The Dark Knight

The Joker robs the mob while Heath Ledger steals the show in The Dark Knight (Warner Brothers)

There was a time when people thought it was crazy to try and have someone else take on the role of the Joker because no one could possibly fill Jack Nicholson's shoes. But after you see The Dark Knight (opening July 18 throughout San Diego and in IMAX at Edwards Mira Mesa Cinemas), you won't be able to think of anyone else besides Heath Ledger. Now Nicholson's Joker looks like a naughty clown while Ledger's Joker is downright nasty and disturbed (yet still oddly likable). Ledger's manically endearing performance as the unhinged psycho giving both cops and crooks nightmares is so riveting that it makes you sad for all the roles he'll never have a chance to tackle. Ledger died at the beginning of this year just after wrapping production on The Dark Knight. So this film offers his last completed performance.

Hellboy II Web Feauturette

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (opening July 11 throughout San Diego) is probably the film I have been most eagerly awaiting this summer. I am a diehard fan of Guillermo Del Toro's work but I have been especially excited about the Hellboy sequel ever since Del Toro appeared at Comic-Con and said that the script was so good that if you read it you would cry. (That was before Universal had given the greenlight to the sequel and Del Toro was still trying to convince people it was worth it.) In anticipation of Del Toro's new film I have been watching all of his old ones, and he just keeps getting better. Anyway, I thought I would share my enthusiasm by posting a video I cut together from the clips and interviews provided by Universal in their electronic press kit (highlighting the stuff I thought was cool like using trampolines for some of the fight scenes). Ron Perlman returns as Red along with Selma Blair as Liz, Doug Jones as Abe, and Jeffrey Tambor as Tom. I hope this whets your appetite like it did mine.

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Batman: The Movie on Blu-Ray

Adam West in Batman: The Movie (20th Century Fox) and Christian Bale in the upcoming The Dark Knight (Warner Brothers)

With the new Batman film, The Dark Knight, just around the corner, I wanted to highlight the new Fox Home Entertainment Blu-Ray release of the 1966 Batman: The Movie with Adam West and Burt Ward as the Dynamic Duo and a quartet of villains played by Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin and Lee Meriwether. Adam West is the Batman I grew up with and I remember having a Batman TV show pillow that I would snuggle up with to watch every episode. Same Bat time, same Bat channel, without fail. The movie, I later discovered, was actually conceived as the pilot for the TV series but ABC had trouble in their primetime lineup and debuted the TV series early. So the film came out between seasons one and two of the TV show. The vibrant new film transfer of Batman: The Movie boasts an explosion of eye-popping colors that scream 1960s pop art. The film, like the TV series, has a definite cheese factor but both are still wildly entertaining today. Watching the movie the other night made me feel like a kid again and reminded me how much fun Batman was.

For those who grew up with Tim Burton's Batman (1989) or the more recent Christopher Nolan-directed Batman Begins (2005), the old Adam West Batman may strike you as silly. But if you don't realize where Batman came from, you can't fully appreciate how far he's come. What was intriguing about the movie and TV show was the way it packaged conservative values - law and order - in a hip, pop package that made it seem cool. You also had Hollywood veterans like Cesar Romero and Burgess Meredith chewing up the scenery with absolute glee. Their audacious performances worked because Adam West gave them such a straight hero to play off of. In some of the bonus feature interviews, people compare West to William Shatner in the way both used low vocal tones and over enunciation to create an oddly stiff but earnest character. West is also compared to the dry Jack Webb of Dragnet. Meanwhile, Robin is described as a straight man to a straight man and miraculous for managing "astonished enthusiasm" at all times. And not to be outdone in the somber delivery of wacky lines, Neil Hamilton gets an award as Comissioner Gordon who gets to say such lines as "status report on known super villains at large" or "the sum of the angles of that rectangle are too monstrous to contemplate."

WALL-E

WALL-E and cockroach buddy. (Disney/Pixar)

If you are planning some family time this 4th of July weekend, there's actually a film that might make everyone happy - the latest Pixar/Disney venture WALL-E (opened June 27 throughout San Diego). The story is simple and sweet enough to keep the youngest family members happy yet the animation and storytelling is sophisticated enough to impress the adults. And, if I'm to go by what the KPBS Teen Critics have to say, WALL-E serves up a love story that teenage girls AND boys can both embrace. Now that's no easy feat.

