Batman? Batman, seven live-action movies for you! You go Batman!

That's not including the animated movies! Impresiiive~ And I believe that he's the only character who has the most movies based on him. Beating out Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the Man of Steel himself. *rubs nails against chest*

In a nutshell, Bats owns you (you, you, you and yes, you too Spidey!)! You will never get seven movies based on your life, even by the time you're 69 years old! Why you ask? Because your life ain't anywhere as exciting as his.

Want more than seven movies based on your life?
Well I suggest you find yourself a secret base, dress up as your favourite animal, name everything after your favourite animal, get a pre-pubescent kid to be your sidekick and start kicking some ASS! Don't forget to have extreme split personalities (you're one step closer if you have bipolar), and have different voices for both of them. :]

What I'm getting at is that Batman's Batcostume changes throughout each movie. From wearing tights (for real), to having rubber nipples. As well as the men under the masks, and each Batmans have certain degree of Awesomeness!

The Batmans I will be reviewing are...

- Batman (1966), Adam West

- Batman Returns (1992), Michael Keaton

- Batman Forever (1995), Val Kilmer

- Batman & Robin (1997), George Clooney

- The Dark Knight (2008), the guy who assulted his mom and sister Christian Bale

I left out Batman (1989) and Batman Begins (2005), because of repeat actors.

***

Lets start with the ideal Batman, the template of all Batmans, the man himself... Bruce Wayne! I'll be using New Earth's Batman, since he's so perfect and dreamy most people are more familiar with him.

I prefer his costume to have the black and gray dynamics. It really brings out his eyes. But depending on the artist, or better yet, Batman's mood (whether he's feeling dark or blue on the night), he could be seen wearing navy blue instead of the black.

COSTUME ... There's nothing much to say about the comic Batman's costume. Bat ears stickingout from the cowl, which is connected to his cape (Spawn-like cape in the 2nd picture, which doubles that picture's wow-factor!). Gloves with blades on the side (retractable), utility belt with all bat-goodies, black undies and thigh-length boots (with probabaly steel-plated toe). His costume is topped-off with his famous logo of a Bat!
5/5

BODY (MUSCLES)... I being Captain Obvious, will point out that he has amazingly rippling muscles... and rather freakish thigh muscles. His body type is mesomorphic, and ain't no Apple nor a Pear, but a Rectangle. A buff rectangle. If you're running in the dark, and bump into Batman, his rock-hard body will instantly snap your neck.

You gotta have the body to work the spandex suit!
5/5

POWERS ... He stands at 6'2" (around 185cm) weighing 210 lbs (around 95kg), and thought by many fans that he can lift double his own weight and up to atleast 800 lbs!
That's what you can do if you're at...
- Peak Human Strength,
- Peak Human Reflexes,
- Peak Human Agility,
- Peak Human Speed,
- Peak Human Endurance,
- Peak Human Durability.
An ofcourse, un-dying power of will to keep on fighting. Batman is also a master of many MANY martial arts, enabling him to serve many asses! He also uses intimidation (The Batglare, when he thins his eyes and just stares at you) to best of his advantage, and the best out of anyone I know.
5/5

BRUCE WAYNE AND BATMAN ...

Fuck. He's loaded with cash. He's tall, dark and handsome. He knows how to dress. He knows how to impress the la-dies. and he's kinda insane, too dark at times, doesn't 100% trust his fellow JLA teammates, be obsessive about certain cases and doesn't know how to have fun... did I mention he's hot?
But heck, that's what makes him Bruce Wayne/Batman.
Even though he barely shows his emotional-side as Batman, and stuck with one facial expression, he is still a good person. He takes in young Jason Todd after Batman finds him trying to steal the Batmobile's tire, and also gets socked in the gut by him. But Bats makes him his 2nd Robin, and nurtures him. Batman's also a legal guardian and an adoptive father of Dick Grayson (Nightwing, formerly Robin) and Tim Drake (the current Robin).

See, he's nice! Just needs to show more lovin'!
5/5

Obviously, New Earth's Batman gets 20/20, perfect score. He's the ideal Batman!, even though this doesn't neccesarily mean he'd make an ideal man you would date.

COMING UP!
Rating the other Batmans!
Who's the best Batman?

- Batman (1966), Adam West

- Batman Returns (1992), Michael Keaton

- Batman Forever (1995), Val Kilmer

- Batman & Robin (1997), George Clooney

- The Dark Knight (2008), Christian Bale

Stay tuned...

Water coolers. Do workplaces even have them anymore? They seem like relics from a simpler, more watery-cooler time. 

Just imagine ... co-workers gathering around a water cooler to communicate with each other, face to face. How primitive! But it's true. In the days before e-mail and instant messaging and text messaging and bottled water readily available for just a few dollars, the water cooler was the hub of the office. It was where the previous night's TV shows were discussed, where gossip was exchanged and where water was occasionally consumed.

Sample Water Cooler Conversation, Circa 1968:

Ned from accounting: Did you see Batman last night? Adam West sure brings a conflicted, introspective quality to the role of the Caped Crusader. And Cesar Romero's portrayal of the Joker is chilling — pure genius. He certainly won't be forgotten come awards season.

Stew from accounting: You bet your sweet bippy.

Ned: Speaking of sweet bippies, I hear that groovy Mindy chick from personnel is a real tiger in the holding-hands department.

Stew: Sock it to me.

