Batman. DARLING.

[filkertom]

Heath Ledger cast as the Joker in the next Batman flick. Thoughts? And, try to keep the Brokeback jokes to a minimum.

Comments

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Ledger is a fine actor, but can he be funny? Can he do crazed? I'm not convinced, but willing to give him a chance.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I really do think the Joker wishes he could quit Batman.

YAY!

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

Looking up photo on imdb...

Saving photo to hard drive...

Whitening skin and greenifying hair in Photoshop...

Hmm. Could work!

Gawd, I'm happy they're doing this. Batman Begins was possibly the best comic-to-movie adaptation I've ever seen.

-=ShoEboX=-

Re: YAY!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'd put it in the top three, for sure. I think the best was Hellboy, although Men In Black and the first Reeve Superman rock me pretty hard. Not to mention The Mask. [sigh] Someday, someone will do a good version of Watchmen.

Re: YAY!

[cheshyre]

Someday, someone will do a good version of Watchmen.

Knowing the risks, why do you want them to try?

Seriously. There have been a lot of properties that at first I thought... "ooh, they should film that!" But Watchmen is so perfectly suited to the comic medium, with the spacing and pacing and use of repetitive images, why would you *want* them to make what will inevitably be an inferior film?

Re: YAY!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Film? I'm hoping for a twelve-episode direct-to-video miniseries. No, if it's done well, it's gonna be a fan project.

[mannoftalent.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to wait and see on Ledger. It all depends on what story they tell and how. Personally, I was gunning for Tim Roth.

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

Roth would make a kickass Batman villain - but I see him more as the Riddler.

-=ShoEboX=-

[sdelmonte]

I haven't seen any of Ledger's films, so no opinion of him as an actor, but I can see him making a good Joker in terms of his facial structure.

I'm not sure I want to see the Joker so soon in this series, since he's been done to death and was the only Bat-willain done well (if not quite right) in the old set of films. I'd rather see Harvey Dent first, since he's a more interesting tragic figure to me, and since he was so badly done in the films. I trust Nolan and Goyer to do a good job, though.

And as for Brokeback Batman jokes, I actuially now expect to see the comic book Joker, never one to pass up a pop culture reference, saying The Line to one of his victims, then shooting him, and then saying "ah, that's how" or somwthing like that. Obvious? Yes. but quite in character.

[sdelmonte]

Too old, as I think Nolan wants to make Joker and Batman around the same age.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Ever see Brothers Grimm, Knight's Tale, or 10 Things I Hate About You? Yes, those last are teen movies, but he's fairly hilarious in them. I'm excited. (Then again, I'm also a straight girl, although I was never as into him as some.)

Re: YAY!

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Um, you haven't heard...?

It's in the works. As a movie. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0409459/)

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

No, funny things happen around him in those films, he's the dry wit.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

And, try to keep the Brokeback jokes to a minimum.

...
(twitch)
(deep-voiced preview announcer) Two men. Opposite sides of the coin. Driven by their passions. Yet in this gritty town... even they can find... themselves.
Coming next summer: BrokeBat Mountain.(/voice)

Sorry, Tom. Could NOT resist.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

We can discuss future casting, as well. If they bring back Ras Al-Ghul, I'd be very happy with Aishwarya Rai as Talia. I could also work with Billie Piper or Eliza Dushku as Catwoman.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hey. That's a minimum. :)

[blackpaladin.livejournal.com]

(re-posted from my own journal, because it's locked):

I... just can't see it.

Nicholson's Joker actually made a big impression on me. I thought he got it right. I always thought the Joker was Batman's deadliest enemy because not only was he completely insane, he was fu©king brilliant. It's incredibly difficult to outthink someone who just doesn't think along any lines even possibly considered rational.

I'm really not sure about Ledger. Granted, I haven't seen most of the movies he's been in, so the majority of my experience with his acting style is "10 Things I Hate About You" and "A Knight's Tale." (No, I didn't see Brokeback Mountain. No, I didn't see The Patriot.) Even what I've heard of his more "meatier" roles, though, I don't think he has what it takes to pull off a good crazy, and a good crazy is essential to the Joker character.

(Nicholson's Joker, to step onto a completely different soapbox for a moment, was everything that a good Clan Malkavian vampire should be. Carrey's Riddler, on the other hand, was everything wrong with how most people play Malkavians. Insanity is not comic relief, folks, it's fu©king scary. OK, done now. </soapbox>)

Will I see it? Sure. Not only am I a comics geek, but I'm a fan of the Batman franchise, both the comics and the movies. I loved the Burton era, tolerated the Schumacher era, and appreciate what Nolan has done with it so far. I'm still waiting for someone to bring the "Death in the Family" storyline to the big screen, but since the movies are doing backstory plots at this point, I think I'll be waiting a long time. But Ledger had better do this role justice.

Re: YAY!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Oh, I absolutely have heard. I think it's doomed, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen-level doomed. A movie? Of that monster? Can't work. Not the way Hollywood works.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, through the first film and now the upcoming second, the majority of the main players are Commenwealth actors, mostly playing American characters.

Nothing wrong with that, just a curious observation.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Fair enough, but I think he showed enough of a sense of humor in those (especially Brothers Grimm) that he'll be able to pull this off. Though I'm still waiting on the endorsement of my best Batman friend, so I could totally retract all of this (except the bit about 10 Things ... being hilarious. Because it's my favorite of the ongoing Julia Stiles Does Shakespeare series).

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I thought Nicholson did a fine job as the joker, in much the same way that Tom Cruise did a fine job as Lestat. No, I am not being sarcastic. I thought they both did great. I also never got away from the fact that they were, respectively, Nicholson and Cruise.

I wish I could say my joker was Cesar Romero, but he's not. My Batman villain of that era was Frank Gorshin as The Riddler. Everything the Joker should've been.

No, my Joker is Mark Hamill. Hamill perfectly, perfectly nails the homicidal comedian with a less tenuous grasp on reallity than he affects.

Re: YAY!

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Oh, my mistake. Misread how you meant that...

I think it's a disaster in the making too.

Re: YAY!

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

You might be able to make a good film based on "Watchmen" but there's no way to do the work justice in a single film and it wouldn't lend itself to a multi-film arc.

Its mini-series material. And even so, its just too non-linear a story to work on any screen, if you ask me.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

What, no "I wish I knew how to kill you" ?

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Animated Batman Joker, voice by Hamill, conceived by Dini and Timm was the perfect Joker. He was "funny" using both the "Ha Ha" and the "Oh oh" meaning of the word.