Cast: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Heath Ledger (The Joker), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Dark Knight page.
This movie is as good as everyone else is saying it is. Go see The Dark Knight (preferably in IMAX, so it takes over almost your entire field of vision) in a theatre! I thought the switch back and forth between the scenes filmed for IMAX (which take up the entire IMAX screen) and the rest of the movie. Due to the fact that the film was very well remastered for the IMAX screen, the difference is not as drastic as it would seem and most of the scenes that were filmed in IMAX are the scenic skylines, Batman flying in, etc. Fortunately, a couple fight scenes and the one big chase scene were also filmed in IMAX and those are amazing!
I've heard a lot of people talking about Heath Ledger getting the Oscar this year and I can definitely see why he would. So far, I haven't seen a performance I'd rank higher this year. I don't see as many movies in a theatre as I used to see, but I do still rent a lot of movies. One of my friends argued that he didn't think Heath Ledger should win, since he's dead. Although I don't think the fact that he's dead should increase his chances of winning, if Ledger had the best acting performance of the year, he deserves the Oscar. Can you imagine anyone wanting to win the award this year if they didn't actually do a better job than Ledger? They'd always be thought of as the one who won the Oscar, since Heath was dead. That makes no sense to me. Award the best performance whether the person is alive or not at the time of the awards ceremony.
The costumes, makeup, scenic design, orchestrations, acting, ... are all wonderful. I'm sure if you love Batman you've already seen The Dark Knight at least once, but if you've somehow missed it, go see it now. It's great!
There are also many amazingly funny lines in The Dark Knight, which I won't ruin for you. Enjoy!
Grade: A
Labels: 2008, Aaron Eckhart, action, Christian Bale, comics, crime, drama, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Casanova), Sienna Miller (Francesca Bruni), Jeremy Irons (Pucci), Oliver Platt (Paprizzio)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Casanova page.
Considering what I had heard from those I know who saw Casanova I was surprised that David and I weren't more impressed with it. Although I enjoyed the movie, I'm glad we didn't bother seeing it in a movie theater. The movies we chose to see were definitely better. Again, I say, "Thank goodness for Netflix!" I'd say that Casanova is worth the rental, but I wouldn't suggest putting it at the top of your list.
The cast was great, but the story could have been put together better. The previews made the movie look more interesting than it turned out to be.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2005, adventure, comedy, drama, Heath Ledger, movie, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Skip), Rebecca De Mornay (Philaine), Emile Hirsch (Jay)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Lords of Dogtown page.
If there's a story in Lords of Dogtown, my husband and I couldn't find it. I'm sure it's a great movie for people who are really into skating. That's not us, but it still looked pretty interesting. I was wrong.
We didn't even finish watching the DVD.
Grade: D
Labels: 2005, action, drama, Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, movie, Rebecca De Mornay, sports
Reviewed by Kat at the 6:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Ennis Del Mar), Jake Gyllenhaal (Jack Twist), Michelle Williams (Alma Del Mar)
For complete cast list, see IMDb's Brokeback Mountain page.
Brokeback Mountain wasn't just a beautiful love story, it was cinematically beautiful, as well. Everyone knows about this movie as the "gay cowboy movie," but I think people need to look at it as a love story - pure and simple. I'm very happy that a movie that involves a gay love story is able to be in the top 10. For any movie to be at number 8 in the box office, when it's playing in only 483 movie theaters when number 9 (Rumor has It...) is in 2766 theaters and number 10 (The Family Stone) is in 2085 theaters. To me, that says a lot about the movie. I hope it continues to do well when it reaches wide release and that it gets a lot of the awards it is nominated for at the Golden Globe awards!
Grade: A
Labels: 2005, Anne Hathaway, drama, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, movie, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Sir William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland), Rufus Sewell (Count Adhemar of Anjou), Shannyn Sossamon (Lady Jocelyn), Paul Bettany (Geoffrey Chaucer)
For complete cast, see IMDb's A Knight's Tale page.
I enjoyed this story about a guy who pretends to be a knight when his knight dies. Lies always bring all sorts of complications and this movie showed that. Sure, it's predictable and the plot is pretty thin, but it's still enjoyable and that's all I really wanted in this movie.
The funniest thing about this movie is that just before the climactic scene, the film burst into flames. Sure, the ending was very clear, but it was still too bad. Since then, I've seen it on HBO and I know that I didn't miss too much, but it was nice to finally see the ending months later.
I recommend renting A Knight's Tale or catching it on HBO. It's a decent movie.
Grade: B
Labels: 2001, action, adventure, comedy, Heath Ledger, movie, Paul Bettany
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Mel Gibson (Benjamin Martin), Heath Ledger (Gabriel Martin), Joely Richardson (Charlotte Selton), Jason Isaacs (Col. William Tavington), Chris Cooper (Col. Harry Burwell)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Patriot page.
I really enjoyed this movie where a peaceful farmer turns into a warrior. After the death of his son (at the hands of a sadistic British officer), he is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution. If you're interested in fictional revolution-era movies, this is a good idea. If you're looking for a realistic portrayal of a real-life hero, keep looking. As long as you go into the story realizing that it's fictional, which clearly changes the way some events unfold, it's very enjoyable.
Grade: B
Labels: 2000, action, drama, Heath Ledger, Mel Gibson, movie, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Heath Ledger (Patrick Verona), Julia Stiles (Kat Stratford), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Cameron James), Larisa Oleynik (Bianca Stratford), David Krumholtz (Michael)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's 10 Things I Hate About You page.
This is a very well done adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. I love that Shakespeare is used so much for modern movies. I think movies like this can really help connect a younger audience to classical literature.
With a cast that includes Heath Ledger & Julia Stiles, how can a young audience not be entertained?
Although this was definitely sold to the younger audience exclusively, I found it very entertaining and think it's worth seeing even if you're out of high school. The soundtrack and cast are great and it was very well adapted from the original.
Labels: 1999, comedy, Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, movie, romance, Shakespeare
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams