Category Archives: Movies

Movies

Daniel Craig…one more time!

Word is that Daniel Craig, after apparently going through a living hell making the (IMHO) horrible movie Spectre, will return one more time to the role of James Bond…and according to Jacob Stolworthy at the Independent.com…

James Bond 25: Daniel Craig’s 007 return “secured”, Adele wanted for theme song

So the producers of the Bond films essentially are seeking a return of the “magic” found in Skyfall, which featured both Craig and Adele.

I’m…torn.

Truly.

I think Daniel Craig is a good actor and capable of good things.  Hell, check him out in this trailer for the upcoming film Logan Lucky…

He’s certainly capable of good things but his biggest role to date, that of James Bond, has been, IMHO, ultimately…not good.

Like almost everyone else, I loved Casino Royale, Mr. Craig’s first appearance as the iconic character.  However, what’s followed has been progressively worse.  Quantum of Solace, which suffered due to a writer’s strike, was barely coherent as a movie, though it certainly looked good.

Skyfall was, similarly, a beautiful looking film and, when I saw it in theaters, I was very entertained.  However, the film fell apart the moment you started to think about its story which, like Quantum, made absolutely no sense at all.

I’ve also made my feeling for Spectre known here, which I still feel is the absolute worst Bond film ever made.

Count ’em up and you’ve got the following: I really liked 1 Daniel Craig Bond film, think 1 was good while watching it but fell apart completely upon plot examination, and 2 which I thought were outright bad, with the last one being my nominee for worst Bond film of all time.

1 out of 4 ain’t good.

I suppose the end result depends on who they get to write the movie’s script and who directs it.  If someone like Christopher Nolan gets tagged to direct the film, it could be interesting…though I feel as good as Mr. Nolan is his action scenes aren’t always the best.

James Cameron in his prime would make any Bond film a must see, but I seriously doubt they’ll get him and, frankly, I can’t help but feel he’s a little past his prime.

There are plenty of other possibilities and, provided the movie’s makers deliver a coherent plot (how about that?!) filled with thrills and chills, I suppose it could work.

As a fan of James Bond, I hope it works.

But the recent track record suggests I should keep my expectations, sadly, low.

Movies

The Void (2016) a (mildly) belated review

I heard good things about The Void since last year and most likely around the time it was originally released.  Word was this was a film that evoked the works of John Carpenter and H. P. Lovecraft and that sort of stuff is most surely in my wheelhouse.

Here’s the movie’s trailer: Not too bad looking and some of the other reviews presented within that trailer are pretty strong, no?

Alas…

Look, I didn’t hate the film.  It was pretty well done and the acting, while not always uniformly great by all participants -nor terrible, it should be noted- nonetheless presented some very good practical (gore) effects.

But the story…jeeze.

A number of years ago I went to a local -and relatively small- Czech club for an event.  The highlight of the event was a Czech band that emulated and performed -quite excellently- early Beatles music.  The four members of the band looked uncannily like John, Paul, George, and Ringo during their earlier years, complete with mop tops and dressed in dark suits ala Hard Day’s Night.  As I said before, their performance was excellent and their voices and use of musical instruments were incredibly near to what The Beatles did back in their earlier years.

So good were they that I wondered why they hadn’t tried to do their own music instead of covering The Beatles so damn well.

Watching The Void was sorta/kinda like watching those pseudo-Beatles.

The Void cribs (or, if you’re less tolerant, rips off) the general plot/set-up of John Carpenter’s first big hit, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), mixes it with some of the monster effects of his 1982 classic The Thing, features a conclusion that is awfully similar to the conclusion of his 1987 film Prince Of Darkness, while also featuring a villain/cult and an alternate world setting which, once it shows up, feels an awful lot like stuff found in Clive Barker films like 1987’s Hellraiser.

Of course, John Carpenter was inspired by other works as well.  So too Clive Barker.  They both clearly love the works of H. P. Lovecraft and there are elements of it in their works.  In the case of John Carpenter, one can argue Assault on Precinct 13 itself was inspired by such “siege” films as the original Night of the Living Dead or Gunga Din.

The thing is that at least John Carpenter and Clive Barker took those inspirations and created something interesting and clever in its own way, the same of which cannot be said of The Void.  Too much was taken directly from these listed works and little new was added to the mix.

Having said that, the movie’s first 20 or so minutes are easily its best.

