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Mark Hamill greatest Joker for me, the manic laugh at the end of Mask of the Phantasm when everything is exploding around them is one of the greatest Joker moments.
;)
Epic!
:-bd
That's very sweet of you, Brady, but no need. He's a very versatile actor with many friends and admirers in right places and now that he's got the Oscar and all the other awards for his previous role he could do a lot of things, but he chose this one, so apparently he wants to. ;) And somebody's gotta do it eventually, anyway. It's obviously a challenge, but he loves challenges, and I can see why he'd be interested in exploring the character. He's also been into Joker since he was a kid. :)
http://i59.tinypic.com/10ellxi.jpg
In retrospect it's kinda interesting (as well as sad) to read the negative stuff thrown at Heath Ledger when he was cast. I've been surprised that the majority of comments I've seen on Leto's casting has been positive. Heath's Joker was very different from Jack's, and I expect Jared's will be different from theirs. I assume the movie will be very different from The Dark Night, too, so will require a different kind of Joker anyway.
I always recommend Fight Club to everyone who hasn't seen it, but even one of my best friends hasn't acted upon my recommendation, so clearly I suck at convincing anyone of anything. :P Just saying, anyway, because I love the movie, but Leto's role is rather small, though, so for the purposes of judging his acting abilities it may not be ideal. Still, David Fincher liked him enough there to get him for one of the lead roles in his next movie (Panic Room - I find him very entertaining in it, but don't love the movie), and that mutual appreciation society formed.
Mostly Leto has done independent cinema, and often rather weird stuff. He's definitely into weird, so that should be promising Joker-wise, and his dedication tends to be complete (for instance, none of the director, actors, and crew of Dallas Buyers Club ever met Jared at all until afterwards at various events, on set they only ever met his character, Rayon), which in this case is a bit scary, but certainly interesting.
I hope no-one minds me jumping in. I'll be following that production anyway.
I also hate to say it, but I am getting very sick of Joker being tossed into every single Batman project going. He's literally in EVERYTHING. He's obviously a brilliant character, but I hate how over saturated DC have made him and how he seems to be the supreme go-to baddie for everything Batman. Batman has such a great diverse set of villains in his rogues gallery that it upsets me when they're all stepped on so that Joker can take center stage for the umpteenth time.
Just think about the material you have here: With Harvey you could tackle duality, and the good and bad that exists in all of humanity. With Crane you could explore fear in its purest forms, the things we try to escape and the stuff we try not to let in. With Freeze you could showcase moral ambiguity as a man is driven to crime by the pure love in his heart. These are just a few examples of the deep, engaging stories that could be told with the other "villains" in Batman's rogues gallery. So many of them and their missions or backstories make them sympathetic or captivating beyond compare. I'd rather see any of these adapted than yet another Joker on the big screen, especially since The Dark Knight is impossible to match.
I may be missing something here, but wasn't Heath's Joker the first big screen adaptation since Jack's? And this will be the first since Heath's? Doesn't seem like a hell of a lot to me. And as far as I know Batman won't be in this movie, right? So how is Joker in everything? Genuine question, I'm sure you know more about this stuff than I do. But if he is - I mean I don't see it, but might be just my ignorance on the issue - then it must be, because he's so, well, iconic, better known to wider audiences (people of various ages who haven't read the comics).
As for my comment about Joker's proliferation in the vast world of comics, movies, games and TV, trust me when I say that he is EVERYWHERE. His character page on IMDb shows all the projects he's been featured in in recent memory, from films to TV and games, and it is quite comprehensive, I assure you:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000180/
Since 2009 nine alone the character has been featured in over 80 different projects, across countless mediums. Even when it looks like he's absent for some Batman related projects, it is later revealed by a twist that it was Joker indeed that was behind it all (I think some know of a recent example I'm hinting at). Like I said, he's the best villain in comics, but after a while I wish creators would give service to other villains besides just him. I guess this is also how many feel about Batman, who has taken over the world as we know it across all mediums and nauseated some people with his popularity. I'm so blinded by my adoration for the character that this is lost on me, however, and in my opinion Batman can never be over saturated in anything. He's just brilliant, really.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=112026
John Kerry as the next Joker.
That was because of the make-up. Apparently, it left his lips very dry. He turned it into a quirk of the character.
I haven't read any either, but I have seen some people say that while they thought Ledger played a fantastic psychopath, they didn't see him as Joker. I'm not familiar with the comics and all the history (tv plus animated), etc. so I can't comment on that. I do think his acting was superb, but I didn't have any specific expectations of what I'd have wanted to see. Obviously the interpretation had to fit the dark, more realistic Nolan world, and it did.
I think I know what you mean - complete dedication and commitment? Yes, but I wish he'd never done that movie, and at least if he was the type to have regrets - or admit them - he might regret it, too. (At least he has sworn never ever to do that particular craziness again.) Actors shouldn't harm themselves for their roles, IMO. Anyway...
