Topics

Many untimely deaths since Christmas 2013: from Wojciech Kilar and Harold Ramis to Bob Hoskins and Philip Seymour Hoffman..

Exit Hans Ruedi Giger - one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He died on May the 13th.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/13/312160459/artist-h-r-giger-creator-of-surreal-biomechanics-dies

[facebook page]

(Copying from the La-La Land official facebook page. There may be a few soundtrack enthusiasts who missed this)

Coming Tuesday April 8, 2014 at 12 pm NOON pst

LAIR – 2 CD SET
Music by John Debney
Additional Music by Kevin Kaska
LLLCD 1286
RETAIL PRICE: $19.98

Album Produced by John Debney and Dan Goldwasser
Mastered by Marc Senasac at Sony PlayStation
Liner Notes by Jeff Bond
Art Direction by Dan Goldwasser

Sony and La-La Land Records are proud to announce the 2 CD release of one of the greatest scores ever recorded for a video game – LAIR, music by John Debney (PASSION OF THE CHRIST, CUTTHROAT ISLAND, THE RELIC). Making its debut for the first time on CD, this jam packed 2 cd set features more music that was released digitally many years ago. This jaw-dropping, swashbuckling, lush and gorgeous score is filled with themes you will be humming for the rest of your life. A truly inspired work that ranks up there with Lord of the Rings, Willow and Conan the Barbarian as one of the best scores in the realm of Fantasy! Jeff Bond's informative liner notes take you deep inside the game and it's score with comments from composer John Debney. As an added bonus we have also included the Live Concert suite that the The Orchestra Filarmonia and the Ziryab Choir performed at the BSO Spirit Awards!

The first 150 people who purchase the cd directly through the website will receive an autographed booklet signed by composer John Debney free of charge. PLEASE NOTE: Autographs are limited. You are not a guaranteed a signed booklet.

For those that don't know, Lair by John Debney and Kevin Kaska is one of the most epic orchestral scores of the 00s, and you don't have to be familiar with the game to appreciate it (the game though was pretty enjoyable, and has a really good story). Until now it was only available as a lossy itunes release, with several key moments missing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1DX-dZmT78&list=PL583D3F46388F8646

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTQ3g5MuBo8&list=PL583D3F46388F8646

   

Why the topic? I wonder if anyone else loved some of these Franco-Belgian comics. Asterix and Lucky Luke in particular were among my favourites as a kid, and still love them.

[INTRODUCTIONS]

I received this as a gift earlier in the year, and thought this was a good time to post scans for fans of the film that don't have a copy.

INTRODUCTIONS (pp. 1-7)
Contents, Foreword by Tim Burton

TIM BURTON, DENISE DINOVI, BOB KANE (pp. 8-17)

   
 

THE BAT, THE CAT, THE PENGUIN (pp. 18-29)

   
 

THE PLAYERS (pp. 30-37)

     

THE ACTION (pp. 38-49)

     
 

BEHIND THE SCENES (pp. 50-55)

   

PRODUCTION DESIGN (pp. 56-67)

     
 

SPECIAL FX (pp. 68-73)

   

VEHICLES & GADGETS (pp. 74-79)

   

END CREDITS (pp. 80-82)

 

Official Raw Thrills





Official Specular Interactive





Developer Demo Reel

[SNES]

A spiritual successor to Batman Vengeance with a mix of simplified elements from other games (including stealth and BurnOut-like racing), Batman Begins was a step in the right direction for the definitive interactive Batman experience. It's maybe the most satisfying pre-Rocksteady Batman video game since it really gives the feeling of playing the movie, with many of the film's actors reprising their roles.

Trivia: Among the graphics staff was legendary pixel artist Henk Nieborg, whose credits include some of the best looking 2D games like Lionheart and Lomax.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin for SNES and Sega Genesis are totally different games, and both quite good. The SNES is a traditional action/platform where Robin makes only a cameo appearance, while the Genesis is a Contra-clone with 2-player co-op, excellent visuals and non-stop action. The Game Boy version is also a solid platformer.

