Strollerderby : dark knight

Letting Kids See Watchmen

Brett Singer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Lisa Belkin wonders if her 15-year old should see "Watchmen," this weekend's number one movie. His 18-year old brother saw it and pronounced it brilliant. I won't keep you in suspense (I know, you were on the edge of your seat), but Lisa eventually capitulated and let the younger son go. Spoiler: he liked it.

Having seen the film, I can say that it is definitely not for kids. The R rating should deter parents, but really it's the subject matter that they should be looking at. For the record, I enjoyed the film version of "Watchmen"; it's very faithful to the original comics (aka "graphic novel"), has some flaws, but overall is very much worth seeing. This column at The Onion AV Club by Tasha Robinson does a great job of breaking down the differences between the two, points out some missteps, and is good reading if you're interested.

For our purposes, the question is "how do I decide whether or not a movie is appropriate for my child?" Movie ratings help, but only up to a point. A commenter at the Times' website points out that "Dark Knight" was rated PG-13, which in my opinion is absurd. Great film, one of the best I've seen, and Heath Ledger's performance was incredible and deserving of an Oscar. Part of what makes his Joker so amazing is that he is really, truly disturbing, more so than the bone-popping-out-of-an-arm style of violence on display in "Watchmen." To me, and I believe to my kids, psychological violence is more troubling than physical violence. Not that I want them to see the extreme grossness that "Watchmen" has. But a movie's rating doesn't always tell the whole story.

What I do with superhero movies is see them first. I know. I make the ultimate sacrifice, go on opening weekend with a bunch of guys wearing Captain America t-shirts, and decide whether or not the flick is kid-friendly enough. "Iron Man" was, although the opening sequence is questionable. "Hulk" was borderline, but my then 7-year-old didn't want to see that one anyway. (Although he does love my blog post written from Hulk's point of view.) I thought "Spider-Man 3" would be too scary for him (Venom), but he was unfazed; actually, I think he was a little bored (the bizarre musical number).

What makes this part of my parenting job easier is that I actually want to see superhero movies. Belkin, not so much: when asked by a commenter why she didn't just see "Watchmen" first if she was so concerned, she replied: "You are right, I should have seen it if I felt so strongly about helping to give context to the message, but, frankly, I couldnt [sic] stand the thought of sitting through it." At two and a half hours, I can't really blame her. But if she had seen it, she would have found out that along with the cartoonishly graphic violence (not a lot, but what's there includes someone having their hands cut off with a power saw) is a very violent rape scene, a moment is that is much more graphic than the one in the original comic. Do I think most fifteen year olds have seen something like that in a movie already? Probably. Does that mean I want them to see that without me telling them what's wrong with that behavior? Probably not. For me, seeing a film is the best way to determine whether or not you want your child to see it, no matter what age they are. Fifteen may be too old to be concerned about what sort of entertainment your kids consume. But even if you don't censor it, it's probably a good idea to know what they watch.

Source: NY Times

Image: AVClub.com

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Heath Ledger's Daughter Gets His Oscar

Brett Singer — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:50:00 GMT

Heath Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing The Joker in 'The Dark Knight.' It's well-deserved, and personally I think he would have won even without the sentimental vote.

Heath's family – his father Kim, mother Sally and sister Kate -- accepted on his behalf and all three gave an amazingly calm and classy speech, pointing out that his daughter Matilda is the one who will get the golden statuette: "We really wish you were here, but we proudly accept this award on behalf of your beautiful Matilda." Michelle Williams will keep it for her until Matilda turns 18. If Heath and Michelle had been married, it would have gone to her. Executive Director of the Academy Bruce Davis said, "I don't think we have ever had a situation like this."

It's all very sad, but Heath's mother said, "Tonight, we are choosing to celebrate and be happy for what he has achieved," so I'm going to go with that. Congratulations, dude.

image: Reuters

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger Wins 2009 Oscar Gold!

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Morning News: Obama to Reverse Bush's Pledge to Stay Dirty

Madeline Holler — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

We're back! Back from a self-imposed maternity leave! Back from the great big elections/inauguration misty-eyed national group hug! Back to digest the news so you've got something to talk about with the others at work/Gymboree/your lame playgroup. We've good air, bad medicine, happiness projects and sad awards ceremonies. Also, why the Wii makes your kid hate you.

In what have been daily reversals of George W. Bush's administration's crappy (and quasi-legal) declarations and judgments, Barack Obama gets us one step closer to breathing easier. No, really! Today, he will direct regulators to let states impose stricter automobile emissions standards than the federal ones -- something Bush wouldn't let them do. That crazy Obama ... letting states have clean air! Now he's just messing with Bush.

But Dallas's new favorite resident may get to do some messing of his own. TPM has a piece on a "burrower" -- a Bush appointee who managed to get a job in the Obama administration. Kathie Olsen, a climate change denier of sorts, moved from her No. 2 post at the National Science Foundation to NSF's Office of Information and Resource management. We hear they're going to actually look at science in the NSF from now on, so maybe Olsen will pick up some actual information and change her mind on human contribution to global warming.

Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich won't attend his own impeachment trial today. He doesn't actually have to attend, but it's weird that he won't. Also weird that he acknowledges he's certain he'll be convicted. Anyway, we'll see plenty of him on TV this morning as he makes the rounds on today's news shows denying, denying, denying.

Sad but happy: Heath Ledger, who died a year ago from an overdose of painkillers, won the Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actor award for his role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight." Ledger's win is getting everyone extra excited that he'll be awarded an Oscar posthumously as well. Also, be sure to read what Meryl Streep, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Doubt," said about being the world's greatest actress. We really heart Meryl.

