The Dark Knight... may contain spoliers!!!

Yesterday, the four of us went out to see The Dark Knight. Kristine's mom had given her some movie passes, so we were able to go for free. It was so nice of her to share those with us. We arrived at the theater about an hour early and ended up second in the line so we got the seats we wanted in the theater.

The Dark Knight was actually a pretty decent film. It was not exactly what I had anticipated and definitely not the best Batman film of all time, but a good film none the less. The film starts out a little slowly with the set-up of the film. Kenneth described it perfectly when he said that it felt like an individual movie and not a sequel. This is a good and a bad thing. For people who may not have seen the first film, the set-up helps to bring all of the viewers to the same page, but for those of us who have seen the first film, the set-up seems a bit redundant. Once the film gets rolling though, it moved along smoothly.

One criticism I have for the film is the short existence of Two-Face. Aaron Eckhart did an excellent job at creating the Harvey Dent character. He was believable and an intriguing character. The problem was that they not only developed Harvey Dent, but once Two-Face is "born" out of the accident, they not only develop Dent, but they work in his entire transformation into Two-Face, Two-Face's entire development, and his death. Just like that, Two-Face has come and gone. I had anticipated Two-Face being created and then possibly coming back at a different time and place, but the way it was done, I think it took away from the Joker's character.

The other criticism that I have is the length of the film. This film is 2 1/2 hours, but it seems a bit longer as you get to the end of the film. Although it wasn't as severe, I had the same feeling I had after seeing Return of the King... There were a couple times where I felt the film could have ended and yet it kept going.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy the movie.... I really did enjoy it. I found it to be better than Batman Begins. I just think there is something to be said for the original Tim Burton films. Yesterday morning prior to going out to see the Dark Knight, I was reminded why I enjoyed the original two Batmans so much. The true comic feel that comes with a Tim Burton film brings to life the creative and artistic form that Batman truly is as a comic series. Burton's playfully gothic films do not try to place Batman into our own reality, but instead place him in a world that resembles ours and twists it with a bit of artistic license and for lack of a better term whimsy.

In comparison, Chris Nolan has brought reality into Batman. Ricky thought that Gotham City was supposed to be "Chicago" but to me, I like the anonymity of the fictional location. I like being taken into a world that is not our own, and enjoying the fantasy of the stories. Nolan, on the other hand doesn't to bring too much of the fantasy into his films. He wants to do characters that can be seen as believable and realistic. For example, one issue I saw that no one else will notice, as teh use fo teh Illinois license plates. The Land of Lincoln license plates are so recognizable that every time a car drive by, I was taken out of the fictional story and into real life. Granted, I understand that's what Nolan wanted, but it was a bit distracting to me. This is also one of the reasons he decided to recreate the Joker. He felt that the Joker could be created to be a real villain and a truly evil person.


Now to the question that I know has been plaguing everyone's mind... How was Heath Ledger's performance? I must admit he did a very good job. It was the best character performance I have seen in a comic book film in a long time. He owned the character that he created, but do I think it was an Oscar worthy performance.... eh, not really, but it will depend on what else is released prior to the end of the Oscar season. I think it warrants a possible nomination, but I don't know that it is a winner. Of all the films I have seen Ledger in, (which is pretty much all of them), this was his best performance, and sadly his last. I was a true fan of Heath Ledger (even in his weaker films) and his presence will be missed. Ironically enough, the Joker does not die in the film. The character Heath created will be rotting in jail until the end of time. I will say this... if they decide to bring the Joker back for any reason, it is going to be incredibly hard to replace and equal the performance that Ledger delivers. Well done, Heath, well done!

When all is said and done, Jack created the Joker's personality. Kenneth said it best when he said, "I just think that there are elements of the Joker that wouldn't exist today if Jack Nicholson hadn't created them in the first place." I would have to agree. The Joker is who he is because of Jack and you cannot really question that fact. I will give Heath Ledger credit though, the laugh was PERFECT!

