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The Return of ‘Batman Returns’

Much like it was on the tenth anniversary of The Dark Knight, it’s also the 25th anniversary of Batman Returns! Give or take a year that is. It’s a movie I’ve definitely seen enough to know by heart, but not one that I really have ever given great thought to, at least enough to analyze in-depth in an article or essay. It’s just kind of always been about Tim Burton’s gothic wankery, to my mind. But I found a really cool analysis on that made me look at it from another angle. I don’t think Tim gave it one iota of this level of thought, and mainly just made choices out of instinct or from the hip based on whatever felt right to him at the time; but nonetheless, check it out here, then come back for my thoughts! Continue reading “The Return of ‘Batman Returns’”

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The Dark Knight at 10 Years

The Dark Knight turns 10 years old this week, and it’s time to get out the old rose colored lenses. It really was a monumental film that came at the exact right time to help shape popular culture for the next decade, and it really did help redefine the comic genre. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has its flaws- such as “No Moah Dead Cops!!”- but the film itself, and Heath Ledger’s iconic Joker in particular, may never be topped as both a watershed comic book movie and a cultural moment that encapsulated an entire era. Continue reading “The Dark Knight at 10 Years”

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Batman #50: “The Wedding”- NOT

So Batman #50 hit this week, and boy there were some unhappy people. I don’t care enough about whatever nonsense Tom King is doing to get worked up in the first place, but if I was invested in reading it, I’m sure I’d be pissed. Everyone on the face of the planet knows what happens by now, but just in case, “spoiler alert.” I say, much like a peeping tom, look at your own peril!
Continue reading “Batman #50: “The Wedding”- NOT”

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Recent Comic Roundup: Teen Titans Special

Wanted to get a quick one out today (that’s what she said) and talk about some recent comic releases, something I haven’t really done thus far. Plus what’s coming up for the site next month. Here we go. Collectors be warned: You may actually want to pick up the seemingly pointless Teen Titans Special, in stores today. I have no idea if this issue will catch heat, depends on what in the issue actually sticks, but it could very well be a key moving forward. You have been warned… Continue reading “Recent Comic Roundup: Teen Titans Special”

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Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman Returns

Before Man of Steel was a gleam in Zack Snyder’s eye and we had any idea how the DCEU would look, and certainly before we had any idea of who Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer really were offscreen, Superman Returns was at best a divisive movie. To some it was a charming throwback to the Donner era; to others, a gluttonous mess of a vanity project for Singer with no respect for the comics. There are not too many genuinely divisive comic book films; by that I mean, when you think about it, how many movies in the genre have an opinion right down the middle? Certainly not something like Batman v Superman, where although it has many fans, the divide is something like 80/20 against. The closest one can recall might be the Ang Lee Hulk movie, where even though I can admire it for personal reasons, admit it was a noble failure. But that’s the key difference between something like that and Superman Returns, released in the summer of 2006 to much fanfare by critics but met with bewilderment from a nonplussed public. Continue reading “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman Returns”