THE DARK KNIGHT appreciation thread 1 1

[Artboy99]

7 hours ago, Reader said:

For me it’s a problem that The Dark Knight is the pinnacle of comic book films. It’s been a decade. I want someone to put out a better comic book movie that satisfies me on the level that TDK did. Winter Soldier, Civil War and GotG were great fun but they don’t measure up. Watchmen and 300 were the best translations I could ask for and still, no DK. I can only hope Matt Reeves gives us something special with a solo Batman film in the future. 

Winter Soldier is a masterpiece in my opinion. Exceptional detail and story.

I also rank Batman Begins very high, in my opinion it is as good as The Dark Knight.

 

[bane]

On 14/12/2017 at 12:37 PM, bane said:

Can't wait for the 4K Box set to come out 

And this is what was in my stocking Xmas morning. 

[Bosco685]

'The Dark Knight' to Return to Some Theaters for 10th Anniversary

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The Dark Knight is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2018. Fans in the northeast United States can celebrate in theaters.

 

Theater chain Showcase Cinemas will screen The Dark Knight on February 8th and 11th.

 

The Dark Knight was first released in July 2008. Christopher Nolan directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the film. It is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, following 2005's Batman Begins.

 

[Bosco685]

Remembering Heath Ledger, 10 years later

 

 

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Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Heath Ledger. The news of his sudden passing shocked the world in 2008, particularly the Batman community. Ledger was set to star in The Dark Knight later that summer, and he did, giving one of the best comic book movie performances of all time. His role as The Joker earned him a posthumous Oscar.

 

Today, Superhero News remembers Heath Ledger on a special edition of The Superhero News Show. Hosts Sean Gerber, Sabina Graves, and Mark Hughes share their memories of his legendary portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight.

 

[Lucky Baru]

I watch The Dark Knight last night on cable.  The movie stands out because of the story, character development, and the LACK of CGI.  Nolan put together a movie.  He didn't put together a comic book hero movie.  I hope that the film directors behind the comic book movies in production look at what Nolan did and dial back the CGI.  More CGI isn't what makes a good movie.  It just makes a movie look fake.   It is used as a crutch to support a horrible movie that only fan boys are going to talk about endlessly and is quickly forgotten by the general public.

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

Christopher Nolan had a “wow moment” during this ‘The Dark Knight’ IMAX scene

 

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Christopher Nolan brought IMAX to Hollywood. Before The Dark Knight, no feature film had been shot with the large format camera. In a new interview with Variety, Nolan spoke about the first “wow moment” he had with IMAX, and naturally it was early on in the process of shooting The Dark Knight.

 

“The first big creative ‘wow moment’ was when we were shooting the prologue for ‘The Dark Knight,’ and seeing Heath Ledger standing in the street from behind,” Nolan said. “The iconic nature of the shot really stood out.”

 

 

Since The Dark Knight many big superhero and action movies have been shot in IMAX. In fact, Nolan even let director Zack Snyder borrow his personal IMAX lenses for him to use on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by Bosco685

[fantastic_four]

Finally picked up the Nolan Batman set in 4K...WOW.  Makes a HUGE difference.  I only watched the initial scene from The Dark Knight that Nolan is describing above as being iconic so far because I need a sound bar, but man, 4K really made it seem like a new experience.  Can't wait to get a sound bar (and 8 hours of free time which will be the biggest challenge) and experience the whole set.  

[Bosco685]

1 hour ago, fantastic_four said:

Finally picked up the Nolan Batman set in 4K...WOW.  Makes a HUGE difference.  I only watched the initial scene from The Dark Knight that Nolan is describing above as being iconic so far because I need a sound bar, but man, 4K really made it seem like a new experience.  Can't wait to get a sound bar (and 8 hours of free time which will be the biggest challenge) and experience the whole set.  

I just picked up a soundbar from Amazon for my home office TV. Turns out Visio is kicking butt with the sub-$100 soundbars.

I went with the VIZIO SB2920-C6 29-Inch 2.0 Channel soundbar. It comes with all the connector cables, including optical. And even though I installed the optical, the default start is Bluetooth if you have a SMART TV. Sounds fantastic!

