Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos.

9 years later, The Dark Knight doesn't just stand alone as the best of its kind, it's a snapshot of post-9/11 paranoia and a state of fear that has engulfed American society underneath a "dark cloud".

Batman is the greatest superhero because he is the only one who can be the focal point of a movie like this without coming off as preachy or obvious. The diversity and depth of the characters…

Coming up on 9 years since a thunderbolt hit cinema, The Dark Knight has gained, not lost relevancy.

Loss, regret, and bravery are put on the line. While most superhero movies approach these with tears and CGI explosions, The Dark Knight focuses on the aftermath. At the end of the day, what excites me as a movie fan isn't the act of throwing the rock into the pond, it's watching the ripples. That's where the real art lies.

I know this…

Hard to believe that 8 years ago today, my world was turned
completely upside-down.

In my most recent re-watch of The Dark Knight (close to the 20th time I've seen the damn thing) I was once again filled with complete and total satisfaction. This is everything you could ask for from a movie.

Before superheroes and franchises were concerned more with protecting a brand and keeping the money coming in, Christopher fucking Nolan showed the world how good comic-book based…

Middle Earth is not a fun place to live, I've gathered.

Return of the King is an excellent conclusion to this series, capping off the trilogy in an exceptionally satisfying way. But as someone who has read a page or two of Tolkien in his life, I felt a little overwhelmed.

I think The Fellowship of the Ring is my favorite because it's the smallest of the three. Between introducing the characters and igniting the plot, I felt like I…

I need you. And I love you.

While I still get caught up in the mafia politics, the character interactions and immaculate story construction, these last few watches I have thought more about the thematic element of America in these movies.

Of course it starts with the big speech, but I like how the theme of the Corleone’s assimilation into the country is woven in in subtle ways, with Kay, and Michael’s admission to her in the quote above, as…