Ned: I think someone spiked the water cooler with hallucinogenic drugs again.

Stew: There's a five-headed walrus on your shoulder.

Ned: Well, time to get back to work.

Marketing is an enormous element of any film’s success these days and with that in mind it’s often difficult to enter the foyer of the cinema without some kind of inbuilt expectation or delusion as to what to expect. We may only be seven months into 2008, but already we have seen hopes built up and then defecated upon, and with a number of films still to come back from the dead in 2008, you have to wonder if The Dark Knight, the second of Christopher Nolan’s reborn Batman franchise, can deliver the goods its been hyped to.

Well, let us sum the entire review up this way: this is not a Batman film. This is a cinematic masterpiece.

Perhaps a further explanation is required. For years and years, Batman films were known for their over the top campery. Memories of Adam West in latex still haunt some men to this day, and the villains in the films were often criminal genii who would have been better placed in the Beano than in Gotham City. Even Tim Burton’s gothic interpretation of the Caped Crusader had seriously camp or laughable elements, designed to keep fans of the original 1960s TV programme happy while also trying to cater for the hardcore comic-book lovers out there. This snowballed until we came to the ‘interesting’ Batman and Robin film of 1997, which gave Christopher Nolan carte blanche to reinvent the franchise with the darker, but still slightly camp, Batman Begins in 2005.

In comparison, The Dark Knight is completely out of left field. Unlike some of the previous manifestations, this is the film that comic-book nerds have been praying to the DC gods for since Bat-time began. Two and a half hours of action, violence and bitterness served with a dash of twisted humour. If anything, the clue was there in the title: "Dark".

Plotwise, the story focuses on three main characters: The Joker, a psychotic evil criminal genius who is tearing up Gotham City left right and centre; Harvey Dent, the new District Attorney for Gotham City who is trying to clear the streets of criminals and mob activity; and Batman (no surprises there, it is his film after all!). Each one is out to get the other, and if you can imagine the movie Heat, only 10 times better and with more facepaint, you would get something like The Dark Knight. At every turn there are explosions, plot twists and action sequences, while the characters - especially the Joker - have some of the best dialogue you will have heard for a long time.

Now, it was be about here in the review that we were hoping to say something along the lines of ‘despite excellent performances by Heath Ledger and Christian Bale, the star of the film has to be X, Y or indeed Z’. Alas, this has turned out to not be possible. Not because the other actors (including Z) weren’t great, but because Heath Ledger is (and let me make this clear, we wouldn’t even consider muttering this if we didn’t wholeheartedly mean it) absolutely 100 per cent totally breathtaking as the Joker. People who have seen previews of this film have been commenting left, right and centre that the now sadly deceased Ledger should get an Oscar for this performance. While we won’t go into it too much, there is no doubt in our minds that he deserves a nomination for some award as he makes Jack Nicholson’s Joker look like Krusty the Clown. To be fair, Aaron Eckhart comes very close to taking Heath’s nomination with his portrayal of Harvey Dent (and he’s still alive, which makes it a bit easier for the Oscar bods), but this film is Heath Ledger’s, pure and simple. Bale doesn’t even get a sniff.

Like all films, especially ones from the comic-book genre, The Dark Knight has some bad elements to it, although unlike some ghost-written celebrity film hacks with a history of praising rubbish films simply to get their name on the poster, we wouldn’t dare to label a film this good as ‘boring’. However, despite minor quibbles which will be argued in the pub for several hours, it is fair to say that Nolan has pulled this film out of the bag and created an epic movie which surpasses every Batman film before it. Plus, as an added geeky bonus to filmgoers everywhere (well, where there is an IMAX) over 20 minutes of film have been specially filmed for IMAX cinemas, meaning that should you did decide to pay the extra money and travel to an IMAX, you get to see the key action scenes in enormous detail and size.

Go see this film, and find you will inevitably find yourself leaving the cinema saying “Holy Cinematic Experience, that was amazing!” looking for a shop to buy some white facepaint and wearing a large, manic smile while pondering just why everything is ‘so serious?’      Tom Canning

The Dark Knight is out at Cinemas and IMAX now. As a bit of a treat for you lucky Batreaders, click here, here and here for some exclusive clips from the film. Pow!

Wired's Lore Sjöberg has this entertaining take grading Batman's various gadgets. Check out his assessment of the Rebreather:

This is usually depicted as a small device that Batman can hold in his mouth like a Binky. A Bat-Binky. However, rather than providing Batman with comfort while teething or tripping on ecstasy, the rebreather turns Batman's superheroic exhalations back into life-giving oxygen, allowing him to survive unpleasant gases or even breathe underwater. Carbon dioxide into oxygen? Batman could solve global warming on his own, but he won't. Global warming didn't kill his parents.
Grade: C+

Besides, any piece that discusses the Adam West-era shark repellent deserves as wide an audience as possible.

I was in my early Primary school years, and as soon as I hear "nanananana Batman! Fatman! Batmaaaan~!", I'd jump onto the sofa. I was totally mesmerized by the "Pow" "Bam" "Blam Blam", and the obvious non-contact fighting scenes.
And I never really questioned myself how tight Burt Ward (Robin)'s groin area must be wearing those.

... doesn't look too tight
...
... oh well...

