tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post8855082877221125324..comments2024-03-28T16:47:27.333-05:00Comments on Acidemic - Film: Monsters Crash the Pajama Party: DARK KNIGHT RISES, TARGETSErich Kuerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850572368098319317noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-62421968254796296462012-08-09T23:33:05.457-05:002012-08-09T23:33:05.457-05:00Thanks Johnny, I made the change above... Whitman,...Thanks Johnny, I made the change above... Whitman, man. It's hard to keep these Charles-es straight. I had FORGOTTEN about that Batman premiere connection! I surely would have added it, had I remembered, so I'm glad you did. Thanks for all your other important addendums, which help widen the scope of what I was aiming for. <br /><br />And Lee, thank you brother. Good point about the conservative aspect of Nolan... it's funny how the name conservative doesn't fit thinking of all the millions involved in the production, vs. a 'liberal' like Carpenter's economy. I've been watching all the old Carpenter classics since seeing Dark Knight, like I'm trying to correct some damage.Erich Kuerstenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02850572368098319317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-78252053511204493552012-08-09T21:08:35.674-05:002012-08-09T21:08:35.674-05:00There is a "Final Destination" vibe to t...There is a "Final Destination" vibe to the Aurora massacre that I am surprised hasn't been drawn on for Panic Signs articles. Charles Whitman's Austin rampage was on August 1, 1966, resulting in his shooting 13 people (including two children and a pregnant woman) and wounding 32 others, after having earlier that morning stabbed to death his wife and mother, making the total he killed 16 and 49 victims, including himself. Had he snapped and taken to the tower 48 hours earlier, things would surely have been even more horrible. The Adam West BATMAN movie had its world premier in Austin on Saturday, July 30, preceded by a parade featuring all the stars, all the vehicles, and the street in front of the UT tower completely flocked with children turning out to see their heroes. Whitman left a note requesting he be autopsied and his brain examined - that he couldn't help himself and knew he was doing wrong. A brain tumor was found and its influence on his actions are still being studied (Eagleman, INCOGNITO; The Secret Life Of The Brain, 2011). Imagine if that tumor had flipped his switch, pulled that trigger, on Saturday instead of Monday? Aurora in 2012 would have been a repeat of Austin 1966. So, will there be a TARGETS remake in 2015? (and not to be too douchey, but Charles Starkweather was the BADLANDS influence mass murderer, Charles Whitman was the ex Marine sniper influence of TARGETS). There are no dots to connect, but these Bat Maniacs seem connected by some kind of thread, if you squint just right when you read Wikipedia.johnnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11799326880962880585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-51060854454454536062012-08-09T15:57:35.827-05:002012-08-09T15:57:35.827-05:00You cut to the cholesterol-plugged heart of a lot ...You cut to the cholesterol-plugged heart of a lot of the political anxieties and psychoses surrounding this movie and its post-9/11 shadow in ways I wasn't able to in my upcoming BLFJ review, in which I got a little too hung up on Nolan's condescending attitude towards his source material, including both "silly" Batman comics and film noir. John Carpenter seems a good point of comparison, as a conservative pulp director with a sharp sense of kitsch (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK is a designated classic, but GHOSTS OF MARS surpasses it in my book), while Nolan may be even more conservative - even neo-conservative - and with no sense of kitsch whatsoever.LeeWSabohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17716083621221970152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-73161503664590542502012-08-07T14:57:41.842-05:002012-08-07T14:57:41.842-05:00"Just a waste of time," summed up the wh..."Just a waste of time," summed up the whole movie to me. Not just mine, but everyone on screen - except Anne Hathaway - seemed really exhausted from the first frame on. This is another well done essay, and the comparison between the realities of Targets and DKR (does the lack of "Batman" in any of the titles betray Christopher Nolan's kind of being embarrassed with these movies or are we just out of Batman Titles?). As much of a horror as the Aurora massacre was/is, the US averages 20 mass shootings per year. None of them make any sense, no matter how hard we try to assign reason to them, they happen in colleges, high schools, political rallies and now movie theaters. It is weird that the two military veterans seem to consider finishing watching this movie to be on par with having survived a massacre. I can't help but wonder if they got their tickets comped.johnnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11799326880962880585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-1043580703980400102012-08-07T11:45:58.910-05:002012-08-07T11:45:58.910-05:00Thanks Doug! And Samuel - I didn't know about ...Thanks Doug! And Samuel - I didn't know about the crazed threats but it's certainly interesting. There definitely is an air of apocalypse about it which makes me wonder just would happen if a real life Bane stepped out of the stadium shadows. But the problem (not in the trailer) with the film is that it's this big build up to a revolution and then nothing much happens except rich people being kicked out of their 5th avenue apartments and jails being liberated. DW Griffith did a better job of actually evoking a citywide 99%er revolt in 1922's Orphans of the Storm. <br /><br />I was re-watching Escape from New York last night and it felt similar -- there's this great premise ---ooh the bridges all blocked and tunnels flooded and NYC is a giant blocked in lunatics-running-the-asylum prison.... and then... it never quite takes off, never quite measures up to the promise of all this prefacing. <br /><br />I can't help but think a lot of it has to do with 2012, and the feeling even if its all just pop culture hysteria, that 'a storm is coming' - which Rises taps into. I'm wondering now if these crazed threats you speak of have ever been delivered to 2012 naysayers in the media, those status quo skeptics who would suggest all the militia and lone nut efforts to fortify their underground shelters is just a waste of time.Erich Kuerstenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02850572368098319317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-83537620396377526382012-08-07T11:22:20.541-05:002012-08-07T11:22:20.541-05:00An inspired comparison. Aurora seemed like a sharp...An inspired comparison. Aurora seemed like a sharp, bloody exclamation point to a week that had already unleashed a certain madness in the form of the crazed threats launched at reviewers who dared criticize <i>Rises</i> in the days before release. There was an air of apocalypse about the picture in many minds, though in the end the trailers and commercials evoked it more effectively than the film itself. But the mania seemed like more than what we should have expected from fanboys. Did it seem that way to you?Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30487573.post-72506009677906679122012-08-07T08:41:20.776-05:002012-08-07T08:41:20.776-05:00Another great piece! Kudos to you, Sir!Another great piece! Kudos to you, Sir!Doug Brunellhttp://www.amazon.com/NOTHING-MEN-ebook/dp/B005NTW7IQnoreply@blogger.com