Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Under the Red Hood and Other Stuff

Alrighty, got a couple of things for people. First and foremost:

I moderate ALL comments on the blog (I do this to keep spam out as well as to ensure that I read every post, even on older ones), so if your post doesn't appear, it doesn't necessarily mean that Blogger ate it or something, it just means I haven't gotten to it yet. I recently had to reject about five posts of varying length from the exact same person because they thought that there were too many characters when they first tried. Unless blogger outright tells you that's the problem, ignore it - POSTS DO NOT APPEAR WHEN YOU FIRST HIT "SEND." Otherwise, I pretty much allow every post through, even if I disagree or find it offensive.

Next! About a month or two ago there was a direct-to-video DC animated movie called "Under the Red Hood" based on Judd Winick's Batman story of the same name. A few people have been asking me about this one and, well, actually my brother and I watched it and recorded a Vlog where we gave our thoughts on it as well as another direct-to-video DC animated movie or two. The reason why it's taken so long for this to come out is because originally it was planned to do it kind of like how Brad Jones does the Bruno Mattei Show, where there are clips of the movie and panels scrolling across to show what we're talking about. However, because of a whole bunch of stuff happening behind the scenes that you'll be seeing soon, I never had the time to put it fully together.

Still, we went to the trouble of recording it, so at the very least you guys deserve to see the finished product. Enjoy! Also, hopefully in the next few days I'll be releasing the panels I recorded at Power Morphicon (with the assistance of Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged's own KROOOOOZE!, who was also able to record the Bulk and Skull panel for me since I missed it due to my flight arriving at around the same time. Also, Power Morphicon thoughts and other odds and ends under the "Read More" button!






POWER MORPHICON WAS FRIGGIN' AWESOME!

You'll be seeing some of why it was in the convention videos, though I do apologize that I didn't get a chance to record any footage of me just interacting with peeps or walking around - because there was a lot of stress and worry during the convention itself, basically any time we weren't recording anything, Kroze and I sat at a table and relaxed, talked with some awesome fans, and generally just enjoyed ourselves.

I got a few more morphers that were missing from my collection, though sadly my search for a Turbo Morpher, Astro Morpher, Quantum Morpher, and Titanium Morpher continue on.

I met a lot of fantastic actors and crew from the show, including the sweetest sweetheart ever to walk the earth - Erin Cahill, AKA Jen from Time Force. She and Jason Faunt (Wes and Alex) had never been to a convention before and were having an absolute blast. They both signed the Chrono Morpher I had (Erin was especially gleeful about seeing it, since she had only seen one other one the day before and otherwise hadn't seen them since her days on the show and she even tried it on!).

While I sadly never got to meet Paul Schrier (Bulk), I did get to talk to Jason Narvy (Skull) after Kroze recorded an interview with him and he even played with my hat! While I don't think he's ever actually watched any of History of Power Rangers, he did say that he believes that he's seen this blog before while he was working on his own webspace, so that was quite a rush for me.

Speaking of, I was also honored to talk with Tony Oliver, one of the original writers of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers as well as a writer on the upcoming 2011 season (no, he didn't have any details on the new show to give). He HAS watched some of the History videos and said that I reminded him of a lot of stuff he had forgotten about those years. So, yeah, major squee moments for me.

There were fantastic cosplayers all around, including an original Megazord, a Finster, a green ninja ranger, and just SO much more. Sadly I don't really have any photos, having only my camcorder with me. However, you can check THIS THREAD to see some of the many actors who were there as well as links to other photo albums that contain cosplayers and the like who were at the Con.

Sadly, there were quite a few I never got a chance to meet. The aforementioned Paul Schrier of course, but also Jason David Frank (Tommy) sadly always had a line and a crowd of people surrounding him. I really wanted to meet Amy Rolle (Trakeena) or the other two Lost Galaxy alumni, but sadly they also always seemed to have a line, too. I did get to talk to Ron Wasserman as well as recording his panel, which illuminates some of the behind-the-scenes music stuff from the early years of the show and why his theme was never used for Mystic Force and other legal matters (some of this is stuff I've heard, some of it not).