*scrolls around on Google image search*'
... aaaand lets just say, Nostalgia > Reality

I was around 7/8 years old when I was watching it, but I wasn't totally oblivious 'bout the details. It made me WTFOMGBBQ when Robin was getting threatened and intimidated by a supossed 'villian' who had the power to control a bee. Yes, a bee. Which, might I add, was totally attached to a metal (prodding) stick... prodding stick which i'll use to poke at Batman's Batfat.

Mmmm~ Batfaaat :)

And what I remember of the other villians weren't really 'evil'. They weren't even metahumans were they? Oh wait, forgot... the power to control a bee. I bet the majority the villians were girl/boy scouts, and had amazing knot tying skills, which enabled them to always catch one of them. "Arghh! oh no, the knots too tight. Halp meeeee!"
:)
We love you Batman and Robin (and maybe Batgirl)!!!

mmm~... Bat bondage...
I bet they secretly enjoyed it.

... dude, did Bats even have Batarangs?

But then, tragedy strikes!
2/3 years later, the time slot was taken by Baywatch... t'was guilty pleasure. LOL! I pretty much had a crush on Cody. and Mitch's son... which I forgot his name... :'(
CJ has big bewbs! and you may call me Captain Obvious.

Over the weekend The Dark Knight, the latest Batman movie installment made $155.3-million. Another succesfull opening weekend for the franchise.

AskMen.com did a recent poll asking who is the Greatest Batman, the results came back like this:

Who do YOU think was the best Batman or who do you think WOULD be a good Batman?

With The Dark Knight setting all kinds of box office records this weekend, I thought I’d post a link to “Batman, A to Z,” a brief look at the five actors who have played Batman for the big screen, which I wrote last week as a Spotlight feature for The Wave Magazine.  

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Entertainment Journalist
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

Please tune in to our tribute to Dick Martin on Tuesday, July 29 beginning at 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org. ]]> http://edsweb.wordpress.com/?p=99 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:15:23 +0000 edsweb http://edsweb.wordpress.com/?p=99 With The Dark Knight setting all kinds of box office records this weekend, I thought I'd post a link to "Batman, A to Z," a brief look at the five actors who have played Batman for the big screen, which I wrote last week as a Spotlight feature for The Wave Magazine.  

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Entertainment Journalist
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

Please tune in to our tribute to Dick Martin on Tuesday, July 29 beginning at 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.

The Dark Knight is shattering box office records, and actually worthy of the hype. In college-radio fashion, I thought now would be a good time to revisit some Caped Crusader musical moments.

There is no way we don't start with the classic theme. Why is this show not available on DVD?

You had probably forgotten about Prince's "Batdance." It is my solemn duty to remind you of this awesomeness. Hope I don't end up in court!

The Homoerotic Adventures of Batman wasn't a very good movie, but it did feature a good song.

Not only is this a pretty decent U2 tune, but it also reminds us that, in addition to being a criminal mastermind, Harvey "Two-Face" Dent has the ability to transform from Billy Dee Williams into Tommy Lee Jones. Universal Music is lame, so I can only give you a link instead of embedding. This marks the third time I've tried to promote their artists and been unable to, and the first two (Martha Wainwright and Tom T. Hall) don't sell nearly the number of records that U2 does and would probably appreciate the attention. Stupid.

Dr. Dre and Eminem as Batman and Robin in "Business" from The Eminem Show. "Holy whack unlyrical lyrics, Andre!" "To the Rapmobile--let's go."

REM wrote a song for Batman Returns but it was rejected. They later released it as "Winged Mammal Theme." I have no idea why someone thought this was the appropriate background music to footage of two dudes fishing, but I'm grateful I was able to find it at all. This was released as the B-side of "Drive."

Bonus Track:

My favorite scene from the 1960s Batman movie. Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb.

Have to Wait for the Next Film:

What I was unable to dig up, for better or worse--anything from Jan and Dean Meet Batman ($70 used) or "The Scandalous Sex Suite," the thirty-minute version of "Scandalous" from the 1989 movie soundtrack.

This blog needs an enema!

I am a fan of Batman. I remember growing up as a kid watching re-runs of the "campy" Batman TV show with Adam West & Bert Ward. I always enjoyed the show and all of the subsequent movies. Before today my favorite Batman movie was the last one with Christian Bale, "Batman Begins". Well, I saw "The Dark Knight", and just let me say it was incredible. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I am by no means a Batman fanatic but I like the character as much as any normal person does. I think the acting and writing in this movie was incredible and of course Heath Ledger brought a dimension to the Joker like no one has, including Jack Nickolson. I think Heath deserves an Oscar for his performance. Anyway, if you have not seen "The Dark Knight", I would highly recommend it. It is truly what a movie should be, entertaining.

BERLIN - From the outside, Ezra Welch's home looks like many in East Berlin; its brick face and American flag fit in perfectly with the neighborhood. Stepping inside, it looks clean and quiet.

But head down the stairs to his basement and you enter the other world he inhabits.
Batman artwork covers the walls. A large sign welcoming guests to "The Batcave" hangs over the steps. The only thing that appears to be missing is a revolving bookcase that serves as a secret door.

For Welch, the self-proclaimed world's No. 1 "Batfan" who has gone as far as getting Batman tattoos, "The Dark Knight," the newest Batman film, opens today and is the "Holy Grail." He, along with millions of other fans will flock to multiplexes to see the sequel that has created a buzz.

