What's Up With Superheroes (And Super-Villains)? Or: The Birth Of A New Genre...

Have the bad guys taken over?

Over at Vanity Fair, Julian Sancton has an analysis of why superhero movies are so hot lately entitled 'Why America Worships Superheroes'. One of the most interesting things about his write-up is the inclusion of The Joker from 'The Dark Knight' in the photo used to illustrate the piece. Joker, of course, is not a superhero but a super-villain. Of the four characters in the photo, the only one that isn't a superhero is The Joker. More to the point, conspicuously missing from the photo is...Batman.

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Dark Knight In IMAX

Here's a tidbit. NYT has an audio slideshow with Christopher Nolan re: shooting the action sequences of 'The Dark Knight' with IMAX cameras.

Cha-Ching

Variety is saying 'The Dark Knight' will finish the weekend with $155.4 million. That's what I predicted. (Actually I said $155 million -- I wanted to go with the exact $155.4 [I did. I know it sounds dumb to say that now, but...], however I thought it was just too too to guess down to that level).

"My, my. Perhaps we should have a parade," Joker seems to be saying with his oh so sarcastic applause.

If only I could be that accurate all the time...

Nolan Talks About The Dark Knight, And The Joker

The Dark Knight director, Christopher Nolan, talks with Robert Siegel:

"Really, we wanted him to be the most frightening possible version of this character, the sort of edgiest possible,"

"What Heath had to do -- and I think he did it in a really incredible way -- is he had to balance the need for The Joker to be an iconic presence, but be a human being and be somebody that you can listen to and believe," Nolan says.

NPR has the interview here.

Last Minute Shopping

I'm not what you'd call a fanboy. When I was a kid I didn't even like Batman. But the guys in Marketing are doing such a good job it's hard not to want to see 'The Dark Knight'. Perhaps not at six in the morning, but I want to see it.

Comcast has some exclusive clips, making-of video, buddy icons, and hi-def screensavers (like the one above).

I'll know I've gone over the edge when I start buying action figures...

How Much Money?

You got to admit, this shot of The Joker burning a huge pile of money is pretty good. You can't blame him -- I find burning big stacks of money to be therapeutic. I do it every chance I get.

Most are saying 'The Dark Knight' will pull down $90-130 million in its first weekend. I'll go with $155, which, according to my calculations, is not even close to how much The Joker is burning in this still.

Free Dark Knight Tickets

Holy promotional gimmicks! They're giving away free tickets for 'The Dark Knight'.

Dark Knight Showtimes Getting Ridiculous

First they offered midnight shows, then 3 a.m. shows, then 6 a.m. shows. However, even those additional shows have not met demand. Most theaters report total sell-outs in all additional showtimes. So, theaters have added even more showtimes for 'The Dark Knight'. I cut this from the Metro Generic Multi-Cineplex listing online:

The Dark Knight
Rated R, 2 hrs 32 min
Showtimes: (bold indicates PM) 12, 12:15, 12:30, 12:45, 1, 1:15, 1:25, 1:50, 2, 2:08, 2:45, 3, 3:01, 3:19, 3:27, 4:11, 4:16, 4:45, 5, 5:04, 5:04 and half, 5:17, 5:48, 6, 6:11, 6:27, 6:49, 7:02, 722, 7:24, 7:57, 8:09, 8:22, 8:45, 8:59, 9:01, 9:22, 9:28, 9:37, 9:43, 10, 10:03, 10:21, 10:47, 11, 11:11, 11:12, 11:13, 11:14, 11:26, 11:42, 11:55, 12, 12:15, 12:30, 12:45, 1, 1:15, 1:25, 1:50, 2, 2:08, 2:45, 3, 3:01, 3:19, 3:27, 4:11, 4:16, 4:45, 5, 5:04, 5:04, 5:17, 5:48, 6, 6:11, 6:27, 6:49, 7:02, 722, 7:24, 7:57, 8:09, 8:22, 8:45, 8:45 and a half, 8:59, 9:01, 9:22, 9:28, 9:37, 9:43, 10, 10:03, 10:21, 10:47, 11, 11:11, 11:12, 11:13, 11:14, 11:26, 11:42, 11:55

