The Fresh Flix: My Top Flicks

My Top Flicks may change over time due to my different views of movies and because there are always new movies coming out! But these are the movies of which I feel most fondly of as of late.

The Dark Knight

Release: July 18, 2008; Director: Christopher Nolan; Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, etc.

In Batman's pursuit of ridding Gotham of crime a villain emerges that will prove most difficult for him, the Joker.

9.3

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I will try not to get too geeky or subjective in this post. Excuse me if I do. This film is the greatest film ever made. Christopher Nolan and Co. definitely hit the nail on the head.
Nolan presents the story of Batman to us in such a different way than we've seen before. Elements like: Batman's inner struggle with himself, Bruce Wayne's struggle to not let relationships interfere with who he really is, Hanz Zimmer's score stimulates everyone in the audience to the edge of their seats, plot twists and turns that no one sees coming, Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker leaves you craving for more screen time of him as well as countless other qualities that makes this film prime. I have never had a movie experience like this one.
The beginning scene of the bank robbery grabs you by the ears from the get go and the grip doesn't loosen until the credits roll. And you get an idea of how crafty and intelligent the Joker is. This sets his tone for the duration of the film.
The casting of the film is phenomenal. Many of the main characters from Batman Begins returned for the sequel with the exception of Katie Holmes. Holmes has to be regretting leaving the Batman franchise for Mad Money(a film that only grossed $20 million, $2 million less than its budget). Casting Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-face ended up being a genius decision. Eckhart provides a charismatic and passionate performance as he slowly becomes one of the villains he warns Bruce about at the beginning of the film, a tragic irony. And Ledger's performance of the Jokers may be the best in cinema history.
One aspect that I love about this film is that there are many villains, not just one. This pays homage to the Batman comics and cartoons that contained many villains at once. We see a big "gangster" meeting and in attendance are the Italian mob, Russian mob, Blacks, Whites and Japanese. All of these men are intimidating and threatening men. However, one man trumps them all. An outsider. The Joker. The very instant you hear his maniacal laughter interrupt the "gangster" meet you are mesmerized. Heath Ledger takes this character into such a dark and deep place the audience can feel the portrayal in their living room. The Joker leaves all members present in a given scene on their toes. He's unpredictable, chaotic, reckless and intelligent. A true counterpart of our hero, Batman. Everyone that encounters him suddenly mistrusts everything they once new to be true and makes them question some of the most basic human instincts, including Batman. I can't think of a better villain.
Just as brilliant as the Joker's performance is Christopher Nolan's. Just as you are catching your breath your are punched in the gut by another chaotic blunder. Just like the Joker, Nolan is unpredictable with the plot, it leaves you guessing at every turn.
One thing that is disappointing about this and its sequel(The Dark Knight Rises) is it doesn't address what happened in the previous film really. This leaves for more content that Nolan is trying to cover but it would be good address the condition of "The Narrows", one of the main premises in Batman Begins and in The Dark Knight Rise's case the Joker isn't mentioned once.
All in all Christopher Nolan and Co. have come as close to film perfection as one can hope to get.

Movie Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu8FvFezAI4

Inception

Release: 2010; Director: Christopher Nolan; Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao;

Link to trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM

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