The Sheila Variations

It WAS a great movie...and at least you can console yourself with the fact that another one is in the works, with all the stars returning save for "Kate"...

Jeff - I know!!! I'm happy about that!

How about Rutger Hauer suddenly showing up? I feel like I haven't seen him around in a long while - thought he was great too.

Also - hahahahaha with the "Kate" thing ... heh heh heh

it took me a while to figure out to whom you were referring because, honestly, up to this point, i had done my best to forget she was in the movie. i had blocked her and all of her mediacrap coverage out with the awesomeness that is this film, and that Christian Bale brings out so masterfully [i haven't seen all the Batman movies, but he's my favourite Batman thus far]. and now you've reminded me about the whole thing. thanks a lot, sheila; thanks a lot.

; )

I loooove Christian Bale.

It's all about suspension of disbelief, isn't it? In comic book movies, even Batman Begins, you have to accept certain implausabilities in order to move forward in the movie.

The second she walked up to a cop and said "Let me through! I'm an ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY", I said "No you're not", and realized I said that out loud in the theater. She looked like a freshman sorority girl who can't believe she just got carded.

Christian Bale really saved that movie for me.

I love the nick-names.

I'm happy you finally got to see it, and I was pretty sure you'd love it. You know I'm a pretty serious comic book geek, and I can't begin to sing the praises of this movie enough. There have been other good comic book movies, but this is THE great comic book movie: I honestly don't think anything else can even come close to touching it. This may sound bizarre, but it's actually so good that I'm actually not even worried the invariable and none-too-subtly-hinted-at sequel won't measure up: as part of the same continuity, I just somehow KNOW it will.

Katie Holmes was the one element that didn't work, so I'm glad she won't be around next time. Scotter: that is SO true. I work with cops every day. If I ever said something so monumentally pretentious and stupid to them as "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I'M A PROSECUTOR!", then I would look like a complete jackass and get laughed into next week (at best). And rightly so.

you're so funny with the nicknames!

I first saw Batman Begins the night it opened, with somebody who has little tolerance for anything along the lines of a superhero movie. I left thinking that perhaps I'd given it more than it was due, that I'd liked it _too_ much, owing to my comic geekdom and, moreover, my Batman geekdom.

My original feelings have since been confirmed, luckily, by friends and by posts like yours.

It's just a great movie...it hits all the same samurai notes that the best Batman comic stories did (and still do) for me...

I just thought the set design was amazing - it didn't have that CGI glitter to it - everything looked gritty and real. You know? I believed that that was an actual GUY flying over the city streets - not some CGI image.

I have no opinion on whether or not Katie is convincing as a district attorney - I actually don't care, either, her part was a really small one, and relatively unimportant - what concerns ME is the fact that she appears to have a lazy side to her face, or as though there are strings weighing down one side of her face. She smiles with one side of her mouth, one cheek goes up and down, one eye remains lazy ... It's very bizarre and distracting.

I was VERY glad that the romance between them was minimal - the storyline really wasn't about that at all, and I'm glad - it would have been an unnecessary distraction.

Oh - and HOW GREAT was Gary Oldman???

It wasn't just Christian Bale's night to shine. This was pretty much Christopher Nolan's first HUGE film as a director and nobody even said "boo" to him at the premiere because of Couchy McBrainwashed. And it wasn't some organic thing, like the press just drifted to Tom naturally. His sister called all of his press contacts to make sure everyone knew he was going to be there. Shithead. There can't ever be a moment where it isn't all about HIM.

But you have to love how the producers made this calculated announcement that Katie Holmes would not be in any more Batman movies because they needed a "stronger" actress. That was deliberate and MEAN. Did anyone expect her back? Batman is like James Bond. He gets a new hot chick every movie. That was a total "up yours" to "Kate" for balking on her promotional duties to talk about how Tommy is changing the world.

As for the movie, I don't even know where to start. Michael Caine. Cilian Murphy. Tom Wilkinson. Liam Neeson. All in top TOP form. Great script, terrific story. Just the right amount of action to not take things over the top. How great was that sequence with the ninjas..."you must become a terrible thought!" And the sequences on the cracking ice...the scenery was amazing. Christopher Nolan is going to be as huge as Spielberg one day.

i loved Batman Begins too...yesterday i had a movie fest..Chrisanne and I saw X-Men 3..loved it...then at home i watched Confessions of a Dangerous Mind...loved it...not as good as Good Night and Good Luck..but pretty great..Drew Barrymore is adorable..then i watched Only Angels Have Wings for the first time...awesome..i totally get it...then Mysterious Skin...what a movie!!! I loved everything about it..its disturbing and beautifully acted ...Joseph-Gordon-Leavitt gives THE most overlooked performance of recent years...soooo good. anyway that was my movie day.

