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dweemeister · 5 months ago

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2024 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Picture

Here now are my ten Best Picture winners for the last calendar year. A reminder that films that count towards the Movie Odyssey are movies that I saw in their entirety for the first time over that calendar year. Rewatches don't count.

In other words, these are my top ten "new-to-me" films from my 2024 viewings. I name all ten as "Best Pictures" in alphabetical order. I don't rank them. Any links in the titles take you to my write-ups... regrettably, there are only two:

Adam's Rib (1949; dir. George Cukor)

George Cukor's legal comedy comes with the tagline: "It's the hilarious answer to who wears the pants!" Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were long-unmarried romantic partners, and their professional partnership included nine films from 1942-1967. Here, he plays a prosecutor; she plays a defense attorney. While in court, Hepburn will claim that a woman’s (Judy Holliday) attempted murder of her adulterous husband is justified. Despite that crazy premise, Adam’s Rib sizzles: this is an ideal movie to watch if you want to know what the comedic and romantic chemistry between Tracy and Hepburn was like.

Awaara (1951, India; dir. Raj Kapoor)

In only his third feature film, Raj Kapoor directed himself, Nargis, and Rithviraj Kapoor (Raj’s father) in a gorgeously made Bollywood movie unafraid of asking questions of class, crime, capitalism/socialism, and personal redemption. The title, which can be translated to “tramp”, is only the first of several aspects in this film reflective of Raj Kapoor’s admiration of Charlie Chaplin’s silent films – humor, pathos, and social consciousness colliding, poetically, into a deeply human work. One of the few ‘50s Bollywood movies to achieve widespread popularity beyond India's borders: it's a touchstone in the former USSR nations, the Balkans, and China. You can watch it here.

The Big Heat (1953; dir. Fritz Lang)

One of two films noir here, this one by German director Fritz Lang (whose film M, from 1931, heavily influenced the creation of noir). Homicide Det. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is investigating the death of a fellow cop when he receives word from “upstairs” to stop. He suspects a conspiracy, and turns in his badge (but not his .38) to get to the bottom of it. How far will he go? The Big Heat benefits from a cavalcade of excellent supporting actors – including Lee Marvin and especially Gloria Grahame. Don’t read reviews or other pieces before viewing this film: The Big Heat contains one of the most vicious moments in film history – unforgettable to anyone who sees it, not just to noiristas.

Detour (1945; dir. Edgar G. Ulmer)

Film noir #2 among this year’s Best Pictures. Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour was made by “Poverty Row” studio PRC (derisively nicknamed “Pretty Rotten Crap”) and does so much with so little. Unemployed piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is the unreliable narrator recounting how his life was destroyed after hitch-hiking cross-country to reunite with his girlfriend (Claudia Drake) and his encounter with maybe the meanest woman in film noir history, Vera (Ann Savage; what a surname). Detour’s tawdry, yet brilliant, filmmaking and unreliable narration subconsciously creates its own internal logic. This 68-minute film has the tone and rhythm of a nightmare. In the public domain. Best watched in the dead of night, half-asleep. Did you watch or dream this movie?

Dinner at Eight (1933; dir. George Cukor)

Ten years ago? George Cukor’s Dinner at Eight (Cukor again!) doesn’t make this list. I’ve taken a while to come around to comedies of manners. Based on the play of the same name with an adapted screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz, Dinner at Eight sees a socialite (Billie Burke, Glinda in The Wizard of Oz) organize a dinner party for all her friends. Also starring Marie Dressler, John Barrymore (whose fallen silent film actor character is alarmingly prescient), Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, and especially a fantastic Jean Harlow, this is a racy, elegantly-costumed witty comedy of high society figures deceiving themselves about their stations in life.

Flow (2024, Latvia/Belgium/France; dir. Gints Zilbalodis)

One of two animated features this year. In only his second feature, Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis delivers a dialogue-free animated feature that follows a black cat and their companions in a boat while they navigate the world, which has been destroyed by water. Made with free software Blender, this is a remarkable production that, like Detour, succeeds beyond its paucity of resources. Zilbalodis – who also was co-producer, co-writer, co-composer, cinematographer, editor, and art director – will tell you not to sweat plot details. This is a movie that is about how one learns to trust and work with others – something that Zilbalodis, usually a one-man show, learned himself while making Flow.