You Don’t Mess with the Kung Fu Panda Zohan

Master Shifu teaches Po a lesson in Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks)

This week I am pleased to introduce two new KPBS Teen Critics, Raymond Mai and Vikram Bhoyrul. They both had reviews up this week (of Kung Fu Panda and You Don't Mess with the Zohan,respectively) and I hope you check them out. Raymond is someone I've known since he was in elementary school with my son and he's always had very strong opinions about movies, so I'm thrilled to have him aboard. Vikram, on the other hand, I just met. I was introduced to his father at an Indian film screening and his dad explained how Vikram had started his own paper at Bishop's. Now that's initiative. Anyway, I hope you check out their reviews. But I wanted to throw my two cents in about Kung Fu Panda and You Don't Mess with the Zohan (both opened June 6 throughout San Diego). Also, being a martial arts fan I thought it was worth mentioning that three films that opened on Friday - Kung Fu Panda, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Foot Fist Way - contained martial arts to varying degrees.

First let me start with Kung Fu Panda, an American animated martial arts film about a panda with big dreams. The film seems in part to tap into the fact that all eyes are on China as it prepares to host the summer Olympics. The film starts with a strikingly animated prologue that turns out to be a dream. Po (voiced by Jack Black) is an eager, out of shape panda that wants nothing more than to be like the heroes that he worships (and has a full set of action figures of). This open got my interest up because the animation style recalled the Emmy-winning Cartoon Network show Samurai Jack. Unfortunately, when the dream ends, so does the innovative visual style and we're back to the standard 3-D computer animation that everyone is using. I know it's state of the art and I should appreciate how the hair looks so real... but all right already. Kudos to the technicians and animators. But this style of animation seems to place more emphasis on the technology than the artistry, and I've begun to grow weary of it.

Teen Critic Disappointed by Indy 4

Harrison Ford may be Carlos' hero but that wasn't enough to make our Teen Critic fall for Indy 4 (Paramount)

By Carlos Sepulvada

Harrison Ford remains my hero. He has proven that even at 65 he can still take a good hit to the body. As an Indiana Jones movie lover I have to admit, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a disappointment. The storyline is a little over the top, yet the action scenes are still great. Definitely a very entertaining movie to see, but when you sit back to think about it, you realize how dumb and unreal it is.

Dr. Henry Jones is once again called to the line of duty to save the world from wreckage. If I understood correctly, Dr. Jones has to get the crystal skull to a pyramid-like-ruin in Peru, where it belongs. The crystal skull has extra-ordinary psychic powers which is why the Russians are after it. He initially took the crystal skull from the Russians (which instead I would call Nazis because of how they are portrayed), and while escaping he ended up in a nuclear bomb test area. Of course the nuke deployed and Indiana Jones survives. Crazily enough. I learned that apparently refrigerators can survive a nuclear blast. In addition to storing food, they can also serve as a protective cocoon in case of an emergency. The story goes on as they embark on they're adventure to Peru.

Towards the end of the movie, the story takes a sci-fi movie approach. When you first see the skull, you automatically know it's an alien's skull right? But never do you think your going to be seeing aliens in an Indiana Jones movie! People who have seen Indiana Jones' movies know that the stories are always a little bit unrealistic, yet none have ever exaggerated this much. After the alien scene I was ready for anything -- from dinosaurs to robots. This Indy film had too much digital effects work compared to the previous films that were more credible to a certain extent. This is why I came to the conclusion that the film is a disappointment. I don't care much for Shia LaBeouf, he was great in his Disney show Even Stevens but I don't think he was the right guy for this movie. If you haven't seen Kingdom of the Crystal Skill, wait for it to come out on DVD. If you wait for it on DVD I'm sure you will have more fun looking through the special features and possible deleted scenes than just watching the film. Don't get me wrong, the movie is fun to watch, but full of non-sense.

-- Carlos Sepulveda is a senior currently attending Mount Miguel High. Carlos enjoys reading in his spare time and running. He is most interested in history, politics and world issues. Carlos likes to watch foreign films, comedies and dramas.

