The Dark Knight

Never been a big Batman guy.

I don't know if there is something missing from my DNA that makes me indifferent toward the caped crusader or what. I've always been more of a Punisher kind of guy when it comes to dark and troubled vigilantes.

But I'm clearly in the minority there.

What's great about the new Christopher Nolan Batman films is that they disregard the previous 4 films, most of which were campy fun, and treat Batman as a character that exists in the real world.

The original Batman Begins was a step in the right direction, but I still felt that it lacked that extra something that would have launched it into the upper echelon of superhero movies.

Whatever Batman Begins lacked, The Dark Knight makes up for it in spades. Quite simply, TDK is the best superhero movie of all time, and features one of the most haunting portrayals of a villain in Heath Ledger's Joker. Not only is it a superhero movie, it's a crime drama along the same vein of The Departed and dare I say, Heat. Don't get me wrong... TDK is not quite on that level of film, despite what the fools over at IMDb think. They've currently got it rated #1 on the IMDb's top 250 movies of all time, ahead of The Godfather and Citizen Kane.

The Dark Knight is good, guys. But not that good. We'll see how long that lasts.

Really though, TDK is excellent. The realism, the labyrinthine-like plot, and the performances... boy are the performances good... make TDK an all-around success story.

First, there is always going to be an elephant in the room when discussing TDK, and that is Heath Ledger, who died a few months before the film was released. His role as the Joker was his last finished role on film, and he sure went out with a bang.

Ledger transforms, more like mutates into the Joker and with slathered-on make-up, almost becomes a horror movie villain. His Joker dominates the film with tension, and puts the viewer on edge, making them think the Joker can show up at any moment in the film. It's unclear whether the Academy will allow themselves to be forced to nominate Ledger for this role, since that's what the general public is screaming for, but if he is in deed nominated, it will be well deserved. Ledger's turn as the Joker pretty much makes this film.

Next up is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Gotham's doomed District Attorney. Eckhart creates a sympathetic character who we expect to turn bad at some point before he becomes Two-Face, but never does. He's a guy who wants to do the right thing, and does, but ultimately falls victim to the Joker's mind games. Dent represents what the Joker can do -- take good people and make them turn bad. By the time Eckhart becomes Two-Face, he loses some of the spark he had earlier in the film, but does manage to be a solid second fiddle to Ledger's Joker.

As Bruce Wayne, Bale is great as the showboating millionaire, but as Batman, he's almost laughable. His deep, gruffled voice really took me out of the film and made me wonder why he was talking like that. However, Bale was the straight man here, just a foil for Ledger and Eckhart to overshadow. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are solid as always as Wayne's go-to guys. And Maggie Gyllenhaal fills in nicely for Katie Holmes, creating a less-whiny love-interest for both Wayne and Dent.

Finally, the person who really needs to be credited for TDK is the man behind the curtain -- or camera -- Christopher Nolan. His Batman-as-real approach has worked wonders for this franchise whereas other superhero movies appear more like cartoons than anything resembling reality. Nolan, along with Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro, has established himself as one of the next-gen directors who will revolutionize filmmaking the way Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas did in the 1970's

Without Nolan at the helm, I really wonder if the new Batman franchise has the legs to keep going after TDK.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he answers the Bat-signal.

FILM SCORE: ***1/2 (out of ****)
BEST SCENE: Any scene with the Joker.
FILM STATUS: Best superhero movie ever.

The Walkmen

The Walkmen are hard to pin down.

They debuted with a low-key album called Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone, which was a critical success, but failed to launch the band into the spotlight the way that debut albums from bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes and Vampire Weekend have. Other than "We've Been Had" being featured in a Saturn car commercial, I'm not sure anyone knew the album existed. Regardless, EWPTLMIG was drenched in wintry jingle bells and whip-fast distorted guitars with Hamilton Leithauser's Dylanesque vocals connecting the sparse dots of the album together. On EWPTLMIG, one thing was clear, The Walkmen had a big and unique sound that was going to make or break them.

