The Last Laugh

Hopefully we can all agree on two things.

1. It’s sad that Heath Ledger is no longer with us, both because of the entertainment he brought us as an actor and more so because of the tragedy of dying so young, leaving behind a grieving family and a young child who will have to grow up without a father.

2. His performance as the Joker is nothing short of mesmerizing, making it nearly impossible to see the actor behind the character.

But after that, the camps are divided. In one corner you have those that have happily jumped on the “definitely deserves an Oscar nomination” train.

On the other side are those that, while perhaps impressed with what Ledger did with the role, are saying that the word Oscar is only being tossed around because of his unfortunate passing.

The first group is accused of joining in with the massive hype, declaring it “Oscar worthy” simply because it's the popular thing to do right now. The second group is immediately called "a bunch of haters," having taken the opposite view JUST to take the opposite view.

I think there would be a similar division if Ledger was still alive. Those that didn’t think he deserved the nomination would be accused of being against comic book movies. Meanwhile, Batman fans clamoring for an Oscar nom would be considered less discerning film critics, having latched onto an above average performance in an average, awkwardly put together film. (Though you can be in a horribly structured film and still win an Oscar.)

Obviously it’s VERY early in the year to be talking about Oscars, so we’ll have to wait and see. After I’ve seen some other good supporting actor roles, I’ll make up my mind about whether or not Ledger belongs with them. And if he should be nominated, I’ll decide whether I’d vote for him over the other nominees.

The only two complaints I’ve heard about his role are that there was nothing to the character and that he had no arc. I’d like to address both of these things.

As far as the depth of the character is concerned, an actor can only do so much with what he’s given. He can add layers, but he can’t add actual backstory. That's where the writing comes in.

Now in this case, I actually LOVED how the Joker was written. You can’t really explain him, so leaving it a mystery makes it that much more frightening. But even though the Joker is fairly one-dimensional, that doesn’t make him boring. I was particularly impressed with how much depth Ledger gave to a character that really has nothing underneath the surface.

Look at two other Oscar-winning performances: Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector. We know that Anton is out to collect the money and drugs, but we never learn why he’s the way he is. And the same is mostly true for Lector. Yes, the fact that he was a psychiatrist adds a bit of backstory, but his motivations and transformation is never fully explained. (This is pretending, as we should, that Hannibal Rising doesn’t exist.)

As far as an arc goes, Anton has none. I initially thought that Lector didn’t have one either, but a friend pointed out his relationship with Clarice. And this made me realize that the Joker has a similar relationship with Batman.

The Joker’s feelings for Batman grow throughout the film. Initially he just wants to kill him, but then he realizes that Batman gives him a purpose, something to fight against. This change is actually much more significant than Lector’s. Though Lector’s affection for Clarice grows along with their relationship, he knows from his first meeting that he would never want to kill her.

In addition, the Joker’s plan does escalate. Though some see this as pounding the message of the movie into the ground, I see it as the Joker’s revelation of what he is to do with his life: create chaos with as little interference as possible to show just how close the world was to going there on its own.

Though these are worthy criteria, I’m more inclined to judge a great performance by how much it affects me and by how much the actor ceases to be an actor and becomes the character. I’m dying to see the movie again simply to watch the Joker, since I can’t get some of his lines out of my head. While they were great lines for the most part, I can't imagine reading them on paper would have anywhere near the same effect as hearing Ledger speak them.

Add to that the aura of mystery that will forever surround this character since he’s not around to answer endless questions about his technique. While it doesn’t make Lector any less engaging, it is comical to learn that Hopkins created the voice by combining Truman Capote and Katherine Hepburn. We know Ledger dug deep (too deep, it seems) to form this character, but never knowing the full extent of that does make it more appealing, at least to me.

And I only realized the full transformation that Ledger made the other night. I was picturing the scene where his makeup is thinnest, which I believe is the interrogation scene. I tried to imagine wiping that makeup away to reveal the real Ledger underneath. And finally, it hit me. I was looking at the poster for A Knight’s Tale, and the true transformation that Ledger made really hit home.

The Joker isn’t Heath Ledger with makeup. Heath Ledger is the Joker WITHOUT makeup.

Category Five: My 5 "Favorite" Films

Being a lover of film, and a guy that majored in film, and a guy that hopes to work in film, I often get asked: "What's your favorite movie?"

While I have a standard answer (#1 on this list), I wish that people would be both more specific and more general. What I mean is, let me name a number of films, and give me some caveats.

Such as:

What were your favorite films from last year?
What are some of your favorite action movies?
What are some movies that you know aren't that great but love to watch anyway?
What are some of your favorite older movies?

That said, I'm still presenting this list to you. I figure it's a good way to give you a sense of my taste.

I could go on for pages and pages about these films, but that would be too easy for me and too difficult for you. Instead, I'm providing five concise sentences that will hopefully give you some sense of why I like these movies so much.