The Void starts with a genuinely creepy and horrifying shoot up in a home in the woods in the dead of the night.  We have a weird father/son (Daniel Fathers, Mik Byskov) pair shoot up said home and quite nastily murder one of its occupants, a fleeing woman.  However, a young man also manages to get away and, later that night, is spotted by deputy Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole).

The man is near hysterical and unresponsive when Carter finds him.  He takes the man to the nearest hospital which happens to be where his wife Allison (Kathleen Munroe) works.  We quickly find that things aren’t the greatest between husband and wife.  The hospital, like the previously mentioned Precinct 13, is lightly staffed and has only two patients, a very pregnant woman in the outpatient waiting area accompanied by her father (or was it grandfather?  I’m not certain), and a young man who is spending the night in a hospital bed.

To make a long story short, the small group soon finds they’re under siege by what appear to be cultists (again, very much like Precinct 13), while within the hospital eerie secrets are eventually revealed and corpses tend to not stay still.

In sum, The Void is a well made film with good acting and effects which, unfortunately, features a story that to this viewer relied a little -hell, too much– on other movies without bringing enough of its own interesting new material to the table, which is a shame.

Therefore it is difficult for me to recommend The Void unless you’re willing to ignore the way it takes from so many other, better films.

So, if you’re in the mood for some creepy thrills, rather than checking out The Void you may want to catch the films I’ve listed above and, especially, these three whose trailers I present below…

General, Movies

Time passes and things change

A day or two ago I was flipping through the various channels and caught the opening minutes of a mostly forgotten 1967 James Coburn film Waterhole #3.  Here’s a clip from the movie’s first fifteen or so minutes… 

So I’m watching the film and its dated and all but it tries to present, as can be seen a little in the clip, a humorous take on the Western.  Further, I’m a fan of the late actor James Coburn.  He’s completely in his element playing these types of characters.

However…

Immediately after this scene finishes, the character Coburn plays, wanted outlaw Lewton Cole, heads to the farm of the Sheriff seeking his horse.  There, in the barn, he meets up with the Sheriff’s daughter, played by Margarete Blye, and what follows…ugh.

Here’s the IMDB description of the film (the highlights are mine):

Sergeant Foggers and two Confederate soldiers lay their hands on gold bullion belonging to the army, taking at the same time a certain Ben Akajnian hostage. Then they bury the loot near an isolated waterhole in the desert. Some time later, Lewton Cole, a professional gambler, fights a duel with one of the robbers, kills him and finds the map of the treasure on his body. Stopping at the small town of Integrity, Cole, in order to escape Sheriff Copperud locks him up in his own jail-house, steals his horse and even finds the time to “seduce and abandon” Billee, the sheriff’s comely daughter. The indignant father catches up with Lewton, arrests him and grabs the gold. But Foggers and his accomplice attack him, relieve him of the treasure and free Cole…

Don’t let the “nice” description fool you: Cole rapes Billee.

He.  Rapes.  Her.

The movie, clearly a product of its time, presents the rape as a “humorous” seduction.  Billee finds Cole in her barn, with his pants down (I’m not entirely sure why he isn’t wearing his pants…I suppose that was meant to be part of the “fun”), and he corners her (“humorously”), she tries to fight him (“humorously”), he pulls her down to the ground (“humorously”), he starts kissing her (“humorously”), and then, but of course, she’s somehow charmed by his actions and succumbs to the passion.

Holy shit.

There is no “seduce” about this.  This is rape, plain and simply, and with that supposed “humorous” scene, I could no longer watch the film and had to turn it off.

Again, I know this movie is a product of its obviously unenlightened times.  Yet it is jarring being hit with something like this today, nearly fifty years later.  Clearly as a people we have advanced beyond these medieval -or worse!- attitudes.

Which brings me to, coincidentally enough, to another topic regarding older mores… specifically in Walt Disney World/Disneyland.

I’ve written about changes to rides to make them more politically correct before (you can read the original post here), noting how the original version of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (the basis for the successful Johnny Depp movie series) has changed over time.

Well, it appears there are more changes to come!

This article, by Ed Mazza and found on Huffingtonpost.com, notes that the famous Redhead at the very-politically incorrect “Wench Auction”, will be changed:

Disney To Remove “Wench Auction” From Pirates of the Caribbean Ride

This is what the “Wench Auction” looked like for most of the ride’s run, until now…

Image result for Pirates of the caribbean wench auction images

Here’s a slightly closer look, which illustrates the comely women being auctioned with one big exception…

Image result for Pirates of the caribbean wench auction images

I’m not surprised by the change at all.  Much as I enjoy the ride -and it is one of my favorites- it was originally designed just a little before the release of Waterhole #3, and, frankly, featured some of the same oddball sexuality played for laughs.