One Way Passage (1932; dir. Tay Garnett)

Along with Dinner at Eight, this is one of two pre-Code films among the Best Picture winners. Tay Garnett’s romantic drama stars two major figures from the pre-Code era: William Powell and Kay Francis. On a monthlong ferry from Hong Kong to San Francisco, Francis plays a terminally ill woman (not that you could tell she was terminally ill) who falls for a murderer (Powell) who has escaped authorities and is bound to be hung. Despite what might appear to be a morbid premise, One Way Passage has a romantic delicateness to it, mixing light comedy with unsentimental gestures for a most curious concoction. Fantastic ending.

Son of the White Mare (1981, Hungary; dir. Marcell Jankovics)

As some of you may know, one of my cinematic blind spots that I am most aware is a blind spot and would like most to address is Eastern bloc animation. Marcell Jankovics’ Son of the White Mare is a mythological movie that takes elements of the creation myths of the ancient nomads of the Eurasian steppe. Our main character is Treeshaker, the third human son of a mare, who has superhuman strength. He later meets his two similarly strong older brothers, Stonecrumbler and Ironrubber. Our trio journey to defeat three dragons spreading evil across the world. Jankovics’ film may be standard folklore, but its visual splendor – bright and bold colors, representational character animation – has never been imitated.

A Special Day (1977, Italy; dir. Ettore Scola)

No other Italian actors could fit the idea of glamor as much as Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. And in Ettore Scola's Una giornata particolare, the two inhabit roles far away from their public and on-screen personas. On the day of Hitler's arrival in Rome on May 3, 1938 to citywide celebrations, a housewife (Loren) and a recently-sacked radio announcer (Mastroianni) have a chance encounter. With everyone else in the apartment complex away to watch the pomp and circumstance, the two discuss their lives, their disappointments, and the expectations hoisted upon them by others. Both actors tap into their wartime experiences to deliver performances among the best of their careers.

20 Days in Mariupol (2023, Ukraine; dir. Mstyslav Chernov)

“It's painful to watch. But it must be painful to watch.” So narrates director Mstyslav Chernov. Produced by the Associated Press and PBS for the latter’s Frontline, 20 Days in Mariupol is a war documentary that captures the twenty days that Chernov and his fellow AP photojournalists spent in Mariupol at the beginning of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine before their dangerous escape. With spare narration from Chernov (that I think I could’ve done without), we see moments unfold that became some of the most infamous images of the conflict in those early weeks – all involving the suffering and deaths of civilians (including children). Essential journalism, harrowing filmmaking. Available on Frontline’s YouTube.

#Movie Odyssey Awards #Adam's Rib #Awaara #The Big Heat #Detour #Dinner at Eight #Flow #Straume #One Way Passage #Son of the White Mare #Fehérlófia #A Special Day #Una giornata particolare #20 Days in Mariupol #20 днів у Маріуполі

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popculturebuffet · 1 year ago

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Batmarch Finale: Batman (1989) Review: At Long Last Joker Dancing on Parade Float

Hello all you happy batpeople and it's time for the finale of Batmarch! It's been a fun ride that really made me love the character again and it ends here with something i've been wanting to do since the start of this blog: IT's time to talk about Tim Burton's Batman, the 1989 classic blockbuster that created the first superhero movie boom, solidified the caped crusader as a dark brooding vigilante in the public eye, and gave us not one but two iconic scenes of joker dancing to prince music that live rent free in my head forevermore.

Batman took almost a decade to get going, with Producer Micheal Uslan, a comic book historian who taught a succesful course on comics as literature, wanting to take batman back to his earlier days as a mysterious figure of darkness. His timing was great as by the late 70's when he started his crusade for the caped crusader, Batman had been on a course back to those very roots thanks to the works of Neil Adams and Denny O'Neil. Comic fans ate up a darker batman and Batman returned to being a creature of the night.

The problem was for most audiences.. he was a creature of camp. While I adore the Adam West Batman, i'm honestly shocked i've only covered ONE episode of that gloriously goofy series, it left a mark on the character, with everyone assuming "Well that's what batman is". It's a common trait in comic book adaptations: TV and Movies reach a wide audience. It's why most people think Scott Summers is a plank of wood instead of a tatctical genius with a lot of baggage.

