more emphasis on story and character

Only the most Daddy Issues! Ahoy! superhero EVAR, and we're surprised that adding character emphasis helps?

eta: My first x-post! And with Teppy/Steph! Whee!

I forgot about Tim Drake figuring out Bruce's identity. Ra's definitely happened first. It actually happened fairly early in the Bat timeline.

Did Bane figure it out? I don't remember. It's been a while since I read Knightfall.

I forgot about Tim Drake figuring out Bruce's identity.

Heh. Sometimes Timmy is more Bat than Batman is. He needs his own movie.

Did Bane figure it out?

He did. In two very different situations, depending on whether you like the comic version (which I assume is the actual conon) or the novelization. I gotta say, I love, love, love the novelization of KnightFall, much preferring it to the comics, though they're pretty different in plot.

And... topic... umm... I like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants a lot. Also, any NYCistas that want to see Batman on IMAX this weekend should email me so we can do that.

Some interesting tidbits from the Flick Filosopher's website. In her homepage fundraising appeal, she had this to say about Tom Cruise and editors:

It's vital to the health of entertainment journalism that independent writers like me can maintain their freedom from obnoxious pressure by the studios and the stars. Look: Radar Online is reporting that Reader's Digest magazine caved to outrageous demands from Tom Cruise's people in order to snag an interview:

According to well-placed sources at the magazine, to ensure Cruise's cooperation, the Digest's reporter, Meg Grant, promised to give "Scientology issues" equal play in her profile of the star, and agreed to enroll in a one-day Church "immersion course." Before the interview took place, our sources say, the magazine also agreed to submit its questions for Cruise to his Church handlers, who weeded out any queries they deemed inappropriate. But they were still not taking any chances. When the exclusive interview finally took place, one of Cruise's handlers asked the star the list of pre-approved questions, as Grant recorded Cruise's responses.

Okay, it's not like Reader's Digest is The New Republic or anything, but holy crap. Are these editors just handing over their firstborns to Satan, too?

WTF is wrong with people?

And another in the long line of absurdities I stumble across by keeping my ears open: At a recent screening of an upcoming sure-to-be summer blockbuster (*cough* Batman Begins *cough*) that was packed with all the big names in New York media, I overheard a critic for a major publication discussing the fact that this critic's editor has asked that the critic go easier on films. The critic actually said that the editor said something close to "Can't you give more movies four stars?"

Double WTF.

She did love Mr. and Mrs. Smith with an unholy glee:

What makes Mr. & Mrs. Smith so incredibly yummy is that it's all about how the brain is the most potent sex organ, how it's what goes on in our imaginations, not what we look like, that turns us on... *sigh* It's like Hollywood finally gets it, that movies for grownups can be wild and fun and clever and toe-curlingly seductive and don't have to be about someone dying of cancer or triumphing over cancer or trying to cure cancer even though they were born a poor black child in the Great Depression. It's like, holy crap, we're the grownups now, we kids who grew up on Die Hard and Moonlighting and finally brought them together in one package that combines everything we love, and it could only be better if there were lightsabers or hobbits in it.

Oh, and she also loves Batman Begins:

Did I mention how abso-fuckin'-lutely brilliant this film is? And I'm not grading on a comic-book curve. Nolan has given us a story that is downright Shakespearean in its scope, in its tragedy, in its redemption and awakening of us all to the power within ourselves to conquer the fears that keep us from realizing our potential.

Fametracker has a wonderful bit about the weirdness of Tom Cruise. And, I have to say, major kudos to him, for making the leap, in only 3 months or so, from kind of weird, but generally OK, Hollywood guy to Our Weirdest Fucking Celebrity, completely vaulting over both Madonna AND Courtney Love.

MirrorMask is a must see.

Roger Ebert gave Batman Begins four stars in a very spoiler-filled review that I won't post a link to (I'm highly disappointed about his lack of spoiler warning, especially since I knew nothing about the storyline before reading it).

Roger Ebert has been notoreous for years for giving away spoilers.

I didn't realize that more emphasis on story and character and less emphasis on high-tech action was just what was needed.

From The Onion (photo caption):

Warner Bros. reportedly green-lit Batman Begins after surveys suggested that audiences would be interested in seeing a Batman movie that didn't entirely blow.

[link]

eta: now I want to read the comic "The Batman Wars Against The Dirigible Of Doom."

The NYT review warns: "People with bat phobias should take care."

She really liked it, too.

And because I am a shameless pimp, DH's review is up at FJI.

That NYT review is notable for being the only time the phrase "a restrained Gary Oldman" has ever been typed.