Welch said he was drawn to the Batman character, whose story of a man who responded to tragedy by teaching himself to fight crime and stand up for justice inspired him. As a scrawny young boy who wore glasses, he said he attracted the attention bullies.

"It was an inspiration for how to stand up for myself," the 40-year-old said.

In fact, Welch loves his hero so much that he has dedicated an entire room to his obsession.

The basement is filled with a lifetime's worth of Batman memorabilia — clocks, action figures, toys, masks, posters, even Batman cologne. Of course, there are comics too, more than 500 of them. He started collecting as a young boy, but a fire destroyed his collection while he was in college. He didn't let that stop him though; he just started over and kept adding.

The collection is a diverse one, ranging from framed movie posters to a utility belt and even a large ceramic cookie jar shaped like Batman. He has even deemed one corner of the collection a "Rogues Gallery" and uses it to showcase Batman's foes.

Welch, who works at Precision Graphics in East Berlin, doesn't know exactly how much he has spent on his collection over the years but estimates it is at least $5,000, maybe even $10,000.

Even with all the money he has spent, he says his favorite item didn't cost him a thing.

"It's a Batrock," he says, pointing to a chunk of stone he got during a visit to the cave used to film part of the 1960's "Batman" TV show that starred Adam West. "It's from the Batcave. I don't know if anyone else has something like this."

He has two Batman tattoos, though his preferred term is "Battoo." One features the Batman logo, and the other, which Welch designed, places the character in front of a full moon and a swarm of bats.

Occasionally he will even don a full-size Batman costume, though he prefers to do it to mark special events; one photo on the wall of the "Batcave" features him, fully-costumed, kissing his wife in front of their Christmas tree.

As for his wife and two teenage daughters, Welch said they have put up with this obsession of all things Batman.

"It's good fun. I support him because of his profound enjoyment," said Andrea Welch, who has been married to him for 20 years.

His 17-year-old daughter, Jenna Welch, said that although she's not too interested in Batman now, as a child it gave her and her dad a special bond.

"It gets a little bit annoying after a while, but it makes him happy," she said. "I'm OK with it."

As for the movie, Welch says it would be hard for him to be more excited. He has done everything he can over the past six months to avoid information that would spoil the film, but that hasn't stopped him from preparing for the big night. He will host a "Batbash" with family and friends this afternoon, where "Batburgers," will be on the menu. After the party, the group will head to the movie and then meet back at the "Batcave" to discuss and critique the film.

"I've waited 30 years for this movie," he said. "For me, it is the Holy Grail."

Source

La música siempre ha jugado un papel muy importante en cualquier filme, en muchas ocasiones es la pieza clave que le da ese dramatismo a las escenas y logra que se conviertan en grandes clásicos. Qué sería de Tiburón sin esa angustiante y tensa tonada, qué sería de Star Wars sin ese tema de entrada, ambos hechos por el maestro John Williams.

Empecemos entonces con los temas que se han hecho para Batman y la mejor manera de iniciar es con el panzoncito de Adam West. La serie de TV Batman que se hizo en los 60s tenía como compañía esa tonada contagiosa y jazzy que seguro cuando eras niño tarareabas.

La serie tuvo su soundtrack desde luego y era un acetato muy de la época.

Y no puedo dejar de mencionarles la lista de canciones del LP

01. Batman Theme
02. Batman Riddles The Riddler! - Or - (Hi Diddle Riddle)
03. Batusi A-Go! Go! (I Shouldn't Wish To Attract Attention)
04. Two Perfectly Ordinary People - Or -(!!!)
05. Holy-Hole-In-The-Dougnut - Or - (Robin, You've Done It Again)
06. Batman Pows The Penguin - Or - (Aha, My Fine-Feathered Finks!)
07. To The Batmobile!
08. Batman Blues
09. Holy Flypaper
10. Batman Thaws Mr. Freeze - Or - (That's The Way The Ice-Cube Crumbles!)
11. Gotham City
12. Zelda Tempts Batman - Or - (Must He Go It Alone????)

(Si siguen la liga de la imagen, podrán descargar el soundtrack completo)

Y para que se acuerden de la cancioncita que tarareaban, miren los siguientes dos videos.

Algo un tanto más movido y más de mi agrado es la siguiente. Interpretado por The Jam

Claro que en su momento (los 60s) Batman era todo un éxito y tenía que adecuarse a la época. Incluso existió el Bati-baile o mejor conocido como el Batusi. Jajaja vean el video siguiente donde Batman da unas clases de baile, me mata de risa como se acerca a la barra haciendo unos sutiles movimientos llenos de ritmo, y como todo un Don Juan liga con la chica.

No cabe duda que Batman está lleno de ritmo. Aunque más bien parece que le estaba haciendo grueso a las drogas.

Y vaya que si le metía a las drogas. Jajajaja este me mata de risa

Abandonemos la década de los 60s y vayamos a 1989 cuando se estrenó Batman de Tim Burton. Desde luego ya estábamos en la época del CD y la portada era algo como esto.

El soundtrack fue hecho por el entonces Prince (ahora ignoro como se llame y si es él o ella). Les dejo lo que era el tema de entrada que es muy bueno y oscuro.

Y algo más movido era el tema Batdance de Prince, algo super bailado en los finales de 80s e inicios de los 90s

[dailymotion id=xrvkz]

Para Batman Returns no hubo un gran cambio en cuanto al soundtrack y se mantuvo casi en la línea. Fue para Batman Forever donde la máquina mercadotécnica se puso en marcha y se creó un soundtrack más comercial, invitando a participar a bandas como U2, The Falming Lips, Massive Atack, The offspring y Seal.

