invictus

I quite like Clint Eastwood as a director, and he did a good job on this movie. It did gloss over Mandela's personal life (past infidelities and the like), only hinting at his problems. In one way this was a shame, because the contrast of his private weaknesses against his public successes would have made for an interesting study.

But the story it did tell was quite inspiring. Mandela had a choice when he took office. After 30 years in prison, some would have only been interested in revenge, but he recognised that this wasn't a useful approach. He showed compassion and fairness to the white minority who really didn't deserve it given their history. One of the symbols of that group was the Springbok rugby team and he engaged with the team, found ways to allow South African blacks to engage with them, too, in positive ways. And all of this leading up to the Rugby World Cup, which South Africa was hosting.

The title of the movie (which means 'unconquered') actually reflects an interesting choice, from the director and the writer. In the movie, just before the Cup, Mandela gives the Springbok captain Francois Pienaar a copy of a poem he says gave him hope while he was in prison. It's not bad either, as inspiring words go.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

There's just one thing ~ that isn't what Mandela actually gave Pienaar. In real life, Mandela gave him an extract from Theodore Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena" speech from 1910. The thing is, the extract is wonderful, and it's much more apt for a captain taking his team into the competition of their lives, with the country hanging on their success. The pressure must have been enormous, and they were copping constant flack in the media in the year leading up to the Cup. This is the extract:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Damn straight, Teddy. Wise words. I really wish they'd used it in the movie. Given how precariously Mandela risked failure in order to bring his country together at a crucial moment, I think that extract was the better choice.

Not sure if there's anyone out there still reading this blog after such a long break, but if so, what piece of writing do you find inspiring/motivating?

gaiman and mckean on quay and svankmajer

Random quirk like this just makes me happy.

surreal and funny harry potter conversation

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Harry Potter books 6 and 7.

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So Band Boy (who used to be Drummer Boy but sings and plays guitar now (18-year-old)) finally got around to reading the sixth book in the Harry Potter series, finishing a couple of days ago just in time to see the movie premiere (in just under five hours, yah). Last night we were talking about watching the trailer and seeing that one moment (1:53 in this linked video) where Snape says 'it is over' and feeling overwhelmed by the fact that this is the moment when he kills Dumbledore.

Now here's the thing. I'VE read the 7th book and I know that what Snape is doing there is heroic and painful and beautiful. However, Band Boy HASN'T read the 7th book and is under the impression that he has just read the big Snape revelation, the proof (FINALLY!) that Snape is eeeeevilllll.

So for the next ten minutes I'm having a conversation with him, trying to be as empassioned as he is about the fact that AFTER ALL DUMBLEDORE HAS DONE for Snape, after he SUPPORTED him when SO MANY PEOPLE said that he was still a death-eater and couldn't be trusted, that RAT BASTARD killed him!! And how this is the end of the (Harry Potter) world as we know it. And asking HOW HOW HOW could Dumbledore have BELIEVED him for ALL THOSE YEARS?

hehehehe

He is so going to want to kill me when he reads the 7th book. But I remember that moment of devastation on that balcony o' death when I was reading the 6th book, and I'm not going to take that away from him. It's a heart-wrenching scene, but it's also fantastic writing. And thank goodness they cast Alan Rickman as Snape.

Oh and can I just say how thrilled I am that Lupin's back again, and with David Thewlis still in the part. He's one of the reasons the third movie is still my favourite. I'll let you know if that changes after tonight. :)

in honour of the release

...of the New Moon trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXuN8hkQ0sU

I give you Meyer revenge...xkcd-style:

















I wish Stephenie Meyer was actually that cool.

Normal: movie review

I just watched the movie Normal. It's a movie about a transexual person (male to female), Roy/Ruth shown from the time she first explains her gender identity disorder to her wife (just after their 25th wedding anniversary) and over the next year as she transitions in preparation for reassignment surgery. In some ways I found the movie very predictable, not so much because it was really, but moreso because over the last year I've learned so much about this topic that I knew the kinds of steps she would go through and could predict some of the emotional processes her family would go through, too. Still, the final outcome was always a little uncertain, so the movie wasn't boring just because I was familiar with the topic.

