Stream Guide: The Dark Knight & Her (August 3rd, 2018)

August 3, 2018 / Leave a Comment

THE DARK KNIGHT on NETFLIX

Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is the pinnacle of superhero films, DC or Marvel, which is crazy when you analyze the current landscape of the DC superhero films and the sheer number of Marvel superhero films. Heath Ledger as The Joker was simply on another level when it comes to comparing cinematic villains. Yes, Josh Brolin knocks it out of the park as Thanos and yes, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger is one of the best villains of the 2018, but Heath Ledger not only won an Academy Award for his performance (posthumously) but revolutionized the superhero genre in general. I remember sitting in the theater after seeing the film for the first time and thinking to myself, “this is the film that is going to bridge the gap between the general movie audience and the comic book audience.” It’s too bad Nolan couldn’t have been persuaded to helm the DC Universe with Christian Bale’s Batman at the center.

You cannot have “The Dark Knight” without Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins,” which started it all. Liam Neeson played the villain to Bale’s Batman, but nothing would ever capture the magic that Ledger would bring in the sequel. Before he was The Joker, Heath Ledger was in one of my favorite teen movies, “10 Things I Hate About You,” which also starred “The Dark Knight Rises” star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Prior to heading into the DC Universe, director Zack Snyder was directing a different kind of superheroes in “Watchmen,” which was based on a popular graphic novel. “Iron Man” was the first Marvel Universe film, which was then followed by ‘The Incredible Hulk” starring Edward Norton in the leading role. His love interest was Liv Tyler and she could be seen in one of the best home invasion films of all time, “The Strangers,” to which a sequel was released this year. Before Scarlett Johansson was starring as the Black Widow in the Marvel Universe, we was co-starring with Bill Murray in the Sofia Coppola film “Lost In Translation.” Tommy Lee Jones can be seen in the very first Captain America film, subtitled “The First Avenger,” but I’ve probably seen him the most times starring in “U.S. Marshals,” an action film with Wesley Snipes, which used to frequently cycle on cable when I was a teen. Ryan Reynolds has always had a way with comedy, but his most recent jaunts as Deadpool were preceded by one of his funniest roles in the comedy “Waiting,” alongside Justin Long and Anna Faris. Joaquin Phoenix will soon be playing the Joker in his own standalone, origin film, directed by “The Hangover” helmer Todd Phillips, but a few years ago, Phoenix landed in one of my favorite films of the year, about a man that falls in love with a disembodied voice on his computer (also played by Scarlett Johansson) in the film “Her.” And, despite not actually being a superhero film, “The Equalizer” films are basically Denzel Washington playing a version of Batman, the latest of which just hit theaters this summer, but before those films, he was winning Oscars, one of which was for his role in “Training Day,” where he played a corrupt cop showing a rookie the ropes.