Posts tagged Batman
Birdman “Unusual and Boring”
Nov 12th
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
BIRDMAN has the full, awkward title of BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE), which sums up the whole movie.
It is long, it is unnecessary, it is complicated, and in the end it is obtuse and doesn’t mean anything.
Michael Keaton stars as Riggan Thomson, an actor who is trying to rejuvenate his career by mounting and starring in a play on Broadway after he used to be somebody in the movies.
You see, some 20 years ago Riggan starred in three popular movies as a comic-book superhero known as Birdman, but after those successful movies playing the superhero, Riggan said no to making BIRDMAN 4.
Remind you of anyone?
Yes, Keaton himself starred as Batman in the 1989 BATMAN and the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS movies, but not in the third Batman movie in the series, although I am not sure why, but there was controversy about his starring in even the first one, with some critics complaining that his chin was too “weak” to be Batman, who wears a mask, remember?
At any rate, a voice in Riggan’s head says, “We had it all; we gave it away.”
Later in the movie, that voice in Riggan’s head becomes significant.
So, Riggan has written an adaptation of a short story called “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love,” he is directing the play and also starring in it, and the action in the movie takes place mostly in the theater where the play is going to be produced.
The camera work is made to look as if the whole movie was shot in one continuous take, but the long shots sometimes end in a different location and at a different time in the story, which is another example of unnecessary and complicated, right?
The story takes place before the previews of the production, and also appearing are Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts, but when scenes turn surrealistic, such as when Riggan floats and flies above the streets of New York City, you might wonder what is going on and why are you there watching this confusing piece of whatever you want to call it.
We see rehearsals for the play, and the acting is terrible.
BIRDMAN goes on way too long, and it is too unusual and boring for my taste.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Kick-Ass 2” Thankfully Ends
Aug 24th
“Thankfully Ends”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Kick-Ass 2 is the sequel to the 2010 Kick-Ass, which was a surprisingly and thoroughly enjoyable movie about a nerdy teenage boy who wanted to be a superhero who fights crime and sorta, woulda, coulda almost did.
This movie is not, except for the part about the nerdy teenager, etc.
However, even that part starts out differently, as we hear the teenager, Dave Lizewski say at the beginning, “I’d given up being a superhero, because it was way too dangerous.”
On the other hand, the little sweetheart from the first movie, Hit-Girl, is still fighting crime successfully, and she is doing it by ditching school, where her alter ego, Mindy Macready, has just started high school as a freshman.
Both Dave and Mindy go to the same school, and Hit-Girl’s success causes Dave to get his old costume out, and he suggests to Mindy that they should team up and fight crime together, just like Batman and Robin.
However, Hit-Girl has been grounded by her guardian, but she agrees to train Dave in what she knows about martial arts, and they train every day for three weeks.
Mindy also tells Dave, “If you’re scared of dying, one thing is certain: You’re going to die.”
Meanwhile, the rich kid from the first movie, Chris D’Amico, is still around, but he has given up his desire to be a superhero, too, and instead he designs a costume and wants to be the first supervillain, giving himself a name that can’t be repeated here, but it sounds a little like The Mortarforker.
So, when Dave discovers that he is still not good at fighting crime alone, he learns about and joins a gang of other wannabe superheroes called Justice Forever, which is led by Col. Stars and Stripes, played by Jim Carrey, who is almost unrecognizable and thankfully tones down and doesn’t try to steal the movie with his usual outrageous antics.
Not to be outdone, Chris pays top dollar for every hired hitter in town to form his own gang of villains to support him.
Meanwhile, there is a side story of Mindy wanting to be a part of the cool kids at school, but this ends with extremely bad taste, and the movie turns ugly.
Kick-Ass 2 ends, thankfully, with a Big Fight substituting for the Big Game conclusion.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises – Movie Trailer
Jul 18th
It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.