Which I saw at the Belfast press preview last night. When I got home, it was near midnight, and the Maestro and I were due to record our thoughts. But sadly the power grid in Paraguay had been de-activated to save energy in advance of this weekend’s national ‘Herbie Goes Bananas’ 28th anniversary fiesta, and so my genial co-host was unable to make himself heard. We shall, in due course return to the sixth Batman film in nineteen years, but for now, here are the words and phrases that came to mind as I watched ‘The Dark Knight’, and which I wrote down on the back of an envelope (literally) in prepping my part of the show that never was

Scape-goating

‘Heat’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs’

Brutality

Not cathartic

No music

Great production design

Heath caricature

One of the most believably redemptive acts in blockbuster cinema

Will be a great comfort to George W Bush in his retirement

We’ll surely expand on these thoughts, Dear Listener, and more, when the dynamo gets up and running again in Asuncion.

This will be a short post today, Dear Listener. While the Maestro (and if he gets to call me Professor Doctor, the least I can do is return the honour) suns himself on an Argentinian balcony, I am stuck here in cold and greying Belfast, with only a £6.50 for two nights deal on renting two ‘premiere’ releases and one ‘favourite’. And I need your help, Dear Listener, over a matter that may initially seem simple, but on closer reflection may well be the unanswerable question:

Justin Timberlake lip-synching to The Killers

Jon Lovitz as a racist cop

Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star investigative journalist

Dwayne Johnson as a much more famous version of himself

Wallace Shawn and Miranda Richardson together at last

Religious visions of the apocalypse and consumerism will eat itself scenarios

Some of the most striking visual images in US cinema of the past ten years

‘Strange Days’ meets ‘Memento’ meets ‘Blade Runner’ meets ‘Donnie Darko’ meets ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’

I think.

So, to the question: can anyone tell me what the hell ‘Southland Tales’ is about?

It’s well-known (and obvious from watching it) that this movie has been cut to ribbons - which didn’t harm ‘Across the Universe’, a movie that I felt could have lost a couple more scenes and still been breathtaking; on the other hand, I still wait in vain for a director’s cut of Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘All the Pretty Horses’, which I genuinely think could be a masterpiece if the studio hadn’t exercised their prerogative to make great things worse by dividing them in two. ‘Southland’ comes from Richard Kelly, who in ‘Donnie Darko’ proved himself capable of both smart philosophy and cinematic poetry - sort of a Ferris Bueller meets Ingmar Bergman kinda guy; and so I want to believe that his next film is more than the sum of its parts. But watching it last night was … how should I say this? Confusing to the point of monotony? Maybe, but I’m open to a re-viewing with new lenses: and this is what I need you for, Dear Listener. Is there any one among you who can tell me what I should do with ‘Southland Tales’?

Wow how cool is this? You can now leave video comments on the site!  Just click on the handy ‘record video comment’ below to leave us that special message that can only be expressed through the miracle of motion pictures.

Maybe I should kick off the process by recording a comment of my own.

Oh. Wait a minute.

I don’t have a webcam.

Damn.

Disclaimer: This is a risky post; I’m indulging in something I have no gift for: predicting the future. So, Dear Listener, if I prove to be entirely wrong, please forgive me.

So, I’m as much of a Batman fan as the next person - and I love Christopher Nolan (my genial co-host the Maestro was not enthusiastic at all about The Prestige, but I think everything CN has done has just the kind of texture I want in a meaty drama; and, lest we forget, he’s just about the only fim-maker today who is giving Michael Caine work with a purpose other than funding his property empire). So, when The Dark Knight finally emerges in Belfast in the middle of next week I’ll be anticipating something very special indeed. I am, as you Dear Listener, are well aware, a bit of a sentimental bloke, and one of the consequences of this is that I am naive enough to sometimes take other people’s reviews seriously - so the exceptional acclaim for this picture is generating real excitement (even the fact that the film is already at number 4 on the imdb poll has to count for something [sorry Jett]).

BUT

I have picked up a few subtle senses about the movie that raise the question that I think pre-occupies more than any other: what is the place of violence in the world? The oldest document in existence, the Epic of Gilgamesh, include the Enuma Elish, the creation myth of the Babylonian Empire; and enshrines what has been called the ‘myth of redemptive violence’ - the notion that violence can not only stop conflict, and bring order out of chaos, but somehow cleanse the world. There’s a very strong case to be made that all human interactions have this myth embedded within them (or at least the threat of its being put into action). Every action hero - from the ’softer’ hues of Superman and Indiana Jones to the recent darker incarnations of the Hulk and Bruce Wayne - lives by this myth. On rare occasions, something other than meeting force with force is offered as an alternative - such as in the astonishing climax of ‘Spiderman 3′, when the bad guy is forgiven and released by the hero. But the overwhelming superhero narrative is the one in which evil is eradicated through violent force. (Think Popeye minus Olive Oyl plus Bluto plus lust times Spinach equals Bluto brutalised plus Olive Oyl strangely not traumatised minus Popeye ever remembering to eat the Spinach before Bluto tries to kidnap and abuse his wife.)

