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The Dark knight
Batman saga continues with joker as his foe.
I can't say anything more about this movie that hasn't been said already.So the rest of this review will contain an answer to the question - how did this movie impact Hollywood ? well the best way to summarize the answer is in using a quote by joker from the movie which goes as "Nobody panics when the expected people gets killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying.If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics because it’s all part of the plan.But when I say that one little old mayor will die, everybody lose their minds." This movie is not part of the plan. There has always been this unspoken rule in Hollywood about the demarcation between prestige pictures and popular commercial movies. Popular commercial movies are considered low art. Prestige movies can be box office hits but they shouldn't have certain elements that are commercial in their most superficial sense like action scenes in cityscape or based on IP. All the great actors traditionally are picked from prestige filmmaking arena and all the movie stars that are just money making machines for studios are second tier actors used to present awards and show up at events. No one can makes a peep. If you try and veer off course like Jim Carrey, your head will be cut out. He wasn't even nominated for Oscar for Truman show and man on the moon, which I think has more to do with his performance but far subpar performances have been recognized by academy.
So how is this movie not part of the plan ? its not part of the plan in terms of the people involved , the career boosts they got from this movie and the legendary status this movie has got. As a simple example, when Denis Villeneuve was starting out in Hollywood he could only get Jake Gyllenhaal or Hugh Jackman but after the success of Arrival he was able to get Ryan Gosling for blade runner and a 200 million $ budget. Its a step up. The funny thing was no one knew that Nolan was a genius when making batman begins. Even after that movie people still felt that Nolan was a good director on par with some commercial directors. So he could only get Hugh Jackman and Christian bale for the prestige. It was only after this movie aka the dark knight that Nolan was stepped up to work with DiCaprio. So the reality is, according to Hollywood had they known his talent way before the dark knight he wouldn't even be allowed to work with an actor like Christian bale.They would have asked bigger stars to work with him. So the collaboration between director of talent like Nolan and actor of the popularity of christian bale was never part of the plan to being with. And the career boost a commercial director like Nolan got ,to the point of making his own passion projects like Interstellar and Dunkirk is not part of the plan. Even more surprising is the star power increase of christian bale to the point of being able to make movies with his name brand. All these are not part of the plan. He according to Hollywood machine is supposed to be making commercial action movies for studios and make third rate period movies and end his career.But when you are lead in a billion dollar franchise and you are in a movie star role, then things won't be the same again and emphasis has to be given to "movie star role" because Elijah wood can't sell a ticket outside Lord of the rings and even in that he is worthless as a box office draw. Because, at the heart of this whole thing there is a contradiction between movie star role and disappearing into character.If you disappear into roles, you can't actually be a box office draw because audience are not identifying you as a movie star. But if you are not doing that then you are playing yourself. So the more you disappear into your roles you are not becoming a box office draw. The content of the movie needs to draw you in. That means your movie needs Oscar buzz. And finally in terms of the movie itself, an action movie is never part of Hollywood's plan to be considered a classic. But in IMDB which is the most visited movie based site on the planet this is among the very best rated movies of all time and according to various polls , it is among the greatest movies every made. So thats not part of the plan.
So all these set this movie apart. it is a gentle reminder that taking risk beyond prestige filmmaking and making other genre movies but make them great to the point of transcending the genre altogether are risks worth taking because you never know, there could be dark knight in the making.
One more important thing to understand is, great actor or best actor of the generation is a moniker that is passed along generations. You can't be called a great actor of your generation if you are not approved by auteurs or legends of previous generation of actors and directors. Academy award wins is one way to do that. But also the collaborations with directors of previous generations. The funny thing about movie stars in commercial fair is that they are always considered as lone sharks. They are as good as money they bring in. But when you are a box office draw in a prestige picture setting, then you supported by industry to stay as box office draw using awards buzz and awards. So the other day I was listening to this interview after screening of a movie with Robert De Niro. The interviewer is is in his 40s or 50s or 60s with a British accent and he is asking De Niro who the best actor of current generation is and he is feeding names to him like DiCaprio or Matt Damon. The problem is , even though De Niro thinks someone else is better he can't say because Matt Damon starred in Good Shepherd and helped De Niro finance his movie and DiCaprio is collaborating with Scorsese and keeping his career alive. So he is in this weird circle. Moreover he played the father of Bradley Cooper , who seems very savvy in terms to maintaining Hollywood connections and doing and getting favors. So he is this weird spot where he can't passover the crown to another chameleon like christian bale because it appears to me that Christian bale is kind of a recluse and only interacts with people that he needs to. He is not someone who shows up to others premieres or works with others may be because thats the best way he works. There are two ways of getting to the top in Hollywood. One is to be extremely talented and keep proving that you are and the other is to get and do favors with decent talent. Actors like Daniel day Lewis and bale fall into the former category and actors like Bradley Cooper and Damon fall into latter category. So the reality is , Warner bros. had they knew the talent of Nolan would have forced him to make batman with Bradley Cooper or someone but the fact that he was allowed to make a movie with Bale whose biggest solo hit was 20 million $ in American psycho is not part of the plan.
So all in all this movie is masterpiece and it really helped improve the star power of some of the most valuable artists in Hollywood like Nolan and Bale.