Obviamente la rola de U2, "Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me" fue de lo más sonado en ese año y se colocó en top 20 de billboard. Para que recuerden la rola y el video aquí se los dejo, en lo personal a mi me gusta mucho el video.

No de mi total agrado pero también fue de las rolas más sonadas ese año, Seal y "kiss from a rose"

La fórmula intentaron repetirla para el siguiente filme "Batman & Robin" pero a mi parecer no tuvo el mismo éxito (ni la terrible película ni el soundtrack). Participaron bandas como The Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M. , Goo goo dolls y Underworld.

Smashing pumpkins

Underworld

Se reinició la historia y se hizo un nuevo filme "Batman begins". Sí, otra vez a empezar y a ganar dinero con la taquilla. Sin embargo, para este filme no hubo un soundtrack de parte de bandas comerciales, y sólo fue banda sonora para animar el filme. Creo que fue una decisión acertada ya que de esa manera no le restaría importancia y atención a la reinvensión del caballero de la noche.

Si no prestaron atención a la música, les dejo algunos videos para que la recuerden. Ah y como nota cultural, los nombres de los tracks se refieren a variedades o tipos de murciélagos.

Como pueden apreciar la música es oscura, lo cual se agradece. Lo mismo continuó para el más reciente filme "Batman: The Dark Knight" que corre a cargo de Hans Zimmer y James Newton Howard.

Why so serious?

Si quieren escuchar más del soundtrack pueden visitar el sitio oficial del soundtrack, sólo vayan a

http://www.thedarkknightscore.com/

Batman, de lo guarro a lo fresa - 2

]]> http://swannerjudd.wordpress.com/?p=80 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:12:06 +0000 swannernjudd http://swannerjudd.wordpress.com/?p=80 Official Site: thedarkknight.warnerbros.com
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace
Runtime: 2 hrs 32 mins

Swanner: Things in Gotham City are falling apart as the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, takes office. There's a new villain in town named The Joker and he's one freaky psychopath...can Batman defeat this new criminal or is Gotham City doomed? All these questions and more will be answered in the new film The Dark Knight.

Judd: The first Christopher Nolan Batman (Batman Begins) was dark, but The Dark Knight is downright sinister. The Joker, as played by Heath Ledger, is a maniac whose M.O. is to give people choices that will end badly no matter how they choose. Before we go any further, I'd like to hear what Tom thought of Ledger's Joker. Was it worth the hype to you?

Swanner: I did like his performance but I thought Aaron Eckhart was equally as good. Both men played their roles very well. Ledger was scary 'cause he didn't really seem to care for the value of human life where as Eckhart was his polar opposite, he cared too much. They both played real characters; it never felt like a superhero film. It was a really great crime drama with excellent special effects.

Judd: I actually liked Aaron Eckhart and his version of Two Face better than I liked the Joker. And the makeup/special effects they used for Two Face was amazing. It was horrific but at the same time I couldn't stop looking at him. I certainly don't know where all this talk of Ledger's Joker being Oscar worthy came from—it was good, but he wasn't that good. Though this is the first role I can remember where he didn't mumble his way through it, so maybe that counts for something.

Swanner: See, I was thinking the same thing. Ledger was always a little hard to understand so here when he did mumble it worked for the character. Was he Oscar worthy? As much as Eckhart is deserving. I'm glad you brought up the Two Face makeup. I was blown away on how they did it. I also found myself watching him (looking for mistakes) until I stopped thinking about it and it really just became the character. So props for the make-up people on that. I think the real winner is Nolan the director. He gave us a really solid story that might really happen and not some silly spiderman storyline that has you rolling your eyes through the whole movie. I felt tense because The Joker is just a terrorist, but with a really sick sense of humor.

Judd: Absolute props to Nolan, this certainly isn't your Adam West's Batman. The only real problem I had was with his choice to alter The Joker character. Traditionally, The Joker was a normal man who fell into a vat of chemicals—which explained his bleached skin and green hair—and went crazy. This Joker was a demented clown—nothing more, nothing less—and Nolan purposefully left out any back story. I didn't need some dragged out story, but some explanation would have been nice.

Swanner: I actually liked it. As he tortures people, he keeps telling a different version of how he came to be. That worked well for me because his character had so many layers and was constantly changing and sometimes it's OK to just except that someone is evil without having to know why. Where as I can see that they had to explain Two face since his character is created in the text of the film. Also at 2h 32m, I didn't want the movie any longer than it needed to be. I really liked the movie because it showed that you can have a great story and then add in the special effects instead of the other way around.

Judd: Well, we'll have to agree to disagree about the backstory. As for 2h 32m, it didn't feel that long and I only checked my watch once toward the very end of the movie, so it moved very, very well.

Swanner: 3 1/2 Stars
Judd: 3 Stars

Enjoy these in depth articles about a super hero who definitely represents a collision between pop culture and law...

The Animated Batman On DVD

History Of The Joker

Pick Your Batman

I disagree with a few of the things the guy says...it doesn't take that much training to fight multiple opponents (I say that having faced two and three opponents in street fights on more than one occasion).  Also, he overestimates the training time for martial arts mastery.  Thirteen to eighteen years if you have a day job like a normal guy.  As my best friend's brother once said, "His (Bruce Wayne's) superpower is money."

