I Believe in Harvey Dent — and Halloween!

When I was a kid, I thought Michael Jackson was a real werewolf. He could also turn into a zombie (and back), a sports car, and — if he was in really serious trouble — a giant robot.

Then I found out about the magic of special effects, and that there were squads of people whose job it was to make Jackson look like an inhuman monster.* Their jobs were fascinating to me, and I loved watching behind-the-scenes specials (the “Thriller” making-of is particularly good) and finding out how various movie characters were created.

Of course, CGI takes much of the romance out of process now. But watching practical-effect-driven movies like Hellboy II: The Golden Army and The Dark Knight brings back that childlike curiosity for me. For Halloween this year, I wanted to attempt my own version of possibly the greatest tragic villian in all of literature: Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face.

I made the prosthetic from scratch (except for that big bloody patch on my cheek, that’s a store-bought “dog bite” I glued on and painted), turning a modified bald wig into a make-shift “mask” that I hand-painted. I spray-painted on a “graphite” finish to simulate an ashy texture, then painted in the details and stuck it to my face. Up until I put it all on for the first time, I didn’t know if it would work OK. But I was pretty happy with it in the end. Hopefully I’ll run into a Joker somewhere. (Or Catwoman … mmm …)

All I need now is a half-dollar to flip menacingly. But, you know, the economy sucks right now — so I’ll have to make due with a quarter. Happy Halloween!

*They’re called plastic surgeons.

Running Joker

I might as well make this a Batman blog, as 70-percent of the content so far is somehow Joker- or Dark Knight-related. But it’s all a big coincidence, I promise. 

Flying in the face of that promise is a link to yet another story on TDK, this one about who — should Christopher Nolan somehow opt to bring The Joker back for Batman 3*  — is best suited to take up Heath Ledger’s grease paint and jagged smile. Current freelancer Matthew Monagle suggests Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Yes, the kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun. But he was also awesome as the teen detective in Brick, and apparently equally awesome in The Lookout and various other indie-film roles.

Really, this article just gave me an opportunity to play in Photoshop. Once I started layering on the facepaint, I was sort of astounded at how eerily similar Gordon-Levitt looks to Ledger — he could be Heath’s skinnier, younger brother. I didn’t do anything to Levitt’s face other than cake on the makeup and add The Joker’s trademark facial scaring, (in other words, no scaling/moving of features) and the finished product looks pretty close to Ledger to me. So, even though Ledger won’t be reprising his role, it doesn’t have to mean the end of The Joker in a third Batfilm. Now all  have to do is get Gordon-Levitt to stand completely still and not say anything to make the illusion complete.

This article reminded me of another image I had worked up over a year ago, back when ibelieveinharveydent.com first hit the internet (it, and all the other Dark Knight viral sites, have since been “Jokerized”) and we got our first look at Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. I was bored one night and did my own take on Two-Face’s facial scarring — although after seeing the movie, my version (on the left) was way too tame … yikes.

*If they keep up not using the word “Batman” in the title, what other nicknames are left? Caped Crusader? Matches Malone?)

I couldn’t resist.

Actor Christian Bale, The Dark Knight himself (and soon to be John Connor … and I think he was a Swing Kid), was arrested in Britain today for allegedly assaulting his mother and sister. This sounded fishy to me when I heard the news this morning, but according to Wikipedia (and they’re never wrong. Right?) Bale launched a “verbal assault” on his family, which apparently is against the law in England.

I’m not sure what constitutes as a verbal assault. Yelling? Swearing? Talking in your Batman voice? “Yo mama” jokes? Regardless (and without a single shred of evidence or testimony heard), I sympathize with Bale in this situation (who can’t relate to annoying family problems?), and to show my solidarity I designed this T-shirt. Christian Bale — sir — we’ve got your back through this. And you’ll never have to thank us.

UPDATE: According to tmz.com, there may have been some physical contact, but not anything as severe as a Batman-style headbutt. Stay tuned for more developments — same beat-time, same beat-channel.

UPDATE 2: Bale is innocent according to The Daily Mail, and apparently depressed over the death of his arch-nemesis, Heath Ledger. I forgot that they worked together before Dark Knight in the awesome Bob Dylan pseudo-biopic I’m Not There (rent it if you haven’t seen it). They didn’t have any scenes together (Ledger — a Dylan stand-in — plays an actor playing another Dylan stand-in, Jack Rollins [Bale], in a Rollins biopic. It sounds complicated, but trust me, it’s awesome), but they must have really hit it off.

Film review: “The Dark Knight”

As Batman swooped over Gotham City at the end of Batman Begins, the promise of bigger, better adventures hung in the air with him. With The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan hasn’t just made good on that promise — he’s crafted a smart, layered sequel that expands the comic-book-movie genre’s vocabulary. It’s a perfect mash-up of art and audience-pleaser: The Godfather in pointy ears and clown makeup.

Close encounters with the third screen

This piece cost me many hours of sleep, but was a ton of fun to work on. In this week’s Current, Ashley Lindstrom takes a look at how the “third screen” (i.e., iPhones and other portable media devices) will impact movie theaters and how we watch films in general. (The “second screen” is TV.)

My editor suggested tying the story in with this summer’s movie season, so I rounded up some of the more recognizable characters so far (sorry, Iron Man), stuck them in a movie theater, but gave them all iPhones (except for Maxwell Smart back there on a shoe phone, and Sex and the City’s Samantha, with a cocktail). Even though Harrison Ford looks more like Mel Gibson (or Ed O’Neill), I actually really like this piece, particularly WALL•E — is it possible to love a character before you’ve seen the movie he’s in? (Too late, I want one.)

Finished cover after the jump. The new issue is on newstands today and online at sacurrent.com!