The Batman – Film Review

Image credit: Warner Bros.

Batman ventures into Gotham City’s underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

Image credit: Warner Bros.

Matt Reeves is very conscientious in how he depicts Batman investigating crime. As a comic book fan, Batman is a character that’s always been at the forefront. From him going toe-to-toe with Joker or Penguin or teaming up with the Justice League, though where Batman shines the most is being a detective. While in the past, we’ve seen Batman dabble in investigated cases in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) or The Dark Knight (2008), we’ve never had it shown to the extent that it is in this movie. This film is very much Chinatown (1974) & Se7en (1995) meets The Batman and it works so beautifully well.

Image credit: Warner Bros.

Robert Pattinson is easily the most talked-about casting choice in this movie. In a lot of the actors we’ve had in the past as Bruce Wayne/Batman, each actor played the two characters differently. Bruce Wayne is this billionaire playboy during the day and a masked vigilante at night. This entry gives us a Batman that doesn’t talk an awful lot, he’s often in the distance observing or in the room watching and this version of Bruce Wayne talks just about as much or maybe less.

Pattinson’s Batman is much more stoic and takes a lot of hits in this film. A lot of his acting is seemingly in his eyes, and it’s honestly impressive how much one can act with just their eyes. Another thing that is a takeaway in this film is how he walks and carries himself or turns and looks and is often very intimidating without saying anything. Often when he is coming out of the shadows, you hear him before you see him because he’s taking very heavy steps to let people know he is there before they even see him. This is exceptionally brilliant as you see these criminals in the film look to the shadows in fear and they eventually scare themselves away because they don’t want to get caught.

This is a Batman that is learning to be the Dark Knight that Gotham needs. This is a film about his second year fighting crime and he’s still learning so much about not only himself as Batman but himself as Bruce Wayne. This Bruce Wayne is a version that doesn’t want to be famous or be in the limelight as a Wayne, he’s a recluse but Batman is what feeds him as that’s his addiction. In the comics, Bruce Wayne views Batman is the real him and that Bruce Wayne is the mask, putting on the cape/cowl clears his mind and makes him whole and you definitely see that with this portrayal of the caped crusader.

Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman is excellent and acted well off of Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Dating back to the 60s Batman show starring Adam West and Burt Ward, we’ve had quite a few actors portraying this character. This is a version that is a little closer to the comics and I love a lot about what this movie does with the character, even down to the simplicity of her mask. It fits for someone that works to make ends meet and can’t really afford many things. Her arc is very reminiscent of her story in Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb.

Image credit: Warner Bros.

Paul Dano (Prisoners, There Will Be Blood) is one of those actors that when he’s in a movie, you’re going to be impressed or scared by how much he becomes the character he was hired to play and when it was announced that he was cast as The Riddler, I was sold on the choice. After watching this movie, I can say that this take on The Riddler is a genius and a very unsettling interpretation and brings it down to Earth, it makes sense in a real-world setting seeing how this version is based on the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer in the late 60s that left clues/ciphers for LAPD, very much like The Riddler does in this very film. This is one of the best performances I’ve seen for a role in a comic book film since Heath Ledger’s role as Joker.

Another villain we have in this movie is Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin who is shockingly unrecognizable in not only his make-up but also his accent and voice as they are so different than his own. Farrell vanishes in this role and his humor & charisma stand out. John Turturro is in the movie as mobster Carmine Falcone and he’s so laidback and grounded in this film that you forget he’s much more of a villain than you realize, really only working to further both Batman and Catwoman’s plot.

Aside from the ensemble cast, the film features stunning action and even one of the best car chases in a movie featuring the best version of the Batmobile to date. It’s riveting and well-shot as Reeves helms the action with as many wide shots as possible allowing the audience to view the whole scope of the action and witness the vulnerability behind Batman as this is a hero that takes some hits. Michael Giacchino’s score behind the film is epic, brooding, and abrupt as it enhances every scene. In so many decades, we’ve had so many fantastic takes on the score to accompany The Batman in media, Giacchino offers a fresh and new take that matches the dread and darkness fit for this film’s Dark Knight.

The Batman is the newest entry in the pantheon of DC Films. It stands well on its own as a solid entry in, not only a Batman film but also one of the best comic book movies ever made. This is film is not only beautifully shot but it juggles so many characters granted, the three-hour runtime is daunting, but due to it being such an efficiently paced and multi-layered film, it feels much shorter than it is. This movie is a cinematic event with superb filmmaking that isn’t seen much in this genre.

