PORFLE VS. PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHO LARRY STORCH IS

(The following is my tribute to the late, great Larry Storch, which I wrote many years ago and repost here in fond memory of him.)


"What the hell do you mean, 'who's Larry Storch?'"

"I mean I don't know who the hell Larry Storch is!  Who the hell is Larry Storch?"

Infuriating, isn't it?  If you're like me, and find yourself in this situation at least once a day, you can understand why there are so many sudden, unexplained attacks across America every day.  Chances are, it's someone who knows who Larry Storch is attacking someone who doesn't know who he is. 

Here's an example that may sound woefully familiar to you: several years ago I got set up on a blind date, and I gallantly called the young lady up in advance to verify the time and place where we'd meet--which, by the way, was a Denny's on Wilton Boulevard, since I wanted to impress her.  She asked me what I looked like, and I told her (again, wanting to impress her) that I resembled actor Larry Storch. 

"Who's Larry Storch?" she inquired. 

"What the hell do you mean, 'who's Larry Storch?'" I screamed, a volcanic eruption of blazing hot fury erupting like a million geysers from every fiber of my tortured being. 

"I mean I don't know who the hell Larry Storch is!  Who the hell is Larry Storch?" she persisted, incredibly unaware of her own utter stupidity.

"What are you, incredibly unaware of your own utter stupidity or something?" I shrieked, kicking the glass walls out of the phone booth that I was standing in and repeatedly smashing my body into the frame until the whole thing fell over into the street with a resounding crash.  "ARE YOU SOME KIND OF A TOTAL F**KING IDIOT?  GRRRRRRR!!!  By the way, that's the Denny's on Wilton Boulevard, not the one next to the bowling alley on Burton Street."

Well, she never showed up.  She was probably too embarrassed by her own utter stupidity to show her face, and you can hardly blame her, but she could at least have stopped by my house later for the obligatory blind-date sex that I have come to expect over the years.  I've never actually had sex on a blind date, of course, but I have come to expect it.  Anyway, it's just as well, because I found out later that she looked more like Larry Storch than I do. 

I guess one of the reasons that women who look like Larry Storch don't know who he is might be that people are reluctant to tell these women that they look like Larry Storch.  But that's still no excuse for never having heard of him.  Anyone who's ever watched an episode of "F Troop" or "Ghost Busters" should not only know who he is, but should in fact consider him to be one of the greatest human beings who ever walked the face of the earth, next to Robert Loggia and Ben Gazzara.  They should also know who Forrest Tucker is as well, since he co-starred in both of those series with Larry Storch. 

Well, I brought all of this up at a political fundraiser that I attended several years ago, in an attempt to liven up what I considered to be some pretty boring chit-chat amongst a gaggle of pseudo-sophisticates who were standing around sipping drinks and tittering a lot.  When the mayor's wife gaily inquired, "Who's Forrest Tucker?" I poured my drink in her face.  As I congratulated myself for my restraint, another total moron--I think it was the mayor--chimed in with, "How dare you!  And 'Ghostbusters' was a movie with Bill Murray in it, not a television series!" 

Again I held my temper, and responded by merely flinging the hors d'ouevres table over, drenching several people with caviar and other gooey, expensive treats.  But then, just as I was returning to my usual casual demeanor, I heard a voice say, "Yeah, and who the hell's Larry Storch?"  The next few moments are still a blur in my memory, but the next day there was a picture of me on the front page of the newspaper in which some quick-thinking photographer had managed to catch me in mid-air as I hurled myself at the governor with the crazed look of a kabuki dancer. 

My interest in politics continued when I later attended the Carter-Ford debate and, after furiously waving my hand for several minutes, managed to get called upon to ask the presidential candidates a question.  When the guy held the microphone up to my face I took a deep breath, cleared my throat, and asked, "How do you feel about Larry Storch?"  A perplexed Jimmy Carter smiled uncertainly and asked, "Who's Larry Storch?" 

