“This man…” [heavy Darth Vaderesque breath] “…was a schoolmate…” [another heavy Darth Vaderesque breath] “…of Neil LaBute…”
Oh, fun with captions. Anyway, I reckon this topic deserves its own thread, so by all means weigh in on the movie and my review of it at MSN Movies.
“I’m taking over Gotham…because this man…was in…‘The Core’ ”
“THIS… is the SIZE… of EVERY frame… (wheeze) … of IMAX!”
Great review, Glenn. Now I’m even more excited to see it.
I’d like to see a parody with Jeff Wells in the Bane role, laying waste to home vid companies that refuse to release DVDs in 1.66. Substitute that Harvey Dent portrait with a printed-out screencap comparison of Rosemary’s Baby.
“I am Criterion’s reckoning!”
THE CROP KNIGHT RISES
As the movie ‘Crazy People’ might have put it (and had Wells been cast in it):
“Open-matte DVDs — they’re boxy but they’re good.”
Security is tight as Apple unveil the iPad 3
Speaking as someone who has enjoyed the Batman movies, I’m still appalled at what happened over at Rotten Tomatoes. Anyone else catch that? The NYTimes did a write-up on it:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/rotten-tomatoes-halts-reader-comments-amid-dark-knight-furor/
At what point does the critic become complicit in making themselves the story? Let’s say a critic tweets a link to their pan of the movie and adds, essentially, ‘I’m ready for the backlash’ (something the meatheads would likely take as a challenge*). Then the critic spends the rest of the day and late into night RT’ing said backlash. And is still RT’ing ‘hate mail’ the next day. Better to stay above the fray, no? Or at least try something more constructive than re-tweeting, which, if anything, just gives the offenders the cheap thrill they were looking for. I’m just wondering what the critic’s motivation is.
*In British soccer there is a kind of general charge called ‘bringing the game into disrepute’. It covers many things, like if a member of a visiting team scores a goal, the player should refrain from going directly to the home stand and pumping his fist. Or if your team has a Catholic fan base, don’t make gestures on the field that might antagonize the opposing team’s Protestant fan base. In other words, don’t do anything that might make people disposed to go unhinged, go unhinged. If it seems a tad ‘blame the victim’, well, it’s been worked out over years of hard lessons learned. Sometimes you only have the ability to treat the symptom.
These reviews weren’t baiting fans, they were well-reasoned arguments from critics who weren’t predisposed against the franchise. Fine reiterated his praise for “Batman Begins” and Lemire really liked “Dark Knight” – both critics were just disappointed with the last installment. It’s absolutely ridiculous and simply distasteful how some fans who hadn’t even seen the film attacked both critics.
I agree with most of your comment, J. Priest, but I believe Lemire only gave a mildly positive review to The Dark Knight. 3‑Stars-Out-Of‑4, I believe. And she didn’t like Batman Begins. So it’s not much of a surprise that she didn’t like this one, as it doesn’t have a Joker in the deck, and features significantly more Bruce Wayne than Batman.
At any rate, they should’ve disabled the (Anonymous) Comments section, under reviews, at Rotten Tomatoes long ago. That’s about the only good that’s come out of this, really.
3 out of 4 is only “mildly positive”? Don’t you think critics should save their full marks for, like, The Godfather, Citizen Kane, and Midnight Run?
Well, if you’re thinking in absolute terms, perhaps. But I see most critics award 3 1/2 Stars to plenty of films each year. In general terms, 2 1/2‑out-of‑4 is considered mildly negative, and 3 Stars the minimum for a positive review. That’s usually how it works on Rotten Tomatoes, at any rate. Cheers.
Comicbook fanboys: “How dare that f*****g c**t who deserves to be a****y r***d Christy Lemire claim that comics are full of adolescent aggression and misogyny?!”
@JC – I guess we disagree on ratings then, though they vary per critic I’m share. To me, 2 1/2 star is mildly positive, 3 stars is positive, 3 1/2 is great (depending on the critic) and 4 stars is must-see, could be classic.
@Brian
This is just semantics, anyways. I think when a critic gives something 2 1/2‑out-of‑4, they basically get to choose whether they consider it “Fresh” on the Tomatometer or not. So, in a way, you’re right, that for a number of folks, it’s the dividing line. If I rate a film 2 1/2, I basically say I’m “on the fence” about it.
Cheers.
I believe Ebert considers 2 1/2 to be a Thumbs Down, so most people follow his lead.
“And that kid singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” isn’t just on the nose, it’s nose-breaking.”
That’s good.
Suddenly this movie has acquired a real-life tragic aspect…
“Suddenly this movie has acquired a real-life tragic aspect…”
I blame William Castle.
Is this an instance of the Tea Party approach to film criticism?
Petey, I feel I am a worse person because I thought your comment was pretty funny.
“Petey, I feel I am a worse person because I thought your comment was pretty funny.”
Your feelings are correct. You, sir, are a worse version of Hitler for enjoying any potential inoffensive humor that exists in human events.
To Glenn Kenny:
Great review.
Not sure I fully grasp the connection with the Lang (Mabuse Spieler) film and Goldfinger (and The Dark Knight for that matter) re: the finale of The Dark Knight Rises (the connections I saw were more with… SPOILERS AHEAD… The Dark Knight Returns, which I’m sure was intended, and “The Final Problem”). At the risk of posting a “spoiler” comment, could you elaborate?
To JL: Thanks. And not much to elaborate, I was just talking about the ticking time bomb device!
Response to Glenn…
Oh… that! I thought you meant we-think-the-hero-is-dead-but-he’s-not-really-dead… in which case, I saw no connection to Mabuse der Spieler, and thought Goldfinger seemed a bit forced – and hence my invoking Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls.
Also, I’m probably wrong about this, but I don’t recall very clearly there being a ticking bomb device in Mabuse… though there is a ticking flood device (if memory serves correct) in Metropolis (a film Nolan acknowledges influenced him on TDKR). Either way, I should watch those and other Lang films again – no such thing as watching a Fritz Lang film too many times.