I, Shane › Shane Adams’ personal weblog

Alli and I just got back from seeing The Dark Knight with Tyson and Ashley. It’s 4:00 AM.

I’m still processing since it’s early (or late) and all, but my first thought is: Heath Freaking Ledger.

Honestly, I don’t know if the movie itself is better than its predecessor. I may have to watch it once more in order to make a proper judgment. At first glance, though, The Dark Knight should probably just be called Joker! because it truly is the Heath Ledger show.

Christian Bale takes somewhat of a backseat to Ledger and Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent (perfect casting). I love Bale as Batman and I love Nolan’s interpretation of the story, but Ledger’s performance in this movie is so massive that everyone else just kind of fades into the background. This is an impressive feat considering the cinematic heavyweights surrounding him during the movie - Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Bale and Eckhart.

Ledger is undeniably awesome. In contrast to the original Tim-Burton-directed Batman where you could see shades of Jack Nicholson in his version of the Joker, in The Dark Knight Ledger literally disappears behind the makeup and scars and turns in a performance that really does deserve consideration from the Academy.

If he manages to get the nomination, it will be the first time since 1995 that someone has been posthumously nominated for a Oscar (only one ever to win was Peter Finch for Network in 1976). An even more stunning accomplishment would be for him to bring accolades to the genre of comic book and superhero movies, which - let’s be honest - is here to stay.

Ledger’s death is sad, but I applaud Christopher Nolan and the producers of The Dark Knight for not changing the story or trying to somehow soften the viciousness of The Joker. It’s a true testament to Ledger’s ability as an actor to showcase the full range of his talent - a guy who broke out as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You and played Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain.

The Dark Knight is long, but it’s an amazing accomplishment. I felt like the story itself could have been tightened up in a couple places, but overall, I’d go see it again in the theater. Maybe not at one in the morning, but it’s worth multiple viewings.

If you liked Batman Begins, you’ll like this. A lot.

Now, I shall stop rambling because I have to get up for work in a couple hours.

Author’s Note: I realize upon waking up that this may or may not be coherent. The thing about going to a midnight showing of a movie is that every single person in the theater wants to be there and is very likely to love the movie no matter what. Last night was no exception. People rarely clap after movies anymore. However, at midnight showings (and particularly last night’s), they do.

Steve Carell is funny.

There’s no denying he’s funny. In the remake of the 1960’s spy spoof TV show, Carell is just…Steve Carell. He’s funny, but he’s probably more Michael Scott than Agent 86 Maxwell Smart. And while I love Michael Scott, he didn’t really belong in this movie.

Carell is surrounded by a huge cast. Anne Hathaway plays his Agent 99 counterpart and The Rock (don’t give me this “Dwayne Johnson” stuff…he’ll always be The Rock to me) plays Agent 23, Max’s idol in the offices of CONTROL. Alan Arkin plays his boss, and there are brief cameos by Bill Murray, James Caan and many others (some funny, some not so much).

The real winner here is Steve Carell. He should get more and more starring roles because he’s a funny guy. If you like him, I’d suggest going to see this movie if only for the scene in the airplane.

Otherwise, I’d probably just rent it.

Alli and I went and saw WALL·E last night and I gotta say Pixar has once again put together a masterpiece. The way that they’ve taken the small concept for robot tasked with cleaning up Earth and yet turning it into an unlikely love story of epic proportions is nothing short of magnificent. John Lasseter and Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton and Steve Jobs and everyone at Pixar can once again be proud of their little animation studio.

Every year, I look forward to Pixar’s latest release with great anticipation. With the exception of Cars, I’ve yet to be disappointed. (Even Cars is still better than a lot of the dreck that gets thrown up on screen.) When putting WALL·E into the pantheon of Pixar’s pictures, it falls somewhere above Cars and somewhere behind Finding Nemo and Toy Story.

What sets WALL·E apart is that it is largely a statement film, critical of mindless consumerism and environmental carelessness. (Sound familiar?)

Similarities to Short Circuit and Idiocracy aside, WALL·E is a brilliant and beautiful movie, full of stunning imagery on Earth’s landscape of desolation and isolation as well as the vast expanse of space.

Pixar explores some very adult themes with the movie, but presents them in a way that’s approachable, albeit a little bit obvious. They’re certainly not subtle in their criticism, but I found it interesting to be sitting in front of some kids who immediately were able to recognize, “Look at all that TRASH!”

At its most basic, WALL·E is a love story between two robots. As far-fetched as that may seem, it works on every single level and you walk away with an elated feeling, maybe holding your spouse’s hand a little tighter, but definitely smiling.

Go and check it out.

Tuesday night, we went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

With this and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I’ve been reminded of why I love going to the movies.

Prince Caspian picks up about a year after the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with the Pevensie children back in England after having saved Narnia from the White Witch. They seem restless having spent like, 18 years, in Narnia and returning having not aged at all.

Meanwhile, back in Narnia, Prince Caspian is on the run and he…well…I don’t want to ruin the story.

But I’ll say this…it was really good. If you liked the first movie, you’ll really enjoy the second movie. It draws upon the same themes, but it’s a little more grown up. If you compare The Chronicles of Narnia to the Harry Potter stories, you definitely see the progression of the characters from story to story.

Much of the story (as was the case in the first movie) is told through young Lucy’s eyes and that’s to the benefit because the girl who is played with so much joy and brilliance by Georgie Henley. She totally overshadows the rest of the Pevensie kids. The only character giving her any competition for chewing the screen was relative newcomer Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian.

The Chronicles of Narnia are enjoyable stories and watching them being brought so well to life on screen has been great. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair are already scheduled for 2010 and 2011…we’ll see if they can get through all seven books.

Until then, I enjoyed the movie a lot. If you liked the first one, you’ll like this one. It’s just a fun movie that makes you smile.