Wayne's got nothing but free time and the funds to hire the best to train him.  I know, I can't even believe I'm having an argument about a fictional character, but we're talking about the friggin' Batman, and that kicks in every guy's inner geek.

There also is no specification as to which Batman we're talking about...the Christian Bale Batman or the Adam West Batman.  I'm pretty sure the training regimen to becoming Adam West entails a six pack of beer:

I remember when Batman died for me. I love the old campy Adam West Batman film and show which really were what first turned me on to comic books. I also loved the dark Tim Burton movies and as I watched them started to see the potential for comic book heroes to be more interesting than just running around with laser vision. The problem was when Joel Schumacher took over Batman. As much as Batman Forever didn't live up to the earlier potentials, Jim Carrey was a great Riddler and that pretty much carried that film. For me Batman died a little death in the hands of Joel Schumacher's second outing Batman & Robin which earns the dubious honor of actually being one of the few movies that I have actually turned off and left unfinished. I sat through Ishtar. I sat through The Phantom Menace (though I was on a date with a cute girl which was the main reason I did that). I even sat through The Wash.

I usually have a good eye for picking movies, which is lucky, because it is quite hard for me to shrug off a horrid piece of filth once it is in my dvd player. I at least find enjoyment in campy cheesy films such as American Ninja or Dog Soldiers. So the moment when I couldn't find any reason to continue watching Batman & Robin, starring my hero of heroes dressed in leather and psychological illness, I akin it to the death of childhood experienced in today's comic. Christopher Nolan holds in his hands a chance to resurrect that innocence with the Dark Knight Returns. Maybe I'm getting my hopes up to high. I should stop reading the reviews.

I was watching it with a couple of mid 20's kids last night and although they enjoyed the show, they were so young that they didn't know who Adam West was. Family Guy has a lot of references to cultural pop icons from over the past 6 or 7 decades. I don't know how such young people do it.

Kids are watching that show even though they don't even GET a huge part of it. They just don't laugh when the show made fun of the guy who played Ralph Malph on Happy Days. These kids didn't know who Donny Most was at all. Those 2 aren't much younger than the kids who created that show so that's why I find it so interesting that the creators are even aware of some of the stuff they mock.

They also found an interesting way to espouse their political views on the show. They do what so many of the good animated shows do...they create characters who can say things that no actor could ever say. Like South Park's Cartman calling Kyle a "Jew", these characters are all able to send messages that would kill the career of any real person who might speak the lines that animated characters speak. It's sort of sad, I remember when real people could say that stuff and it was called "edgy". Now it's considered politically incorrect and no one dare push that particular envelope anymore.

Until, that is, the relatively recent explosion of cartoons created for adults. These shows truly are for adults, I wouldn't let children watch them. But, that being said, they really are worth watching...for it is only on these cartoons that we will find any humor that hasn't been done a thousand times since 1952. Not since All in the Family have any characters been allowed to speak with such disdain for certain people, policies and cultural entities of all sorts.

This is going to sound pretty corny but I'm going to say it anyway. (I just realized that I've used the word "corny" two days in a row. That doesn't happen very often.) These cartoons actually give me hope for the future. I was beginning to seriously worry about the world and the ability of our children to be as irreverent as was the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1976. The 70's may have been tacky, but that's only because we felt the freedom to be tacky. This decade feels like a rather conservative decade so far as personal appearance is concerned. You may be allowed to go out in public with nothing but a pastie on one boob...but it had better be part of a very expensive ensemble. Certain rather unimportant values seem to be rather strictly enforced and before cable TV came along, the enforcers were few and powerful.

The fact that Seth MacFarlane even has the ability to conceive of the things he delivers consistently is a good sign. That means that there are still young people who aren't as conformist as are the majority of the sheeple out there. And that MacFarlane and those like him can find platforms from which to tickle our funny bones in very thought provoking ways is a testament to cable TV. I was about ready to hide my books in the attic when these guys found a way around Bradbury's politically correct firemen.

As the mere existence of such programming bodes well for creativity, the fact that young people are so riveted to them is another positive thing. If there HAS to be TV, let it be TV that makes young people think and question authority. Questioning authority isn't anything terribly radical in this country, we were founded by a bunch of rabble who did just that. Love children didn't invent anything new, they just reintroduced the nation to the idea of not respecting authority simply for the sake of tradition.

Whoda thunk it? Television might not turn out to be such a bad thing after all. I think the Internet helps a bit as well because of the fact that we can type a few words into a computer and read the thoughts of people who think the same things that we think. We are becoming far too sophisticated to be controlled en mass by a few networks and a newspaper. Like the Gutenberg press, the Internet launched the spread of information sharing to levels never dreamed of just 25 short years ago. Back when Mathew Broderick played tic-tac-do with Joshua, computers took up entire rooms. How could we have known that they would become as common as toasters?

I pretty much stopped watching network TV sometime during MASH. When Alan Alda began directing the show, it began to preach to us in an extremely condescending and obvious manner. If Seth MacFarlane is preaching to me, he's doing it in a very smart way. He's doing it through provocative humor. Alda could never have done that, he is far too stalwart in his views. He didn't provoke a thought, he shoved his own personal views down our throats. After MASH, TV just got worse. Until Seinfeld I never watched more than 5 minutes of anything else the networks have tossed at me. I had resigned myself to spending the rest of my television viewing days watching The History Channel, old movies and Dick Van Dyke reruns. Then, I found The Family Guy.