Just as I was about to charge the stage and hurl myself at him, Gerald Ford responded confidently, "Larry Storch is the greatest actor who ever lived.  Perhaps even the greatest human being who ever lived."  Banging the podium to emphasize each word, he added, "I...love...Larry...Storch!" The audience erupted with unrestrained cheers and applause! Well, I did, anyway.  And I sure as hell voted for Gerald Ford that year.  Jimmy Carter won, though, and, as you might expect, my extensive campaign to have Larry Storch's Birthday declared a national holiday was totally ignored by the government of the United States of America for the next four years.  Talk about malaise.  That, and possibly the Iran hostage situation as well, resulted in Carter losing his bid for re-election.  Take that, Carter!  Betcha know who Larry Storch is now!  BWAH-ha-ha!!!

Well, I've cut down on my attacks in recent years.  Maybe because of the wisdom and maturity that come with age, or maybe because I was getting beaten up a lot.  But the realization that attacking people because they don't know who Larry Storch is might not be a good thing to do finally came to me as I was discussing future attacks with my trusted consigleri, Tom Hagen.  Tom, not a wartime consigleri, is often the voice of reason in contrast with my unrestrained hostility, as can be heard in the following exchange...

TOM: Now, former President Carter and the Governor of Texas are on the run. Are they worth it? And are we strong? Is it worth it? I mean you've won...you want to attack everybody?

PORFLE: I don't feel I have to attack everybody, Tom. Just people who don't know who Larry Storch is, that's all. Now, are you gonna come along with me in these things I have to do or what? Because if not, you can take your "F Troop", your "Ghost Busters", and your "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" DVDs...trade 'em all in for Adam Sandler movies.

TOM: Why do you hurt me, porfle? I've always been loyal to you. I mean, what is this?

PORFLE: You're right, Tom.  I should stop attacking people who don't know who Larry Storch is.

TOM: Well, you should try to cut down, anyway.

PORFLE VS. PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHO LARRY STORCH IS

HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/23/15

  

You don't have to be a computer whiz to appreciate "Halt and Catch Fire", the AMC series about an upstart electronics company in Dallas, Texas taking on monolithic IBM in a race to come up with the first portable personal computer. In fact, even the most borderline "tech savvy" viewer such as myself can find plenty here to be entertained by even as the geek-speak flies right over our heads.

Set in the early 80s (with RETURN OF THE JEDI still in its first theatrical run) Anchor Bay's HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON captures the furiously competitive world of the burgeoning PC industry with ample amounts of drama and suspense. In this fictionalized account of real-life events, Cardiff Electronics boss John Bosworth (Toby Huss, JERRY MAGUIRE, COWBOYS & ALIENS) makes a fateful decision when he hires the brash and manically driven Joe McMillan (Lee Pace, THE RESIDENT, THE HOBBIT), an ex-IBM exec, as his head of product development.

Joe causes chaos by weeding out the less imaginative employees and channeling ever-increasing resources into building a faster, cheaper PC, one which weighs less than fifteen pounds and can be carried in a briefcase. Much of the show's watchability comes from seeing him plunge recklessly forward through any personal, professional, or financial crisis as though his life depended on it, with an almost sociopathic singlemindedness. Hints of his past, including an unfortunate childhood trauma and his ousting from IBM (John Getz of THE FLY will guest-star as his IBM exec father), make him even more of an ongoing mystery.

For his core team, Joe drafts hardware genius Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE), an office drone still haunted by the inexplicable failure of his own brilliant innovations in the field (Joe recognizes his potential and reignites it by tasking him to reverse-engineer the IBM computer chip), and software savant Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis, BAD TURN WORSE), a punky, videogame-addicted college student who seems to have cut her teeth on writing computer code.

The big drama isn't just in whether or not they can come up with the technological breakthroughs they're striving for--they're also trying to do all of that without causing Cardiff electronics to go out of business, mainly due to legal actions brought against it by their monolithic competitor IBM. After reverse-engineering that IBM chip, the team must then come up with their own non-copyrighted version that will pass legal muster and do so before the company goes under.