So, where does this leave us? I expect I will enjoy ‘The Dark Knight’ immensely; I imagine it will be a tremendous drama, with emotional depth. I suspect Heath Ledger’s performance probably is as good as everyone is saying. There may well be some exploration of Bruce Wayne’s inner struggle; but I might hazard a guess that this struggle is limited to whether or not he can ‘have a fulfilling personal life’ while also ’standing up for justice’. And in this, the film may well be worthy of applause - it goes beyond the superficiality of pre-Casino Royale James Bond, who could behave like a psychopath playboy without ever sitting at home and weeping into his Scotch. However, if, as I often say, Ben Okri is right - that the stories we tell ourselves shape our vision of what is possible in life, merely offering the opportunity to franchise out our violence to a man in a black suit keeps us trapped in the polar dichotomy that has been the most dangerous burden of the human race: the notion that the only way to respond to violence is to return it in kind, or to run away. I look in vain for a superhero movie that offers a third way. It might be melodramatic to say that the future of humanity depends on it. But it might also be true.

OK dear Listener, it’s Gareth here – some news just in, in order to interpret which here’s a list of 10 Hollywood films released since 1975, all of which I would happily re-watch any time; classy entertainment from an age when I was discovering the movies for myself. There’s a common denominator to this bunch though – and it’s the little bloke above.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – one of only three films released in my lifetime over which I cannot disagree with the Academy’s decision to name it Best Picture

Romancing the Stone - one of the smartest and wittiest adventure films of my childhood

Batman Returns - German Expressionism meets Tim Burton’s dark fantasies; and the guy eats live fish!

Get Shorty - The best comedy about the film industry

Mars Attacks - More Tim Burton, more craziness, this time 1950s Cold War paranoia with a CGI twist

L.A. Confidential - Elegant and classy and far more than a detective thriller, featuring what is probably his best performance

The Virgin Suicides - The first film from Sofia Coppola, the strongest film starring Kirsten Dunst, the saddest film with James Woods, and the best use of Air music on a cinema screen

Man on the Moon - A biopic in which he plays himself 25 years ago and no one notices the difference

Heist - David Mamet’s frivolous and terrifically entertaining thriller - in which Gene Hackman utters the line that changed my life more than any other I’ve seen in a movie (ask me and I’ll tell you)

Big Fish - Some say it’s cheesy, some say that’s the point: if you believe that our lives are shaped by the stories we tell ourselves, maybe there’s an emotional truth that can transcend the facts.

Two and a half words for you: Danny de Vito.

I read this morning that he is to direct another film, which, it may come as some surprise, is a source of cautious delight to me. Why? Because the man knows how to direct movies – at least movies of a particular kind. De Vito as director is responsible for three of the darkest, most vicious comedies of the past 20 years – ‘Throw Momma From the Train’ (which is Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a Train for Woody Allenesque neurotics), ‘The War of the Roses’ (which is the funny parts that were deleted from ‘Kramer vs Kramer’, and has one of the best opening title sequences of the 80s), and ‘Death to Smoochy’ (which is a bit like The Muppets meets ‘Fatal Attraction’). Please don’t think I’m kidding, dear listener. DDV is about to direct an as-yet untitled movie starring Pierce Brosnan (currently providing immense value for money in ‘Mamma Mia’ as an actor who doesn’t take himself too seriously in a film that has no reason to exist other than the music they perform in it) and Morgan Freeman (currently disappointing me to the quick in ‘Wanted’ by not taking himself too seriously in a film that has no reason to exist other than the fetishisation of violence); along with the young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan who made such a huge impression in ‘Atonement’. I’m looking forward to it.

Now before anyone gets too exercised about this, let me offer a gentle reminder that Mr de Vito deserves a far higher reputation as an actor and film-maker than many might think; in the films listed above, he’s just been doing his thing (the dude was even in an episode of ‘Starsky and Hutch for goodness’ sake), a journeyman who found some success in his chosen field, and sometimes makes pretty decent movies. So, a question: is there anyone out there who can’t think of a Danny de Vito performance that they liked?

Hey there Dear Listener - as you can see we’ve got a new look over here!  Hope ya like it and ya take advantage of the ’social networking’ tools as seen below.  If ya like ‘TFT’ tell your friends!