Macfarlane and his writing staff are doing a great job doing whatever it is they do. I maintain there has to be an old geezer in the group somewhere although I've never seen or heard of one.

OK, I need to publish this thing. My computer is being an asshole. I'll be back soon.

In all of the Batman hype, I decided to pick up the original movie from the 60's. I remember the T.V series so well from when it ran in syndication. It was one of my favorite program's after school in the late 80's. I remember watching the movie over a dozen times when I was a kid and I was really excited to visit it again. The excitement didn't last very long because the movie was pretty bad, but the movie is not the reason I'm recommending this title.

This Blu-Ray is jam packed with special features. There is two commentary tracks, four featurettes, an interactive Batmobile tour, trailers, trivia, everything your little bat heart desires. Let's talk about the characters. I'm gonna type a character's name and then list who I think played it the best. Batman: Michael Keaton. Bruce Wayne: Adam West. Robin: Burt Ward. Joker: Jack Nicholson. Penguin: Burgess Meredith. Catwoman: Michelle Phifer. Riddler: Frank Gorshin. I purposly saved the best for last, Frank Gorshin saved this movie for me. His laugh and his energy on screen was truly brilliant. If I'm gonna rate the movie on it's own, I'll give it a 5 out of 10, Frank gorshin and some campy dialouge and action makes this movie kinda watchable. If I factor in all the extras that are included, I have to bump it up to an 8 out of 10. I love good extras, it can turn a bad movie into a good one.

While clicking around the iTunes store today I was pleased to discover that Warner Brothers has put up a large number of DC cartoons.

Warner’s really dug deep into their library to bring about a wide variety of DC toons. The releases span several decades staring with the original Fleischer Superman toons all the way up to the DCAU shows of the 90s. While many series and seasons remained unreleased, I can only speculate the unreleased content will be finding it’s way onto iTunes in the near future.

While many of the shows are currently available on DVD, it is nice to have them up on iTunes as well. It benefits the individuals who are looking to get only certain episodes and those looking for the convenience of getting the shows with the click of a mouse.

It is worth noting that at least one DC animated show on iTunes has yet to get a DVD release. That show is The Adventures of Batman, the first ever Batman animated show, produced by Filmation back in 1977. Interestingly the later incarnation of the show, appropriately entitled The New Adventures of Batman has been released on DVD.

If you are a DC fan looking for an ideal place to legally get animated DC episodes, you can now turn to iTunes.

Desde luego, tenemos que empezar con la versión de los años 60s. Ese Batman que era más bien gracioso y simpático, un Batman que lejos de causar miedo en los niños se ganaba su confianza y afecto.

Algo que es muy notorio es el crecimiento de las orejitas, que iniciaron como unas pequeñas protuberancias a unas afiladas e intimidantes torres gemelas.

Me supongo que la decada de los 60s fue una de las décadas más fresas y tetas que han existido y es por esa razón que la vestimenta de Batman usaba colores gris, morado, azul y amarillo.

De Robin ( chico maravilla ) ya mejor ni hablamos, por que su disfraz parece listo para el desfile por el orgullo gay.

Definitivamente no da miedo este Batman y es entendible, en su momento fue diseñado para una serie de televisión orientada a los niños.

Era tan amigable y buena onda el Batman que incluso se tomó el tiempo de crear el Bati-baile. Ah y no pierdan de vista el detalle de las cejas en la máscara, me recuerdan a Gordolfo Gelatino.

Para los años 80s con el filme realizado por Tim Burton se le dió a Batman un estilo más oscuro e intimidante. Era un Batman más cercano a lo que el comic original había propuesto.

Como les comenté anteriormente, le crecieron las orejitas.

La versión de los ochentas conservaba pocos toques del anterior (60s), como por ejemplo el color amarillo que se usaba para resaltar el escudo o logo. Atrás se habían quedado los colores azul, gris y morado, para dar paso al negro.

La película Batman de Tim Burton tuvo un éxito rotundo, fue un éxito en taquilla y comercial. Yo aún recuerdo que era un niño cuando vi en el cine este filme.

Ganadora de un Oscar por su producción y diseño, esta versión de Batman estaba más orientado a los adultos y gente pensante.

Despúes vinieron los 90s y con el éxito que se había obtenido de Batman se vinieron las secuelas. Batman Returns no presentó grandes cambios y se mantuvo en la línea, pero eso cambió para los siguientes filmes, Batman Forever y Batman &Robin, ambas dirigidas por Joel Schumacher.

Si por algo son recordados los filmes sobre Batman hechos por Schumacher es por que les dió en la madre de manera superlativa. ¿Quién fue el inteligente que lo puso como director?

Schumacher se enfocó por completo en el aspecto comercial y llevó a cabo cambios drásticos en la vestimenta y en el concepto del caballero oscuro. Se trajo de vuelta a un olvidado Robin y se retomaron algunas cosas del Batman de los 60s.

Como pueden apreciar Robin usa los colores característicos, sólo que menos llamativos, pero aún así muy metrosexual el asunto. Yo me pregunto. ¿era necesario incluir el pezón en el disfraz? Robin no importa lo que haga, siempre tendrá apariencia homosexual.

