Batman (1966) DVD

Rating:  3 out of 5 needlessly complex but easily solved riddles

Plot Synopsis: The rouges gallery gathers together in the ultimate attack against the masked Cossack.

Prometheus (2012) theatrical release

  Few movies in 2012 were as anticipated as Prometheus, a scifi/action/thriller that proposed to explore the origins of humanity and why, as always, we should have just stayed home. I had high hopes going into the theater- after all, this was a Ridley Scott film, the director of Blade Runner, Gladiator and of course Alien (from which Prometheus takes its universe). But instead of another classic I was treated to a two hour struggle between the characters and plot. Neither survived.

New Author

We have a new author joining the site.  It is The Number Of Man with a review of Prometheus.  Will we see more of The Number Of Man?  I don't know.  Just to let you know, I have no control over what he says, reviews or says in his reviews.  He's also expressed no desire to answer mail.  It remains to be seen if he'll reply to comments but he mostly just wants to post reviews.  So enjoy, his first review is quite nice, I'm jealous.  It's a different voice and a different tone which I think is good.  Just don't like him better than me.

Friday's with Blinky: Joker

  This week we take a look at the final Joker short film. Next week we'll round up the miscellaneous Blinky Joker stuff to continue with the Endless Knight theme. Then we might start with the Catwoman stuff.

  Made in 2006, before Dark Knight introduced a different kind of Joker this short brings us Bryan Bockbrader as Joker.  And let me tell you he is a hell of a Joker.  He's a little Ceasar Romero, a little Jim Carey and a little Jack Nicholson.  He's got a great laugh, delivers his lines with a pitch perfect craziness and has presence in his character.  I love the wardrobe on this as well, the Joker in his untucked dress shirt and loosened tie.  Anytime I look at a Joker character I looked for influences from comedians so when I see something I instantly associate it with a comic.  The look of this Joker is very 'late night comedian'.  He looks like he just finished a set at the Chuckle Hut, maybe he bombed, maybe he didn't, maybe he bombed but didn't think he did, anyway that's what he looks like.  Like a deformed psycho who just did 15 minutes on a mic in front of a brick wall.  Perfect.  It's hard to chose a favorite between Bryan and Chris' Joker performances, they're both very different so there isn't a lot of comparison.  It depends on what you like but there's time and room enough for both.

  Joker's the star so he's really the only character who get's time enough to shine.  Deanna Miller is there as Harley.  She's good, what few lines she has she delivers well.  The voice is really good, very close to the source material, which is nice.  She doesn't really get much screen time but she's not a distraction or a detriment, she does her part to carry the short.  Her costume could have been made a little more real however, Joker looks part of the real world but Harley's costume is straight from the animated series so she looks a little out of place.

  You can kind of tell this is early on.  The things Chris would get really really good at in the later short movies are present in this but just a little rough.  The soundtrack dates it a little but fits in with the tone and is thematically appropriate.  The camera work is good with it's low angle shots up at Joker, occasionally at a slight angle to make Joker both intimidating as well as depicting him as twisted.  It's well done and worth checking out.

Cosplay Wednesday

This week we have a Miss Martian, a Miss Martian Manhunter and my favorite duo Blue and Gold (for those of you who don't know that would be Blue Beetle and Booster Gold)

I suppose it depends on which is nobler in the mind.

see more Very Demotivational

Go on, I'm listening...

see more Gifs

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) DVD

Rating:  2 out of 5 boring segments in an endless series of vignettes.

Plot Synopsis:  There are a million naked stories in the city of Gotham.  Fortunately (or not as the case may be) that is the only thing naked in this series of vignettes that are a shameless rip off of the failed franchise cash in Animatrix.

Batman: Year One (2011) Blu-Ray

Rating:  3 out of 5 pimps who sound like Spike beaten to a pulp.

Plot Synopsis:  It’s Bruce Wayne’s first year as Batman and Jim Gordon’s first year on the GCPD.  Along for the ride is a Catwoman short.

