Oop. Oop.

[thehefner]

Times like this, I kinda wish I were still talking to Guy Bender. Or that Bloo and I were in more frequent contact like we used to be. Well, contact period. Dare I invoke a "le sigh"? I think this news warrants it.



So the first official image of Heath Ledger's Joker has hit the internet. Well, by all accounts is IS real this time, finally*. Want to see it?

INSTRUCTIONS: (as delivered by kali921)

1. Go to www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com.** (don't add your e-mail addy at that bottom, though)
2. Load the page, which is fucking creepy.
3. Wait about twenty to thirty seconds for the big reveal and NNNNNNNNNNNNNGHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUURGH AIIIIIIEEE. You have to wait for it.

...

...

On one hand, it's creepy. It's definitely that.

On the other hand...

...

Look. I've been apprehensive from the very start, once it was announced that Heath fucking Ledger would be playing the Joker. I don't... no, I cannot in a MILLION years imagine this ever, ever, ever working.*** However, Nolan knocked the casting ball out of the park in BATMAN BEGINS, so he's earned my trust. We'll wait and see.

And I'm still "we'll wait and see." Nothing's changed. The fact that it's Heath Ledger, that alone concerns me more than making the Joker look like a refugee from Slipknot. With raccoon eyes, no less.

Although it would be a bit better is he were actually smiling. As such, I'm making the exact same face as Heath is here in this picture, and that's good for no one.

All that said? I still believe in Harvey Dent.



*We've seen at least one or two hoaxes that have been picked up as "real" news by aintitcool.com, chud.com, and other assorted geek news sites. So I am kinda hoping this, too, proves to be just another hoax.

**Dude, why the hell doesn't HTML linking work on my LJ anymore? When I do them, and people click on the links, the address is the website PLUS my entire LJ url. What the hell?

***My top four choices for live-action Joker, in no particular order, are still Christopher Eccleston, Mark Hamill, Michael Keaton, and Willhem Dafoe

Comments

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

Insane Clown Posse Make Up. :|

...yeah, I'm with you. I'm still in wait and see land. But man, do I ever mourn the loss of the possibility of Eccleston joker. God, that would have been epic. Have you seen the version of Othello that he was in?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

No, I have not, and I certainly mean to at some point. Not only Eccleston (whose WHO doesn't get nearly enough love... sure, he's not as cute as 10, but damn it, I love my hammy, over-enthusiastic ugly Ralph Fiennes!), but Eamonn Walker. Ever watch OZ? Perhaps it's not to your... temperment... but between half the cast joining LOST and J.K. Simmons himself, oh, it's so great.

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Nine gets overshadowed by Ten sometimes, doesn't he? Though I think that that can be blamed somewhat on Eccleston's typecast-phobia, which is why he left the part after only one season. I'd love for him to come back for a Who TV special with Tennant, if only to see how the two characters/actors bounce off of each other, but I don't know how likely that is.

Oh, it is absolutely brilliant. While the whole cast gives some great performances, Eccleston's Iago stands out. Not only does he play him as a thoroughly nasty villain, but there's a great level of complexity in his performance too. You should definitely rent it when you get the chance.

Also, I'm stealing that icon.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Please, snag away! It was made by the lovely and geeky disc_sophist. Spread the word! DENT FOR D.A.!

[suburbfabulous.livejournal.com]

SHALLOW GRAVE.
Eccleston IS Rock.

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

Also, while that was creepy, I'm glad the website designer didn't make the image suddenly pop up. I'm a wuss have a low tolerance for that sort of thing. >_>

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the way it worked was that, anytime somebody sent in their e-mail address at the bottom, you'd get an e-mail that would allow you to uncover ONE pixel. It was completely covered when it appeared yesterday afternoon, and now...? Pretty clever viral marketing, if I do say so myself.

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that is pretty neat. So if I sign up for the email thing now it wouldn't really do much? Good to know.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

No, and I wouldn't ever do that anyway. In fact, perhaps I should edit that into the post, assuming people don't have the common sense/paranoia that I have about giving my e-mail out to strange sites...

[kimberlyknits.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is just...weird. Really, really weird.

And Eccleston would have rocked as Joker. (He was awesome on Heroes in his brief stint.) And, IIRC, Willem Dafoe tried out for Joker when Burton was working on the '89 version of Batman; he'd make an awesome Joker and you'd barely even have to use prosthetics.

