Metrosexuality - UR DOIN IT WRONG

September 19th, 2008

There was a song that came out a couple of years ago that promoted the piece of advice that you should always wear sun block.  Apparently music and song is not the way to get an idea through to me because much to Tracey’s irritation I almost never wear sunscreen.

What can I say, when the whole metrosexual thing started going around I assumed that I would get on board, I mean you’re supposed to be rather interested in yourself and I’ve always had a remarkable ego so it seemed like a naturally good match.

I’m like the worst metrosexual ever though.

I mean there’s so much bloody trimming, plucking, creams etc.  It’s exhausting.  I have a hair conditioner that is supposedly a leave in conditioner.  That’s right, I put it in and then walk around with conditioner in my hair….?

I’m not keen on shaving either, I shave and then two minutes later there is a shadow. Honestly I was born in the wrong era, I would have killed it in Miami Vice!

Then there is beta hydroxy acid, which apparently I’m supposed to put on my face.

Beta hydroxy acid.

I’m pretty certain acid in the face is how Two Face got started.

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Categories: Stuff about me | Tags: , , | 14 Comments

The Dark Knight - greatest film ever?

July 19th, 2008

When the first Batman was coming out the ‘batmania’ was probably at its highest, people had bat symbols on everything, shirts, jackets even shaved into their hair.   For me it was a time when I was discovering comics in a big way, my local newsagent didn’t really carry too many so the couple of copies I could get my hands on were like treasure.

Then I got to see the film and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

This morning Tracey and I dragged ourselves into the cinema to see the Dark Knight, full of hope, I had said to someone that I wasn’t actually that interested in the film, that the hype was beginning to wear thin on me.

But the ads started their magic on me and I was beginning to be more and more hopeful that this indeed would be the best comic book movie ever.   The completely booked out cinema soon fell into darkness and the film started, it was 1989 all over again.

The Dark Knight is probably in my opinion the best film I’ve ever seen.

I know it’s a stupid thing to say, really it’s stupid to compare it to other films, Citizen Kane and Casablanca, brilliant films, but I find it hard comparing them to each other let alone movies made in my generation.   I used to say the Lord of the Rings was the best made film (different to best film), but I’d even reconsider this estimation in regards to The Dark Knight.

It has to be said straight away that Heath Ledger is brilliant, creepy and completely reviting.   A huge concern of mine was that he would steal the show, that it would become the Joker film with Batman as a supporting character.   This didn’t happen, and it is a credit to the editor and the director because Joker is simply brilliant and could easily have been the focus.   It isn’t Ledger up there on screen, he is the embodiment of the character and it is a tribute to the man.   His final performance is incredibly Oscar worthy, it will be an outrage and a clear example that the Academy is out of touch if they choose to ignore the performance based on the fact that it is a comic book film.

This is the real Batman that we are finally seeing on the screen, he moves and fights with fluidity rather than relying on the suit to create presence as he strides through a fight scene (he can now move his head which hampered Batmen of the past).   Bale has worked on his Batman voice and it never falters, he is a different man when he is wearing the cowl.   This is the warrior Batman that the comics have shown through the years.

When I first saw Gary Oldman as Gordon in Batman Begins it was like a page of Batman Year One had come to life, he so much looks like a young Jim Gordon as he appears in that comic.   But Oldman doesn’t just look the part he brings so much to the character, he is a sane good man in an insane bad Gotham.

The great thing about this film is that it is not the spectacle which delivers the impact, it’s the characters, especially the trinity of James Gordon, Harvey Dent and Batman as they struggle with how far is too far before you cross the line.

I’ve never seen Harvey Dent presented so well, no offence to Tommy Lee Jones or even Billy Dee Williams but Aaron Eckhart makes the role his own and puts in an equal performance to Ledger, Bale and Oldman.   The origin is an interesting twist on the Two-Face story and the effects are extraordinary in addition to being faithful to the character’s standard comic book appearance.

This is a huge story that is told on a huge canvas, I won’t lie to you, it’s long, but you don’t care because you still want more.

Please start working on the sequel, now.

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Categories: Comics, Movies | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments