Movie Review: ***^ The Dark Knight (2008)

 In the Dark Knight Batman (Christian Bale) gets darker; as does his nemesis Joker (Heath Ledger).  The Joker is without scruples.  He kills even those who for him or with him.  As such he takes over the crime syndicate in Gotham.  He does behave in conventional ways, and this throws Batman off.  Also the district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is being aggressive going after organized crime.  The assistant is Bruce Wayne's interest, Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal).  Joker is very good at getting what he wants.  He takes on the task of killing Batman.  He fails to do this but he does turn turn Dent.  He kidnaps he and his fiancé, Batman's friend Rachel.  He forces Batman to save one of them, and Rachel is killed.  Dent is left as Two-face.  Two-face ends up dead and Batman takes the blame so the people can have a hero in Dent, and the laws against organized crime go into effect.  At the end of this movie Batman becomes the Dark Knight and goes into hiding.

The Joker is really devious and evil, and always seems to be a step ahead.  Hedger plays him very dark.  Michael Cane continues as Alfred the butler and support Wayne and Batman.  Gary Oldman continues as commissioner Gordon.  It is Batman and the commissioner who decide the perception has to be that Batman is evil and Dent is a hero.  Joker had messed with Gordon and his family, kidnapping them.

Musical Movie Review: **** Calamity Jane (1953)

 Calamity Jane (Doris Day) is a western woman who dresses in men's clothing.  She is the guard of the stage, and exaggerates how many Native Americans she has killed.  She rescues Lieutenant Gilmartin (Philip Carey) when he is captured by Indians.  She has a crush on him.  Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel) has a thing for Calamity Jane, but would like her to wear woman clothes.  Calamity goes to Chicago to recruit and actress, but gets the wrong woman.  She comes back with the maid, Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) rather than the actress; but Brown she does the best she can.  Calamity and Brown move in together, and Calamity get jealous when Brown and Gilmartin kiss.  She is so upset she tells Brown she must leave.  But Gilmartin really likes Brown.  Hickok finally proposes to Calamity, and everything ends happy.  

The voices of Howard Keel (baritone) and Doris Day are excellent and their singing really carries the musical.  I especially like the song "The Black Hills of Dakota."  They both sing with lots of energy.  "I Can Do Without You" is also very fun.  

John Wayne Movie Review: ****The Searchers (1956)

 This is a very good movie, and the racism of the lead character spills out all over the movie.  I think this was the point.  Uncle Ethan Evans (John Wayne) has returned home three years after the Civil War ended.  He is caught up in rescuing his nieces who are taken by Comanche.  Their brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) goes with him but he is not a blood brother, but adopted and has Cherokee blood, which Uncle Ethan doesn't let him forget it.  Pawley has a girlfriend, Laurie (Vera Miles).  Early on they find the older sister murdered.  However the search for Deborah (Natalie Wood and Lana Wood), the younger sister goes on for many years.  Pawley is worried Uncle Evan will kill her as she has been amongst the Indians too long and will be an Indian.  The learn Cicatriz, or Scar (Henry Brandon) has her, but make little progress in finding him.  The first time they come upon Debbie Uncle Ethan does want to kill her, and Pawley intervenes.  However the second time there is a major operation and Cicatriz is killed.  However when Uncle Evan gets to the niece, now about 15 he says lets go home, and it is both he and the niece going home as Uncle Ethan lets go of some of his hate.  

The party would come home from time to time.  On one of these occasions they enter the wedding of Laurie and Charlie McCorrey (Ken Curtis, later Festus).  Laurie had grown tired of waiting and McCorrey had worn her down.  McCorrey and Pawley fight, and there is no wedding.  It is after this fight we hear that Cicatriz is in the area.  Another interesting character is Moss Harper (Hank Worden).  People thinks he is crazy, but it is he who was able to discover the whereabouts of Cicatriz.  Sisters Natalie Wood and Lana Wood portray Debbie, Lana the young Debbie and Natalie the older Debbie.  

I enjoyed this movie.  You have to remember Uncle Ethan's racism is his character form seeing death in the Civil War and fighting against the Native Americans.  