Still, you'd have to get Hamill to do the voice-over, because, well, nobody else will do.

[chickenhat.livejournal.com]

meh.

I've seen creepier.

Hell, I've BEEN creepier...

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Word to that. Hell, me too!

Actually, as Kali said, the defaced Harvey Dent image was actually creepier than the actual Joker photo. What's that say, eh?

[chickenhat.livejournal.com]

word to that.

Defaced Dent = Creepy.

Latex non-Smiley Ledger < Creepy chickenhat or Creepy cats_n_crying

[jackolantern.livejournal.com]

It could be just a test for a makeup "concept" that will never be seen on screen. I've seen one floating around that was done for Arseface back when the Preacher movie was going to star Johnny Depp.

[jellied.livejournal.com]

Phooey. Thoughts later, maybe.

For some reason, I'm a little attracted to this Joker. I never really got Nicholson Joker though (he never felt right), and I'm a little befuddled by all of the invoking that's going on at scans_daily.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Phooey? On Heath Joker or on me?

I think the Nicholson Joker is a great Nicholson performance, but it's not the Joker. Nothing in Tim Burton's BATMAN, save perhaps for Gotham itself, felt like the actual comics at all. I think the invoking stems almost entirely from people who grew up watching it.

[jellied.livejournal.com]

On the casting. I'm just waiting for Nolan to pleasantly surprise me.

Though am looking forward to more Bale!Batman.

Agreed on all counts. I still like Batman Returns though.

guy bender

[tankgirl88.livejournal.com]

no....no you don't

Re: guy bender

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Hey, you know how it goes.

Re: guy bender

[tankgirl88.livejournal.com]

just trust me on this one.....btw, did i miss your show yet? ive been busy with school so i lost track of the month

Re: guy bender

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

No, you haven't! It'll be June 1st and 2nd, info at www.rudemechanicals.com.

[mirthical.livejournal.com]

this is... hard, actually.

I mean, on the one hand, I worship at the feet of Nicholson Joker, for various reasons. That doesn't make me averse to different takes on Joker, and as we've talked about previously, Laughing Fish era is probably the finest of all his incarnations.

I really want this to work. And I'm not convinced yet. Perhaps this has to do with the difficulty I have imagining Ledger in this role in the first place; Bale makes so much more sense in my head as Batman than Ledger as Joker, as I'm sure everybody here agrees. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing Harvey - his promotional image I believe.

However.

If we are to take this revealed Joker photo as truth, I could imagine this following a Joker much like the one you showed me, Fuzzy, in the really well-done fan-created movie, (was this the one with Mr. Sulu's son? I think it was...) much more in the Man Who Laughs vein.

But it's not there yet, in what's been released. In some strange way, I don't want him to smile. I find the idea of his disfigurement very appealing if he's not forced into smiling, but rather a horrible bloody parody of a grin. In this way the entire campy issue is sidestepped entirely, and we can focus on how fucking terrifying the Joker needs to be.

I want more, damnit.

also, HI!

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Hi! Been awhile, hasn't it? I actually tried to call you today, but your number didn't work.

Aye, as you'll see in the last post I did, following up on this one... I think Nicholson's performance was great, but I personally never thought it was the Joker of the comics, much less the definitive performance.

I want to believe too. Actually, I really should make a conscious effort to... if not be optimistic, then at least keep from being hopeful, if that makes sense. I lost all hope for X3 long before I saw it. I'd rather be proven wrong, gloriously wrong, than right, y'know?

Also, Harvey. I mean, seriously.

Chekhov's son, actually! But yeah, I liked that.

If he doesn't smile at all, if he's like that... well, it could be an interesting interpretation of the Joker, sure. But if we've got the JOKER in a Batman MOVIE, dash it all, I want a more or less faithful version of the character we love, the character who's this long-lasting for a reason, and for those reasons to be preserved and even enhanced in the film. Y'know?

The camp may be sidestepped, sure. But they could also go too far in the OTHER direction, and just miss the point. Like SUPERMAN RETURNS did, in its way.

I too want more.

