The Dark Knight Caine: "Heath frightened the life out of me"

[(S)laughter 99]

I must agree with David Croenburg. Eastern Promises was excellent as well. If you enjoyed History of Violence definately check it out

 

[donk70]

Every indications pretty much tells Us this... What, you dont want to be blown away?

Not hardly. At least not me

I don't think I've been blown away by a movie since The Godfather

 

[bkey]

Not hardly. At least not me

I don't think I've been blown away by a movie since The Godfather

So you don't want to be blown away by TDK?

 

[donk70]

So you don't want to be blown away by TDK?

I'd like to be, but every indication so far leans to me not to be blown away

 

[bkey]

Thats fair. I know some people will love Heath and Nolan's take on the Joker, while some will hate it. I for one am really excited from everything I've heard so far.

 

[Naite22]

Not hardly. At least not me

I don't think I've been blown away by a movie since The Godfather

Maybe we're missing each other here... I'm talking about simply beeing blown away by Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker, not the movie it self... Will I be blown away by the movie? That I couldn't tell ya before I've actually seen it, no matter how hyped up it may be. For instance, I wouldn't exactly say that I was blown away by Superman Returns either, but I was blown away by Brandon Routh's performance as superman, him self!

 

[donk70]

Maybe we're missing each other here... I'm talking about simply beeing blown away by Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker, not the movie it self... Will I be blown away by the movie? That I couldn't tell ya before I've actually seen it, no matter how hyped up it may be.

Ok then, from what I've seen, I'll highly doubt I'll be blown away by Ledger's Joker

 

[CaptainClown]

You are speaking about a film, commonly known as "Georgia Rule". This was when Lindsey had the most trouble filming. (Cursing at director, shuning people, and ultimately acting like a stuck-up premodona).

ahh gotcha, I still heard Jane Fonda saying nice things or bad, who knows or cares

 

[Naite22]

Ok then, from what I've seen, I'll highly doubt I'll be blown away by Ledger's Joker

From what you've seen???? Unless you were at Wizard World where they showed the first raw footage, than how can you possibly say that, I ask!? All you have to judge from are pictures of the Joker... Very UNwice to judge the man's performance, before you actually see him in action!

 

[CaptainClown]

there was that spy footage of Heath just dicking around with his wallet or something. THat was pretty cool even though it was nothing

 

[bkey]

Not to try to speak for him, but maybe he is not impressed by the pictures that have been released of the Joker, or of the more realistic approach Nolan seems to be taking, and feels that it is not true to the way Joker is presented in the comics.

 

[Gotham]

Not to try to speak for him, but maybe he is not impressed by the pictures that have been released of the Joker, or of the more realistic approach Nolan seems to be taking, and feels that it is not true to the way Joker is presented in the comics.

I remember when pictures moved. Acted. Spoke.

Oh wait.

 

[Naite22]

never EVER judge a performance before seeing it on-screen.... it's the most foolish mistake any one can make. nuff said!

 

[the_monk]

I must agree with David Croenburg. Eastern Promises was excellent as well. If you enjoyed History of Violence definately check it out

I thought Eastern Promises was fantastic as well, and I didn't really like A History of Violence.

Viggo Mortensen was really fantastic in Eastern Promises. He really shows his range in that movie.

 

[Gotham]

I must agree with David Croenburg. Eastern Promises was excellent as well. If you enjoyed History of Violence definately check it out

I would disagree.

I thought Violence was superb because of the calm, violent nature. The question that the film asked was also interesting. Who are you really living with?

Promises, well, didn't do that much for me in the end. Viggo was fantastic - though.

 

[Beanjuice]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, had a bit of a search and couldnt find anything so thought I'd post it here, if it's already been discussed the moderators can feel free to delete or merge.

Today's issue of the Melbourne Sunday Herald-Sun (Sept 23) carries a brief interview with Michael Caine talking about Heath Ledger's performance in THE DARK KNIGHT, suggesting he could be up for an Oscar nomination for his work.

Here's some of what Caine had to say:

"The worry going in was The Joker.

Jack Nicholson was the greatest Joker so, you know, how do you top that? Well, Heath Ledger's done it and he's extraordinary.

He's gone in a completely different direction to Jack. Jack was like a clown figure, benign but wicked, maybe a killer old uncle. He could be funny and make you laugh.

Heath is like a really scary psychopath. I did one scene with him and he was ready to go and had to come up in a lift and raid our place.

I didn't see him for rehearsal and when he came out of the lift he was so incredible I forgot my lines. He frightened the life out of me.

I'd never met him before. He's a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture."

