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My three pennies' worth -- in this case, my dime's worth on movies I've seen, would like to see maybe even those I wouldn't dare see. My take on movies -- doesn't necessarily have to be yours, but I'd be interested to hear yours. Enjoy the Movies!

Movie Dime

Ahead in Moves - perks of geography

July 18th 2008 20:24
I had such a blast the other day when I watched the 1st screening on the first day of showing of DARK KNIGHT on theathers on it's regular release last Thursday - July 17.



I made a review rave about how AMAZING the whole movie was soon as I got over my amazement.


Just now, I was browsing through CNN and saw that the movie was just released in the US! almost 2 days after I've seen it.



aahhh! these are the times I love living in the AustralAsia region. The sun shines on us first, days change on our geographical locations before it does anywhere else and when movies are set for release on almost the same dates all over the world -- we get to see it first!

I saw at least 2 movie reviews and raves about the Dark Knight before I started my post about my own review. I'm guessing they're also from the same region?

Not only did July 17 come to us first before anywhere else in the world, the movie was also released earlier than it was set to be released in the US (July 18 -- which is almost July 19 in some parts of AustralAsia).

No wonder there were only a few reviews of the Dark Knight when I decided to post yesterday!


I'm expecting to see more reviews later?

No one can possibly skip this movie... well, except kids I guess. It's too freaky-scary for kids. Read my RAVES here and you'll know why.

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Why so friggin serioussss?

July 17th 2008 22:31
BECAUSE IT FREAKED ME OUT?!



This won't be a review but a rave on how great this movie was. Forgive me if I start to sound like a strung boyband fan (with possible multiple exclamation points) but you can't see my face as I am writing this so this is the best way I can possibly show you how amazed and excited I was and still am of this movie.

Hands down the best Batman movie of all time!

I grew up watching Batman movies with my dad and sisters, the only one I missed was Batman Begins so I sure as hell wouldn't miss this one... and i didn't!

I knew it's coming out on theaters yesterday so I already told hubby weeks before that we HAVE to go straight to the cinemas at the first screening of this and so we did.

I cannot describe how amazing each and every actor of this film were. This is my first time to watch Christian Bale as Batman, and ever since the 1989 Batman with Michael Keaton until Batman and Robin with George Clooney, I always thought Clooney was my favorite Batman. (Back then Christian Bale was still in teeny bopper movies like the Babysitter's Club!) After yesterday, Christian Bale is by far the best Batman ever.

Bale = Batman
Bale's portrayal of Batman is serious and intellectual. With Keaton until Clooney, yes Batman was serious but there were hints of humor which wasn't bad, but Bale just brought Batman to another level.

I love the voice by the way, the fact that he showed with subtle changes in his facial expressions how Batman is after all just human with good intentions. He has faults, he has weaknesses and he can also hate himself.

Eckhart = Dent = Two-face
I haven't, I didn't read the comic books so I didn't know that Harvey Dent was in fact Two-Face whom I knew before as Tommy Lee Jones. My hubby was an avid Comic book reader/collector so he explained who Harvey Dent was.

In the beginning I was doubting who this character was, whether he was with the good guys or the bad guys, turns out I was right on both accounts!

I'm not so familiar with Eckhart and his previous films aside from No Reservatiosn which is obviously too far from the role he plays on this film but he was good. He was getting a bit boring and just sort of a nuisance while he was still Harvey Dent, but obviously things turned around when Two-Face surfaced. Coolest prosthetics cum CGI ever! I hated myself for not catching early on the two-face persona with the coin he's been flipping around.

I just read Jason King's post on Salty Popcorn how Eckhart studied split personalities while internalizing on his role for this film and he did quite well...

but I guess everyone who's seen this film will agree that one person did extremely well on internalizing and studying his role for the film...

Ledger = Joker = legendary performance!
His death was rumored to have been caused by the wrong "cocktail" of OTC drugs he was drinking for flu and depression. His depression was also rumored to have been caused or started while studying his role as Joker for this film.

Who's to say he didn't do it well? just like what Jason King mentioned on his blog -- I couldn't see Ledger in Joker! It's freaky that way. When people act, you still see the actors in them, somehow. You can't say it was because he had a mask, so did Jack Nicholson when he played Joker but I can still see Jack Nicholson.

Ledger was somehow able to separate himself from Joker and the Joker seemed to have taken over him. I am telling you, it freaked me out that way. His voice was different, his posture was different, obviously he looked so different. His eyes were scary, psychotic, delusional. I've never seen a change in emotion from one word to the other... so... freaky! Goosebumps all over me! Something I haven't seen portrayed in other films by ANY other actor before.

What will probably freak you out even more is the fact that this was the last film Ledger finished and this is the best acting he's ever performed. A legend he will leave with us and will probably forever haunt or freak even the next generation of fans who will watch this.

Stellar Support
Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and even Maggie Gyllenhaal. They played supporting roles but they still played it like the great actors they are. Gyllenhaal may not have had so much impact in this movie but she was still essential in forming Two-Face.

I love Gary Oldman. He was great in every scene. I almost cried at the scene with his family in the end. Sir Michael Cain as always is calm and collected -- just chillin and cool as his ever loyal assistant. Morgan Freeman was able to portray the same kind of coolness with his role too.

I just love it!

Intellectual Lines and Delivery
It's a superhero film and most of the time we watch for the special effects. This time I didn't even notice exceptional SFX or CG's because their lines were very intellectual. You really think and internalize the whole film especially with dialogues between Batman and Joker. He's not a Joker when he starts talking about life, rules, human instincts and why he is Joker. My favorite conversations would be Joker and Batman at the interrogation room and when Joker was hanging upside down while the two ships are waiting for their demise.

