Dude, I saw THE BATMOBILE today! The new, tricked-out one from Batman Begins! It was at NBC for a piece they were doing for Access Hollywood, right there, in the parking lot! The worst part is that as I took my tour group by it, practically nobody cared! Holy lord, I mean it's the frikkin' batmobile from a movie that's not even out yet. Plus even if you don't give a crap about Batman, it is like the most badass vehicle you've ever seen.
So now it is official. After reading a few reviews, notably over at Ain't It Cool News.com, seeing more of the hype, and seeing the durn Batmobile in person, I am HYPED for this movie. But more on that in a few.
QUICK ASIDE: Hmm, thought there'd be more of a reaction to my Ben Savage sighting the other day. What, people don't get worked up about beloved, D-list childhood actors from ABC's once-legendary TGIF lineup anymore?
So, on MONDAY:
Well in practice it wasn't all that exciting, but in theory it was pretty darn sweet that i got to MEET WILL FERELL and escort him along with his wife and son (hilariously and tragically named MAGNUS!) to his Tonight Show dressing room. Didn't really get to say much to him, as Leno came out to greet him personally. But hey, he was dressed in a bright orange suit. Also briefly met comedian George Lopez and his wife, who commented on how much she liked my NBC tie.
TODAY:
Saw the band The Bravery perform during their dress rehearsal before the show. Didn't recognize the name at first, but immediately knew their song from it's heavy play on K-Rock here in LA and presumably on other modern rock stations all over. Pretty kickass song and performance in the style of The Killers and other such neo-80's rock bands, so very sweet to see the band do such a fun and catchy song.
TOMORROW:
Mr. Jumpy Jumpy himself, Tom Cruise, visits NBC for the Tonight Show. Should be interesting. Still, setting aside all the tabloid-y stuff, which in truth I don't really care about, War of the Worlds, barring a major disaster, is locked and loaded and set to rock, so can't wait for that one.
And NOW ...
DANNYBARAM.BLOGSPOT.COM PRESENTS:
BATMAN BEGINS WEEK ... BEGINS!
WARNING: If you're not into this nerdy stuff or don't like my long, seemingly pointless rants, stop reading now.
READY? OK, LET'S DO THIS:
One week until the movie-going main event of the summer (sorry Star Wars), Batman Begins. Now I am a pretty big Batman fan. Okay, I am kind of a hardcore Batman fan. Sure, as a kid I loved the old Adam West TV show and whatnot, but what really got me hooked was the same thing that got me hooked on Superman - the comics. It all started in Camp Jewel in about 5th grade or so. Every week our counsellors would go into town, and among other things, they'd bring back the new issues of Batman and Superman, both of which were going through some major changes at the time. See, Superman was dead (!) and Batman, well, he had his back broken and was replaced by some other guy who became the NEW Batman. Suffice to say, I was hooked, and have been ever since. Now I've read some incredible Batman comics over the years. I've seen Batman brought to TV in an amazingly genious interpretation, in Batman: The Animated Series. But what I have NOT seen is a live-action movie that really, truly does justice to what is perhaps the greatest fictional character of all time. Sure, the first Tim Burton movie, known simply as Batman, was pretty cool at the time. Jack Nicholson tore up the screen as the Joker, and Michael Keaton was better than anyone expected in the title role. Burton's stylized, Gothic vision was perfect. But still, the movie leaves most real fans of Batman feeling kind of empty, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly why. It just felt too over the top, too corny, too concerned with STYLE to really focus on the SUBSTANCE. While the imagery was striking, the character was lacking. And character is a vital part of the equation. Plus with so much amazing history to draw from, it just felt like too much was MISSING. Where was Jim Gordon, for example? Only a few years prior to Burton's Batman, Frank Miller revolutionized the character with Dark Knight Returns and Year One, and yet his influence was nowhere to be felt in the move, which in retrospect is very disappointing. From there, it all went downhill. Batman Returns, again, had some good moments, but became so twisted and grotesque that it lost all dramatic gravitas and became altogether removed from reality. Batman Forever, well, this was the Joel Schumaker era, in which Batman, as a movie franchise, was utterly, completely, decimated, humiliated, and disgraced. Joel Schumaker made Batman into a joke. He turned the Dark Knight into a rubber suit wearing clown who was mere set decoration in some kind of crazy acid-trip parody. At least the Adam West series had a real sense of wry humor and inspired, campy lunacy. This was just unequivically terrible. And just look at the talent that was wasted. Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face, hell, even Ahnold as Mr. Freeze. All could have been good, if not great, in those roles. But the writing, directing, and overall vision was pure, unadulterated crap. Not to mention the awful turns by George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin, and (shudder ...) Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Batman had hit rock bottom. There was nothing left to do but hit the cosmic reset button and begin again.
Ironically, even as Batman limped along in movies, he was kicking ass elsewhere. The animated series under the guidance of Paul Dini produced several seasons of pure, classically told, artfully animated, and brilliantly voice-acted Batman stories - some of the absolute best ever, in any medium. In the comics, Batman's ongoing adventures were written by a continuing parade of some of the best writers out there, and drawn by some of the field's best artists. The Knightfall saga saw Bruce Wayne crippled, only to eventually return and reclaim the mantle of the Bat from his psychotic replacement, Jean Paul Valley, aka Azrael. In later years, great writers like Greg Rucka and Ed Brubacker enjoyed long runs on the Batman comics that will go down as classics. Jeph Loeb teamed with superstar artist Jim Lee to create the Hush saga, which returned Batman to number one on the sales charts. Loeb and artist Tim Sale also produced The Long Halloween, regarded as a classic tale of Batman's early years. Frank Miller returned to the fold to do a sequel to Dark Knight Returns. Chuck Dixon, Gail Simone, and others brought new life to Batman's supporting cast, fleshing out titles like Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, and Birds of Prey. You get the picture. The only thing left was the movie. The one we'd been waiting for. A new spin on classic Batman. One that incorporated the great stories like Year One and The Long Halloween. One that had the great supporting cast characters like Jim Gordon. One that was dark. That was serious. Dramatic. Intense. One that was true to the spirit of Bob Kane and Bill Finger's classic creation. A man who was born out of fear on one tragic night, who made a promise on his parents' grave to rid his city of evil. An ordinary man who nonetheless became a symbol of the peak of human potential, a dark knight on an endless, grim crusade. Now, finally, this could be it. More stuff to come ... potentially including: The Best Batman Writers, The Best Batman Artists, and The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told!
Tune in next time ...
(you guessed it ...)
Same Bat-Time. Same Bat-Channel.
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