the dark knight reviewed

The Dark Knight poster

After waiting for quite a while now, I finally got to see the much-anticipated installment of the Batman franchise. The Dark Knight marks the return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Director Christopher Nolan. New to the Batman series is the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. Michael Caine is still Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon.

This new Batman movie is very different from the comic book Batman of the past. It delves deeper into the human emotions – exploring mostly the weaknesses of the human spirit and the indifference among all of us. From the opening scene, where bank robbers dressed as clowns annihilate each other just to make his share of the heist bigger, to the conclusion of the story; the movie told many tales about human beings in general.

The hype around Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker was well deserved. The role fit him perfectly, and his portrayal of the demented psychopathic clown was spot on. His voice, mannerisms, and general demeanor were exactly what the role called for. Sure, your heart will go out for him, knowing that he will not have another performance but still, you couldn’t discount his acting prowess in this movie.

Aaron Eckhart also was effective in his role as District Attorney Harvey Dent. His transformation into Two-Face was riveting. You almost feel sorry for the villains in the Batman movies. Every single one of them has a sad story to begin with. Maggie Gyllenhaal was no Katie Holmes as Rachelle Dawes – she was a lot better actress than Katie. True, Maggie looks a lot older but maybe her role as Rachelle fit her perfectly. She was the love interest of Harvey Dent who was no spring chicken either so the love team worked out well on screen.

Some caveats on the movie though. I found that some of the fight scenes were very distracting. I thought that they could have used more lighting during the action scenes or maybe zoom the lens out further so as not to be too tight for the scenes. Also, when his tank of a Bat-mobile transformed into a bad-ass bike, I found that the CGI effects could have used a little more work. It looked fake to me, especially when the bike passed by a dirt patch. Those fat tires could have kicked helluva lot more dust after his high-speed pass but not in the film. So sad too about the Lamborghini Reventon. I didn’t pity it because it got smashed (of course they didn’t use a real Reventon there), I would have wanted a lot more scenes of Bruce Wayne in that baby. When I first saw the Reventon on Top Gear, I instantly knew that it was made for Batman.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the movie. It’s a true white-knuckle ride through and through. It’s a lot more dramatic than previous Batman films and it caters to the more mature audience, not the ones that want a lot of crash, bam, booms. It’s the last film that Heath Ledger made and he certainly goes out in style. He’s the perfect Joker, more effective for me than Jack Nicholson in the first Batman. I like Jack Nicholson but Heath Ledger took the role to another level. You feel sorry for the guy but at the same time, you want to knock the paint out of his face as well. You will laugh at his antics but you wanted him to get beat up so bad, he won’t need that smile anymore. Thank you Heath Ledger, may you rest in peace. Why so serious?

a lesson on flaking

I’ve been a Model Mayhem member for a little over a month now (MM #738284) and have been a regular visitor of the site. It contains thousands and thousands of profiles with lovely, high-res photos of models from all over the world. The site is very helpful when you want to find inspiration and when you feel that the photos in flckr (or in this case, multiply) are a bit too generic and bland.

But there is one word that they love to throw around in MM and that is the word “flake”. For the uninitiated, to flake means to “back out” of a meeting (or a shoot) without a word of warning. In Tagalog, to flake is “mang-Indian”. I have been flaked before (shoot or otherwise), and there are varying reasons for the flake. I guess it’s just a matter of courtesy when you’re thinking about flaking and not coming clean. People dedicate their time and energy for a meet, then if you flake them, then that’s time and energy wasted, both not recoverable resources, but extremely valuable nonetheless.

Philippines, My Philippines

Competent Communicator Vivian took the Maharlikans back to their roots by selecting the theme “Philippines, My Philippines” for the weekly meeting of the Maharlika Toastmasters Club at the Jade Vine Restaurant, Manila. It was the first stint for CC Vivian as Toastmaster of the Evening and she showed great attention in preparing for the evening’s event.

Participants in the meeting was the rock-solid core of the Maharlika TMC members. CC Ferlin started the educational portion with the Table Topics and her thought-provoking questions were gamely answered. TM Hannah then opened the Prepared Speech portion with her fourth speech, “Life is Decision”. She reminisced the times when several modeling agencies approached her and asking them to work with her; all of which she eventually declined. Studies come first for the de-facto runway model of Maharlika.

TM Kai then danced to her heart’s desire as she delivered Basic Speech Project No. 5, Your Body Speaks. Kai even had the voice-activated props in the person of her beau, Peter. She likened her love affair with a dance, and that she would rather fall in love – consequences be damned, than live without love.

The funniest person for the night’s meeting followed. TM Peter recalled the horrific but educational experience he had with the crook lock of his car last week. He injected Vocal Variety in his speech as he recounted the after-meeting debacle in San Carlos St. beside the Jade Vine Restaurant.

President Mely took the helm for the third part of the meeting as the General Evaluator. CC Cecille was in charge of the Table Topics evaluation and she only had kind words both for the participants as well as the Table Topics master.

buono sera, italia

Distinguished Toastmaster Aida’s turn to host the weekly meeting of the Maharlika Toastmasters Club. She chose the theme “Buono Sera, Italia”, or “Good Evening, Italy” following the United Nations tour of the club. Ms. Aida remembered her visit to Italy very well and she wanted to share the experience by hosting an Italian themed meeting.

CC Erika was the word master and she introduced Italian words that are commonly used in the English language now. CC Vivian was the Table Topics Master and she came very prepared for her role, complete with the colors of the Italian flag all over her – even extending to painting her face with teh Italian colors of green, white, and red.

Two prepared speaker are now one step closer to the Competent Communicator norm. TC convinced everyone to try Downy when rinsing their clothes, to minimize the use of clean water for rinsing and to cut the washing time of the washer. Our apologies Peter, for using a product not from Unilever!

Jing is also one step closer to being Competent Communicator after he delivered his speech about the famous mantra of the infamous Sicilian mob, the Mafia, which is the code of “Omerta”. Afterwards, I delivered an Advanced Speech from the “Speaking to Inform” manual. The project is about the abstract concept and I gave a talk on the Italian’s quest for quantifying beauty through the works of Leonardo Fibonacci.

ACB Ida Sih of the El Presidente TMC acted as the General Evaluator for the meeting. She came early this time, unlike in our club’s induction and turnover ceremonies. She even brought along her colleague from her club. There were three guests for the meeting.

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