There are a number of things I liked about this movie. Tom Wilkinson as Roy/Ruth is in appearance about as 'typical middle-aged American male' as you can get. I liked that there was no real attempt made to cast a man who could easily 'pass' as female. I found this made Ruth's reality so much more honest and straightforward. Her transition was never about the task of convincing anyone else that she was a woman, but rather about acknowledging what she felt and needed to do to feel right in herself.

There is a poignant moment early on where she puts on a simple pair of gold clip-on earrings she found in a thrift store. As she looks in the mirror the person she sees is masculine in appearance - the hair is not styled, the clothes are mens, she's wearing no makeup. But she stares at her image with the earrings on and there's a subtle but obvious lifting of the spirit. Later (after an adverse reaction to 'Roy' wearing the earrings to work) she explains simply that they made her feel pretty. It's so simple, but Wilkinson acts it just right. Jessica Lange is equally good throughout the film as Roy's wife.

There's also a scene between Ruth and her son (for anyone who's seen the movie, the moment on the stairs) who is not coping with the transition well, that made me cry at such a great outpouring of honest emotion. Each person had their own issues to deal with as how they perceived Roy as their husband or father changed in order for them to understand Ruth and how she was (and wasn't) the same person as before.

Normal isn't a perfect movie. It's trying to cover a huge topic in a small amount of time and some things are done very well, and others in a more superficial manner and that can't really be helped. But it showed the complexity of human relationships in relation to transition without trying to have (or provide) all the answers. I hadn't heard of it before this week and I'm glad I happened upon it. I agree with the Amazon.com review which said:

Normal explores Roy's gender dysphoria with empathy, but also has an eye for the social and familial absurdities that come up. The humor, far from trivializing the issue, steers it away from cloying sentiment or politically correct sanctimony. The movie captures the confusion of Roy's friends and coworkers with realism and without judgment, and the stressful changes of Roy and Irma's relationship aren't sugarcoated or made into a moral lesson.

Good movie.

important legal advice

Email exchange between my and a friend who is not supposed to be getting personal email at work:

Chosha: Dear Friend. If I buy a manual that teaches me how to use a computer application that I use in the course of my work, but I was not required to buy it by my workplace, even though it is used to improve my work skills, is that a deductible item? And while I just happen to be writing about this very important tax-related legal question…are you up for a movie? I have a bunch of vouchers for $8 movies at Hoyts that have to be used by and looking for suitably eager moviegoers.

Friend: Dear chosha. Thankyou for the opportunity to provide advice on the deductibility of certain expenses incurred in relation to employment. Division 8 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) indicates that I love seeing movies. I get into all genres and most actors (with the possible exception of Johnny Depp - am suspicious of him and his alleged 'appeal' Do you like him?). Let me know when and I'm in! A senior legal advisor has approved this advice. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require clarification or further information.

Clearly her mistrust of Johnny Depp is misplaced, but I <3 my friends. :)

coraline

I'm so happy Coraline is being well-received (87% fresh at time of writing).

I'm glad that Henry Selick was the director.

I can't believe I have to wait until May 7 to see it in the cinema.

coraline figurines

I quite like the one in the yellow raincoat. Unfortunately it looks like they come as a set.

I wonder when the movie is starting here...

twilight revisited

I've been reading Twilight again - well, listening to it actually. Last time I read it really fast, mainly because Bella's constant whiney martyrdom is so irritating. However, my favourite kids are currently obsessed with it, and I missed so many details the first time that it's hard to participate in their conversations about it - the book, the movie, comparing the book and the movie. I decided it wouldn't cost me too much holiday time to just read the thing again.

I've thought several times that the writing is not as bad as I first thought. In fact, wherever Bella isn't rambling about how perfect and beautiful and amazing Edward is, or about how hopeless and ordinary and insignificant she is, some of the writing was downright good. Of course as I'm typing this, Bella is under the impression she's dying and is now talking about an 'angel' saying her name...Edward of course. After I got through rolling my eyes I spent some time controlling my gag reflex - so sickeningly sweet.

