I've been meaning to write this post for a while. JoBlo decided to have a little debate on its website over whether Tim Burton's Batman or Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is better. For the record, my vote is with Tim Burton. J-Man weighed in and he got a couple of replies. One guy said who cares about Batman in comics and the other guy submitted his resume and expounded basically that unless you think Batman Begins is superior, you know nothing about Batman. Here is my rebuttal and I'm not posting it on that website because I may get a nasty reply one or both of those individuals, which will probably cause me to track down both posters and wring their necks. Make no mistake, it is preferable to get snotty with J-Man than with me...he'll insult you sure, but he is too mature and wise to go beyond that...while I will happily go looking into the kitchen drawer for available carving knives...
Anyhow, my anger management issues aside, for the purposes of the post, I will dismiss the person who said who cares about Batman in comics. This post will be about Batman in the comics (in a way), so that opinion has no merit here. Likewise, if you're reading this post and have the same opinion, stop reading and shut down the page. You won't care about what I have to write and you'll be wasting your time and my breath. For the second person, he reminds me of a guy I ran into once online. He had the same attitude as this guy (for all I know, he is the same guy) and the only thing I would have to say is you are a sad, sad individual. You cannot have a normal conversation or friendly debate without insulting someone. By the fact you had to make it personal, you both showed the ignorance of your opinion and that you obviously don't even believe that opinion yourself, because if you did, you would find no need to get personal in the first place.
Anyhow, jackass posters on JoBlo aside, I have an interesting idea about Dark Knight. Not Batman Begins, but Dark Knight. Now, I want you to think about the movie. Got it? Good. Now remove any mention of Batman, No Batman. Okay? Good. Now, replace him with Green Arrow. You know, Green Arrow, millionaire Oliver Queen, he has the arrows and all that, he's a DC character. Good? Now, think about it. Would it not be the same movie? It would? Okay. Now, here's my problem. If you have made a good Batman movie, you should not be able to replace Batman with anyone. In The Dark Knight, there is nothing uniquely Batman. No cave, no car, no detective work, nothing. He is a masked vigilante who they call Batman. He bares some resemblance to the comic book character. There are none of the character traits that uniquely make him Batman.
Now, wait a minute. Do not start rocketing hate emails to me. "Eff u, Dark Knight is the best, u go to hell!" I did not say it wasn't a good movie. Christopher Nolan has made nothing but good movies (with the exception of Insomnia and even then, I've seen worse). The man is bad movie proof. He is a damned good director. There is no doubt. However, there seems to be this ground-swell since Batman Begins and Dark Knight Rises is around the corner, that Christopher Nolan has made the definitive Batman movie. I beg to differ. If you said Marvel has made the definitive Avengers movie, well, I would be more inclined to agree. But Nolan? No. His movies are set in Batman's world and there are ideas that seem to be pointing towards Batman, but these are not Batman films. They are films that are a spin on Batman, a different take. Sure, fine, I'll buy that. It's not Batman though and if you try and shovel that crap on me, you'll get it back in two fistfuls.
So the debates rage as Nolan's trilogy wraps up. I for one would be interested to see how people remember Nolan's films twenty years later. People still fondly remember the Tim Burton films (or film as Batman Returns seems to me to be a tad unloved), but will people remember these films just as well? For my money, the answer will be no and once again it has nothing to do with the quality of the films, but the spirit of them. Nolan's trilogy is technically sound and impressive-looking, but lacks the passion for the source material. I detect no love in them, just the mechanics of good filmmaking. For people to declare that these are the best Batman films of all time shows an equal amount of dispassion for Batman. I'm not saying that you have to be a Batman fan to enjoy the film. But for a kid who grew up buying Batman comics off the rack simply for the experience of another great Batman adventure, I think I deserve something better than I have received.
In 1964, Marvel released teaser marketing saying “The M.M.M.S. wants you!” on the covers of their comics with Thing pointing a la the Uncle Sam recruiting posters of WWII. In 1965, the mystery of the M.M.M.S. was revealed: Marvel unveiled their very first official fan club – the Merry Marvel Marching Society. For $1, you got a kit that included:
• welcoming letter • membership card • one-sided, 33⅓ rpm record, "The Voices of Marvel" • scratch pad • sticker • pinback button • certificate
Today, a complete set of this kit fetches thousands of dollars. The record “The Voices of Marvel” itself is an amazing piece of kitch art that featured a “tour” of the Marvel studios at the time and includes the voices of Stan Lee (of course), Jack Kirby, a mention of reclusive Steve Ditko (he never does interviews) and all the authors, artists and even the secretary! It all ends with the song posted up top. The record is really fun and shows the easy-going, fun-loving personality of Marvel compared to their primary competition DC comics. Marvel has certainly come a long way since those halycon days of yore.
Okay, let me first start off by saying, it's a tough act following a review of a movie where a man sets another man's ass on fire. It's...I probably shouldn't be doing this. They're going to be talking about the man setting the other guy's ass on fire for years...no one will remember the post that preceded it, but I am a brave man and this is worth mention.
Before I begin, a thank you to Michael Blaze who read my rant on Time Play and gave me the name of the head honcho at Cineplex Famous Players. Mr. Ellis Jacobs will be getting a letter from me, soon enough. Then I'll let you know how the food is in jail.
This post is about a movie critic named Rex Reed. Now, I don't read movie critics very often. I often find I have enough toilet paper in my house, it's never a need I've required. However, while I was bashing the blah movie, Safe House (you can read the review on this blog), I noticed a comment from Mr. Rex Reed. The comment is below:
"This is a naive director with so little insight you wonder what comic books he's been reading."
Okay, before I continue, let me give you a little background on Mr. Reed. Mr. Rex Reed is the guy who spread the rumor that Marisa Tomei did not actually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny, that Jack Palance was too drunk or stoned to say the real person's name properly. Apparently there was a "massive cover-up"...yes, because the Academy wanted Marisa Tomei that badly. This is the Rex Reed who was caught shoplifting CD's from Tower Records -- because much like his opinions, he must steal his music from others. This is the Rex Reed who said the following line when he wrote about the 2005 Oldboy:
"What else can you expect from a nation weaned on kimchi, a mixture of raw garlic and cabbage buried underground until it rots, dug up from the grave and then served in earthenware pots sold at the Seoul airport as souvenirs?"
So, Mr. Reed, you have proven your vast capability for ignorance, so the comic book reference, I should expect from you, correct? I mean, obviously you have kept abreast with all the happenings in comics, you read all the latest story arcs, the Darkest Night saga, the New 52, Dark Reign and Fear, Itself, right? You weighed in on the Civil War storyline, right? I mean, you cameo'ed in the original Superman movie, (which is a based on a...comic!) so you know everything about comics and you have every right to make that stupid comment, right?
Thank you Mr. Reed. Thank you for proving what an ignorant, arrogant, smug, bigoted bunch of a$$holes you and you're ilk are. You're a member of the New York Film Critics Circle? Are you sure that doesn't actually is supposed to say New York Film Critics Circle Jerk? I mean, if they let an idiot like you in, then I can draw no other conclusion, can I?
You are a small man, Mr. Reed. A small man with an even smaller mind and a tiny view of the world. The unfortunate thing is, you think you are obviously intelligent and sophisticated and above it all. Let me tell you something: people who are sophisticated and intelligent, don't make stupid comments like that. They certainly don't get caught walking away with Mel Torme CD's in their jacket pockets.
By the way, you may be wondering what the picture of the 2 birds at the top of the post represent. They represent the position my 2 middle fingers were in when I read your review and if I ever have the displeasure of making your acquaintance, you'll be seeing them, again.
