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Post by Zombiejesus on Dec 4, 2008 5:04:41 GMT -5
Reading the description on the RT site, it's like they're just putting down everyone who liked the movie. It's this attitude that continues to put me off RT. That's exactly the impression I got when I read that description. It's almost like they're saying, "What? Most everyone liked it? Well, most everyone's an idiot! It's grown men in costumes, ergo it absolutely cannot be considered a good movie. Therefore we're not only going to mock the movie but also the millions of fans and thousands of critics who foolishly love this film." In short, I thought it was a rather snide description. I think I'll wait to see what others say about it. Yes, the movie has its flaws, though they are few and hardly enough to riff on. I think it would be disastrous for MKB to continue the description's snide tone in the trax. That would likely result in an unfunny effort, picking on flaws that aren't there - such as was the case with Iron Man. For example they tried dumb blonde riffs on Paltrow's Pepper Pots when the character is the furthest thing from dumb. Then again if they go the way they did with the LOTRs, respectfully riffing with (rather than mercilessly tearing apart) the movie, this might be worth buying. We shall see.
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Post by jetjaguar15 on Dec 4, 2008 7:58:38 GMT -5
I still haven't managed to see this movie.
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roninfox
Nanite
Ronin Fox Trax: It's a lot like that thing you like a lot
Posts: 40
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Post by roninfox on Dec 4, 2008 8:27:18 GMT -5
Reading the description on the RT site, it's like they're just putting down everyone who liked the movie. It's this attitude that continues to put me off RT. That's exactly the impression I got when I read that description. It's almost like they're saying, "What? Most everyone liked it? Well, most everyone's an idiot! It's grown men in costumes, ergo it absolutely cannot be considered a good movie. Therefore we're not only going to mock the movie but also the millions of fans and thousands of critics who foolishly love this film." In short, I thought it was a rather snide description. I think I'll wait to see what others say about it. Yes, the movie has its flaws, though they are few and hardly enough to riff on. I think it would be disastrous for MKB to continue the description's snide tone in the trax. That would likely result in an unfunny effort, picking on flaws that aren't there - such as was the case with Iron Man. For example they tried dumb blonde riffs on Paltrow's Pepper Pots when the character is the furthest thing from dumb. Then again if they go the way they did with the LOTRs, respectfully riffing with (rather than mercilessly tearing apart) the movie, this might be worth buying. We shall see. I love this movie too, and I was going to buy this dvd even if Rifftrax never touched it, but I can't wait for this. Personally I think the tone of the description is fine, it's not an insult to fans of the movie as much as it's a parody of the over the top fanboys. As much as I love this movie, it's not the greatest thing ever committed to film, but there are parts of the internet that will try and tar and feather you for saying that. (Luckily tar and feather protection comes free with my anti-spyware package.)
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Post by Voyeur on Dec 4, 2008 12:32:42 GMT -5
Count me as one who's gonna skip this one. My problem is once I experience some great riffs by Mike, Kevin and Bill, it's hard not to remember those same riffs while I'm watching the original film. For example, when I watch the un-riffed, original DVD's of Revenge of the Sith or 300 (films that DESERVES to be riffed as far as I'm concerned), the jokes are still there in my head.
I don't even mind that with films I like (Raiders, the Spiderman films)...but films I truly love and respect like the Lord of the Rings films or the Bourne films, I just don't care to see riffed. That DEFINITELY goes for The Dark Knight. Yes, it's a comic book movie, which usually leaves itself open to jokes. Yes, the leads are dressed like a bat and a clown. Yes, some of the TDK's most obsessed fans are worthy of poking fun. But I consider this film too dark, too intriguing and to a degree, too tragic for me to enjoy the riffs. And not nearly pretentious enough.
I just don't get it. I assume these guys keep choosing these blockbusters because they're popular. But BAD MOVIES ARE FUNNIER TO RIFF!!!
How do you riff The Dark Knight before riffing ANY of the prior Batman films? My God, all the Burton and Schumacher Batman films are SO ready to be riffed! And, no, I'm not including the Batman and Robin rifftrax.
I love these guys, and having them back after the cancellation of MST3K has been so important to me. It's just great to have them back. But they REALLY need to start riffing really bad movies again...and it wouldn't hurt to stick it to some older, oh-so-deserving 80's films!