Thus studios either flat out rejected them or wanted a comedy in the vein of the adam wast show. Or rejected it for reasons like "It would be called Batman and Robin and we just had a film with robin in the name tha tbombed" or "It and Annie are both "from the funnie" pages and Annie just bombed (yet did INCREDIBLY well on home video)"

Thankfully the film got rescued as, with John "Giant Mechanical Spider Peters" getting on board, he suggested they do what they did with superman: promote the hell out of the film and the script they had and hope someone buys into the hype. Sure enough it worked as Warner Bros picked up the film and to my suprise they already owned DC Comics, the rights simply got sold off for the reasons film rights to properties often do

So Warner was eager to get the property back in house and profit off it.

With that it was time for a full script by Tom Mankiewicz who based it largely on Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers short but memorable run on Detective Comics I wasn't aware of till doing research for this review, but now happily own. Rogers was even brought on to do concept art. The script went through NINE revisions according to wikipedia, but all were based largely on tom's original. Directing wise Joe Dante and Wes Craven were both considered and i'd loved to see what their version of the film would've been like. Ivan Reitman also was, but wanted a comedy starring billl murray with the studio eyeing eddie murphy for robin.

Thankfully the success of Pee Wee's Big Adventure lead Warner Bros to go with their new golden boy, who was just coming off production of another soon to be hit, Beetlejuice, Tim Burton, pictured here looking like Batman's goth best friend he takes in the batmobile to get him out of the house.

I'd pay so much to see that version of this movie.

Burton wasn't a comic fan , but upon getting the project was a fan of recent hits The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke, and was fascinated with what batman could be. Meanwhile Warner brought in Englehart himself to make a draft. Burton then brought in Sam Hamm, a rookie screenwriter and HUGE fan of the character who quickly proved to be the perfect fit, tightening up the screenplay: he removed Robin (something no one was sad about as he was a studio mandate), replaced Silver St Cloud (Bruce's love intrest during the Englehart Run) and Rupert Throne with Vicki Vale and Carl Grissom and the script was set.

So casting began. After a number of more traditional leads were considered, Burton went with Micheal Keaton at the suggestion of Peters, who felt Keaton has the tortured quality batman needed. It was a great call as he fit both sides: he was stoic and comanding as batman, but as bruce was perfectly absentminded, as if he was far away, yet still charastmatic and likeable. It was a good contrast and also made it easy to see why no one suspect this guy was batman.

Unfortuantely the fans.. were not pleased. Yes even then peopl ewere liable to throw hands over casting decisions before seeing them proper. I've not been imune to this: I liked Ben Affleck but wasn't sure he fit batman, only to be proven wrong when he was easily one of the saving graces of Batman V Superman and it's regretful he couldn't be batman in a better movie.

Fans worried that Keaton , who up to this point had mostly been in comedies, meant the film would be camp like the tv series and film again, to the point this MADE HEADLINES. The studio even breifly considered reasting, but burton held firm.

If your curious other actors considered were Pierce Brosnan (who had no intrest in doing a comic book movie), Mel Gibson (dodged a bullet there), Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen (Another bullet dodged, too much tiger blood to be a bat man), Tom Selleck, Harrison Ford and Dennis Quaid. None of these really.. feel right, and it's burton's first choice before realizing Keaton was it , the green goblin himself Willam Dafoe, that woul'dve worked with what he was going for. None of these actors are bad, even sheen and gibson are good actors just..awful human beings, they just don't fit the part. Sheen in paticular feels like the worst timeline and I pity the earth that got saddled with frat bro batman.

Naturally every hero needs a good villian and while another row of talent was considered, the studio and Peters heavily pushed for Jack Nicholson over other competiors such as Brad Douriff, Tim Curry, and David Bowie, all versions of this film i'd LOVE to see in some other timeline. That said Nichelson was the perfect choice.

How they finally nailed him down is my faviorite story I found from the documentary: So Nicholson was open to it, liking the part but to lock it down wanted them to meet him for horseback riding. Burton , nature's perfect indoor kid, was naturally deeply uncomfortable on a horse and i'd pay good money to get the picture they claimed existed of Tim Burton on a horse with Jack Nicholson. I find it fascinating in of itself that Jack Nicholson rides horses and has a deep love of horses. That's a thing that fits, but just never occured to me. The most uncomfortbale horse ride ever netted him the part and Nicholson trusted burton completely on set and spoke highly of him in the documentary.

The final main cast addition came due to , of all the possile reasons, a horse riding accident. No it wasn't tim burton himself, but Sean Young, who'd been cast as Bruce's reporter love intrest Vicky Vale and had to bow out, replaced by Kim Bassinger.

