Until Midnight (& Sometimes Later)

Back in May at Balticon, I did a panel with Joshua Bilmes, of the JABberwocky Literary Agency. He was nice enough to help me acquire an advanced copy of Libriomancer, Jim Hines latest, which I enjoyed every moment of. Read my full review over at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
The characters are interesting, well-developed, internally consistent, and most important, fun to read about. Silly at times, dryads interact with historical figures, a redneck vampire pets a beagle, or a librarian is . . . a librarian.

I’ve gotten my final Confluence schedule–they’ve added another panel on Sunday. I still don’t know what some of these panels are about. And there are no moderators specified as yet–I suppose we’ll end up using some of the time-honored methods for choosing such: last arrival at the panel, person sitting in the center, etc. Should be fun.

SATURDAY
1:00pm in Oak
Keeping Within the Constraints
[Panelists: Cat Faber, Seanan McGuire, James Daniel Ross, Elektra Hammond]
Comment: Oh boy–a panel with GOH Seanan McGuire. And I’ll get to see Dan (who is in both my anthologies, In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk & Galactic Creatures. I haven’t met Cat yet, but I know she’s a filker, and I look forward to meeting her, also.

10:00pm in Oak
Sins Are Refreshed : Frank Discussions, Erotic Readings and Naughty Jokes
[Panelists: KT Pinto, Elektra Hammond, Kevin M Hayes]
Comment: I’ll be reading something written by Bernie Mojzes, caterpillar erotica from an Alice in Wonderland-themed collection. Find out why caterpillars are the new cephalopods. Thank you Bernie!! I’ll also be setting the mood with some single malt–come by and have a drink with us.

SUNDAY
noon in Oak
Thank Heaven for Little Subs
[Panelists: Danielle Ackely-McPhail, Larry Ivkovich, Elektra Hammond, Jeff Young]
Comment: I’m not sure if this panel is on sub-genres or small press–everyone on the panel has published with small press at one point or another. Hopefully we’ll find out before the panel starts . . . .

1:00pm in Oak
Geek Culture versus Geek Generation
[Panelists: Paul Melko, David Barr Kirtley, Christopher Pisano, Elektra Hammond]
Comment: This is the panel that was just added. Sounds interesting!

Hope I see a bunch of folks at Confluence–it’s always a fun convention!

It was an opening marred by tragedy, but still an awesome experience for those of us who spent long hours in the dark with the Bat. My review of The Dark Knight Rises is up at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
The Dark Knight Rises is easily the most humorous of the three, and features more character development and less action (proportionally). Don’t get me wrong–at almost three hours, there is plenty of action. New, improved Wayne Manor–new, improved Batcave–new, improved toys.

Barman Begins (2005)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan & David Goyer & Bob Kane (Batman characters)
Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy

The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan & David Goyer & Bob Kane (Batman characters)
Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

Note: the following contains spoilers for both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. If you haven’t since these two movies by now–have you been living under a rock?

Thursday night I spent nine hours in a dark movie theater with a wonderful group of fanboys/girls watching the Dark Knight trilogy–an appetizer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (each prefaced by a The Dark Knight Rises trailer), followed by a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. My review of the final movie is up on buzzymag, I’m going to speak to the first two films here. It was a fun, though tiring, evening–seeing a movie with other superfans definitely elevates the experience. And make no mistake, my love of the Dark Knight goes back to playing Batman & Robin with my best friend in kindergarten, back when the worst punishment my mother could possibly threaten was not allowing me to watch my half-hour of “Batman” on TV (same Bat-time, same Bat-channel).

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and watched either of the first two movies through–so I bought tickets for the marathon as soon as it was announced instead of watching the DVDs. I was sitting front row center–the perfect place to truly experience a movie.

I’d forgotten how powerful the start of Batman Begins in–how the movie jumps back and forth in time and Christopher Nolan makes it work. It sucks you right into the story in a way that just starting with Bruce Wayne as a boy might not have.

Things I noticed this time through–it’s just Bruce Wayne and Alfred alone in Wayne Manor for much of the film–how does Alfred keep that place clean all by himself? When Bruce’s parents were still alive it appears there was more of a staff, starting with Rachel’s mother the housekeeper.

I really appreciated how the relationship between Batman and Jim Gordon is developed, each event building on the next, allowing you to understand the growing trust between them. This relationship continues from Officer Gordon to Lieutenant Gordon to (eventually) Commissioner Gordon.

The subplot of who is going to end up running Wayne Enterprises as it goes public also makes for a bit of entertainment–it shows how clever Bruce Wayne is, and how amazingly clever Alfred is. Where would Bruce be without Alfred?

I’ve seen this film a number of times, but every time I am struck by the scene where Bruce Wayne climbs down the well to explore the cave under Wayne Manor for the first time–he stands there with his lantern and is confronted by what is for him the embodiment of fear: The cave is full of bats! It’s an powerful visual, and it hits me everytime I see it.

Something I noticed for the first time on this showing: there’s a brief scene of DA Rachel Dawes comforting a child in the Narrows–an early role for Jack Gleeson, who is now everyone’s favorite “king who deserves to be slapped”–Joffrey Baratheon.