Ubi Soft's Batman: Vengeance was the earliest attempt in making a Batman interactive movie, featuring members of the original cast including Kevin Conroy and Mark Hammil. It seems the action element proved to be the most popular since it was followed up by a top down beat'em'up, 2003's Rise of Sin Tzu. Both worth playing, and both accompanied by forgettable portable versions for the Game Boy Advance (to be fair, GBA's Sin Tzu is vastly superior to Vengeance, but still mediocre)

The Sega CD game is notable for the animated cutscenes, exclusively created for the game, and often referred to as "The Lost Episode".

WayForward's Nintendo exclusives based on the Brave and the Bold animated series were excellent retro-styled side-scrollers - the Wii version in particular felt like an upgrade to the SNES game.

THE GOOD

• The Adventures of Batman & Robin (1995, Sega, MD)
• The Adventures of Batman & Robin (1994, Konami, SNES)
• Batman: The Animated Series (1993, Konami, GB)
• Batman Vengeance (2001, Ubi Soft, NGC, PS2, XB, PC)
• Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003, Ubi Soft, NGC, PS2, XB)
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2010, Wii, NDS)

THE SO-SO

• The Adventures of Batman Robin (1995, Sega, SCD)
• Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003, Ubi Soft, GBA)

THE BAD

• The Adventures of Batman Robin (1995, Sega, GG)
• Batman: Vengeance (2001, Ubisoft, GBA)
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (PSX, N64)
• The New Batman Adventures: Chaos in Gotham (GBC)
• Batman: Gotham City Racer (PSX)

Dark Tomorrow actually has pretty good music.

Or as they titled it, Streets of Rage II: Hero Edition.

It's basically a mod of Streets of Rage II. It looks and plays exactly as I remember it, with a slightly reduced colour palette to accomodate for the new sprites. Batman plays like a stronger Axel while Superman is a faster Max.

It's one of the better Batman games, and easily THE best Superman game. I did a full co-op playthrough with a friend, and it plays fine right to the end, no glitches.

The only downside? They could edit the colours of the final boss. If his suit was purple, his face white and his hair green, he would look like Doomsday.

Doug Walker's review of B&R, still funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7CDeuN5Zmc

[6. Batman Returns (1992)]

6. Batman Returns (1992)
Budget: $80 million

What? A Batman movie, widely considered to be among the franchise's best, eccentric? Well, yes. It is a Tim Burton movie, after all, and it's Batman Returns' eccentricity that makes it so great. Although Burton's Batman was a decent big-screen reintroduction for the hero, Batman Begins is the better-made film, and following the success of the first, Warner really let the director stretch out and experiment, with a vastly higher budget than the original's $30 million.

As a result, we have a Batman movie in which its villains, Catwoman (Michelle Pfieffer), the Penguin (Danny De Vito) and evil millionaire Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) are collectively given far more screen time than the caped crusader himself. Then we have the film's grotesque character designs (the Penguin has a grotesque habit of leaking something that looks like chewing tobacco from the corner of his mouth, which still gives us the creeps today) and general chaos and violence, which make for a decidedly unusual mainstream superhero movie – albeit a fantastic one.

Warner must have quietly sighed with relief when Burton left the franchise and Joel Schumacher stepped into the breach with a sunnier, campier vision with Batman Forever. And then Batman & Robin happened, and all of a sudden, a murkier Dark Knight didn't seem like such a bad idea after all...

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/alien-resurrection-altered-states-batman-returns-immortals-the-exorcist-ii-dune-list-ryan-lambie/22190/10-expensive-eccentric-modern-movies

... I never read anything from the him again.

(I wanted to have the absolutely most biased, clueless, and in many ways just worst "review" of BR stored somewhere, maybe as a reminder about "what's the name of that column again"?)

