Words without pictures: A Superhero novel
Infinite Crisis by Greg Cox
As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve moved to the Chicago area and am now facing an hour’s train ride each way to work. To my surprise, my sister is a moderate fan of superheroes as well and she lent me her copy of Infinite Crisis: A Novel to read. I was familiar with the storyline and the previous event Crisis on Infinite Earths in name only. This is the first superhero novel I’ve ever read. When I was in my teens/early twenties I read a ton of fantasy books, mainly all of the Forgotten Realms series that was published at the time, as well as the Weis/Hickman written Dragonlance novels and Robert Jordan’s massive Wheel of Time series. One of the things I noticed fairly early on is how much is lost without visuals. Comic books and superheroes are very much a visual medium. And I understand that fantasy can be very visual as well, but for some reason reading about superheroes without the visuals to back it up felt a lot more silly to me. Especially when you get to the fact that this novel covers a huge crossover comics event that features literally hundreds of heroes and villains and has about a dozen main characters. And on top of that, seeing Batman survive being strangled by some superhuman villain is one thing, but reading several times how he’s only surviving because of his armored neckpiece just sits the wrong way with me. But aside from a few qualms, I generally enjoyed it.
Where I’ve been
As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been pretty absent for the past couple weeks. That’s because I’ve moved. It’s not a huge move, but I did cross state lines, going from near one big city to near an even bigger city. I’ve gone from just south of Indianapolis to the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. My job is still the same, though I’m not only working an extra 5-10 hours a week, but also my travel time has increased to 12 hours a week (up from just over 1 hour), this will actually be a help to this blog… when I actually get a laptop that works because I can watch movies and write reviews during my ride, but that’s not for a little while yet. So things will likely remain slow for a while until my work smooths over or I get a new laptop. My original goal of reviewing 100 movies this first year is very close and I’m not letting that fall by the wayside. So keep an eye out and things will hopefully soon get back to normal. And by the way, be sure to check out As You Watch Podcast episode 7, where Nick, Joe, and Vern bring in Andrew and Sarah from Two Tickets For… to sub for me as they talk about Woody Allen’s Match Point. Check it out, leave some feedback. They’re calling it the best episode ever, I’m not sure what that says about me 😉 Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.
As You Watch #6: John Carter
I also wanted to mention a quick update. I have moved to Chicago, but got delayed getting an apartment. I will hopefully be back up and running full time again sometime next week. But for now, check out our latest episode of As You Watch that I recorded before I left where we talk about John Carter, our favorite non-franchised movies IN SPACE, and as always the current DVD and theatrical releases. This week please leave any feedback or comments over at Two Dude Review where this week’s episode is hosted.
As You Watch #5: Batman
In our fifth episode, myself, Joe from Two Dude Review, Nick from Cinematic Katzenjammer, and theVern from Vern’s Video Vangaurd discuss movies and lead up to our feature discussion about Tim Burton’s Batman.
Superhero Shorts: Batman Puppetmaster
Batman: Puppetmaster
Welcome to this week’s edition of Superhero Shorts where I take a look at a different superhero themed short film and get the creator of the film to answer a few interview questions. This week I’m talking with the writer Chris Wiltz about the recent short film Batman: Puppetmaster that tries to expand the ultra realistic style that Christopher Nolan created with his movie trilogy. In Puppetmaster, they examine how The Riddler could fit into Nolan’s Gotham, as well as bringing in their version of Zsasz, briefly, and Scarface. You can watch it below, or at their website BatmanPuppetmaster.com.
Batman
Batman 1989
It has been ages since I’ve seen the original Batman. Tim Burton’s vision of Gotham has long been one of the most iconic and especially known for being one of the first movies to bring a darker side to superhero movies and help bring them more into the mainstream, even if the big superhero movies were pretty much limited to Batman until X-Men comes along over 10 years later. It really helped turn Batman into a household name, and Jack Nicholson’s performance as the Joker is one of his most iconic, as well as one of the best performances in a Batman movie period. But watching this movie after seeing what Batman has become in the years since, it’s almost like looking at a shadow of his former self. Now, the Tim Burton movie is almost like a bridge between the pure camp of the Adam West Batman TV series and the extremely dark and realistic Batman of the Nolan trilogy and the DC Animation movies. And as much as I loved both extremes of Batman for very different reasons, this movie is kind of stuck in the middle and falls behind. But Batman is still Batman, and I enjoyed almost every minute of this movie. It’s still a great movie even if it’s lost some of its luster.
