Chefelf.com Night Life: Jedi_Arco - Viewing Profile

It's officially on folks! WB has confirmed that they are beginning the pre-stages of the highly anticipated sequel to Batman Begins. The film is being directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan's brother and David Goyer. And the title you say? Why it's the name of the thread!

THE DARK KNIGHT

hehehe *giggles like a school girl*

So friggin' excited! Heath Ledger is now confirmed as Joker, Bale is back as Bruce/Batman, Micheal Caine as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman as Lucius Fox and Jim Gordon. The last two are not confirmed as yet, but they did sign multiple picture deals and are expected to return. The role of Penguin has also been offered to Phillip Seymore Hoffman (who I feel is inspired casting) but he has not yet accepted or declined the offer.

Thoughts about the title, casting, and everything in general. Shout it out people!

Let the countdown to "The Dark Knight" begin!!

Just saw Clerks II tonight and I must say I was pretty disappointed. Of course, this is a sequel to a film that didn't need or call for a sequel to begin with. There are funny moments throughout the film, but there are also tedious stretches of dialog between characters that just felt unnecessary. It also mirrors the first film in many scenes; I understand Smith's reason for doing this and it is a lot of fun to see them in similar situations (Dante ends up back on the rooftop in a very sweet scene) and it mostly works, but some of them just feel like he put them there to make you remember that this is a sequel to the first film (Randall and Dante up and leaving work in the middle of the day to do something completely unnecessary). It's very reminiscent of the way that Superman Returns mirrored scenes from the Donner movie and in both cases it just feels a little forced.

I also didn't like the way he chose to have Dante and Randal still stuck in dead end jobs, even after the events of the first Clerks. At the end of the first I was left with a feeling that everything was going to work out, and that they would eventually move on to something different and hopefully better, only to find that they are both still stuck, albeit in a different dead end job, with no prospects and still not happy. Ten years later. There is never any mention of Dante's previous girlfriends from the first film, he just pops up in this one engaged to some girl that was little miss popular in high school and that I don't remember being mentioned in the first movie.

I do still like Randal and Dante, but they just feel too old now to be bitching and complaining and they should've learned their lesson from the first Clerks. I like the new characters of Elias, the holy roller Christian boy that is the antithesis of Randal; Becca, played by Rosario Dawson does a great job in her role and I really really like her character a lot in this; and the future Mrs. Hicks, who is played well, but the character is just annoying, but I suppose that was her purpose as she represents exactly the wrong girl for Dante. Jay and Silent Bob are present . . . again . . . and they really have nothing new to add. And this is coming from a guy that loves Jay and Silent Bob; hell, I share my name with one of 'em. Silent Bob doesn't even add his usual sage-like wisdom to this entry, not that it would've helped a whole lot.

The pacing is slow in some spots, and in others too fast. My favorite parts of this movie mainly involve any scene with the characters of Elias and Becca. Elias is the "everydork" character that loves LOTR and Transformers, is a Jesus "freak" and a virgin. He must endure Randal everyday, and no matter how horribly he is treated by Randal he still wants to be liked, and be a friend, to him. He is lovable and sympathetic and by the end is accepted as a part of the team. Becca is great because I like her storyline. She's the girl that really wants Dante for Dante and doesn't want to change him like his fiance' does. I especially like this part of the story because I just recently went through a bad break-up (one I didn't want, by the way) and it connected with me because of that reason. She's the girl we're all hoping is out there for us. The one that appreciates us; the one we can be ourselves around; the one that loves us unconditionally.

Bottom line: If you loved Clerks., I don't know if you'll like this entry, to be honest. I found it lacking in a lot of areas and I was checking my watch some of the time. I also found myself cracking up at most of the jokes and situations, but the boring parts definitely outway the laughs. I may have liked this more had it not been called Clerks II, had a new cast of crazy characters, and just left the Clerks crew alone. Is it worth seeing? Yes, if you are a fan of View Askew movies and even then you may walk out a bit disappointed as I and my friends did. It's not something I plan on seeing again anytime soon or even buying on DVD at the moment. I'm glad I saw it, but I'm also glad I didn't pay for the ticket.

I give Clerks II a 6.5 out of 10 Not bad, but not great. Just meh.

Just out of curiousity, does anyone here think that "Pirates..." will be the box office champ for a third weekend in a row? It did over 60 million this weekend and broke yet another record, and I'm curious to know if anyone thinks it will be the number one movie again. I think it will be, but who knows.