Coming to a state near you: shrinking pediatric care! As goes California, so goes the nation? Fine, maybe not. But for more than a decade, the number of hospital beds for pediatric patients has been drastically cut. Which is just sad. And scary. And it leaves medical workers to play musical chairs with children so that the sickest get the best care while the medium- to sorta-sick get whatever's left.

Renters beware: this couple got screwed when it came time to renew the lease on their fancy apartment. The owners didn't let them because the couple, expecting a child in a few months, said mean things about their apartment community online.

A Brigham Young University undergrad and his advisor published results of their study on the personal lives of video gamers. The two found that the more hours each subject reported playing video games, the worse their relationships with family and friends. Based on the gamers you know, didn't you kind of assume those results (the undergrad doing the study wanted to prove those assumptions wrong -- he's reportedly bummed by the results and probably not talking to his mom again or something).

Wanna make yourself (and your kids) happy? Just lie to them! That's not a small bowl of ice-cream, it's a large scoop!

That's it for this morning! Thanks to Brett and especially Shannon for keeping the Morning News fires burning, while others of us convalesced and spent several weeks solid in a news vacuum staring at and sniffing a newborn.

Photo: Reuters

Does Batman Hit His Mom?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Christian Bale’s professional career may be at all an all-time high, but his family life certainly leaves something to be desired. Although Bale has remain tight-lipped about allegations that he assaulted his mom and his sister, a source close to the Dark Knight star has shed some light on the charges.

Bale has not exactly been tight with either his mom Jenny or his sister Sharon since his parents’ divorce over a decade ago. Christian sided with Dad; Sharon sided with Mom. (Apparently, no one explained the whole making-your-kids-pick-sides-in-a-divorce-causes-irreparable-psychological-damage phenomenon to Christian’s parents). But just before the Dark Knight premiere, Sharon and Jenny reached out to Christian, and he reluctantly agreed to meet them in his hotel room

Turns out they were hoping Christian would front them some cash for a business scheme they’d cooked up. Christian got mad and ordered them out of the room, allegedly pushing his mother out of the door. Sharon and Jenny went to the cops, who questioned Christian and then released him. He has not been formally charged yet.

Photo: Chicago Sun-Times

But that hasn’t prevented his mother from trying to sell her assault story to the media. Perhaps she won’t need her son’s financial assistance after all…

The Dark Knight -- parents strongly cautioned (to go see it)

Brett Singer — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Let's get one thing out of the way right now – you shouldn't bring your children. They might want to go, but unless they have a very high tolerance for a long movie (2 and half hours) and an abnormally high tolerance for what might be the most frightening performance ever (Heath Ledger's Joker), I'd get a sitter.

Now: this is some incredible movie. At first, I was a little bit apprehensive. Part of that feeling was the hype, which was so intense that it seemed impossible anything could live up to it. (Part of it was also that the movie didn't start until almost 1am because we had to sit through 7 commercials, none of which I remember at all – money well spent, advertisers. But I digress.) There are some slow spots, especially in the beginning, and I think the director, Christopher Nolan, could have cut 10 or 15 minutes of film and made it a tighter movie. But that's nitpicking, because there are several scenes, some just quick moments and some long, exciting action sequences, that will put your jaw on the floor.

The saddest thing about Heath Ledger's death is that his daughter will never know her father. But it's fair to say that if an actor had to go out with one performance, this is that performance. He's so good that I completely forgot I was watching an actor, which, for me, almost never happens. (It's worth pointing out that Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, do the same thing in smaller and less flashy roles.) He's frightening, but not the way a horror movie villain is frightening. It's not shock value, although there is some of that (there's a bit with a pencil that might be the best 5-second description of a character in the history of cinema.) Without giving anything away, The Joker is referred to as a "terrorist" a couple of times, but unlike the terrorists in our world, this one has no cause that he fights for. He's just… mad. Not angry-mad, just flat out crazy. And Ledger captures that in every possible way. You could teach an acting class using this movie – what he does physically, vocally, emotionally; it's all stunning to watch.

The rest of it is, for the most part, equally good. I don't care about the love story, but it's fine I suppose and does serve the story. Aaron Eckhart is a solid actor and he does a good job as Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent. Christian Bale is by far the best Batman yet, although Ledger is so good that he really takes over the movie. Michael Caine is a good Alfred Pennyworth, Maggie Gyllenhaal is fine as token love interest Rachel Dawes; she's more than that, I guess, but it's not her movie. Gary Oldman is amazing; as in "Batman Begins," he somehow manages to completely capture the essence of a fictional comic book character that isn't a superhero, meaning that, as an actor, he has fewer details available to work with. I can't explain it but he IS Jim Gordon.

The nits to pick if you want to go there: some of the dialog is hokey (although the lines written for Ledger are brilliant.) There are a few slow spots. At times the action sequences are a tad frenetic, here and there. But it really doesn't matter. You'll read a lot about the surprising depth of this movie, and this is true to an extent. "The Dark Knight" is incredibly entertaining and does have some thoughtful moments amid the comic-book chaos, but there's no need to over think them. I would say just relax and enjoy it, but it's not a relaxing experience. Ledger's Joker is uncomfortable to watch, but in a good way. I don't want to give anything away, so you'll have to see it for yourself (but, as I said, get your tickets early; even the 12:30am showing was completely sold out.)

Now, despite the fact that there isn't much in the way of blood, this is not a film that you should take your children to see. Obviously, you know your offspring better than I, so if you think they can handle it, that's your call. And of course older kids will be fine. I hesitate to suggest an age-range, but I recommend seeing it yourself first if you're not sure. Worst-case scenario – you get to see it twice. Believe me, that's not a bad thing.

image: Reuters

Best of FameCrawler: Week of June 27th

Whit Honea — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:00:00 GMT

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Strollerderby : dark knight

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