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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Film / Nerd Noontime Quikster: Missing Heath Ledger Edition

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 12:01 PM

Yes, it's lunchtime, which means it's time for Lunchtime Quickie! Yay! But Kelly O is on vacation. Boo! Which means it's time for the off-brand Lunchtime Quickie, Noontime Quikster. Yay?

Yes, let's go with yay. This is via io9, and it's a series of deleted Dark Knight scenes mostly featuring Heath Ledger as the Joker:

Three things:

1. Man, The Dark Knight was a good movie. I can't wait for The Dark Knight Rises.

2. Whatever happened to Maggie Gyllenhaal? She was in every movie produced between 2007 and early 2009, and then she disappeared.

3. I love how tightly Christopher Nolan keeps a grip on the behind-the-scenes features of his movies. I was watching the end of Inception on Christmas day, and I had no idea how those zero-gravity scenes were shot. And not knowing how those scenes were shot improved the quality of the movie. It's not an original thought to compare Nolan to a stage magician—he practically begs for the comparison—but every time you see how a special effect is constructed, you lose some of that initial excitement. I hope that, as movies continue to shift from physical media to digital downloads, extras and commentaries start to disappear. The movie should stand on its own as a document. The above video doesn't detract from the Dark Knight experience. If anything, it makes the original movie seem more like a serious work of authorial intent.

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Comments (17) RSS

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No, please: many of us feel the experience _improved_ by knowing how it's done, and many commentaries are more interesting than much of the original material. In any event, commentaries, having become available, have become for some of us a strong part of the at-home movie-watching experience...even for movies that _can_ stand on their own.

You can always just not play them.

But thanks for pointing out this great defect in streamed movies: there is no commentary option.

Posted by Gerald Fnord on December 27, 2011 at 12:10 PM

pretty sure maggie's taking time off to do the baby thing, right?

Posted by mr. herriman on December 27, 2011 at 12:12 PM

Nice job, Paul. Smart. I'll go with yay.

Posted by katallred on December 27, 2011 at 12:20 PM

god I miss Heath Ledger .. he was really at a major blossoming point in his career, having successfully made it past teen heartthrob to talented and risk taking actor ... watching this footage made me sad

Posted by olive oyl on December 27, 2011 at 12:30 PM

I really don't like Maggie Gyllenhaal, didn't like her in the Batman movie and am glad I haven't seen her lately. Am I alone?

Posted by tacomagirl on December 27, 2011 at 12:32 PM

@5: Yup.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on December 27, 2011 at 12:45 PM

I loved this movie, but this just reads to me as a montage with a heavy-handed, ridiculously bombastic soundtrack. It's been a while since I saw the movie, and I don't think I would have realized most of these were deleted scenes if you hadn't mentioned it.

Posted by Levislade

on December 27, 2011 at 12:47 PM

I thought Knight dragged a lot and the plot movement was forced.

Those overextended explosions scenes near the docks put me to sleep.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on December 27, 2011 at 12:51 PM

Maggie might have turned 30, which means Hollywood would be significantly less interested in her.

Posted by TVDinner

on December 27, 2011 at 12:52 PM

The advent of commentaries in the late 90's was a real boon to aspiring filmmakers. It was like film school for $20 with a free movie thrown in.
Of course for those that have no real sense of the artistic side of film, those who would consider a montage of low resolution outtakes with no context as entertainment worth promoting, that person might not see the value. For the people who appreciate the art of movies, and not just the theme park attractions inspired by big explosions, the commentaries and behind the scenes are being missed.
It's why I cancelled my NetFlix. Too many "rental" versions of the movies with no extras.

Posted by SPG on December 27, 2011 at 1:06 PM

It's going to sound odd, but Peter Jackson has actually ruined me on all other "extras" by the time I was not even 50% through the complete extras on the Extended Lord of the Rings boxed set. That would be somewhere around, oh, the 4 to 6 hour mark. It's insanely rich coverage, nearly triple the entirety of the trilogy itself or something like that.

Posted by Joe Szilagyi

on December 27, 2011 at 1:39 PM

Maggie Gyllenhaal died in The Dark Knight, dumbasses. Heath Leger blew her her up with a gasoline bomb.

Maybe like ZOMBIE Maggie Gyllenhaal should making movies now, if that's what you mean, but she's still dead.

Posted by Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

on December 27, 2011 at 5:00 PM

@5, you are not alone. I can't stand Maggie Gyllenhaal. There's something about her that just doesn't seem...clean to me. Gross. Bovine. Insipid.

Posted by Fnarf

on December 27, 2011 at 5:10 PM

@14 Did you just call Maggie Gyllenhaal "Bovine"!? That's hilarious!!! When she died in DK I cheered. I know Katty Holmes was on the down slope of her career during the DK, but shit...at least for continuity sake they should've re-cast her. No one is worse than Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Posted by Spindles on December 27, 2011 at 11:56 PM

@10, you're right on the money. Robert Rodriguez does a couple hilarious short extras called "10 Minute Film School" (it's like 5 minutes of his speed-talking) and even "10 Minute Cooking School" (7 minutes) for the extras of "Once Upon a Time in Mexico", and they're both deeply informative despite their brevity. And my friend has made puerco puebil from his recipe, and it was fucking delicious.

@13, Fnarf I love you, and generally agree. Maggie Gyllenhaal was great in "Secretary" but that's the only thing I've liked her in. She pretty much defines insipid.

Posted by starsandgarters on December 28, 2011 at 9:49 AM

Man, The Dark Knight was a good movie.

No. The Dark Knight was a terrible movie redeemed by a career-making performance by Heath Ledger. Every moment he wasn't on screen was ponderous, underwritten and overdirected bullshit that went. on. for. hours.

I defy anyone to explain that movie's second act. As far as I can make out: Batman and Gordon's master plan is that Gordon will pretend to be killed by the Joker (despite having no idea how the Joker is going to attack), in order so that when Harvey Dent confesses to being the Batman (a plan he never shared with anyone), Gordon can drive the van that will transport Dent to jail (because having an incorruptible police lieutenant at the wheel makes a truck impervious to rocket fire).

Nolan makes very pretty movies, but also very stupid ones.

Posted by Doctor Memory

on December 28, 2011 at 10:26 AM

Also, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a spotty actress at best, but she's still lightyears better than that walking void of talent known as Mrs. Tom Cruise. "Batman Begins" had even worse script problems than Dark Knight, but they paled in comparison to what happened to that movie every time Katie Holmes so much as wandered into the frame, nevermind opened her mouth.

Posted by Doctor Memory

on December 28, 2011 at 10:28 AM