The “Wench Auction” scene is specifically played for laughs.  A bunch of captured women are being auctioned off to be “brides” (ie sex slaves, no?) and the “prize” of the auction is a beautiful redhead.  However, the auctioneer has to first get rid of a comely, fat, and ugly woman first while the potential buyers demand to have a go at the redhead.

Ho…ho?

Later on, and in the original version of the ride, we had another sexually charged humorous sequence involving pirates chasing down women in one home, then the next.  In the third home (the punchline), a larger woman chases the pirate with her broom.

Again, what are the pirates chasing the women hoping to get from them?  Were they hoping to capture them and then they would very politely convince them to make them a nice meal?

Yeah.  Right.

That later part of the ride was changed and no longer were the pirates chasing the women but the women were chasing the men.

Now, the “Wench Auction” is being done away with and, with that, the ride certainly will strip (no pun intended) itself of some of its last… uncomfortable… elements.

I know there are those who argue the Pirates are villains and by removing these more risque jokes they’re castrating (again, no pun intended) the ride.

However, this is a park devoted, ultimately, to children.  As such, perhaps its best to remove these elements that at one time may have been acceptable but, frankly, by today’s standards are not.

By the way, the “Wench Auction”, for those too lazy to click on the link above, will be changed in this way:

The Redhead is now a pirate and the “Auction” sign remains but no mention of any wenches or auction of the same.

The Redhead’s there for the loot!

Comic Books/Graphic Novels, Movies

You know you want to know…

Director Matt Reeves, whose soon to be released film War For The Planet of the Apes is getting some early very good word, has been tasked with directing the upcoming Batman (or, as it is currently titled, The Batman) film featuring Ben Affleck.

And because fans are intensely curious to hear what Mr. Reeves has to say regarding the project, here’s an article by Chris Begley for batman-news.com (I truly didn’t know there was a website devoted to just this!):

The Batman will be a “noir-driven detective version of Batman,” says director Matt Reeves

Now, the headline pretty much gives away the meat of this relatively small article as the film hasn’t begun, well, filming yet and Mr. Reeves is obviously more interested in promoting his War For The Planet of the Apes feature.

Therefore, I wouldn’t blame you a bit for not hitting the link above.  The full quote by Mr. Reeves, by the way, is this:

“There’s a chance to do an almost noir driven, detective version of Batman that is point-of-view driven in a very very powerful way, that will hopefully connect you to what’s going on inside of his head,” Reeves said.

I’m intrigued, I suppose, though by this point whatever nostalgic joy I could have regarding seeing Batman on screen has been diminished by the various movies featuring him released to date.

In some ways, its like my feelings for the upcoming Spider-Man film.  There was a time when the idea of seeing Spidey on the big screen was a dream come true, but in the interval we’ve seen so many versions of the character come to the screen, some better than others, that I’m just not all that thrilled with seeing more Spidey.

With Batman, I must admit, I haven’t quite reached that level.  This is most likely due to the fact that he’s easily my favorite superhero and therefore it’ll take a lot more for my thirst to see him on screen is sated.

Having said that, while what Mr. Reeves said above sounds intriguing, I’m perfectly happy to wait and see what eventually shows up on at the local theaters.

Hope for the best and all!

Movies

A little more on that Han Solo film…

A few days ago came the reports that Phil Lord and Chris Miller (collectively, they’ve been involved in such great -to my mind!- works like 21 Jumpstreet, 22 Jumpstreet, The Last Man on Earth, The Lego Movie, etc. etc.) were released from the still untitled Han Solo Early Years movie (I wrote about that, briefly, here).

Though I didn’t mention it in the above post, I strongly suspected that, despite the “nice” public face the duo and Disney tried to make on the split -they cited the bland “creative differences” as the reason- things must have been incredibly heated and far from “bland”.

I suspected that in time bits and pieces of news regarding what really happened between Mr. Lord & Miller and Disney would come out.  Some, it appears, has.

This article by Kim Masters and found on The Hollywood Reporter points out a few rumors regarding what may have been going on behind the scenes of the movie:

Rumors may explain why Lucasfilm fired “Han Solo” directors

Now, like the headline notes, these are rumors.  So one should take them with the proverbial grain of salt.

