Who Was The Best Film Batman?

Firstly this is just my view based on all the live action Batman actors appearing in films. So animated or tv series and old historic Batmans of black and white era are excluded. Mostly my reason for this is because they are vastly different mediums two which the story was told and well they chose good actors to portray this role for that time. So putting them in the same category as the live action film category just didn’t seem fair. Secondly this is just my thoughts on this subject and thus I’m open to more debate on the matter. I am not a big Batman fan, I don’t sit in in the realm of canon law from the comics. Purely looking at this from a film perspective.

So let’s begin to which I am going to go backwards in time. Starting from newest to oldest.

Robert Patterson

After watching The Batman there was two thoughts I had about it. 1. This feels like the logical conclusion for a sequel to the Gotham TV series. 2. Robert Patterson was not a good Bruce Wayne. Which is not necessarily the actors fault. Whilst in the Batsuit I could totally by Patterson as Batman. But then as Bruce Wayne it just felt completely off for his character. it’s almost like we saw the Bruce Wayne from the Gotham TV series grown up and it was also influenced by The Gritty vibe of the Joker movie. And somewhere in this mix, this radically different but early days of Batman just didn’t sit right with me. Like an uncanny valley effect nothing seemed right about this film yet they followed the core idea. All I could say about that film was “it was inspired by” because you could see Gotham, Joker, even Christopher Nolan’s influence in the story telling of Batman. So this felt almost like a fan film or parody and it set the wrong vibe. I think Patterson should of been given more time to prep for this movie as I feel he was given wrong directions for this film. The fact they are making a sequel to this film leaves me feeling “Meh” as I’m just not excited about this franchise of Batman.

Ben Affleck

The problem I have with Ben Afflecks Batman was that it was set in the Justice League World. Batman is complex, his real costume is that of Bruce Wayne and that’s something that’s slightly unhinged about the guy. He is Batman 100% of the time and Bruce Wayne is but a mask he wears when he’s needed for public. Now I like Affleck as an actor and I feel this was such a wasted potential for him. He played somewhat the Iron Man Robert Downey Jr role in the DC Justice League movies and it didn’t work. What we the viewer needed was more context to this Batman and what would of helped this is if Ben Affleck was given the chance to have at least a trilogy of Batman films to develop his character before the Justice League came about. The justice league just lacked chemistry and you didn’t feel any of these characters would ever join together. This is not Afflecks fault, again it was the studios use of the character that kind of betrayed the actor portraying Batman and it also betrays the complexity for Batman for the character being displayed.

Christian Bale

I don’t look at Christopher Nolans Batman Trilogy as one of the greatest trilogies of all time. Batman Begins, Dark Knight was its best two films and suffered badly with its third movie. Nolan wanted to make a conclusion to his trilogy and I feel that this one decision clouded the films ability to tell the story. So Dark Knight Rises kind of sucked because the focus was on story and conclusions and didn’t offer enough fandom moments that made the two films before it iconic. Onto Bale himself, I think Bale portrayed Bruce Wayne and Batman almost to perfection. Just one element was missing that would of been the cherry on top. That was a crazy and humorous side to Bruce. Not in Batman for. But in Bruce form. As I said Bruce is just a mask for Batman as he’s batman 24/7. The only time I felt this to be present was only subtly in Dark Knight but then became non existent in Dark Knight Rises.

George Clooney

Clooney gets too much hate for this role when it wasn’t his fault. Bad script. Bad director, and someone was on LSD at the time when they thought this looks visually good, Batman & Robin film is the product of when too many people interfere with an established order. When you strip away the very terrible movie. Clooney was a perfect choice for this role. He is very similar to Keaton. In fact if Clooney had been in Batman Forever you’d probably be more forgiving of him playing Batman. I’m frustrated with this one because Clooney is a good actor and the fault isn’t him but that of the director.

Val Kilmer

Kilmer is a tricky category because he was the first to take over the role of live action film Batman and he is vastly different to Michael Keaton. Was he good as Bruce Wayne and Batman? Absolutely but if he did Batman and Robin after Batman Forever then I think it wouldnt of been good for him. Batman Forever I think is actually better than people give it credit for. It’s still a continuous story from Tim Burtons Batman era as the script was adapted from Burtons third movie idea. So it was great for this transitional phase because it’s literslly between Burton and Schueler era but it’s just downplayed by the laterd influence. Just didn’t sit right. But Kilmer could of been a good franchise of Batman but it just should of been a completly new universe for it.

