The Dark Knight Rises. There be SPOILERS here.

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

Google "Dreamscape 1984"

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

It's not a "shot" per se. You're not the first to make the distinction. It's a common one. Hell, even Roger Ebert judges films on what their intent was. So "The Change-Up" is evaluated differently than "The Tree of Life."

But I still don't think that you, as a director, get to shirk on basic elements of storytelling because you're being graded on a curve.

Plus, I think a lot of posters here and particularly people at large think that "Inception" is a film achievement on par with the great ones. That's kind of embarrassing.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

Google "Nightmare on Elm Street."

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

I didn't find Dom Cobb well-developed at all. I felt like the kids and wife were tossed in there to give the silly plot some kind of stakes. Those aspects of the story and his character did not feel organic whatsoever with the story. Just pick a couple cliches to give a character false depth, like giving the bad guy a pet dog.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

I do think that "Titanic" had value because of the faithful recreation of a spectacular historical event that occurred off camera. It matters that it was before CGI altered our perception of what is possible to accomplish on film.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

The "film versus movie" thing is just short-hand, to me. It boils down to movies that have something to say, or are at least trying to say something, versus movies that're purely entertainment.

The part of "The Dark Knight" that I really enjoyed, as far as what I do think was some decent character development, was the job Nolan did with Harvey Dent's transformation into Two Face. I think Aaron Eckhart's contribution to that movie is under-valued, though Heath Ledger of course did the most stand-out work as the Joker. The Two Face story is one I just find intriguing in general, though.

I'm very interested to see what Nolan makes of Catwoman for this reason.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

Don't you think this can be a false dichotomy? Movies that have something to say can be very entertaining. I find them far more entertaining than movies that don't. And movies that are "purely entertainment" are not very entertaining to me when there is no character development and a thin plot that doesn't have internal consistency or logic.

I have made my case against "Inception" on here, on this thread and others. I have yet to hear the convincing case made in favor of it. I hear that it's "creative." And "groundbreaking." And "had something to say." But little in the way of specifics. What did it have to say? What was so innovative? A movie about dreams? Really?

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

I am not one of "Inception's" defenders, though I did enjoy it. It entertained me, plain and simple. I think it played around with some interesting stuff about the nature of reality and our perception of it as something we create, but its ideas don't hold up for me under scrutiny. As far as Nolan is concerned, I think he got a much better handle on both character development and executing the emotional themes in the script in "The Dark Knight."

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

Dick, if 'Inception' was confusing maybe it didn't have enough exposition, or the exposition wasn't on-the-nose enough.

I thought 'Inception' was an alright movie. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the Batman remakes.
I'm not going nuts about any of them.
I loved 'Memento, and I really liked 'The Prestige.'
Movies are artisanship, not art.

I don't see how James Cameron is being compared to people of the caliber of Scorcese or the Coen brothers.
You can't argue substance over spectacle yet laud Cameron. He's all spectacle.

And four years from now, they'll hire another a director, another actor and start again with the Batman origin story.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

The early trailers don't indicate she has much to do.

Hopefully that is intentional, to preserve some surprise value when the movie actually opens.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

Somebody said earlier that for all the hype The Dark Knight gets, Batman Begins holds up better. I agree. I still think it was the better movie. It was just such unique look at a familiar character and a part of his life that has been developed a lot less in other stories.

 

Re: The Dark Knight Rises

My understanding is that Nolan will still have a "consulting" role in the next version of Batman, and the new directors will not contradict or directly duplicate anything out of the Nolan movies. They won't refer directly to the Nolan films as "canon," but they won't do stuff that would violate what happened in those movies.

So you won't have Jack Napier (the Joker) killing Bruce Wayne's parents, another rehash of the origin story, Jim Gordon 40 years older than Bruce Wayne, Alfred feeble and near-senile, Alfred's daughter as Batgirl, etc etc.

It's important to know that the Joker is still alive in the Nolan continuity.

My bet is the next time the Joker appears in whatever version of the franchise, they will explain he has undergone severe chemical burns/discoloration/scarring in some kind of escape attempt (i.e. go back to the original Joker origin story) so he "looks nothing like he did a few years ago." He won't be greasepaint-and-stringy-haired like Ledger -- he will look more like "The Man Who Laughs."