(no subject)

[hatman]

That was a fun weekend!

laramoon came over. We went to see The Dark Knight in IMAX. Thoughts on that below, but... it rocked. The movie rocked. Seeing it in IMAX with total visual and audio immersion rocked. It just rocked.

And then we went to dinner at City Tavern, which is, IMHO, the best restaurant in Philly. It's just a few blocks from Independence Hall (which we'd walked around/through that afternoon), and it's a more or less historically accurate reconstruction of one of the main hangouts of the founding fathers (you can read about it on their website). I've had dinner there many times, but (I'm pretty sure) this was the first time I met a celebrity. Thomas Paine dropped by to introduce himself.

I recognized the name, but couldn't remember much else about him except a vague sense of "philosopher/historic figure." Still, I told him it was an honor to meet him, which made him happy. Seems a lot of people hadn't heard of him. Then he asked us why we were in town. I thought about it, but couldn't come up with a better reason than the purely honest one. I grinned up at him. "Batman!"

He stayed in character and explained that he had no idea what that was. And the conversation kind of went from there. He told us a little bit about himself, but I had no idea what to say or how to play along. I should, perhaps, have engaged him in a political debate about the current state of the constitution, but, then again, it wouldn't really have been proper dinner conversation. (And I have no idea how he'd have felt about it anyway. Philly was split 50/50 in '04, IIRC.) So I felt kind of lame, but it was still cool to meet him.

Sunday, we went to see The Met. In specific (though some of the other exhibits were pretty cool), the current special exhibition. That was half amazingly cool and half weird/disappointing. It was also pretty small. Maybe a dozen little nooks, each devoted to a different hero and hero type. So there was Flash (in this case, painted by Alex Ross in the background) and five or six mannequins in sleek, skintight costumes created by very... conceptual artists.

And then there was Spider-Man, with two of the costumes from the movies (red and black). And the red one was in this Spidey pose, crouched on a platform, resting on his fingertips and toes, his limbs in a not-quite-humanly-possible spider-like position... And it was a costume that Tobey had actually worn in the movie. Wow. The black one was wall-crawling off on the other side. And then, around them, there were five or six original and very conceptual costumes "inspired" by Spidey. A couple of them women in these weird and revealing web dresses made of very wide netting.

And so it was for the rest of the exhibit. Linda Carter's Wonder Woman costume (with cape, as seen here). Except that the mannequin was smaller and skinnier and it hung off kind of loosely. And the blue parts had gone purple. But still, it was Wonder Woman. I loved that show when I was a kid. And then, around her, five or six costumes created by artists for the exhibit which were just painful to look at. Iron Man's gleaming steel armor from the movie, and a bunch of mannequins in metallic "armored" costumes. Including one with a metal chest plate that had transparent domes over the breasts and thin metal rings to highlight where the nipples would be (placed so that they'd probably poke through the center of their respective rings).

So half of it was going "Wow! The suit from The Dark Knight (which we just saw and was totally awesome) right there, two feet from us, and hardly anyone else around!" Literally awesome. And half of it was "Ewww! What the heck is that? I it hurts to look at it! And the one next to it is even worse!"

Oh, and the last movie costume they had? Mystique. Which, as you may recall, was nothing more than body paint and appliques. (See, for example, here.) The idea in the movie was that it's how she naturally looked. (In the comics, she usually uses her shapeshifting powers to make clothes for herself, even when she's in her "natural" blue-skinned form.) She was supposed to look naked. And... in person, it's even more so. It was embarrassing to look at.

But then they also had a wall of historic comic book covers. The originals, framed in boxes on the wall. Action Comics #1, Amazing Fantasy #15, etc. First appearances of Batgirl and Catwoman and so on. That was amazing.

And then disappointing when we got past that wall, because it was the end of the exhibit. We explored the museum some more, went up to the roof garden. Gorgeous giant sculptures (they have pictures here) and a beautiful view of the city and Central Park.

Lunch at the museum, then over to Times Square and Geek Heaven (aka Midtown Comics, which I'm ashamed to say I'd only visited once before).