Rounding out the cast we have Robert Whul as local reporter and only one digging into this batman case Knox, Cool School owner and operator Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent, Pat Hingle as Comissioner Gordon, acting legend Jack Palance as crime boss and the joker's boss Carl Grissom, and Tracey Walter as Joker's NUMBER. ONE. GUY. Bob.

Promotion for the film was something unique. Nowadays we're used to big, omnipresent ad blitzes with our blockbusters, a huge swath of adds to let you know THIS FILM'S A COMIN. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THIS FILM. I DON'T CARE IF YOUR AMBVILENT ABOUT ARTHUR AND THE KING YOU WILL GET 20 ADDS FOR IT JACOB. THE HYPE MACHINE HATH SPOKEN.

To start Jon Peters helped cut a teaser trailer, wanting to get SOMETHING out to show that no, this wasn't going to be like the Adam West show stop calling me about it dennis. The trailer was only a minute and a half, had no music behind it, something I only found out, and is clearly just whatever clips they had that were ready. You can find it here. It's throughly intresting.

It also.. works. While it's only a short teaser, it gets across what this film is, shows both joker and batman enough to get hyped, all while not spoiling the film. Granted they probably didn't have enough footage yet TO do that but still, it's a well done teaser with only one or two bits feeling like their just.. thrown in there and given the time crunch to get this in front of a teast audence, I can salute that it's still works.

And it worked MASSIVELY. People bought tickets JUST to see this teaser, bootlegs of it sold like hot cakes. It was meant to get people hyped up for what this film actually was.. and it DID, erasing doubts Keaton wasn't batman and showing people just what they were getting.

Warner then went all in promoting the hell out of this film, to the point Marvel's she hulk did a parody of this where a new super heroine does a simliar add blitz: There was cereal, tiger games, merchandising of all kinds. It was a huge gamble as if the film failed to live up to the hype... it'd be a joke NOTHING could live down, would sink the careers of everyone involved from production on down, and possibly destroy warner.

Naturally though.. it didn't. The gamble paid off. It's almost like if you actually RELEASE a film and have faith in the creators, you'll make money. The film was a massive success leading to three more films in this series and a mind boggling 11 theatrical and 60+ total films JUST starring the batman. That's not getting into team movies.

So join me under the cut as we see if , after 35 years of excellence, this film still lives up to the hype in a genre now packed with classics.

Bat Class and Bat Style:

Starting out with the style of the film, it can't be overstated the sheer impact this film had on Gotham city as a place. Before this it was mostly a standard city, just more of a crime hole than most. It was weird reading some of that very Steve Englehart run I mentioned and seeing Gotham. .as a pretty standard metropolis, if not obviously THE metropolis.

Batman is where , to my shock, Gotham was first portrayed as this art deco 40's style hellscape, a city of old buildings with the crime built into it's very foundations: a city of frequent nights, heavy shadows and plenty of places for an up and coming here ot perch and brood. It's an atmosphere that almost feels consuming: you can't escape gotham and it won't let you. It's a monster as much of a city. Batman the Animated series would build on this, making this what gotham was: a city with it's dark history seeped into it's stone that feels massive and endless, like no matter how much batman does the city is almost too big for him to ever fully save.

The rest of the style is after the 40's, a nice nod to batman premiering JUST before they started in 1939. We have large flashes on the cameras, reporters in suits the like.

I also realized this wasn't just a cool style choice, it's a thematic one: Most of Gotham wears these types of clothes, fitting with how Gotham is: a city with a long proud history.. but one it finds itself stuck in. A lot of those men in suits are either helpless goverment types who WANT to make things better but can only do so much like Gordon or Dent, or outright corrupt men like the various mob bosses who control it from the shadow. Even Knox , who tries to go for the scoop, is stuck in the old behaviors of sexisim, hitting on his photographer and creative partner vicki a lot nad being a possesive dick about her romance when it's none of his damn buinsess.

The people who may actually change this city are the ones who come off more with the time: Bruce most of the time wears looser suits or , in one scene casual clothes. The one time he dosen't is to fit in at his own party, to blend in so well Knox and Vale don't even notice he was behind them for a whole scene. When he's himself he's awkward, but also kind and charming. When he's his truest self batman he's calm, intmidating and of course dressed in a lot of rubber. He dosen't fit with Gotham.. but by doing so he can change it for the better.

