Obsessions.
18 July 2008 @ 06:30 ; 0 CommentsWhy so serious?
Oops. I was supposed to blog several hours ago but knowing me and my tendencies to procrastinate, coupled with the fact that I am logged into the Internet, made it doubly worse.
So yesterday I was out with Queen Bee and we ventured to White Sands to have a meal at... Mickey D's. Yes yes- of all places why go so far, right. Well it's not far far per se but Q just wanted to be somewhere "ulu"... some place where she can just slow down, chill out, get drunk (in not that sense) and just relax. So after that we went to explore the new shopping mall at Downtown East- the E! Hub (note: the name can be pronounced in two forms- as in, E (high pitch squeal to signify exclamation mark) Hub and Eeeeee (coupled with a grossed out facial expression to signify exclamation mark) Hub).
And impressed I was. Who knew that Pasir Ris boasted such a mall? Nowadays malls require to be bigger than malls- nowadays they have to have that special something to bring the customers in; that magic to be able to retain their customers to frequent the place. E! Hub's main attraction is, undeniably, the Ferris Wheel. At four storeys high and being indoors? I was blown away. The mall, despite having a lack of shops to truly qualify as a "shopper's paradise", should be viewed more as an entertainment hub (perhaps hence the name) rather than solely a place to get your wares and go home. In that sense, I believe the people running the mall wants the customers to have an enjoyable experience being in E! Hub. And to be able to take that experience back with them as they leave, and to compel them immensely to want to come back for more. And believe me, I will be coming back for more. (Oh, and the bowling here is much cheaper compared to the one at Marina Square. Dealbreaker!)
From one spontaneous plan, we explored each floor in awe (Korean delicacies! A skating rink! Arcade! (Huh.)) before reaching the cineplex. Oh, what do you know- The Dark Knight's already out. Wasn't expecting much, since it's opening day and thought that the entire Pasir Ris estate would be there to catch it. How wrong I was. Well, three quarters wrong. We got like three rows from the screen (our favorite seats) and... I must say, despite the cinema hall being loud, it was awesome.
Everyone knows of Batman. And, ever since the positive reaction Batman Begins garnered when it was released three years ago, critics and movie-goers alike, particularly the fanboys, waited with bated breath to see whether the sequel held up to its predecessor. And yes, if you really want to know, yes, it held up. In fact, dare I say it, The Dark Knight raised the bar and ran away with it too.
Now let's go straight to the biggest talking point that everyone wants to know- how did Heath Ledger fare in the movie? If you are asking me, his portrayal of The Joker was immensely disturbing and frightening, bordering almost to the point of psychologically unsound and uncomfortably anarchic. Compared to Jack Nicholson, Ledger managed to alleviate The Joker into being one of the villains that everyone knows and hates and should be afraid of, if no more for his sadistic views towards an unruly society drenched in a chaotic environment rid of rules and regulations than how he manages to make your skin crawl everytime his crazy made up smeared face appears on screen. There have been talks that he might even be granted a posthumous Oscar for it and I say, if he does get it, then he truly deserved the golden statue.
If you think the movie's too heavily focused on Ledger as The Joker (I mean, with an intense viral marketing campaign and everyone lauding him about the role), then take it all back. Yes, he may be the attention right now but ultimately, the movie is still about Batman and his struggle to rid Gotham City of its underbelly of corrupts while, at the same time, trying to make sense of it all and protecting his identity. Christian Bale remained as enigmatic as ever playing the icy cool Bruce Wayne. He is like the anti-thesis of Ledger, despite the latter's proclamations being otherwise. In fact, I'm taking a step further and deeming that the entire cast were in fact, wonderful. Although, still slightly iffy about Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over Katie Holmes' character but, she was the lesser of two evils, I suppose.
This review is positively glowing, eh? I was really pumped up because and after the movie. Christopher Nolan showed the world how to handle a comic book hero with style and still being able to imbue substance to it. This is a blockbuster movie that has brains as well as brawn. Regardless, clocking in at over two hours, it did feel a tad dreary, and the waxing poetics can be slightly taxing, if not, depressing and somewhat unnecessary even. But, for the most part, the script was tight, leaving hardly any space for discrepancies. This is truly the movie event of 2008. (Yes, I'm saying that despite paying nine dollars - on a weekday, no less - for it. But it was nine dollars well spent.)
We stayed until the credits rolled and ended, waiting in anticipation for the Watchmen trailer to be shown. Apparently it was being tagged to "one of the biggest comic book movies of this year", according to some rumblings on the net. Alas, Singapore probably decided not to import it since they don't really get the entire thing until a proper, concise trailer has been commissioned for repeated viewings. Stupid censors.
I would really love to explain to you about the movie (an adaptation of one of the most lauded and award winning graphic novels by Alan Moore which I bought last week and still have yet to rip the plastic and read it proper, tsk tsk. I'm turning into a fanboy!) but that'll take a few more paragraphs and frankly, this entry is already too long enough for some people and I think they probably didn't even make it this far. That's too bad, really. Just as it is too bad that I'm not going to post the link here. But believe me, it looks awesome. Can't wait for next year!