The Batman is out on home media now.

Godzilla: King of Monsters

Members of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When this ancient super-species-thought to be mere myths-rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

To start off, to say I’m a “huge fan” of Godzilla is asinine. I’m aware of this franchise because of the cartoons I’ve watched as a child and the Godzilla movie that came out in 1998 from Roland Emmerich that is critically known as the “worst” film of the now 35-film history of this cultural phenomenon. I have maybe watched a couple of the older Toho features, but I don’t go out to look for them like other fans do. I appreciate these last two films the most and these last two features that came out are the quintessential Godzilla flicks that I think should be the go-to films to introduce people to Godzilla.

The best thing to say about this movie is the CGI. Hands down, some of the best and most realistic CGI I’ve seen in any movie. That includes Gareth Edwards’ 2014 that started this “MonsterVerse” titled Godzilla. The visuals in this movie alone are impressive and jaw-dropping. Not only does Godzilla look incredible, but his arch-rival, King Ghidorah is an amazing sight to behold. Accompanying Godzilla and King Ghidorah in this feature is the giant bug, Mothra and the fire-bird, Rodan.

As I stated above, I am not too familiar with Godzilla as a franchise. So when we see all of these monsters, I was impressed to see that each one has some sort of elemental power to them. Godzilla is radiation, Ghidorah is electrical, Rodan is fire and Mothra is more of an Earth elemental, the only reason I say that is because she is found in the Yunnan rainforest and she doesn’t give off powers like the others do, although she does transfer her life-force to Godzilla in the final act of the film. Seeing these monsters and their powers displayed on the screen was honestly amazing and it just shouts pure fun and entertainment, which is what a movie-goer wants in a movie about monsters fighting to the death.

However, with all the good said, I must say the weakest parts are the human aspect to it. The weakest, mainly for me, was Vera Farmiga’s character. Her character felt the most confused throughout the entire film. I didn’t know if she as helping or not helping throughout the entire film. I think if her character was either killed off early on or just not in there at all, it would have a lot better. As far as the human aspect of the film goes, it’s a well-acted effort from each actor, but the writing suffers here and there. Which is a shame to me, as I love 2014’s Godzilla and thought that movie handled human drama well and centered their entire real-world Godzilla scenario really well and made it believable. Bryan Cranston’s and other actors performances were magnificent in that film.

Where this movie dips in writing and story, it arises in entertainment and masterful visuals making this an overall enjoyable and pleasant film. If you’re a fan of Godzilla and monsters and pretty visuals, I recommend this movie. I honestly don’t think you’d be let down.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is out in theaters now.

Disney’s Aladdin

Of all the Disney movies out there, Aladdin is honestly my all-time favorite Disney animated feature next to The Sword in the Stone and Hercules. When a live-action adaptation for this movie was announced, I was excited and worried at the same time. I was surprised by the live-action Cinderella film that released in 2015 and due to the success of that film, Disney announced a huge slate of live-action remakes. There’s a lot to this movie that we’ve already seen from the animated feature, but there are little bits and pieces sprinkled throughout that are different; though, I must say that I still prefer the original to this one.

To start off with the good about this film, each actor does a fantastic job in their roles. Mena Massoud as Aladdin is honestly a great choice and I cannot see anyone else in the role and the same can be said for Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine. These two act well off of each other and I really hope we see more of these two as these characters or at the very least in other films.

When Naomi Scott was announced as Princess Jasmine, I honestly thought they couldn’t have picked a better actor to portray this character. I liked her a lot as Kimberly Hart in 2017’s Power Rangers and was curious to see how her career would blossom after that movie. Becoming a Disney Princess for a live-action remake that brings us back to this wonderful world of Agrabah was a smart and great choice for her. She’s likable in her role and certainly puts everything she can in the scenes that she is in.

Genie is a character that can be described really in one word and that’s effervescent & Will Smith’s performance knocks that out of the park. I was pleasantly surprised with him as Genie and I have to say, in today’s world of comedic actors, Will Smith is the perfect choice to fill the proverbial shoes the late and great Robin Williams left behind. He really does make this role his own and I laughed quite a bit in his scenes as his scenes were filled with comedic lines that an actor like Will Smith could pull off.  If you’ve seen the original 1992 animated feature this movie is based on, then you know at the end, Aladdin used his final wish to wish Genie free from his shackles, and I was moved with the emotions that Will Smith gave off as Aladdin. The lead actors all do a fantastic job in their roles and it shows.

