Movies: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer [Official]

Yes.

None of that fan-made crap that keeps popping up on YouTube. It’s the real deal.

The trailer we have all be waiting for. Fans of Harry Potter got to see it first, but now the rest of the world FINALLY gets to see.

I am probably one of the happiest woman alive right now.

Bane.

It’s Bane. There seriously is no other way to end a trilogy to the Batman saga. Riddler would’ve been stupid (as much as I love him. He’s one of my favorite villains), bringing the Joker back would’ve been overkill and painful to audiences everywhere, Penguin would’ve been unnecessary in this kind of realistic view of the Batman universe, Mr. Freeze would’ve lost Nolan the respect it took him forever to gain, etc.

Bane is the perfect villain needed to end the series completely. He is the perfect villain in helping to determine if Batman is indeed at his limit. If he can indeed stand and defeat all of the darkness overtaking Gotham. He matches him in every way possible. What other character would you use?!

I’m reading comments of how it doesn’t really reveal anything, how it’s just old clips from previous movies, whine, whine, whine. It isn’t suppose to! It’s too early in the game for anything to be shown. Nothing should be. It should be keeping us excited and giving us something to look forward to. I’m sure later in the year, around Christmas, we’ll get to see inside the world that Nolan has set up.

It will take any other director years to top Nolan’s craftsmanship for the Batman franchise. Not only did he have a wonderful plot line and character development throughout the trilogy, he chose wisely with his cast (besides Katie Holmes, worst mistake ever…), kept true to the actual story of the Batman series, and pushed the boundaries of reality for Batman fans everywhere. He didn’t just end the ongoing comic-book like movie franchises that we see today, (Spiderman & Superman… total crap…) he resurfaced a view for the Dark Knight that many have forgotten: The fact that Batman is a gritty, dark and solemn tale. It’s not meant to be shown as comical, amusing and enjoyable. It is meant to show the battle of good vs. evil at its core.

I look forward to this movie next year. I look forward to seeing the great cast (Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway) as well as Nolan’s final conclusion of this story. I know he’s going to make it awesome.

Its going to be epic.

Movie: *REVIEW* Mysterious Skin

I will openly admit that I am on a Joseph Gordon-Levitt kick at the moment. I go through a phase where I become a little too focused on just one actor that has impressed me (Edward Norton, Christian Bale and ESPECIALLY Matt Damon. I have a huge school-girl crush on him….). With that in mind, I am prone to look at their work to analyze their overall acting talent.

Well, Mr. Gordon-Levitt has impressed me after having seen (500) Days of Summer, which I have also reviewed here in this blog. I had to see what he was made of, so I took the time to look up his previous roles in movies. I’m quite glad that I did.

Mysterious Skin

I will say that I was not prepared about the topic in the movie. However, that did not stop me from completing it. Considering that I didn’t know the background of the director, Gregg Araki, I went into it open and curious and left very shocked and amazed.

Here is the cast for the movie:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil McCormick

Brady Corbet as Brian Lackey

Michelle Trachtenberg as Wendy

Jeff Licon as Eric

Michelle, Jeff, Joseph, and Brady - Main cast of Mysterious Skin

Mary Lynn Rajskub as Avalyn Friesen

Elisabeth Shue as Mrs. McCormick

Chase Ellison as 8-year-old Neil McCormick

George Webster as 8-year-old Brian Lackey

Bill Sage as Coach

Lisa Long as Mrs. Lackey

Chris Mulkey as Mr. Lackey

Richard Riehle as Charlie

Kelly Kruger as Deborah

Pretty interesting and varied cast. Some well-known while there are others that are not. There are a few that I recognized and was not expecting the roles that they did play for this movie based on their previous work.

The movie touches on the very sensitive topic of sexual abuse of children. Based off the novel written by Scott Heim, the movie does a great job of handling the displays and actions of the two main protagonists, which are two males who are drastically affected by the sexual abuse they received by their baseball coach at a young age. The story is set up through the eyes of both boys, Neil and Brian, and their views on how they were affected by this event and their lives afterward. Brain is probably the most traumatized out of the two, having horrible nose bleeds and blackouts when trying to remember certain events and has come to the conclusion that he was abducted by aliens because he cannot recall any of the events. Neil, however, has come to embrace the event in aiding his confirmation of being a homosexual, along with his fascination with older gentlemen.

It is visually stimulating, heartbreaking, yet wonderful and brilliantly preformed. Joseph and Brady both portray the characters of Neil and Brain so greatly, that it almost outshines the other actors and actresses in the film. It’s fantastic overall and it does not sugarcoat the main issue of the film. It will make you a bit unsettled, but it will also have you on the edge of your seat. It shows Joseph’s acting talent in full and how immersed he can be when playing a certain role.

If you are in the mood for a thought-provoking, attention catcher and a movie that will leave a long-lasting impression, this is a great film to accomplish that for you.