Vicki is diffrent, fitting in a bit better but her hair and styles tend more toward practical, often wearing her glasses which look neat. Wish I had a pair like that. She brushes off Knox's comments, dosen't want anyone taking ownership of her and rightly calls bruce out for ghosting her (Granted he's also right ot try and get her to stop for one minute so he can tell her she's batman). She's trying to change it more by simply finding the batman, but it's still someone diffrent.

Finally we have the Joker, who stylistically dosen't deviate greately as jack.. but once he becomes something else, he changes. he wears the suit sure... but it's a bright purple with a giant boutiner. He wears makeup, but it's barely covering and by the time of the art heist there more for a joke than actual cover. His attempts to fit in are really more a joke than an actual attempt. Napier never really fit in... he simply stopped putting on the pretense once he became the joker.

Joker's moderness also comes through in othe rways; his biggest scheme heavily involves the rise of cosmetics and the television, using his then modern Smilex adds to stow paranoia. He vandalizes classic art for funsies to a dope prince song. And for his final masterstroke he captalizes on the greedhead nature of the 80's: he correctly figures if you throw enough money at people they'll forgive anything, and throws a ton of money into the crowd in the film's best scene, capering and hamming it up as he prepares to kill them all by luring them into one place. It's telling that the only two places in the film itself Prince's songs show up are with the Joker, who embodies the excess of the 80's while still having his classic 40's born design.

And since we're talking about him...

The Devil in the Pale Moon Light

Nicholson's joker is fantastic. I wasn't big on him for a long time.. but I realized on rewatch it wasn't the performance. Nicholson fucking nails it, having that manic energy hid with a genial calm that makes a good joker to me, that sort of charisma where you geninely can't tell if you'll end the scene as his NUMBER. ONE. GUY. or with a bullet in the belly. He's hammy as hell when he wants to be, deathly calm when he wants to be, and the only one who truly understands himself always.

Nicholson's joker strikes me as a mad Performanceartist, an interpretation I like: his jokes are carefully crafted pieces always done for a terrified audience of some kind. Only one of his kills or crimes post putting a smile on that face dosen't have an audience, Grissom, and he STILL puts on a show for him, shooting him to opera music while giggling like a mad man. Every other crime is a big show, which isn't inconsitant for joker. Every joker has theater kid tendencies, this joker is just the one who has the most thespian energy.

His schemes are also fantastic, props to Burton and the writers: their the right mix of operartic performance art and ghastly crime. From defacing a museum for the attention, to the utterly brillaint smilex ad which parodies the hell out of 80's ad trends and is one of the best joker scenes in media, perfectly capturing his sort of scheme, this versions love of a good performance, and the time it was in. The poor editing and his "Chances are you already own some" and the laugh after.. it's genius. Every piece is great. I also love the pen stabbing which I didn't really pay much attention to before but the mimes, the awesome as hell outfit, the "Uncle bingo" line.. it's so damn fun and the mundanety of the stabbing, feather quill or not makes it a shocker

The two best though are the ones embeded on my mind from childhood to present day: THe art scene is awesome and I love the way he says lawrence, with him just getting into general dicking around shenanigans because it's fun, saving a picture because it's horrifying. I also love his dickish "date" with vicky where he just calls all her glamour photo's crap. You can tell Jack Nicholson is loving EVERY second of this. Granted who wouldn't love grooving to Party Man, which is a truly awesome song. Prince didn't half ass it for this album and while his inclusion is a clear studio mandate Tim Burton didn't seem enthused about in the documentary, Burton still made it work perfectly. It's really hard to not make prince work granted, but it's still flawlessly used.

My faviorite scene of the film though... is Trust aka "Jack nicholson fucking destroys while riding on a blimp" Those hand moves, his expressions, bob and lawrence's grins as they throw money, the banger that is Trust behind him. While Partyman is good and really fits Joker, Trust is a fun banger jam that fits the party atmosphere of Joker's final gambit. The sight of joker throwing money everywhere while mugging is just.. peak joker and one of the best moments of the character and in superhero cinema period.

While Nicholson's joker is mostly celebrated there are two big points of contention, two elephants in the room to tackle.

The first is the fact we get Joker's name at all, that we know anything about him before he became joker as a huge part of his mystique is being this mysterious murder clown who just.. fell in a vat one day and that's all we know before he started chasing batman.