Batman: Dark Knight Rises (2012) Theatrical Release

Rating: 5 out of 5 billionaire playboy orphaned vigilantes

Review:  First off I want to say that this totally lived up to the hype for me and was a great conclusion to the trilogy.  It's sad, with how the movie ended, that it is the conclusion because there would be some awesome future movies coming from this franchise if it were to continue.

  That being said this is definitely now my second favorite of the trilogy.  Better than Begins but not as good as Dark Knight.  Begins will always sort of be the red headed step child of the franchise to me.  It's sort of necessary to see it to get a feeling for the series, to be introduced to the characters in order to give those characters more weight going into Dark Knight.  But you could almost skip Begins entirely and go directly to Dark Knight, seeing Begins accentuates Dark Knight but Dark Knight just has something these other movies don't.  And it's more than just Joker.

  Dark Knight Rises manages to deliver to us something totally different than the previous two movies while still using the movies and building blocks and somehow managing to be in tone with the other films while also being something totally its own.  The plot is intriguing with several twists, some of them I saw coming, some of them I didn't and one that I thought I saw coming early but the the payoff was so long I thought for sure I was wrong until I was proven right, which just made it more awesome when it happened.  It's a great movie about people, the crime and the crime fighting are sort of secondary.  The characters are all just so great, the returning characters get deepened and the new characters really get established well.  No one feels wooden or phoned in.  Michael Caine put's in such a fantastic performance, when he get's emotional about Bruce you really feel it, he is the stand out.  Commissioner Gordon continues to be awesome and well played by Gary Oldman and new comer (to the series) Anne Hathaway is hypnotic as Catwoman.  She plays the character with a lot of depth and you can see that she feels trapped and empathize with her desire for redemption.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Policeman Blake is great as well in the role of frustrated but passionate cop.  Christian Bale, as always, does great and bring passion to every role he's in.  As Bruce he can still look amusingly dumbfounded in his playboy persona but is still intimidating as hell as Batman.  He's toned down the Bat Voice quite a bit for this last performance and it's probably at its least distracting here.  Finally Bane is well done by Tom Hardy.  He plays him as a cold blooded, brutal terrorist.  This comes through in everything he does, his actions, his words, his body language, he looks incredibly intimidating in just the way he stands and walks.  My only problem is with the voice.  I eventually got used to it but it sort of sounds like Sean Connery with a cold talking through a tin can and string which can lead to a problem understanding every word of his dialog.  I lost some of it, especially in the fight with Batman (spoiler: Batman fights Bane).  It was weird at first but I was on board by the end of the movie.

  Dark Knight Rises is a great movie and well worth seeing but it's just missing something that Dark Knight had.  In my opinion Dark Knight had the more intriguing characters in Harvey Dent and Joker, had better action and a better plot.  It was just a more interesting movie and despite its, at times, heavy handed messages it was a perfect Batman movie.  This is close, this is really close but just something in me can't give it more than 4.  I will definitely be buying this when it's released on Blu-Ray and I'll probably watch it several more times but it won't replace Dark Knight as my go to movie.

Friday's with Blinky: Die Laughing

  Die Laughing is the last of Chris .R. Notarile's performances as the Joker and as such he decides to completely own the role.  There are bits of the Ledger Joker still in there, mostly in tone and make-up but Chris does a good job bringing most of his own spin on it.  He always did but as he played the character more and more it became his more and more.  Maybe that was intentional maybe not.  I think, if it was, it was a good idea.  Starting out people would respond better to less interpretation but as they got used to the person in the role then more originality would be appreciated with less backlash.

  The short is about Joker going to Metropolis and meeting Superman.  In a nutshell that's all it is.  This is definitely Joker's story more than Superman's as the focus stays on Joker.  It's a character piece and works really well.  Using the same techniques he did on Batman, Joker tries to poke around Superman's head only to decide Superman is to boring.

  When Joker turns himself in is great as is him taunting Superman.  When he says "That's a yes." it's perfect and an awesome moment.  Superman is played by our favorite Daredevil: Nick Grock, Johanna Telander returns for a brief cameo as an unmasked Harley Quinn and we get a brief appearance by Choice star and favorite Kerri Miller.

