More sleep-deprived, uncontrollable Dark Knight Gushing

And more awesome: the trailer for Terminator 4



Aside from the fact that it appears to fit nicely with TSCC, these days, if Christian Bale's in it, I'm pretty much there.

Which segues neatly into more raving on Dark Knight, because it will be a while before I can shut up about how much I love this movie. And I realized just a bit ago that the reason I love this movie so much is because THIS is the movie I've been hoping and waiting for ever since I picked up my first Batman comic. Up until then, I had enjoyed the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton movies, and considered myself a fan based on those, but really, I had no idea.

Then, soon after my introduction to the comics, came the ground breaking Animated Series (and it's subsequent movies), and while it wasn't perfect, it was a hell of a lot closer to what Batman should be. That was also around the time that I became, more specifically, a JOKER fan. Mark Hamill's animated Joker was so very different from Jack Nicholson's live action version, and so very much BETTER. He's also still my favorite version of the Joker, ever. Sorry, Heath fans.

So I had reservations about this movie. When I first heard Heath Ledger was cast as my favorite character, my stomach sank. I couldn't even begin to picture it. Then, when the previews and photos began to circulate, I had mixed feelings. It looked like they were taking the Joker seriously. He wasn't going to be a cartoon character. He would obviously be closer to Hannibal Lecter than Cesar Romero. This was a very good thing. But the nitpicky fangirl in me couldn't help a little nerdgassing (^TM Scalzi). He's wearing makeup! The Joker doesn't wear makeup, his skin is bleached! What's with those scars? He's not supposed to have scars! Why aren't they just making The Killing Joke movie that I've been praying for ever since I read that graphic novel? WHY?

But then I talked myself down, and convinced myself that these things don't matter. The writing and the performance are what matters. And, well...

[OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING: The rest of this article will spoil you like Paris Hilton.]




...they had me at "...makes you stranger." Heath Ledger WAS the Joker, pure and simple. He was the embodiment of chaos for chaos' sake, the dim reflection in Batman's dark mirror, the illustration of what Bruce could have become if he zigged instead of zagged when confronted with tragedy. Where Bruce chose to grow stronger and fight the chaos, the Joker chose to give in and embrace it. He's Batman's shadow, and they can't exist without each other. This movie captured that better than I ever hoped. And this Joker was terrifying, and unpredictable, and charismatic, and FUNNY! Everything he should be. I was blown away.

And then, Harvey. My second favorite member of the Rogue's Gallery. The tragedy of his transformation into Two Face was played up so well. Harvey Dent the D.A. was portrayed so well by Aaron Eckhardt as an all-too-human hero, a flawed man who believed in doing the right thing, willing to sacrifice himself for it. But being forced to sacrifice the woman he loved was too much, and it was so believable, and so tragic, and I cried when I saw it coming, and I cried when Two Face woke up in the hospital, and again when he confronted Gordon, and I'm tearing up a little as I write this.

And then we got the nods to the two books that formed the basis of my personal definition of Batman and the Joker, with the rescue of James Jr. by Batman (Year One), and Joker's failed attempt to prove his point to Batman, that people in general are walking cesspools of self-interest bent on self-preservation at all costs; that the average person is as fragile and breakable as the Joker himself turned out to be. The boats-full of strangers he tested his theory on weren't nearly as heart-wrenching and effective as Gordon insisting on doing the right thing, in The Killing Joke, after being physically and psychologically tortured by the Joker; but it got the point across, and it showed how broken and bent the Joker really is, and it showed me that this film's creators get it, and I actually felt gratitude to them for giving me these versions of these characters.

Awesome. There's just no better word to sum it all up. I want to hold this movie tight and never let it go...except to give Batman a hug, because he really needed one by the end.

This week is full of awesome!

On a personal level, it's been not so awesome and hella stressful and exhausting, hence the not blogging. But thankfully the entertainment sector chose this week to dump a whole bunch of awesome sauce all over the internet and movie theaters.

First, The Dark Knight, because I'm still fairly fresh from the midnight showing. It's... I have so much to say about this movie, and yet I'm speechless. I think I need to see it five or six more times to fully process it. ;) But I think it's safe to call this the Empire Strikes Back of the new Batman movie franchise. Its hype is well deserved.

And as if that wasn't enough awesome packed into two and a half hours, this premiered before the movie started:



There is not enough squee in the world.

