redfiona99: (Default)
I have lots of horribly delayed posts, but there’s been so much Bat-news, and we all know I’m batty for Bats, so I couldn’t resist.

In choosing the format of the post, I have gone for the path of least incoherence. Least does not mean that there isn’t a lot of squeaky prose and exclamation marks below.

(Tumblr peeps will already have seen bits of this in a subtly different order)

Batfleck

Another thing which is not a secret is how much I loved Batfleck in Dawn of Justice. Afterwards, I wanted a solo Batfleck film so much. Reports of Joe Manganiello playing Deathstroke only encouraged me, even if Deathstroke wasn’t any of the villains I wanted, because I figured I’d already seen my villains on the big screen and it was time to let someone else see theirs.

And then … nothing.

Until there was the news that there *would* be a new Batman film but it would not feature Ben Affleck. I made my peace with that also (about which, more later).

But now, there will be more Batfleck, but not in his own film, but in the Flash’s. I am starting to feel that they are tormenting me deliberately.

JUST GIVE ME A DAMN BATFLECK SOLO FILM.

New Batman (are we okay with RBattz for this?)

Firstly, I rate Robert Pattinson as an actor, I’ve seen The Haunting of Toby Jugg which more than convinced me. So, I was cool with him as Batman. Admittedly, when I first heard he was going to be in a Batman film, I presumed he was going to be the Riddler, but you know, young, solid actor as Batman, that had potential.

Potential for Batman Beyond. That was what I hoped for when I heard the casting, Pattinson as Terry McGinnis with Michael Keaton as an aging Bruce Wayne, in the old Burton sets surround by vivid neon futurism. (Leave me my dreams, they are fun and have excellent cinematography.)

But you know, I got used to the idea of Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne and accepted it.

Then they announced the villains.

No-one can convince me that they didn’t take the names of three actors they wanted to work with and three characters they wanted in the film and then pulled character names out of a hat to decide who got what role. Because you can’t tell me that Paul Dano wouldn’t make an excellent Penguin, I had previously assumed Robert Pattison was the Riddler and Colin Farrell as Bruce Wayne is a swoon-worthy idea.

But again, I achieved calm on the matter. Messrs Dano, Farrell and Pattinson would do an excellent job, no matter how peculiar I found the casting.

Then I saw photos of RBattz and OMG!! He looks so much like Terry McGinnis and I want Batman Beyond so much more than the film they are selling.

On that point, in general, DC seem to have decided their identity is “Not Marvel” which strikes me as a particularly negative proposition. While Marvel have got stick for the colour palettes of their films, they still look a lot better than DC’s films. I know the person who liked the first Suicide Squad film has no right to an opinion since their taste is intrinsically wonky, but I really don’t have an interest in any of DC’s new films.
redfiona99: (Default)
Spoilers throughout.

The case for the prosecution:

Batman vs Superman is a film that doesn't seem to know who at least 3 of it's characters are. When one of the three is your co-headliner, that's a problem. This is no diss on Henry Cavill, who is excellent whenever he gets to play Clark Kent, the big blue Boy Scout we know and love. But there isn't enough of that.

They also don't seem to know who Lex Luthor is. Again, nothing against Jesse Eisenberg who does his thing well (Luthor vs Senator played by Sally Field is a more intriguing clash than the headline fight), but Lex has a role, and it is not as Darkseid's herald!

I'm not even going to talk about what they do to Jimmy Olsen, because it's so pointless and mean-spirited.

It's also too obviously trying to intro the Justice League rather than being its own film (see also, the full title's post-colon bit). Those scenes work, especially the ones with Wonder Woman, but it does make the film feel a bit throwaway. I don't know if that's why the deus ex nomina with Martha is so laughably stupid but ... it could be. Because boy, that bit is stupid!

I have philosophical differences with where I think the film is trying to lead me. I think I'm supposed to think that Bruce is wrong to be paranoid and to be preparing a defence against Superman, but I don't. The thing he made, repurposed, was how they defeated the bad guy. Also, just because Clark is lovely, it doesn't mean every other child of Krypton will be, and it pays to be prepared. For those who don't know, I am a Batfan, and I play defensively in every sport I take part in. I have a type Bat personality ;)

The scene itself:

Full length version of the scene, if you wish to join me in mocking bad SFX. Seriously, you had how many millions and it still looked that bad?! =


Important bit starts 11 minutes in.