The things I do for those kids...

and yet my enthusiasm refuses to wane

The Screenit.com review of Twilight:

"TWILIGHT" (2008) (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson)(PG-13) Drama/Horror: After relocating to a small town to live with her dad, a teenager meets and ends up falling for a teenage vampire who's torn between his love for her and his appetite for her blood. Based on the novel of the same name, this is bad in a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" sort of way. There's purposefully overwrought teen angst, melodrama andsoap opera trappings, a languid pace, mediocre to often bad direction, bland acting, really cheesy special effects, and a story that should have had a stake run through it due to being quite trite. All of which means the film is a chore to sit through, especially in its 120 or so minute incarnation.

Sadly I am so eager for any movie the vampire gods offer that I'll probably still love it. /blush/

no good deed goes unpunished

Yesterday I helped out at the local high school, painting walls a rather garish shade of plum. There was also gardening on offer, but I find that particularly hard on my lower back, so I chose the painting, thinking I was doing myself a favour. Hmmm.

I was climbing up to line a cornice with masking tape when I felt an odd wrenching feeling in whatever joint it is that joins the top of your left leg to your pelvis. It felt weird all day, like when your back is a bit out, but there was little pain. Not so this morning. Today that joint feels stiff and the muscles (tendons maybe?) are sore. Getting up from a sitting position is painful, but most of the time it just feels achey.

Maybe I'm just getting old. :)

On a brighter note, last night I saw the movie Death Race. So much fun. It's one of those movies that is really pretty pointless (unless you are the company who will make a squillion dollars from the video game) but you can't help but enjoy the adrenaline rush. Like many movies in this genre it has an appalling (and not very original) basic premise ~ in this case the 'futuristic society uses prisoners for colosseum-type blood sports' setting. Don't you just love how the future of society is always depicted as either Utopian or completely depraved? We love us our extremes, don't we? Kudos to whoever cast Joan Allen as the nasty chief warden ~ anyone who saw her in the Bourne movies just knew she was destined to portray a calm-faced villain at some point.

Anyway, watching the mice try to defeat some nasty maze-keepers was just the mindless activity I needed to shake off my low mood over the Proposition 8 decision. Feeling down is exhausting and counter-productive. Reality does sometimes bite, but its teeth don't seem as sharp when I face it and move on. So be it.

twilight movie

Okay, I've been as wicked an anyone else at mocking the Twilight books. Regardless (does anyone else hate it when people write 'irregardless' when they mean 'regardless'?) of the fact that I've read all four of the books and can honestly say I enjoyed them, I did it in spite of Bella being a whiney girl and the author totally wimping out in the fourth (and last) book of the series when it came to giving Bella everything she wanted without any real sacrifice. She was prepared to give certain things up, but was never called upon to do so. She also never had to take responsibility for the selfish side of her choice (Meyer gave her extraordinary control and therefore the fact that she willingly chose to become a vampire knowing it could mean that she killed humans as an out-of-control newborn vamp was conveniently brushed under the carpet). And don't get me started on the huge build-up to the war that never happens. The book was much weaker for her (Meyer's) cowardice.


Having said all that, can I just say that the Twilight trailer rocks and I can't wait to see the movie?!! I admit I was concerned when the first poster I saw (<---this one) made the supposedly beautiful-beyond-comprehension Edward look sick and pasty, but he looks decent in the trailer. I think Bella is perfectly cast. She actually comes across in the trailer as being stronger and more confident than the character is in the book, but I have no issue with that alteration. It will be a better movie that way.


What the heck is up with the Australian cinema release being 11 December...almost a full month after the US (17 November)? Too cruel.

movie review: angus, thongs and perfect snogging

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Monday was a public holiday here, so I got along to the flicks with a friend from work.

I had pretty high hopes for this movie (here's the trailer) as it was made by the same people who did Bend it Like Beckham. Where that movie was clever, funny and offbeat, this one was insightful, but a little over-directed. It actually reminded me of Bridget Jones' Diary, but of course BJD is told from the wry perspective of a single woman in her early thirties who knows how the world works (even if she is a little proud or cynical), whereas the wisdom imparted in A, T & PS is the 'wisdom' of 15-year-olds who think they know how the world works, except of course when they're obsessing over not knowing how the world works. Therein lies most of the comedy.

