forepac

Flipping around the HD channels late at night, and I’ve stumbled across “Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight,” a Dark Knight movie tie-in/cash-in special on The History Channel where, in addition to the actors, writers, editors, and production folks behind the film and comics, real, live academics are picking apart the psyche of an imaginary character. Now I’m an undeniably huge nerd, but this and the similar Indy 4-related Crystal Skulls doc that aired back in May make me want to paraphrase William Shatner from his classic 1986 SNL skit:

Get a life, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it’s just a movie!

I know that The History Channel must be grasping at straws to remain relevant in a world where a large chunk of the population viewed Mel Gibson’s Passion film as pure fact, but this is a little too silly, even for me.

Tonight the wife and I prepared for our Friday trip to see The Dark Knight by watching the animated prequel Gotham Knight, which was a bit uneven in parts but finished very strong — the Deadshot episode was excellent. We wrapped up our Bat-night by popping in the Blu-ray of Batman Begins and watching The Dark Knight IMAX Prologue, a 6-minute clip of the film that was previewed in IMAX theaters earlier this year. The Prologue is apparently the opening of the film, and HOLY CRAP is it amazing: the action is crisp and much better shot than anything in Begins; the dialogue is terse and effective; the pacing is juuuuust right; and the Joker — well, that’s one hell of an introduction.

And it’s got William Fichtner! Yes, that William Fichtner! You know, that guy who you see in supporting character roles in just about everything but nobody can remember his name? Guess what? He’s got that kind of presence in The Dark Knight, too! Awesome.

Seriously, tho, Fichtner’s great, and we’re completely stoked for Friday. I’ve got 3 days to re-watch and re-watch the Prologue — gotta get back to it…