Why the scene is so good:

I think my pro-Bat bias has been thoroughly announced. And yes, all my favourite bits of Batman vs Superman feature Batman, including the scene where Alfred basically goes "give me Bat-grandchildren!", but this one is my favourite. Because this is Bruce! Outside the outfit, the gadgets, the money, everything, outside all that, Bruce protects. And that is why I love him so!

The film gave me Bruce Wayne back, and I am sad that we're not going to get 9 Batfleck films because Ben Affleck is so good as Bruce Wayne.

(Note, I have no problem with Rob Pattinson playing him, I was just hoping he was going to be Terry McGinnis when he was announced.)
redfiona99: (Thinking)
Where you can see what it's aiming for and it's failing miserably. As opposed to that other thing it does, where it fails miserably and you can't figure out what they're up to (the Clare Lynch debacle*). I'm not sure what's worse.

The worst of it was, the wrestling was good, it was the everything else that had issues )

*I still think that was an attempt to turn AJ Styles heel that just didn't work.

~~~~

I saw an episode of Batman: The Brave And The Bold, and if it hadn't been for the character design, the voice acting and the script writing, I'm sure I would have liked it. But when you have the combined forces of Race A-ghul, who must be Ra's al Ghul's stupider, more easily defeated brother, a character design for Aquaman than makes him look more like Oliver Green than their version of Oliver Green, and dialogue that sounds like it was written by a robot who has never heard a human speak, when it doesn't sound like it was written by a 50 year old who has heard that the youth of today exist and they have slang.

It's a horrible mess.

(And yes, I know I was spoilt by Batman: The Animated Series being the Bat-cartoon of my youth, with it's beautiful designs and excellent voice acting and the dialogue and the ability to actually pronounce the character's names and I shouldn't hold not being David Warner or Kevin Conroy against people but ... )

Links

Nov. 30th, 2012 03:47 pm
redfiona99: (Thinking)
Not actually news to anyone, but a nice example of lies, damn lies and statistics - Business Insider - Here Are The Tricks That Fox News Uses To Manipulate Statistics On Its Graphics
http://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-charts-tricks-data-2012-11

Interview with Christopher Nolan about the Bat-films (http://filmcomment.com/article/cinematic-faith-christopher-nolan-scott-foundas) I think the problem, or rather why I liked Dark Knight Rises more than most, is that Nolan makes films for me, by which I mean he makes films that hit the narrative kinks that I enjoy the most.

Ferrari accept that sour grapes won't work - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20552525

Christine Jorgensen: 60 years of sex change ops - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20544095
redfiona99: (Thinking)
Finally saw Dark Knight Rises. I loved it. I also love you all for not spoiling me. Especially for that thing. Or the other thing. Or the other other thing.

I mean, I can see why lots of people I know didn't like it. It's a very Nolan film. Although (general spoilers for the rest of his films )

Enjoy is still the wrong word for Batman films. Much like X-men films, if I come out of a Batman film not feeling like I've been put through a wringer,I feel short changed. I came out of this feeling satisfyingly wrung.

Further spoilers for Dark Knight Rises )

The thing that really bugged me )

And I feel I must apologise to Anne Hathaway. She's still not my idea of Selina Kyle but she does a good impression.

A quick question, for any comics fans reading this, could someone explain the Bane thing to me. Because all my friends that are comics fans are mad about him and I don't get it. Unfortunately all my RL friends who are comics fans are men so I tend to put it down to Bane being big macho. (My favourite villains are Ra's Al-Ghul and the Joker ('n' Harley Quinn), so I got all of mine in films so I'm not complaining about the Bane-fanboying, I'm just confused by it.)

Related to that, idiot friend insists that Tom Hardy can't be terrifying as Bane because he's not that tall. I have tried to point out that tall is not neccessary for terrifying, but he won't listen. I hope this lulls him into a false sense of security when the short inherit the Earth.

On a more shallow note, when did Matthew Modine become old enough to play high-ranking police officers?
~~~~

Also film-related, I've finally figured out who played Moriarty in Without A Clue. Actually it seems to be the day for Holmes pastiches, between that and the Young Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately they all clash with the Belgian Grand Prix and nothing gets between me and Spa.