Michael Keaton

So Burton had it right, for its time period as well. He crafted us a Batman that you totally believed in. Something that didn’t happen till Christopher Nolans films. I will only agree with one thing that the studios said which wanted to make toys. batman returns albeit very iconic was too dark. The first movie with Jack Nicholson’s Joker was perfect, then it went full Burton by the sequel and well it was too far away from thr mark. Enough to say, don’t make a third movie. Which is a shame, because Burton should of been allowed to make a trilogy and if he just lightened up a little with Batman Returns we may have seen the third outing. But one thing he did get right was Michael Keaton’s casting as Batman, as Bruce he was distracted and not really present which was good because as I said before Bruce is just a mask, he’s Batman. Batman pretends to be Bruce Wayne in public and Burton portrayed this very accurately on many occasions.

So after my analysis, who was the best Batman actor? It’s a mix of Michael Keaton and Christian Bale they both hit the role almost perfectly and thus no contest they both sit at the top spot.

As for the worst, sorry but Robin Patterson takes that spot.

As for the rest, they was just wasted potential and could of been really good. And not a reflection of the actors that portrayed them.

It’s not a matter of who acted the worst because they all acted well but the problem comes from director and script, if both or one is bad then it’s VERY notiable. So it’s not the actors fault.

What’s your thoughts

Come On Barbie Let’s Go Party

Most would probably think my interests in film are bias to superhero movies. Not true, I look at all genres of films and I love a good comedy.

But I was a bit perplexed by a Barbie Movie. Personally I feel it wasn’t marketed very well. The first I knew of a Barbie movie was when it was released at cinema and went head to head with Oppenheimer.

And there is something incredibly sad about that. See I’ve watched the film but it wasn’t something I was intending to watch. Mostly because it was advertise very well as a comedy. And the themes of the film suggest that this film should be for everyone. So I’m perplexed by they promoted it in such a way to exclude and encourage more people to watch.

Anyway. So what lead to me watching this film. Weirdly YouTube – seeing that Ryan Goslin talk positive about it and then seeing what cast they had in this film. And nearly everyone wanted to be in it. It intrigued me.

So YouTubing some clips from the film and seeing a Stella comedic performance from Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling I felt this film needed abit of justice. Thus I went to watch the film.

And yes, it’s good. It’s funny, it has an important message and that message hits everyone. I saw reports that the film had become a piece of woke propaganda but it is simply not that. Instead it explains the problems of the world in a palatable narrative that works well even for story telling.

The whole film is really a piece on Identity and finding out who you are and being comfortable with who people are. Whilst being funny in many many scenes.

This film has a good vibe. And I highly recommend it to people of all.

My only criticism is there needed to be more Allan one of the funnest characters in the movie was sparsely used and should of appeared more but let’s hope for a sequel where him and midge for that matter kind of shine.

I’m short Barbie is a good 2023/24 film to watch for a humourus take of a toy franchise

Films That Was An Influence On Me

I wanted to do something different, I wanted to give you not a top 10 but 10 films that personally changed my life. Here they are.

1. Jurassic Park – This was the very first movie I ever saw at the cinema. Previously the only way I was ever able to watch a new release was a blockbuster video rental. At the time my family couldn’t afford such luxury as going to the cinema but as years went on we was able to see our first film. That was Jurassic Park. Now I was thinking about this, Jurassic Park is such an iconic film. A master class of story telling and imagination. If this had not been my first cinema movie, would I have continued my passion for film? So I credit this movie for being at the birth of my interest in watching films at the cinema.

2. Million Dollar Hotel – it took me nearly 5 years to track down what this film was. It appeared on tv one day in the early 00’s and it was one of those late night, film that’s on in the background as you surfed the early days of the internet. But this film took my attention. I always liked films that was a bit artistic and different and something about this film just stood out. It had so many good cast members. Directed by Mel Gibson, you had Jeremy Davis as the lead who has featured on many tv shows including Lost, Lucifer & Hannibal. It also had Mila Jovovich of resident evil fame, Peter Stomer of Lost World Jurassic Park and prison break – such an iconic film. So how did it change my life. It took me 5 years to track down this film as I forgot the name of it and well I had only remembered fragments of the film. But using the internet and researching about films and trying to track down history, helped me to explore the world of film making. You learn about set designs, trivia production, locations. This film is responsible for me delving deeper into the production of films. Such a great film shame such a low rating.

