This made my day! I love the Muppets. If you do too, there is an excellent episode of Geek Out Loud pertaining to the greatness that is the Muppets. It’s entitled “What The Hay? Make sure to check out the discussion.

Russ posted this on his tumbler site. It was too good and hit too close to home for me not to share this with you guys…..and girls……and the other demographics.

So it seems that the summer’s first Block Buster, Iron Man is the first to announce it’s release date to DVD. The DVD will drop September 30th on 2 Disc Special Edition, Blue-Ray, and Single Disc DVD. I really can’t wait for this release. I really regret not going to see it again in the theatre. I really hope it comes to our $1.50 theatre soon, because I don’t think I can wait to see it again until September.

As I sit here in my chair trying to figure out how to begin writing this review I can’t believe how fresh the images are in my mind. My experience has bled through the exhaustion of a late night and an early morning and has left me wanting to just sit back in my chair and play it over and over again in my mind. That being said, here….we…………go!

I promise there won’t be any spoilers in this review so this is safe for everyone to read. If anyone is interested in discussing specific things, please feel free to start a discussion in the comments.

Lets start from the top. Despite all the hype, the viral marketing, the acting, the visuals, there was one thing I was worried about going into this movie, and that was the plot. There are many ways you can succeed in a movie but if the story sucks you’re dead before you even get started. There are a lot of movies out there that are visually stunning, but as shallow as a mud puddle. The Dark Knight with all it’s focus on The Joker and a new suit for the Batman, the plot could’ve easily been left wanting by these distractions. After seeing the movie, this just isn’t the case. The plot is deep, not just for a comic book movie but for any movie. The social questions the Joker drudges up are legitimate, and work well as his driving force. The juxtaposition of The Joker, Harvey Dent, and the Batman is really the heart of the movie. How they all see the city of Gotham and how to fix it, plays out as the overall objective of the film. There are even a few good twists and turns to keep you on your toes. The story really helped this movie become more than great.

Acting…..I know this is going to come off sounding like a broken record given the reviews that have already trickled out by the mainstream media but……..this is my blog and I can say what I want. Heath Ledger owned this movie. Never before have I been so delighted to hear a character speak but yet frightened at the same time. Simply brilliant. Heath Ledger commanded this movie. He took an iconic character like the Joker and changed him….forever. I really believe that this Joker will be the measuring stick for years to come. From his monologues to his magic trick (so great!!!!), the Joker held everyone’s focus hostage until he was finished with them. I mean this when I say, it really pains me that Heath Ledger didn’t live longer enough to see what greatness he created. How happy he has made millions of fanboys like me. Next in line for great acting chops is Sir Michael Caine! The man IS Alfred. He had so many great one liners, but at the same time had a lot of great advice for Master Bruce. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey “Two-Face” Dent was also perfect. I loved the way he handled both characters. He captured the characters well and did a great job staying true to the source material. Christian Bale once again proved that he is the best Batman. Not just because he wears the suit well, but he really gets Bruce Wayne. In the Batman films in the past, Bruce Wayne was an after thought to the story. It was really a relief that after all the hype about the Joker, that this was still a Batman movie. Bale didn’t let you forget about him. Something I should point out as well that was executed particularly well, is in this film Batman is depicted more as a detective than any other of the movies. A point somtimes overlooked when flesshing out the character for the silver screen. Nolan shows us the beginnings of Batman’s CSI methods. Maggie Gyllenhall breathed a little life back into Katie Holme’s wooden Rachel Dawes from the first Batman. She actually made me like the character. She gave her a little more sass or as the Joker would say, “a little fight in her”. Gary Oldman was great as usual. I can’t wait to see how his character develops as this franchise continues.

Overall this is hands down the best comic book movie ever made and will continue on as the measuring stick of how future movies will be made. It’s true what the Joker said. Nolan has changed things…forever. There’s no going back. He got everything right! The grit, the dark, the humor, the action, the development of the characters, and even managed to spit a little social message in there. The best part about the entire thing is that he did it all without smathering CGI all over the place. This was a very real feeling film despite it’s source material. If you can only see one movie for the rest of this year…see this one. 5 out of 5 Stars!