And that was pretty much it. A lot of things I'd done before, but it's always new when you're with someone who never has. And it was just really good to be out and about and doing stuff with an actual in-person friend.

Tiring, though. We did a lot, and I went short on sleep to do it. So, today, I'm resting up.

In other news, I just finished "If You Could See Me Now" by Cecelia Ahern. Recc'd to me by littlepel. It's a novel about a repressed woman and her nephew/adopted son's imaginary friend. It's fun and imaginative and hard to put down. And the author is the 26-year-old daughter of the Irish Prime Minister. She has several books out (one of which has already been made into a movie), and is one of the primary creative forces behind "Samantha Who" (TV show whose second season starts next week). And, according to the book jacket, Disney has picked up the movie rights to If You Could See Me Now. Color me impressed. Anyway... good book!

Moving on (or back) to the movie...

SPOILERS BELOW!

It rocked. I said that, but it bears repeating. The action, the flow, the feel... amazing. And waiting to see it in IMAX was totally the right call. (Go me! ;) )

Joker was... a psychopath. Brilliant. Scary. Insane, but with his own twisted yet understandable logic. A performer, an artist, out to teach the world. All brought perfectly to life by Heath Ledger. And... they never gave his origin. No name, no history (except the ones he kept making up). No identity beyond Joker. And no explanation of the white face, or the twisted, overlarge smile. No telling if there was a vat of strange chemicals or if maybe it really was just makeup, the face he chose to show the world. No exotic toxins. Everything... real. Perfect.

Harvey was done just as well. Face always half in shadow. The coin, there with him. (And that little secret about it that we shared until it was finally revealed.) The way the coin got defaced (so to speak) at the same time he did. The gruesomely realistic animation of his face.

And then Batman. He's just awesome. His movements too fast to follow, but every one planned and executed perfectly. The people around him moving wildly, yet unknowingly part of his choreographed world.

The one thing that got me about Batman, his one wrong move, was when he said to ignore Joker and focus on the mob (which was run by Sal "The Roman" Marone - perfect!). Why? Because Joker is just one man, and what could one man possibly do? Gee, I don't know. Isn't the entire point of Batman that one dedicated and talented individual can be more effective than an entire organization (such as the GCPD)?

Oh, and the voice. That was the other thing. Kevin Conroy will always be the voice of Batman to me. Firm, commanding, resonant, strong, gravely. Christian Bale does Bruce Wayne well. Best live action Bruce by far. And he's got the moves and the mood and the feel of Batman. But when Batman talks... it's this artificially raspy voice. Trying too hard to sound tough. Suddenly. Batman goes from strong and imposing to a guy in a suit putting on an act. And it's sad, because Batman is one of the few heroes who is more himself in costume than out of it.

Love the motorcycle, and the Batmobile's last words. Reminiscent of Batman Returns, but in a good way.

Except... it has guns! Okay, he only uses them to clear obstacles, but... Batman doesn't use guns. There was a fan uproar about that in 1989. They made a point of it here. He takes the guns and he breaks them and throws them away with disgust and disdain. And that was perfect. And then he goes and uses guns on the Batcycle. (I refuse to call it the Batpod. It doesn't sound right. The Batpod is what he uses to listen to music when he's using the cowl's built-in headphones but not focusing on the police scanner or a phone call. Which is never.)

Lucius Fox! He rocks! Love what they're doing with him. Love the blackmail scene even more. Awesomeness.

Gordon... he's Gordon. I love Gordon. But... he has a wife and son. And that makes me sad. Also makes me wonder about that young girl whose name and relationship we never found out. A little too young, I think, but I never got a clear look at her.

The girl is gone. The one who encouraged him to be Bruce, or at least remember what it is to be Bruce. And we saw a lot of dogs in this movie. Do I sense a cat getting ready to cross Batman's path?

Too many precious moments to recall or to name. I kept laughing at the little touches, at the awesomeness, at... wow.

The last one was really good. The science and stuff kept throwing me out of it, but still... it was really good. This one... damn near perfect. And in IMAX... wow.