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/batman/15143/the-james-clayton-column-bah-humbug-batman

Saw it a bit late. Much, much better than I expected, the trailer (which I found bland) made me ignore it for a while. Then I saw its high rating on RT (now it's 77%).

Highly recommended to fans of classic 80s sci-fi.



The only "crime" is the music - while the score works fine for the film, the rejected score sounds much more interesting and probably inspired by the likes of John Carpenter and Brad Fiedel.

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

After 2001-02, for my own reasons, I had taken a hiatus from all things Batman. Didn't care much for Batman Beyond, the Mystery of the Batwoman animated movie was kid's fare next to Mask of the Phantasm, didn't care for the games either which frankly looked total crap compared to the glory 8/16-bit days of Ocean, Sunsoft and Konami, a new movie wasn't coming out anytime soon, and there weren't any news for Special Edition DVDs of Burton's originals. Think of the fanboy equivalent of the "Batman is no more" scene from Batman Forever...

Then, imagine my surprise when some time, in 2004 I think, I happened across THIS.

This was totally news to me. A new Batman movie? Then came the teaser poster, the first Batman movie poster since what seemed like ages. It remains as one of my fav bat posters.

I wanted my first viewing of this film to be in solitude, I attended a late showing a few days after its premiere, when it was just me and no more than a dozen people in the theater. I always had a rule, as much as I enjoy going to cinema with friends, there's a handful of films that I prefer to experience alone, without any distracting comments or laughs at inappropriate spots, and the first Batman movie in 7 years was one of them. I'm ashamed to admit that the opening sequence with Zimmer's all too familiar soundscape (from being a fan of his music ever since the Lion King) made me almost misty eyed.

The audience was apathetic, probably bored (the showing was at midnight). When the film reached its epilogue at the rooftop, I could never share in the applause and the excitement that I have heard the Joker card incited in almost every showing. But somehow I liked it this way.

Needless to say, I sat through the entire end credits...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0wk88rjYS8

Note the spelling: Bat-Man, not Batman. He talks about the original 1939 run.

Part 1: http://toobusythinkingboutcomics.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-i-hate-bat-man-part-1.html

Part 2: http://toobusythinkingboutcomics.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-i-dont-hate-bat-man-part-2.html

The artwork in some was option #1 (Ozymandias in particular was beautifully illustrated), some were # 2 (Nite Owl), and so far I found Dr. Manhattan to be borderline #1. Minutemen and Silver Spectre aren't too bad either. Rorschach is either 3 or 4 (except the fantastic artwork). I know that for some fans the mere mention of BW is heresy for a whole set of different reasons (primarily eithical) but, as someone who loves the original (Watchmen was one of the first non-translated comic books I ever read, it has immense nostalgic value) I quite enjoyed some. Even though this series maybe misses the point of what Watchmen was supposed to be, and even though some of the "answers" the writers give (especially in Minutemen and Nite Owl) are more than questionable, I just wanted to read more of these characters. Maybe a bit childish motive (and this is how corporations get rich, lol). What do some of you think about BW?

[Batman 5: Shadows of The Pasthttp://www.mediafire.com/?b1calfozsbhjc9t]

This isn't mine. I was sent this many years ago, and found it again as I was cleaning up my mail folders. I don't have any contact with the fan that wrote it, but I thought it would be better to post it somewhere than have this fan fic lost forever, since it's pretty good.

It's dated March 17, 2004

Batman 5: Shadows of The Past

http://www.mediafire.com/?b1calfozsbhjc9t

[BLACK]

An index of articles written by Batman Online contributors (alphabetical):
BatmAngelus, DocLathropBrown, GothamAlleys, greggbray, Ral, Silver Nemesis, thecolorsblend,
The Dark Knight, ZUPERZERO

BLACK features
GREY forum
BLUE external links

TIM BURTON FILMS (1989-92)