The panels were a ton of fun and the guests always seemed to be having a good time, though there was the occasional dumb question by fans, but usually the guests were quick on their feet and knew how to handle things.

Oh, and that reminds me: YES, I HAVE SEEN THE DAVID YOST INTERVIEW. I have no opinion on it other than "Yay, we finally have some solid answers on why he left the show." He did not name names about who made the derogatory and demeaning comments towards him and as such I don't feel like speculating. While I will not be making some video response or mentioning it in the next History video, it will probably be added to the list for a video I'll do once I finish the Power Rangers RPM videos are complete: a list of corrections and addendums that fix errors that I made or misconceptions I had or just things that have since been corrected for me.

Subsequently, some other answers to questions that many have asked me:
-While I have no solid plans for what I'll do after History of Power Rangers is "complete," I'm currently thinking that I might do a similar retrospective on Power Rangers-esque shows, like Masked Rider, Beetleborgs, and Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills (why yes, that is a real series).
-History of Power Rangers will NOT end with RPM - it will extend for as long as the new series lasts, but it does mean videos will come out EVEN SLOWER, since obviously I can't do a video on a series that is not complete.
-I have no plans, nor do I think I will EVER have plans to do a History of Doctor Who. Such an undertaking is FAR beyond my capabilities at the moment. For starters, unlike Power Rangers, where I can look at it season-by-season and examine overall story arcs and characters, Doctor Who has almost 50 YEARS of material, including episodes that no longer exist, changing premises for how the TARDIS, the Doctor, or even how the universe works, and just an entirely different approach for how to look at it. While it's certainly a fascinating idea, at the moment I don't really think I could do it justice. Maybe somewhere down the road, but certainly not now and most probably not when History of Power Rangers "ends."

In other news, the march towards episode 100 of Atop the Fourth Wall begins! Begin speculating on what I'll be reviewing at your own leisure!

Oh, and Bandai was there with the Rangers who were at San Diego Comic Con.

Photobucket

Why yes, I AM a complete and utter dork.

52 comments:

Jannet_Jazz said...

Yeah, sorry about the post flood, sweets. My computer was bugging out on me.

Titania Bird said...

You're not a dork. Anyone who gets some enjoyment out of something in life, provided said thing is non-destructive to themselves or others, cannot be a dork, no matter how out of the mainstream it might be. :)

If you do decide to do the histories of the similar shows to Power Rangers, make sure you check out Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. It's from a few years ago, and it's a pretty darn good adaptation of Kamen Rider Ryuki. At least, as far as quality goes, it beats the pants off of Masked Rider. Was not done by Saban, though.

The Window Keeper said...

Actually, Jannet_Jazz, I think it was mine. Blogger kept telling me my post was too long to go through, and it sent me back to the page. I do apologize for that.

Anonymous said...

It sucks that I didn't get to go. I really wanted to see all the cool people. I can't WAIT to see your Ron Wasserman video. I'm really interested in soundtrack stuff, recently.

If it helps, I found this:


http://cgi.ebay.com/POWER-RANGERS-ORIGINAL-TURBO-MORPHER-AND-KEY-BATTS-/260658081369?pt=UK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN&hash=item3cb06eae59

Mountain King said...

Sorry to throw my hat into the ring like this but there does seem to be a glitch in Bloggers comment system. If you do write too much in a comment you get an odd screen telling you that the post is too large.
It does go through somehow so the best thing to do is ignore it.
Alright back on track. The Death of Jason Todd was a rather dark time for DC. Todd, as far as I could tell, didn't have very much in the way of his own personality. Simply just a replacement for Dick Grayson while he was Nightwing or off with the Titans. Fans didn't like him and wanted to get rid of what they saw as a mistake. The Writers then messed up by writing one of the more brutal and senseless murders in Comic Book history. Beaten to death with a crowbar and detonated.
DC's still killing off characters, only now it's a lot more senseless. Everyone seems to get shot or stabbed (usually for pocket change, to add irony and pathos).
Under the Red Hood was an attempt to undo the mistake, but they never really sold the premise. Punching reality, reality isn't a physical thing you can't hit it.
The only reason reality manipulation worked in Morrison's run on Animal Man is that it had been built up to, by acknowledging the fact it's comic.
Using a Lazarus pit was a much better idea and made a lot more sense. For that I applaud the animation.
Point three; There is no physical way to write the History of Doctor Who. I'm looking at doing a written overview of each Doctor, but it's going to be full of holes. Nowhere near the detail you can go into with PR. This is because, as you pointed out, there's more than fifty years of backstory, some of it contradicts itself. Also most of it exists in the Audio Dramas and books, that would take another fifty years to go through. Not including the four months in rehab from the "Grandfather Time" Time Lord rebellion that destroys Gallifray (for the eighth time) and then re-creates it through a paradox.
Don't even try to get started, otherwise you'll end up like me.

