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This Week in Lumps
#57 [22/07 - 28/07]

· Last March, Channel 4 announced to anyone who was listening that they were planning on launching another standalone channel alongside Film4, E4 and More 4, this time solely based on music. It’s was ridiculed by some at the time as being yet another attempt by the channel to try and re-invent itself, shedding it’s skin like a python to try and stay ‘cool’ in the eyes of the youth of today. Admittedly, even though I’m not a fan of the show, they achieved this with shows like Skins, and even amongst the thousands of other channels it still managed to keep its chin above the fashionable water, and a year on from the announcement, adverts for this new channel have started to surface.

However it was another series of adverts which seem to have caught everyone’s eyes as of late; the channel is advertising its Generation Next campaign at the same time, possibly stealing the thunder of the new channel, which could prove fatal. This new series of adverts features teenagers swarming towards the Channel 4 headquarters like a battle scene from Lord of The Rings crossed with Step-Up, or another kind of pointless kid movie I love to avoid, and yes, you guessed it, the objective of these adverts and the marketing campaign is showing the channel once again desperate to stay hip with the pre-pubescent watershed market by promoting a whole month of programming celebrating new creative talent within the company.

Maybe that’s a harsh approach, after all, Channel 4 brings me some of my favourite TV personalities on a regular basis, from Kevin McCloud to Gordon Ramsey, and there’s even shows like Come Dine with Me which are totally watchable, and, more importantly, enjoyable. But what the channel is most worried about, is not about well established shows like those, and others like Desperate Housewives, but more towards where the unknown potentials will surface from, like.. the next Spaced, or Black Books, or Green Wing. In other words, where are the products to entice the supposed ‘target audience’?

Look at what Channel 4 has to offer at the moment- a quick flick through the TV guide shows how far it has fallen in just a few years: My Name Is Earl seems to be the only out and out comedy programme, while outdated repeats of The Simpsons and Friends seem to be holding the fort. Sadly, the schedule is currently being suffocated by the evil Big Brother, but that’s no excuse, especially as they’ve fallen behind channels like ITV and Dave.

So the comedy cavalry have arrived, and they first set up their tents on Friday, in the shape of The Kevin Bishop Show. Many will know Bishop from the big hit Star Stories, where he parodied stars such as Tom Cruise and Simon Cowell, and was a winner of the best Newcomer (at the same time the Star Stories team were winning the Best New Comedy) of 2006 at the British Comedy Awards. Joining him will be the ever-so-slightly overrated star of 8 Out of 10 Cats Jason Mumford, who will be sitting in the host seat of Tonightly, in a show being billed as a ‘milestone’ of this new setup, where it involves “a daily dose of satirical news, comment and all-round silliness.”

Fear not those who feel Channel 4 should stick to what it does best, as documentaries are arriving thick and fast also – First Cut begins this Friday, and the first documentary of the series will focus on the bid to ‘save’ Britney Spears. Fans of the channels Three Minute Wonders series will enjoy this new, bold direction.

In my humble opinion, Channel 4 excel best in dramas; the kind of hard hitting, nail biting stories such as Secret Life, starring the frighteningly talented Matthew Macfadyen. Dramas this time around include the much hyped Emo, and Kings of London.

What annoys me is the fanfare needed for this kind of re-vamp; what’s wrong with just… releasing the programmes? Are times so hard that you have to spend every available advert time to promote the socks off of them? I’m sure the youth of today couldn’t care less either way, and I type that like I’m over-the-hill, when it’s more likely that 23 is their target age more or less, and as that 23 year old I have faith in C4, E4, More4 and every other 4 that falls under this wing, and unlike other channels, I know they can put on TV shows that will be enjoyable and entertaining, without being OTT and daft, so why can’t we just carry on as normal?

Generation Next started last Friday, but will find second gear this coming Friday.

~

· The last comic superhero film I talked about on here was Marvel’s Iron Man back in April, and I focused on its release date battle with GTA:IV, and how it should survive and go on to be one of the best films of the year. Even a few weeks after that post everyone realised this was the case, and after positive reviews many thought it could be a strong contender for various awards like ‘film of the year’. For it to win awards of that ilk, it would have to survive the rest of the summer against other big hitting comic/superhero films such as The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II and Hancock. Even if it were to surpass all of those, it would still have to go one on one with the new Batman film, The Dark Knight.