The only photo accompanying the article is the pic of heath holding the knife up to Maggie G's face.

ok my confidence just shot up 4 times

 

[Bat-Mite]

Why does Nolan need to ruin the Joker with what people are calling a "realistic" approach to the mythos? He makes movies about a comic book character, for chrissakes. Batman is far from being realistic

That's an interesting sig that you have. I like how you knoooow that Nolan has "ruined" the Joker, even though we know next to nothing about him. We have a handful of pictures and know about a couple of his actions and that's it. And what little we do know about him action-wise is spot on with the Joker from the comics. We do not even know whether he is permawhite or not (i.e., the huge thread over that very subject), yet you have judged the movie before you have even seen it.

 

[Gotham]

That's an interesting sig that you have. I like how you knoooow that Nolan has "ruined" the Joker, even though we know next to nothing about him. We have a handful of pictures and know about a couple of his actions and that's it. And what little we do know about him action-wise is spot on with the Joker from the comics. We do not even know whether he is permawhite or not (i.e., the huge thread over that very subject), yet you have judged the movie before you have even seen it.

What he said.

 

[Voyeur]

Y'know, Michael Caine is great friends with Jack Nicholson...they've known each other for about 40 years. So I'll take Caine for his word when he says Ledger's Joker "tops" Nicholson.

 

[Solidus]

Good enough to outshine Nicholson.

Don't get me wrong, Nicholson was good with what he was given- he just wasn't the Joker.

Hammil's Joker creeps me out from time to time, Nicholson never did that.... thus, the IDEAL Joker is Hammil's Joker- voice, look, everything.

From the sounds of it we are finally getting the true Joker on screen for the first time. Ledger is Hammil's Joker- will Ledger outshine Hammil is still yet to be seen, but odds are he might because we finally have material accurate to the psychopath that Joker is.

Those who say Joker is just psychotic in the cartoons because he laughs never watched the cartoons. It was his ACTIONS that made him psychotic and scary- one of the scenes that sticks out the most is the flashback in the PG-13 cut of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. That Joker made Nicholson's Joker look like a *****.

And with scenes such as:

Spoiler

A bomb inside of someone's chest to light them up like "christmas lights"

is any indication of what we'll get, we will finally get a Joker that will either equal Hammil or surpass him.

But, FACT of the matter is-imo- Nicholson's Joker is a scared sane chicken compared to Hammil.

------------

And Naite, dude, MOST of us here actually knew that.... Nolan's looking at Loeb's Joker- and if you know Loeb's Joker, you know how that would translate to screen. That was only cemented by "The Killing Joke"

Tempest you did not listen to a word I said. I never said Jack's Joker was better, I hated it actually. Jack always plays himself in every single movie, to me the most over rated actor of all time.

Yes I DID watch all of the animated series, you have known me long enough, so that quite offends me that you would say I have not. To me the Hamil Joker is more silly then what Nolan is creating a more serious toned villian.

And what I said most is that Hamil can never create the kind of Joker Ledger is creating, Hamil can do a great voice, and the animators can do great animation. But still no matter what, comics and cartoons can get very powerful, but there is no powerful media such as a person expressing his emotions with live action. Hamil can only do so much. Ledger can bring this character to a dimension that Hamil never can. And yes I will say most look at cartoons, including myself, and find it hard to be "scared" by them. Including the Joker. It is a level of realism that is taken out of the equation when you make a cartoon. But with a live action you can bring something to the screen that you can' with a cartoon.

 

[Tempest19]

Um, I haven't known you long enough- no offense or anything. Your name does sound familiar though, I just don't know the details about every member. So couldn't quite understand whether you were 'Nicholson > Hammil' or not...

And agree with you on Ledger has a chance to outshine Hammil. And probably will too.

 

[Gotham]

I don't see why everyone has a cult obsession with Hamill.

I find his portrayal somewhat lame, actually.

 

[Mr. Socko]

From what you've seen???? Unless you were at Wizard World where they showed the first raw footage, than how can you possibly say that, I ask!? All you have to judge from are pictures of the Joker... Very UNwice to judge the man's performance, before you actually see him in action!

I don't always agree with donk70, but he has every right to speak his opinion. He is basing his opinion off of the information and pictures that he's seen and know of. Him making a pre-judgment that everything about the Joker doesn't seem to be great is no different than you and others who say the performance will be the really good without having seen the film. Everyone is going to make a pre-judgment and that's to be expected. What matters if the final judgment after you've seen the film.

 

[Luchastyle]

just for nicholson's sake (for the record i think his joker is meh), for those who say he plays the same character in every movie...that's a choice. he actually is a great actor. watch chinatown. he played that straighter than a mutha f-ckin light post. so with chinatown alone (possibly his best performance) he earned the right to play himself for the rest of his career. =D

 

[Solidus]

Um, I haven't known you long enough- no offense or anything. Your name does sound familiar though, I just don't know the details about every member. So couldn't quite understand whether you were 'Nicholson > Hammil' or not...

And agree with you on Ledger has a chance to outshine Hammil. And probably will too.

Hah I guess I am forgettable. You and I were on the Spidey-3 boards constantly. I remember when the book came out and you and I discussed much.