Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Batman Begins (PG-13)


A Review
By M. Chad Durham
VIEW TRAILERS & CLIPS



Batman Begins right where he should have all along—in the hands of a director who truly understands the nuance and noir quintessential to the Dark Knight’s tale. Unlike the narcissistic forays of weirdness brought courtesy of Tim Burton, or the campy digressions of Joel Schumacher, Christopher Nolan chooses to explore the origin of Batman in story that manages to successfully walk the tightrope between comic book lore and cinematic adventure.


The one thing Nolan’s predecessor Burton did get right was casting, and how could it be possible to top Michael Keaton’s Batman? Keaton’s season in the cowl is legendary and if not for over-the-top performances by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Jack Palance, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, Tommy Lee Jones, and Jim Carey, Batman’s reign over the box office would never have lasted as long as it did before Warner Brothers mercifully pulled the plug. (I don’t even own a copy of “Batman and Robin.” It’s simply one of the worst movies ever made.) Adam West, Val Kilmer, and especially George Clooney never captured the essence of Batman the way Keaton did.


Keaton’s turn as the caped-crusader is not lost on Christian Bale. Bale has been acting for most of his life (see Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun). To date he is probably best known for his bizarre role in American Psycho. That’s all about to change. Bale looks fabulous in the cowl. Obviously he takes a nod from Keaton, but then proceeds to raise the bar. The Batman becomes the most menacing superhero on celluloid to date, which is as it should be.


Perhaps the best part of Nolan’s take is the exploration of the relationship between Batman and Commissioner Gordon. No. Scratch that. Make it Sgt. Gordon. No. Wait! Now it’s Lt. Gordon. Okay, we’ll go just with Jim Gordon for now, the one good cop in a really bad town. Oldman’s part emerges as the film progresses and, should Nolan be able to complete his rumored trilogy, it will provide room for ample character development in the future. Also previously ignored was Bruce Wayne’s relationship with Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), which adds some levity to what is otherwise a truly dark tale.


Katie Holmes (Pieces of April) is just plain cute. She’s the only thing of beauty in this film, with the possible exception of the cinematography in the first act, and that’s a compliment. Tom Wilkinson (The Patriot) really outdoes himself as a seedy mobster and Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) makes for the perfect Scarecrow with his gawkiness and raw talent. Some of the sequences in this film are just downright scary. Liam Neeson rounds out the cast with the kind of solid performance we’ve come to expect from him.


Batman is my favorite comic book hero; consequently, I’m pretty cynical and critical when it comes to the representation of his visage. Michael Keaton aside, Batman finally gets the treatment he deserves thanks to Christopher Nolan and co-writer David S. Goyer. But it’s more than that. Nolan and Goyer’s screenplay is rife with subtext, especially the confrontation of inner-fear and mankind’s differing notions of justice. It also manages to capture the intent of Frank Miller’s Year One run in the Batman comics, which remains a standard of excellence in the industry to this day.


This one is a HOT DATE. Grab the family, sans the younglings, and head out to the flick this weekend!



This copyrighted article was also published in Grace-Centered Magazine - A daily publication for Christians that examines tradition and aspects of living the Christian life.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Batman is Back!


Batman Begins (PG-13)
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, & Cillian Murphy
Director: Christopher Nolan
View Trailers & Clips

DVD Rundown

Now available on DVD!


Hitch (PG-13)
Starring: Will Smith, Kevin James, & Eva Mendes
Director: Andy Tennant
View Clips & Trailer


Jaws (R)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, & Richard Dreyfuss
Director: Steven Spielberg
Special Edition DVD

Friday, June 10, 2005

Is this the return of The Bull?

Howdy, ya'll!

I'm hoping this post will mark my long-awaited return to blogging. Thanks for all those who drop me a line encourage me to continue. It's not that I haven't wanted to keep this up, but I've been working on my screenwriting these past two months and I think it just might pay off. But that's entirely in the Good Lord's hands.

I completed LDR, a romantic comedy I originally wrote over the course of a weekend after I found out my one of my ex-girlfriends (Kristen Zetsche Friend) had been diagnosed with her second brain tumor. The story is a tribute to her and while the main charcter is more of a composite character based several women from my past (including Wife), the story is inspired by and dedicated to Kristen. I had to finish it up in order to get it entered in this years festival circuit. We'll see how that goes. FYI--Kristen's tumor now appears to be gone! This is the second time she's come through and we thank God for that!

My good buddy Rick Owens starts shooting his feature Wide Open tonight! That's another project that has kept me sidetracked because I've been acting as a script consultant on his film. As usual, Rick's got a great story. I've simply lent him a couple of scenes, ideas, quips, and bits to use at his whim. I'm know it will all come together for him and I'll probably slip on over to Kermit and make like a dolly grip or key grip or best boy or gaffer, or something...

It also looks like we'll be shooting another screenply of mine entitled Coffee, Tea, or Me. I'm in the process of doing yet another rewrite, and we've yet to settle the details, but I verbally agreed to give a year option to a local producer and we've tenatively scheduled the shoot for next summer. I'll share more details about that in the future.

But thanks to all for still hanging around. We still get almost 200 unique visitors a week around here even without constant updates. Hopefully I can get settled in and devote more time here starting next week.

Have a great day and a super weekend!