  Check it out, it's good.  I don't know how many times I have to tell you that.  Every one of these is worth checking out.  But this is awesome, it's got Joker and Superman and Harley and Kerri Miller so take the time.

Die Laughing IMDB

So this is awesome...

  Something cool to cleanse the palate after that last post.

Twitter cosplay a'splosion y'all 3! Simon Pegg is an intolerant misogynist?

  First off, that's not true about Simon Pegg, I just said that to be sensationalistic.

  Second, yes, we're doing this again. I can't help myself and I'm pretty much mad at both sides again. The only one I'm totally fine with is Mr. Simon Pegg who I thought did his best without resorting to name calling. Why am I doing this again? CAUSE I'M DRUNK! It's all after the jump.

Cosplay Wednesdays

This week we have the evolution of Batman sitting poolside as well as a Dark Knight inspired distaff Joker.  I've never been so scared or so turned on.  The distaff Joker is pretty easy on the eyes as well.  Below the jump is different picture of distaff Joker because it's worth another look.

Which one of you is from Batman & Robin?  I've got something in my trunk for you.  It's a beating.  I have a beating in my trunk.  For you.

I'm sorry, this is just really well done, I can't think of anything clever to say.  Good job.

The Dark Knight (2008) Blu-Ray

Rating: 6 out of 5 things in my pockets are knives and lint

Plot Synopsis:  Some men just want to see the world burn.

Friday's with Blinky: Sincerely Mr. J

  Here we have the fourth and final installment of the Mr. J series.  Well at least the Mr. J series proper, there is one more short starring Chris as Joker but it involves Superman and we'll be taking a look at that next week.

Choice Feature: Mandy Evans interview

  Hey look what I found! It's an interview with the lovely and talented Mandy Evans. I mean I just found it, out there, you know, at the cool places I go. Where all the cool people hang out? There it was and it was totally relevant to the feature. It's like I actually asked her questions and she was nice enough to take the time and respond back. I think you should read it! And enjoy it! You're not enjoying it enough! Enjoy harder!

Fancy Deadpool: First off introduce yourself, tell the people a little about yourself and your background.

Mandy Evans: My name is Mandy Evans. I am a NJ/NY based actress and dancer. I've been working professionally for ten years now in theater, musical theater, film, TV and commercials. My most recognizable achievements include a Radio City Rockette, One Life To Live, Trojan Commercial and my own version of Catwoman. I am a fitness fanatic and big animal lover.

FDP: In Choice you play a personification instead of a person. Did this change how you approached the character? How did you decide on Choice's personality?

ME: Choice was a person to me. She was someone who made a bad choice and ended up where she is now as a result. I borrowed some stylized movements by watching the Cheshire cat, which was recommended by Chris. The personality of Choice came from the feelings of people who are cold, sarcastic and brutal but with a touch of sensitivity that came in towards the end of the film. I decided that Choice was the person who was gonna tell you the truth in the most brutal way possible to make you wake up because she doesn't want to see you end up like her.

FDP: In a two person feature like this it seems that both people are equally important. How was it working with Kerri (Kerri Miller, co-star of Choice) and was it a collaborative process?

ME: Kerri is by far my favorite actress that I have worked with. We both have similar training backgrounds so we know what it means to put your attention on the other person. She really listens, which is the most important thing for an actor to do. I think we make a good team and yes, it was a collaborative effort.

FDP: In Chris Notarile's comments about this short he mentions long talks about the characters that are the focus of the film, what was discussed in these talks and were they helpful? Does it help to talk about the character or do you feel it's better to go in cold?

ME: I think it helps to talk about the character a little bit. I would never be able to go in completely cold, especially for something like this. It was a little bit of a struggle at first to figure out how to get what he wanted from the character and how I saw her. It was a layering process. One of the first things he told me is that he saw her as a game show host. My first initial feeling was that I wasn't capable of doing that without it being phony. Once I found a strong foundation and found the truth of the character, I was able to make that kind of choice.

FDP: Are 3 options just silly? A third does seem kind of unnecessary but on the other hand why can't there just be dozens of options?

