Drunk post; what matters is, THE DARK KNIGHT trailer!

Finally, the power just returned to our household. We've had blackouts on and off for the past six hours or so. The lights had just flickered on as I was leaving to go to jcsbimp's house to watch a double-feature of ERASERHEAD (Calvin's choice:I find it admirably nightmarish but I still don't care for it too much) and THE STRAIGHT STORY (my choice: still my favorite Lynch movie and the most tenderly human movie I've ever seen), but I'd returned four or five hours later to a black house.

So, with the timeless words of wisdom of Skwisgaar Skwigelf: There's only two things to do in a power outage: get drunk... one thing."

So I've been sitting here, drinking a subpar Manhattan* and a couple glasses of Jameson, finishing THE GOLDEN COMPASS (see me sometime at work fragmentedsky and starting Vonnegut's BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS (more on that later, if I remember any of it), and what happens? Bam! The power comes back on.

Now, as much as I'd love to respond to my LJ comments of late, I've learned the hard way not to do so when I'm drunk. Even writing this entry is fraught with peril; what am I going to regret tomorrow morning?

So, lest I go any further and risk making an utter arse of myself, allow me to simply post this:






THE DARK KNIGHT TRAILER





... yes.



(Notice, not a single mention or screenshot of Harvey Dent. For reasons you may or may not understand, I am very pleased.)

*A good Manhattan is so bloody elusive! There's like a one in ten chance that each Manhattan I make will turn out right, and the odds are so rarely in my favor! Argh!

now I call that SHOWMANSHIP, Lieutenant!

An observation on Heath Ledger's Joker.

Some people seem to think he's channeling Jack Nicholson, perhaps with bits of Mark Hamill thrown in (I'm a firm believer that Hamill's vocal performance is the greatest depiction of the Joker to date, whereas Jack Nicholson was dazzling to watch, but just as Jack, not the Joker). I disagree. I mean, perhaps subconsciously Ledger is, and to those who don't know any better, that's what they'll see. But I don't think he's channeling Jack.

He's channeling Brad Dourif.

Who? I hear many of you ask. In that way that I can hear your thoughts via the internet. I have that power, you know. Let me tick off four roles, with the certainty that you're familiar with at least one.

Billy Bibbit (the stuttering suicidal kid) from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Chucky from the CHILD'S PLAY movies

Grima Wormtongue from LORD OF THE RINGS

Doc Cochran from DEADWOOD

I've heard it said that Brian Bolland, artist of the legendary* story "The Killing Joke," based his trend-setting depiction of the Joker, forever changing how the Joker is generally depicted, on Brad Dourif. I cannot find any solid proof to back up this rumor, but if it's untrue, it's easy to see why.

Here. Watch this.

This is one of my single favorite performances, ever. Just speaking personally, here, not objectively.

That's from EXORCIST III, a film that would have been superior to the original if it hadn't been raped by studio-mandated reshoots and horrid edits. I'd post more, but hey, I know only about three or four people watch videos I post anyway. And besides, if you haven't already seen EXORICIST III, do.

So that's what I see when I see Heath as the Joker, whether Heath is doing it intentionally or not. And frankly... that just might be exactly what this movie needs.

Cannot wait for July. Cannot wait.



*Legendary, yes, but increasingly problematic. Much as I love this story, The Killing Joke does have its flaws as time passes. If this could just be declared out of continuity, for one thing, we wouldn't have some of those problems, but alas.