As You Watch Podcast #4 Snatch
Welcome back to the fourth episode of the As You Watch Podcast, featuring myself, Joe from Two Dude Review, Nick from Cinematic Katzenjammer, and special guest Travis from TME Ink. In our fourth episode we talk about our movie of the episode: Snatch – A 2000 Guy Ritchie movie involving diamonds, a fixed boxing match, and a lot of criminals. But we also cover today’s new releases on DVD and Blu-Ray: The Cabin in the Woods and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and this weekend’s new theatrical releases: Dredd 3d, End of Watch, and The Master. We also cover our top three Brad Pitt supporting/underrated roles. Snatch was Joe’s pick so you can check out the episode and leave feedback over at his site. I also worked on some new mash-up intros to the DVD and theatrical releases, so be sure to leave feedback on those.
The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 1
The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 1 2012
No, this isn’t a typo of some shortened cut of the Dark Knight Rises, instead it’s a brand new DC animation. There are a few similarities, but in this version Batman retired for 10 years, not 8. He was in his sixties, not his forties. He’s fighting the Mutant leader and the Mutants, not Bane and the League of Shadows. I believe this also in some way follows Under the Red Hood, as they refer to Jason’s death, who was the second Robin. I’ve been a fan of DC animation for a while now, and they haven’t personally let me down yet. I know there are some people who have issues with the way they don’t entirely follow the comics in some of the features, but since I don’t follow the comics, they’re all fresh to me and just plain amazing storytelling. The movies just keep getting better and better and this one is no exception. I especially like the fact that while this movie is labelled with the sometimes accursed “part 1”, it doesn’t feel like only half of the story. There is a full fledged story told entirely within this one movie, but it also does a great job at laying the groundwork to make you excited for the upcoming part 2 next year.
Follow Friday: Morgan on Media
Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday where each week I feature and interview a fellow blogger and follow their suggestion to another blog to feature next time. I prefer this over a blogroll because it gives each blog their own time to shine, plus I personally rarely click on blogrolls so why would I expect you to? Not only that, but I get the chance to check out some great blogs I might not have found otherwise found, talk to some great people, and share the conversation with you. Of course, if you would rather see something like a blogroll, I have collected all of my previous Follow Friday sites in list form which you can find right at the top of the page. Last time Le0pard13 of It Rains… You Get Wet led me back to Radiator Heaven so it allowed me to have my own choice, and I picked Morgan on Media.
Daredevil: Director’s Cut
Daredevil: Director’s Cut 2003
I was quite surprised when I heard the news of Michael Clark Duncan’s passing, so I did the only thing I could really think of to do my small part to honor his memory: watch one of his movies. And while Daredevil is near the bottom of the recent comic book movie heap, derided by many fans and movie lovers alike, and the director’s cut is widely hailed as the much improved version, if often grudgingly, that was the movie that I decided to watch. Ben Affleck was an interesting choice for the role of Daredevil, and I thought he did a passable job. The rest of the cast was pretty impressive too, with some small controversy about the race swap of the Kingpin. Or at least I remember it being a point of contention with at least one of my friends, who is a big comic book fan. I had no problem with it personally, I couldn’t think of a single white guy with the sheer mass to pull off the role as well as being able to act. I think the biggest fault of the movie is that it didn’t really have a singular tone. In some places it was very darkly serious, in others it was cheery and hopefully romantic, and in others it was over the top campy. Personally, I enjoyed almost every minute of it. I could see the faults of a bad film peeking through, but I looked past it into an enjoyable little flick.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 