ME: Of course, there are always many choices, but that's the problem. If you give yourself less options, you are more likely to be definitive in what you do with your life. You know the phrase, "jack of all trades, master of none"? I really believe that's true. This is why Choice says that because if you give yourself many options, you get nowhere.

FDP: You've worked with Chris (Chris Notarile, director) multiple times (Choice, Daredevil '83 and the upcoming Stand Off to name a few examples) What keeps bringing you back?

ME: Chris is a very passionate filmmaker who has been able to impress people with his limited resources. This industry is all about type casting. Normally I get cast as the provocative leading lady, which is great, but ultimately I want to be a physical character actress. His roles have given me the opportunity to stretch; If I haven't always nailed every one of them, I've acquired skills and have grown a lot since we have worked together. I believe we've helped each other to grow a lot as artists, proven with the outcome of Choice. You can't wait for someone to offer you the perfect opportunity. Sometimes you just have to do it anyway you can and build your skills so that when a great opportunity comes along for it, you're ready for it.

FDP: Were you aware of the Typhoid Mary character before accepting the role in Daredevil '83? Did you do in any research or did you wing it?

ME: I was somewhat familiar with the character, Typhoid Mary. I read the comic book and did some research online.

FDP: Was the dance scene in Daredevil '83 planned or was it added because of your dance background?

ME: The dance scene was planned because of my background.

  FDP: Follow up, how awesome is Flashdance?

  ME: Of course I love Flashdance!

FDP: It's obvious by the fight scene that you've had some physical training. Does your dance background help with the more physical roles?

ME: Yes, I have been told that my physicality is my key strength as an actress. Being a dancer absolutely helps not just for the sake of stamina and strength, but the emotions come from the body. Body language says so much more than words.

FDP: Fosse seems like a pretty demanding style, if not high impact then for it's precision, it also seems more accepting of individual expression. The Rockettes style seems more high impact and synchronized. Was it hard to make the transition from Fosse to The Rockettes? Are they more similar than they appear? Did Fosse help prepare you for being a Rockette? It's a lot of kicking, what are you're thoughts on kicking?

ME: Yes, you are right. Both styles are very precise and demanding but in a different way. Both require years of practice to get it. Fosse is more sensual and has the "less is more" feel to it.

I don't think anything can really prepare you for being a Rockette. It's the hardest thing I have ever done. Kicking and precision style dance is what the Rockettes are known for, but it's much more about learning how to work as a unit, it's never about one person. The expression of a Rockette has to be all in the eyes and heart. It's really about learning how to focus the energy. You can't just flail your body all over the place or be a soloist as you can with other styles.

FDP: Why did you decide to pursue acting in addition to dance?

ME: I was on tour in Europe doing a production of the Who's Tommy. Each scene in the show was in a different time periods so I discovered ways of approaching all these different characters. The thing that changed everything was when I was given a dance solo in one of the scenes. The director encouraged me to be spontaneous with it, so that is what I did every performance for five months. After this tour is when I decided to get serious about being an actor and signed up for a rigorous program at the Ward Studio in NYC. My first motivation to learn to act was just to make me a better dancer, but after the tour and the studying that I did, I found that I really loved acting as much as dancing.

FDP: In Choice it's stated that people don't care about talent anymore, they care about drama. Do people care about talent anymore?

ME: It depends on who you ask. The whole point of Choice saying that was to make her think about why she was an artist in the first place. If her real reason was a desperation to be famous, she better get out now. It's so much more than talent anyway, we all know that. Then again, some people do take a chance on talent alone, which is what happened with the play I recently performed in. So, yes sometimes people do care about talent, but sadly more often people have a tendency to choose what they know, what's "safer". I think as artists you just have to show up, do the work, be professional and the talent will eventually be recognized. You just can't give a damn who acknowledges it. 

FDP: Do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to promote? It looks like you'll be reappearing with your Choice co-star in the upcoming Stand Off, going by the preview it promises to be good. Other than your website are there any other places online people can go to find you and keep up to date on what you're working on? Feel free to shill whatever you'd like, there's no shame in it, if there is it's never stopped me.