Edited March 15, 2018 by Bosco685

[fantastic_four]

16 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

I went with the VIZIO SB2920-C6 29-Inch 2.0 Channel soundbar. It comes with all the connector cables, including optical. And even though I installed the optical, the default start is Bluetooth if you have a SMART TV. Sounds fantastic!

I want to hook both my XBox and my PC into it, so I can't use that soundbar because it doesn't support HDMI out and ARC.  The setup I want is XBox HDMI out to soundbar HDMI in, soundbar HDMI out to my 43" 4K Philips computer monitor, and my PC S/PDIF out to soundbar S/PDIF input.  That way I can switch from PC to XBox seamlessly, but that soundbar won't support audio over HDMI to do that.

This would also let me hook cable into my XBox and have the picture and sound travel across HDMI to the monitor if I want, but initially I don't much care and likely won't hook cable to the XBox yet.

Edited March 15, 2018 by fantastic_four

[fantastic_four]

44 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

1 hour ago, Bosco685 said:

I went with the VIZIO SB2920-C6 29-Inch 2.0 Channel soundbar. It comes with all the connector cables, including optical. And even though I installed the optical, the default start is Bluetooth if you have a SMART TV. Sounds fantastic!

I want to hook both my XBox and my PC into it, so I can't use that soundbar because it doesn't support HDMI out and ARC.  The setup I want is XBox HDMI out to soundbar HDMI in, soundbar HDMI out to my 43" 4K Philips computer monitor, and my PC S/PDIF out to soundbar S/PDIF input.  That way I can switch from PC to XBox seamlessly, but that soundbar won't support audio over HDMI to do that.

This would also let me hook cable into my XBox and have the picture and sound travel across HDMI to the monitor if I want, but initially I don't much care and likely won't hook cable to the XBox yet.

I think this is what I'll end up buying--the Vizio SB3651:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/vizio-smartcast-36-5-1-channel-soundbar-system-with-5-wireless-subwoofer-and-digital-amplifier-black/5768100.p?skuId=5768100

Edited March 15, 2018 by fantastic_four

[fantastic_four]

Here's a look at my setup necessitating a soundbar that supports ARC.  The soundbar will go under the 43" monitor in the center and hook to the computer under the desk as well as the XBox to the left of that monitor.  On the right is a 28" monitor, and on the left is a 34" ultra-wide monitor oriented vertically because I prefer reading most content-heavy web sites that way since they all lay content out vertically these days.  All three monitors are hooked to the PC, and the center 4k monitor is also hooked to the XBox.

[Bosco685]

37 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

I think this is what I'll end up buying--the Vizio SB3651:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/vizio-smartcast-36-5-1-channel-soundbar-system-with-5-wireless-subwoofer-and-digital-amplifier-black/5768100.p?skuId=5768100

Nice!

Tom's Hardware and a few other electronics review sites really started ranking Vizio higher over the past year. But now in 2018, it seems to really be ranking well alongside Samsung and Sony.

[fantastic_four]

16 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

Nice!

Tom's Hardware and a few other electronics review sites really started ranking Vizio higher over the past year. But now in 2018, it seems to really be ranking well alongside Samsung and Sony.

There are a TON of Amazon users saying their Vizio soundbars died within the first few months of ownership...that's my main hesitation for choosing the brand.  Some models have more of those complaints than others.

Edited March 15, 2018 by fantastic_four

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

1 hour ago, fantastic_four said:

 

Here are my conclusions from that picture...

- You live in Virginia

- You have kids

- You like basketball and football

- You're a donkey (not an elephant)

- The picture was taken in December 2017

 

***I tried the vertical display but the brand name on the monitor being non-horizontal always bothered me (I'm a bit OCD).  I always thought they should make the brand name on monitors rotatable.

[fantastic_four]

6 minutes ago, AnthonyTheAbyss said:

Here are my conclusions from that picture...

- You live in Virginia

- You have kids

- You like basketball and football

- You're a donkey (not an elephant)

- The picture was taken in December 2017

 

***I tried the vertical display but the brand name on the monitor being non-horizontal always bothered me (I'm a bit OCD).  I always thought they should make the brand name on monitors rotatable.

