The Dark Knight Rises: Hmmm …

3/12/2012.

You know, I’ll happily confess, I’ve started this post with the date: as I’m intent on STARTING this particular post at something of a late hour on a Monday night.

With, frankly, the intention of finishing it off, tomorrow.

And with the EXTRA intention … of something else that’s ACTUALLY slipped my mind, at this point.

Oh, Yes!

The intention of making sure I’d tell you of how impressed I was — comparatively — with a film I’ve rented from iTunes, tonight.

Frankly … ?   I’m willing to bet you’ve had a good guess at what the film actually is.

The 2012 film that is the Christopher directed The Dark Knight Rises.

I’m possibly impressed with this … 

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4/12/2012.

And please note I say possibly.   But let me try and explain the film to you.

Set some eight years after The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises opens with a charity event run by the Wayne Foundation: one that the man himself doesn’t attend, as he’s been in seclusion for quite some time.

After both the death of Harvey Dent, AND pulling out of a Wayne Enterprises deal into clean fusion energy, on learning the reactor could’ve been used as a weapon.

That changes.

As a valuable necklace is stolen from a safe owned by Bruce … by a cat burglar called Selina Kyle.

A cat burglar who then sells Bruce’s lifted fingerprints to a Wayne business rival, called John Dagget: a rival who’s hired the terrorist, Bane, to do a lot of dirty work for him.

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Hmmm … 

Which is actually simplifying the plot by quite a hell of a lot … 

The Dark Knight Rises is a rich piece of work: possibly too rich for me, although it is a beautifully made piece of work.   Frankly, I think Nolan and co are incapable of making a bad Batman movie.

Personally, though … ?

Personally, I have to admit, I found this a stunner, but not as much of a stunner as The Dark Knight, although that could be just well be Heath Ledger’s death leaving its mark.

Whatever … 

I’ll leaves you seeing stars …

The Dark Knight Rises   

★★★☆

Reign of Fire: Blood, Guts and 40 ft long fire-breathing reptiles over a post-apocalyptic London

You know, I can just about remembered reading a quote — although lord knows where I actually saw it — from noted science fiction writer, John Wyndham.

He of Day of the Triffids fame, in case you didn’t know.

To the effect that says he — Wyndham — tried to write science-fiction that had two words as the central idea.

“What if … ?”

Day of the Triffids … ? What if plants COULD walk … ?

Chocky … ? What if your child’s imaginary friend … wasn’t imaginary … ?

Oh, and The Trouble With Lichen … ? What if there was just one anti-aging treatment that actually worked … ?

Trust me, there’s a point to this.

You see, I’ve just had a quiet night in, with a borrowed copy of the 2002, Rob Bowman directed film, Reign of Fire.

And ended up thinking “Well … what if dragons really DID exist … ?”

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18/1/2012

Which is actually a good question, isn’t it … ?

What if they did … ?

Well, I’m thinking, here, that the film I saw, last night …?

Was a very entertaining attempt to try and answer that.

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2002’s Rob Bowman directed film, Reign of Fire sees Christian Bale playing Quinn: a man who’s grown up in the aftermath of his mother’s discovery — some twenty years earlier, and told in a flashback in the first parts of the film — of a nest of dragons found during digging under London.

Twenty years on, of course, and the world has been devastated by Ash eating dragons, burning their way across the globe and by the nuclear bombs the USA has dropped in an effort to wipe out the dragons.

And left it to small groups of survivors, struggling to grow crops and survive dragon attack.

One of which is a community lead by Quinn: a man who’s struggling emotionally with the memories of his mothers death, and and to support the small band of refugees’s he’s struggling to lead.

Until one day … ?

One day, the group is joined by a bunch of American troops, lead by Denton van Zan — Matthew McConaughey, in full-on John Wayne* mode — a man who claims not only to be able to kill dragons …

But also to have a plan to wipe out the entire species …

««·»»

Now …

Have I used the word, ‘impressed,’ yet … ?

Well, no.

It’s certainly the case, though, that Reign of Fire is certainly a film I was impressedº by.

OK, granted, it’s not an art-house movie about the meaning of life or mankind’s capacity to enlighten an otherwise corrupt and degraded universe.

Of course not: it’s about Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey fighting 40ft long, fire breathing dragons, after all.

But Reign of Fire a VERY entertaining film worth both watching and investing in, I felt.

Here …

Let me leave you with this …

Reign of Fire

★★★★

* Or possibly Slim Pickens.

º Rather than — going by one alternative in my Thesaurus — embossed …

The Prestige: The Pledge, The Turn … and the Other Thing … !

You know, you can tell that the ITV/AMC remake ofThe Prisoner has really grabbed me, can’t you … ?

Can’t you … ?

I mean, the fact that tonight, on the night that the last episode was due to air, I thought I really couldn’t be doing with watching it …

So when Movie Night Adrian popped in on me, this afternoon, to ask if I fancied a movie, I quite happily started ringing around to see who else fancied it .

Which was just Sarah and Kevin D, as it happens, but Kevin and Sarah — who was feeling a touch poorly, tonight — but Kevin D did manage to bring along a film that was new to me.

The 2006, Christopher Nolan directed, film, The Prestige.

I’m actually impressed with this one.

Based loosely on the 1995 Christopher Priest novel of the same name, it sees two rivals magicians — Christian Bale as Alfred Borden and Hugh Jackson as Robert Angier — whose early friendship turns to rivalry after the death — on stage — of Angier’s fiancée: told in court by the Michæl Caine character, Cutter, who’s been the equipment supplier and engineer for both men.

I’ve got to admit to being bewitched by this one.

Now, other people have done plot summaries, far better ones than I could do at this time of night.

But I will recommend you see this one.

It’s definitely worth a turn … !!

Terminator: Salvation: Ask me in an hour …

You know, I swear, that laptop of my sister’s is going to give me a heart attack, I swear blind!

Honestly, after working out that there’s a video driver conflict that’s causing the blessed to freeze, and the power down, I still — still — can’t install either Karmic Koala, or: either the Ubuntu or Xubuntu version!

Quite what’s going on there, I’m blowed if I know.

I mean, beyond the fact that booting into the Windoze version of Safe Mode seems to help!

Oy!

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