However, one of the real weak points in this movie, and that’s Jafar. Whether it’s how he was written or the actor who portrayed him, I couldn’t really get passed him as Jafar. I couldn’t believe him in this role. Most of his lines were read off with not much conviction and that’s a shame as Jafar from the original animated film was such a menacing character. I really wish Jafar was great in this movie, but he was simply mediocre at best.

Some of the other problems I had with this movie was most of the dance choreography, more-so how it was filmed and the singing. The movie obviously takes songs from the original film and brings them back for this one and adds another song for Naomi Scott to sing, which is a nice little song for her character and adds a nice touch to the movie that sets itself slightly away from the original. Now the songs are sung really well, and each actor that does sing (Mena, Naomi, and Will) however, when it’s filmed you can really just tell their lip-syncing to the song and you could tell it’s just studio audio you’re hearing. I notice it a lot in most musicals, so I imagine it’s hard to make something like this a non-noticeable moment in a musical.

There are also a few moments where the actors are dancing that I feel like sweeping motions with the camera would have done a better job to convey a sort of excitement that we’re supposed to feel during the unveiling of Aladdin as Prince Ali of Ababwa to the citizens of Agrabah. With doing that, putting the songs at a faster tempo would help portray that excitement even more. Though it does seems like they did try that with some dance numbers, but it just looks like someone sped up the scene by hitting the fast-forward button while they were in post-production It’s a tiny complaint and could really just be a nitpick of mine, but it’s still there.

My only other complaint or problem with this movie is that I think Guy Ritchie wasn’t the best director to make this movie. This is the one Guy Ritchie movie that doesn’t feel like anything else he has done, and a lot of the times directors make those type of films. Maybe Guy Ritchie was held back by Disney to make it a certain way, Disney is known for doing that. Though, I still want to think that possibly a better director could’ve been picked, although with saying that; this is a fun family movie and I will continue to watch it when it’s out on physical media, and I may see it again while it’s still in theatres.

 

 

John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum

After gunning down a member of the High Table — the shadowy international assassin’s guild — legendary hit man John Wick finds himself stripped of the organization’s protective services. Now stuck with a $14 million bounty on his head, Wick must fight his way through the streets of New York as he becomes the target of the world’s most ruthless killers.

John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum is honestly one of the best action films I’ve seen in a while. Being the third entry of a franchise, usually, those tend to be rough and on occasion just the weakest in comparison to the others in a franchise, very rarely at times being the best of a franchise (looking at you Lord of the Rings: Return of the King). Parabellum offers glorious fight choreography and fascinating cinematography from Dan Laustsen as well as a solid performance from Keanu Reeves.

With that being said, my only real complaints with this movie are at times during the fight scenes, you could tell when punches were being pulled or the actors in the scene were waiting for an object to be thrown as that’s what the fight scene was choreographed for. A lot of the shots are set up for wide shots, so these are a lot more noticeable though, it doesn’t really take me away from the experience too much. Each fight scene is so beautifully structured and shot, I can look beyond this little problem.

One thing that amazes me the most, is Halle Berry’s character and her dogs. Her appearance is more like a cameo that helps Wick get through a situation, and it’s one of the best fight scenes of the entire feature. The way the stunt team choreographed Halle Berry’s fight scene with the two German Shepherds is an amazing feat, and I’ve not really seen anything like it. Seeing how this franchise started with John Wick’s dog being killed, it’s very fitting that we see more dogs in this saga helping John Wick along his way.

John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum is without a doubt the most intense and most action-filled of the franchise. It’s the most entertaining and the most fast-paced of the three films so far, especially coming off of the second film. I was pleasantly surprised with the first John Wick and was fine with the second feature, though this third entry is an exciting adventure back into this well-built world these writers and the director has built for us. After this film, I’m excited to see where the eventual fourth film goes and I’m hoping the fourth one will be the last as I can’t really see these going on for too much longer.

If you’re a fan of action films and love the first two films, this film will definitely keep you entertained for its two-hour runtime.

