asam3122

I had only heard the premise of the movie when I picked it up at Blockbuster the other day. While it is not the greatest movie of all time, it is surely in my top 10 of 2008. Not being a fan of Josh Peck, by the end of the movie I could sympathize with his character and I could actually take him seriously. The first half of the movie, I kept comparing Luke Shapiro to Josh Nichols from "Drake and Josh." However, despite others' beliefs, I feel that Peck played the role of Shapiro very well. But even more amazing was Ben Kingsley. Not being a fan of Kingsley either, I had only seen him in "Dave" and "Lucky Number Slevin" and I really didn't know what to expect. He played his part as the drug-addicted pyschiatrist very well and I felt a connection with his character more than Peck's.

The movie begins in what I assume is May of 1994 as Luke Shapiro (Peck) is graduating from high school. With the summer approaching and his family making money, Luke is selling more drugs than he usually does, including to his psychiatrist, Dr. Squires (Kingsley), and Squires' stepdaughter, Stephanie. After a night in jail with Dr. Squires, Luke and Stephanie hit it off and Luke is sure that he's found love. But Dr. Squires thinks differently. As the summer goes on and the heat rises in New York City, Dr. Squires and Luke start reevaluating their lives and trying to find the real meaning of their time on Earth. What starts as a coming-of-age film ends as a deep study of the parallels between young and old. "The Wackness" is a deep and solid film with great performances from Kingsley and Peck. I know exactly why the film was recognized at Sundance. Highly recommended.

9/10

I remember in my younger days watching the campy (not necessarily bad) Batman movies with a wide variety of actors from Adam West to Michael Keaton to George Clooney. I remember being a child and being especially afraid of Jack Nicholson's Joker in Tim Burton's version of Batman in 1989. But I didn't even imagine the Joker as I saw him tonight. Heath Ledger is by far the scariest Batman character, I believe, to ever be brought to life on the big screen. The purple-suited prankster is more in love with anarchy than schemes and such. With a dark sense of humor, you find yourself laughing at some unexpected places in the film. But why not put a smile on that face? Enter Bruce Wayne, our model hero, to save the day...or so one would think. But when the going gets tough, Wayne questions his place in Gotham City. Now that new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is in town, maybe Gotham deserves a "hero with a face," as Bruce puts it. Maybe they deserve the knight in shining armor instead of the knight in midnight black bat suit.

With plenty of humor, character development, and action, "The Dark Knight" keeps you guessing and hanging on until the end credits roll. With the brilliant Nolan brothers writing and directing once again, how could this have failed? Who ever saw Batman as not just a figure in the dark, but a dark figure himself? While the original TV series was campy and comic, "Begins" and "Knight" have surely cast that image away from the franchise. And all I have to say is...bring on some more.

Supporting performances from Eric Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine make "The Dark Knight" a summer winner. Hats off to all involved for the entertainment and a job well done.