Roger Ebert’s quote on the movie says it best:

I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you. 

We got the opportunity to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. The theater was pretty full, even on Monday night at 7:40, which helps explain the $311 million that it made worldwide.

It was fantastic.

Ebert is right. If you liked the early movies, you’ll enjoy this one. Spielberg, Lucas and Ford take us on a ride so enjoyable that you remember why you started going to movies in the first place.

And despite its long title, I couldn’t think of another alternative that wouldn’t spoil the story.

Speaking of the story…sure, it wasn’t terrific, but the characters carry the story along so well that it doesn’t matter. What they do is take a story that we’ve heard before (and recently, in another movie, sort of) and gives it a different take in a way that makes sense to the Indiana Jones universe of movies.

Still, Indiana Jones is a character that holds up amazingly well. The nods to earlier movies were lighter than I expected, but Spielberg even dropped in a Star Wars reference as Indiana Jones mentioned, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” which was one of Han Solo’s favorite phrases.

Overall, it was a really fun movie and definitely worth seeing in the theater. It reminds us that action movies don’t necessarily need to be about all the special effects. They can focus on good characters and good dialogue and excellent stunt work and still be a great trip to the theater.

There’s a point in every young boy’s life that he realizes that he’s no longer a boy. He’s not really a man yet, but you begin to realize there’s more to life than running around the neighborhood with your friends.

In 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark came out and that was my time. Dr. Jones defined cool to me. He was a guy I wanted to be like. He was smart. He was adventurous. He was heroic. He was afraid of snakes. He had a whip.

Freaking sweet.

I’m so excited for the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, despite its excessively long name. And if the early reviews from people are any indication…it’s gonna be awesome.

Roger Ebert’s quote on the movie says it best:

I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you. 

This pretty much echoes my feelings. The original Indiana Jones trilogy is up there with the original Star Wars trilogy in the pantheon of films. And to be honest, if you don’t like Indiana Jones, I probably wouldn’t be friends with you. It’s a movie to be enjoyed, to be loved. It’s something to make you love movies.

We are probably going to see it sometime on Sunday. This is going to be a huge weekend. Jake’s Bachelor Party Golf Poker Extravaganza. Indiana Jones. My first cheeseburger in months. It’s going to be incredible.

Alli and I went to see Iron Man tonight with Ash and Tyson. It isn’t your typical summer blockbuster…it’s not as fluffy as Spider-Man…not as dark as Batman Begins…really just a happy medium between the two presented brilliantly by Jon Favreau and the genius Robert Downey, Jr., as the title character, Iron Man/Tony Stark.

Iron Man is not your typical superhero. He’s the Marvel Universe version of DC Comics’ Batman - a fundamentally flawed HUMAN without superpowers who serves as a sort of vigilante for justice.

Of course, there’s a bad guy. And a girl. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, Tony Stark’s dutiful and brilliant assistant. It’s an interesting choice, but this movie was full of interesting choices. Jon Favreau’s insistence that Downey play the title character was a real win for us moviegoers. In an interview I saw this week, Johnny Favs recounted how the studio wanted to use a different, safer actor for the role of Tony Stark, but given Iron Man’s flawed background, Downey could not have been a better choice. I couldn’t imagine anyone that could have captured the character as well.

There is one caveat that I must state: you may be somewhat disappointed if you think the movie will be wire-to-wire Iron Man fighting awesomeness, be prepared for a lot of back story. Since Iron Man isn’t quite as iconic as Spider-man, it appears that the filmmakers chose to give you at least a little back story as to how he got to where he was. It makes it a better movie, just not nearly as exciting as some might like. Don’t get me wrong…there’s a ton of action. I’m just saying don’t expect it wall-to-wall.

But superhero movie fans, be glad - it’s almost certain to spawn a couple sequels as long as it has a strong showing this weekend. So go see it. It’s a great cast and I’d love to see the story go further.

Alli and I went simple tonight - a couple movies from Blockbuster, some frozen pizza, sodas from Quik Trip. I was hoping to celebrate low cholesterol tonight, but we decided to take it easy. I picked up two movies on the way home, Dedication with Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore and Into the Wild with Emile Hirsch and a slew of other actors.

We started the evening with Dedication, a completely off-beat romance about Henry, a messed up children’s author (Crudup), and his new illustrator, Lucy (Moore). The two are forced to work together and dealing with Henry turns to be challenging because he’s…well…he’s crazy. To put it into perspective - when he gets anxious, he lays on the ground and puts heavy books on his chest to ground himself.

I really enjoyed it. It was really funny and well-acted. Billy Crudup is one of my favorites and he is absolutely terrific. It’s not a typical romantic comedy and was definitely worth the rental.

Into the Wild is a movie I’ve been wanting to see since it came out, but never got around to it. Wow. I was really blown away by it. It was so beautifully filmed, mostly due to the amazing scenery. The scenery is kind of the point. Emile Hirsch plays a restless college graduate looking to find himself by getting lost in the wild. Allen recommended this movie a while back (perhaps when it originally came out) and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.

It’s a terrific story, particularly amazing since it’s based on a true one, captured in the book by Jon Krakauer. I think that the best advice of the move can be found about 2/3 of the way through it, “When you have a dream within reach, you just reach out and grab it.” Great advice. I’d recommend that movie for sure.

You guys are very good. Within 8 hours of posting yesterday’s movie quotes meme, over half of the quotes were completed and Jake and Alli hadn’t even taken a crack at them yet. I added an additional bonus quote for two reasons.

1. The movie it’s from is in my top 5 and I can’t believe I forgot it.
2. We actually had the quote read at our wedding…I’m such an idiot.

So, while there is now one additional quote, there are only 5 left. Take a look…a couple of them are kind of difficult.