A Quiet Place

When I went into this movie all I knew was a vague idea of what the plot was about, and that the movie starred Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, both who are actors I enjoy almost everything they’ve done. Krasinski, in my opinion, knocked it out of the park with this feature. The biggest thing about this movie that set itself apart from all the other thrillers that are out there is that there’s little to no spoken dialogue. It relies heavily on sign language for communication between characters. This movie is a thriller, and the biggest form of communication is gone for a good majority of the movie. This is the first movie I’ve been to where everyone in the theatre was dead quiet. This movie brings you into this world where you feel you cannot make a sound. People were trying to cough quietly, get their snacks quietly.

This movie conveys it so well because it shows us that we as a human race are just so damn loud, in everything we do. The way we step, the way we talk, the way we move. Every movement in this flick is based on the question “how can I do this quietly?” because everything they do is a life or death situation. This movie shows that we rely on sound for communication and brings it to us in the form of a thriller. Without the sound, we can’t express pure emotion. We can’t scream for joy, cry because we’re in pain. All the pain and anger and the tons of emotion this family deals with throughout this movie, they have to convey that without the aid of sound.

At the very beginning of this movie, there’s a dramatic moment that I honestly thought was ballsy. You don’t see it in most movies now, and I’ll leave it at that as I believe it’s a good twist you don’t see coming.

In the end, A Quiet Place made me feel emotions I haven’t felt from a thriller for a long time. I actually almost teared up twice during this movie. It certainly tugs at the heartstrings and this movie is worth price of admission.

Comic Book Movies. Why must they all feel the same?

Superman. Batman. Iron Man. Captain America. X-Men. Deadpool. This is for them all.

I went to my local theater last week and watched Thor: Ragnarok and before I go into speaking on that movie entirely, I must start out by saying that I was pleasantly pleased and disappointed with the movie. Now, I know it’s basically wrong to bash or hate anything Disney dishes out that brandishes the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” banner; but when it comes to movies & my opinions on them, I’m honest. I felt Thor: Ragnarok was a fun movie, but overall I also felt it was the least “Thor” movie out there. Thor, for the most part, is one of my favorites of the MCU. Chris Hemsworth really knocks it out of the park with his performance in each feature he is present in, and the first Thor movie is easily one of my favorites of the MCU in its entirety. Although, this third title in the Thor trilogy had me sold in certain parts yet lost me in others.

The parts that I was really interested in were the scenes that took place in Asgard & explored that side of the story, the ones that lost my interest? The scenes that took place on Sakaar. Don’t get me wrong, the scenes on Sakaar were fun and funny, but when I go to see a Thor movie, I want to see Thor doing Thor things. See mystical or Norse-inspired stories or elements throughout, which we saw a little bit of in Thor: Ragnarok, but overall I felt the scenes with Sakaar was just the folks at Disney/Marvel letting us know that Hulk is still a thing in all of these movies & them thinking “kids have to be entertained with it too”. The movie itself was well written, and really well made, but I just didn’t care for the overall tone. That’s honestly, my biggest complaint with the MCU franchise as a whole. They all feel the same, to me, at the end of the day. No matter when I go see Dr. Strange, or Spider-Man: Homecoming or Captain America: Civil War, they all feel the same. Hell, Captain America: Civil War felt more like an Avengers title than it did a Captain America title. Civil War is my least favorite Captain America film and it’s pretty low on the MCU ranking for me as well.

Anyway, my whole reasoning for this blog post is, why must all of these comic book movies feel the same? What happened to movies being different from one another. If you go into a sci-fi movie, your expectation is to be dazzled by amazing special effects and sci-fi elements that you see in The Fifth Element or Blade Runner or Alien. Each one of those movies I mentioned are different from one another, but yet fall under a specific genre of sci-fi. You don’t expect Alien to feel like Blade Runner or The Fifth Element to feel like Alien. You know exactly what to expect with each one. It’s the same with any genre, for the most part, we do have those low B movies that are basically knock-offs of the big Hollywood features. My point is, is it wrong to want to go into a comic book movie and want a Batman movie to feel like a Batman movie? A Superman movie to feel like a Superman movie? A Spider-Man movie to feel like a Spider-Man movie? When we read these comics based on our love of these characters, we read and feel this environment that it’s based in.

