricking comic book character, not a Bin Laden biopic. You didn’t see a consummate professional like Cesar Romero behaving this way.

“This is not a tough job. You read a script. If you like the part and the money is O.K., you do it. Then you remember your lines. You show up on time. You do what the director tells you to do. When you finish, you rest and then go on to the next part. That’s it.” - Robert Mitchum

You’d have to be a Hope-less, violently insane psychopath to let the Joker get to you.

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THE BUCKET LIST / Rob Reiner (2007)

December 21st, 2007 by Scott Marks

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The Bucket List (2007)
Directed by Rob Reiner
Written by Justin Zackham
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd & Rob Morrow
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The letter in the FedEx bag filled with Warners and Full Focus screeners cautioned me against loaning or giving away my copies of the advance DVDs. Do they think a guy that loves movies as much as I do wants to see an industry reduced to opening night premieres on TV monitors or iPhone screens? That’s called television, not movies.

Anyone who pirates first run features for cheap imbeciles to watch on their computer equipment, thus stealing revenue from the industry I so dearly love, should be put hunted down and put to death while their family is forced to look on.

Normally, I set the screeners aside until I have a chance to see the film where it belongs, projected on the big screen. This is Rob Reiner. What chances were there that it would lose and cinematic voltage on my 35-inch Sony?

It’s a goddamned cancer travelogue.

The richest man in the world (Jack Nicholson) and an average Joe (Morgan Freeman) meet in a cancer ward owned by the former.

Initially the two don’t hit it off, but after weeks of sharing a room together, surly Jack thaws and decides to do a good deed by making Freeman’s “bucket list” come true. (A “bucket list” consists of things you never had a chance to do before you kick the bucket.)

For the first thirty minutes, I was convinced that this was based on a two character play set entirely in a hospital room. No such luck. What starts as acerbic and perhaps even a bit insightful soon gives way to a travelogue that would make the folks at Hallmark greeting cards stand up and cheer.

With “f.u.” money to burn, the boys leave their hospital beds in search of a slam-bang final chapter to their lives. From Tibet to the Taj Majal and Singapore our terminally ill twosome embark on an all access, picture postcard world tour that would have a dizzying effect on the similarly booked-to-capacity travelers in Les Blank’s contemptuous documentary Innocents Abroad. (It would make a great double bill with The Bucket List, particularly if it was the first feature and you decided to kick The Bucket.)

Freeman’s character is happily married and the film never quite comes to terms with why, in his last months alive, he decides to abandon his loving family in favor of globe trotting with a cranky billionaire.

A one-woman man, when the topic of getting some strange before he exits comes up, Freeman politely declines. Even the advances of a beautiful woman (a hooker bankrolled by Jack) fail to get Freeman’s attention. He obviously loves his wife. Why would he want to spend his remaining time anywhere but in her company?

Both of the actors are superb, and while I’d hesitate to peg this as material Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau would have turned down (I suffered through Out to Sea and The Odd Couple II), it comes close to that type of cutesy, doddering entertainment bound to sell a boatload of senior tickets.

Nicholson hasn’t been in a thoroughly satisfying film in ages. The Two Jakes instantly compensated for Batman’s hambone mugging and it’s been downhill ever since. Over the years he’s shown a commendable allegiance to directors who did him justice, particularly Mike Nichols and Bob Rafelson. Wolf lacked the bite of Carnal Knowledge and both Man Trouble and Blood and Wine were miscalculations at best. A sequel to Terms of Endearment was unthinkable.

Jack must have been feeling sentimental when Rob Reiner (who directed Nicholson to an Oscar nomination in A Few Good Men) called. His Batman-esque funny faces and arm flailing in The Departed were as much a deterrent as Marty’s lazy direction. And how humiliating must it have been for the Academy to slight Jack in favor of Marky Mark? It was time to return to the safety of a sitcom actor turned big screen sitcom director and the potential of Oscar that it offers.

The role fits Nicholson better than the hospital gown his gut wrestles with for the first third of the picture. Something tells me that when Jack’s partied-out lungs finally give out and it’s time to dig a hole, every entertainment program in the know universe will lead with clips from this movie.

Still, one must see everything with Jack Nicholson or Morgan Freeman in it. Unfortunately this turned out to be the film that stars both.

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Jack Nicholson asked to take over Bob Hope golf tourney

November 17th, 2007 by Scott Marks

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In an interview with Golf Digest (I subscribe), Jack Nicholson reveals that he was asked to take over The Bob Hope Desert Open. 

“I tell ‘em I’m too expensive for television. I discussed taking over (Bob Hope’s golf) tournament … but I backed off. It was one of those things that sounds good until you realize how much would be involved in actually doing it.”

Sadly, no one informed The Departed star that the NBC brass had him confused with Jack Nicklaus.

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