But that's partly because so much of the squee is reserved for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! Maybe it's because it's been so long since we've had any fresh live-action Whedony goodness, but just thinking about what I've seen of this so far fills me with indescribable glee. And I've had the chorus of "Stop the World" playing constantly in my brain for the last 48 hours. If, like me, you have a burning need to learn every song by heart, this person has been kind enough to transcribe the entire thing.

Go watch Act I!

Then go watch Act II!

You'll have to wait till Saturday to catch the third and final act, and then it will all be taken down Sunday night, which is where the awesomeness ends for me, what with not having good access on weekends. It will be released on DVD, so I'll get to see it eventually, but waiting till Saturday was going to be hard enough, and I'll likely be pouting all weekend over its being taken down so soon.

I guess I'll just have to go see The Dark Knight again to take my mind off of it. Damn!

Movies, and etc.

Only a few weeks ago I was in such a fantastic mood, feeling girly and pretty and wanting to take the time to dress myself up with coordinated outfits and accessories and makeup and hair curled just so, and it was fun and I felt fabulous. And then death and illness and one rainy, stormy week after another, I'm back to can't-be-bothered mode: hair out of my face, clothes that are clean and don't clash, and I don't stink. This is my current standard for leaving the house.

I took slightly more care with my appearance when we went out Friday to see Iron Man, mainly for my husband's sake, and for the sake of not scaring away his friend. Though, honestly, I don't think either of them noticed or cared. Boys.

The movie was every bit as much fun as all of the reviews I'd read led me to expect, and will be a keeper once it hits DVD. Even though it has Gwyneth in it. Gwyneth generally bugs, but she didn't in this movie. At any rate, this movie made me care about Iron Man/Tony Stark, which is something no comic or animated series has ever been able to accomplish. And now I'm really looking forward to the Avengers movie.

Also looking forward to, based on previews shown before the movie (minus Indy and Batman, because those are a given): The Incredible Hulk, which I didn't even know about until a week ago, and looks about a million times better than the first movie; The Happening - it looks scary, and I loves me some M. Night (yes, even The Village and Lady In the Water), and although I could do without his propensity to play key characters in his own movies (Hitchcockian cameos are one thing; see: Stan Lee, but, c'mon.), the trailer instilled a NEED to know what THE HAPPENING is.

I guess all of this is to say that I'm back. Actually, I think it mainly says that I'm a great big dork. But also that I'm back. Hi.

Quickly, before I have to race the sleet and snow home

Links of interest on this dreary Monday morning:

This is quite possibly the neatest web design in the history of web designs.

This free online Tales of the Slayer comic by Drew Goddard is pretty funny. Lo, the spider-eating man-bitch returneth.

Elsewhere in the galaxy of Buffy alumni, Amber Benson directed a Common Rotation video.

Giving away books online seems to be all the rage these days: Go and read Neil Gaiman's American Gods for free.



In Which I Rant About This Year's "Best Picture"

We used my Friday off to finally see No Country for Old Men. The consensus between me, Husband, and Husband's friend: Eh? It felt like two different movies mashed together. One was a quiet little introspective film about growing old while the world changes around you and you feel helpless to stop it, and in the middle of this somebody plopped the first two-thirds of a really kick-ass action/thriller. We loved the action/thriller part--and Javier Bardem definitely earned that Oscar. That guy was CREE. PEE.--that got us all worked up and invested in Josh Brolin's character and his plight, only to have it end abruptly, any resolution having happened off-screen and returning to the introspective old man movie, which also ended abruptly, and pretty much left the three of us sitting there going, "What the eff was that?" That said, the acting, cinematography, dialogue, etc. were all excellent. But I have many, many issues with the story structure and pacing, and I feel like the intent was to play around with story structure in unexpected ways for the sake of ART, at the audience's expense, and really, I can't stand that crap. I want a resolution to my story. What's more, I want a resolution to the story I spent almost two hours getting really invested in. I want characters that exist for more than the sake of getting killed in shocking and violent ways. I don't want to be jerked around and left feeling like I just had my lunch money stolen. Boo, Cohen brothers. Boo.

There are no vikings here.

Sugar Shock! Part 3: The Greatest Story Ever Blogged.

If you need catching up on this awesome and hilarious web comic by some guy whose name I forget...something like Josh Sweden? Anyway. Here's part 1. And here's part 2.

I want a No Vikings tee-shirt.