Thomas

Unknown said...

"I moderate ALL comments on the blog (I do this to keep spam out as well as to ensure that I read every post, even on older ones), so if your post doesn't appear, it doesn't necessarily mean that Blogger ate it or something, it just means I haven't gotten to it yet. I recently had to reject about five posts of varying length from the exact same person because they thought that there were too many characters when they first tried. Unless blogger outright tells you that's the problem, ignore it - POSTS DO NOT APPEAR WHEN YOU FIRST HIT "SEND." Otherwise, I pretty much allow every post through, even if I disagree or find it offensive."

^ This deserves a win in my book. I may disagree with you on occasion but I will say; you could school A LOT of moderators on the internet about how to run message board sites. You only lay down the law when necessary and let everyone have their say.

NGT said...

I should have checked if there were rangers at ComicCon, I really should.

As it was though I was too busy doing...uh...I don't even remember.

I have no excuse, sir!

Anonymous said...

"Otherwise, I pretty much allow every post through, even if I disagree or find it offensive."

And now I respect you even more
It's a nice professional attitude

AmuroNT1 said...

Glad to hear you had a lot of fun at Morphicon. Sounds like it was a real blast. I'm really curious to find the context on Vernon Wells calling you a jackass. XD

Regarding Red Hood, I agree with Graham in that the film in that it was flawed but still enjoyable. I haven't read Under the Hood so I'm afraid my analysis might seem a bit crude in comparison, but I shall endeavor to try.

Regarding the violence, if I recall correctly they were made to tone the violence down because the executives were afraid an R-rating would be the kiss of death. If you look at the preview included with Crisis on Two Earths, the clips they show (particularly Jason's death scene) are much bloodier.

Regarding Jason's actions in the last scenes, I think it can be argued that he was breaking down and not thinking straight, which is why he acted irrationally (like taking his gun off the Joker). I believe the film is meant to be more a character study of Jason rather than Bruce, which is why the heavy focus as well as why they chose that particular scene to end the movie. The comics have really been playing Jason up as a total asshole, while the movie took the alternate route of showing him as a tragically flawed figure, which worked in my opinion.

Also, you didn't say anything about the infinitely talented Jason Issacs as Ra's al Ghul. For shame, sir, for shame.

(Also-also, Batman in Crisis on Two Earths was Stephen Baldwin. I know it doesn't change your opinion, it's just that I'm sure you'll hear this about a thousand times and I wanted to be the first.)

Lundarigirl said...

I'm glad you had a great time at Morphicon and I'm so glad you came. You're right; Erin and Jason did look like they were having a blast. I was at their photo op at the very end of the con the photographer took a picture of just the two of them. They did this ballroom dancing pose. I think its called the dip. It's the one where the guy tips the girl back. Anyway, it looked cute. My photo with them is my fav. pic from the con, and they wrote such nice things on it. Jason wrote "So great meeting you" and Erin wrote "Thank you for being so wonderful." And she gave me a hug! That was my geek out moment. She and Valarie hugged me!

Mark said...

I'm ambitious (read as: stupid) enough to try and do a History of Doctor Who at some point- it's something I've been thinking about since you started doing the Power Rangers videos. I figure the only way to possibly do it is to only cover the canonical TV show and go Doctor by Doctor, but it's something I've given an inordinate amount of thought, for some reason. Maybe I should listen to you and concede that it's too huge :P

JDoc said...

Lewis, you are a complete dork.