ME: I am currently focusing on theater and getting my skills sharp for the upcoming fall TV casting season. Most recently, I finished a production of Savage in Limbo.

I have a feature film that is currently in the fundraising phase and planning to film in early 2013. Saved By Zoey is a romantic dramedy/thriller with a girl meets boy, girl saves boy type of theme. I play the title role of Zoey.

www.indiegogo.com/savedbyzoey

I can be followed on twitter at
mandyevansbrown

Thank you for your time and putting up with me.

Thank you so much!

Whispering in the wind (blog news)

  For the few people who come here not looking for porn I have some things to say.  LISTEN TO ME!  When I started this blog I wanted to be 6 months out.  Which means I wanted to have 6 months of content ready to go when I officially launched this thing into the intertron.  Then Ghost Rider: SOV came out and I hot shotted it while shoehorning in some Ghost Rider content.  At that time I was 3 months out, so for the first 3 months I coasted along on content that was already totally finished (believe it or not that stuff was considered finished).  Then because I only really had one day to myself and was traveling a lot, never knowing when I would be gone a week or weeks at a time, I watched movies when I could and did a rough outline and then sat down on my day off and produced a months worth of content at a time.  I did that until the Batman '89 review.  When I added Cosplay Wednesday I created and scheduled content from the first week I featured it until yesterday.

  What I'm trying to say is with my schedule calmed down a little bit and my traveling done, for now, I'm going week to week.  On everything.  I'm going to try really, really hard to hit every deadline so things happen on the day's their supposed to.  Since Batman '89 I've been going week to week on reviews, since I started Mr. J Fridays with Blinky has been week to week and starting yesterday Cosplay Wednesday is week to week.  So far I've been keeping up and I intend to keep up because I like doing this.  I would be watching these movies and talking about these things even if I wasn't blogging about them.  I started this blog really just so I had an outlet for my enjoyment of comic's, superhero movies, superhero video games and just good media in general.  So I'll probably do this until it A) isn't fun anymore or B) I stop enjoying the things I write about.  Bottom line is: week to week is new territory for me so it may be bumpy but I like the schedule I have and I'll try not to alter it.

  Finally I've got a few big projects coming down the pike.  I'm working on gathering all the materials for a feature on a huge cross promotional hootenanny that happened back in the late 90's early '00's with the thing that followed after.  Also I'm in the research phase of a article on Rob Liefeld's artwork.  I don't know how much I'm going to delve into the man or his background, I'm really more interested in his artwork and the reactions it gets from fans.  So if you are a fan or if you aren't I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say about his art.  So if you have an opinion and want to get mentioned contact me.  Those are the big things that may take weeks or months to see bear fruit.  I also have some video edit's planned and am highly considering doing Vlogs or video reviews of non-comic movies.  So we'll see what I have time for and what works out and what doesn't.  So that's pretty much everything.  For those who actually visit the site and like it, thank you, if no one actually visits then I guess it's just me.  One man.  Shouting against the darkness.  About super hero movies.  And if you visit and don't like it... well... stop visiting.  It's like a huge internet out there why are visiting a site you don't like?  There's porn out there, and YouTube.  You could waste an entire day on YouTube instead of coming here and hating everything you read.

Cosplay Wednesday

This week is a double double.  We have 2 dudes being bad asses as Iron Fist and Luke Cage Power Man.  Both good efforts.  Below we have Dee Dee from Batman Beyond, a simple costume but they look good in it.

Scene from Black Dynamite 2: Heroes for Hire

Amazing Spider-Man (2012) X-Box 360

Rating: 3 out of 5 Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee cameos

Plot Synopsis:  In attempt to usher in the new era of Oscorp Alistair Smythe shifts the focus from cross species to nano-tech robots.  It goes about as well as you’d think.

Batman Begins (2005) DVD

Rating: 4 out of 5 snarky British butlers

Plot Synopsis:  Bruce Wayne done lost his parents.  He’s handling it well.