Between Gordon's marital problems with wife Donna (Kerry Bishé), another tech head working for Texas Instruments, and the unhealthy sexual relationship between Joe and Cameron, the show features plenty of non-computer-related mischief that also manages somehow to be relevant in various ways to the ongoing professional intrigue. The characters are far from perfect and often display less-than-admirable traits, which makes them more believable and identifiable.

The 80s-era period atmosphere is good, although the Georgia locations don't convey much of a "Texas" vibe and neither do some of the less-than-authentic accents. (Guest stars Jean Smart and Texas-born Annette O'Toole are exceptions.) When the resident eggheads start spouting volumes of computer lingo at each other, it reminds me of the techno-gibberish used on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"--I don't really have to know exactly what it all means to appreciate its dramatic impact.

The entire season builds up to the big electronics sales convention in Las Vegas where the team goes to unveil their big gamble to their peers along with the rest of the world. Here, just when we think all is finally well and that a major victory is at hand, a shockingly unexpected and near catastrophic setback gets them scrambling into damage control mode again.

The 3-disc Blu-ray set from Anchor Bay (10 episodes, approx. 435 minutes) is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Extras consist of three featurettes--"Remaking the 80s", "Rise of the Digital Cowboys", and "Setting the Fire: Research and Technology"--along with a brief behind-the-scenes look at all ten episodes. Also contained are instructions on how to instantly stream and download a digital HD ultraviolet copy of the series.

HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON succeeds in taking something totally foreign to me and making it interesting. It's fun seeing all the dramatic stuff that went into the creation of this amazing invention that most of us take for granted every day.

HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

ROBIN WILLIAMS: COMIC GENIUS (5-DISC SET) -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

 

Originally posted on 10/10/19 

 

Having never been a fan of Robin Williams' stand-up act, talk show appearances, or hit ABC television series "Mork and Mindy", it might be surprising to find that I'm recommending ROBIN WILLIAMS: COMIC GENIUS (Time-Life), a 5-disc chronicle of his astounding stand-up comedy career.

I recommend it mainly to his many, many fans, who should find this collection a treasure chest of joy and laughter along with a bittersweet mixture of other emotions. 

And for those who, like me, never warmed up to his comedy style, it's a fascinating look at a man who gave happiness to others even though his lifelong struggle to find it for himself eventually proved too much for him to bear.

Disc 1 begins with Robin already a known and very popular commodity with HBO's "On Location--Off the Wall" (1978), then shows us how he got to that point in the featurette "Robin Williams--The Early Years." Then follows some of Robin's early TV stand-up performances, his "Dick Cavett Show" appearance, Robin's brief encounter with Frank Sinatra on "Laugh-In", and an interview with Robin's manager, David Steinberg.

Disc 2 features "An Evening With Robin Williams" (1983) along with a variety of featurettes including various stand-up appearances and his stirring patriotic routine "I Love Liberty."

Disc 3 gives us "Robin Williams: An Evening at the Met", one of the most glittering and prestigious showcases of his talent, along with several other featurettes.

Disc 4's highlight is "Robin Williams: Live on Broadway", followed by promos and interviews.

Disc 5 concludes the collection with the 2009 comedy special, "Robin Williams: Weapons of Self-Destruction", which showcases Robin at the height of his comedic powers before a wildly appreciative audience. Finishing off the disc is a selection of featurettes including People's Choice Awards presentations, a taping of "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales", and other items.

Through it all, we see hours upon hours of Robin Williams performing at a lightning-fast pace with comic improvisations pouring from his imagination, his frenetic style both profane and childlike, as his audiences respond with utter delight and affection. 

ROBIN WILLIAMS: COMIC GENIUS gives us this utterly unique, once-in-a-lifetime comic superstar at his most happy and content, onstage and basking in the shared experience that only charged him to go farther, faster, and funnier.