But... so what? You're knowledgeable, excited/energetic, funny, and sincere. Even though I don't read comics (anymore) and never thought Power Rangers were any good, your videos are entertaining.

Keep it up.

Jaebird said...

...I just noticed I may have used the wrong word >_>

deuxhero said...

That's what Linkara looks like under his hat!

...It's surprisingly mundane looking.

dollmaker88 said...

I honestly never heard of this PR convention until you said something about it.

It seems like a dorky blast. ^^

Not huge into power rangers since i was in elementary school but its fun to see it has such a huge fan base still- kids and adults.

Fandango said...

I'm so happy to hear that you had a good time at Power Morphicon. Though I am sorry to hear you missed the Bulk & Skull panel. Those two are comedic geniuses.

At any rate, History of Beetleborgs? I'm so looking forward to that :) So that means VR Troopers too? Man, it's been so long since I've seen these! I barely even remember it. Also, as mentioned in these comments, I do hope you do Kamen Rider Dragon Knight as well :)

In conclusion, you rock, gz on the awesome stuff, can't wait to see what happens for ep 100.

If you ever find yourself having some spare time and you're looking for something fun to watch, don't be afraid to hook up some Tokusatsu like KR W :)

KKDW said...

I'd actually considered doing a History of Doctor Who series similar to (and to be honest inspired by) your Power Ranger videos (not sure how I'd cover the missing episodes though, and that would make the Troughton era really had to cover wouldn't it). I would also probably do a video for it looking at the expanded universe (I guess that would come between the vid for season 26 and the first season of the new series). However I'm also planning on doing my own review series which would also involve reviewing some Doctor Who.

Anyway, cool to hear you had a good time at Morphicon. The only conventions I've ever been to are several Gerry Anderson ones and what could be considered a 'mini' Doctor Who convention in a pub (I got to have a chat with Sophie Aldred).

Ps: Looking forward to episode 100

Ilkarin said...

I do not think you are a dork. I see more that you are someone who has enthusiasm for what you enjoy and want to express it through videos, reviews, or what have you.

We all have things we enjoy learning or doing as a hobby and usually will go to lengths to help expand our knowledge and love for the subject.

YetAnotherGeek said...

Please please PLEASE talk about Big Bad Beetleborgs! I remember really liking that show...not sure why. Power Rangers-esque shows in addition to when you are done with HOPR RPM/Samurai whatever-they-decide-on-calling-it.

Gyre said...

Personally I'd suggest that you skip ahead to RPM. If I recall correctly every season between Time Force and RPM had poor acting, writing and boring characters. If you still insist on torturing yourself with works so bad that they make Turbo tolerable in comparison...good luck. We'll remember you.

jdude907 said...

When it comes to actors for the the Joker, I have to quote a friend: "You can't spell Mark Hamil without Arkham."

Unknown said...

I love reviews like this where its bare-bones discussion. It'd be cool to see more videos where you and your brother or Iron Liz or whomever discuss comics, comic movies, etc. Keep up the great work, Lewis!

Also, its awesome to hear you had a great time at Power Morphicon!

ShadowWing Tronix said...

Haven't watched the Red Hood video (probably won't watch the movie itself unless it shows up on TV, since I don't have the time but I DO have a stack-worth of DVDs yet to watch), so I'll comment on that later.

As to the rest, can some show ME this David Yost interview? I'm curious about why my favorite or the original Rangers left.

Chris said...

Glad to hear you had a lot of fun at Morphicon. Sounds like it was a real blast. I'm really curious to find the context on Vernon Wells calling you a jackass. XD


OK, I need to see this, too.

Cool that you got to meet Narvy and that one of the writers is watching your history videos. And I'm a bit jealous that you got to meet Erin Cahill, since Time Force was my favorite of the series. (When I get that far on my own site, I'll get into why, but you are right about Ransik not being a "sympathetic villain".)

Raveen said...

Yeah, Red Hood was a bit of a let down, the lack of violence compared to the comic scenes was distracting and none of these films has really resonated as well as the DCAU stories. I guess Timm is trying to give new directors and artists a chance working on these films but the inexperience really shows. I guess the best film to me was Crisis because it was a Justice League Unlimited script and felt appropriately epic in scale. I did like Greenwood's performance and look forward to his role in Young Justice.