The four films being released this weekend are:
1) Clerks 2
2) Lady in the Water
3) Monster House
4) My Super Ex-Girlfriend

I'm of the opinion that the "Pirates" train will keep chugging right along, but you never know. I'm done with it, for now, but is the rest of the general populace? If I were to take a gamble and pick one of the above to knock it off I'd say Monster House, if for no other reason than the fact that it is a family movie. It will draw kids, which will mean the parents have to take them, which means more box office revenue. Call me crazy, but I think Capt. Jack Sparrow and co. will take the top prize again this weekend.

Oh, and I plan on seeing all four of the above. I'm crazy like that.



*And, as an aside, will Superman Returns even be on the top 10 this coming weekend, or will it get completely bumped off? It barely managed to hold onto the 4th place spot with "The Devil Wears Prada" hot on it's heels. Will it stay on the 10 list? And if it does, what place will it be?

Please... do not see Superman Returns.

I have a full review coming soon. I'm currently out of state and am relying on the wifi connection on my bro's laptop not giving out, so the review may take a couple of days. That and the fact that I have to let the utter disappoitment that is Superman Returns settle in my brain a bit.

Suffice it to say that Superman Returns is a waste of time and money. I do not recommend this movie to anyone. And this is coming from someone that was very interested in this film from a long time ago. Someone that tried to shoot down the naysayers and look for hope no matter what I heard. I was wrong. I went into this film hopeful and determined to give it a chance. I wasn't going in completely blind though. And my expectations weren't too high, since I didn't want to be let down.

It was a pointless effort. This film is a waste. I'll go into more later, as I'm tired from driving and it's late and the wifi might decide to disconnect me at any moment, but please don't see this movie. If you decide you must, buy a ticket for Cars or Nacho Libre or some other movie and sneak into Superman. I garauntee you'll want to walk out after the first hour and a half or so.

More coming soon.

Just heard the news that the Omen is now the record holder for largest Tuesday opening ever! Now, I am in the middle of doing a review for this.. ah screw it, I'll just post it. It's nowhere nearly as large as the X-Men one.

Okay, so I have seen the original but it's been awhile. But I can tell you this: if you've seen the original, it's not worth seeing this. The classic film is much better than this remake. If you haven't seen the classic, go rent it! It's a better movie.

My biggest problem with this remake is that it's almost a carbon copy of the original. It's walking that fine line set down by the Psycho remake from a few years back. The one that was done shot for shot, scene for scene, line for line, and even had the director make a cameo in the same scene as Alfred Hitchcock himself. The Omen was very close to doing that. Sure, the settings were larger, the technology newer, and alot more of the steady-cam and blurry action set pieces that so many Hollywood directors feel the need to include in pictures today are present.

The direction was just okay for me. Too many static camera shots; too much steady cam. This is a classic form of horror where it's all story and character driven, it's not a bunch of kids running scared with a maniac chasing them down. The idea is supposed to scare us, not the quick camera. I'm not saying there weren't some scary moments, there were. I actually jumped once or twice.

The deaths are straight out of the original, so if you've seen it there's nothing new here. Nanny hangs herself at the birthday party; priest is killed by a pipe from the top of the church; photographer turned ally is decapitated.. however, the decapitation in the original looks SO MUCH BETTER in the original than this one! Give me good 'ol fashioned fx over the new digital stuff today.

The cast is just okay for me, which is unfortunate because I like the entire cast. I have to blame the director for this because these actors are usually so much better. Liev Schreiber is one of the best male leads in Hollywood right now, but he never exudes that stern and hard hero that Gregory Peck did in the same role 30 years ago. And poor Julia Stiles. She is usually such a strong actress, and she just came off so bad in this for me. The only really stand out roles are Pete Postlethwaite as the Priest that tries to help Liev's character and Michael Gambon as the crazy priest near the end. Dumbledore totally got the shaft! Mia Farrow is great too as the evil nanny, but she's not in it enough to save it for me.

And the kid.... didn't like him at all. He walks around the whole movie with the same stupid look on his face, which I guess is supposed to come off as creepy, but just feels dumb. I mean, it's not scary if he does it through the whole damn film! Again, I blame the director, not the actor.

Overall, it was just okay. If you really want to see it I won't say don't go. It's a film to see if you really want to see something at the theatre. If you just want to see The Omen and have a good scare, rent the original!! It's a better film, and you can own it for a little more than the price of an admission ticket to the new one, and watch it as many times as your heart desires.

Bottom line: Buy or rent the original. Better cast; better director; better creepy kid. If you just have to see a movie in the theatre, and you can't wait for Cars (a movie that will be the biggest box office money maker of the summer, mark my words) then go ahead and check this out. Just be ready to twist in your seat a couple times because it does drag in spots.

I have to give The Omen 2006 a 6.5 out of 10. Not great, but not horrible.