Issue #2 of Sugarshock is up! In case you've forgotten about it, this is Joss Whedon's non-Buffy, non-Firefly, non-X-Men, totally original and HIGH-larious online comic. The first issue, if'n you missed it, is here.

Angel: After the Fall Sneak Peek

Brian Lynch posted a spoilerific panel from Angel: After the Fall #1 at Myspace. It's a great big "casting" spoiler, so be warned and stay away if you want to be surprised.

Eeeeeee!

Wee little puppet Spike!

Brian Lynch, author of various recent Spike comics and of the upcoming Joss-produced, in-canon, post-season-five Angel: After the Fall maxi-series, has posted an example of how to write a script for comics, using a page from Shadow Puppets as an example.

Two things: 1.) Awesome, because I still have a deep-seated desire to write for comics someday, and 2.) now I must get Shadow Puppets. Hee!

Spoiler alert! There's a line from After the Fall at the tail end of the entry. It's not a very revealing line, but now you can't say I didn't warn you.

New (and unexpected) Whedon-y Comic Goodness!

In case you need any more reasons to love Joss Whedon: Sugar Shock! Battle Royale With Cheese. Delicious Joss-y banter at its finest.

From Comic Book Resources:

"Dark Horse Presents," the seminal indie comics anthology that launched not just countless comics careers but one of the industry's most important publishers, is returning after a seven year absence in the form of an online series on social networking giant MySpace. Just as the original print form of "DHP" nurtured new talents and creator-owned properties, so too is the goal with the new project, officially called "MySpace Dark Horse Presents."

...

Every digital issue of "MySpace Dark Horse Presents" will feature at least one story created or co-created by someone discovered on MySpace. "Every issue except #1," Scott Allie said, "because, frankly, it didn't make sense to let a newbie in on our biggest secret of the year. We needed to focus on our already trusted partners."

And it's all for free, too.

Fannish tidbits

@ Buffy Singalong this weekend! Yippee! I am, however, kicking myself, because I knew about it months ago, but didn't order tickets right away because A) I was hoping I could convince some friends to come with us and B) I was afraid my husband would change his mind about going. And then I forgot about the whole "needing to buy tickets" part. When I finally remembered and went to buy the online the other day, the 10:00 PM showings on both nights were sold out. So we're going to a midnight showing. Husband is most displeased. He still says he's going, though, 'cause he's all wonderful like that.

@ I ordered my copy of Deathly Hallows, and thanks to a free trial of Amazon Prime, it should arrive tomorrow. I'm still going to try to hold out until I'm done re-reading the other books, though. I'm enjoying reading about Harry's early, more innocent days with the bittersweet knowledge of what's in store for him, but without the ultimate knowledge of how it will all end for him. So long as I manage to stay unspoilt. *knocks MDF*

@ I think I saw somewhere that Buffy: S8 #5 actually ships this week, which would mean it's out today and waiting for me at my comic shop as I type this. I should probably look into that.

@ I haven't had time for a review, but I did watch Dr. Who this weekend. Can I just say that I love Ten? Because I do. He's made of awesome.

@ I caught a new TV spot for Moonlight the other day that showed a little more promise than what I'd seen previously. Greenwalt's influence was coming through loud and clear. That can only be a good thing.

@ My mom just agreed to switch back to Dish Network in exchange for two free DVRs, one of which she'll let us have in our apartment. No more having to share the downstairs TiVo and camp out down there to catch up on my shows on Saturday mornings. This makes it very tempting to scrap that whole "moving to Tulsa" plan and just stay put. Yes, we're cramped and we have no kitchen and the commute is hellish and expensive. But my very own free TiFaux! Priorities, people!

The Long Way Home

With the first four-issue story arc out of the way, Pink Raygun recaps and reviews Buffy: Season 8 so far. It's a pretty positive, occasionally gushy review, and a good recap if you can't bring yourself to pick up a comic but would like to know what's going on in the Buffyverse these days. I only have two nits to pick: one, I'm pretty sure the spell on Willow and Kennedy that was referenced was when Amy turned Willow into Warren, and not something more recent; and two, I take exception to the statement that Willow is everybody's favorite character. I know too many Willow haters for that to be true. I only find her mildly irritating, myself.

I read issue #4 the weekend after it came out, and I'm not sure how it escaped mention here. My review can pretty well be summed up in two words:

Like, whoa.