My personal ranking of the Batman films:
1. Batman (1989)
2. Batman Returns (1992)
3. The Dark Knight (2008)
4. Batman Begins (2005)
5. Batman Forever (1995)
6. Batman and Robin (1997)

One final thought... with the whimsy and creativity of the Burton films we get a much cooler BatMobile...

Although you were not selected for this position...

Today is just one of those days where you start to feel slightly down. Not because its gloomy outside or because anything is really wrong, but more so because sometimes you just hate hearing the words:

"Thank you for applying for the position of ...
Although you were not selected for this position, we encourage
you to apply for other positions for which you may be
qualified as they become available. Please visit our website
at for additional vacancy information."

On average, I have been receiving about one rejection letter every other day. Some days I wouldn't receive any which tends to boost my spirits just a tad. But today was different. Today I received 7 before noon and they just keep coming. Since noon, 2 have been added to the collection. This brings the grand total of rejection letters up to 45. (These are from Orange/Seminole Counties Schools only... this does not include miscellaneous retail or other jobs) After a while it gets a bit depressing. I keep telling myself that only one has to say yes, but I'm not even getting any interviews. I go straight from application to rejection. I know the right job is out there for me, but it is frustrating when I have been looking for a job for over a year now and have yet to get any offers (much less good ones)

I continue on with my daily applications and tracking all of the jobs I have applied for versus the ones I have received word from and sit and hope that something will come along that will be the right job for me.

I do have a potential offer that I am looking forward to, but the waiting and waiting is what is getting to me. UGH!

Ready, Set, Scrapbook!

Well, after a short hiatus I have managed to jump right back into my scrapbooking. With all of the chaos of moving mixed with the continued search for a job, the time has been available, but unfortunately the creativity has not.

So today was the day. After doing my usual searches for jobs and taking care of other errands, I decided that I was going to finish my Star Trek album. Now keep in mind, we went to the Star Trek Convention last year in August... and I finished it today. I think I take a few too many pictures. (That or I take way too long to decide what I am going to do and then it takes me several hours to complete a page) Whatever the case may be, I did manage to finish the album today and I must admit, I am quite impressed with myself. This album came together so well as a themed piece and I am very proud of the result. Now, I am on to bigger things... well not really... just another album or two or three. To be honest I have approximately 5 different albums currently in progress that I have been working on. I am so far behind, but with the big Scrapbooking Day coming up and a few sparks of inspiration (finally!) I should be able to get back on track. Actually, I am hoping to finish our 1st anniversary album by the 1st of August so I can show it to my mom and my aunt. We shall see how it goes.

Can we say Dark Knight anticipation???

I know its killing me... I have had a countdown for this film up since I found out it was being released. For some reason, I am not a fan of comic book movies in general (although I am told I need to see Ironman), but when it comes to Batman, I can't see the films fast enough. Granted, Batman has had its weaker moments... BUT I have still religiously gone to the theaters to see the films good, bad, or otherwise.

The dilemma presented though is the fact that I am definitely starting to get older. Ricky, Kenneth, and I discussed the fact that the midnight showing on Thursday night is past our bedtime. What happened to the days of multiple late night showings... they have gone by the wayside and I am sadly waiting until Friday or Saturday to see the movie. To those of you who can stay up late enough to see the Thursday showing, go and have as much fun as possible!(Make it a double for me) Just don't tell me what happens because I promise before the weekend is out, I will see The Dark Knight and would venture to guess that I will enjoy every second of it.

P.S. - The review will surely follow!

Can we say paycheck?

I know its hard to believe, but the checks have finally started coming in for all of the these tests I have been taking. They still owe me for a few of them, but at least they have started to arrive. Most likely I won't receive the payments from July until September, but at least I know they are on their way!