As for the video itself, I felt it would have been better in edited form. As it was, it felt like every time you were about to make a point your brother would interject with a long aside about the comics or a line-by-line scene description. But thanks for putting it up.

Green Ninja said...

I loved the Red Hood movie. IMO it's the best animated thing featuring Batman since "Return of the Joker". Everything just works in this movie. And I like how they take the cheese out of "Death in the family", you know, with Joker becoming the Ambassador to Iran. -_-

And I completly agree with your brother. If you're a fan of Hammil and Conroy YOU NEED TO PLAY ARKHAM ASYLUM!!! Borrow a console from Spoony if you have to.

Unknown said...

Linkara, while I feel you would do a great job looking at the other Power Rangers-esque programs, another critic already does this.

His screen name is E.Z. Rider, and he doesn't get much publicity. He adores the original Japanese series, and isn't a purist who believes the English versions can't work. He deserves more attention, and I'm sure with your help, he can get it.

If you would consider seeing his work, you can find him here:

http://thegeekfighters.com/the-anime-mavericks/ez-rider

http://tokutime.blogspot.com/

I hope this can turn you on to someone with talent, and can do just as much as the others.

P.S. He actually was a little upset with you over your series kind of stealing his niche, but got over it after seeing your Time Force video. Time Force/Timeranger is his favorite season.

The Mad Scientist said...

Now I REALLY want to meet Erin Cahill! I am definitely saving my money for the next PMC and going. I hope that you make your appearance an annual event, Lewis. That would be awesome!

Also, I know you don't have a Facebook, but for everyone that does, the Power Morphicon Facebook page has tons of photos from the convention. They have cosplayers, stars, panels, and tons of other great photos from both the organizers and the attendees. Check it out for a great retrospective on what was definitely an amazing event! I wish I had gone!

Truce Weston said...

Cool post, I await more stuff from power mophicon!

Some HISTORY OF videos about Masked Rider, VR Troopers and Beetleborgs would be awesome, in time! Comparing them to other shows, opinions, nuggets of facts (like the Cybertron pilot with Jason David Frank, the Bewitched style switching of the girl from Beetleborgs, and how the people behind Kamen Rider so hated Masked Rider that they cut off use of more stock footage from Saban.)

A history of Superhuman Samuari Syber-Squad would be epic! For those who don't know what i'm talking about it, wiki or youtube it!

OMG, I thought I was the only one left who remembered Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills! LOL! That makes you even more awesome!

Super awesome that some of the people you met, had seen your blog and even your videos!

So until the Linkara convention comes to my town, MAKE MINE LINKARA!

Guns That Become Swords Are Awesome said...

I liked Under The Red Hood. DC's home video animated department has been hitting home runs IMHO

Who called you a dork? I kick them in the shin for ya!

Trevor said...

I have to agree with your brother, Lewis, I enjoyed "Under the Red Hood" as well. Is it as good as "Mask of the Phantasm"? No, but it is one of the better DC animated movies (my personal favorites are JL: The new frontier, Under the Red Hood, and Wonder Woman). Still, an interesting discsussion with the Lovhaug Brothers.

P.S. I also reviewed Under the Red Hood on my blog, "Critical View".

shikome kido mi said...

You want to talk about disappointing violence in Under the Red hood?
Where is the blood on the floor coming from during the beating at the beginning? There's not any actually on Jason even immediately after he presses his face in the stuff.
It's actually more disconcerting and suspension of disbelief breaking than a total lack would be.

linkzeldi said...

It's alright linkara everybody needs a good geek-out every once in awhile.

For instance, keeping your compusure in the JYB interview must have been tough. I know I would've freaked an said something stupid. Luckily there's an entire video on how not to approach Johnny at a convention.

I've never watched more than a few episodes of power rangers yet I enjoy HOPR, so I'm sure whatever you choose to do would be good. I've always wanted to learn more about Kamen Rider, other than what you can read on tvtropes.

RaginCanadian said...

