Never Mind Pop Film

Interstellar opens today, and already moviegoers are noticing a shift from the acclaimed auteur that brought a gritty Batman back to the screen. Trailers for the upcoming film starring Matthew McConaughey have been less brooding, and more inspiring. Akin to something Steven Spielberg might have made in the '80s. A marked change from the films that Nolan started out making.

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Another year has passed and again we find ourselves pining for recognition for films that should have been in the race, yet found themselves on the outside looking in. This is certainly not a new development, but here is a look at a few of the most notable snubs in Oscar history.

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Before the star's untimely death in 2008, Heath Ledger was well on his way to two Oscar nominations. One for his quietly haunting turn in Brokeback Mountain and the other for his unseen portrayal of The Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. His star was burning bright and like so many before him, his time came too early. Now we look back at some of his best performance.
Brokeback Mountain The scene above says it all really. Like the ending of Brokeback Mountain which is revealed only through a single object, Ennis is only revealed through a series of gestures. Ennis is a man strangled by how he thinks he should be. He should be the provider of a family, he should be happily married to a nice girl, he should be happy with what he has. But he isn’t and the tragedy of Ennis Del Mar is the only happiness he had is rejected by the world.

A Knight's Tale
Pop history was never this much fun. An underdog from the get-go, William Thatcher is a serf who was dutiful in service …

Special features about Heath Ledger's creation of his interpretation of the Joker have been lacking. Beyond a few interviews, such as the sitdown Christopher Nolan attended at the Film Society of Lincoln Center last year, there just isn't a depth of material. All that could be gathered from Ledger's process was when Nolan opened up about Ledger and his performance moreso than he did during the promtional rounds for The Dark Knight:

"...we would film hair and makeup tests and try different looks, and in that, he'd start to move, and we'd have these rubber knives and he'd choose what weapon and explore the movement of the character. We weren't recording sound, so he felt quite able to start talking and showing some of what he was going to do. And in that way he sort of sneaked up on the character."

Courtesy of Reddit and The Film Stage, there is now new footage of a diary Ledger kept during production of The Dark Knight.

Inside the Joker d…

WURESSHEEEEE!!??!?

Full poster after the jump. How quickly can we convince Warner Bros. to make this the trilogy box set cover art?

(Courtesy: David Chen)

In many ways The Joker is much like Jaws. He is a force whose only intent is chaos. There is nothing to be gained, nothing wanted, only to destroy.

Dressed like a punk rocker that never grew up Ledger's Joker is the underbelly of society oft-ignored, but always present. He is the yin to Batman's yang. Gotham birthed this man, but ultimately he is a creation of The Dark Knight. The evils of society that drove Bruce Wayne to save the city drove The Joker to expose the hypocricies to the masses.
Between tics of flicking out his tongue to trace the scars that imprint his face this maniacal fiend aspires to be a leader to Gothamites. Sensing an opportunity to make that message abundantly clear he takes the shining D.A. Harvey Dent down to his level.
Arguably Heath Ledger's best performance, The Joker, represents the self-destructive, selfish nature of humanity. Each backstory he presents is one of loss, betrayal and ultimately, violence. His mind is one of optimism that eventu…

With the third Batman film looking to start production in 2011 it's time to look at a few different directions that the Nolan Bros. could go with the film.
1) Batman as an Outlaw
With the aftermath of The Dark Knight Batman is officially persona non grata to the city of Gotham. To many, he is the primary factor the Joker decided to wreak havoc on their lives. Commisioner Gordon will have a tightrope to walk handling his job duties and assisting Batman in restoring Gotham to what it could have been prior to Dent's scarring and the Joker's deadly plans. In absense of the Joker in the next film an all-out war against Batman could easily replace the hole of a more traditional villain.
2) A New Batmobile
The tumbler is destroyed, I can't see a Batwing being invented, especially with the sense of realism Director Christopher Nolan is going for. So will we see a repeat of the batpod, or a new vehicle created by Nathan Crowley (production designer)?
3) A New Batcave
And what bet…

In this pivotal scene of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight we are finally introduced to how the Joker sees this world and Batman's role in it.
 In starting the scene with the Joker upside down and flipping the camera around to his point of view Wally Pfister (frequent Nolan collaborator and TDK cinematographer) lets the audience in on the master plan. While seemingly defeated and in Batman's clutches, the Joker wins. Gotham, as they know it, will never be the same.

Over the last ten years, the cinema has given us a great deal to be thankful for: a rebirth of the Batman franchise, a series of examinations of what it means to live in this particular decade, and a mass of character studies whether they be animated or popcorn thrillers. As much as I have enjoyed the offerings, a list must be culled together for the end of the year. Except this year is different, this year ten films must be selected from hundreds. Below are some of the best of the aughts. Enjoy!

10) There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson's magnum opus, a scathing look at extremism in America and the evils of greed and profiteering from religion. It also features the best performance of the decade with Daniel Day-Lewis as oil-man Daniel Plainview.

9)  Up
A beautiful tale that entrances all ages, Up managed to captivate children and tell a tale that adults cherish as well.

8) The Dark Knight
Maybe just a comic book film, but it is the best comic book film. Christopher Nolan did …

USA Today, Variety, & Vanity Fair, all kinds of publications are making the push for this small alien flick to be nominated. District 9 was a thrilling ride, certainly. It was also an initially promising sci-fi flick that touched on the issue of apartheid in Africa, used hand-held verite style shooting effective and made good use of little known actors and improvisation to steer clear of cliche.

It sucker-punched you when Wikus Van De Merwe was tortured and forced to kill a "prawn" for nothing better than an opportunity to use the alien technology. It is a very cutting look at corporations in the vein of Alien, Moon and many more. BUT and it is a huge but the elongated chase-and-kill scene at the end does the film in.

The final thirty minutes of the film traded all of the above promise in for shooting pig kills and Michael Bay robot fight scenes. Some have made claims against the film for its "racist" overtones, but that is a lazy argument.

Films like The Dar…