When all these movies start to feel like one another, we’ll start to get fatigue as movie-goers. Superhero-fatigue is a thing, and it’s something that I’m tired of. And that’s something that is going to be pleasing with the X-Men films if you haven’t check out the trailer for The New Mutants (check it out!), which looks to be a more horror/thriller oriented X-Men film. Which is exciting because it’s breaking the mold of your traditional CBM, and going against the norm & I can’t applaud it more for doing so. I’m a huge X-Men fan, so I love everything I can get with Mutants. I remember when I first watched the original X-Men film, it felt real. Everything about it felt like I was watching a real world X-Men team unfold on TV and I was. Deadpool felt different and Logan felt drastically different, that was much more of an Old West movie than an actual Comic book movie. So the X-Men films can keep churning out what they want for as long as I care. Though for the others, I want to leave future Comic Book Movies going “Hell yeah! That was Thor!” or “Hell yeah! That was Superman!” I’ve been excited for MCU films and DC Films before, I’m excited for Justice League later this week and I’m excited for the future of both the Marvel franchises (both Disney and Fox) and DC Films.

I love X-Men, Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the DC Films as they are. They each have their pros and their cons. Something I will always swear by is that I will never judge a Marvel film against a DC or a DC against a Marvel film. It’s something I’ve stood by as a kid, love them for what they are, flaws and all.

Have you seen Thor: Ragnarok? What’d you think? Comment below and let me know! When you see Justice League, let me know what you think as well!

What’s so damn difficult about Video Game movies?

Video Game movies. What’s so difficult about it?

I just watched the new Assassin’s Creed movie the other day, and I have to say; I was excited for when it was making its rounds. I’m a fan of the video game franchise & to put Michael Fassbender in its film, it definitely had me curious. Although, after watching the movie, I was left with a satisfied yet a dissatisfaction feeling with yet another movie based off of a video game IP.

What’s so difficult about making a movie based off of a video game actually good? Your plot is there, your endgame is there, everything is practically spoonfed to you. There’s nothing that’s needed for any type of change that’ll make it more interesting or better. Now I’m not saying that every video game based film needs to follow the same story or strategy that was explored in the game simply because we’d be bored. We would know everything that would happen and how it will happen. We need new and exciting elements for these movies that offer some change, so adapting new characters into worlds that we’ve played in is a great idea.

Let’s look at the Assassin’s Creed movie for example. The movie started out well. We started out in Spain, in 1492, and were introduced to our main leads, but as soon as they jumped to “present day” I lost interest. I understand that we needed to know this backstory on why Callum Lynch is the way he is, but I think the movie would’ve been better had it took a more from the horror movie structure, let the audience live in the world of 1492 Spain for 50 minutes, and then bring us to “present day” give us some exposition or some dilemma about why he was pulled out of the animus, and then bring us back to Spain. Overall, the movie is pretty solid. It’s all acted really rather well, and a nicely done movie, but my only complaint is that we don’t really spend too much time in Spain, which is THE point in all Assassin’s Creed games. For the lead to explore their ancestor’s history & to learn about the pieces of Eden. Something I think the writers or studio didn’t factor into this movie, is that each Assassin’s Creed game is 50 hours or more of gameplay, and we’ll jump into the modern world only a handful of times. 50 hours of that against a near 2-hour movie is a big difference for the story. Honestly, if you ask me, I think Assassin’s Creed would work better as a TV series than a movie franchise. The budget may not be there too much, but a TV show allows you to explore more with the story, especially if it’s on HBO or Showtime.

Every time a video game movie is announced, I get excited but also worried all at the same time. I’m excited about the new Tomb Raider movie, it looks great & actually looks like it’ll change opinions with video game movies, but I believe that’s the exact same thing I said about Assassin’s Creed as well. I mean, it could be worse…we could have more movies like Double Dragon or Super Mario Bros. Compared to those, Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, Hitman are all definitely A+ movies.

What’s your favorite video game movie? Mine has got to be Prince of Persia. Come on, we don’t have much we can choose from.

Small movie, big meaning.

Wind River

“Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) is a wildlife officer who finds the body of an 18-year-old woman on an American Indian reservation in snowy Wyoming. When the autopsy reveals that she was raped, FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives to investigate. Teaming up with Lambert as a guide, the duo soon finds that their lives are in danger while trying to solve the mystery of the teen’s death.”

Every once in a while a small movie will come around that is better than any other big picture or big event film, that is what we get with Wind River. This is not an action movie, it’s not the next Avengers or Justice League flick. This is very much a modern neo-western/murder mystery based in Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming inspired by true events. Now a lot of people, when they see the words “inspired by true events” before a movie, they think only 20% of this actually happened and the rest is all Hollywoodized crap to keep people in their seats. What writer/director Taylor Sheridan means by “inspired by” is the fact that the statistics for missing persons are kept for every demographic in the world, but Native American women, whose number remains unknown to this day.