I prefer his past to be a mystery, it adds to the charm and the terror of this guy... but on this watch I felt the Jack Napier version still really works. Nichson does a good job making both Jack and Joker feel like two very diffrent people: Jack was a fairly unambitious hood who WANTED to run everything, but had no real plans for it, content to screw the bosses mistress and be done with it. It's easy to buy into corrupt cop Eckhart's view Jack has no future.. because he didn't. The second Grissom found out what he was doing, he set Jack up to die. Jack ONLY escapes ace chemicals alive due to pure luck: Gordon got informed in time to take over and stop a potetial execution and Bob turned out to be the best guy ever and held said Gordon hostage to get batman to let Jack go. And even then Jack's own impulsiveness nearly killed him, falling into the vat. He's ONLY alive because of sheer luck and knowing a good back alley doctor using tools he got from a dentist who mysteriously died a few decades back.

Jack is an impulsive trainwreck.. the joker.. is Jack with all his inhibitions stripped.. and tha'ts why knowing Jack works. Jack was a pretty common hood: even the Wayne murder, we'll get to that shortly, was just buisness as usual. Jack had ambitious DREAMS, but seemed content to just wait for Grissom to die naturally then take his empire.

Joker by contrast is a mad artist: he sees gotham as his canvas, a toy to play with. He has all of jack's greed and drive, but none of his hesitance to act on it. He's impulsive but unlike jack, he thinks out his impulsive plans. He wants vicky kidnapped, but has his minons bring her, has a bunch of stuff ready and has a whole music video ready after. He barges in on her apartment but brings goons just in case. He's still impulsive enough to be the joker: He dosen't have a plan b for the parade, the pen stabbing comes off as "wouldn't this be neat let's do that", but it's still more than jack ever thought. Jack is truly gone: vestiges of him remain in his new self, he makes sure Grissom dies and wants to control gotham.. but he's now got the higher calling of mayhem: ruling gotham isn't because it's there.. it's because it's FUN. It works because it shows just how FAR joker can go, going from a midly high level enforcer, to a mad god whose only stopped by batman yanking hard enough. Jack works because, ala killing joke, it shows a mostly normal person becoming something far worse. The Joker has an origin and it informs him a bit.. but who jack was is gone by the joker and it's fascinating watching hwat he became.

So that brings us to the OTHER big change: Jack Napier killed Batman's parents. Now this one I agree was a bad idea: the tragedy of the wayne murders. .is that it was just some guy. Some random hood, sometimes named joe hill, shot two innocent people and doing so broke a child and created a bat. It being his future arch enemy feels contrived. Like IT HAD to be someone important because it was his destiny to be a vengeful orphan man! It can't have been just some guy it had to be a number one guy yes yes. It misses the point entirely and it just feels dumb and that reveal clouded my judgement. Jack on his own isn't bad but making him batman's parent's killer is just.. too much. That part sucks but everything ELSE about Uncle Bingo rules and one bad decision, that writer Sam Hamm swears wasn't his idea and came after it was in Burton's hands so blame accordingly, shoudln't negate such a fine performance.

Let's Get Nuts

Speaking of fine performances, let's talk about the Batman of the hour himself. While I went Joker first, Keaton's batman is awesome and has gotten it's due praise over the last few years.

Ironically a lot of what fans hated about him, his everyman looks and not being "muscular" are what make this bruce work. Much like Robert Pattinson's brilliant turn after, this is a Bruce who doesn't really socialize. Unlike Pattinsons he does put in the bare minimum, throwing parties and such... but it's clear while bruce is a known philanthropist, he's not really a big name figure in gotham beyond that. He's an inconspcious guy, so much that Vicky and Knox dont' even notice him or realize it is him. And that suits what he does great: he's so nondescript that once people start looking for batman they won't look there.

Not tha this secret identity being in danger is a big issue at first: Batman's experinced here, but also early enough he's just a myth: Only Knox thinks he's real and even he has no idea what this guy looks like. The criminals know, but both bruce and batman are unknowns at first and prefer it this way.