(The "ranking" is arbitrary, except for the #1 spot. And even then, it's only so I'll have a pat answer.)

#5: Monty Python & the Holy Grail

*It has jokes about the feudal system AND jokes about whether or not a man’s arm has in fact been cut off.

*Every single scene has at least two great quotable lines.

*It’s practically impossible to explain the jokes to people without them seeing it for themselves.

*Pretty much everyone plays multiple characters.

*There’s a running gag that involves cat abuse going occurring the background of scenes.

#4: The Princess Bride

*Kids might like it, but it’s much funnier to adults.

*It’s both goofy and incredibly sweet.

*Despite the material, everyone is incredibly earnest with their performance.

*The fact that it’s all a story a grandfather is telling to his grandson reminds me of the pure joy you can get from sharing a great story with someone.

*It might sound crazy to say that it’s about true love, but is love really any less crazy?

#3: The Silence of the Lambs

*The IDEA of Hannibal Lector is almost scarier than the actual being.

*Clarice and Hannibal have an incredible relationship that, while not sexual in any way, is romantic in a sense.

*They deal with the fact that Clarice is a woman but don’t make that the most interesting thing about her.

*The moment where Lector’s finger brushes Clarice’s has more kinetic energy than a thousand sex scenes ever could.

*It basically has TWO climaxes, and both are EXTREMELY tense.

#2: Rain Man

*While Dustin Hoffman’s performance is great, Tom Cruise’s might be better.

*It has a realistic ending that's optimistic but not exactly happy.

*Their best bonding moment comes to an abrupt halt due to Charlie lovingly touching Raymond and him reacting badly, and I can just FEEL the pain it causes Charlie.

*Though I often laugh at the things Raymond says or does, the film never allows me to laugh AT him.

*I feel that I get to know Raymond as a real person.

#1: The Shawshank Redemption

*It’s a story about undying hope.

*My friend had already told me the entire plot before I saw it, and yet I was still riveted.

*Each time I see it, I alternate between thinking it’s Andy’s story and thinking it’s Red’s story.

*Of all the Morgan Freeman narration out there, this is the best.

*The “big reveal” makes me happy every single time.

Ode to an Ad: "The Silence of the Lambs" Poster

THE POSTER

After looking at this poster, you're probably confused and disturbed. That's the effect it goes for, and it achieves it with flying colors. It might not tell you anything about the movie, but it does leave you feeling as if you just got some horrible news about a loved one.

This poster asks a lot of questions: Who is this woman? Why is she so pale? What is she staring at? And most importantly, why is there a freaking moth where her mouth should be?

The image has little to do with the film. The movie DOES feature moths. And the mouthless image conjures the idea of "silence." But that's it. It's all conceptual, based on making you feel a certain way instead of telling you anything about the movie.

What you might not have noticed (and probably can't see in this particular picture) is that the "skull" image on the moth is actually made up of a bundle of naked women. Perhaps one of the only instances in history where a group of naked women have made something creepier instead of sexier.

THE INSPIRATION

While you may not have known it, it should still come as no surprise that the inspiration for the poster was Salvador Dali. After all, he's basically the king of images that are breathtaking, confusing, and unnerving all at the same time.

The "skull" image on the moth is actually a minaturized version of the above Dali portrait, In Voluptas Mors. Somehow it gets even creepier once it's shrunk down.

Though moths are featured in the film, its use on the poster is most likely a reference to images in Luis Bunuel's and Salvador Dali's surrealist film Un chien andalou, which is most famous (or infamous, really) for the scene where a razorblade cuts open a woman's eyeball. (Second would be the scene where ants come out of a man's hand.)

It was a totally natural fit for the creepy, disturbing content of The Silence of the Lambs to be advertised in the vein of Dali and his love of bizarre creations that make you feel weird inside.

THE HOMAGE

I wasn't a fan of The Descent as a film, but I have to admit that this poster is extremely intriguing. To be fair, it's a straight-up reproduction of the Dali portrait with no real ties to The Silence of the Lambs, but I think we all know that they would have never thought to do this without that poster's existence.

In particular, I like what they did with the face of the one woman that we can see. In the Dali portrait, her mouth and eyes are closed in a feeling of contentment. In the above poster, it's a scream of pure terror.

There's also the idea that something is lurking just out of view, in the shadows on the corners of the poster. But you'll have to see the movie to find out what.

THE KNOCK-OFF

When I first saw this poster I laughed to myself, but that laughter immediately became uncomfortable laughter because there's something profoundly disturbing about this image. I've since decided that it's somehow simultaneously completely idiotic and chilling to the bone.

Clearly this was borrowing heavily from The Silence of the Lambs poster. At first glance it seems normal enough, but after a moment you realize that what you're seeing isn't actually what you're seeing.

I haven't seen this film, but I still feel confident enough to say that I'd rather stare at The Silence of the Lambs poster for an hour and a half than watch One Missed Call.