Terror politics and Batman

Oh, those parents complaining that the new Batman is too creepy and disturbing for their kids to watch? They're so right.

This isn't about censorship, this is about how wigged out I am right now!!!! Yeah, I'm one of the lucky few who got to watch Batman on opening weekend. Of course I could only get a nighttime showing. I was all ready to hit the hay after the show but the movie has just left me shuddering and crying for mommy.

Heath Ledger does a bone-chilling job as the Joker, and the movie is really uncomfortable. Not just the violence, just the unrelenting darkness of it - the lack of hope. Damn, they have to put warnings on these things - "Do not watch in the middle of a recession."

I'm sure Christopher Nolan, the director, meant it as a parable of our times - a mirror of society. When I saw Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face (excellent excellent casting in this movie by the way - Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Maggie Gyllenhaal as the female lead) I thought of Eliot Spitzer. I'm sure I'm not the only one. And no, it's not analogous - murder and prostitution. But I thought of how high the angels climb and fall and how all politicians are the same.

It was uncomfortable because it left us with no hope, no happy Hollywood ending. Everything was trashed and burned. The one or two bright lights at the end were minor in comparison to all the willful mayhem that had occurred. But strangely, if ever a movie were to serve as cautionary tale of where our country could go, damn this is one for our age.

This movie is all about terror and terrorism, and how far powerful figures go to construct an illusion of good versus evil. How far can one man or many be pushed to save themselves and their loved ones? The movie even addresses that the Joker is playing, toying with our fears and that we cannot give into a terrorist's demands. Without giving anything away, suffice it to say that the Joker effectively preys on fears by creating rampant instability and discusses how plans legalize and legitimize deaths. You could swap out the word plans here for laws. It can also be considered an investigation of natural law and justice versus civil law and vigilantism. Batman is a hero but also a villain, a complex Hell's Angel who is content with sullying his reputation to protect the city.

This movie is so dense, there's so much to unpack and the only way to do that is by rewatching except that my brain and guts are still in hiding. Compare this to the other movie I saw this weekend, Hellboy II, which was utter crap and so surface that I nearly walked out of the theatre. Except that I'm a cheap bastard. With wanton destruction that doesn't have meaning and no character development. What ever doubts I have about Zack Snyder, I'm glad Guillermo del Toro isn't doing the Watchmen movie after seeing this junkpile. Unlike Ironman, which struck a great balance between being over the top and smart alecky with some political notes thrown in, Hellboy was empty calories.

So Christopher Nolan, I salute you. You took the ugly and made it not glamorous but somehow more real, infusing it into our ids and unconscious corners of our brains. You left several men puddles of whimpering fear and you managed to question whether might makes right, the age old quest since the days of Arthur. You did it with pretty good cinematography and using the lie of makeup and the art of shadow, you've revealed the truth. Our nation's underside is base and depraved and if we don't watch it we're going like Nero.

Now if only I could sleep without fear!!!!

Movies: Harold & Kumar, and Juno

So the writer's strike has me watching more movies (the Juno review is on bottom if you haven't seen it, don't scroll down.) First I want to say how much I am looking forward to Harold and Kumar, Part Deux. The new trailer has me salivating. Jeez, I hope I don't over hype what is basically your standard, really intelligent stoner move that makes fun of stereotypes, but . . . H&K the original was funky fresh and full of flavor and life and I can watch it over and over and over. But now they've got Rob Cordhry in the mix, in addition to the infamous Neil Patrick Harris. How can it go wrong?!?

Also, I want to say, thank god they now make funny teenage movies that are smart, with Asian American actors. Who knew American Pie would turn out John Cho as one of our prime APA actors, and who knew one of our prime APA actors would turn out to make hilarious movies that don't suck even if you're not high? Cos H&K is much better than even primo-geek Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. By magnitudes. (Actually, it was sorta painful.)

Now onto Juno. . .

What can I say about Juno, except that it's written by what all the reviewers are calling a blogger, except that she used to be a stripper who blogged?

Diablo Cody wrote an endearing, warm, whipsmart film that is entirely en pointe. The tone is spot on, it's wicked funny and smarmy and precocious, just like its lead actress. And yeah, it is too clever for its own good, but given the tripe that most Hollywood movies are, I would rather have a film NOT insult my intelligence. Juno is geekdom and alienation and a really sassy teenage girl who knows exactly how to get what she wants, even if she doesn't know what she always wants, and the casting of Michael Cera with Jason Bateman will have Arrested Development fans screaming with joy. (Let me just tell you that they never appear onstage together, but the overall dialogue and antics would fit right into an Arrested Development episode.)

Plus there's Allison Janney (CJ from West Wing) as Juno's mom, and a soundtrack from adolescence, if the teenager in question had really good taste and was a music reviewer like one of my friends from long, long ago. One of the few unrealistic bits was that her parents didn't freak out more. I know that I come from a more conservative culture, but I feel like most American parents would still have a heart attack if their kid came home preggers at age 16, including my friends who grew up in hippie dippy families.

Juno is the girl who never cared what other people thought of her, the one who words couldn't hurt, the tough gothy, nerdcore free spirit who was on a first-name basis with her teachers, when she went to school. But she still scored 4s and 5s on her APs. She's the one that jocks secretly wanted when they were banging the blonde cheerleader ditzes. (Oh, I'm not sure that cheerleaders and freaks are friends in real life - minor detail.) She's the one who every girl kinda wished they could be and every guy wanted a piece of.

People compare it to Little Miss Sunshine, but I think the writing in Juno is just wonderfully more raw and revealing, while the fierce-sardonic dialogue kind of glides over that. I watched Juno with some high school friends and it was just like being back there, except without the angst and pain (which the movie is strangely free of - in reality, I'm sure she would have gotten so much more crap from everyone at school.)

In short, Juno stole my heart, and I'm sure she'll steal yours.