The Walkmen did eventually get on the map with their sophomore album, Bows + Arrows, and even landed a gig on the Fox show, The O.C. More of a single-oriented album, Bows + Arrows featured tracks like "The Rat", "Little House of Savages", "The North Pole" and "Thinking of a Dream" that set themselves apart from the rest of the album. And while the Rolling Stone initially dissed it, pretty much ever other musical critic with a brain praised it as one of the best albums of 2004 and the high-water mark for the band thus far, and rightfully so. With B+A, the Walkmen had arrived and everyone took notice.

After B+A, the Walkmen knew they needed to make a change to their sound to avoid becoming redundant the way that The Strokes keep seeming to make the same record with each album. So on 2006's A Hundred Miles Off, band members shuffled instruments and added some horns to their sonic portfolio. The result was a mixed bag of hits and misses. The first single, "Louisiana", could be their best single yet, and other tracks like "All Hands and the Cook" and "Good's for You is Good for Me" rose above a somewhat middling third album featuring loud and unorganized punk melodies and somewhat uninspired lyrics. Still a decent album by today's indie-standards, but The Walkmen have the highest of standards. So A Hundred Miles Off was like a straight-A student handing in a C+ paper. You just knew they could have done better.

Later that year, The Walkmen released a track-by-track cover of the John Lennon/Harry Nilsson Pussycats album, which raised even more questions about the band. While their signature sound allowed them to feel right at home covering songs like The Drifters' "Save the Last Dance", the rest of the album meandered much like the original Pussycats album, and left fans collectively scratching their heads. Were the Walkmen losing their creative drive and becoming a glorified cover band? Or were they trying to kick-start a process that had worn a little thin by going back to simple melodies and lyrics?

The band continued touring in between albums, although their live shows had become tedious and noisy. I've seen them three different times, and each time the band seemed to get lazier with short and messy sets becoming a common occurrence. The last Walkmen show I attended sounded like an orchestra warming up more than anything else. The opening act was White Rabbits, and they blew them off the stage with more energy and a clearer goal of what they wanted to do. And as I left that show I wondered, will the Walkmen be able to come back from this? I had my doubts.

About a year later, the band announced the release of their fifth album (fourth original). With a title like You & Me, it sounded more intimate and more focused than anything else they've done, as previous album titles have been vague at best. Their press releases also told of a desire to return to classic melodies and vocals. They mentioned Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. So it was clear they were setting the bar high for themselves.

After getting my hands on an advance copy of You & Me, I can tell you, The Walkmen have rediscovered what works for them and Y&M is their most focused, if not best album, yet. The album, as the title suggests, covers your standard-issue relationship blues, and is sure to be the soundtrack to many a break-up this summer and fall. A sample of some of the lyrics featured on the album are "You are the morning/I am the night", "I kissed her by the window/she covered her face", and "I miss you/I miss you there's no one else/I do... I do."

There are great singles, such as the gradually roaring "In the New Year" and and the waltzy and somber "Red Moon" where Leithauser moans "You shine/Like the steel/On my knife." Deeper tracks like Canadian Girl show off Leithauser's 60's era R&B chops. And while there is clearly a nostalgic feel to You & Me, the signature Walkmen "sound" is still dominant... fuzzy/jangly guitars and drums take up a lot of the soundscape, but the jingle bells seem to have been replaced by horns. No complaints here.

So the lofty press release was spot on. The Walkmen met and surpassed the high goals they set for themselves. Many songs hearken back to 60's rock with simple melodies, vocals, paint brush drums, echoes of calypso music and booming bass lines. I think the band has spent as much time watching Walk the Line as I have, and are determined to bring back the Rock-A-Billy sound with a vengeance. It's because of this old-is-new approach, You & Me returns The Walkmen to the forefront of today's indie scene.

Once again, the Walkmen know who they are and what they want to do, and people will be forced to take notice.

ALBUM SCORE: **** (out of ****)
BEST TRACK(S): Red Moon, Canadian Girl, In the New Year
SEE THEM LIVE?: They seem to have found some easy-to-play melodies, so their concerts shouldn't be disorganized anymore. Hell to the yes!