There, just had to get that off my chest.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Dec 4, 2008 15:25:57 GMT -5
I didn't notice they stopped offering PAL versions. I guess the demand wasn't there. Haven't stopped, we love PAL land. But the current releases are not always available at the same time in New Zealand, (where bathtub, our PAL guy lives), as they are in America. He's been trying to get IJ4 for a long time from his rental queue, The Happening is not out yet and X-Men 2 is done, and it should be up soon. Dark Knight comes out down there maybe a day later than it does here, so it shouldn't be as big a delay. But with the PAL issue, we either just do the conversion (which usually works) ourselves and risk that there are scenes cut or added, or we wait for confirmation from Nigel. We prefer to have him make sure they will work before putting them out there to save people the frustration. Cheers for the response Connor, I've just this second finished downloading X2. As for the PAL encoding, I remember what The Matrix was like thanks to something as simple as two headbutts being cut. You'd never notice until you're trying to listen to something synced up to it! I also tried Audacity on I Am Legend and it kept drifting horribly. For this reason I tend to either wait for the PAL file or get an NTSC copy of the film imported, as long as the cost is permitting.
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Post by BathTub on Dec 4, 2008 16:58:28 GMT -5
Don't know about this one. Mind you I haven't been able to see any Rifftrax lately thanks to a lack of PAL versions but I think I might be shifting into the camp that's disappointed with all the blockbusters they're doing. Surely it couldn't hurt to mix it up a bit? I didn't notice they stopped offering PAL versions. I guess the demand wasn't there. Yeah it's just The Happening still isn't out here, and IJ is a high demand rental, that's all.
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Post by braindeadzombie on Dec 4, 2008 17:24:52 GMT -5
I think I'll wait to see what others say about it. Yes, the movie has its flaws, though they are few and hardly enough to riff on. I think it would be disastrous for MKB to continue the description's snide tone in the trax. That would likely result in an unfunny effort, picking on flaws that aren't there - such as was the case with Iron Man. For example they tried dumb blonde riffs on Paltrow's Pepper Pots when the character is the furthest thing from dumb. Then again if they go the way they did with the LOTRs, respectfully riffing with (rather than mercilessly tearing apart) the movie, this might be worth buying. We shall see. "Despite all this, Mike, Kevin and Bill are ready to take on...(reverent pause)...The Greatest Movie of All Time.* *Source: The Internet" I liked the Dark Knight but I do agree with these guys that this movie making any "Top Movies of All time" list within the same year it was released is, at best, delusional. The movie is slightly pretentious; The fanbase is extremely so. In fact, it was so bad, I didn't post any of my thoughts about it even after I saw it in the third week of its release {I opted not to go Imax as that was the theater across the hall in the same mall yet cost an additional 4 dollars. Mallway robbery!}. I hope that's the direction this Rifftrax will take, bursting that bubble of whatever that sense of this movie has in the hearts of the fans regardless of what it really is. Example; That's it. Is there one word or a phrase to sum it up? This is a bit long. Hmm... Preposterous –adjective completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd; senseless; utterly foolish: a preposterous tale. That's it. Saying the Dark Knight is an example of Film Noir is preposterous. And remember, I liked the movie. I just can't take it seriously. I wasn't planning on renting this movie or even buying it but I may have to change my mind now.
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Post by Voyeur on Dec 5, 2008 0:16:35 GMT -5
The movie is slightly pretentious The Dark Knight? Nah. Seems to me Nolan just wanted to tell a good story with TDK. Period. He didn't make it to create the "Greatest Movie of All Time" or to win multiple awards. He just wanted to make a great thriller. Nothing pretentious about that.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Dec 5, 2008 2:54:59 GMT -5
The movie is slightly pretentious The Dark Knight? Nah. Seems to me Nolan just wanted to tell a good story with TDK. Period. He didn't make it to create the "Greatest Movie of All Time" or to win multiple awards. He just wanted to make a great thriller. Nothing pretentious about that. I couldn't agree with you more. Nolan is a quality filmmaker who tried to make a quality film. That's not pretentious, that's basic craftmanship. I think the Dark Knight is a brilliant work of art. I wonder, does that make me pretentious too?
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mrschlitz
Tibby
"Don't make me stand up!"
Posts: 75
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Post by mrschlitz on Dec 5, 2008 13:42:28 GMT -5
As much as I love Mike, Kevin and Bill and wish them all the success…I haven’t bought a Rifftrax in over a year. It just isn’t that quality to me. The riffing is perfunctory…almost like they’re tearing them off too quickly and relying on quantity over quality. Half the time it doesn’t even sound like they’re in the same room when they record. I don’t like being harsh on the guys, but it seems they’ve crossed that line where the artist buys into their own hype and begins seeing themselves as their fans see them, and their work suffers as a result. The guys just seem to be coasting on their reputations to me. Edited to add: That and the riffing on genuinely good movies spoils it for me too.
