Geek Review: Batman V Superman

Like many people, I saw Batman V Superman:  Dawn Is A Dish Detergent over the weekend.  I actually went with a small group and got a small range of opinions.  My group included:

• Me.  Duh.
• My thirteen-year old niece.  She’s a sucker for the Marvel movies, and since I was going home for Easter, I asked her if she wanted to see the movie.  She said yes.
• My brother.  Another geek, mostly.  I had initially asked him if he wanted to come along with our niece and myself and bring his oldest son (age 9) too.  My brother wanted to see the movie first before he took his son.  Understandable.  Then he asked me to get another ticket when I bought them.
• The open seat.  Here’s where everything got complicated.  The original person I got this for was my sister-in-law, who is not a geek.  At all.  But, she got sick Saturday.  My brother asked his son.  The kid wanted to go at first, then changed his mind for some reason no one understood.  The last ticket was eventually used by my brother’s father-in-law, of little geek persuasion.

So, tickets in hand, this motely group went to see the movie.  Review and SPOILERS after the cut.

[A note from Jimmy: I’ve hijacked this post and put my thoughts at the end.  They are spoiler free, but since you have to read through Tom’s excellent review to get there…I guess it matters little.]

Batsoup Videos To Make The Day Better

Pictured: two guys who like and respect each other.

So, the reviews coming in for Batman vs Superman:  Your Childhood Is Dead have been less than positive.

But the movie has brought us some nice videos from enterprising fans who maybe produced a better version of the story than whatever Zach Snyder put together.  I’ll be personally finding out Saturday night, but for now, enjoy some stuff that might make for a nice smile after the cut.

Bold Predictions: 2016 Edition- Watson’s Rebuttal

I’m totally off the grid these days, but Ryan’s predictions are so bad I had to come in and rip them to shreds and give you the REAL numbers.  His bold predictions about how the 2015 domestic box office would turn out were pretty weak.  He called his performance was mixed–but for him mixed was chocolate plus peanut butter.  In reality, it is a mix of Ex-lax and motor oil.  So I am going to go, one by one, through his 2016 picks and give the real number.  We have a lunch bet on who has the lowest delta between the acutals and their predictions.  NO PRICE IS RIGHT RULES IN EFFECT!

Bold Predictions: 2016 Edition

One year ago I made some bold predictions about how the 2015 domestic box office would turn out.  My performance was mixed–got some, missed some others.  But now it’s time to look ahead to 2016.  Jump after the break to see what I predict will be the top ten grossing films of the year along with 33 other movies I’m making some bold predictions on!

Long Overdue Bat-Credit

Anyone whose ever read a Batman comic in the past I don’t know how many years, or seen a Batman movie or cartoon since at least Michael Keaton donned a rubber suit, has possibly seen a credit somewhere that read, “Batman created by Bob Kane.”

DC Entertainment recently announced a change to that by-line, a long overdue one in the minds of many fans.

Bad Movie. Great Movie Poster.

Ok, so the 1989 Batman wasn’t a bad movie.  I’m trolling you a little.  But it was a disappointment to me relative to how excited the poster above had me.  In an era before The Facebook, this was all we had to go on for our notice.

I remember walking into the theater one day and finding out there was a Batman movie because THIS teaser poster was on the wall.  This was back when there was still an element of surprise in geek movies.  The movie was a let down compared to the hype of the poster.

What other movies had really strong movie posters but missed the mark on delivering a good movie?  Fair warning.  These movies are ACTUALLY bad!

On Geek Rage

“What do you mean, ‘Do I bleed?’ Who asks a question like that?!”

As some of you hopefully know, Jimmy and I conduct weekly chats to cover Batman the Animated Series, and this week we had a mild disagreement.  I won’t get into the whats and whys because, well, I want you to read that column too, and since it’s coming out later this week, why should I spoil it even a little bit?

The gist of the conversation was that Jimmy and I disagreed over the quality of one episode, with me enjoying it more than Jimmy did.  Jimmy’s contention was that Batman should not have had as hard a time as he did with that particular villain.  I didn’t mind so much.  After throwing a few punches, which is hard considering we live in different countries, we calmed down and realized that the problem isn’t so much the episode being good or bad but that, for Jimmy, there was a violation of what Batman is for this episode, and I had less of a problem with that.

But man, Geeks sure can be possessive.

Beetlejuice 2…Really?

After getting an Oscar nomination for starring in a movie about an actor haunted by a past role, Michael Keaton wants to do another “Beetlejuice”?

A report from iHorror says that filming for Beetlejuice 2 is set for later this year.

Um, why?

Look, I know the original Beetlejuice was a popular movie when it came out, and there’s been talk of a sequel off and on since then.  There was even a title floating around, I believe, known as Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.  And a certain Ghost with the Most would probably lend itself to more stories if anyone really wanted to…but why now?  It’s been a couple decades, and even with supposed interest from Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder, this sounds a lot like rounding up the surviving members of the Animal House cast and doing another one of them…

Crap, I think I just gave Hollywood an idea!

 

Podcast Reaction: I (Don’t Really) Love The 80s Edition

Let’s try not to read too much into Ronald Reagan sharing a drink with Cobra Commander in this image.

This week on the podcast, the guys and Jenny discussed the 80s.

Now, if I have a reputation around here, and I might, it may include how I am not much into nostalgia.  That was, like, my biggest barrier to really enjoying Ready Player One.  The big problem with nostalgia, I feel, is that it elevates stuff that maybe doesn’t deserve it.  I have no problem loving things from my childhood that hold up, but these things should be good in their own right, not good because I thought they were awesome when I was 8.

SNL Cast Beg Micheal Keaton To Play Batman And Beetlejuice Again

For many of us old-ish geeks, Michael Keaton was our Batman and Beetlejuice was a classic.  It’s been a long time since he’s played either.  The SNL cast attempted to remedy that Saturday night.  For those in the US, check out a high quality copy of the monologue.  For the rest of us, or those joining me as well on the lazy side, check out a lower quality (but very watchable) version after the break.