Batman 1989 - Comic Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys   Batman Returns - Comic Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys   German Expressionism & Tim Burton's Batman   Cultural Allusions in Batman Returns | Forum   From Comic to Pfeiffer's Cat | Forum   Batman Returns Novelization Analysis   Music of the Knight: Analyzing Danny Elfman's Score for Batman   Danny Elfman's Batman - Music Influences (Forum)   Fighting Style of the Burton Batman (Forum)   The Origins of Alicia Hunt (Forum)   Cinematography - Visual Analysis of Batman Returns (Forum)   The Pinewood Studios Gotham City Set in Photos (1989 blog)

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN (2005-2012) Batman Begins (2005) Comic Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys The Dark Knight (2008) Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys The Dark Knight Rises Comic Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys How Batman Began - Comic Canon Vs. Nolan (Forum) Madness (an Op-Ed by DocLathropBrown) JOEL SCHUMACHER (1995-97) Batman Forever Comic Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys Batman & Robin Comic Influences | Forum | Gotham Alleys In Defense of the Neon Knight: Where Schumacher Succeeded Cultural Allusions in Batman & Robin OTHER BATMAN MOVIES The Batman (1943) Serial - Comic Influences Batman: The Movie (1966) Comic Influences | Forum Mask of the Phantasm (1993) Comic Influences | Forum JOKER (2019) Comic Influences (Forum)

SUPERMAN MOVIES & TV (1978-)   Superman: The Movie (1978) and the Comics (Forum)   Superman: The Movie (1978) Cultural Allusions (Forum)   Superman II (1980) and the Comics (Forum)   Superman III (1983) and the Comics (Forum)   Superman IV (1987) and the Comics (Forum)   Smallville (2001-2011) and the Comics (Forum)   Lois & Clark (1993-97) and the Comics (Forum)   Man of Steel (2013) review by Ral   OTHER COMIC FILMS Tales from the Crypt (1972) and the Comics (Forum)   The Vault of Horror (1973) and the Comics (Forum)   Flash Gordon (1980) and the Comics (Forum)   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and the Comics (Forum)   The Crow (1994): Comic Influences (Forum)   Judge Dredd (1995): Comic Influences (Forum)   Spider-Man (2002): Comic Influences (Forum)   DareDevil (2003): Comic Influences (Forum)   Spider-Man 2 (2004): Comic Influences (Forum)   Spider-Man 3 (2007): Comic Influences (Forum)   COMIC BOOK SERIES   The Flash (1990) and the Comics (Forum)   Daredevil (Netflix, 2015-present): Comic Influences (Forum)

INTERVIEWS Mac McDonald (Joker Goon) with Paul (2016-09) | Forum Richard Strange (Joker Goon) with Paul (2014-01) | Forum Michael E. Uslan - Comikaze 2012 - Ben Yip (2012-09) Dave Lea (stunt double) with Paul (2009-12) | Forum Christopher Fairbank (Nic the Mugger) with Paul (2009-05) | Forum Garrick Hagon - Interview with Kamdan (2009-05) | Forum Hugo Blick (Young Napier) with Paul (2009-04) | Forum

http://whatculture.com/film/15-reasons-tim-burtons-batman-is-better-than-chris-nolans-the-dark-knight.php

I have read only some headings, not the article. Don't forget, it's a proven fact that a percentage of readers ONLY read the headings in such articles, and these are that stick to someone's mind. I have to ask:

- Why keep fanning the flames?
- Why it has 100 comments in the TDKR group?
- Why it almost looks "designed", i.e. a deliberately troll/straw argument to make Burton fans appear as crazy fanboys with weak arguments (I mean, the cast? The cast in TDK trilogy was weaker? Outside of a certain choice in BB, this was a strong point in BOTH series), AND, as is usually the case with those things, incite a reaction.

