Run, Harvey, Run!

“Gotham City is collapsing from a runaway crime wave and Harvey Dent can save it. But he has to run for District Attorney first, and the only way he’ll run is if he sees an outpouring of public support. So, let’s all get out there and show Harvey Dent he’s got support to take back Gotham!” I know I’ve been doing a lousy job of following down-ticket races thus far this cycle. Still, in case anyone’s interested and by way of Quiddity, Harvey Dent’s campaign for Gotham DA has hit the road. (Alas, it seems I’ve already missed his NYC stops.) Also, no doubt aware of Sen. Obama’s prodigious coattails, he seems to be plugging for an endorsement: “Be creative. Harvey Dent wants to see that we want change — and that we are ready to work for change. Harvey wants to see that people are ready to throw out the old, to break out of habits, to really do something new and different! Because that’s what taking back Gotham will take.“

I’ll say this for him, he has a honest face. By the way, it should be noted: Harvey Dent also somewhat disproves the Gerry Ferraro thesis, as he’s managed to get elected the District Attorney of Gotham City as both a white and black man.

Failing my Clinton Rorschach Test.

“I looked at the Rorschach blot. I tried to pretend it looked like a spreading tree, shadows pooled beneath it, but it didn’t. It looked more like a dead cat I once found, the fat, glistening grubs writhing blindly, squirming over each other, frantically tunneling away from the light. But even that is avoiding the real horror. The horror is this: In the end, it is simply a picture of empty meaningless blackness. We are alone. There is nothing else.” Ok, I’m not that ’round the bend. But I have to admit, when I saw this picture of Sen. Clinton on Drudge today, this immediately came to mind:

Oddly enough, the same exact thing happened a few weeks ago when this oft-used pic instantly reminded me of this.

Or is it just me?

As a disclaimer, unlike Republicans and denizens of Halloweenland — I’ll stand by that one — I’m not comparing Sen. Clinton to Linda Blair’s secret admirer or a psychotic, snazzily-dressed mass-murderer here. In fact, I think Drudge’s tendency to post unflattering pics of Hillary and Chelsea Clinton is often cruel, juvenile, and bordering on sexist (if not plunging right past that border.) So, this is not meant as a comment on Clinton per se, only on the implicit associations made by my impressionable fanboy subconscious, which would seem to trump slightly the findings of my Implicit Association Test. (And, in my defense, at least I wasn’t so irredeemably geeky as to come up with Tasha Yar.)

Shadows over Gotham.

“In a political context this would politely be called an ‘unintended consequence.’ (Gotham as Baghdad, anyone?) Mr. Nolan doesn’t deny the overtones. ‘As we looked through the comics, there was this fascinating idea that Batman’s presence in Gotham actually attracts criminals to Gotham, attracts lunacy,’ he said. ‘When you’re dealing with questionable notions like people taking the law into their own hands, you have to really ask, where does that lead? That’s what makes the character so dark, because he expresses a vengeful desire.‘” The NYT checks in with Chris Nolan on The Dark Knight.

You play with matches…

Some comic-book cautionary tales for the day: Rorschach sets fire to a would-be pursuer in a new still from Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, which has wrapped shooting. And Dark Horizons offers a first glimpse at how Aaron Eckhart will look as Harvey Dent…after the incident.

Can the Indy Card Trump the Joker?

“‘Harvey Dent is a tragic figure, and his story is the backbone of this film,’ says Christopher Nolan…’The Joker, he sort of cuts through the film — he’s got no story arc, he’s just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it’s really extraordinary.’” With the next Democratic debate tonight at 9pm EST on MSNBC, one that will hopefully help defuse the tone of the past few days, now seems as good a time as any to check on the big box office rivalry of the summer, Batman v. Indy. (Well, and the forgotten man, Iron Man.) Last we checked, the Jones camp had suggested Bruce Wayne was too wealthy and privileged to understand ordinary people’s concerns, while Batman surrogate Alfred told The Daily Planet‘s Clark Kent that Jones was too “pointy-headed and academic” to save anyone but upscale, overeducated professionals. (The missed rejoinder: The Batman camp is calling people pointy-headed?) Also, scurrilous rumors abound that Shia LaBoeuf was added to the Indy ticket merely to siphon the youth vote away from Batman’s running mate, Dick Grayson…Yep, it’s getting ugly, folks.

Anyway, as the quote above attests, Dark Knight director Chris Nolan recently checked in briefly with the L.A. Times about his two main villains: “Don’t expect a lot laughs in this summer’s return to the cave. ‘It’s a dark and complex story,’ Nolan said, ‘and the villains are dark and complex as well.’” Meanwhile, on the Spielberg side of things, we have this new still from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. (Note Ray Winstone lurking in the corner.)

Let’s put a smile on that face!

