the joker | the m0vie blog

New Escapist Video! On How the Joker Hijacks “The Dark Knight”…

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Darren

So, as I have mentioned before, I am launching a new video series as a companion piece to In the Frame at The Escapist. The video will typically launch with the Monday article, and be released on the magazine’s YouTube channel the following week. This month, it will be releasing on the Thursday.

With that in mind, here is last week’s episode, covering the directorial craft of Christopher Nolan and how that comes into play with The Dark Knight, particularly the way in which the Joker hijacks the film around him. You can watch the pilot video here, and read the companion article here.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: Christopher Nolan, heath ledger, in the frame, The Dark Knight, the escapist, the joker | Leave a comment »

Superman: The Animated Series – World’s Finest (Parts I, II & III)

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Darren

This post is part of the DCAU fortnight, a series of articles looking at the Warner Brothers animations featuring DC’s iconic selection of characters. What with reviewing Superman/Batman: Public Enemies earlier, I figured it might be worth our time to take a look at the original Superman/Batman animated team-up.

Thank you. I couldn’t have saved Lois without your help.

I’m aware of that.

– Superman and Batman share a moment of mutual Batman appreciation

Superman: The Animated Series meets Batman: The Animated Series. How is that a tough sell?

You can't outglower me, boy... in one of these animated movies I was played by Billy Baldwin...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: batman, batman/superman, batman: the animated series, bruce timm, crossover, dc, dc animated universe, dcau, gotham, joker, lex luthor, lois lane, metropolis, paul dini, robots, superman, superman/batman, superman: the animated series, the batman/superman movie, the joker, world's finest | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Batman – Under the Red Hood

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Darren

This post is part of the DCAU fortnight, a series of articles looking at the Warner Brothers animations featuring DC’s iconic selection of characters. This is one of the “stand-alone” animated movies produced by the creative team that gave us the television shows.

You did it! You found a way to win and everybody still loses!

– The Joker

The story of Batman, boiled down to its most essential elements, is a tragedy. He’s a character defined by hurt and loss – the suffering and failures he has endured while fighting simply to stay alive in an uncertain world. The reason that the animated Batman: Under the Red Hood works so well is because it manages to capture that observation perfectly in its relatively tight runtime. Over the course of the movie, Batman has several of his rather glaring failures touted out in front of him and – what’s more – faces the possibility that he may himself end up obsolete.

The joke’s on Batman…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: a death in the family, animation, batman, batman: under the hood, batman: under the red hood, Black Mask, bruce greenwood, bruce timm, christian bale, comic books, dark knight, dc animated universe, dcau, dick grayson, film, Jason Todd, john dimaggio, joker, judd winick, kevin conroy, Red Hood, robin, superheroes, the joker, the red hood, under the hood, under the red hood | 2 Comments »

Taking the Joker Out of the Pack: No Joker in Batman 3

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Darren

Christopher Nolan confirmed over the weekend that the Joker would not be recast for the sequel to The Dark Knight. Which I suppose means we can rule him off the “list of potential villains” we’ve all been putting together in our heads as Batman 3 approaches. As much as I get the sense (and as much as rumours about the ‘trilogy’ that emerged before The Dark Knight was released would suggest) that the Joker was clearly imagined as playing a fairly lerge role in the conclusion of Nolan’s Batman saga, I can see the reasons for and respect his decision to not to recast the role.

This card is off the table...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, casting, Christopher Nolan, film, heath ledger, Movies, The Dark Knight, the joker | 20 Comments »

Absolute Batman: Hush (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Darren

Hush is a divisive story arc. It seems that you either love it or you hate it, there seems to be no middle ground to speak of. Depending on where you stand it’s either a compelling exploration of Batman’s insecurities featuring a worthy new opponent for his rogues’ gallery, or it’s a hackneyed and poorly-conceived mystery which relies on an overly convoluted resolution. Honestly, I can see both sides of the argument. While I won’t argue that it’s a prestigious masterpiece in the mold of Year One or The Long Halloween, I must confess that I quite enjoyed it. Teaming up veteran Batman writer Jeph Loeb with superstar artist Jim Lee, this is very much a Batman blockbuster. It’s epic in scale, spanning most of the DC universe, with more than a few interesting (if jumbled) ideas thrown into the mix.

… Don’t say a word…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute batman, absolute batman: hush, absolute edition, absolute hush, batman, batman: hush, BatmanHush, brian michael bendis, Bruce, bruce wayne, comic books, dc comics, dc universe, gotham city, graphic novel, hush, jeph loeb, jim lee, lex luthor, review, riddler, the joker, the riddler, thomas elliot | 3 Comments »

Batman: The Man Who Laughs

Posted on September 26, 2009 by Darren

What we have here is an interesting companion story to Alan Moore’s seminal The Killing Joke, a sequel of sorts to Frank Miller’s classic Year One, a direct follow-on to the two Matt Wagner miniseries Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk and a bit of an introduction to Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween. That’s one hell of a nexus to find your story at the centre of, even if you weren’t trying to tell the definitive first encounter story between Batman and the Joker. So, does Brubaker pull it off?

What a Joker...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, Batman: The Man Who Laughs, brubaker, comic, ed brubaker, graphic novel, joker, made of wood, review, the joker, the man who laughs | 3 Comments »

Riddle Me This… Is The Riddler Really An Ideal Choice for Batman 3?

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Darren

Last week I outlined why I didn’t think that Harvey Dent should be brought back for the sequel to The Dark Knight. If Nolan comes back, I trust him to do whatever he feels like doing with the franchise – he’s demonstrated that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to directing Batman. If he wants to recast the role of the Joker – or if he doesn’t – that’s fine with me. So, it’s ultimately futile to speculate about films that haven’t even entered production, but that’s never really stopped me before, has it? It keeps coming down to the Riddler – Johnny Depp or Eddie Murphy or whoever. It seems that everyone is expecting The Riddler to be the villain (or at least play a supporting role) in the next film. But I’m skeptical.

When the Riddler heard he was the new host of Bullseye, he didn't know that people would take the title so literally...

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: bad guys, batman, Batman 3, batman 3 villain, batman 3 villains, batman begins, batman villains, Christopher Nolan, comic books, David Goyer, david s. goyer, frank gorshin, heath ledger, johnny depp, joker, Movies, riddler, rogues gallery, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, the joker, the riddler | 4 Comments »

The Killing Joke

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Darren

Hmm… Understandably quite a controversial comic (Alan Moore himself reportedly has very little time for it), The Killing Joke remains the most definitive comic to examine the dynamic between the Caped Crusader and his polar opposite. It also reveals a bit of twisted logic to the character, providing an almost logical motivation for his countless heinous actions. It also features some of the best artwork that you are liable to see on a Batman comic.