Y si ya el personaje de Batman Forever estaba muy perjudicado y se creía que no se podía caer más bajo, pues ¿qué creen? Que el genio de Joel Schumacher lo hizo caer aún más bajo.

Batman retomaba algunos tintes de color azul, se tornaba más metrosexual, le incluían los pezones al pecho y en general se hacía más joto.

Ya el colmo de los colmos vino cuando mandaron a confeccionar el traje de Batman con algún diseñador amanerado. Decidieron que lo "in" o de moda era el azul y el plateado.

Ya sólo les faltaba ponerles de fondo la canción Macho Man de The Village People y entonces si, misión cumplida, le diste en la madre a Batman.

Afortunadamente, los dueños de la franquicia decidieron hacer un "reseteo" a Batman y lo empezaron todo de nuevo. Se regresó a un Batman oscuro e intimidante, se consiguió a un actor que le quedaba el personaje ( y no sólo era una cara bonita ) y se dejaron atrás los colores fashion, dejando al más oscuro de todos.

Al parecer para Batman: The Dark Knight no hay cambios de ningún tipo y se conserva el personaje oscuro. Sin duda un Batman Guarro-Fresa.

Y para finalizar, algo que seguramente no todos sabían y quienes sabían pensaban que este humilde tlatoani había olvidado. Existieron otros Batman previos al Batman de Adam West, es sólo que no fueron parte de películas, sino de series de tv. Son las versiones más guarras de Batman que se han hecho.

La primera es del año 1943 y se llamaba Batman the serial, un conjunto de 15 capítulos.

En 1946 se hizo una nueva serie y llevó por nombre Batman & Robin. Definitivamente el traje si está para dar risa.

Hasta aquí por el momento con Batman, esperan la 3a entrega.

Batman, de lo guarro a lo fresa - 1

Só se fala no "Cavaleiro das Trevas", então...Tomem!

BEZZI

And with the anticipation building for The Dark Knight (in theaters July 18), I thought I'd review all six Batman films, beginning with the first: Batman: the Movie.

Released in the summer of 1966, Batman: the Movie was basically a super-long episode of the television series that premiered between seasons one and two. The series was intentionally campy (or so my father told me), which is baffling to me, because camp forces you to ask, what WERE they thinking? You're not supposed to wonder what ARE they thinking? But according to my father, the Batman television series struck a chord with audiences until the end of season two when audiences realized that camp is a dish best served later and the show was canceled.

What's it about? Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) must thwart the combined forces of the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and the Joker (Cesar Romero), who plan to dehydrate the most powerful leaders of the world. That's right. Dehydrate them. Batman shows a shark who's boss, sings the praises of a martyred dolphin, holds on to a bomb with the world's longest fuse, vaporizes a bunch of goons, and...ah, who cares.

What's good about it? Bright colors. Oh, and Lee Meriwether is hot.

What's bad about it? Plenty--from the shoddy-looking costumes (Batman's costume looks home made) to Cesar Romero's visible mustache underneath his Joker makeup, to the drawn-out action sequences to the cornball one-liners, Batman: the Movie is so bad it's bad. And boring. But oddly enough, there's an earnestness to it all. It's as if everyone involved with the making of it collectively said, "yes, we know it's awful, and yes, we know you'll hate it, but we're going to have fun making it. Please be as nice as you can when you write your review forty-two years later." And while I didn't really enjoy this film, I have to admit that it is NOT the worst of the Batman films.

Perfect for: children, although chances are they can't/won't sit still through it.

Con esta entrega iniciamos una serie de artículos dedicados al personaje de historieta más exitoso y popular. En cada una de ellas iremos analizando las guarreses y la freses que han rodeado al super héroe desde los tiempos del Batman can máscara de gatito hasta el presente. ¿No lo sabían? Batman ha ido trasladándose desde el extremo fresa hasta el extremo guarro en toda su existencia, así que por eso en Guarro-Fresa le daremos a Bruce Wayne (Bruno Días) unas lecciones para que comprenda su existir.

Fanáticos y clavados de Batman, se esperan sus comentarios, pero tampoco se claven en peladeces y recordatorios familiares.

Iniciemos pues con el Batman fresa del año 1966, si justo ese, el Batman de Adam West y que en su traje usaba unos extraños colores ( morado, azul y gris). Los videos que muestro pertenecen a la primer película hecha sobre el personaje de DC Comics, que se llamó desde luego "Batman: The movie" y que era protagonizada por Adam West como Batman and Burt Ward como Robin (el chico maravilla).

En este momento no analizaremos más al Batman panzoncito, ya habrá más tiempo para hacerlo. Sólo les voy a dejar una muestra de lo fresa, curiosa y divertida que era la serie de televisión y película Batman en ese tiempo.

El video a continuación muestra a Batman intentando deshacerse de una bomba, pero por múltiples razones no puede hacerlo.

Jajajaja que risa me dan los patitos. Se nota claramente que son de hule.

Y ni que decir de su diálogo digno de premio.

"Hay días en que no sabe uno como deshacerse de una bomba".

O en inglés

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb"

La versión en español (de españa jajajajajajja)

La versión en inglés

Y para reirnos un buen rato en la misma película, la escena del tiburón que forma parte ya de los grandes clásicos del cine.  Jajaja ese tiburón es de risa.

En inglés una versión corta para ir directo a la escena del tiburón y luego en español una secuencia de 5 minutos para disfrutar el doblaje de los españoles.

Inglés

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