All pretty accurate except that I'm non-partisan whereas my significant other is radically left and I'm not much of a football fan.  That Steelers/Bengals game in the viewing history was for my two-year old, who runs back and forth in front of the TV with a football while watching, periodically falling over and saying "I tackled!"  He still asks for football and doesn't understand what it means for the season to be over.  

[Bosco685]

18 July 2008

The closer we get to the 10th Anniversary, the more we will probably see people going back and digging into the details like this. Cool assumptions!

 

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I’ve always liked the theory that Heath Ledger’s Joker in Christopher Nolan’s DARK KNIGHT is a war veteran suffering PTSD. His referencing a “truckload of soldiers” getting blown up, his ease with military hardware, and his tactical ingenuity and precision planning all feel like an ex-Special Forces soldier returned stateside and dishing out payback. I love films that contain enough thought and shading to sustain post-screening theorizing like this.

 

But I just re-watched THE DARK KNIGHT, and another wrinkle came to mind about The Joker.

 

What if he’s not only ex-military, but ex-military intelligence?

 

Specifically — interrogation?

 

He seems to be very good at the kind of mind- that sustained, professional interrogation requires. His boast about how “I know the squealers” when he sees one. The way he adjusts his personality and methods depending on who he’s talking to, and knowing EXACTLY the reaction he’ll get: mocking Gamble’s manhood; invoking terror to Brian, the “false” Batman; teasing the policeman’s sense of loyalty to his fallen, fellow cops; digging into Gordon’s isolation; appealing to Harvey Dent’s hunger for “fairness.” He even conducts a “reverse interrogation” with Batman when he’s in the box at the police station — wanting to see how “far” Batman will go, trying to make him break his “one rule.” He constantly changes his backstory (and thus who he is). To Gamble and his henchmen, he’s an abused child (figuring that they were also the products of abuse and neglect). To Rachel, he’s a man mourning a tragic love — something she’s also wrestling with.

 

In the end, he ends up trying to mind- an entire city — and the city calls his bluff. Or is that what he wanted all along? He plummets to his seeming death, laughing like a child. And when he’s rescued by Batman, the one individual he couldn’t manipulate or break, he’s blissful and relieved (and, visually, turned on his head). Even the language he uses when saying goodbye to Batman — describing their relationship as an “irresistible force meeting an immovable object” — is the kind of thing an interrogator would say, ruefully, about a fruitless session.

 

It didn’t matter how he got those scars, turns out.

 

(*As Cody Glive points out, in a comment below, The Joker also “directs” Batman’s interrogation of him, like an instructor with a newbie. “Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy.” Can’t believe I missed that. Thanks!)

 

(And I ALSO just realized — The Joker uses The Russian’s dogs against him, and later sics them on Batman. Just like the pictures from Abu Ghraib of the prisoners being terrified by dogs)

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by Bosco685

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

‘The Dark Knight’ Trilogy IMAX Engagement Sold Out in LA and NYC in Minutes (Exclusive)

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Christopher Nolan’s upcoming “The Dark Knight” trilogy IMAX engagement in Los Angeles sold out in less than a minute after tickets went on sale, TheWrap has exclusively learned. AMC Lincoln Square (IMAX) in New York City sold out almost immediately as well.

 

Tickets are still available for AMC Metreon in San Francisco, Cinesphere Ontario Place in Toronto and Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis.

 

All three of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films starring Christian Bale, a.k.a. “The Dark Knight” trilogy, are returning to IMAX screens and on 70mm film for a five-city, special engagement starting at the end of the month, Warner Bros.’ president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein announced Tuesday.

Goes to show people still appreciate these three films.

[theCapraAegagrus]

The Dark Knight is the definitive "if a hero was real" comic book film.

Which is exactly why Man of Steel is criminally underrated. It's a "what if Superman was real" film.

They're both a couple of my favorite movies of all-time.

Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises are probably both on-par with each other. Considering Heath Ledger's performance, there was literally no way that the finale could live up to the legacy of its prequel.