Also available in 12 and 22 disc sets

(Portions of this review appeared in our look at the 12-disc version as seen HERE)

Disc 1: Off The Wall


    HBO On Location: Robin Williams—Off the Wall
    Original Air Date: October 27, 1978

    Featurette: Robin Williams—The Early Years

    The Second Annual HBO Young Comedians Show
    Original Air Date: September 24, 1977

    The Great American Laugh-Off
    Original Air Date: October 22, 1977

    Robin Meets Mr. Sinatra
    Original Air Date: November 2, 1977

    The Dick Cavett Show
    Original Air Dates: May 16 and 17, 1979
    
    Interview with David Steinberg, Robin’s Manager


Disc 2: An Evening with Robin Williams


    An Evening with Robin Williams
    Original Air Date: March 12, 1983
    
    Featurette: San Francisco—Where It All Began
    
    Director Howard Storm Demo Taping with Robin
    Taped 1982
    
    Comedy Celebration Day
    San Francisco: 1982, 1984, 1990

    I Love Liberty
    Original Air Date: March 21, 1982

    Catch a Rising Star’s 10th Anniversary
    Original Air Date: September 30, 1982

    The Comedy Store 10th 11th Anniversary
    Original Air Date: July 17, 1983
    
    The Comedy Store 15th Year Class Reunion
    Original Air Date: November 23, 1988

    Robin Remembers the Comedy Store
    Taped 2001


Disc 3: An Evening at the Met


    Robin Williams: An Evening at the Met
    With Introduction by Lewis Black
    Original Air Date: October 11, 1986

        HBO Press Interview
    
        Promo Taping
    
    “Beverly Hills Blues” with Bobby McFerrin
    Taped March 4, 1986
    
    The Young Comedians All-Star Reunion
    Original Air Date: November 15, 1986
    
    Superstars and Their Moms
    Original Air Date: May 3, 1987
    
    Interview with David Steinberg, Robin’s Manager
    
    Interview with Lewis Black


Disc 4: Live on Broadway

    Robin Williams: Live on Broadway
    With Introduction by David Steinberg, Robin’s Manager
    Original Air Date: July 14, 2002

        Interview with Robin and Director Marty Callner
    
        Noises
    
        Explicit Language
    
        HBO Promos
    
        HBO Promos Rough Cuts
    
        Robin’s Promo Riff
    
    E! Press Room after Robin’s LIVE 2002 Grammy Win
    Original Air Date: February 23, 2003


Disc 5: Weapons of Self Destruction


    Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction
    With Introduction by Lewis Black
    Original Air Date: December 6, 2009
    
        A Backstage Pass
    
        A View from the Director’s Chair
    
        Local Highlights
    
    Mrs. Doubtfire Toasts Richard Pryor
    Taped 1993
    
    People’s Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy Motion Picture
    Original Air Date: March 8, 1994
    
    People’s Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Motion Picture
    Original Air Date: March 8, 1994
    
    E! Press Room after Robin’s People’s Choice Wins
    Original Air Date: March 8, 1994
    
    Shakespeare: The Animated Tales—HBO Promos
    Taped August 25, 1995 

 

ROBIN WILLIAMS: COMIC GENIUS (5-DISC SET) -- DVD Review by Porfle

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 9/11/2011

 

An irresistible treasure trove of blood red Lewis-abilia, Image Entertainment and Something Weird Video's HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE is just about the most absorbing and utterly delightful documentary that fans of the pioneering filmmaker could hope for.  Covering his entire career in exhaustive detail, we're treated to first-hand insider accounts along with a wealth of film clips, outtakes, press materials, and other goodies. 