I saw the thing and liked it, but I don't think that it's as good as some of the critics claimed it to be. Amazo could have been replaced by anything, Nightwing was VERY underdeveloped and the Joker was using some of the same jokes more than once. Other than that it was still a good film, but there was a lot that could have worked better

jolly_old_saint said...

Holy crap, Rick Hunter's a fan? If I were you, I would never in a million years stop riding on that.

Patrick O'Shea said...

Any thoughts on 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'? It's an older series, (1987-88), But I always thought it was fairly sentai-ish.

Enjoying the 'History of' videos and glad to hear (And rather envious) that you had a blast at the con!

jolly_old_saint said...

Right, also, well and good job with the review of the movie and such. But I'm calling your Link..brara out on the hate for Brave & the Bold Joker. He's great! I think he was the narrator from Earthworm Jim or something, but anyway he's the right voice for the face! And I love them for basing that face on the 60s batman opening. And for basing the show on a combination of the 60s batman and 90s toy commercials. Guess its all tvland nostalgia vs. subjective and helplessy wrong thinking, though, and that's not really a place I wanted to go when all this started. Tell Linkbrara the fight's off, then. But an open mind...makes nine, I think. Which is a good thing, probably.

travizzt said...

I don't want to be one of those people that say "Review this, or look at that" but since you mentioned that when HotPR ends you would maybe do another retrospective. Now, I'm happy to see you list things like Beetleborgs (one of my favorite after-school shows) and I saw someone mentioning VR-Troopers and I'm ecstatic to see those could be 'next'.

However, I have to hope you (or anyone else) remembers "The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog". I would be very interested in someone looking back at that. But it's just a suggestion.

I'm also eagerly awaiting episode 100!

ggbhtg said...

Do you mean you saw a custom made green version of the Ninja Ranger suits from MMPR S3? I've been wondering if anyone has made one since you started HOPR. Note to self: Do NOT ludicrously request History of Doctor Who again.

Anonymous said...

Gotta disagree with your Brother.

The Joker in the Brave & The Bold cartoon is great. He's right up there with Mark Hammil, Cesar Romero, and Jack Nicholson.

You wanna talk horrible Jokers, you don't have to look much further than the Dark Knight. I know some people love it, but it was just painful to watch.

Jay said...

I enjoyed UTRH but I agree they could have should more cuts and bruises. The duffle bag was fine because you can use your imagination but Jason was beaten and CAUGHT IN AN EXPLOSION and his body barely looked damaged when it was shown.

I'm not fond of stories that try to tackle "Why doesn't someone kill the Joker". The truth is, he should have been put down long ago. And it's not just the Batfamily that has a reason to kill him. The only reason he is alive is because he is a money maker for DC. But in terms of characterization in UTRH, I enjoyed all the characters. Especially Jason's "If he[Joker] would have taken you from me..." lines.

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen Under the Red Hood, nor have I read the comics it's based on, so I'm probably going to be talking out of my ass here; but on the ending:

From the way it was described, it seemed to me that it was an intentional juxtaposition, going from this horrible episode of murder and bloodshed on Jason's part and its aftermath, to a happier time when he was truly happy and not a murderous psychopath.

That's just my take on it, never having seen the movie, so make of that what you will.

Anonymous said...

I didn't really care for Under the Red Hood, for a number of reasons.

It's too close to the original comic (I know, how can that be a bad thing? But it's sometimes taken entirely verbatim, and words written for a comic doesn't work as well when spoken in a moving format).

All the characters felt really weak, like they were held back. Especially Nightwing, who didn't come off as all that clever, just frantic and wordy (except all the words felt like they were read off a script). The Joker re-used jokes, and sometimes came off as really tame. I'd actually say all the characters in the movie, aside from Batman himself for the most part (since he kept quiet) felt out of place or insincere.

The Amazo fight felt out of place in what was supposed to be a gritty semi-realistic drama (but that was in the original comic too, so it isn't really the movie's fault, and thank goodness they made the android shut up). All action scenes , aside from the one against the 4 assassins and the final one, had the same problems with flow.

Also, what's the deal with Jason dying from the blast of a massive explosion close by and his suit not even being torn or burnt?