What I liked:

• This was an accurate (albeit scary) flashback into the mind and life of the inexperienced 15-year-old high school girl. They have a lot of plans, based on theories, that never quite pan out the right way. And total embarrassment is always looming just inches away...daring you to try to be cooler than you are.
  The total sex god (read: guy she likes) is truly wow. When I first saw him I was a bit 'meh', but then he started talking and later we see him play bass in his band, and then I was wistfully wishing I was fifteen again and could legally drool over him. His brother is hotter, but less attractive. Coolness is so much more than looking pretty. ^_^
• Her Emma-style comeupance (see below).

What I didn't like:

• Her Emma-style comeupance came too late in the piece and the prerequisite Sixteen Candles happy ending followed it too conveniently and soon. It felt like it just got real and deeper...and then it was gone. Don't get me wrong, I expected (and wanted) the happy ending, but the timing (whether of the writer or the movie editor) wasn't perfect.
• The over-direction. What I found was the dramatic parts of the movie were lovely, and very naturally acted, whereas the comedy sometimes felt contrived or manufactured, which I attribute to the too heavy hand of the director trying to make it funnier and instead stifling it. This is where the film compared least favourably with Bend it Like Beckham, because the comedy in that movie came right out of real life and real cross-cultural/dysfunctional family mayhem, and never felt contrived. Ditto for Bridget Jones' Diary, where even the ridiculous seemed entirely plausible.

Still, there were moments in this movie that were perfectly done. The scene where she's learning about snogging (from a guy whose hair is just awful) had us convulsing in our seats and every scene where Georgia and Robbie speak alone is wonderful. I came out of the theatre having one of those 'if only I could go back to high school knowing what I know now' daydreams. So many cool things to relive and so many mistakes I could now avoid. I also feel like I would know exactly how to handle that bitchy girl. You know the one.

Big plug for the band from the movie, the Stiff Dylans:



Extra song for fans: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj15INiHT5o

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging: Save it for DVD and a night when you feel like a bit of silliness. 3 stars (and maybe an extra half a star for the British accents and slang).

“for the female of the species is more deadly than the male.” apparently...

From the movie I just watched:

Steve (who is gay) comes in and throws his coat at his flatmate, Michael, because Michael told his girlfriend a huge secret of Steve's.

Michael: It's not my fault!! You wouldn't understand. She's a woman! They have their ways!
Steve: Oh what, she hypnotised you with her feminine wiles?
Michael: [Wide eyed and desperate.] Yes! Yes! Yes she did. She did actually.

I don't think I got to that class in girl school. Hmmm. Gotta get me some of them there wiles. What aisle are they in again?

the hobbit

From a current Empire magazine interview with Guillermo del Toro:

E: What’s happening with The Hobbit at the moment?

GDP: I’m working on it with Peter [Jackson], Philippa [Boyens] and Fran [Walsh] and we’re on the screenplay-writing phase right now. We are all writing. It’s a four-hand screenplay writing assignment. We’re all doing part of the task.

E: Is it hard to adapt The Hobbit to a screenplay?

GDP: To me, The Hobbit is a pleasure because I imagined it as early as I was 11. That one is a very seminal book in my life. The second movie is very attractive and we are wading our way through creating it – but it’s far more complicated.

E: Will any part of The Hobbit spill over into the second film, or will that act solely as a bridge to The Lord Of The Rings?

GDP: You know, it would be silly of me to continue saying things until the screenplays are done. I think the more I set parameters the more I’m gonna break them. We’re keeping it fluid right now, to the point where we are finding out what works.

I feel like I've been waiting to see the Hobbit done right my whole life. I love the idea of it as a movie, partly because it was so easy to imagine as a child and also because it isn't some saga where you know the whole story will take a series of movies to tell or where a lame sequel will ruin the magic. It has a beginning, a middle and an end that can all be contained in one movie. I can't wait to see Smaug done by Peter Jackson and the guy that created Pan's Labyrinth.