(said by someone that still thinks the Furstmobile is the coolest thing on the planet)

[The Dark Knight Rises, an American genre falls]

"Top" critics

The Dark Knight Rises, an American genre falls
http://blogs.suntimes.com/foreignc/2012/08/the-dark-knight-rises-and-the-american-genre-falls.html

Peter David on TDKR
http://www.peterdavid.net/2012/07/29/the-dark-knight-rises-like-a-souffle-but-then-a-loud-bang-makes-it-fall-my-spoiler-filled-comments/



In-depth articles/ Analyses

Comic Influences on The Dark Knight Rises
http://www.batman-online.com/features/2012/7/29/comic-influences-on-the-dark-knight-rises

The Meaning Of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Fate In 'The Dark Knight Rises'
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2012/07/26/the-meaning-of-joseph-gordon-levitts-fate-in-the-dark-knight-rises-spoilers/#more-4159
(maybe the definitive explanation for the ending)

Imagine The Fire: Analyzing the Dark Knight Rises
http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/imagine-fire-analyzing-dark-knight-rises/

Why The Dark Knight Rises Fails
http://www.sequart.org/magazine/13903/why-the-dark-knight-rises-fails/
(even if someone disagrees with his opinion and loves the film, it's an interesting in-depth article)




Lists, "infojunk" etc.

Film School Rejects: Liked / Disliked / Okay
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/11-things-that-did-work-in-the-dark-knight-rises.php
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/11-things-that-didnt-work-in-the-dark-knight-rises-rfure.php/2
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/11-things-that-were-just-okay-in-the-dark-knight-rises.php

Ten Things That Were Stupid About 'The Dark Knight Rises'
The Dark Knight Rises Explained: Unraveling The Unanswered Questions
15 Things That Bothered Us About 'The Dark Knight Rises
4 Things That Sucked, 2 Things That Ruled
The Dark Knight Rises Sequel: 10 Things Warner Bros Must Get Right




Dark Knight Trilogy Articles, lists etc.

The 10 Best Things About Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy
http://screenrant.com/batman-dark-knight-trilogy-best-parts/

15 Reasons Tim Burton's Batman is Better Than Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight
http://whatculture.com/film/15-reasons-tim-burtons-batman-is-better-than-chris-nolans-the-dark-knight.php
WHY fan the flames?


(positive , negative, neutral)



2014: UPDATES

The Dark Knight Sinks (The-Void.co.uk)

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon Take on The Dark Knight Rises

By now you all have read it in news sites etc.

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2012/07/26/joker-dark-knight-rises-novel/

Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible for the city's criminals to cop an insanity plea, it (Blackgate Prison) had replaced Arkham Asylum as a preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina.

Someone mentioned that there is a real world precedent for a prison with just one inmate: Rudolf Hess was the sole prisoner of Spandau Prison, in Berlin, for the last 20 or so years of his life.

I love this fanmade storyboard that shows Bane freeing all prisoners except the Joker - he would be too crazy and dangerous even for Bane ("even evil has standards")

[The links disappeared because FB stopped allowing the hotlinking of images. They will be replaced and updated.In time.]

The links disappeared because FB stopped allowing the hotlinking of images. They will be replaced and updated.
In time.

CONTENTS

Thread Page 1

0. CONTENTS 1. OFFICIAL BOOKS/MAGS 2. STARLOG 1989-1995 3. STARLOG 1995-2008 4. STARLOG 2009 AND FANGORIA 5. ------------------------ 6. WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE

Thread Page 2

12. NINTENDO POWER & GAMEPRO 13. EGM & MEAN MACHINES 14. UK GAMING 15. UK COMPUTING 16. ------------------------ 17. ------------------------ 18. US MAGAZINES 19. BATMAN RETURNS

Thread Page 3

20. UK FILM MAGAZINES pt.I 21. UK FILM MAGAZINES pt.II 23. ------------------------ 25. ------------------------ 27. ------------------------ 29. ------------------------

Thread Page 4

31. INTERNATIONAL pt. I 32. INTERNATIONAL pt. II 33. MAD & CRACKED 34. PDF DOWNLOAD LINKS 35. EXTERNAL LINKS 36. 1989BATMAN.COM pt.I 37. 1989BATMAN.COM pt.II

What gave me the idea was this