Do you think of these nicknames on the fly? Because that is quite a talent. "Midget Despot McGlibby". Holy crap.

My favorite was Michael Caine. He was everything that Alfred should be, and even more.

Was Christian Bale that only one the GOT who Batman was? Granted, the script seemed much better, but the other actors from the previous movies were like caricatures compared to him. He was real, and vulnerable, and believable.

I think Christian Bale might have had an easier time, since he was playing the role of becoming Batman. I love those moments where he faulters as a beginner, where you get to see the more human side of Batman as opposed to the super-duper hero that's seemingly invulnerable.

And Michael Caine was just awesome. He did so much better as Alfred. He was so good at conveying his genuine affection for and patience with Bruce, the man he raised from boyhood. I've always hated Alfred being played with a kind of detached indifference.

The more I read over all this stuff, the more I love this movie even more.

And Emily, specifically about Michael Caine as Alfred, I could not agree more. God knows the character has practically as much of a history as Bruce Wayne does, and he finally got the treatment he deserved. Not only he is practically Bruce's surrogate father, he's someone who could credibly watch over and take care of Gotham in Batman's absence...and almost certainly someone who has his own secrets even from Bruce.

Mitchell - I am SO PSYCHED you saw ONly Angels Have Wings!!! Wasn't it awesome? Wasn't Cary Grant great? Wasn't Thomas Mitchell's death scene SO TOUCHING??

I adore that movie and I want to hang out in that bar and do shots, and sing songs, and hang out with those pilots.

i do love that scene..i love that Bonnie aspeires to love Cary Grant's character in the same way and with the same intensity as the Kid..its fucking heartbreaking...also...Rita Hayworth was so good when she was playing something other than eye candy...just saw an awesome movie with her and Burt Lancaster, David Niven,Deborah Kerr,Wendy Hiller..its called Seperate Tables...she's older and desperate and very very good...she had a horrendous early life...being used as an object magnified it for her..her sadness showed.

This has to be the best Batman movie that has been made. And although I will always have a soft-spot for the dark-sided view of Tim Burton's Batman, the latest movie stems directly from the wonderfully written Batman:Year One graphic novels by Frank Miller. He has to be one of the best writers of Batman to come down the pike. Miller always focused on the human characteristics of any hero/villian he wrote about, which made his stories believable.

Yes, fine, I collected comics. "Same rules still apply, touch not lest yea be touched." (Sorry for the Mallrats reference.)

Anyways, Bale did a marvelous job capturing the torment of living with this character's guilt and anger. From watching Bale's other movies, especially American Pyshco, I had not doubt he would be a great Batman and Bruce Wayne. I cannot wait for the next movie. And I am relieved to hear that Katie, the Dawson's river kid, will not be present.

Chuck - you just gave me the greatest flashback, from "The Dark Knight Returns" - as the aged Batman, clearly reaching the end of the tether, pauses a moment before resuming his chase of the Joker. A little kid tells him, "Go kick his a$$!", to which Bats replies, wearily, "Watch your language."

That whole book is great, in a way, because of how sloppy Miller's lines get in places, as if to reinforce Batman's physical decline. All the conflict in his work spring from the personalities, so it's not just mindless kung-fu shootouts.

For that matter, I've really enjoyed the Paul Dini/Art Ross stuff, which is well-written and simply gorgeous to look at.

You know, I never really thought about it but I do believe you are correct. The whole Tom/Katie debacle really did detract from what should have been an all Bale/all Batman Hollywood frenzy. Good observations.

Carl,
It didn't just detract from it. Chimpy showed up at the premiere with his zombie bride and literally hogged the press with interviews. LITERALLY. He signed autographs for fans and made the whole thing all about HIM. On PURPOSE. You do. not. Do. THAT. Famous people date each other all the time and it's understood that when you're escorting someone to a film that you are not in, you step back from the press and don't grant interviews or interact with crowds except maybe to wave hello. It's about the cast and crew on premeire night.