comment #1

Richardson says ...

I think it's funny that you re-posted a private conversation because your friend said something stupid and obviously ill-informed. The under-15s might not be big on 'Dark Knight', but the 18-25 crowd will eat that shit up.

comment #2

D.Z. says ...

"Younger males are going to be slightly hesitant about a big new Batman film costarring the late Heath Ledger? News to me."

Well I can understand their logic in not seeing it, actually.

'So Joker's that Australian dude in that gay cowboy movie who OD'd after he hit it big, right? And he's playing a character we've already seen played before by Luke Skywalker and that old dude from "The Departed"? And Batman has no new vehicles or suit, either? I'll think about it. '

comment #3

MDOC says ...

Was the friend D.Z.?

comment #4

Richardson says ...

I just think it's funny when DZ thinks he understands something because of "logic".

comment #5

tophertilson says ...

I saw a screening of MAMA MIA. I loathe the show, so it was no wonder that I wasn't taken with the film, pretty and proficient though it be. But man, is it gonna be big. SEX AND THE CITY is going to choke on its dust. Mothers and daughters -- it'll attract anything with ovaries. It's an estrogen magnet.

comment #6

Cinexcellence says ...

The Dark Night will be hitting large groups of people. Even the youngins.

comment #7

LexG says ...

I don't "get" camp... Mamma Mia, like Hairspray, looks like hell on earth; I get embarrassed just watching the trailer... WHO is really that unironic?

I didn't even begrudge anyone their SATC, but this thing? Ugh. And Streep looks like such a fucking ham in it. Women over a certain age shouldn't "mug."

comment #8

MathewM says ...

My wife who probably hasn't seen Batman Begins is into seeing the The Dark Knight. Probably because of the the Heath Ledger mystique.

Personally I'm kind of mezzo-mezzo on it. I think Batman Begins is a little overrated; good but not something I enjoy re-watching. I think they're waiting too late in opening it. Last weekend would of been perfect. The longer it waits to open I think the less money it will make.

comment #9

Josh Massey says ...

The fiancee and I will probably do just what we did for Sex and the City. Go to dinner, enjoy each other's company, head to the movies, and then spend two hours in different theaters. You can do that when you're engaged, I guess.

(Oh, speaking of camp, just finished The Mist. Perfectly serviceable, entertaining and a good mix of silly/tense - until the dumbest ending I might have ever seen. Am I alone here?)

comment #10

scooterzz says ...

i'm willing to bet that the gay contingent will be every bit as big as the mother/daughter group...

comment #11

D.Z. says ...

Mathew: Feel the same way about BB, and I agree that they should get it out already. It doesn't make sense to me that Speed Racer got let out early, while DK gets pushed back until July. Now it has to compete against Iron Man, Hulk, and even Indy 4.

comment #12

D.Z. says ...

Josh: But how does it compare to The Happening?

comment #13

Mr. Gittes says ...

" Let her go!"

"Oh, very poor choice of words."

And she is dropped...

I guess the Joker is following Tuco's advice: When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.

Kudos Nolan.

comment #14

T. Holly says ...

zz top is right, it's definitely tri-pod if not tent-pole and it opens across the pond a week earlier than here; it's gonna be big with repeat offenders re-visiting it

comment #15

shermy says ...

I also think Dark Knight is opening too late. Begins opened about a month earlier and ended up being, what, like #9 on the 2005 list of blockbusters? Even if Dark Knight triples the opening weekend of Begins, it's going to quickly run out of prime summer weekends.

comment #16

MDOC says ...

Josh,

The mist was pretty good. It was a typical adventure horror yarn with a Tales From the Crypt type ending that left the story at a darker place than most of it's peers.

All this Bat speculation is just spinning wheels. It's a Bat Movie, number 6 in 20 years. There's a ceiling on these things. Anything less than 200 million is a dissapointment, anything more than 250 is gravy, and the final domestic number will be somewhere in between. For the record I'm geeked up. I once once quoted as saying "life is merely the downtime between Batmovies".

comment #17

Richardson says ...

"Oh, speaking of camp, just finished The Mist. Perfectly serviceable, entertaining and a good mix of silly/tense - until the dumbest ending I might have ever seen."

I actually think the ending is brilliantly conceived, and goes completely with the theme of the movie and Darabont's ongoing themes about never giving up hope, hope = life, etc.

It's just HORRIBLY executed. I enjoy Darabont, but finding out from a David Morse interview that he is the sort of director who insists on every comma doesn't surprise me. All of his movies are over-written. Tom Jane's screaming at the end reminds me of Vader in 'Revenge of the Sith'.

So, yeah, I think it's brilliantly conceived, but Darabont needs somebody sitting next to him while they're shooting to say, "Hey, that part? It's clear. It's established. You really don't need to say it again."

comment #18

PoisonSkin says ...

the mist has some hilarious commentary by Darbont.

"ok. you had to get this right. or the audience is gonna laugh."

haha. you missed it buddy

comment #19

MathewM says ...

The Mist starts out terrible--me and my wife were laughing how poor the acting and dialog were. Then about half-way through I realized I was really enjoying it. The nutty religious bitch was over the top as was the uptight black guy but I got caught up in it. Then came the ending--- horrible. The "kid" was a completely undeveloped character so I wasn't emotionally attached to him so much as I couldn't conceive a father being able to commit such an act. Totally unbelievable. Overall it was more Frank Darabont being clever than a choice ending to a slightly above average b-movie.

comment #20

The Winchester says ...

I'm told Nolan's biggest influence in making Dark Knight was Heat. For that reason alone, it gets my money multiple times over.

And as for the talk that it's too late in the summer, that's nonsense. I forsee a Bourne type progression, where it stickes around for awhile.

comment #21

shermy says ...

I think everyone making the "too late" comments naturally assumes it will receive good reviews and word of mouth. But even with a Bourne-like performance, it's unlikely to be a serious contender for one of the year's highest-grossers. Yet the latter is what many have been throwing around for months, and it just doesn't look as though the Bat will have enough prime summer weekends to do it with.

comment #22

Richardson says ...

I think it's fair to estimate that 'Dark Knight' costs twice as much as the last 'Bourne', so if it only does 'Bourne' numbers, that's not exactly great business.

comment #23

Aladdin Sane says ...

D.Z., you're misinformed. I can't believe it actually. Point is, Bats gets a new suit and a new motorbike. You may have noticed both in the trailers and commercials.

comment #24

Richardson says ...

The neck is no longer connected. Surely the kids will flock to see Batman's new ability to move his head without moving his shoulders.

comment #25

Rich S. says ...

Dark Knight may be a weird duck. The trailers make it look too dark for its target audience (kids and pre-teens). However, if you've seen some of the toys (not an especially reliable predictor, granted), and if the toys are an even partially accurate portrayal of what's going on in the movie, it might be a little more lighthearted than what they're letting on.

I'm actually oddly encouraged if the latter proves to be true. After slogging through three and a half seasons of Battlestar Galactica, I'm getting weary of hyper-dark reboots.