The Dark Knight
August 6, 2008
Love ya, Cleveland! Back from my wonderful vacation in the state of Maine, and let me just start off by saying that if you've never been there and if you ever get the opportunity it is absolutely wonderful. It is a gorgeous drive from Cleveland through Vermont which is a beautiful state, just a portion of New Hampshire, and then into the state of Maine. My wife and I stayed at a resort, a ski resort in Bethel, Maine. The resort was in the mountains at the base of the top peak of this mountain which actually featured over 100 trails, as the snow skiers call them. In other words, the slopes that they ski down. It is an incredible sight in the summertime with the cut of the in-between the trees on the mountain. There are 20 different chair lifts spread out over this mountain. I guess in the winter time you can't get a room anywhere close, and it's this tiny little New England town, Bethel, Maine at the base of the mountain with quaint little restaurants, town squares, just absolutely wonderful.
After that we went to Bar Harbor on the Atlantic ocean which was just historic and tremendous. What a great drive through all the little towns in Maine. There weren't any freeways, just little towns going through the mountains. Bar Harbor is absolutely one of the most lovely places in the country. There's shopping right on the ocean, restaurants, and it features a national park. I understand there's only about ten national parks in the United States, and one of them is in Bar Harbor. That park is Acadia National Park which is absolutely breath taking. They have Cadillac Mountain in the middle of the national park which you can drive up to the top. It's actually the highest elevated point of the eastern sea board of the United States. If you go up there for the sunrise, you are the first human being in the United States to see the sun rise on that date. It's fascinating. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous park. We spent a lot of time there.
Maine is known for their lobster. And something that's very unique, you don't see any fast food places in Bar Harbor. Instead of hamburger stands or hot dog stands, you have lobster stands believe it or not where you can choose what tanks, what size lobster you want, etc. They'll cook them outside, and you can eat at a picnic table. It's very, very neat. I highly recommend it to any family. That park is something to see, that's for sure.
While we were on this wonderful Maine vacation, one day we were at the pool in the morning and the weather got bad all of a sudden. It looked like it was going to rain, and it did rain very hard. So my wife and I had noticed that at the theater, The Dark Knight was showing. So we went to see The Dark Knight, and I want to do a review of this movie which of course is the Batman blockbuster that has hauled in so much money. As of this writing, $395 million in what is only three weeks and studio estimates (Warner Brothers is the studio that produced and released this film) say that it will sail past the $400 million mark with no problem. And that would be the films 18th or 19th day. The previous $400 million record was Shrek II, which hit that mark at 43 days. The Dark Knight will top $500 million, and approach the all-time domestic revenue record of Titanic which is $600.8 million. Although keep in mind that back in 1997, when Titanic was released, movie tickets were not as high as they are now. So taking that projection into consideration, The Dark Knight would probably have to exceed $800 million and maybe approach $900 million to be the biggest viewed movie money wise of all time. And the movie in Europe is doing extremely well. Studios thought that the release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor would put a dent in it, but that hasn't happened at all.
Now as far as the film is concerned...I don't get it! I don't know if I'm losing it, I just can't explain it, but my wife agreed with me so maybe both of us don't get it. But I don't know what the craze about this film is. What is it about? I mean I saw all the earlier ones, however I did not see the first one since they revitalized Batman, Batman Begins. I didn't see that. Maybe I should go see that and then go see The Dark Knight again. But I have to be honest, I don't get it. I've seen great special effects before, and the special effects are outstanding in The Dark Knight but I mean come on. Is Batman a good guy? Is he a bad guy? I'm confused by that. I was confused by the storyline. What was this movie about? It drove me crazy! And I'm wondering what is the craze, what is the sensation about this film?
To actually say that it should be nominated for best picture is beyond my comprehension. I mean Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman, and plays a good role. And same thing with Michael Caine as the butler. But I've got to tell you, Christian Bale as Batman lowering his voice, to me was so phony. It was driving me crazy! And I may be the only one, well once again my wife agrees with me too, but we may be the only ones that have seen this movie that are not saying oh my God, what a performance by Heath Ledger! He's the scariest villain ever in the history of motion pictures? We didn't think so at all. As a matter of fact his tongue action was a little much for me as the movie continued. It was a little forced by throwing out his tongue as much as he did playing the Joker. I mean he's good, and I'm sure he's going to get nominated...he may even win because he's passed away. The Hollywood left is going to be bleeding heart in favor of Heath Ledger being acknowledged. They still don't know if he committed suicide or not, so none of that will surprise me. But to say that he's the greatest villain of all-time in the history of the movies is nonsense. It's just absolutely ridiculous!
Last year we had two of the most riveting, horrifying performances of all time by Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Certainly to refresh your memory Anthony Hopkins for The Silence of the Lambs, I mean come on! This movie is breaking all these records and everybody is flooding to the theater to see it. I guess I'm going to have to see it again. I don't know why but maybe I'm losing it. Am I the only one that feels this way? Please respond to my review if you would. Maybe before the next entry I'll give it another shot. But oh to think that I would waste over two hours to go see it, and have the same reaction as I did the first time around!...I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I love ya, Cleveland!