While doing so, there were a couple of things that struck me as plausible.

For example:

Producers were also reported to be dissatisfied with the improvisational directing style used by Lord and Miller, which one source claimed led to them being indecisive.

I say this strikes me as plausible because I’ve always felt that Mr. Lord and Miller’s best works -comedies all- had a certain improvisational “feel” to them.  In comedies, this can work very well.  A joke that seems terrific on the page might not work in “real life” yet if you have a clever enough cast and crew, you may come up with things on the spot that work better.

I personally absolutely loved 22 Jumpstreet, a film that felt free wheeling, and only “liked” 21 Jumpstreet because it felt far more structured compared to its sequel.

However, as action/comedy hybrids, I felt both films were better in the comedy rather than the action aspect.  To be blunt: The action scenes were dull in comparison to the hilarious -and often very witty- comedy presented.

While looking over the movies/TV shows Mr. Lord and Miller have been involved in, I find it most curious that Disney/Lucasfilm wanted to use them in this Han Solo movie.

Did they want the film to be a comedy?

The various Star Wars films -the one’s I’ve seen anyway- certainly contained comic elements but they were mostly about the action and special effects, elements I’m not sure I’ve seen Mr. Lord and Miller have handled in that specific capacity before.

Perhaps the most damning rumor about their work on the Han Solo film is this line, also from the article above:

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lucasfilm was so unhappy with how Lord and Miller were directing star Alden Ehrenreich that they hired an acting coach, unusual for this late in a film shoot.

The later part of this line needs to be emphasized: “Late in a film shoot”.  Apparently, the principle photography for the film was nearly done when Mr. Lord and Miller were fired.

So it would seem that Disney/Lucasfilm were trying to see if things could work out but, apparently, there were not and that’s why such an extreme step was finally taken in sacking them.

Will Han Solo be saved by the arrival of director Ron Howard?  Will much of the film have to be re-worked?

As I’ve said before many times, I’m not a particularly big Star Wars fan but I am intrigued by all these machinations.

I’ll be most curious to see what happens -and how audiences react- when the film finally makes it to screens.

Movies, TV

Netflix cancels Girlboss…

Never saw the show, but over the weekend it was announced that the Netflix show Girlboss, based on the life of Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amorusa, was cancelled.  This article, by Matthew Dessem and found on Slate.com, is about the cancellation:

Netflix fires Girlboss

Again, I never saw the show and, most likely, never will.  There’s just too much entertainment out there and this particular topic, fashion, doesn’t intrigue me enough to see it though I’m certain there is/was an audience -though not enough of one- to get it made for at least the one season.

I point this out because Netflix, of late, appears to be paring down their shows.  They cancelled Sense8 and The Get Down in the previous month and who knows if they’re going to pare down a little more.

Not all that long ago -in late March as a matter of fact- I wrote about how much money Netflix was spending on what amounted to four original movies.  The movies, Death Note, Will Smith’s Bright, Brad Pitt’s War Machine, and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, are projected to cost Netflix a whopping $295 million to make.

That’s one hell of a lot of dough.

I felt then, as I do now, that Netflix is clearly on a roll and clearly has a lot of money to invest but wondered if going for such high end expensive projects might be…well…risky.  While they seem to be doing reasonably well with their TV shows (another expense, it should be noted), it seemed nearly incomprehensible to spend that much money on “just” four movies, even with the big names attached to them.

I can’t help but wonder, three months later, if some of the paring down of TV shows in this past couple of weeks indicates that those at Netflix are beginning to realize they can’t sustain so many projects and invest that much money without -I know this is going to sound childishly simple- making it back.

At least making it back, if not actually turning a profit.

Much as I love movies and follow all the stories regarding the studios and features to come, their continued success relies, as it does with so many companies, with the bottom line.

If Actor X or Director Y make a film that bombs, hard, odds are those who could potentially back them will be more hesitant to invest in their next project(s).  If they make a bundle with their film, obviously the opposite is the case and said Actor or Director may find themselves in the position to do what they want rather than what they can get.

With Netflix, I had the impression from that first story that they were so flush with cash and were so enamored with movies and TV shows (not unlike so many of us) that they felt they could turn around and make things they’d like to see.  They invested big bucks into shows and, now, movies but, again, I can’t help but wonder if this paring down shows they’ve realized they can’t simply keep funding projects that don’t turn at least a modest profit for them.