3. Short Circuit 2 – this film wouldn’t normally be on a list like this more of a top 10 films I like, but in recent times this film was one of the first films that I personally enjoyed but not realised how the casting of an actor in a controversial role is what makes this film questionable today. But for me, it’s like I didn’t know, I really didn’t know until someone pointed it out. And his is and still is a treasured movie of mine. So why this changed my life is that it gave me a perspective, a view point about what people find offensive or controversial. Even if the films intent was pure it still has something not quite right about it. Now many tv shows with controversial scenes or actions have been removed over the years and I don’t think this is the way forward on this. You can’t just sweep away history because it offends someone now. It happened. And it should serve as a reminder that it did happen and how we can improve for the future. Deleting history is a waste. But alas controversy is a big issue and the question on how to handle it is never straight forward.

4. Fight Club – I don’t agree with the plot of the movie, or the characters actions throughout, but there was something relatable to the main character played by Edward Norton in the film. The internal comments was too real. The writer (chuck palanki) knew very well how to portray inner dialogue. When we watch a film, we see it from the characters perspective but every now and there you can see the parallel to your own life. Fight Club was the first movie that did that for me, I was able to see my mind operate from the weirdest of thoughts wether silly or bizzare and a internal dialogue playing them out. Trying to make sense of them. There has been more films I can relate to, better films at that. But fight club was the first relatable movie.

5. Oceans 11 – take all the elements of James Bond, mix it into a heist movie and add a dash of celebrities. Ocean 11 is a modern mystery film. You never know exactly where to look because how it’s going to end is now how you have been lead to believe. This film introduced to me the idea of clever misdirection writing. When I was younger, I was learning psychology, this lead into hypnotism and then deception which is a tool of the trade for magicians. I became fascinated with this complex series of events that had to occur to make the end effect . Now it’s one thing to be a magician because you have an act practice it till perfect and then present it. But to make a film that most will see only once, include a deceptive nature and make you shocked by the end. Bravo. It wasn’t just about this for this film. It was the style, the use of characters. Basically this film is one of my inspirations for when I write my own stories. Just the richness of multiple characters playing there role in one film and they all play an Important part. That makes for brilliant writing.

6. Scream – a lot of people dislike scream as a horror movie, but as a horror movie that was not its intent or purpose. Wes craven made this film to teach the new generation of classic horror films. Instead of trailing through a tone of old horror films explaining old cliches just watch scream it has them all and explains it to you why there there in the first place. It’s a film that teaches you about how they made classic horror films. Disguised as a horror film. It is a source of reference for me and I use it as a litmus test when I ask people if they liked the movie. If they simply disliked it then they didn’t understand it’s purpose but if they bring up what the movie was about then I know that person has good taste in films. I wish we had more films like this, a somewhat celebration of film history but alas we don’t have this for other genres, maybe someday we will.

7. Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou – I had watched Wes Anderson films before in the past and never really got the artistic view until I saw Life Aquatic. I was already a fan of Bill Murray and I am no stranger to artistic films. But what changed it for me was watching life aquatic it was the beauty of the design of the set. The world, a artistic world that Wes anderson made, there are thousands of directors out there. But only a small few have a design. Like you know a Tim Burton movie because, you know a Kevin smith film because, baz lurhman, Luc Basson, Wes anderson their are simply some directors that have that unique look. I may do a post on this some point in the future. But anyway life aquatic really awoke the notion of style, what is your characteristics. In other words, it gave me the idea of how someone makes something into a brand, there brand.

8. Little Shop Of Horrors – I never thought I’d like a musical. If someone asked me did you like musical films or theatre… I’d think of cats, and hairspray, Jesus Christ super star and phantom of the opera and I’d be like no, musicals are not my genre. Till one day I saw Les Misrable and thought “that’s a well done movie” so why isn’t les misrable the film and not little shop of horrors. Well seeing Les Misrable and finding it enjoyable unlocked a flood of movies I had scene that was musicsl orientated but I just simply dismissed and Litttle Shop of Horrors was the first of that list. Not only had my school put on a performance of this from the 1988 film, I actually played the role of the dentist in the school play. Every time I watch this film it brings back warm memories, plus the wonderful Rick Moranis was in it. But yeah, little shop of horrors, Rocky horror picture show, several Disney cartoon movies like Aladdin or Lion King… I completly dismissed the whole musical element from my life because my mind associated it with films I disliked, and not the films I actually did like.