Death Note

Death Note -- the manga, anime and live action film --try them all, they're all good! (Viz Graphic/Viz Media/Viz Pictures)

This week, American audiences will have an opportunity to see a hit, live action Japanese film adaptation of a popular manga (that's a Japanese comic book). Hollywood has taken note of the increased popularity of Japanese manga by optioning a number of them for the big screen. In addition to the recent Speed Racer, there will be live action film adaptations of Dragonball, Akira, and Blood: The Last Vampire. But the film that manga fans are embracing is Death Note (playing May 20 and 21 at 7:30pm only at AMC Mission Valley, Horton Plaza Theaters and Edwards Mira Mesa Cinemas; for online tickets are available). Death Note began as a serialized manga back in 2003. Since then it has inspired a trio of movies, an anime TV series and a spin-off novel. The first live action film was a hit in Japan back in 2006. Now Viz Pictures is giving Death Note a unique 2-day run in U.S. cities. 

Death Note knows how to hook an audience. The intricately written and strikingly illustrated manga by Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata has sold more that 25 million copies in Japan. Last year the anime version of the manga found success in the U.S. on the Cartoon Network. Now the live action film will pose Death Note's intriguing premise on the big screen: what if you found a notebook belonging to one of the gods of death.

Horton Hears a Who!

Horton Hears a Who! (20th Century Fox/Dr. Seuss Enterprises)

Dr. Seuss has not had much success on the big screen recently. The two live action films based on his books How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat were atrocious and gave me nightmares in ways that horror films never have. Neither film captured even the slightest inkling of Dr. Seuss' charm or humor. In fact you have to go all the way back to 1953's The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T to find a good live action feature based on something Dr. Seuss wrote. So when I heard that Jim Carrey - the Grinch in Ron Howard's big screen fiasco - was doing Horton Hears a Who! (opened March 14 throughout San Diego), I must confess that it sent a shiver down my spine. But then I heard that it would be animated and that Ice Age's Chris Wedge would serve as executive producer - two reasons to be hopeful that maybe this time Hollywood would get it right.

SDLFF Highlight: Tyger

Guilherme Marcondes' animated short Tyger is available online. (Trattoria/Guilherme Marcondes)

I met filmmaker Guilherme Marcondes at the San Diego Latino Film Festival last night. He made the animated short Tyger, inspired by William Blake's poem. The film will not play again at the festival but if you missed it, you can still -- luckily -- find it online. The film serves up a breathtaking mix of old and new as a puppet tiger walks through the computer animated cityscape of Sao Paulo, turning the urban jungle into something wildly surreal. This is a visual treat with clever and gorgeous animation. On his website, Marcondes says he related to "Blake's dystopian vision of the modern world." He says that the poem "gives us a hint of wonder along with the fear of progress. The tiger is as much dangerous as it is marvelous and this ambiguity makes us avoid the pure romantic negative vision of society."

For his film, Marcondes employs a tiger puppet manipulated by a trio of onscreen puppeteers dressed all in black. The tiger moves through what Marcondes describes as Sao Paulo's "chaotic urban landscape." Marcondes says that he was still studying at architecture school when he began working part time as an animator. "I never went to any film schools," he tells me as we sit in the theater where his film was just shown, "I just worked at this production company so I had to learn everything myself. I was five years at that company and that was my animation school. At a real film school you're told to do things in certain ways with certain rules. So I never learned their way of doing things, I learned my own way. I think it was better but it might have been a longer path though."

In regards to his mix of visual styles, Marcondes says, "it made sense to mix puppetry and hi-end animation because I was doing all this work on computers and CGI at the production company. I had to mix all sorts of techniques and designs for the commercial spots I was doing. So I used the technical knowledge I gained from working on those spots and was already mixing because I felt that was the best way to represent my interpretation of Blake's poem. Basically, the puppet/puppeteers are the perfect metaphor for the way I felt about the poem. Plus it was fun to do a CG movie with this old ancient technique of puppetry."

The puppeteers were actually friends of Marcondes. He had seen their work two years before he made Tyger. He just kept in the back of his mind the desire to make a film with them. Marcondes says that when he conceived the film, he didn't realized that the style of puppets (with the puppeteers visible working the puppets) was part of Japan's ancient Bunraku Puppet Theater tradition but he likes the fact that it is an ancient technique that he's mixing with state of the art technology.

Tyger is Marcondes' fourth short. But it's the longest of his films. He says that working in commercials prompted him to make his first three films with running times under one minute. Based on his work in Tyger, he's an animator whose work I will definitely seek out. Check out his film, but realize it was better on a big screen.

10,000 B.C.

Just me and my woolly mammoth in 10,000 B.C. (Warner Bros.)