We now return you to your regular Man Of Steel material.

I first started writing about The Dark Knight almost a year ago. At the time I had heard whispers about the film. How Nolan was following through with his teaser at the end of Batman Begins, casting Heath Ledger as the Joker. I’ll admit, as much as I liked “10 things I hate about you”, I was a little more than skeptical about our Aussie broke back cowboy portraying the Clown Prince Of Crime. It seemed like a long shot, but at the same time, given Nolan’s track record, I trusted that he had his reasons. So then pictures started to surface of the new joker. I admit I was shocked! My mouth dropped open, and my attention had been grabbed by the possibility that this joker was going to be a real depiction of what the Joker would be like in the real world. Suddenly Batman ceased to lay flat on the comic book page. He had now become more real. For the die-hard fans this couldn’t have been more welcomed. The DC kids have been wating for their characters to be taken seriously, and Nolan’s Batman has made everyone sit at attention.

So here we are. Premiere night. All the posts and pictures on this blog have all lead up to this point. Tonight at 12:01am I will be seeing what has been THE most anticipated film for me in an IMAX theatre. I know this movie has been hyped as much as a movie can be, and that you would have to be pretty brave or just a complete tool, to leave the theatre thinking it was just OK, I’m going to give the movie it’s due justice. I’m going to forget what I have read, wrote, and seen prior and just watch and enjoy myself. I plan to give it a non-spoiler review like everyone in cyberspace has done already. As for the rest of you that read this blog and are sick of me talking about this movie, things will return to normal after the review, so bare with me.

For those of you seeing the movie tonight please come back and leave a comment on what you thought of the movie.

As you know we are just 3 days away from The Dark Knight. Needless to say there will be a lot of batman posts going on here. There might even be a little transformation on this blog (temporarily of course) leading up to the release. To start things off here is HBO’s first look at the Dark Knight. This includes some scenes never before seen in the trailer or the tv spots, so it’s worth a look.

So I was talking with my sister yesterday and she told me my blog was boring latley. That not everyone is as pumped about TDK as I am and that there are people that come to the blog that want to read about other topics. With that, I’ve decided to post something that has nothing to do with that movie…

So the best I can come up with topic wise, is what’s been going on with me. What things I have been doing. New things that I’m into etc. So in a sense this is more of an update post than anything. Probably the biggest thing as of late is that my wife just got a promotion! SHe is so awesome, in that she has worked very hard at her job to the point where I really think it started to effect her health. Well all her hard work has paid off and she has been told there is a “buzz” about her. That her efforts don’t go unnoticed within the company, hese the promotion. I am so proud of her. This promotion is really an answer to a lot of prayers.

In other news I have been giving some thought to teaching Graphic design part time in the fall. I know I have a full plate having a food time job already, but I really think teaching my craft would be a really fulfilling experience, but this is something I’m just kicking around. I haven’t even applied.

Some other things on my radar is of course the new iPhone 3G. The phone launches tomorrow and things are going to be insane at work. I’m really excited though. I really think people are going to have a good experience with the launch. The wife and I hope to get ours on Saturday if I’m not working.

Finally, as you know music is huge part of my life. I’m always on the lookout for the next great band. Thriving Ivory is definitely on heavy rotation this week. I highly recommend them. They are a mix between Silversun Pickups and The Fray. Trust me, great stuff.

So that’s it for now. I’ll try to post more regulerly and diversify things a bit more, if anything for my sister’s sake. I don’t want my readers to lose interest.

10 days…

17 Days…

Ummmmm Yeah…..I can’t wait any longer for this movie…I’m really thinking I need to tone it down a bit other wise there will be little left of a surprise for the actual film. Anyway, here is the link for the clips…..They are so beyond great!

h/t: IESB.net