Remembering The Batman Films Of The Past

   Dark Knight Rises is due to come out this Friday the 20th of July 2012, this will be the last Nolan Batman and is expected to be the one to top them all, this is a big promise being that the last movie with the Joker was just simply jaw-dropping. There has been a long history of Batman films, mostly they aren't that good, and when in comparison with the Nolan films they all fall short, none can really stand up to the last two movies, the Friday release looks amazing and hopefully will follow suit, blowing all our minds again. There has been a long history to the Batman movie franchise though, and its about time we recap them all starting with the Burton films, those were the ones that really attempted a serious movie in my opinion.

  Batman

    Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and was directed by Tim Burton, that's about all one needs to say about the movie for you to understand where the movie is headed and what kind of quality to expect from it. It's not a great film but it isn't a bad film either, out of all the 4 Batman movies preceding the Nolan films, this one was certainly the best. Jack Nicholson here did a fantastic Joker, he was out-shined later on by Heath Ledger's performance for sure, but this was a more cheesy comic approach to the villain, it was a job well done. This is a movie you should check out if you ever have the time, it's not one you should pay more than five dollars for though, if you find this at a Wallmart then do yourself a favor and add it to your movie collection.

   Batman Returns

    Michael Keaton again returns in his amazing performance as Batman but a very poor Bruce Wayne, can't fault the guy there, he just doesn't have enough swagger to play the role. This movie is defined by its villains though, Christopher Walken as Max Shreck, Danny Devito as The Penguin, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, simply a great cast and a solid choice in villains. Though Penguin could have been played better as more of the mobster we see him being in the comics, this was still a great flick, definitely a great Tim Burton film and one of the better Batman films preceding Nolan. It was after this film that everything went south, what was said about the previous movie applies to this one as well, if you find this movie at a Wallmart be sure to pick it up for it is a great addition to your movie collection.

   Batman Forever

    You should know by the title itself that this movie is going to be horrible, when paired with the fact that Val Kilmer is playing Bruce Wayne, well, the movie just doesn't even stand a chance at doing well, there just wasn't any hope at making this good from the beginning. Jim Carrey as "The Riddler", Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, and Nicole Kidman as a random love affair for Batman attempt to make this movie a little better but fail at every turn. One would imagine that this movie could not get worse but then it does by adding Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson, or the first Robin, it was just a mess from beginning to end. Even if you have nothing better to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon I wouldn't recommend you watch this movie, in fact only watch it if you haven't been able to appreciate any of the Nolan films, watch this one and understand how much better Nolan's work is.

   Batman & Robin

     Kilmer only lasted one movie though, apparently after the previous movie came out the producers finally understood how horrible of an idea the whole thing was, so they brought George Clooney to take his place, one would imagine this would be a great idea but no, this was horrible, Clooney is a very good Bruce Wayne but it a horrible Batman, he has one voice "The Clooney" so that was pretty stupid but the movie really fails due to poor writing, horrible directing, bad casting, and just plain absurdity everywhere. I have no idea what Joel Schumacher was thinking as he directed this movie, it's as if he wanted to make a bad movie, it's just that bad, bat nipples included (George's Batman suit's got nipples O.o). To make matters worse we have Arnold as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone playing Batgirl, one would imagine Alicia and Uma would save the film somewhat but no dice, the movie falls as the worst Batman flick ever made. Save this one for a "bad movie night" if you have them.

   So as we anticipate Nolan's epic conclusion on Friday let us brace ourselves for what looks like to be the best Batman film trilogy ever produced coming to a close. The movie is sure to be amazing, and of course we will have a review here for you as soon as we can on Friday so stay tuned.

  Love from your humble blogger,

Dark Shadows Review: Another Fun Burton Movie

  We got a chance last night to go see the new Tim Burton movie "Dark Shadows" and with all things considered the movie was pretty fun. The movie is based off of one of Depp's and Burton's favorite childhood television shows, so adapting an old show to the big screen was a lot of fun for them. The movie has an impressive cast, though in the end this was another movie to come out whose sole focus was Johnny Depp with everyone else as side characters. This was not necessarily a bad thing, Depp is always fun to watch, but at times one couldn't help but want a little more substance from the surrounding characters, maybe a back story or a plot twist.

    We'll do our our best here to not include spoilers in this review so no worries while reading it. The basics of the movie and story structure you can get from the preview, but to sum it up, Depp fornicates with a witch and later says he doesn't love her, this obviously makes her furious with Depp and causes her to give him the vampire curse and to imprison him for two centuries. Depp eventually is brought back and finds his family in shambles where he seeks to bring back his family fortune and keep his family united at the same time. The witch is still alive and starts causing havoc when he comes back in the scene like expected and thus you have the movie. Not necessarily the most thought provoking of all the Burton movies but it is a fun one.

     Out of all the Burton movies this was one of the best combination of talent within a movie, though Depp did steal the show the other characters did contain some substance due to the brilliant casting by Tim Burton. With people like Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Gulliver McGrath and even Alice Cooper made an appearance, with such a brilliant cast behind Depp the movie does carry some weight and does deliver an entertaining 2 hours of fun. Eva Green was radiant in her performance as Angelique, she looked beautiful and did a fantastic job, one could not help but notice her as she came on screen, it was perfect for her character.

    There was an issue with the movie though, the beginning of the movie was very well done, the back story doesn't take too long and it gives us a good background to everything we are about to witness. The middle of the story is good as well, we are thoroughly entertained throughout the movie by Depp's dialogue and character growth, but the end of the movie was weak. It went from being a good Burton movie to being something more along the lines of "Hocus Pocus" from Disney (not that that was a bad movie, it just didn't carry the Burton flare we love), so 80% of the movie is really well done, but the end felt a little weak, especially the line "wolf", once you see the movie you'll know what we're talking about and agree that it was unnecessary and cheesy.