I'm interested also to see what they do for this second movie that is supposed to be a bridge between the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. It's not based on original Tolkien material and I'm curious to see what Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh can produce. It must be quite something to work so closely on a creative project with your own partner.


[On a side note: when did Peter Jackson get so thin??]

my fair lady remake

Nothing like taking on the impossible...

Keira Knightley and Daniel Day-Lewis, two of the biggest names in British cinema, are being lined up to star in a film remake of the musical My Fair Lady. The two stars are set to take on the roles of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins, which were given notable treatments by Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 Oscar-winning classic.
Knightley, the star of Atonement, Pride and Prejudice and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, has already signed up to the project and has begun singing lessons.
The producers of the film have put Day-Lewis, the double Oscar-winning star of There Will Be Blood and My Left Foot, at the top of their wish list of actors to play opposite her. They are convinced that the star would be perfect as the pig-headed chauvinist who falls for the flower seller he plucks from the gutter.
The film is being produced by Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Duncan Kenworthy, the producer of British blockbusters such as Notting Hill, Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Sources close to the project say Kenworthy is keen to get Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese or Roger Michell, the director of Notting Hill and
Venus, to direct the film.
One source said: “Keira is already onboard and everyone is convinced that Day-Lewis would be perfect as Higgins.” Until recently, the idea of Day-Lewis in a musical would have been unthinkable. But the actor is also in talks to star alongside Nicole Kidman in a film version of the musical Nine.
Any My Fair Lady remake is likely to be controversial. The original, directed by George Cukor, won eight Oscars and in 2006 it was ranked the sixth-best movie musical ever.

I would like to see them do with this what Baz Luhrman did with Romeo & Juliet. He took what was crucial to the story (the intensity of their love and passion) and he made the film ooze with it. I don't want to see a remake that is trying to be the original. What's the point? But if they set it in the current time and made the tunes really cutting edge, that might be interesting.

It doesn't have to be that, but some significant change that explores another view of it. The original movie, for example, looks like someone filmed a stage performance - it kept that stage feel perfectly. Now I like that about it, but it's definitely something that could be radically changed in a remake and end up making the whole thing feel more immediate and alive.

I refuse to assume it will suck, but my hope is pretty tenuous.

Indy 4 ##SPOILERS###

Impressions after seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

Indy was older, but he still had it. Not quite like John McClane still had it in Die Hard 4.0, but the old Indy charm was there. And the physique apparently: Harrison Ford has kept himself in such good shape over the years that when he put on the same wardrobe from 19 years earlier, they didn't need to make any alterations. Not bad, Mr Ford.

I liked how they made Mutt (I thought he said his name was Mud and was waiting for the inevitable pun) a greaser. Actually the whole story moving into the 50s was fun. I'd heard they were going to start the fourth movie where the third left off and to not acknowledge the passing of time would have been so lame. But they didn't go there. Ford is 19 years older and so is Indy. Incidentally, it's kind of cute that Mutt chose that canine name for himself. After all, 'Indiana' was actually the name of the Jones family's dog.

Last but not least, our Cate was fantastic as Russian agent Irina Spalko. All that was missing was the leather teddy and riding crop, but that's just the rating, I guess. :)

Unbelieveable (literally):

1. Even if Indy had survived that trip in the fridge, he would have been battered and broken.
2. The waterfalls? No way anyone would have survived that.
3. The ants dragging that guy into their nest whole was also a bit of a stretch, but I didn't care because that was hilarious.

Favourite lines:

Marion: I'm sure I wasn't the only one to go on with my life. There must have been plenty of women for you over the years.
Indy: There were a few. But they all had the same problem.
Marion: Yeah, what's that?
Indy: They weren't you, Honey.

Aww. Sweet.

Mutt (after first really seeing the action Indy is capable of): You're a Professor?
Indy: Part-time.

Favourite trivia:

The girl who punches Mutt in the diner scene is Sasha Spielberg, daughter of Steven.