Bruce is a kind, gentle, down to earth guy: he quickly wins Vicki Vale over.. simply by showing an intrest in her work. It's subtly contrasted with the other two men in her life: Knox first notices her legs, hits on her mildly agresively and is a possesive tool, while Joker outright claims her and tries to kill bruce for stepping on his territory. Bruce wins Vicky over.. because he sees her as a PERSON and not boobs or a prize to be one. Basinger and Keaton have really great chemistry and while the two don't get a ton of scenes together, you see why Bruce takes to her so quickly.. and why he pushe sher away. His war on crime is ALL he has, and he dosen't want her getting caught in it, ironically taking away the agency that brought him to her. It's only when he realizes HOW much she means that he tries to open up. Then a clown shoots him but you know , thems the breka. It's telling when Alfred, to finally break this will they or won't they stalemate, brings her down he's not the least bit mad and is honest with Vicki and continues seeing her.. until she didn't come back for the sequel but that's a review for another day. A christmas day.

I bring up the relatoinship because it's what defines bruce, and while romances can be rushed in these movies.. this one works and fleshes bruce out. It creates a nice divide between the man he thinks he should be, the creatue of the night who scares a cowardly and superstitious lot, who dosen't flinch in any situation and is always calm.. with the all too human bruce who simply dosen't want to be alone. Well he has alfred but he can't rely on his dad forever.

As batman.. there isn't a ton to talk about as he's mostly stoic and badass. Keaton does a really good job of that.. but there's not a ton of expression other than "scowling and it's only in his final confrontation with the joker, his parents murderer he really emotes with pure unyielding rage. It's not bad.

There is one aspect that needs to be talked about though: This batman.. kills. It's a divisive idea as by this point batman's no killing rule was in place... but it's one I get Burton not using. He and those around him based this film on the earliest works, and in those.. Batman had no issue killing if he had to.

It works for me largely because Batman isn't wontonly killing: he uses the machine guns primarily to clear the way and presumibly, like the dark knight returns which is where Burton probably got the machine gun, their likely rubber bullets. The only person he truly tries to kill repeadetly is Jack. Not at the plant, as while it's said he drops him .. it really dosen't come off that way. It's left ambigious if batman did it on purpose or simply COULDN'T hold onto jack much longer. The only person Batman truly wants dead.. is the man who created him. Any other kills are mostly just life or death struggles. I prefer batman not to kill... but one who does so judciously still fits the character.

Finally before we move on we have the way his origin's done: While I said I didn't like the jack part the film tries to treat this as some big mystery.. with the problem being even in a post adam west pre burton world.. most people probably knew batman's parents were dead. It works to a point, but out of all the things in the film.. it feels like padding. We know why he's doing this, we're just waiting for Vicky to catch up and i'd be fine with that but ther'es juts.. nothing really added. She finds out his parents died. A matter of public record he didn't really bury. The only shocking reveal she finds is who killed his parents, which while a decen tswerve, couldv'e been hidden until the reveal. It just.. pads the film slightly, but not so much it obstructs it

The People of Gotham

Now for our side cast. Starting with our third lead we have Vicky Vale, she of the 80's hair, neat glasses and inconstient spelling in this review. Kim Bassinger does a great job with the character and they do TRY to flesh her out: she's been both a war reporter and a fashion photographer, is great at her career and while enamored with Bruce only takes his shit so far.

That being said while I do LIKE Vicky, it's largely down to the performance: Bassinger is a talented actress and i'd like to see her in more films. I mean i've only seen her in this, Wayne's World 2 and bits of Cool World. She did fine in all three, it's just clear she has talent and I hope to see her make a comeback if she wants. She makes a character given just enough sparkle.

That being said... plot wise.. Vicky's just there for exposition and as an object. They give her some depth, being a former war photographer, but the film's unintrested in exploring her as a person, instead having her explore bruce.

And get put in danger three diffrent times. I mean she only gets kidnapped once but it feels like she's mostly there to get scared or romance bruce. The romance plot IS important as it fleshes Bruce out as a person... but it's telling it's mostly to flesh HIM out. Vicky and him have chemistry.. but again that's because her actress is that good. I can kinda see why she didn't want to return for the sequel, and feel bad that her replacement of sorts got way more with her character. Vicky.. deserved better.

Onto Alexander Knox, who is probably confusing those of you who haven't seen the film. Knox is a reporter and is intended as mild comic relief at times. In practice he's aged like fine cheese on a sidewalk covered in radioactive ants and pudding. His first words upon seeing Vicky "Hello Legs"

He then offers to do nudes and in general just.. tends to hit on her often, while she clearly just wants to work with him and is only putting up with her bullshit because she's so clearly used to sexist bullshit and come ons at this point. I DO think some of this is intetional as there's a contrast in how he greets her and how Bruce greets her: Knox recognizes her work, but is mostly interested in

While Bruce you know.. sees her as a person. That said Knox.. is also creepily posessive, telling her not to go out with bruce, not getting what she sees in him, and clearly being jealous. He's just kinda there to set up that batman's been a thing and is mostly seen as a myth then ceases to be relevant but sticks around the film anyway. He does go after some guys with a baseball bat but it's too little too late.