"Part filmmaker, part carny" describes both Lewis and his longtime partner, producer/distributor David Friedman, who take an active part in the production and supply us with most of the behind-the-scenes information.  A teacher of English and Humanities, Lewis drifted into advertising before buying half interest in a film studio and making his first erotic exploitation film, "The Primetime" in the late 50s.  ("It wasn't the greatest film in the world," says Friedman, "but it had sprocket holes and could run through the machine.")  For his next one, "Living Venus", he discovered frequent star William Kerwin and a young Harvey Korman in a home economics film called "Carving Magic." 

Self-distribution led to screenings in burlesque houses, which then got Lewis and Friedman started making "nudie cuties" (which the documentary's co-director Frank "Basket Case" Henenlotter calls "the stupidest movies ever made.")  Russ Meyer's "The Immoral Mr. Teas" inspired them to expand these short films into nudist-camp features such as "The Adventures of Lucky Pierre" (shot for $8,000) with Lewis and Friedman serving as the entire film crew.



Just about any film or individual mentioned during the narrative is accompanied by clips and/or photos--even "Carving Magic" is briefly seen.  The first part of the film is a concise history of nudie cuties and nudist camp features in the 50s and early 60s, with generous feature clips and behind-the-scenes footage.  Even a nude and surprisingly fit Mal Arnold, who would later play villain Fuad Ramses in "Blood Feast", can be spotted in shots from "Goldilocks and the Three Bares." 

As the novelty value of these films began to wear off, Lewis and Friedman moved on to the next logical frontier of exploitation--gore.  Here we get into the real meat, so to speak, of the documentary, with detailed accounts of the making of "Blood Feast" (1963), "Two Thousand Maniacs" (1964), "Color Me Blood Red" (1965), and other horrors that were extremely shocking at the time and brought the ire of local censor boards down upon anyone connected with them.  Again, this segment is packed with highlights and outtakes from each film, with an enthusiastic Lewis speaking at length about what went on during production and Mal Arnold adding his own recollections about "Blood Feast"--which was shot in four-and-a-half days for $24,500.

Lewis non-gore efforts are covered as well, including the ripped-from-the-headlines "The Girl, the Body, and the Pill" and a delightfully lame rock'n'roll comedy called "Blast-off Girls" (both from 1967), which featured, of all people, Colonel Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame (who supplied the cast and crew with free chicken in return for some product placement).  We also see scenes from Lewis' director-for-hire film "The Magic Land of Mother Goose" and the outrageous bad-girl biker flick "She-Devils on Wheels."



Briefly flirting with a more mainstream appeal, Lewis made the less violent "A Taste of Blood" in 1967 before delving back into gore with a vengeance.  As is demonstrated by the numerous clips, films such as "The Wizard of Gore", "The Gruesome Twosome", and 1972's horrendous "The Gore-Gore Girls" (his final film, which featured legendary comedian Henny Youngman) are some of the most cheerfully depraved forays into graphic violence Lewis ever directed.

Despite his reputation, however, Lewis comes off as an earnest and personable guy whose excitement and sense of fun are infectious.  In addition to the talking head stuff (which in no way dominates the film) we see him at the home he shares with wife Margo and addressing a direct-market advertising conference, which is his current passion.  We also follow him and Friedman to St. Cloud, Florida, the location for "Two Thousand Maniacs", where they're warmly received by the town's current citizens (in a funny re-enactment of the film's opening scenes) and reunited with longtime junior partner Jerome Eden. 

Best of all, the film ends with Lewis appearing along with "Blood Feast"'s Mal Arnold and Connie Mason at the 2005 Chiller Theater Expo, where he performs a rousing rendition of his "Two Thousand Maniacs" theme. "Ya-HOOO!  The South will rise again!" he croons with boyish glee as the crowd goes wild.

Also appearing in the film are Lewis devotees Joe Bob Briggs, John Waters, and Frank Henenlotter, whose insights into the maverick filmmaker's career are invaluable, and a host of Lewis associates with extensive personal experience in the making of these films.  Lewis' son Robert gives us the lowdown on the fine art of squeezing an eyeball for the camera.  Actor Ray Sager enhances his comments with a spot-on Lewis impersonation, while cinematographer Steven Poster admits, "I don't know if I've ever actually seen one of his movies."  Andy Romanoff, who accurately opines that these films are memorable "for their lack of craft" and "because they're so terribly made", inspires this exasperated remark from Lewis: "The problem I had with Andy Romanoff was that he wanted to make a good movie!"