Something I did not know going in:

The skulls are a real phenomenon. Crystal skulls have actually been found in Central and South America. Obviously the explanation for them in the movie is fiction, but interesting to know that crystal skulls of unusual manufacture do exist. I shouldn't be so surprised I guess ~ the other three movies have all featured legendary objects said to be real: The Ark of the Covenant from Jewish lore, the Sankara stones from Hindu lore and the Holy Grail from Christian lore.

heart grown fonder yet?

I've certainly been absent long enough.

Blogging all the reasons would kind of miss the point of not having time to blog, so here's a quick post.

On my highly recommended list right now: Iron Man

There’s a reason this superhero comic book adaptation is up to 93 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s not (in my opinion) because it’s giving us something we haven’t seen before. Rather it’s giving us all the elements of a great superhero action flick, in just the right balance. I loved Transformers ~ so much so I wanted to see it twice on the big screen because those massive robots seemed to deserve that much space ~ but there’s no denying that it was all about the special effects and not much else. Iron Man has the special effects, but it also has strong characters, great casting, a witty and unpredictable script and a topical story that creates a meaningful internal conflict for the protagonist.

Speaking of which, did I mention it also has Robert Downey Jr looking sexier than most 42-year-olds can manage, in spite of looking every bit of his 42 years. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it. And he does. His perfect sense of comedic timing doesn't hurt either. Tony Stark is charismatic and every inch the man used to saying something and have it happen, or making it happen himself. I loved the way his mind was always totally engaged in whatever it was he was doing at that moment. I also liked that, in spite of a generally devil-may-care attitude, when an action plan he totally believed in turned out to have flaws he hadn't seen, he immediately admitted this and acted on his new understanding. There was a very real integrity underneath the banter. We got to glimpse the spots where he was vulnerable, but he never wallowed in it or used his emotional (or any other) challenges as an excuse to be weak when he needed to be strong.

Great movie. See it.

checklist for happy harry potter news

Podcast featuring JK Rowling up at Leaky Cauldron.



Leakycon happening in May 2009.

HP Book 7 being made into two movies...yah! For once no complaining about how much they've cut out.


Return of David Yates as director for both films.



Return of Steven Kloves as screenwriter for both films.



Being filmed at the same time. No odd age differences...good.


WAAAAAAAAIT A MINUTE!!!!!! WTF???

Part One due November 2010, and Part Two, May 2011

Excuse me? We have to wait TWO YEARS after movie 6 to see number 7??? Have they lost their minds?
It's TOO LONG, dagnabbit!



2010 release date did NOT make the cut!

heath: the verdict

So the toxicology report from the New York coroner is in and it says that Heath Ledger's death was accidental resulting from misuse of a cocktail of pain killers, anxiety medication and sleeping pills. Apparently all the drugs were legal and prescribed, but not safe to be mixed together.

When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake.

And the medications in question? Oxycodone (Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodon) are pain killers. Diazepam and Alprazolam are sedatives used to treat anxiety and panic attacks. Temazopam is a sleeping pill and Doxylamine is an antihistamine which can be used as a short term treatment for sleeplessness.

I have to admit that I will always wonder if it was really the Joker that killed him in the end. He played the character sinister and dark, with what's been described as an "anarchic interpretation". When first preparing for the role, he apparently found it difficult to create a voice that was not simply an imitation of Jack Nicholson's take on the role, so he moved into a hotel room alone for a month to work on the character and perfect not only his voice, but his posture, his physicality and the psychology behind the character. He even started keeping a diary of the Joker's thoughts and feelings.

He wanted the Joker scary and from what I've seen in the trailer, a scary-assed Joker is what the movie got. What Heath got was anxiety and messed up sleep patterns. He had started on a new film, but the problems endured.

With insomnia, nothing is real. Everything is far away. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy.

Add pneumonia to that and it's pretty easy to think, 'I still feel like hell. Maybe I'll just take a couple of these as well. Wait, did I have the Vicodon already? because I still ache.' I'm kind of glad it wasn't deliberate or a stupid heroin overdose or something like that, but it's also sad to think it was something as lame as mixing up prescriptions that took him away. I think it's going to be a little weird to see The Dark Knight with all this behind it. The Joker seems even more sinister to me now.