      Even though the end of the movie is a tad cheesy we would still recommend this movie as a fun escape from the troubles of life, so a good weekend getaway. This is a classic Burton movie, we got the dark elements we love, the movie isn't necessarily scary but nor is it really funny, it just exists in the strange bizarre world that is Burton's mind. If you are accustomed to his work and enjoy his movies then you'll really like this movie, if you aren't a fan of Burton then don't go watch it for this movie from beginning to end is a "Burton" production. We had a lot of fun watching the movie and even though we would never give the movie more than a 3.5/5 we still would watch it again if the opportunity presented itself.

      We hope this week of graduations, finals exams and last get togethers with friends and family was a good one, we pray that this weekend may be a great and relaxing one for all of you,

Love from your humble blogger,

Directors On The Move: Must Know Updates And Rumors

     The month of April has its up sides but when it comes to movies there really isn't much happening throughout the month which is a horrible thing, specially in light of exams being on the horizon and the need for an escape from regular activities being ever present due to stress. April is the last month before we start getting a series of blockbuster films starting with May 04th where we'll start this whole thing off with "The Avengers", its less than a month away, this is going to be good. Late April does offer us some better movies but for right now we get movies like "Lockout" which should feature Mark Wahlberg or Jason Statham but  does not which means that there are no redeeming factors to this brash action movie, not to worry though we do get a Statham movie later this month called "Safe" We don't want to ruin the plot of this movie but it's another Statham movie, which pretty much tells you the plot. On to this week's must know movie news.

   Stoller's New Comedy

     Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt and Alison Brie, need we say more? On the last week of April we will start to get some good movies, this being the first one on the list. The story revolves around Segel and Blunt's characters as they get engaged and tracks all theirs difficulties throughout the whole process of preparing a wedding. The movie is directed by Nicholas Stoller, he directed movies like "Get Him To The Greek" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", so this movie is sure to be a fun one. It was about time Stoller got Segel back on the big screen and delivered us another great comedy. Plus it's Jason Segel, the guy has not disappointed us yet, think "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Muppets", yeah, the guy is good. "The Five Year Engagement" will surely be another great success, we recommend you add this to your must watch list.

    Tarantino's Latest Project

   This week Tarantino finally gave us some more insight into his upcoming movie "Django Unchained", the movie centers around a slave who after being freed becomes a bounty hunter and is on his way to rescue his wife from a Mississippi plantation owner, knowing how Tarantino works this movie will surely be a blast. Tarantino did not pull any punches for this one gathering a long list of amazing actors to perform in this latest addition, actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Kurt Russell, Jamie Fox, and Kerry Washington, an amazing cast for sure. The movie should be coming out during Christmas time and is a project that we'll be sure to talk about again, you know something good and different is coming when Tarantino is involved.

    Ridley Scott's 2013Project Already In Talk

   If Ridley is not on the top of your radar list then we advise you to add him to it, here is man whose career deserves full attention. Ridley's latest movie "The Counselor" will be releasing sometime in 2013, not much about the movie is known as of yet except that it involves a lawyer and drug trafficking. The big rumor going around this week is that Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Michael Fassbender will all be performing side by side in this thriller. Though not confirmed there is talk of Angelina also being involved in this project, the first rumor was that Natalie Portman was to have the role but there are no conclusive news about it all as of yet, as soon as we hear more you'll hear more. If you are unfamiliar with Ridley Scott (God forbid) here is a sample list of some of his movies that should keep you busy this weekend, "Robin Hood", "Body Of Lies", "American Gangster", "Gladiator", "Blade Runner" and the upcoming gem "Prometheus" which looks fantastic.

   Burton Is Back With More Johnny

   Tim Burton just recently unveiled his upcoming vampire comedy "Dark Shadows" which will be featuring (Burton's favorite) Johnny Depp. There are some people who have begun to critique this movie already, for some reason there is a strong online following against Tim Burton, we don't think it matters much, Tim is still a brilliant guy and he has been behind amazing projects in the past, Burton and Depp have worked together for years and know how to bring out the best work from each other, therefore this movie should be on your watch list, its as simple as that. "Dark Shadows" will come out this year May 11th, we recommend that you watch the preview above, it looks like its going to be a really funny movie. If for some odd reason you are unfamiliar with Tim Burton's work then please do yourself a kindness and go watch some of his movies, we recommend "Batman", "Edward ScissorHands", "Ed Wood", "Sleepy Hollow", "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Big Fish", there are more of his movies we could add to this list but that would take up too much space, Burton's got a lot of good movies.

 "Catching Fire" Rumor Mill

  We mentioned previously this week the fact that Lionsgate lost their director for the sequel in the "Hunger Games" trilogy "Catching Fire" and how this could be a good thing or a really bad thing, turns out this might be a really really good thing after all. There are rumors going around right now that there are three directors in talks about taking the movie over, the first is Alfonso Cuaron who is known for movies like "Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Children of Men", the second is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who directed "21 Grams" and "Babel", and thirdly the one and only David Cronenberg whose career is vast and impressive, he's worked on movies like "The Fly", "Scanners", "Eastern Promises", "A History Of Violence" and a ton more. The bottom line is this, we have three titans fighting for this movie, which means that "Catching Fire" will be the "Empire Strikes Back" of the "Hunger Games" series, meaning that it'll probably blow our minds and be amazing. We'll be watching this story closely so as soon as we get more updates you'll get more updates.

   Well consider yourselves updated on important movie announcements and rumors that occurred this week. We hope this Friday is a great one for you and that this weekend might be restful. If you can't think of anything to do for this weekend then we recommend that you look into some of these directors, they will all blow your minds.

Love from your humble blogger,