Fans of the great Bill Kerwin (probably best known as the star of "Blood Feast" along with the non-Lewis trash classic "Playgirl Killer aka Decoy For Terror") will be happy to discover much behind-the-scenes footage and information about this legendary actor.  In addition to "Carving Magic", we also get to see a scene from an industrial short which actually shows Kerwin involved in a happy, shiny song-and-dance routine.  Described as a hard-working, hard-drinking go-to guy who proved invaluable to Lewis on the set, Kerwin is showcased in footage from the unfinished "An Eye for an Eye", which was unearthed and partially assembled by Something Weird to give us an idea of what this lost film might have been like.

The DVD from Image Entertainment and Something Weird Video is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby stereo.  No subtitles.  Extras include H.G. Lewis trailers (with taglines such as "It's tantalizing, titillating, and tantamount to tremendous!"), a Lewis nudie short entitled "Hot Night at the Go-Go Lounge!", and a photo gallery.  Best of all is a full hour of deleted material from the documentary, which is practically a whole extra feature in itself.  One of the highlights is the sight of Bill Kerwin punching out a plate glass window with his bare hands.

H.G. Lewis fans can't go wrong with HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE, which captures the excitement of making underground films about forbidden subjects which shocked and horrified contemporary sensibilities.  As Lewis tells us, "That was the entire intent, to make something outrageous.  And in that respect, yes, we did succeed."  To which Friedman adds: "We had fun."


Buy it at Amazon.com
Read our coverage of the "Blood Trilogy" Blu-Ray collection

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE DARK KNIGHT -- DVD Review by Porfle

(First posted Dec. 17, 2008)

How dark should a "Batman" movie be? Some fans despise the Frank Miller-influenced take on the character that's become popular in recent years, especially after Tim Burton exorcised all of that jolly Adam West campiness once and for all back in '89. Others, like me, loved the Michael Keaton version of the caped crusader and were even happier to see director Christopher Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS take the subject to still greater heights of realism. Now, with Nolan's 2008 sequel THE DARK KNIGHT, Batman gets his darkest and most adult screen adventure yet, and--unless you prefer your Batman scurrying around on giant pennies with Robin and Bat-Mite--it's a complex and magnificent achievement.

The story opens with a Gotham City beseiged by a hornet's nest of gangland criminals stirred up by the Batman's tireless efforts to thwart their underworld enterprises. Desperate to stop him, they turn to the only person who seems crazy enough to take him on--The Joker, a mysterious, seemingly fearless psycho in clown makeup who lives to create as much chaos as possible. He also aims to prove that anyone is corruptible by taking on Gotham's dauntless new D.A., Harvey Dent, who rivals Batman as a crusader against crime. To do this, Joker plans to murder Dent's one true love, assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, and place the blame on Batman and newly-appointed police commissioner James Gordon, thus twisting Dent himself into a vengeful agent of terror.

There's a lot of story packed into this film's 152-minute running time, perhaps even too much--it took me two or three viewings to get everything straight and fully appreciate all the twists and turns--but it's riveting. More than just a superhero flick, THE DARK KNIGHT is a top-notch crime drama that takes itself seriously in every respect, while also fully exploring the dimensions of each character. Mix all that with a series of breathtaking action sequences featuring Batman in some of his most dazzlingly audacious exploits ever, and the effect is nothing less than exhilarating.