Update 5: Hello all. Since this is one of the more popular entries on the site: My review of The Dark Knight is here, the Batman archives are here, and the main page is here. Welcome, and good hunting.

“You’ve changed things…forever. There’s no going back. You see, to them, you’re just a freak…Like me!” Ok, between this amazing new poster (the one in the middle, although all three are grand) and this leaked, really busted version of The Dark Knight trailer (also here and here, and the real thing appears online here Sunday), I am currently geeking out like a twelve-year-old. (Berk‘s wondering why the heck I’m giggling like the Joker right now.) Honestly, this thing hits at the fanboy-gut level, and is just about the coolest darned thing I’ve seen in ages. Explosions, Batbike, and Michael Caine pep speech aside…how about that clown? I think I’m gonna watch it again.

Update: “I believe whatever doesn’t kill us…simply makes us stranger.” Also, in front of I am Legend on IMAX, the first six minutes of The Dark Knight, featuring a Joker-planned heist of a mob-run bank in downtown Gotham City. It was clever enough, and features a good slow build-up to Heath Ledger saying hello. But it’s not nearly as visceral a thrill as the trailer (which, for some reason, wasn’t shown with the IMAX prologue…ah well. Sunday, then.) Update 2: The first six minutes (in Kramervision, of course) have leaked. Get ’em while you can.

Update 3: While we all await the official trailer release this evening, yet another really creepy Joker poster appears online, in the same vein as the earlier glass one. (It’s been added above.) This might be my favorite of the lot. Update 4: And it’s up, in splendiferous hi-def.

It Takes a Carnival.

The promotional machine for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight continues to ramp up. As you may have noticed below, I’ve been posting several additional new photos of Heath Ledger’s Joker to the entry of a few days ago. Also, the online viral marketing has continued apace: First an edition of the Gotham Times was released, and, in keeping with the Dark Detective meme, that’s led to all kinds of spinoff sister sites and more municipal tangents than The Wire (Gotham Police Dept. (and Internal Affairs), Gotham National Bank, Gotham School District, Gotham’s DA hotline, Gotham City Rail, Gotham Cab, Acme Security Systems, Gotham Victim Advocate Organization, Remembering Gina, and a Jokerized version of the paper.) Whatsmore, at the original viral Joker site, you can now take a personality profile or try to open a vault for further clues. (Set your clock for 7:38am to do so.) Finally, both the trailer and the first seven minutes of the film will be released on December 14, before the IMAX version of Will Smith’s Omega Man-update I Am Legend. To the IMAXcave, Robin! Update: Another countdown, set for noon on Tuesday. The trailer, perhaps? Update 2: Nope. After some shenanigans involving local bakeries (the NYC ones were over in Yorktown), it’s a new one-sheet.

Patchwork Prankster.

What do Berkeley and the fanboy nation have in common this week? They both get really excited about socks…Empire Magazine makes a game of their slow reveal of their Heath Ledger Joker cover. Update: As you can now see, the cover’s been leaked. Update 2: And another, from the cover of Wizard. Looking better and better. Update 3: And yet a few more, from what look to be merchandising proofs. I don’t like these nearly as much, but then again it’s hard to sell anything comic-booky with a stark white background.

Tears of a Clown.

“Let me be the way I’m not in interviews. I’m furious. I’m furious…They never asked me about a sequel with the Joker. I know how to do that! Nobody ever asked me.” Strangely enough, apparently Jack Nicholson wanted another run at the Joker for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. “Well, the Joker comes from my childhood. That’s how I got involved with it in the first place. It’s a part I always thought I should play.” Well, maybe so, but even back in 1989 Nicholson seemed like stunt casting, and his performance hasn’t aged well. Here’s to a new take on the character.

Night of the Joker.

Happy Halloween, everyone. While my Shaun of the Dead costume got favorable reviews last October, I’ve been entertaining vague notions of dressing up as Heath Ledger’s Joker this year. (And, as for Berk, my sister Tessa suggested something along the lines of this, which he’d probably prefer to Yoda again.) But, as it turns out, neither Berk nor I have any costume-oriented festivities on the social calendar, so we’ll just be sitting home in plainclothes doling out sweets. Still, if you’re up for it, the viral marketers at Warner Brothers have initiated a second round of Jokerish shenanigans (a la Comic-Con) over at whysoserious.com, which involves a photo scavenger hunt across several major cities. If you play along, watch out for Bats. Update: As per the norm, that didn’t take long. The hidden message, give or take a few letters, reads: “The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules.” So, what happens next? Update 2: Guess I should’ve made that costume after all. After revealing this new pic, the new site (http://www.rorysdeathkiss.com) asks for people to dress as the clown in question and take a pic in front of a famous landmark. Have fun with it, y’all.