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Post by braindeadzombie on Dec 5, 2008 18:28:53 GMT -5
I couldn't agree with you more. Nolan is a quality filmmaker who tried to make a quality film. That's not pretentious, that's basic craftmanship. I think the Dark Knight is a brilliant work of art. I wonder, does that make me pretentious too? I've seen half of Nolan's films and what I've seen doesn't exactly make me want to go running to watch his other movies, which is something I normally do. But of the ones I've seen, I would say the Dark Knight is the best of what his limited skills can create as a screenwriter. Maybe we'll discuss his skills as a director later but for now, I'll just say I remain unimpressed about those. "Brilliant work of art". I'm ok with the "art" word but "brilliant", not so much. Let me explain something about the movie, one of those nonexistant "flaws": Hervey Dent is a lawyer, a District Attorney, who earned the name "Two Face" for himself working his way up the Justice ladder. So far, so good. He is also something of a politican which also uses the phrase "two face" to describe the role; a two faced politician and that works too. Before the end of the movie, somehow Dent became the epitome of the pure White Knight, a Sir Galahad type that's both a lawyer and a Gentleman who still somehow earned the "Two Face" moniker, to counter the Dark Knight that was our Hero. Hey Nolan, don't literalize the roles. Oh, too late... The White Knight to counter the Dark Knight, now our anti-Hero. Batman takes on the role of copkiller, the Black Knight, because that's what the world needs? I'm such an idiot, I would have said that Gotham with such large buildings that cast long shadows, has such Dark Justice that the city needs a Dark Knight to protect the people, to patrol the areas where the Light of Justice will not penetrate. I'm a sucker for metaphors, I admit it. But Nolan's such a better writer than I am. Where I would say that Batman fits in his role as Gotham's Dark Knight because the City casts too large a shadow, Nolan says that the world of Gotham needs a White Knight because people need a good role model {I think it was supposed to have something to do with the Ferry scene but both groups reached the Noble decision with the White Knight hero type. Did you ever get the feeling that one or both of those boats were meant to explode?}. And having a Black Knight just makes the White Knight look brighter in comparision. He is so "brilliant". This stuff has been building up in me for a long time, maybe too long. Just reading some of these Dark Knight reviews is just mind blowing. It brings up some some dark memories I've been repressing, a black, bleak space from one summer midday not too long ago. Thanks to Nolan, I will never stop asking "Why Hong Kong?", or "Is this scene really necessary?" or even "Why is Bats using a timed explosive as a remote detontation device would have been a lot smarter?"
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Dec 5, 2008 18:53:40 GMT -5
For what it's worth, there is an actual discussion thread for the film over in the movie sub-forum.
But to be honest, your biggest problem with the film seems to be one of personal taste rather than objective quality. I really don't see how the choice of a "white knight" to contrast with Batman's darkness can be seen as the director's failing. It's pure storytelling. Film (and fiction in general) is full of characters who are used to contrast with one another, shedding insight into one anothers' characteristics. How is using Harvey Dent's "brightness" to bring out Batman's "darkness" a cinematic failure compared to presenting Gotham as so bleak it needs a dark anti-hero, other than just personal taste?
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Post by Mighty Jack on Dec 5, 2008 20:07:06 GMT -5
Adroitly stated CH
And I still think it's brilliant. You have your opinion bdz and I have mine.
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roninfox
Nanite
Ronin Fox Trax: It's a lot like that thing you like a lot
Posts: 40
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Post by roninfox on Dec 6, 2008 1:52:06 GMT -5
I really enjoyed the white knight/dark knight symbolism myself. Every good Batman villan is in some way a total opposite to a quality of Batman himself, and in this movie they pulled that off both with Harvey AND Two Face. Harvey for being the "white knight" and Two Face for becoming the vigilante and crossing the line that Batman won't.
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Post by Voyeur on Dec 7, 2008 19:38:35 GMT -5
The Dark Knight? Nah. Seems to me Nolan just wanted to tell a good story with TDK. Period. He didn't make it to create the "Greatest Movie of All Time" or to win multiple awards. He just wanted to make a great thriller. Nothing pretentious about that. I couldn't agree with you more. Nolan is a quality filmmaker who tried to make a quality film. That's not pretentious, that's basic craftmanship. I think the Dark Knight is a brilliant work of art. I wonder, does that make me pretentious too? Some people think it's pretentious for a "comic book" movie to have an intelligent, serious screenplay...as if it's a film that doesn't know it's place. I call those people pretentious.
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