There are no one-liners that will stick with you because all their lines were written to make you think. They're almost philosophical, especially Joker's lines. They leave you with a hanging question mark or even guilt and shame.

It's these lines that made me even more freaked out. Joker speaksk truth about human behavior, not general but truth. Batman on the other hand showed humility and how human he really is. He showed that even though his intentions are well, he will have to be the villain to please the town. It's true in our everyday lives. We need someone to be the bad guy to believe we're saved, to believe in good we need to see bad.

It's not just any superhero film that's for sure.

XS:
I sooo hate that sound effect, so simple but it gets to me. Everytime they want you to anticipate something unexpected (??) there's this very simple sound effect that will sorta help your heart pump a little faster until it either lets you breathe again or just jump outta your seats.

No doubt this is 5 out of 5 dimes!

Will definitely watch this another time in the theater and will buy a DVD soon as it comes out! A-MA-ZING!


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Kiddie Movies

July 17th 2008 02:34
Since we had a son, we made it a point that we only watch kid-friendly movies when he's around. If we want to watch other types of movies we make sure we either watch it in the movie house or we leave Ziggy to his Aunts or Grandparents.

TV and Movies have such an impact on children and you really have to watch what they see. Since our son's been exposed to mainly just Nick Jr., Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney, he's pretty much fine. In fact he speaks fluent english and very little of our native language because of the TV shows he watches.

He also watches Disney and Dreamworks' movies most if not all the time. He enjoyed Enchanted so much so now he has this cute and funny stereotype on girls wearing fluffy long skirts.. he thinks they're all princesses

Last night, my husband came accross Gladiator on HBO and he watched the start of it, while my son was lying down in bed. Naturally my son got curious so he started watching too. During one of the battles of Maximus, the scene was on slow-motion and so he got curious.

"Dada? why is he not moving fast??"

Cute huh? then he starts asking "where's the girl? where's the girl?"

Somehow because he watched fairy tales on Disney, he has this stereotype or idea that men need women with them. At such a young age he has it right. lol

We turned the TV off soon as the war and gruesome fighting started but while he was making those statements it occurred how a child's ideas of things are really shaped by observations. I still am glad he watched mostly disney and nick Jr.

His ideas of the world is very basic and innocent... and very true. A man needs a woman -- after all, behind every man is always a woman.

At this age he asks one too many questions about what he sees on TV or movies so all the more we have to try and shield him from any violence and malicious content on TV. He watched Spiderman and he's amazed by him but he understands he can't jump that high or hang from spiderwebs like that. The basics again, he keeps saying "but I'm too heave for a spiderweb." True. Innocent.



Hands down as well to the good programs the have developed on TV -- Elmo's World, Dora and Blue's Clues and Mickey Mouse clubhouse all give him a good idea of reality. He's pretty much in check with it.

Of course it also goes with parents creating a balance and giving their kids a sense of what's real and possible versus what's not. I still don't let him watch anything not G or rated E for everyone (when it comes to games)...

There are kiddie movies however who have adult humor. Or let me rephrase is this way... before, animated films were generally for kids. Now you gotta watch what animated films they watch. Disney is still my most trusted but Dreamworks sometimes I gotta "screen" it for the little one.

I love Shrek and so does he but there are a few hints of adult humor. He's too young to even understand, but he may pick up some words or phrases that he may choose to repeat to others and will not sound nice especially from a kid.

Just recently I hear my son saying "Oh My God!" It's no big deal for some people, but I don't like it. It's blasphemy to some other people, especially christian parents. For me, it's not that it's blasphemous, I don't like it because he doesn't understand what it means and why people say it.

Thank Goodness Disney still sticks to their magic formula of family-friendly films
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Animated Movies Awards?

June 26th 2008 00:11
Before this years oscars (last March that is) there were a lot of buzz when Ratatouille, an animated film by Disney-Pixar was nominated for Best Animated Feature. Why the buzz? Many believe Ratatouille was BEST PICTURE calibre.

Ratatouille at the Oscars
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Great Points of Vantage Point

May 18th 2008 23:18
In Columbia Pictures’ action-packed thriller Vantage Point, eight strangers with eight
different points of view try to unlock the one truth behind an assassination attempt on the
president of the United States. Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor

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August Rush

May 6th 2008 11:00



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Thou Art Everlasting

April 16th 2008 02:44
We were browsing cable TV last night while snuggling in bed when we came across so many familiar and now famous faces but way younger.

-- Emma Thompson (Nanny McPhee, Sense and Sensibility


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Only for the REAL Movie Buffs

April 10th 2008 02:36
If you consider yourself a movie buff but haven't heard of or seen pictures like these... then test your skills.

The following pictures were taken from FilmWise, they're called Invisibles for obvious reasons. They are scenes taken directly from the films, but with the human beings (or sometimes animals or cartoon characters) were taken out of the picture making them sort of invisible. You have to guess what movies they were taken from. These were pretty easy ones I got


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What would be YOUR MOVIE's Title?

April 4th 2008 02:44
Somebody already asked Who's going to play You if your life's going to be made into a movie... made me wonder, would you like a biographical film and name it after you?

i.e. The Queen, Elizabeth, Ray, Superman (heehee! kidding


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How Disney Enchanted me ... Again!

April 1st 2008 04:28
Hi! I'm Hazel... and I'm a Disney addict.

Disney has been part of my life since early childhood. My parents bought me BETAMAX tapes (yes you heard it right - i mean, you READ it right.. BETAMAX) of Disney films and other Mickey Mouse videos sometimes they rent several when they have to be gone from the house for a long time


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