Someone far more clever than I once said of a business (it doesn’t really matter which one as it can apply to so many of them), that “You can make a small fortune on it, provided you go into it with a large fortune”.

So it may be with Netflix and their movies and TV shows, if they’re not careful.

Comic Books/Graphic Novels, Movies

Two bits of sci-fi news broke yesterday…

1 Comment

Both interesting.

First up, the bigger of the two stories, that directors/writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have exited the so far untitled young Han Solo Star Wars movie and, as of yesterday, the rumor was that Ron Howard may be brought in to finish the film.  The below link is to an article by Germain Lussier at i09.com discussing that very topic:

Ron Howard is the reported front runner to take over Han Solo film

What’s most fascinating about this news is that Lord and Miller have been filming for months and were reportedly close to finishing principle photography when they left.

If you’ve been around these parts for any length of time, you know that I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, despite having been exactly the right age at the right time back in 1977 when the first film was released.  In fact, I have yet to see Rogue One, which also had its difficulties upon completion.  Supposedly most of the movie’s second half was re-filmed by others though the original director didn’t walk like Lord and Miller did.

I wrote a comment over at i09 regarding this and recalling it sounded a lot like what happened with another film…

The closest comparison seems to be what happened with Superman II, where director Richard Donner filmed something like 80% of the movie before being sacked. The film was completed with some new scenes directed by Richard Lester and while the film wound up being quite good -though I prefer the Richard Donner cut, even if it didn’t have a “real” ending- those who recognize the difference know what Mr. Lester added…and it was mostly silly humor.

To reiterate:  It is my feeling most of the success of the theatrical cut of Superman II is attributable to Mr. Donner and the work he did in the film before being fired.  Having said that, the theatrical cut, while not as good a film as the original Superman, nonetheless wound up being pretty good on its own, even if some of the things Mr. Lester added were silly.

Will the same happen with the Han Solo film?  Until its released, we won’t know.  I doubt I’ll catch the film until it airs on cable so I won’t know until then.

Second bit of interesting news, also found on i09 and in an article written by Charles Pullman-Moore is…

Damon Lindelof’s bringing a Watchmen series to HBO

Way back when I was a HUGE fan of writer Alan Moore.  By complete luck I got back into the Saga of the Swamp Thing comic book with issue #16 when it originally hit news stands.  I was a big fan of the Len Wein/Bernie Wrightson run of the book back in the early to mid-1970’s and when this new series came out in the early 1980’s, written by Martin Pasko and drawn by Tom Yeates, I gave it a try for something like five to seven issues before giving up on it.

A friend, however, told me to give the book another try and, as I mentioned above, I picked up issue #16 which, while still written by Martin Pasko, was drawn by the new art team of Steve Bissette and John Totleben.

While I love me some Tom Yeates, Bissette and Totleben were far more appropriate for a book like Swamp Thing and I bought the issue and those that came afterwards.

What happened, of course, is that with issue #20 Martin Pasko took off and Alan Moore, in his first U.S. work, stepped in.  The book, frankly, was in trouble.  It wasn’t selling well and there was no reason to think it would last too much longer.  Yet with issue 21 of the book, with the head-turning Anatomy Lesson story, Alan Moore proved he was a talent to watch, even if most of the U.S. market didn’t know this.

I did, though at that time I was one of the very few.

I was so turned on by Alan Moore’s writing that I hunted down all the previous work he had that I could get my hands on.  That turned out to be mostly Warrior magazine and there I found his awesome work on MarvelMan (later re-titled MiracleMan), V for Vendetta, and Dr. & Quinch.  Meanwhile, sales on Swamp Thing grew and Alan Moore was increasingly being looked upon as a talent to watch.  It amused me to be so ahead of the curve but I was only too happy to get even more…Moore.

I recall distinctly when The Watchmen series was announced and being so very excited to get it.  By the time it was over, however, things had changed.

I can’t quite put my finger upon it but as I read more of his works, I realized that as good as Alan Moore was, he was best when doing short stories rather than longer series.  His best issues of Swamp Thing, IMHO, were those that were “done in one” while his longer stories tended to amble on and not reach all that great of a resolution.

The same, alas, was my opinion of Watchmen.  Great premise, obviously a lot of work invested in it, but the ending…jeeze.  The ending was, in what I think was most likely a case of coincidental creativity (or perhaps Alan Moore simply forgot he had watched it), the plot of the famous Outer Limits episode Architects of Fear.

