Weekend in Review: Dark Knight, Meg's wedding goodness and adventures on the Mohawk

Phew. What a weekend. I think Jeff, Katie and I packed as much into a 48 hour period as humanly possible.

First was the drive... to New York in preparation for the weekend. Despite the fact that I KNEW I would have to get up early for Meg's shower I decided that we would drive straight to the Albany movie theater and see the Black Knight. Forty-five minutes early for the 11:30 showing... we would be in good shape right?

Wrong.

We walked over to the ticket taker and saw there was one looooong line and one shorter one. I *hoped* the long one was for the 11:00 showing and the other for the 11:30, that we were going to. Wrong again. Immediately irritated, I was regretting the decision to see the movie (I didn't want to see a movie I had been waiting for months to see in the front row.) The other challenge was ducking around movie goers who had seen the movie and were pulling a Seinfeld on me: revealing key plot points while exiting the theater. Blast! Months of avoiding spoilers semi-ruined! (Nothing too major.)

My initial disappointment lifted -- despite the long line and one showing, the movie theater actually had multiple theaters open and we got fantastic seats.

***Dark Knight Spoilers Begin Here***

Wow. FINALLY a movie that lived up to its great expectations. The opening sequence was the most disjointed of the movie (What was Cillian Murphy doing there exactly?), but it just got better from there on.

Despite the hype, I still wasn't sure how well Heath Ledger would play the Joker. After his first scene in the basement with the mobsters I found myself thinking, "I can't wait for his next scene." It was that good. I was blown away. Credit great writing and fantastic makeup and costume, but lay the brunt of it on Ledger. He found a way to make the Joker more than a ... joke, and turned him into a complex villain (Top 5 of all time?). As his scenes progressed, my amazement turned into sadness. We won't ever get to see this genius again. 

Let's not forget the job Aaron Eckhart did as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Did anyone else think he was amazing? I particularly loved the scene where he is interrogating one of the Joker's team, flipping the coin over and over again. 

Keeping on the acting theme, I didn't think Christian Bale pulled it off quite like "Batman Begins." The husky Batman voice got a little ridiculous at some points, Katie pointed out she couldn't really understand him. And I prefer Katie Holmes to Maggie Gylenhall. Otherwise, the acting was A+.

But oy! was this movie creepy, led by Ledger's frightening Joker. 

Things that surprised me:

• I didn't expect them to kill off Rachel. And I love plot twists I don't see coming. Just the way they worked that scene. You know what ... Maggie did do a pretty good job, especially there. I expected Batman to show up to save the day, and he didn't. Fantastic writing.
• I didn't expect that Two Face's plot line would both begin and end here. I thought it would be akin to the end of "Batman Begins" where they cliffhung (?) the Joker plotline. I would have liked to set that happen, but oh well.

It felt like the movie could end eight times. It was long, but I found myself thinking "I know this is long, but we've waited three years and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth."

Final Grade: A

****End of Spoilers***

So from the movie we drove to Jeff's parents house (unoccupied for the weekend). Between starting some laundry and scavenging for snacks, I didn't get to bed until 4. And by "get to bed" I mean "slept for two hours." Terrible.

We woke up and parted with Jeff, as Katie and I were off to Meg's wedding shower! Being the only non-family members was a little awkward at first, but Meg's family is so nice (not that I'm surprised.) Meg showed up to her shower looking brilliant as usual. When I first met Meg (as my freshman year college roommate) she had a blue hoodie, some jeans and sneaks. Now, she is always dressed like a movie star. I am so happy for her.

Note to self: stop talking while people are taking pictures of you.

Later we went over to Meg's mom's house. Did I mention Meg grew up on a farm? Complete with a creek, hay barns, hills for hiking and an apple orchard. Amazing. Too bad it started pouring rain and we didn't get to explore that much.

Later we headed over to Meg's aunt house for more party, food and present opening. Oh, and me and Katie as the only two adults in the pool. We rock.

After we bid adieu to Meg we headed back to Albany to meet up with Jeff and his friend Mike (groomsman) to watch some MMA fights (yeah, not my first choice.)

The next morning was the big finale: tubing with Jeff's sister, her boyfriend Rob and his niece Angel. I think these pictures tell the story. (Katie and Jeff did the majority of the tubing. I told the group, "I don't mind when Jeff acts like he's 16 again, as long as he is at the end of a long rope, 20 feet away.)

Katie and Jeff on the verge of a major wipeout.

Me and a 10-year-old: having fun at 2 miles per hour.

I'm going to send this pic to "Gay Watersports Monthly."

I love that he finds so much joy in such little things :)