First off, all I have to say is wow.  I had the opportunity to see the film in Imax and it was amazing.  Upon seeing the opening shots I found myself literally saying ‘wow’.  The film is great in all aspects including story, visuals, and performances. 
         The Dark Knight is easily the best superhero film made and is definitely one of the best crime thrillers in a long time.  To me, it almost doesn’t even seem like a comic book film.  It appeals to all audiences and not just those who love the comics.  I don’t think I need to go into the story too much except say that you won’t be disappointed. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan have created something so dark and fascinating that once the credits come up, you’ll want to watch it again. 
            Now regarding performances.  If Heath Ledger doesn’t win an Oscar, then I have lost all hope in humanity.  Ledger’s performance is remarkable and his dark and psychotic portrayal will haunt you.  He finds the perfect balance between everything within the character and the comedic timing is impeccable.  It is safe to say that he made this movie what it is.  Without him, the film would be lacking greatly. 
            Christian Bale did a good job as well of reprising his role of Bruce Wayne.  My only complaint is the hoarse voice he chose to use while sporting the batman costume.  It’s understandable that he wants to hide his identity but in my opinion it’s a bit too harsh.
            Aaron Eckhart looks like a promising (possible) villain for the next (probable) film.  I was a bit skeptical upon first hearing he would be portraying Harvey Dent but was pleasantly surprised when I saw the film.
            Gary Oldman and Michael Caine reprise their roles as Lt. James Gordon and Alfred and both perform well.  Thankfully Nolan replaced Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is clearly a much better actress.
            Overall The Dark Knight is a great film with great performances and will appeal to audiences of all ages.  It is hard to say how the film would hold up without Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker but it is safe to say that the a lot of the greatness of the film is a result of Ledger’s spectacular performance. 

(Opens everywhere July 18th, 2008)

-Matt Simko

           Incorporating ancient mythologies into a film is nothing new.  The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings series’ owe much debt to ancient Egyptian and Greek mythologies.  Those films took established stories and adapted them into different scenarios.  Guillermo Del Toro has taken a different and bold approach; taking base archetypes to create a new mythology devoid of borrowed stories.
            Del Toro was very successful with his approach in Pan’s Labyrinth.  By creating a new myth, thus consequently a new mythos, Del Toro brings up the importance and purpose of mythology within today’s culture.  His Homeric method of juxtaposing the supernatural and reality seeks to explain the unexplained, but also to explore the reality of the supernatural i.e. Santa Claus, God.   Del Toro attempts to further this interesting conversation in Hellboy 2, but instead all he offers is shattered pieces within an uninspired plot.
            Yes, the art in Hellboy 2 is very cool and unique.  The problem is, it is too unique for its own good. The art style in Pan’s Labyrinth is extremely similar to what is seen in Hellboy 2. This essentially devoids the Catholic-influenced art style of its individuality.  Imagine if the art assets in Star Wars were used in Starship Troopers; how unoriginal would that be?
            Del Toro creates a story to serve the art; consequently Hellboy 2 becomes a classic case of style over substance.  The story is derivative good versus evil flare with a really uninteresting villain (he was never intimidating, for me at least).  The awkward pacing and inconsistent tone of the film never creates a sense of urgency and danger either.  The simple pattern goes between two extremes; high action or slapstick comedy.  There is absolutely no nuance between the two extremes, which, simply, makes the film an awkward experience.  One more thing, the drinking scene….wtf is this Superbad?
           (Spoilers) In the last 20 minutes Del Toro commits one major sin.  A dumb and ‘omg are you fuggin serious’ moment at the end completely denies the reason of the movies existence.  The princess had the choice of killing herself at the very beginning of the film, but at the end after all this shit she finally does and her motivation and reasoning for waiting so long is never explained.  This immediately gave me the feeling that Del Toro didn’t know how to end his film so he kept this wild card for the end.  This really angered me because my patience and investment into the movie never produced a satisfying payoff.  The ending ended on a whimper. (Spoilers end)
          So, yeah, I still do believe that Del Toro is a talented director but at the same time I feel he’s a bit of a one trick pony.  Here’s hoping that Hobbit will prove me wrong.

(Opens everywhere July 11th, 2008)

-Philip Robibero

If you had to guess what High School John Hughes attended, Warsaw Community High School would probably be it.  The Indiana high school plays host to a colorful group of students that symbolize today’s “American Teen.”  So do these “Hughes” students really exist or are they altercations of iconic characters to get moviegoers in the seats?  Surprisingly enough the Paramount Vantage marketing team couldn’t get these teens closer to their “Brat Pack” heritage.
            Oscar nominated documenter, Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), follows the dramatics of five socially separate ,yet, symbiotic high school students.  The film was shot over a ten month period.  Even though this might sound like ordinary MTV fluff, Burstein takes the tired concept turns it on its head, making the flick remarkably fresh.
            Burstein is able to over come the MTV pantomiming by construing a nice fluid and organized pace.  Burstein takes the idea of showing how her subjects are the products of their environment focusing firstly on the environment in which these teens interact with.  Once we feel comfortable with the location, the characters allow us time to make opinions on which we like and dislike each character.  As the film goes on you see a certain genuine growth as each subject comes forth with their often surprising revelations.   Each student grows in front of the camera and most of the time they don’t even know it themselves.
             (Spoilers) On a personal level I fell in love with most of the characters but one stands out from the rest.  Hannah Bailey aka The Rebel is the Heart and Soul of the film.  Her story sucks us in from beginning and makes us clap at the end.  She is not just a rebel from her school but from the world she is forced to live in.  She doesn’t try to be different and stick out so that the cameras catch something crazy every second, but instead makes us realize why she chooses to be so idiosyncratic.  Hannah knows she doesn’t fit in and wants out from the place that we are forced to live in during the film.  Her dream is to go to California and study film, but her family wants her to stay in line with the crowd she despises.  At one point she breaks down and stops going to school because of the fear of seeing her ex-boyfriend.  And then an hour later she seems on the top of world fighting her parents to pursue her dream.  (End of spoilers)
             I know that most people sometime need to be in the mood for a documentary, but this film will totally get you entrapped within its theme.  Even if you just think you’ll relate to one characters going in, you’ll come out seeing anther person in that clique having more similarities then differences.  And unlike most film’s that get great reviews from Sundance and then perform well below that level, I feel that this can crossover.  If you go on with an open mind you should come out with a smile, and at this time maybe more “American Teens” need to stop worrying about life and just smile. (contd...)

(Released June 25th in Limited Theaters)

-Evan Rosenberg