In Batman Begins we had the first taste of the great Michael Caine giving his interpretation of Alfred, interacting with Christian Bale showing remarkable range as Bruce Wayne, from college age through training with the League of Shadows through his early years as Batman. Liam Neeson as mentor and friend, then adversary, turns in his usual top-notch performance–nuanced, physical, and philosophical. Gary Oldman is thoroughly believable as the one honest cop in Gotham, and Morgan Freeman shines as the “Q”-like Lucius Fox. Cillian Murphy is just this side of crazy as the Scarecrow. I even found Katie Holmes sweet, but her character was somewhat overshadowed by the sheer scope of the rest of the film–she didn’t get a lot to work with.

This film (and the following two) ended to heartfelt applause and cries of “Gryffindor” and “On to Isenguard.” You gotta love fanboys!

The Dark Knight showed us the commitment that Christopher Nolan had made to the franchise–the first piece of which was that Bruce Wayne was not in Wayne Manor–it burned down at the end of Batman Begins. He’s living in a Gotham City penthouse while the mansion is being rebuilt, and Batman is working out of a temporary Batcave downtown.

This film will forever be remembered as the last that Heath Ledger completed before his untimely death, and for the intense performance as the Joker that earned him a well-deserved posthumous Oscar. His Joker was scarily psychotic and very disturbing–his philosophy summed up by: “All you care about is money. This town deserves a better class of criminal.”

A minor detail that bothered me about the plot of this one–one of the subplots revolves around one of the minor bad guys fleeing to Hong Kong, where he is out of reach of the authorities. So the good guys reach out to Batman, who clearly isn’t controlled by jurisdictional issues–but how do they know that he has the resources to leave the country and bring this guy back? It’s an operation that requires both connections and money to pull off . . .

The makeup effects throughout the movie were outstanding.

This movie marked the first time I watched a sequel and thought they managed to top the first film. I really enjoyed Batman Begins, and before that, I really like the Michael Keaton Batman, but The Dark Knight was . . . more. More intense, bigger action, higher stakes. The Batmobile is destroyed. They killed Rachel Dawes. They killed Jim Gordon. Even the other criminals were scared of the Joker. Heck, they killed the Bat Signal.

The ending left you understanding how important Gotham City is to Batman, and just what he is willing to sacrifice to save it.

The returning cast is again wonderful, with the relationships between Bruce Wayne/Alfred and Batman/Jim Gordon continuing to develop. Aaron Eckhart does a great job in the dual role of heroic Harvey Dent and the villain Two-Face. Maggie Gyllenhaal is more spunky in the role of Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes–I think she’s given more to do here. But it’s jarring to see a different actress in the role when they worked so hard to keep everything consistent through these films–especially when you watch all three in a row.

At one minute past midnight, the main event rolled . . .

The hyper-violent, star-studded Savages is in theatres now. Oliver Stone gives you a glimpse into a drug dealer versus drug dealer interaction gone wrong. See my review at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
This is an interesting movie in many ways. The plot is complex, with more twists than a slinky going down a flight of stairs. Better pay close attention, or you’ll lose track of who’s on which side. Allegiances are complicated to begin with, and change at the drop of a hat.

Seth MacFarlane’s comedy Ted, about a boy who wishes his Teddy Bear to life, opened to primarily male audiences, with a pre-made fanbase of “Family Guy” fanatics. Intellectual it’s not. Find out what I thought in my review at buzzymag.

An excerpt:
Basically, the entire movie feels like one big inside joke–not two minutes go by without another pop culture reference.

The last weekend of July will find me once again at one of my favorite conventions, Confluence, with some of my favorite folks–the members of Parsec, the Pittsburgh-area Science Fiction club. I’ve just gotten my preliminary schedule, I’m looking forward to more information on what some of these panels are:

SATURDAY
1:00pm in Oak
Keeping Within the Constraints
[Panelists: Cat Faber (F), Seanan McGuire, James Daniel Ross, Elektra Hammond]

10:00pm in Oak
Sex Panel: Erotic Readings and Naughty Jokes
[Panelists: KT Pinto, Elektra Hammond, Kevin M Hayes]
I’ll be reading something written by Bernie Mojzes, probably caterpillar erotica, from an Alice in Wonderland-themed collection. Thank you Bernie!!

SUNDAY
noon in Oak
Thank Heaven for Little Subs
[Panelists: Danielle Ackely-McPhail, Larry Ivkovich, Elektra Hammond, Jeff Young]

They’ve rebooted the Spider-Man franchise, and it’s having such a hot weekend that SONY has already announced that this is but the first in a trilogy. I’ve got mixed feelings about the movie, but I definitely think you should go see it–my full review is at buzzymag.com.

An excerpt:
Emma Stone is adorable as Gwen Stacy and her look is absolutely spot-on from the 1960s comics. Incongruously, Peter’s look has been updated to hoodies, a backpack, and a skateboard, and he looks a just a tad too old to be in high school. What happened to the nerdy Peter Parker who would be too embarrassed to talk to the prettiest girl in school?

Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Joe Manganiello and some other pretty boys hit the theaters last weekend in Magic Mike. I tell all in my review at buzzymag.com.

An excerpt:
Didja ever wonder what Joe Manganiello was doing on his days off from “True Blood”? He was co-starring in a movie about male strippers, loosely based on Channing Tatum’s experiences when he was nineteen.