Friday's with Blinky: Well Done Mr. J

  Well Done Mr. J marks the 3rd chapter in the Dark Knight spin off.  Every one of these shorts Chris .R. Notarile and Johanna Telander seem to get more and more comfortable in their roles as they make them their own.  The characters have a clear evolution in how they're portrayed from the first one to this one.

  We open with our duo entering a costume shop as an instrumental of Zydrate Anatomy plays in the background.  The song giving a hard rhythm to the mostly dialog free sequence of the the two of them finding their costumes.  The highlight of this being the nurse costume Joker comes across and dismisses as having "done that".  The sequence provides a good character moment as they find their new identities and the final reveal of the two of them in full regalia is quite impressive.  Chris looks bad ass in the purple as Joker and Johanna is smoking hot as Harley Quinn.  We get a little set up as to what's in store next for newly freed and freshly dressed with a great moment of Joker displaying his selfish attitude towards Batman (only he can destroy Batman or his reputation).  At the end we get a big reveal as they walk into a room with Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy suggesting a greater team up.

  Now when it comes to these I try really hard to not pick apart things like locations because, honestly, these people are shooting under the radar without permits trying to get stuff done and deliver the best product they can.  That being said, the singular problem I have with this short, and for some reason I just can't shake it or get over it, is the idea of a place somewhere that has a huge costume shop in the upper floors and a convention center on the bottom floor.  Maybe a place like that does exist, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's not this place because it sure looks like they enter the costume shop from the street.  I don't know why it bugs me.  I have no idea why.  I should really just get over it because other than that it's a really good short.

  Kim Santiago steps behind the camera again and does a pretty good job, again.  The shots are good, the angles are intriguing and it all serves to keep the short interesting.  What little we see of the other rouges gallery is a little underwhelming but they play a larger role in the next short.  This is a good little bridge from the character heavy first two shorts and the action heavy following short.  Definitely worth checking out.

Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Theatrical Release

Rating: 4 out of 5 radioactive spider bites that lead to amazing powers and not horrible cancer death

Review:  I'm going to go for the more free flow, spoiler-free (for the most part) review of movies in theaters.  This is due to the overwhelmingly (meaning no) response to the Avengers review.

  I went and saw Amazing Spider-Man today and I have to say I was pretty impressed.  The movie is a reboot rather than a sequel, which, based on how Raimi left the franchise, is entirely understandable.  You couldn't build a grass hut on that crappy foundation.  I think the logical sequel to that mess would just be 2 hours of people shitting on a pile of Spider-Man comic books.  Also there would be the introduction of the Dirty Dozen which would be the combination of two Sinister Six's and include Spider-Man who would then also have to fight himself.  Also it it would turn out that they all killed Uncle Ben.

  I digress.

Happy Fantastic Fourth of July!

  I threw this together because it's something I've been meaning to do and today's a holiday for me so I've got the time.  It's pretty much all the Doom scenes from the Corman Fantastic Four.  It's 14 minutes long.  I haven't even watched the final product.  I did the grabs, linked the files in Vegas and posted it.  From what little I did watch it's terrible.  So happy 4th...enjoy?

Cosplay Wednesday

  Her we have Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde a.k.a. Shadowcat.  Why a celebrity?  For 3 reasons: 1) Because I love Ellen Page b) It's my site and 4) fuck you that's why.  Also because I wanted to go with a pair of X-Men that make sense and Kitty goes with Colossus and I quickly realized that the internet is devoid of decent Kitty cosplayers.  So I just went straight to the top and got the best, the lovely Ms. Ellen Page.  Oh Colossus is here too.

A vision of heaven, if only her and distaff Robin got in the same picture...

There's also this guy.

Batman & Robin (1997) DVD

I think we could add more characters.

Rating:  -1 out of 5 fucks I give about this cinematic late term abortion

Plot Synopsis:  Joel Shumacher rapes our childhood in the fourth installment of the old Batman franchise.  Seriously though, this thing is a mess plot wise.  We have Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane vs. Batman, Robin and Batgirl in this fucking train wreck of a movie.  The plot is bad, the script is bad, the cinematography is bad, the sound track is alright but everything else is shit.  This movie is a terrorist act against people of every creed, race and religion.