Brendan Fraser Live at Universal Studios Florida

Today Kenneth, Kristine and I decided to head out to Universal Studios because Brendan Fraser was going to be there to promote his new film in the Mummy Saga. We had gotten an email letting us know he was going to be there because they were going to have a special event for the Passholders as well as a couple live appearances from Brendan himself. We decided it would be fun and it gave us an excuse to go to Universal in the middle of the summer during tourist season. Although Brendan wasn't out on the stage for very long, it was interesting to at least get a chance to see him in person. He did a little Q & A and they gave out a trip for 2 to see the movie premiere in Hollywood, but for the most part it was just Brendan and some guy from Universal talking about the movie. He also put in a plug for Journey to the Center of the Earth.

We stood in the shade for most of the time he was on the stage, but there were people that had been sitting on the hot concrete starting at around 10AM just so they could be at the front of the stage. I am surprised that they didn't have more cases of heat stroke and heat exhaustion considering how hot it was. Although, considering how many people were in front of us, I was able to zoom in pretty well with my camera. The Passholder event was supposed to take place after the event outside, but with the length of the line(which we would have been in for 90 minutes before they even let us in), the rain storm moving in, the heat and the insane prices for water, we decided to forget about the event and beat the traffic going home. Besides, we figured we had gotten the chance to see him and thats all we wanted to do. Not to mention the fact that the Passholder event was the same thing that happened outside, just in the air conditioning instead.

Now here's where the fun part of the story comes into play. Premier and Preferred Annual Passholders were invited through email to an exclusive event where Brendan was going to make an appearance. They required that you RSVP for the event since space was limited and they were going to give out free t-shirts etc. I RSVPed for myself, Kenneth and Kristine because I figured we could all go together and Kenneth doesn't have class on Fridays. After I RSVPed, I found out that Kristine didn't have the right kind of annual pass, but since they didn't say anything in the email, we were going to try anyway. So today I get there first and get corralled into a line for passholders that RSVPed and one for those who didn't. They way they were doing it was that all the people who RSVPed were going to be checked off on this list after they showed their passes and then their hands would be stamped to guarantee their place in the theater. We were standing behind about 25 to 30 people or so so it took a little while for the woman with the list to get back to us. The idea was that after you were stamped you could leave the line to enjoy the park (this was noon and the doors weren't opening for the event until 3:30PM) But we found it odd that no one in front of us was leaving the line. As the woman with the list got closer, we realized that a good portion of the people in front of us weren't on the list. As she got to the lady in front of us in line, her name wasn't on the list, so she started raising her voice and getting testy. The woman with the list continued to us and saw that my name as well as Kenneth's were on the list, but since the lady in front of us was getting so loud and being so obnoxious, the lady didn't take the time to check the list for Kristine's name, and she just stamped her hand. It was such a nightmare going through that line, and the crowd was getting restless, we decided to walk around the park for awhile before the 2 o' clock festivities were going to start. Although as I said earlier, we decided not to stay for the Passholder event because it was so unorganized and so incredibly HOT. But as you can see, from where I was standing in the crowd, I got some fairly decent photos. (and this was with my little tiny camera)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is out in theaters on August 1st 2008 and from what I have seen, it seemed to be fairly accurate and maintains the integrity of the series. We will probably go to see the film, but after today, I am ready to take a short break from the Mummy, at least for a couple of days.

Everyone's Hero

Everyone's Hero is a cute little film that is set during the Babe Ruth era of baseball. A young boy by the name of Yankee is the son of the janitor at Yankee Stadium. One night, Babe Ruth's bat Darlin' is stolen right before the World Series begins in Chicago. Because the bat is stolen during his dad's shift, Yankee's dad is fired. What they do not know is that the Cubs are conspiring against the Babe in an attempt to win the series. Yankee knows there is foul play stirring so he decides to find Babe's bat and return it before the Yankees lose the World Series.

If you look at this picture you may be able to see Ricky's face if he had seen this particular movie. The Cubs are not shown in a very pleasant light throughout this film. Essentially, they are seen as cheaters and scoundrels, but the movie itself was fairly cute. The animation wasn't bad for a children's movie and the story, although predictable, was well written. You can follow the tale of Yankee very easily and its a truly inspiring film for young ball players.

Overall, not the best piece of animation I have seen, but a cute story with a good message for younger children.