Not just Godfather 2.... Other great sequels.

Thinking about Dark Knight and great film sequels (as in better than the original). There are more than just Godfather 2 (which I do not think should count since the Godfather was better)

A great film, The Bride of Frankenstein is better than Frankenstein but never gets mentioned when discussing great sequels. Kill Bill 2 is better than Kill Bill 1 but really it should have been one movie.

True, most sequels are not very good. There was only one good Indiana Jones (Raiders). The latest might have been the worst, but aside from the River Phoenix opening of Last Crusade, that movie pretty much blew too. A hit movie must be like catching lightning in a bottle and most movies do not lend themselves well to sequels, but studios force the issue... (City Slickers 2 and Arthur 2 brought back oscar winning supporting actors... who died in the first movie). Other movies should lend themselves well. Indiana Jones series failure was do to inept writing. RoboCop sequels forgot about what people liked in the first movie (the emotion of losing everything and ones sense of identity). James Cameron, on the other hand, knew what to do and Terminator 2, with a bigger budget, improved on the original. When he took over Aliens (from the adept but over rated Ridley Scott) he created what I feel is the greatest action movie of all time and a huge improvement over the mostly snoozefest that was the original Alien. James Bond series will forever go up and down (right now a huge up... we will see if that holds).
Which brings us to a sequel the Bourne Supremacy. That was a great movie sequel to a bland and forgettable (no pun intended) Bourne Identity.

So quickly some more sequels that were better than the first movie.

Road Warrior is better than Mad Max.
Evil Dead 2
Star Trek: Wrath of Khan

There are also plenty of sequels that like Godfather might not have been better but are just as good or slightly better depending on opinion (Lord of the Rings, Before Sunset/Sunrise, Toy Story, Harry Potter).


So stop knocking sequels. There are plenty of great sequels and I am sure you can think of more. (And before someone suggests it... Superman 2 was painfully bad! (even the Richard Donner cut couldn't restore it enough, but I see where they were going).

So if you want to groan about something.. then how about REMAKES! There certainly are better sequels than remakes. It is hard thinking of remakes that are better than the original. Casino Royale, The Thing, The Departed, Oceans 11... (but then that lead to horrible sequels).

Leon

Dark Knight, Empire Strikes Back and IMDB

So Dark Knight did drop to the 4 spot on IMDB.com All Time Highest Rated Movie.

Got me to thinking about IMDB and their Rankings.

Personally, I really liked the movie but it does not make my top 20 (maybe top 50) but I was thinking of geek movies... of which I am an expert. Movies that appeal to the geek in us (Matrix, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings) Dark Knight does not surpass Return of the King or ... to me the greatest geek movie Empire Strikes Back. Also the best sequel ever. (Godfather was better than Godfather 2).

Lets break Empire down a bit.
1) You have unexpected surprises, forget the "I am your father!". I saw the movie opening day and you should have heard the gasps in the theater when Darth Vader is standing there in the Cloud City dining room ... I think he was cutting a turkey... my memory is a little foggy.
2) Dark ending that tortured me knowing I had to wait 3 years for the conclusion. The great snappy dialog by Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark) that brought the characters to life (who admit it... were a little stiff in the first movie... ok very stiff).
3)Yoda. the problem with Yoda though was he ushered in the muppetfest that was the third movie and that led to JarJar and the eventual downfall of the franchise. Plus Yoda was the person who made Luke stop being a whining little b****,
4) First full Jedi-Sith battle.

Anyways, Empire is the highest ranked geek movie after Dark Knight. I just think that overtime Dark Knight will continue to drop as other geek films like Matrix, Memento and Amelie (I am including that as a female geek movie).

I would love to hear other thoughts on Dark Knight, Empire Strikes Back, IMDB or favorite movies.

(as for Art of Ledger's Joker... read the other Blog)

Thanks,
Leon Jimenez
L.A. Artwork.com

Heath Ledger, The Joker, Art and Subtle Acting

As far as a drawing of Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. Well right now everyone and their mother did art of him. A perfect storm of Great new character, dead celebrity and huge hit movie that led to this glut of Ledger art.

Some may not know.. but I do not draw the recently departed. I am not a vulture and always wait about a year to honor someone without trying to profit from their death. (By the way Warhol did the Monroe silkscreen the week she died in tribute to her beauty... and that is fine since he was one of the pioneers and felt a desire to express his sentiments... but some of the art I have seen .. just seems opportunistic).

Also I work directly from the movie and try my best not to work from stills anymore (yes there are still some). My goal is always to present a new image that never existed before. Good example is the Sopranos art. There is still like that. I paused the DVD for the face, added the suit and cigar. That ended up being a very portrait type shot compared to my other drawings but I liked it.

My Frank Sinatra Art is another that you will not find and fans have never seen. (would have made a more interesting U.S. stamp than the photo someone repainted earlier this year.)

So back to Ledger (who I think gave his best performance in Brokeback Mountain) did such a great job as the Joker that people forgot the iconic Nicholson version. Have to say my favorite performance in the movie was Aaron Eckhart not just as Two-Face but the White Knight Harvey Dent. A lot of times people only notice the showy performance and don't give credit to impressive subtle work (Dustin Hoffman performance was perfect in Rain Man... but Tom Cruise had the much harder role with character arch and reactionary acting).
Now if I was going to do art....Two-Face is much more visually appealing to me thans Dent (O.K. Maybe I am weird).

In the end I would love to draw a Ledger Joker if I feel it is a strong work of art... and that I will not know until I watch the movie (frame by frame).

Please check LAartwork.com often and join the mailing list for notifications.

Also Warner Brothers does not like artists expressing their sentiments on their characters or films. So if you see snatch it while you can if it does go up for sell.

So let's hear your thoughts or what you would like to see.

Thanks,
Leon Jimenez