In preparation for this eagerly anticipated follow up (and as I do with most sequels) I sat and watched the first film Batman Begins last week, immersing myself back into a high quality film from a franchise that had fallen by the wayside. I tried as best I could to avoid any trailers or spoilers for the new film, but when the rumours of ‘Oscar potential’ start up, and you see that the American audience had voted it at #1 on IMDB’s top 250 of all time (above greats like Shawshank and Godfather) it’s hard not to get your geeky hopes up.

The first film had an underlying yet distinct theme of fear, with the Scarecrow and his hallucinogenic vapour, the explanation of the young Bruce Wayne’s bat phobia, and how later in life he morphs that into the symbol of fear known as Batman, but after seeing TDK, fear has been taken to a whole new level. I loved Batman Begins, but TDK surpasses it in every way possible. Director Christopher Nolan and his brother and co-screenwriter Jonathan pay the Batman ‘brand’ the ultimate compliment of taking it completely seriously. Batman Begins was a great way to introduce us to this film rebirth of a legendary character, scrapping everything we already knew about Batman, going back to the beginning and starting again fresh, and yes, it focused on the origins quite heavily, but it doesn’t take away from how good the film is. What TDK does is build on that, something that very few sequels achieve with success, especially superhero films.

And yet, this isn’t really a superhero movie per se. Nolan said he “never viewed the movie as a superhero film” and does not compare it to some of the films I mentioned above. At no point during the movie does it start to feel OTT, or corny to the point where your attention drops. Apart from a few minutes dedicated to his playboy ways, Bruce Wayne is almost always depicted in, or around the Batman suit. In most of the scenes where he isn’t Batman, he’s doing something Batman related. Even when he throws the fundraiser, it’s a part of the storyline totally focused on The Joker and Harvey Dent. There’s even more time spent to the supporting actors such as butler Alfred Pennyworth (Caine), engineer Lucius Fox (Freeman), and Detective Gordon (Oldman), all three of which could be watchable long after the film had concluded.

The plot is a dark, dense, gritty affair; it doesn’t allow you to catch your breath, however nor is the film one long fight scene after another. The sub plots are imaginative and clever, they don’t insult your intelligence and together they make the whole story a stimulating, wondrous event.

Fear in this film is totally different from BB; whereas before it was written into the script as mentioned earlier, this time it comes from fantastic scenes stuffed with insufferable moments of slow building tension and suspense. The film did have its split second ‘jump from your seat’ moments (such as the Batman effigy hitting the office window, and the disappearing pen trick), but for them to be overshadowed by the figurative (and literal) ‘ticking time bombs’ shows just how well it was done. One scene in particular with The Joker where he says “Wanna know how I got these scars?” for the first time shows this off brilliantly; co-composer Hans Zimmer had put in this eerie, distressing background noise underneath shots of this resigned yet psychotic persona; you know somethings going to happen, but the suspense of not knowing when is handled with great care, and makes the difference between a great film for 2008, and the greatest film of 2008.

Most of the tense moments of the film focus around the two actors added since BB, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, and it’s the addition of these two characters which make this film as great as it is. The Harvey Dent district attorney character is handled so much better than the 1995 Tommy Lee Jones version. Two Face in that film was too much of a cartoon, with no depth within the character. Eckhart, with the help of Nolan, had a much better direction, and comes across as slick yet still likable, and adds a certain light to an immensely dark film, even with the character heel turn, it doesn’t take anything away from the performance, perhaps one of his finest to date.

And then there’s The Joker.

Where to start? Watching Health Ledger on screen was mesmerizing, as he twitched and stumbled around Gotham with the faux innocence of Verbal Kint crossed with the obsession of John Doe from Se7en. Straight from the start we’re plunged into the thick of the action, with a bank robbery planned by The Joker that’s angry and bloody and brilliantly executed, and everything escalates from there. There were points of the film where I was so hooked on The Joker’s every word, every glance, and every movement that I completely forgot I was watching an actor in a film. There were also points where Heath wasn’t on the screen and I so desperately wanted to see more of him. Whenever the focus was on The Joker, you could almost see this strong, uncaring atmosphere akin to Sid Vicious emitting from him, yet at the same time he could appear as unpredictable, focused and tense as Hannibal Lecter. Much has been written about how his performance is Oscar worthy, and how much of a fitting tribute it would be for an actor sadly no longer with us, and although both are true, only time will tell just how much praise he will receive. For now, the title ‘Best film villain performance’ seems absolutely spot on.