Western Movie Review: *** Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

 This is a Sergio Leone spaghetti western.  It stars Charles Bronson as Harmonica, a mysterious character who is extracting revenge as he goes.  Is ultimate goal is Frank (Henry Fonda), who is a very evil character but who is tied with the rail road, Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) and thereby gets away with it.  He and his men murder a family; but Cleveland (Jason Robards) is blamed.  Frank and the railroad want the property of the man they murdered.  They did not know he had recently married.  His widow is Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale).  Cleveland and Harmonica form an alliance of sorts to keep McBain from being cheated of her estate.  Even Frank and Harmonica form an alliance for a time, as Harmonica wants to be sure he is the person to kill Frank, who lynched his father when he was a boy.  

The movie is very slow at times with periods of violence.  Leone really drags out gun fights.  It is a 2 1/2 hour movie and could have been compressed greatly.  

John Wayne Movie Review: Rio Bravo (1959)

 Sheriff Chance (John Wayne) arrests a man Joe Burdette for murder, and his brother Nathan Burdette (John Russell) doesn't like it.  John is a big land owner and is complicit in a murder himself, paying people to do his evil work.  Chance has two deputies, Stumpy (Walter Brennan) who is crippled and Dude (Dean Martin) who has been on a two year bender after things went sour with a girl.  But they do have the fortress of the jail.  There is a woman (Angie Dickinson) new in town, who befriends Chance.  Also a young gun man, Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) whose boss is murdered by Burdette's men, and becomes a third deputy.  Finally the dye is cast, when Burdette's men kidnap Dude, and arrange an exchange for Joe Burdette.  This sets up the final gun battle.  With the help of some dynamite things do not go well for the crooks.

I enjoyed this movie.  The action was very nice, as was the romance.  The nicest part was a couple of songs the deputies sang while they holed up in the jail where they thought they could defend against the criminals.  One of the songs the Tabernacle Choir has also sung, "Cindy." 

Movie Review: Batman Begins

This is a very good new beginning to Batman, with a lot of pre Batman explanation. like how he learned his fighting skills.  He actually trains with a group that is against crime, to the point of taking it into their own hands.  Bruce Wayne has a falling out with them, and returns to Gotham with a new goal and sets himself up as Batman.   But the past haunts him. 

Ducard is the person from the past who helped train Bruce Wayne.  Alfred is the butler and Lucius Fox is Bruce Wayne's inside man at Wayne Enterprises.  Rachel Dawes is a district attorney and Bruce Wayne's friend from growing up years.  Jim Gordon is a police officer and becomes Batman's liaison.  And Dr. Jonathan Crane is with the gangs and also working for Ducard and his group.  He is the mask man who uses a toxin to make people hallucinate and thereby he gets them off on insanity pleas.  

The gangs have been smuggling the toxin in for sometime, and putting it in the water supply.  They have stolen a water vaporizer and plan to vaporize the toxin in the air and release the poison toxin into the air.  This will create paranoid people killing each other and Gotham will destroy itself.  Only Batman, and Gordon can turn the tide.  

Batman vs Ducard makes very good conflict.  A cute side bar is the president at Wayne enterprises and Lucius Fox.  When Fox becomes the president he asks the former president, "Didn't you get the memo?"

• 

  Christian Bale

  Bruce Wayne

  /Batman
• 

  Michael Caine

  Alfred
• 

  Liam Neeson

  Ducard
• 

  Katie Holmes

  Rachel Dawes
• 

  Gary Oldman

  Jim Gordon
• 

  Cillian Murphy

  Dr. Jonathan Crane
• 

  Morgan Freeman Lucius Fox  

  
  

Music Review: Chicago Greatest Hits 1982-1989

 This C.C. collections starts off with the classic and personal favorite, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry."  The album starts with that violin melody that introduces this number.  It is just beautiful.  Chicago has never shied from using instrumentals in their numbers; in fact that is the trademark.  The use brass instruments frequently.  

Chicago describes themselves as a rock and roll band with horns.  The were formed in the late 60s in Chicago, first called The Big Thing, the Chicago Transit Authority and then Chicago.  Peter Cetera, Terry Kath and Robert Lamm provide most of the vocals.  Their songs seem to be about love and relationships.  "I can't go on if I'm on my own" the sing in "Will you Still Love Me."  In "Love me Tomorrow" they sing "She loves me, and thats all I need to know."

"Look Away" is a good song of the after effects of a break up.  "If you see me walking by, and the tears are in. my eye, Look away!"  Also included are the classics "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break."  These songs continue the general theme, "You're the meaning of my life, you're the inspiration.  

"What Kind of Man Would I Be" ius remixed for this album and is also very catchy.  

I find Chicago to be very pleasing to listen to and as I said before, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" is one of my favorite songs of all time.