9. Ghostbusters – pretty iconic film how did this change your life. Well I never got to see this at the cinema especially as my first film was Jurassic park at the cinema. But I have seen this film multiple times. But that’s not the reason this makes this list. It’s more to do with jobs. See at the age of 16 you get a guidance councillor and they ask you want you want to be when your older. I had no clue, no idea. I was smart but no business venture of interest, it’s because I had learnt that if I was to capitalise on one of my hobbies the. I would hate that hobby over time and I didn’t want to lose that love for it. And if I took a job I hated I would be Misrable. So I figured the perfect job for me would be a job that I find easy to do, I can be quiet sociable and it’s not something I necessarily like doing but the money pays well enough to justify doing that job. That’s the bare minimum of the employment I went into, and had done for 18 odd years. But the question that always played on my mind is, what would of been my perfect job. Till one day it hit me, I was watching ghostbusters and I realised. A ghostbuster is my perfect job. But the problem then is this is a fictional job and doesn’t exist. But that was irrelevant because despite realising Ghostbuster was the perfect role for me. It the aspects of the Job, that I liked. It was a role that had gadgets, you work as a team. It has a sense of importance, and it’s very niche. So now I know what I need out of a job that would make me happy. Ghostbusters gave me the elements I needed to understand what kind of job I wanted to do in life. Sadly ghost busting isn’t real but at least I know it’s a job like that which would suit me well.

10. Die Hard – oh come on how can die hard be influential, I thought about this long and hard, I have multiple examples I could use. But die hard is in my top 3 of top films of all time so I thought why not. How die hard and may other films I’ll mentioned in a minute. Influenced my life. Is the art of a perfectly crafted film. There are so few films that are so perfectly crafted that you can watch them again and Again and again over and over and you never get bored of them. This is because there so perfectly crafted you can watch them a million times over and on the million and one times you see something new. Some notable examples are Jaws, The first Matrix Film, Terminatir 2, both Alien and Aliens the ultimate crafted film doesn’t need a sequel but these films are so well crafted you can watch the. Forever and never get bored. My question for you is what we’ll crafted film would you put here?

So there you have it. A bit of a personal journey into my history with theme as I honour some of my Al time classic films,

The Last Day!

Today is the last day before the world ends tomorrow. If that was true maybe we should reflect a little on this. The Mayan calender doesnt say how it will end it just runs out 21/12/2012. So i figure lets look at the possibilities…

1.Shift in the polar magic that makes the world spin round and we all freeze to death.

Now, i dont mind the cold. When your in bed and its too warm and you cant find that cool spot to put your feet. Well that will be a thing of the past because it will be too cold outside. In all honesty think about it, we have innuits living in some of the coldest parts of the world, humans can survive. I’ve always wanted to live in an iglu? ice building? i forget the name of it. sounds fun.

2. Zombie Apocalpyse – a popular choice for the day to day geek.

Im prepaired for a zombie uprising… well, actually – lol – its funny really because even thought this was a unlikely scenario the way science is these days – anythings possible. Even this. think about it (based on knowledge from resident evil films) virus inthe air people turn to zombies, makes sense. thats why i prepared myself with scenarios and books that could help seriously “sas survival guide and food for free are awesome book to have from collins gems” to cut a long story short – if this happens, head somewhere remote and take a crossbow with you lol.

3. Someone leaves the tap on and giant flood.

head for the moutains…. lol seriously how could anyone outrun a flood of that magnatude. Something ive always thought about with this whole giant flood idea. If a flood was to happen would a submarine be safe? its techically under the water and the flood is going above it.

4. Fraggle Rock hits earth from space.

less conventional, im sure we would see it coming consider how many people with a telescope look at the sky all night. knowing my luck if this was to happen it would probably hit england first… Oh well nothing we can do about it but as we have less than a day, im guessing nope.

5. Mole People…

They all laughed at me when i said the mole people will one day rise up from under the ground and take us away. Its only a matter of time people, more and more mole hills have i seen in local fields… There out there. i consider this the most likely scenario to how the world will end tomorrow…

anyway to cheer you up, here is a song to represent the theme for tomorrow.