Hancock
Rated PG-13, 1 hr 32 min
Showtimes: (12:00), (12:15), (2:15), (2:30), (4:30), (5:00), 7:00, 7:30, 9:30, 10:00

WALL-E
Rated G, 1 hr 37 min
Showtimes: (11:15am), (11:45am), (1:50), (2:20), (4:25), (4:55), 7:10, 7:40, 9:50, 10:10

Dark Knight Crew Talks With Yahoo

Pre-Dawn Ticket Sales For Knight

Demand for 'The Dark Knight' is through the roof. First they added midnight showings to keep up with ticket sales, then 3 a.m. shows, now they're adding 6 a.m. shows.

From Market Watch:

With more than a week to go before the highly-anticipated release of "The Dark Knight," Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination, reports that many of its pre-opening Thursday midnight shows on July 17 are already sold out in cities across the country, from New York to Boise, Idaho. Theaters continue to add 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. showtimes to meet the ticketing demand.

Pictured is Batman watching people file into a movie theater at six in the morning to see his movie. Unbelievable.

A Bunch Of Clips From Dark Knight

Reel Comix has 13 clips from 'The Dark Knight'. As if this movie needed any more promotion.

5 Minutes From The Dark Knight

This is a new breed of Batman movie. Opening scene something of an homage to 'Heat', with a bit of on-the-nose dialogue added as needed. The Bat Man was always too hokey for me until now. Source: Iklipz

Not So Much A Poster

It's not so much a poster for 'The Dark Knight' as it is a conceptual trading card for The Joker. It has what all good portrait photographers strive for -- it captures character and makes you feel like you know the subject.

What's notable is that, even though the focus is not on the eyes, it's difficult to look into them -- they hint so strongly of The Joker's malcontent and hidden motives. This is yet another tribute to Ledger's depth of performance. An unconventional, beautifully executed portrait.

Domino's Has The Best

Okay, not pizza. I don't think Domino's has the best pizza. But, for some reason, they have the best Dark Knight trailer I've seen. What a fine looking movie this is.

I'm still more interested in seeing The Joker than I am in seeing Batman, though. Ledger's performance transcends the medium of film itself.

Dark Knight Poster

What a beauty.

The Joker Movie

It's axiomatic: The degree to which an Antagonist gets under our skin determines how much potential there is for a Protagonist to be a compelling force and, by extension, how likely it is the movie will be a success. One thing was pretty obvious about 'The Dark Knight' from the start: Heath Ledger nailed his character, and I'm thinking people want to see 'The Dark Knight' not so much for Christian Bale's portrayal of the titular character but for Ledger's portrayal of The Joker.

Do a Google image search for 'The Dark Knight' and The Joker's picture comes up more than Batman's. Out of the first 21 returns only 6 feature Batman exclusively, the rest are of that madman with the wicked grin and the fuck you attitude. Everyone is looking for details about Ledger's performance -- pictures, write ups, anything. We all want to know more about that sizzling energy.

Even mainstream press coverage is heavily skewed:

(I just love how The Joker says 'Hit me'! as the Bat Cycle approaches. And Ledger's body language [like when he claps his hands]...it's just so, well...'fuck you').

All this interest is due, in part at least, to Ledger's death, but I was far more interested in The Joker than I was in Batman even before Ledger died. Maybe it's because The Joker is so anti-authoritarian, maybe it's because he's spitting mad because his face got fucked up in some kind of accident and he wants payback -- I don't know. Now I'm thinking it's just the simple fact the Ledger brought power to his portrayal; that is, I've picked up on what everyone else has -- Ledger's Joker is a force to be reckoned with, a character brought to life by an actor burning white-hot with inspiration -- and it's this that makes 'The Dark Knight' a winner, a must-see.

Batman has his work cut out for him. Not only is a bad guy on the loose, but it's a bad guy we believe in and are cheering for. (The editor might want to keep this in mind during final cut.) Hats off to screenwriters Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan for creating such a well-cut character, and to Heath Ledger for digging so deep to make The Joker real.

Can't wait to see this movie.

Post Production

Kim Masters on fine tuning 'The Dark Knight' without Heath Ledger