Dear Mercedes, stop doing this to Schumacher. I get more and more convinced that he went to a fortune teller who told him that he was due a lot of bad luck and he could work it off in F1.

Re: crash - Oh hell almighty. I'm assuming that Alonso got a bit clonked. I've never been so glad to see him moving.

That was a good race. I want to kiss the guy directing the camera work, he didn't focus on the number 1 only. We even got to see the Marussias racing. And I love Button, Vettel and Raikkonen talking at the end.

Vettel - "Did you have a battle against Michael?"
Kimi - (immensely long-suffering sigh) "He's so difficult to pass."

Re: Grosjean's ban - can anyone remember anyone else ever getting a race ban?

~~~~

In the rugby union - who thought giving London Welsh Leicester as their first Premiership match was fair?

Also, now that I know Maurie Fasavalu is playing for Quins, their success last year makes a lot more sense. Saracens being evil also makes sense as they have Joel Tomkins.

Union, only umpteen years after League, finally have proper vid refs.

TV

Aug. 17th, 2010 01:14 am
redfiona99: (Default)
Firstly, a bit of a rant about Sherlock fandom.

Yes, the *only* reason why anyone would not be interested in romantic relationships would be because their in denial about the sexuality. And certainly, if you're going to update a character who is described as follows by his dear biographer - "It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his." - then it only makes sense to make him gay, because *obviously* it's only women he doesn't want to romance.

Now, admittedly, this cheeses me off because I mostly abstain from romantic chaos because it disagrees with me, not because I am in any denial about my sexuality (I like sex, I like sex with men and women) or because I am a century out of date. It also annoys me because it reminds me a lot of various family members assuring me that I would grow out of this. I am now 25, I am not likely to be growing out of anything right now. If fandom would be so kind as to not join in with my now ex-Auntie, I'd be obliged.

(There will also be a rant about how no, just because Mark Gattis is gay, it doesn't oblige him to write only saintly gay characters, and that given that supervillains lie, Moriarty lying about his sexuality would not be that unexpected. But it gets long and swear-filled.)

~~~~

After that, on to happier things. TV meme time.

Day 13 - Favorite childhood show

Once again I'm going to cheat.

For those who don't know, from when I was about 5 till I was 18 (and okay, in a very basic sense, still now) I was brought up by my grandmother.

Every Friday, in order that their parents might get one evening's peace, my two cousins came over. That my grandmother could put up with three sugar-cranked 6-9 year olds is a sign of her awesome.

Along with having my beloved cousins with me, one of the other fantastic things was Friday night TV.

It would start with a Supermarionation show, Thunderbirds for preference but Captain Scarlet or Stingray are reasonably adequate replacements. I am very much the Blue Peter Tracy Island generation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6eY3ZA5XQ


This was followed by an episode of Doctor Who. This was how I started my Whovian-ness.

(Absolute glee - someone has linked together all the continuity announcements for Doctor Who and the Daemons - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70QEdmtioUs so you can see what I mean by the collection of awesome.)

Following that, there'd be something in the 60s spy family. Man From UNCLE was always the favourite, and Ilya Kuryakin was, and still is, my favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXoSTox8IB4

Then we'd play games until bed time.

Saturday mornings started with the kids shows, either Going Live or Planet 9 or whatever the ITV one was called.

Then, and this was important, if we weren't already on ITV, we'd switch over for what is still my favourite cartoon ever, Batman: The Animated Series. Above and beyond anything else, I loved the art style, all art deco lines and sharp edges. The scripts and plot and everything else was equally awesome, but the art, dudes, the art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEx9r5enZsk

If we were very lucky, that would be followed by Zorro. See, I've always needed an RDA of sword-fighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9z3pLJc7RY&feature=related

(Reasonably sure that's the right one, it's a lot better than it looks.)

The Other Days )

Dark Knight

Feb. 5th, 2009 12:40 am
redfiona99: (Default)
In keeping with Christopher Nolan being a tricksy director, and that I don't think you can talk about Dark Knight in a chronological manner, I certainly can't, this shall be a thematic review.

I believe in Harvey Dent )

Good evening, Mr. Commisioner )

Who's afraid of the big, bad bat )

Another interesting thing, or the Bat part b )

A long time ago, I was in Burma )

Some people like to watch the world burn )

Citizens of Gotham )

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