I have plenty more to say, of course, but it's all spoilery, so I'll keep it in the comments. Feel free to join me there.

~~~

Unrelatedly, out of curiosity I checked The Wayback Machine to see if any of my old blog designs were still up, and they are. Including this one, my personal favorite, which just might enjoy a comeback if I can figure out how to convert it to New Blogger format. I'm pretty fond of this one, too, for its cheery colorfulness and simplicity. It's just nice to be reminded that I used to actually know a thing or two about web design. I miss Web 1.0.

Weekend Pop Culture Roundup, Part 1: The Non-TV Bits

In theaters: Mama Mia! - this would be in the actual theater, pronounced "thee-ah-tah" if you're kind of pretentious. I love this show like I love Abba, which is an unabashed lot. This is the second time I've seen it, and I think I liked this cast better, and not just because the male lead reminded me a heckuva lot of Nathan Fillion. I thought the actress playing Sophie had both a better voice and more chemistry than in the last production I saw, plus, not to imply she had anything but a lovely figure, but I appreciated that she wasn't a twig.

On Netflix: Near Dark - yes, I thought of Nathan Petrelli the entire time I watched this, because it's not as if Adrian Pasdar has had a long and varied career in between now and when this movie first came out. Even so, I started to get the sense that he's getting typecast: likeable, well-intentioned guy with understandable aspirations (getting laid, becoming president... same difference [insert your own Clinton joke here]) gets in over head with evil, murderous group who wants to make him a pawn; he doesn't really want to go along with it, but he doesn't exactly stand up to the bad guys, either, at least until his family becomes threatened. Yes, methinks Pasdar had some prior experience at playing that role. But besides that, Bill Paxton is cheesier and more over-the-top than ever in this movie, and I can't help loving it.

Croupier - this one was a pick from Matt's queue. Clive Owen stars as a writer turned blackjack dealer who's really researching a book, except that secretly he really wants to be dealing, and he almost unknowingly sleeps with his step-mom-to-be... or something. Clive Owen is pretty. That's what I mostly remember. That, and he needs to give The Edge back his hat.

In comics: - I'm slowly but surely catching up on Astonishing X-Men. I read #s 16 and 17, and so far, I'm with Kitty: "YeahbuhWHA?" I need to track down issues 18-20 so I can understand what the heck is going on. What I can say for sure is that I adore Joss's treatment of Wolverine, and also that he's made me love Kitty almost as much as Buffy. And, I hope Emma's not really evil, and has a good excuse.

Fan-girly

All of my Buffy: Season 8 fangirl squee is hidden in the comments, so as to protect the virgin eyes of those who have yet to read it.

Die Bunny Die

I spent my allotted novel-writing time this morning working out the next chapter, since the turn the last chapter took kind of screwed up that part of my outline. I think I know what needs to happen in it now, but I need to let it stew a bit longer before I commit to it.

I'm ten chapters in now on the total rewrite. As progress goes, that's not too shabby.

Part of what's slowing me down today is that I finally got around to reading the new Buffy: Season 8 comic, thoughts on which I'll elaborate in the comment thread a bit later, and now my head is full of fic bunnies. Kill them! Kill the bunnies! No fanfic! Die!

*ahem*

As for the rest of my day, I really need to concentrate on my actual job. I've been slacking off on anything job-related that doesn't require immediate attention, and things are noticeably piling up, so it's time to roll up my sleeves and get back on top of it all. I need to find some good podcasts to get me through the mindlessness of logging my files. Anybody got any recs?

Oh Buffy Squee, How I've Missed Thee

TV Guide has a new interview with Joss Whedon. I haven't had time to read it yet, but I think it's safe to assume it has spoilers for Astonishing X-Men and various other projects, including and especially Buffy Season Eight.

From the latter there is also artwork and full pages from the first issue written by Joss himself. The lettering is teeny and tiny and almost impossible to read on a screen, but somebody over at Whedonesque went to the trouble of transcribing the dialogue and making it legible. It's pretty spoilery, but I will say this: at least one of my fics and everything that upset me about a certain S5 AtS episode has now been Jossed by a single throwaway line. You have to scroll through the comments if you want to see what I'm talking about. The squee, she is restored.

And it has to wait until March! Grrr, arrgh indeed!

The comments section of this post is reserved for discussion of The Spoiler In Question, so join me in there if you want to share my squee.

Squee!