Finally out of our heroes side, we have Alfred. Micheal Gogh dosen't get a ton to do, but really owns the roll, giving you the impression of a man who simply dosen't want to see his surrogate son spend his whole life in a cave. he says as much outright but you can see just how HAPPY he is that Bruce has Vicky and how much he dosen't want him to loose her. He dosen't get to do much.. but his one big action was a source of contention for Sam Hamm, as it was added after. Alfred takes Vicky to the batcave. In Hamm's words "That would be his last day of employment"

Alfred... is Bruce's dad. Not biologically, that we know of, but he raised Bruce. Even by this point in the comics it was clear Alfred was just as much a faithful retainer as he was Bruce's dad. Bruce would get mad about something like this.. but he'd never fire Alfred as a snap judgement, especially when Bruce WAS GOING TO TELL VICKY ANYWAY. Alfred likely knew this. All Alfred did was eliminate a step. It wasn't like Alfred invited his acapella group, the Alfredpellas, down there.

We then have Alicia. Alicia dosen't get much to do as this script REALLY wasn't intrested in women but is intresting. My friend Jess the Vampire pointed out when we watched this she's kind of a proto harley quinn: someone deeply intrested in the Joker despite how he abuses her. At first it's fairly equal: Jack gives her attention Grissom isn't and him becoming joker shocks her but isn't bad. Then he horribly scars her as an art piece, and abandons her for Vicky and the sheer trauma causes her to throw herself off a building. It's a tragic story as she didn't relaly do anything wrong, she just had bad taste in men: first Grissom then Jack then Joker. It's not as layered as poor harley, but it's a good first draft and adds to what a monster Joker is. He just makes her into his horrifying art then throws her away when he's done.

Finally out of the major characters we have Bob. Bob is a quiet MVP in this film, Jack's best friend and #2 and Joker's Number. One. Guy.

What I hadn't noticed before is even pre joker.. Bob is LOYAL to Jack. He gets Eckhart not to shoot jack, and most importantly saves Jack from Batman at Ace Chemicals, holding Gordon hostage. From the go he's invauable to his bestie, helping make up for Jack's impulsivness. And while Jack just kinda shrugs, as he tends to, Joker recognizes this. He instantly makes Bob his NUMBER. ONE. GUY. and unlike grissom, who only said it in jest and as a veiled threat, Joker really seems to mean it. He has Bob stalk vicky for him, lure her to the musuem, all creepy shit sure but all stuff Joker needs vitally done and trusts Bob to do without any ulterior motive. And he does. Bob's also just fun: he capers a lot during partyman and is one of the best parts of Trust, his expression as he's throwing money gives me life. It also makes his death tragic. Bob was not a good guy, again he stalked a woman because he was told to.. but he was loyal and friendly.. and joker kills him simply because he got pissed off. His death is, fitting the joker, hilarious, just the casual way he asks for a gunt hen shoots bob with it, but it's a sad end to a NUMBER. ONE. GUY.

The rest of the side cast.. is pretty one note. Gordon is just the police chief, something that carries over to most other versions we've seen on film, Dark Knight being the exception. He has a great moment at ace chemicals but does fuck all the rest of the film except light up the bat signal. Harvey Dent is there to set up a future role that never comes for Billy Dee Williams. Grissom is memorable thanks to Jack Palance's delivery of "NUMBER. ONE. GUY. ", but otherwise is just a standard gangster man. The rest of the cast is mostly there to do plot and they do do it well but don't do much else.

Conclusion: And with that Bat March comes to a belated end. I enjoyed this review as it made me take a close look at a film I loved... and ended up loving it MORE. Batman has rough edges, some due to age some due to simply being one of the earlier comic book movies, but it' sstill damn good even today. It's a classic, a fun ride with banger performances, a lot of detail and deft direction from Burton. If you haven't watched it in a while, please do. If you have.. well do anyway it's that good.

Thanks for reading and thanks for enjoying batmarch

#batman 89 #batman #michael keaton #jack nicholson #tim burton #kim basinger #alfred pennyworth #the joker #vicky vale #comics #warner bros

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