The best thing about the action scenes in this movie is how much of it is done without CGI, using good old-fashioned stuntwork and practical effects instead of digital cartoon figures slugging it out. This is especially true of the film's central setpiece, in which Harvey Dent is being transferred to the county lock-up after publicly confessing that he is Batman. It's all a ruse, of course, to draw the Joker into the open, and it results in a no-holds-barred chase scene involving police and SWAT vans, a tractor-trailer rig, a garbage truck, and the Batmobile. At one point, Batman emerges from the wreckage of the Batmobile riding his new Batcycle (officially it's called the "Batpod", but I like Batcycle better), which you gotta see to believe. The Joker takes one look at this contraption careening out of an alleyway and remarks appreciatively, "Now THERE'S a Batman."

It's this admiration and respect for Batman that helps make the Joker character interesting. Heath Ledger doesn't act stereotypically evil as much as gleefully, insanely prankish, almost childlike at times, as though the Joker simply gets a thrill from messing things up and causing trouble, and rather than try to kill Batman, he finds him a delightfully fun playmate with whom to engage in deadly games. With little regard for self-preservation and a pronounced suicidal streak ("HIT ME!" he shrieks as the Batpod bears down upon him), he hurls himself into each harrowing situation with utter abandon. But he's incredibly dangerous, too, as evidenced by his explosive escape from police custody and his lethal dealings with Gotham's mob underworld.

Ledger's Oscar-worthy performance is amazing from start to finish, consistently fascinating and endlessly surprising. Some have said that the script gives him too many speeches explaining his behavior, as in his "I'm an agent of chaos" scene with a bedridden Harvey Dent, but I could listen to him all day. He's just plain fun to watch. People have mentioned detecting elements of Richard Dreyfuss or Jack Lemmon in his portrayal, while I thought I heard a little of Al Franken's "Stuart Smalley" in there as well. He's got that insane laugh down pat, too, but it isn't an affectation--he really comes off as a total loon.

The rest of the cast is awesome as well. There's Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman from the first film (that's a kickass lineup right there), with the addition of Aaron Eckhart (THE CORE) as Harvey Dent, who later morphs into the hideous Two-Face. Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes and is effective in a non-glamorous, down-to-earth way. Cillian Murphy makes a brief return as the Scarecrow early on, and Anthony Michael Hall appears as Gotham's leading television newsman. A really pleasant surprise for me was the appearance of one of my all-time favorite actors, Eric Roberts, as the head of Gotham's criminal element, and it's great to see him in a high-profile role such as this. Likewise, I enjoyed seeing Tommy "Tiny" Lister, who appeared with Roberts in the classic RUNAWAY TRAIN, in a brief but pivotal role, as well as Melinda McGraw as Gordon's wife Barbara and William Fictner as a shotgun-wielding bank manager during the film's exciting opening sequence.

As you might expect, the movie looks and sounds great on DVD. The standard two-disc edition is a little light on extras, though. There are two brief featurettes, one covering the creation of the new Batsuit and Batpod, the other describing Hans Zimmer's musical themes for the Joker. Six sequences from the movie are presented in their IMAX aspect ratios. My favorite is the six-episode series of segments from a fictional news show, "Gotham Tonight", with Anthony Michael Hall's character interviewing various Gotham notables. Rounding out the selection are production stills, poster art, trailers, and a digital copy of the film.

In addition to these, the Blu-Ray edition includes the following:
Movie with Focus Points (picture in picture)
Batman Tech: The incredible gadgets and tools (in HD)
Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight--Delve into the psyche of Bruce Wayne and the world of Batman through real-world psychotherapy (in HD)
Galleries: The Joker cards, concept art, poster art, production stills, trailers and TV spots.

THE DARK KNIGHT ends on a suitably dark note with the Batman on the run from the law, now a suspect in several murders and a pariah in Gotham City. Is this the traditionally downbeat middle chapter of a trilogy? In any case, the untimely death of Heath Ledger makes it a memorably unique cinematic experience that, regrettably, can never be reprised. But with just about everyone else on board for the following sequel--and not a trace of giant pennies or Robin in sight--I can't wait to see what Christopher Nolan has in store for us next.

THE DARK KNIGHT -- DVD Review by Porfle