The Dark Knight

The two Oscar winning “Dark Knight” is a genius movie that has everything including an ending that no one could have seen coming. This movie is a sequel to the really good movie “Batman Begins” and it lived up to all the expectations. The movie is about this billionaire Bruce Wyane, played by Christian Bale, is back to work protecting the troubled city of Gotham City as the Batman. He starts out fighting the mobs of the town, then a new player gets into the mix and he is not holding ordinary cards. The Joker, played by Heath Ledger, is the new deranged criminal in Gotham City. He is no ordinary criminal though, he is a sick and messed up man that had a terrible life growing up, but he is a mastermind when it comes to crime.
As an actor, your goal in the movie is to become the character and get into his or her mind. This is really important if the actor is to fully understand and know his or her character. In this movie though, Heath Ledger did such a great job of becoming his character, that he could not come back from it. Shortly after he finished with this movie, he overdosed on pills. It is believed that his role as Joker really screwed him up to the point of no return. He just did so well on getting into the mind of Joker, a mastermind and lunatic, that he could not escape it.
As Jeffery Jolson says in his article “Nothing succeeds like success, a crowning performance and tragedy”, Heath Ledger was the one who made “The Dark Knight” a huge success. It was his amazing performance as one of the best villains of all time that put the movie over the one billion mark worldwide. There was no doubt that he was going to win the Best Supporting Actor award, but it’s too bad that his role drove himself to overdose on pills.
Then as Claudia Puig said in her article, “Ledger’s talent lives on as The Joker in ‘Dark Knight’, Ledger did not just disappear in his role, but never was a better term for what happened to him. He fell way to deep into his character and was not able to get up or be helped up by anyone. I agree with Mrs. Puig when she says that he now holds the top spot for the two most memorable lines "What doesn't kill you makes you stranger." And the much-quoted "Why so serious?" Heath Ledger will always be remembered and missed. Movies now a days could use his perfect talent, but now we will never know.
Jolson, Jeffrey. Nothing succeeds like success, a crowning performance and tragedy. http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/2009/02/21/oscars-2009-heath-ledgers-performance-in-%e2%80%98dark-knight-passes-1-billion/. Retrieved at March 21, 2009

Puig, Claudia. Ledger's talent lives on as The Joker in 'Dark Knight'. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2008-07-16-dark-knight-review_N.htm. Retrieved at March 21, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

The 2009 Oscar favorite, Slumdog Millionaire, is a really compelling story about how someone can go from a nobody to a millionaire just from the hardships of his life. Jamal K. Malik, played by actor Dev Patel, is a younger man that had one of the roughest childhoods one could only imagine. He lost his mother at a very young age and lived mainly by his brother most of his youth. He had terrible things happen to him from being hunted for his faith to almost getting his eyes burnt out. With all these things bad things happening to him, he learned random facts that would later win him a million dollars.

Like what Mr. Claude Brodesser-Akner said in his article, this movie is almost too real. It shows the real life that kids have to face every day and it sad. When you think about it, how many kids do you think got their eyes burnt out just so they would make more begging for money? How many kids had their mothers slain right before their eyes? The number is larger than we all would think. We live in a society that does not see these kinds of acts, but this movie really showed people here what life is like in other countries like India.

Personal, I really liked this movie, but I think that is because I am a fan of the underdogs. No one thought this kid would ever even be smart enough to get on the show, but to be smart enough or even lucky enough to win one million dollars. I do not know whether to feel happy that he won the money or feel bad that he had to relive the worst parts of his life. It just seemed like karma was to help out Jamal after and he had been through. At the end of the movie, this was really portrayed by the last words saw on screen. It was Jamal’s destiny to play that game show, win one million dollars and also be reunited with the love of his life.

In conclusion, the article “Slumdog to top dog” says “can’t a slum boy hope for a miracle?” I feel that statement is all wrong. This kid lived in one of the toughest places on the face of the earth and has probably wished for a miracle all through his childhood. It was not a miracle that this kid needed. All he needed was a chance to be something great. After all he went through, he only needed one small chance and it came in the form of “Who wants to be a Millionaire”. This kid not only brought hope to people and kids like himself, but also to people all around the world that are going through tough times. I support the Oscars on every award they gave this movie and I believe that everyone should watch it. If not for entertainment, then just for the great education it gives its viewers on the real world.