2 Good Things

1. The Dark Knight on IMAX
Went to see it with Kelly, Vince, and a few others Friday night at 9:00. IMAX is the way to go, not only because of the stellar views of the city, but also because the seats were assigned, so there was no huge line and no rushing in to get the best seats. We didn't even start gathering around the entrance until 8:30 or so. The whole affair was much more civilized than I expected. I was a little worried when this woman in the row in front of us was blabbing about how her friend was in the movie and how they were all going to scream when they saw him, and when someone started shining a bat signal flashlight at the screen during the previews, but that was the extent of the rowdiness. The crowd was enthusiastic but silently reverent during the film. They laughed at the right places, they clapped where appropriate. I guess when tickets are $15 and sell out two weeks before, you weed out some of the riff-raff.

As for the film, I thought it was phenomenal. There were a few plot points I found implausible, and I found Bale's Batman voice a little silly at times, but I'm not going to nitpick. Vince texted me over the weekend and said he kept thinking about the movie. I feel the same way. Moments keep coming up in my mind. It was also doubly fun to watch the movie as a Chicago resident. So many buildings were familiar. The court building where Harvey Dent worked is the same place where Kelly and I took filings for the law firm. There was even a scene filmed right outside the church where we got married. One of the Gotham City buses was clearly a CTA bus with the logo changed just a little bit to say GTA. It was fun picking all that stuff out.

Also, I thought Heath Ledger's performance fully lived up to the hype. I think I would feel the same way even if he hadn't passed. He did a fantastic job embodying that character. I loved Nicholson's turn as the Joker in 1989 when I was in third grade, and I loved what Ledger did with it. In contrast, I found his performance in Brokeback Mountain very understated and subtle. Kelly hasn't seen that film, so it's next on the Netflix queue.

2. Wii
I got about 2 hours of sleep Sunday night, so when it came time for me to get ready for work, I had been up for hours and had a splitting headache. I decided to call in sick. Kelly did as well, and as luck would have it, the Wii arrived, after almost two weeks from the time the eBay guy shipped it USPS. I had it mailed to my work address, so there was a covert operation to retrieve it from the mail room without being detected by any co-workers.

The operation was a smashing success. I got in, picked up the package, and slipped back out. The mail room is a floor below where I work, and I didn't see anyone I knew on the elevator rides up or down. Everything was in great condition and we were playing Mario Kart Wii within minutes of opening the box. I also tried out Wii Play (lame) and baseball and bowling on Wii Sports (cool). I have yet to try out Link's Crossbow, but that'll be sweet. There are also some Nintendo 64 games I have yet to try.

How about your respective weekends?