Clearly someone within DC (or perhaps Alan Moore himself) realized this as well for towards the end of the series we get this curious little panel which acknowledges the similarity in stories:

Image result for watchmen architects of fear

Again, I think this was probably coincidence as I would certainly hope someone as creative as Mr. Moore wouldn’t simply take another story premise and, even with an acknowledgement, pass it off as his own.

Still, the bloom had faded.  Mr. Moore concluded his Swamp Thing run going farther and farther “out there”.  Both Marvel Man and V for Vendetta were also given conclusions as the Warrior magazine folded before either could be done, but I found both stories also featured murky ends.

Mr. Moore also had a big argument with DC comics and left the company.  His work following his departure, IMHO, was never quite on the level of where he started, and his interviews showed an at times very bitter man who didn’t seem to know when to let things go.

All this history came back to hurt my appreciation of The Watchmen.  What I once viewed as a terrific series once done I couldn’t help but view in a lesser light.  When the Zach Snyder directed Watchmen movie came out, I was somewhat curious to see it but didn’t.  I eventually bought the director’s cut BluRay yet despite the fact that I love Mr. Snyder’s Batman v Superman, I haven’t had the desire to watch that film.

Which, in a very long winded way, explains why I’m not all that interested in seeing Mr. Lindelof’s Watchmen series, either.  I think a series will do the work more justice as it felt like a great difficult thing to make a single movie, no matter how long it may be, of this 12 issue work.

Could it be good?

I have no doubt it could be good.

I just don’t think I’m going to bother watching it.

Comic Books/Graphic Novels, Movies

I wonder if it works the other way around…?

Found this article by Cooper Hood at screenrant.com.  The headline pretty much says it all:

Chris Hemsworth Claims it is “Illegal” for MCU actors to take DC Roles

Now, Mr. Hemsworth, it should be noted, said this in a panel at a comic book convention and, perhaps, he was being quite tongue in cheek about the statement.  I mean, “illegal”?  Like… he can be arrested for appearing in a DC universe movie?

I certainly don’t think so, though I could see the powers that be at Disney/Marvel frowning very heavily at the idea that someone as well known for a role as prominent as he plays in the MCU suddenly appearing in an equally big role in a DC movie.  I mean, should he appear in civilian attire as a small character in a DC universe film I guess it might be ok, but what if he should appear in the role of, say, a Booster Gold?

Image result for booster gold images

Granted, the character isn’t as big as a Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman, but he’s big enough and the character, as presented in the comics, does have the look of Mr. Hemsworth.  There are other possibilities, too.  How about the Phantom Stranger…?

Image result for phantom stranger

What if they decide to make a Green Arrow movie that, like the Flash in the movie universe, isn’t tied into the TV show?  Mr. Hemsworth could certainly look the part…

Image result for green arrow neal adams images

Anyway…random speculation on my part.

Still, who could one see Robert Downey Jr. play if he were to appear in the DC movies…?

Could he make an interesting Blue Beetle to Chris Hemsworth’s Booster Gold…?

Image result for blue beetle images

I don’t know…it might just work…

Image result for blue beetle and booster gold images

Movies, Music

Joel Schumacher and Batman and Robin…

It’s been 20 years since the 1997 release of Batman and Robin, the fourth film of the original Batman series which followed Batman, Batman Returns, and Batman Forever.

The first two films, directed by Tim Burton, featured Michael Keaton in the titular role and such luminaries as Jack Nicholson as the Joker, Danny DeVito as The Penguin, and Michelle Pfieffer as Catwoman.

After Tim Burton and Michael Keaton stepped away from the franchise director Joel Schumacher stepped in for two Batman films, the second being the much reviled Batman and Robin.  Before he did that one, however, he directed Batman Forever, which had Val Kilmer in the titular role.

I must admit, I can’t quite understand why certain people so venomously hate Batman and Robin yet give this film a pass.  To me, both films were pretty similar in tone and execution.

But don’t take my word for it.  Here’s the trailer for Batman Forever:

And here’s the trailer for Batman and Robin:

Seriously, do you see much of a difference in the trailers?  It’s not like Joel Schumacher took a radical turn and did something completely different from his first Batman film with his second.  And what he was doing was clearly a big budget version of the now beloved Batman TV show which featured the recently passed Adam West.

Note the word “now” in the last sentence above.

