The Dark Knight

Holy sh*t...I just checked out IMDB's Top 250 minutes ago and guess what? The Dark Knight is ranked #1!!!!! The last time I saw the rankings 6 months ago, the Godfather was still tops, followed very closely by the Shawshank Redemption at #2. But now, the Dark Knight is by far highly rated compared to these 2 great films. Here's the latest Top 3 by average score and # of voters (me being one of them):

1) The Dark Knight (2008) - 9.3 (135,443 votes)
2) The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - 9.1 (345,543 votes)
3) The Godfather (1972) - 9.1 (295,769 votes)

I spent RM9 to watch the Dark Knight earlier this afternoon (i.e. Sunday matinee) at IOI Mall Puchong. I was glued to my seat from start to finish. Whenever I thought I could catch a breather after an adrenaline-filled subplot, I was being brought into another roller-coaster ride. The overall storyline was good enough to make up for any minor loopholes.

On the acting, Christian Bale and Gary Oldman were up to my expectations. Quite the same as their performance in Batman Begins. On the other hand, Maggie Gyllenhaal gave much more depth to the character of Rachel Dawes. I thought that Aaron Eckhart played Harvey Dent well. The transformation from a passionate champion of justice to a vengeful killer was quite credible. Like everyone else, I will give the most credit to the late Heath Ledger, whose acting as the Joker was out-of-the-world.

My ratings: 9.5/10

Kudos to my favourite director Christopher Nolan, whom I became a fan in 2004 after watching his year 2000 masterpiece Memento (yes, that's where I got the name of this blog). I have been enjoying his subsequent films - Insomnia, The Prestige, Batman Begins and now The Dark Knight. While The Dark Knight is more appealing to the general audience and hence higher-ranked in IMDB, Memento remains as the better film IMHO.

Re: Carebears and Steven Spielberg's Munich

You're right, Celia...we simply cannot please everyone. Also, who am I to say who matters more than others? After all I had vowed to let JC drive my life. Looking back I realise He had chosen the right thing for me. At least now I know more about the persons I talked to (and hopefully vice versa).

Magdalene from Melaka is rather 'dreamy' and always cannot remember my name; Janice from Sandakan has a smooth, powerful soprano voice. Both contributed so much to the success of the mid-autumn event.

Well I suppose I can ganti balik last week by eating dinner with the IPBA ppl this Saturday lah.

The most recent movie I watched was Steven Spielberg's "Munich". A fantastic film that combines many complex issues within the main storyline - a group of civilian Jews recruited by the Mossad to assassinate men listed to be responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre. As the story progressed, most of them (and the audience) would begin to wonder if it's justifiable to treat violence with violence, to follow orders without questions/proof and to assassinate someone in cold blood. They would also begin to see the irony that those who replaced their assassinated targets went on to create more violence and kill more people. The secrecy and possibility of being betrayed by secret intelligence were evident throughout. Towards the end after three of his team were killed, the protagonist (played by Eric Bana) became paranoid that he or his family might be next targets of assassination (he didn't know whether it was the Palestinians or the Mossad themselves).

The film draws the parallel between the Jews and the Palestinians in the sense that both sides would do anything, at all costs and for as long as it takes to have a land they call home (because it was the only thing that mattered).

In the climactic final scene (with the New York skyline in the background), a distinction was made between Jews who wanted peace by doing good to others (Eric Bana inviting Geoffrey Rush to his house to break bread with his family) and Jews with hardened hearts who reject goodness and would continue killing for 'peace' (Geoffrey Rush snubbing the invitation). In the background stood the former World Trade Centre, a symbol that represented the consequences of treating violence with violence and for us to learn from the 911 tragedy.

My verdict: 9/10