I think he can definitely be a fantastic Joker, great casting. From the first rumours on I could see why they wanted him, and also why he'd be interested in the role, but I didn't really believe it would happen (not even after seeing what he wore to the Hollywood Film Awards - there might have been nothing in the rumours and he could have been having a joke at their expense - in retrospect, a nice touch :) ) I simply didn't think he'd agree to a potential multi-movie deal. It might not be one, but it would make sense for it to be more than one movie.
I just pray the writing and directing is as good as it needs to be. I hear the guy doing it is good. Better be.
Is that Brady tapping his fingers impatiently? Ummm...
I feel like an intruder in this thread - it being about another movie.
Eeeeh. Yeah.
*steps out*
I think the presentation of the Nolan Joker was great, on every level. The film adapted the running game the two always have in the comics: Joker and Batman, two unstoppable forces, one because of his madness, the other for his justness. Neither side will give in to the other for those same dedications, and so they must collide again and again throughout all of time until one kills the other or both of them die together. When Joker says to Batman that he think's they're "meant to do this forever," he wasn't lying. This very idea is seen in the last pages of The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore, something all Bat fans have to read.
Getting more specific, Heath nailed the Joker's mercurial unpredictability. He could snap at any time and do something absolutely nuts, and you'd never be able to see it coming. He always tests Batman, pushing him to his brink and is always trying to prove his point about how just one bad day can make a man go "nuts," again from The Killing Joke comic book. By spending the film trying to bring down Dent to his level, he attempts and unfortunately succeeds in showing Batman that he was right: even the best of men can fall.
And, as we can see later on in The Dark Knight Rises, when all the "chips are down" so to speak and Bane has shuffled the class system into oblivion and all bets are off, Joker was right: people will eat each other just to survive, regardless of how much humanity they think they have. The great thing about Batman and Joker is that no matter how much the former fights with his rules, the latter is always there to show him how futile some of them can be, and displays to our hero how flawed and acidic humanity can be in addition to all that. Watching Nolan's Batman films, it's both enlightening and haunting to see just how correct Joker is about us, and what we do to each other.
I'm guessing those that said Heath wasn't playing Joker haven't read the comics, then?
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/batman_vs_superman/news/?a=112345
Once again, it appears as if Snyder has turned to Batman: Earth One for his take on Alfred.
Actually, it seems at least some who didn't like his Joker definitely had read the comics, since they specifically said that for them he wasn't the Joker from the comics. (It's not my argument, so I can't bring further enlightenment to their reasons.)
People just have different opinions, like with Bond, and even if they seem incomprehensible at times, there they are. ;) Some people dislike Nolan's trilogy, some don't like Ledger's Joker (some merely prefer Nicholson's, some really dislike Ledger's - some dislike both), some don't like Bale's Batman at all, and so on. I'm guessing whoever the actor in any such iconic roles (the same with Bond, etc.), some people will always feel "but that's not the Joker/Batman/Bond I want to see". It's down to different interpretations of how the characters should be like, the images people have in their heads, the feelings that will always, in the end, override any rationalization from the outside - from anyone else - or even from within, I guess. People will always argue, opinions will differ.
And another thing is, if somebody really dislikes an actor in general, for whatever reason, they are unlikely to be pleased by any of their work, ever, at least so it seems sometimes. So there's that possibility, too. If one is convinced one will hate something, the chances are one's expectations will be met, more or less. It doesn't quite work the other way around as easily, but liking the people involved helps. Personally, I thought Ledger and Bale were both wonderful, and I loved the first two of the Nolan trilogy - and the third... had a lot of good in it. But also, I generally like Ledger, Bale, Caine, Neeson, Oldman, Freeman as actors anyway, so I'd have been be far easier to please than someone who doesn't. Oh, who doesn't, you ask? Well, not everyone has any taste, you know... ;) Just kidding... different opinions and tastes and all that... Well... Let's say at least partially kidding. Sorta. Anyway, you know what I mean.
Btw, I liked your analysis.
The games are a nice source for Batman knowledge, so that's great, in addition to being the best Batman simulators around. And I'm sure you've seen at least one episode of Batman The Animated Series? If not, check it out, as Kevin Conroy is just unbelievably amazing as the character. The DC Animated Universe Batman is definitely my favorite by far, and it offers so much to love.
Now that I do remember.
Sorry, missed the joking, shouldn't have replied then.
I think not liking something is good enough reason for not liking it, actually.
I found the third one somewhat tedious, but enjoyed some of it enough to not have a negative opinion overall.
to compare, though... I've managed to sit through OHMSS probably 3 times during the past decades, and found it tedious each time, found Lazenby awful, didn't like the story (plenty eye-rolling and yawning from me) and found a lot of it irritating, didn't buy the romance at all, and was totally unmoved by the ending. Yet it's considered a classic by many fans and is among many fans' favorites. No matter how much love it gets around here, I don't expect to ever be able to enjoy it. Just the way it is.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=112374
Yes finally !
Agreed.