Burn After Reading

I have returned from Los Angeles, where I saw The Dark Knight four times.

I love how Gotham City is so blatantly Chicago.

At first, I thought the license plates on the cars were just Illinois plates, but the cursive "Illinois" actually reads "Gotham."

In the scene outside Gotham General after it explodes, you can see a CTA bus in the background with the "C" in the CTA's logo modified to be a "G."

Gotham City's transit authority is the GTA.

When Joker asks Batman to hit him after the truck flip, you can see a store in the background named "Sweet Home Chicago."

I didn't realize until my fourth viewing that Gordon drives the armoured truck carrying Dent. I still don't understand how Batman sets up the SWAT rope trick.

The actor who plays Gordon's son should stick to emoting.

"Dad, is he all right?"
[flaccid, no more sympathy]

Whoever mixed the sound at the end should be fired. Music drowns out Batman and Gordon's stirring monologues.


Batman's costume was on display at the ArcLight.


Whose shoes are more hideous: his or mine?


Bat-pod


If characters on Night Court were Batman villains…

Judge Harry Stone = The Joker
Dan Fielding = Two-Face
Christine Sullivan = Catwoman
Bull Shannon = Mr. Freeze
Roz Russell = The Penguin

Mac Robinson = ?


Joker kills Spawn.

The actor who plays the mayor of Gotham City played Die Fladermaus "Batmanuel" on the live-action Tick series.

Joker didn't need to draw black rings around the mayor's eyes on his obit photo.

Joker's camera adds ten pounds (at least) to Anthony Michael Hall.

Good segue: chaotic end of Joker's first video message to Bruce's penthouse
Bad segue: cutting off Joker mid-laugh to the place where Dent's family died

Vermont senator Patrick Leahy reminds Joker of his father.

"Wanna know how I got these scars?"

"A little fight in you, I like that."

I expected Joker to say "I like that" like he does in the trailer, but Nolan used a different take in which Joker pronounces it as a dactyl. Annoyed me every time. Similarly, I prefer the burning Joker card in the trailer to the dull, flame-retardant one in the final cut.

Gordon's partner in the armoured truck urges him to head above ground without any urgency in his voice.

In the scene with the cash pyramid, Ledger channels Nicholson's Joker.

Edison Chen: famous superstar celebrity in Hong Kong, three-second cameo in The Dark Knight.

The actor who plays Lau speaks odd Mandarin, which puzzled me because it didn't sound like English was his first language, and if he couldn't speak Mandarin well, he could've spoken Cantonese, the de facto official spoken variety of Chinese in Hong Kong.

Turns out he's from Singapore, which explains both his odd Mandarin and his odd English.

Sonar is Daredevil's schtick!

I liked when the sonar died, though, and then…SONAR JOKER!


While pre-gaming for the 3:15 a.m. screening, we watched the end of Batman and Robin. Almost all of the dialogue is punny one-liners. Nolan has spoiled us.

Bruno also reminisced (to my surprise) about the Clock King, my favourite Batman villain, and one whom I relate to.

Jord pitched Two-Face and Talia al Ghul for Batman 6.

Bruno pitched Michael Keaton as Joker.

I pitched fast-forwarding and adapting The Dark Knight Returns — old Batman vs. old Joker and Superman.

Bruno pitched Michelle Williams as Harley Quinn.

I think The Fugitive with Batman in the Richard Kimble role could work.

"I didn't kill Dent."
"I don't care!"

The man who solved the "riddle" of Batman's identity in The Dark Knight was named Mr. Reese.

Mister Reese. Mysteries.

I bet we just saw the set-up for the Riddler in this movie. I imagine him to be one of the villains in the next movies. He's already figured out who Batman is, and now he's going to have all of Gotham hunting him down, since all of Gotham knows he knows who Batman is.

Also: I would put my money on Bane as a central villain. Maybe with someone like Javier Bardem to fill the role, we won't get the mindless muscleman the character is often misinterpreted as. We'll get the criminal mastermind who broke batman's back. [source]

1. I can't see that actor as Riddler.
2. Javier Bardem as Bane?

[pause]

Anton Chigurh is a cross between Joker and Two-Face.


The Bate-man.


Bateman vs. Joker — I wish.

Morgan Freeman needs and deserves nicer teeth.

12 Comments

  1. lozo 22 Jul 08 at 12:00

    I think I missed it. Does The Joker give Batman the wrong addresses when he has to save either Harvey or Rachel? Does Batman really intend to save Rachel? If so, I missed that.

    Reply
  2. Jon 22 Jul 08 at 12:41

    Yes, Joker gives Batman the wrong addresses.

    Reply
  3. KM 22 Jul 08 at 13:01

    As convenient as the Mister Reese thing is, going from Heath-Ledger-as-Joker to Miscellaneous-background-actor-as-Riddler seems like a pretty steep drop off.

    And Freddy Prinze Jr will obviously be playing Bane. Gotta get in on that 90s teen movie star revival thing now that Heath is out of the picture.

    Reply
  4. Cangrejero 22 Jul 08 at 13:19

    Richard (Bull Shannon) Moll was the voice of Two-Face in the animated series.

    So I'll counter with
    Harry Stone = The Phantasm
    Dan Fielding = The Mad Hatter
    Christine Sullivan = Harley Quinn
    Bull Shannon = Two-Face
    Roz Russell = Mr. Freeze

    Yakov = The Riddler

    Reply
  5. lozo 22 Jul 08 at 13:36

    Thanks, man. Love the shoes.

    Reply
  6. Esteban 22 Jul 08 at 15:25

    this is easy, so maybe that's why you didnt' put it, but the guy at the bank comes out on Heat, where it clearly is a homage to Heat.

    does heads equal kill or does tails does?

    at the end, when harvey does his last flip, it lands on heads. was he gonna kill himself, or live and go on to make the flip on gordon?

    Reply
  7. josh 22 Jul 08 at 15:49

    when wayne asks mr. fox to improve the suit, and explains a dog attacked him, fox says it'll be strong enough to withstand a cat. Catwoman in number 3?

    Reply
  8. josh 22 Jul 08 at 15:51

    Also, was Brett Favre the dude in the truck who tried to run into Gordon and Reese?

    Reply
  9. Gustavo 22 Jul 08 at 16:34

    wait wait there's a new batman out?

    Reply
  10. Jon 22 Jul 08 at 17:20

    steven:

    tails (the charred side of the coin) equals kill.

    harvey's last flip decides the boy's fate. he'd already decided his fate (heads).

    Reply
  11. Reed 27 Jul 08 at 03:33

    2 things:

    1) I know she's not a big star, but I wonder if they somehow make Det. Ramirez into the next catwoman. Dent doesn't kill her, so she's just kind of hanging out at the end. She has to become a fugitive at least, why not go full bore into it?

    2) I thought Ledger was mainly channeling Andy Rooney, except not licking his lips as often as Rooney does, of course. No? Yes?

    Reply
  12. Jon 28 Jul 08 at 03:42

    Reed:

    1) She's not a big star. End of discussion.

    2) Uh…yes? You're showing your age.

    Reply

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