Batman saga continues with joker as his foe.
I can't say anything more about this movie that hasn't been said already.So the rest of this review will contain an answer to the question - how did this movie impact Hollywood ? well the best way to summarize the answer is in using a quote by joker from the movie which goes as "Nobody panics when the expected people gets killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying.If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics because it’s all part of the plan.But when I say that one little old mayor will die, everybody lose their minds." This movie is not part of the plan. There has always been this unspoken rule in Hollywood about the demarcation between prestige pictures and popular commercial movies. Popular commercial movies are considered low art. Prestige movies can be box office hits but they shouldn't have certain elements that are commercial in their most superficial sense like action scenes in cityscape or based on IP. All the great actors traditionally are picked from prestige filmmaking arena and all the movie stars that are just money making machines for studios are second tier actors used to present awards and show up at events. No one can makes a peep. If you try and veer off course like Jim Carrey, your head will be cut out. He wasn't even nominated for Oscar for Truman show and man on the moon, which I think has more to do with his performance but far subpar performances have been recognized by academy.
So how is this movie not part of the plan ? its not part of the plan in terms of the people involved , the career boosts they got from this movie and the legendary status this movie has got. As a simple example, when Denis Villeneuve was starting out in Hollywood he could only get Jake Gyllenhaal or Hugh Jackman but after the success of Arrival he was able to get Ryan Gosling for blade runner and a 200 million $ budget. Its a step up. The funny thing was no one knew that Nolan was a genius when making batman begins. Even after that movie people still felt that Nolan was a good director on par with some commercial directors. So he could only get Hugh Jackman and Christian bale for the prestige. It was only after this movie aka the dark knight that Nolan was stepped up to work with DiCaprio. So the reality is, according to Hollywood had they known his talent way before the dark knight he wouldn't even be allowed to work with an actor like Christian bale.They would have asked bigger stars to work with him. So the collaboration between director of talent like Nolan and actor of the popularity of christian bale was never part of the plan to being with. And the career boost a commercial director like Nolan got ,to the point of making his own passion projects like Interstellar and Dunkirk is not part of the plan. Even more surprising is the star power increase of christian bale to the point of being able to make movies with his name brand. All these are not part of the plan. He according to Hollywood machine is supposed to be making commercial action movies for studios and make third rate period movies and end his career.But when you are lead in a billion dollar franchise and you are in a movie star role, then things won't be the same again and emphasis has to be given to "movie star role" because Elijah wood can't sell a ticket outside Lord of the rings and even in that he is worthless as a box office draw. Because, at the heart of this whole thing there is a contradiction between movie star role and disappearing into character.If you disappear into roles, you can't actually be a box office draw because audience are not identifying you as a movie star. But if you are not doing that then you are playing yourself. So the more you disappear into your roles you are not becoming a box office draw. The content of the movie needs to draw you in. That means your movie needs Oscar buzz. And finally in terms of the movie itself, an action movie is never part of Hollywood's plan to be considered a classic. But in IMDB which is the most visited movie based site on the planet this is among the very best rated movies of all time and according to various polls , it is among the greatest movies every made. So thats not part of the plan.
So all these set this movie apart. it is a gentle reminder that taking risk beyond prestige filmmaking and making other genre movies but make them great to the point of transcending the genre altogether are risks worth taking because you never know, there could be dark knight in the making.
One more important thing to understand is, great actor or best actor of the generation is a moniker that is passed along generations. You can't be called a great actor of your generation if you are not approved by auteurs or legends of previous generation of actors and directors. Academy award wins is one way to do that. But also the collaborations with directors of previous generations. The funny thing about movie stars in commercial fair is that they are always considered as lone sharks. They are as good as money they bring in. But when you are a box office draw in a prestige picture setting, then you supported by industry to stay as box office draw using awards buzz and awards. So the other day I was listening to this interview after screening of a movie with Robert De Niro. The interviewer is is in his 40s or 50s or 60s with a British accent and he is asking De Niro who the best actor of current generation is and he is feeding names to him like DiCaprio or Matt Damon. The problem is , even though De Niro thinks someone else is better he can't say because Matt Damon starred in Good Shepherd and helped De Niro finance his movie and DiCaprio is collaborating with Scorsese and keeping his career alive. So he is in this weird circle. Moreover he played the father of Bradley Cooper , who seems very savvy in terms to maintaining Hollywood connections and doing and getting favors. So he is this weird spot where he can't passover the crown to another chameleon like christian bale because it appears to me that Christian bale is kind of a recluse and only interacts with people that he needs to. He is not someone who shows up to others premieres or works with others may be because thats the best way he works. There are two ways of getting to the top in Hollywood. One is to be extremely talented and keep proving that you are and the other is to get and do favors with decent talent. Actors like Daniel day Lewis and bale fall into the former category and actors like Bradley Cooper and Damon fall into latter category. So the reality is , Warner bros. had they knew the talent of Nolan would have forced him to make batman with Bradley Cooper or someone but the fact that he was allowed to make a movie with Bale whose biggest solo hit was 20 million $ in American psycho is not part of the plan.
So all in all this movie is masterpiece and it really helped improve the star power of some of the most valuable artists in Hollywood like Nolan and Bale.