Many deem Christopher Nolan’s (Interstellar, Oppenheimer) The Dark Knight the best comic book movie ever. Those and others consider Nolan’s three Batman films the quintessential superhero trilogy. The Dark Knight is the franchise’s standout, successfully eclipsing the superhero genre and delivering an eerie tale of good versus evil that requires many chief characters to make layered, moral decisions at a moment’s notice. In particular, The Joker (Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain, Monster’s Ball), the film’s villain, continually requires its protagonists to choose between what is best for them and society’s greater good. Fans of superhero movies and those who traditionally have little to no interest in that genre can equally appreciate The Dark Knight.
Category Archives: Aaron Eckhart
Any Given Sunday (1999)
Oliver Stone’s (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July) Any Given Sunday was a movie I saw in the theaters in 1999. While I saw bits and pieces on cable television over the years, my second watch of this film wasn’t until 2019. So first, it doesn’t feel like this film is 20 years old. Second, except for a few technology pieces (mainly cell phones), it felt like this movie could have been released this year and still give the same message with a nearly identical look and feel. The movie holds the test of time; sometimes, that’s one of the best things you can say about a film. Unfortunately, that is the best thing about this movie.
Sully (2016)
Two days after seeing the best lead actress performance I have seen so far in 2016 (Alicia Vikander – The Light Between Oceans), I saw the best performance by a lead actor so far this year in Tom Hanks’s (Forrest Gump, Captain Phillips) portrayal of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in Clint Eastwood’s (American Sniper, Mystic River) Sully. While 2016 has been a major letdown for movies through its first eight months, Sully, at least, gives promise that you are guaranteed one fantastic film and hope that there will be many, many more as Oscar season approaches (Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, Fences, Nocturnal Animals, Loving, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk to name a few). 2016 has proven and will continue to prove that it is a year like no other since I began this blog back in 2010. Through its release date (September 9), Sully is, hands down, the best movie of 2016 and the only one that I feel 100% confident will stay in my top 10 after I’ve seen all of the big movies of 2016.
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Rabbit Hole (2010)
Had it received a release date in any other year, Rabbit Hole would have made my Top 10 Movie of the Year list. But as I’ve stated many times in my reviews, 2010 was, without question, the best year for movies in my lifetime. Rabbit Hole is a very well-acted, directed, heavy-hitting drama about the grieving process and the obstacles we must overcome to recover from the unexpected loss of a child. Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!, Cold Mountain) earned her third Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award Nomination (she won the award in 2003 for her role as Virginia Wolfe in The Hours) for her role as Becca, a grieving mother who struggles to comes to terms with her life after her four-year-old son is struck and killed by a car after running into the street while chasing the family dog.