Planet Nerdy Comic – Issue One

So… here it is, finally the planet nerdy comic… issue one. Enjoy. was you expecting a story? maybe in issue 2 lol

 

To jumper or not to jumper

Hi nerdy post brought to you live from Milton Keynes… Fashion and Christmas only mean one thing…

Yes x-mad jumpers are a must have – those hipsters may moan they wore them when they weren’t cool- they’d always been cool

Pshhhhhhhhh!

Movie Review – Gambit (2012)

Wow been a while since my last post (A week?… i lose track of time) anyway today i have a film review of a film called Gambit, a remake of the Michael Caine 1966 film, the 2012 version features Colin Firth in the role of Harry Dean.

Now i watched this film years ago possibly 10 or so years ago as i remember it as being a film where Michael Caine was trying to steal something. It was on TV and i remember it being an old film which it was made in the 60’s. However thats about it that i remember from it, i couldnt tell you what the original was about or at least compaire this to the remake. So im not even going to attempt too… instead im just going to review Gambit (2012) without comparison. So that should be fun. So where do i start? Well…I first heard about this film from a movie news website that announced the cast of the remake of the original film. As i said above a vaguely remembered the original and thought hmmm must of been a good film for them to remake it. I think what appealed to me about this film is that 1.interesting cast, big fan of colin firth think he does amazing work on screen, from kings speach to bridge jones’s diary hes come a longway, moving on to point 2.with films like oceans 11, Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, Catch Me If You Can that whole genre of crime/mystery/comedy/drama – makes for a good film. Plus you have those tv shows The Hustle and its american equivilant series Leverage. So i thought this might be quite interesting to watch. 3. It was also being listed as a comedy so i thought better check this out. Today i went to go see it, i held off watching this film because even though its a coen brothers film. It was getting alot of negative reviews and so i thought oh maybe this isnt going to be as good as i had expected. But one of the one things i do whenever i read a review is think. Not everyone conforms to this sheepish behaviour of stating what one person had started saying just to look cool, go see the film for yourself and judge it yourself. Which is what i did… And i fully enjoyed this film. It’s the kind of film i call “Very British” the idealisum of british culture showcasing the best bits of britian including the trendy london art scene. the epic use of suit combinations. Even the choice of actors Colin Firth and Alan Rickman. awesome. You get the sense that they took a classic 60’s film and gave it the comedy feel of such rom-coms you normally see Hugh Grant in. This merge works really well and like most rom-com films which this isnt but does give up that kind of feel. Its the sort of film you would watch at home eating a roast dinner and sitting down for a family meal or coseying up by the fire on a cold day to watch a tv show.

I have a hypothasis… that we are now reliving the 80’s again. Not literally but in essentance. Think about it (sythpop/electronically enhanced music is top of our charts)(we re-entered the age of nifty gadgets that are now affordable for the masses)(computer gaming is big) and of most important (movies are becoming memorable) The 80’s had classic films like the terminator, gremlins, ghostbusters…etc cult classics that will last for years. With Avengers, X-Men First Class, Hangover – i could very much see Gambit 2012 being up there as a classic. The film is a must watch especially with christmas around the corner. Its funny, its clever and reminds me of a film verson of The Hustle. I grade this film 4 out of 5 planet nerdy stars. I highly recommend this film and definatly one i will own on bluray when it eventually gets released.

Aliens Vs Continuity

Like everyone else, one of the big movies i cant wait to see this year is the alien prequel that doesnt involve aliens “Promethus”

But i remember a while ago, during one of those interview pieces on the web that either the director or writer or someone involved stated that this movie takes place before Alien, and that there is an element of evolution involved which explains the origin of the Aliens in Alien. So even though the movie Promethus takes place before the first Alien movie and doesnt feature our favourite Aliens. Dont worry, we have the “Space Jockey” – what makes me wonder is the canonicity of the Aliens Vs Predator movies… i wasnt a fan of the film but i was to understand that the Aliens we saw in the Alien films had been on earth since the pyramids and the film itself was set in todays world, Yet the movie Promethus takes place in the future before we had Aliens?

Now i have never really been a fan of the Aliens Vs Predator movies. For the comic books it was fine, but when you make a movie crossing to franchises to me it doesnt work. You have to change the tone of one of the movies otherwise it wont work in the same format. Hence why Aliens were on modern day earth.

My thoughts are now thinking towards “Will prometheus acknowledge, the AvP movies?” if yes it will be interesting figuring out how there going to explain this… Time Travel? or is the Xenomorphs a pet of the Space Jockey?