What’s Wrong with this (Moving) Picture?

…Or, Why see The Dark Knight in a Dark Theatre?

I’m a big BATMAN fan! Have been since I first saw Adam West in 1966.

Since then, I’ve enjoyed all interpretations and all eras of the character. Have a complete run of both BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS from the Silver Age to the present… and a small number that go back further still. Needless to say I loved Bruce Timm’s Batman The Animated Series – and have seen all the Batman motion pictures.

All, except THE DARK KNIGHT!

It’s not that I had any specific reason for not seeing THE DARK KNIGHT. I particularly wanted to see it, as many regard it as the best Batman film of them all.

I’ve just grown to dislike the movie-going experience. The crowds, difficulty parking, and especially the ticket prices! The theatre Esther and I frequent most often (…that is, if you can use the work “frequent” to describe our very occasional and irregular visits to the whatever-plex) now costs twenty-two dollars for two persons to attend an evening show.

Add gas, any food or drink, and the annoyance of sometimes having to buy a ticket in advance (...or risk a sold-out show), actual commercials playing on the big screen (…not movie trailers, mind you, but product commercials!) and the usual late-comers, noise-makers, and view-blockers among the audience, and it is simply not enjoyable for me anymore.

So, each week during the last blockbuster-summer, I kept putting off going to see THE DARK KNIGHT.

But I will see it this week… thanks to DVD. And for 14.99 (Best Buy’s release week sale price, as well as Amazon’s current price!) vs. the “22.00 Plus” I would have paid to experience it with all the “extras” detailed above!

Yes, you can argue “Big Screen” and “Big Sound”… but, depending on the size of your own home entertainment investments (…and ours are not at all extraordinary), you can experience it in just as much glory as you can in the whatever-plex!

For all I know, I may not even like THE DARK KNIGHT, now that I’ve purchased it and own a copy… but, I think we’ve truly reached a notable point in time when I can now buy a theatre-quality copy for less than the price of two admissions.

…Here’s hoping Heath lives up to the hype!