Though people today in 2017 seem to have a great deal of affection for the light-hearted Batman presented in that 1960’s era TV show, the fact of the matter is that much of the reason for the hate for Batman and Robin is because it is too lighthearted and… goofy.  Sure, they spit venom at the notion of the Batman and Robin suit having “nipples” on it but really what they were against was the fact that this film -and the previous one he made- weren’t all that serious.

People forget but at that time there was a demand for a “darker” interpretation of Batman during those years.  Indeed, when Christopher Nolan started up his Batman trilogy a few years later we were given just that: a far more “serious” take on the character and his mythology.

Yet paradoxically it seems that by the time Mr. Nolan’s third and final Batman feature was released, audiences were now split.  They had their fill of the darker, more serious Batman and, perhaps because of this, there was a resurgence in nostalgia regarding the Adam West Batman.

Indeed, by the time Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released, one of the biggest complaints against the film was that it was too “dark”.  While there were certainly those -me among them- who loved the film, those who hated it felt it was simply too grim in its tone.

Which makes one wonder… is it possible people may take a second look at Mr. Schumacher’s Batman films and give them another chance?

Regardless, on the anniversary of 20 years since the release of the much maligned Batman and Robin, Joel Shumacher looks back and issues a heart felt apology (the link below is to an article written by Lisa Respers France and found on CNN.com)…

Joel Schumacher apologizes for Batman and Robin

What’s most interesting, as a writer myself, in the article is this line from Mr. Shumacher:

“By the time ‘Batman Forever’ came around, rubber molding had become so much more advanced,” Schumacher explained. “So, I said ‘Let’s make it anatomical’ and gave photos of those Greek statues and those incredible anatomical drawings you see in medical books. He did the nipples and when I looked at them, I thought, that’s cool.”

I point this out in particular because this, in a nutshell, is what almost everyone who works in a creative field faces: The fact that it is almost impossible to judge how audiences will react to your ideas.

I’ve read plenty of articles, most especially from songwriters/bands that created a song they felt was a throwaway or was simply intended to fill out an album and didn’t feel that particular work was particularly good… yet were surprised by the way audiences reacted to it.

Hell, even my favorite musician of all time, David Bowie, didn’t feel the below song was worth releasing on his Diamond Dogs album and it wouldn’t be until at least a decade later that people finally heard the excellent alternate version of Candidate, which is one of my favorite David Bowie songs of all time:

Had it not been for “special editions” of his albums, I may never have heard this excellent song.

Then there are those works an author or artist may spend uncounted hours on and view as a source of pride…and audiences barely care about it or, worse, hate it.

Mr. Shumacher did what he thought would work.  It didn’t and he was lambasted for it.  Indeed, his career certainly suffered for it.

Did he deserve the scorn?

Who am I to say.

But I do wonder.  Now that a “lighter” version of Batman is in vogue, is it possible people might give these films a second chance?

Time will tell.

Movies, TV

Adam West, R.I.P.

When news came yesterday shortly before noon that actor Adam West passed away, I wrote the following over on the comment section of i09.com:

The curse of growing old yourself is seeing all these people who have given you such joy themselves age and, in time, pass.

I liked Adam West and admired the work he did in his most famous role, that of Batman.  Someone over on YouTube posted their favorite scenes from the 1966 Batman movie…

As you can see and, provided you’ve lived under a rock these past fifty or so years and therefore never heard of or saw the Batman TV series or the movie it was based on, this version of Batman was very much tongue in cheek and often quite silly.

And yet, what made it work was something the Zucker Brothers and Abraham did nearly a decade later with such films as Airplane!: The silliest crap works best when at least one person in the middle of it takes the material dead seriously.

This, effectively, was Adam West’s Bruce Wayne/Batman.  In the middle of madness he was acting with a dead seriousness.

And it was ingenious!

As I wrote above, there is a curse to getting older and, part of that curse, is seeing people who you may or may not know personally but who you love for whatever reason also grow older.  In some cases, you witness their passing and it really, really sucks.

Last year I was shocked and very saddened when David Bowie passed away.  The realization there would be no more “new” David Bowie music, though one can hope some music hidden away in his vaults might see the light of day, is a startling thing, just as the thought of never seeing or hearing another Adam West bit hits me.

Time affect us all.  Even the stars.

Rest in Peace, Mr. West.

You brought me plenty of joy over my lifetime and tonight, just for the heck of it, I might sit down and watch a few Bat-episodes on my Bat-TV.