Good Monday to you dear Listener; it’s Professor Doctor here.  We haven’t invested a lot of time in the ongoing conversation discussing smaller, independent-style movies; there’s no agenda there - it just happens that way. But I have asked the Maestro to consider giving ‘The Visitor’ some of his hard-earned and valuable time, after I saw it last week. It deserves the kind of intelligent, witty, and dare I say it, heartfelt, exploration that The Listener has come to know and, hopefully, love on The Film Talk.

In keeping with our policy of not discussing the film in advance of the show, I’ll have to keep my depper opinions to myself for now; but I think I can get away with this: ‘The Visitor’ deserves your time because it is a serious attempt at telling a story about people who feel real, and who encounter real problems and hopes (grief, the possibility of new friendship, the tortuous negotiation of the US immigration system, learning to play the djembe); the Maestro may tell you that one of the reasons he doesn’t consider contemporary US ‘indie’ drama to be a source of enthusiasm for him is that these films are rarely told with visual flair, and in that regard, why not just make them into plays or novels? And I think, as I often do, that the Maestro is right. But Tom McCarthy, whose previous film is the utterly beguiling ‘The Station Agent’, knows how to frame human beings talking, and while what’s in the physical image is important, I think (and I know the Maestro does too) that a movie that conveys heart but may lack the photographic nuance of Henri Cartier-Bresson (or Henri Alekan, or Vilmos Zsigmond, or Robert Elswit) might still end up being the most engaging film I’ve seen all year.

Hey there Dear Listener. Am typing this frantically from a run-down motel in Jackson, Mississippi; leaching off wi-fi from a more upscale motel across the street and groovin’ on the sounds of a ‘party bus’ parked by my room. There’s quite a crowd gathered round, and as the Hotel Manager just exclaimed as she walked by, “They got it GOING ON.’

Anyhew, the thing is I am in the middle of editing ‘The Film Talk - Part 27 - Hancock is Wanted!’, (being oh-so-fine reviews of ‘Hancock’ and ‘Wanted’), and the sound chip on my Powerbook has failed yet again! I’ve been hectoring Professor Doctor Higgins for weeks that we should have ‘back-up’ shows already uploaded for just this contingency - so it’s my own fault for not following my own advice.

If the chip comes back online soon we’ll all get to hear Part 27 - if not, it’ll have to be on Sunday when I’m back in Nashville, Sweet Nashville, aka ‘the Big Sleepy’, aka ‘The Big Moon-Pie in the Sky’.

UPDATE 12:12AM The Sound Chip ‘unfried’ itself and the show’s been edited! Now I have to drive around to find wi-fi I can leech off of; wish me luck Dear Listener!

UPDATE 1:01AM Success!

Fantastic news for fans of Fritz Lang’s well known film ‘Metropolis’. Scads of extra scenes cut after initial release have been found, leading many to hope that this influential black and white silent worker robot love story will finally be watchable.

Lost scenes shown from sci-fi classic ‘Metropolis’

What’s that you say?  Isn’t ‘Metropolis’ a masterpiece?

Nope.

In fact I think it’s dire.

Yes, it has astonishing production design and visual effects, but so what?  I’ve seen the film a half a dozen times, each one a different version, (and the less said about this ‘revitalization’, ((see embedded vid below)), the better), and it gets worse after every viewing.

And here’s the thing - I’m a HUGE Fritz Lang fan.

Of his other films.

Of M, and Scarlet Street and The Big Heat.  Crime Films.  Tight crime films of desperate men in desperate places. Not overblown allegorical fantasies that come across as the minor scribblings of a child with artistic pretension after he’s drunk dad’s liquor for the first time.

Ok, enough bitching.  Maybe the ‘new’ Metropolis will be great.  I tell you thought, instead of holding my breath for the DVD release of this latest Metropolis I’m off to watch ‘Hangmen Also Die!‘.

(P.S. Thanks to ‘TFT’ listener ‘KM’ for the head’s up on this story - please don’t let my venting my spleen prevent you from more tips in the future).

Hey David Cronenberg fans - the maestro’s marvelous film ‘The Fly’ is now an opera!, (Thanks to Professor Doctor G.H. for the tip!).

The Fly The Opera - Official Site (Beware the Flash on the Landing Page)

(CNN) An opera to make you afraid, very afraid

LA Opera - Official Site

Yes, though I type this in ‘Middle Tennessee’ I find it just might be worth a trip out to LA to check this out.  I’ve been a fan of Cronenberg from way back - for a while there he had a ‘run’ where every single one of his films was superior to the one before - absolutely riveting watching a director just get better and better, (also if you’ve never seen ‘Spider’ I highly recommend it - it feels like the best Canadian made-for-tv movie ever made! ((Kinda the thinking person’s ‘Beautiful Mind’)).