Oh please make it soon...

Of course it may just be my absurdly palpable anticipation that's been building steadily within my heart and soul with a cosmic fierceness since the end of Batman Begins (2005) or the fact that I'm studying Hitchcock right now, but I've recently realized that not only is Christopher Nolan one of the greatest contemporary directors in Hollywood, but his suspenseful films full of deceit and misdirection actually bear strong resemblance to those of the original master. Obviously it would be difficult to find a modern director who does not tip his or her hat to the famously plump king of "pure cinema," but in my estimation, Nolan goes above and beyond. In his films he is extremely meticulous and calculating, never shooting a single take before perfecting it in his mind. Everything on screen is intentional. Often his camera movement, sound design and editing are more important to telling the story than his dialogue -- a key Hitchcockian style. Nolan revels in thematic notions of things not being as they appear and blurred morality, and in real life, his wife is a key creative collaborator just as Hitchcock's was to him. I am certainly not asserting that their styles are identical or that Nolan seeks merely to copy his predecessor, but I am definitely liking the similarities I see. 

All this of course merely leads to one undeniable truth: The Dark Knight (2008) will be EPIC. After early rave reviews comparing the film to Heat (1995) and The Godfather II (1974), particularly by my man Peter Travers, all pretenses of reigning in my personal expectations for the film are lost and I am fully expecting to see a miraculous combination of childhood fantasy and gritty modern adulthood convincingly brought to screen in the package of a conventionally larger-than-life blockbuster. Between Nolan's virtuosity behind the camera, the final proof of the late Heath Ledger's incredible talent on screen and an all-star cast, even the most gargantuan of IMAX theaters will prove unable to contain this phenomenon. It will be the best movie of the first decade of the 21st century. I can't wait to see how right I am....