[mirthical.livejournal.com]

ah! the reason my number didn't work is because I changed plans back in March... though I did post an LJ about it. do you have the Chicago number? If not, I'll email you.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Did you? Maybe you did, but it didn't register. Aye, please do.

In the meantime, I actually got a new cell phone. Yes, finally! With reception and everything, what a concept! But it's the same number too, so it's all good.

[gore-whore-5.livejournal.com]

The page isn't loading for me. It's just black and doing nothing. Help!

[gore-whore-5.livejournal.com]

Okay. This is most certainly not real. This does not fit anywhere in what we've seen Nolan do with Batman. The site isn't even openly connected to Warner Brothers. I'm not worried. This couldn't possibly be pulled off in any believable manner. I'm sure that this is indeed a hoax. It seems more like concept art to me.

And yet... what if it isn't? I'm scared.

[disc-sophist.livejournal.com]

Just in case you hadn't saved it, or wanted to link it somewhere else:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/discsophist/posted/d3783b9e.png

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Clearest version I've seen so far.

Still apprehensive, I'm afraid.

[disc-sophist.livejournal.com]

p.s. "***My top four choices for live-action Joker, in no particular order, are still Christopher Eccleston, Mark Hamill, Michael Keaton, and Willem Dafoe"

I'm sure realize you're setting yourself up there, right? Few moviemakers, Hollywood or no, would cast such huge scifi icons as Doctor Who, Luke Skywalker, Batman, or the Green Goblin as the equally iconic Joker, no matter their qualifications. I honestly blame the audiences at that point. *hugs*

p.p.s. I have the Eccleston Othello. It is fucking fantastic, aside from Desi, whom I found a little dull (this always seems to happen when they make her a grown woman). When I recover Deadwood, you can borrow it. ;)

p.p.p.s. In reply to your just-received reply, I only screencapped the page you linked. I'm apprehensive as well, but I don't have quite the same stake in it.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Well of course I am. I'm a geek. We fantasy cast like WHOA. It's why geeks were clamoring for Patrick Stewart as Professor X (and to a lesser extent, Mr. Freeze) for no better reason, honestly, than he was Picard and that he's bald.

And did you just screencap it? I guess I haven't checked back at the site since it was fully de-pixeled.

Deadwood... gah! I'll find it, I'll find it! Somehow. Someday. Remind me, the CDs weren't labeled, were they? You gave them to me in a white paper case? If I eventually have to, I'll just buy you the DVD set. It has pictures on the box!

Honestly, my stake is so much more in Harvey. The sad fact is, I'm kinda used to the Joker being mishandled. I wrote a whole essay about it in scans_daily, which I'd like to revisit and revise.

[disc-sophist.livejournal.com]

DO NOT buy the vastly overpriced Deadwood box set. I was assuming you were just withholding them. No big thing. I can Flix 'em and copy 'em if they've disappeared. Things happen. One day when I get my head out of my ass we'll do the movie thing w/Othello.

I figured you didn't REALLY mean it, but I think I've installed an auto-detect for unlikely casting after having been disappointed so often. As for Dent, I have absolute faith in Eckhart, especially in this role, but you know as well as I that it's a big step between casting and what the assembled moviemaking masses get up on the screen.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I meant it insofar as "When I become God, this is who I would cast." I will also retroactively make Orson Welles direct and star in a movie of Batman, with Basil Rathbone as the Joker, James Cagney as the Riddler, George Raft as Harvey Dent (if Bogart turns it down), and Marlene Dietrich as Catwoman.

Yeah, I'm less worried about the actor as much as the script. I say again, I just really, really hope he's a good guy, rather than the crazed DA obsessed with bringing down Batman, or the Baxter in the love triangle between Rachel and Bruce.

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

dude.. you got me. dont get all emo about it. we can talk!

yeah.. the website doesnt do anything creepy for me. its just the vandalized image.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Um, dude, did you wait at least 30 seconds after it loaded like the directions said?

After thirty second or so, the vandalized image dissolves, revealing this:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/discsophist/posted/d3783b9e.png

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

yeah.. i gave it several minutes.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I *just* found out the site's been disabled. But check out the link I just posted in my response above!

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

i did.

there shall be beer and discussion.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Quite. Whereupon we shall also discuss SPIDER-MAN 3 at length.

[spacechild.livejournal.com]

werd up.