Scenes I did like: The final confrontation, the assassin fight (aside from the Hood's clips never running out), and the Joker interrogation.

Anonymous said...

B & B's joker is awesome... but It's if you can love a campy Joker. As I know several batman fans that dislike any attempt to lighten up everybody's favorite Brooding crimefighter.

I was never a fan of The Batman's joker... even if he did break into Hank Williams

rdfox said...

If someone ever had the stones to do it, I'd personally have Joker finally die not in a grand final battle with the Dark Knight, but through the actions of a "nobody" in Gotham--either a random civilian with a concealed-carry permit blowing him away in self-defense, or (if editorial finds that politically uncomfortable) a rookie GCPD patrolman dropping him in an entirely in-policy officer-involved shooting. (I have a friend who wants to write an Elseworlds book where that happens, with the sort of honors and public love that such a cop would get, while Batman goes more and more nuts from the thing he most hates being used to destroy his archfoe...)

On a more lighthearted note, I can't possibly be the only one who saw that photo and heard, "Power of Internet Reviewer!" in his head. (And this from someone who was just a bit *too* old to enjoy MMPR when it first came out, to the point where it was physically painful the one time I was home alone, too sick to get out of bed, and it came on the TV in the other room...)

Mutt2000 said...

You would have been more of a dork if you had your morpher in the pic. lol

But yeah, History of Doctor Who would be impossible...unless you had your own TARDIS and could go back and recover the lost episodes!!! But then it would take forever. Alas.

Anonymous said...

A Let's Play of Arkham Asylum can be found here:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3328701

It's not finished, but it's pretty good so far.

Frankie Addiego said...

I thought the movie was okay. My best friend doesn't know how it turns out, so I'm waiting to hear from him on his thoughts on the film.

Really, I didn't mind most of the changes, though putting Jason in the new Robin costume was completely arbitrary. Mostly I agree with Linkara and what worked and what didn't but more than anything; stuff like Nightwing's collar and different exchanges weren't bad enough to make the film suck on their own, but sort-of nickled and dimed it. I thought Bruce Greenwood as Batman worked well enough, but everyone else seemed rather arbitrary.

I don't get the same "why'd you even bother?" when it came to Talia because she would probably be in the background with Rahs-al-Ghul and from an outsider's perspective, I don't think it's any worse than just having a random goon stand beside him.

Finally: what's with the lettering on the opening credits? I could barely read things like "music by," and so-forth. Bad graphic design.

My biggest beef with S/B Public Enemies was that they made Power Girl into a bimbo. I don't even mind that they weren't clear on her origin. Okay, she's a superheroine with some heretofore unknown link to Superman. But why does she act like such a bimbo in the film? Argh!

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and Green Lantern: First Flight remain the two best, IMHO.

Mike said...

I thought the end was pretty clearly showing that Jason, young as he was, wanted this life and was happy at the prospect of his future with Bruce at the time. It seemed to me to be a pretty emotionally resonant moment to end on. Bruce had tried to give Jason the life and the responsibility that he wanted.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to point out, that the scene you are talking about where it's "Shoot him or me" is not only incredivly over used, but it was used in almost exactly the same way in Ennis original Punisher run, where he gave Daredevil a gun and said he could either shoot him or let him kill some mob boss.
And it was done much better in that.

Vervian Root said...

I maintain that between the laser and the twitter thing in Batman and Robin, Jason's an IRL internet troll and a pretty good one.

Anonymous said...

@CBR Beast-
"You wanna talk horrible Jokers, you don't have to look much further than the Dark Knight..."

I've never heard anybody diss him before.
Anybody except me, that is.
I've always thought Heath Ledger played a great villain in that movie, but I just never bought him as the Joker.

@anonymous
"the ending: From the way it was described, it seemed to me that it was an intentional juxtaposition..."

Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

- Mik

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to mention this really quick, the votes for Jason to die on the poll where actually only 72 votes pro death. I don't know if this is confirmed or not, but it has been rumoured that one guy rigged his phone to call the death line every ninety seconds. If that is true then more people actually wanted Jason to live than wanted him to die. Just some food for thought.