Take nothing away from Bale, though. His role as the lead isn’t as strong as it was in BB, and coupled with this being the first Batman film without Batman in the title, the emphasis falls as much on those around him than of the main character itself, but he still manages to portray the lead in a solid, effortless way. His chemistry with Caine is fabulous to watch, and scenes with Freeman aren’t far behind- Bale’s as good a Batman as ever.

For Nolan and the current Batman franchise, the future looks bright. As far as I’m concerned, it’s 2 films, 2 successes, and with a third is already being talked about, despite being a few years away. A perfect new villain coupled with the possible return of Scarecrow has fans salivating at the thought of this reinvention becoming the best comic trilogy, blowing both X-Men and Spiderman out of the superhero water. Not bad for a film franchise that a decade ago had become a laughing stock with George Clooney’s nipple suit, and the disastrous reviews of Batman and Robin.

The possibilities for the third film are vast, and with Nolan they’re in the right hands, but why focus on that when we already have one tremendous film to enjoy over and over again. From one review in Cinematical:

“The Dark Knight may be based on a comic book, but it’s a real movie made by real talents — exciting, engaging, gorgeously crafted and thematically rich. Nolan’s set himself up for a third film, of course, and even with Ledger’s passing removing the possibility of his returning to the series, there are still plenty of places Nolan might take Batman; the confidence, vision and skill he’s brought to The Dark Knight make that something to be hoped for.”

and the last word from Coming soon:

“While someone, someday might make a better superhero movie, the bar has been set very, very high. ‘The Dark Knight’ isn’t just the best movie of the summer, it’s the best movie of the year so far, and everything else is going to have to try very, very hard to top it.”

~

· It’s not just glowing reviews that highlight just how well The Dark Knight is doing – the box office is showing it too, with a whopping $315 million over 10 days, with it’s current worldwide total as of July 27 at $355.5 million. It’s looking as though the record of $600 million set by Titanic is well within Batmans sights, which is very impressive indeed.

It’s the cherry on the top of the cake as far as 2008 is concerned – a very successful year for comic based films, the question now is, can anything better the quality seen in Iron Man and The Dark Knight? Where can the hero movie genre go from here?

Looking ahead to 2009, 2010 and beyond, there’s some decent sequels coming out, and some hotly anticipated new projects as well. Forgive me if I miss anything important, but joining Iron Man 2 and the 3rd Batman film will be The X-Men Origins series, first Wolverine, and then Magneto, The new trailer for next years Watchmen film looks immense already, The Green Hornet is pencilled in for 2010, as is Thor, there’s rumours about Christopher Nolan picking up the Preacher series once he’s done with Batman, SpiderMan 4, A Superman sequel or prequel is rumoured, Captain America, The Avengers… the list goes on. Yet with all of those mentioned, they have a real tough task of trying to reach the same level of greatness, let alone trying to go any higher. And let’s be honest, it’s a crowded boat, what if too much of a good thing would be the eventual downfall?

A decade back, all hopes of a good run of comic hero films seem to fade away. After an unsuccessful attempt at keeping the Batman brand alive, cinemas and producers seemed scared to even touch other projects, and even if they were, creators were closing doors, terrified of them ruining it. What Hollywood big-wigs must remember, before signing every single ‘graphic novel’ up for numerous films and merchandise, is that for every Batman and Spiderman there’s bound to be a Phantom, or Punisher. In fact, if it wasn’t for successful attempts like Spawn in 1997, and Blade a year later, we may not have had such a rich and colourful start to the new millennium.

However, with every rise comes a fall, and after the dawn of a new era of comic book movies, surely what must follow soon will be the superhero sun setting?

Asking a similar question was Larson Hill, on The Deadbolt Feature:

“Is it blasphemous to even suggest such a thing? Maybe to some diehard comic book geeks, but I certainly don’t feel compelled to like every comic book on the market simply because it’s a “comic book” or “graphic novel”. Although I’m caught up in the excitement of the current wave of super hero movies, I sometimes wonder when we’re going to reach a point when too much of a good thing will have an adverse affect.”

For the rest of the great article, click here.

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That was the week in lumps, a week in which: the youth of today are actually taking less drugs and consuming less drink, Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio are inglorious bastards, not being satisfied with rescuing the Batman franchise, Christian Bale looks set to do the same for Terminator, Super Monkey Ball is leading the way for iPhone apps, chocolate works wonders on teenagers in school, and The Totally Rad Show was live at Comic-Con this past Friday (with the podcast up later tonight for us UK fans), can’t wait.

and if you’re going to quote a movie, make sure you get it right. Flixter list 8 of the biggest mistakes to avoid.

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