August 16, 2008 Instead of boring you with a lot of pretentious dribbel about the philosophy of film-watching, I'll just make a head-dive right into what I've seen in the theatres the past month and what I've watched on the comfort of my own couch.

1. The Dark Knight - I really don't think I need to get into this. You've read the reviews. You've seen it. (If you're like me, you'd've seen it three times in the same thirty-six hour period.) The first time I saw it was probably the greatest movie-going experience of my entire life. As a rather last-minute decision, my best friend and I decided to join another group of our friends at Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre to see the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight", ignoring the fact that we'd already prepurchased tickets to see it the very next day at noon. The theatre was overflowing with people. It was loud, raucous, and ridiculous seeing how many people were wearing really half-assed Joker and Two-Face costumes. I was tired and trying to stay awake on the cheap gas station coffee I'd snuck into the theatre, and was ready to crash by the time the movie started. After the first five minutes of the film, I was wide awake. The audience was immaculate. You could tell everyone had enough respect for the content because it was absolutely silent during the majority of the film, except for those moments where everyone reacted at the same time in the right way. We laughed together, cheered together, screamed together -- it was exactly the reaction filmmakers want to see from their audience. I have never sat with an audience before that was so unified. After seeing it that first night, I left in a daze. My muscles were aching, I couldn't stop giggling, and lord was I exhausted (not to mention I'd already bought tickets to see it again in the next eight hours.) My friends and I went down the block to Ma Fischer's afterwards and received a lot of admonishing glares and complaints from the patrons who hadn't seen the movie yet, but it couldn't be helped. We had to talk about it. Honestly, this is the best movie that's been made within the last decade. Heath Ledger's Joker is the most memorable villain on celluloid in years. Just see it. Just SEE it. Marvel at Ledger's Joker. Weep at Eckhart's tragically flawed Harvey Dent. Laugh at Bale's giggle-inducing voice as Batman.


2. Mamma Mia! Gag, gag, gag, but also at the same time it's kind of funny. Watching that movie was like being on an acid trip. It was like vomiting up a shitload of cotton candy and passing out into it face-first. It was also, admittedly, a lot of fun, if you're seeing it with your mother who's been an ABBA fan since she was a teenager. If you trust the judgement of a crazy old man who hangs around Farwell and harasses people in his free time and claims to be one of the voice-actors who played Popeye, then Meryl Streep will grab the gold at the Oscars for this one. ...Right.


3. Pineapple Express - Stoner movies make me laugh. This was really great light summer fluff. It was goofy, the humor was totally random, and thankfully it wasn't too crass and was actually halfway clever in its delivery. James Franco and Seth Rogen make a wonderful comedic duo. See it if you want a light laugh and heavy reference to hallucinogenics is your cup of tea. It has a better plot thank "Half-Baked", and has a maturity lacking in all of those other drug-duo comedies from the likes of Cheech and Chong, Harold and Kumar, and Jay and Silent Bob.


4. Tropic Thunder - Hands down greatest comedy of the year. It's daringly clever, wickedly satirical, and sharply written. Again, it's light summer fare, but it's got a great comedic cast and Ben Stiller proves himself yet again as a captain of comedy. Robert Downey, Jr. steals all of his scenes as an acclaimed Australian actor who surgically darkens the pigment of his skin to play the African American lieutenant and gets too caught up in his character. Also look out for a surprisingly hysterical cameo from Tom Cruise, it could be the scene that digs his name a little further out of the dirt. Maybe.



If you're not up to going to the theatre, revisit Freaks and Geeks. I watched the series for the first time last month and haven't enjoyed myself that much in a while. Honestly one the greatest show about teenage adolescence and the woes of high school ever made.

So I haven't seen too many deep, pathological films this summer, but hey, it's summer, so why bother?