It’s without saying that I loved Wind River, it’s definitely one of my favorites of the year, and the best thing about it is that I had no idea what I was in for going to see this movie. Sheridan does an outstanding job of capturing the feel of the location in Wind River, and his dialogue for each character is real and brutal. This is also one of those very real movies where the location feels like a character itself. You see the ramifications of living there through each townfolk you see. It’s very much about how one place where you’re forced to live can dictate your view on the world & will keep you restricted or limited to not doing anything other than surviving. Wind River, in this movie, is not a desirable place to live. It shows in every scene as this movie unfolds.

Each actor in this movie does a phenomenal job in their roles, especially with Jeremy Renner in the lead. He does an amazing job at becoming the character he is portraying, and I’m glad to see him leading his own films, as he is one of my favorite actors. Elizabeth Olsen has always been one of the better actors from the Olsen family, not knocking the Olsen Twins at all, they just haven’t been in anything since the 2000s. Olsen’s character is very much a rookie in every sense of the word. When we first meet her in the movie, she’s not even prepared to be in Wyoming, wearing just a pantsuit, and no warm clothing in sight. These two have great chemistry and act off of each other really well, I’m excited to see them have more screen time in the MCU or whatever projects they have together in the future. Gil Birmingham, who plays the father of the girl who was found by Renner’s character, has an amazing performance in this movie & he’s only in here for three or four scenes, with one scene featuring his character breaking down.

One of the hardest things that come with talking about a movie is wanting to talk about certain scenes, but if I do, that will ruin surprises or spoil the story; which I won’t do here. For the first half of this movie, it’s very much a drama, but there’s a quick tonal change where the climactic moment it is, and it turns on a dime & you know that shit hit the fan & you’re in for a ride. In this certain scene, you get to see how shitty humanity can be, & you know while watching this scene unfold something bad is going to happen. You feel it in your gut. Scenes like that are always tough to watch.

Wind River is an excellent movie, with an excellent cast and I highly recommend it. It’s worth buying when it is out on home media in November this year.

Random thoughts on a random night.

What was your first movie?

The one that made you love movies? The one that made you go, “I love this, I want to know more” Is it more than one?

For me, it’s more than one. As a kid, I loved watching Superman: The Movie or the 1960’s Adam West Batman movie. I remember any time it was on TV, my Dad would tell me and he would change the channel to where it was on & I would sit there until the movie was over. I loved seeing Superman fly, stopping Lex Luthor and rescuing Lois Lane. I loved seeing Batman and Robin slide down their fireman’s pole and the camera would cut to them in the Batcave in their respective suits, ready to fight crime. Then that scene where The Joker, The Riddler, Penguin & Catwoman dematerialized the group of businessmen and they were all colors of sand. Or how about the classic line “Sometimes you just can’t get rid of a bomb?” Then I remember when I was first introduced to The Crow, my god, that movie was amazing and it stood the test of time. However, every time I think or watch that movie, I get a bit sad knowing Brandon Lee died while making it. Such a great actor, what a way to go. Definitely a favorite of mine. Then there’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, man that is probably the BEST comic book movie ever made. Such accurate characters and personalities within them. I don’t know one person that hasn’t seen it or doesn’t like it.

There are tons of other movies that have influenced me in a way. I grew up watching a lot of horror movies as well. My Mom loved them, she still does. I remember watching Hellraiser a lot as a child, or Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, the one that sort of reimagined Nightmare on Elm Street. Halloween was always her favorite though, and it’s safe to say it’s mine as well. I remember when H20 first came out, she absolutely loved it. It served as a true sequel to the first two films, completely ignoring the fourth, fifth and sixth films entirely. Then there was Scream, that changed the way Horror movies were made during the 90s and early 2000’s. Every horror film tried to mimic what Scream did.

There are so many movies that I remember as a kid that influenced me as a child, but what were the ones that I watched as a teen that influenced me then? Blade Runner. Serenity. Memento. Moon. Again, there’s so many. So many movies, and so little time. I could literally talk about movies all day. All these movies I’ve listed, have impressed me in the way they were made or how sets were made or how their costumes were made or they’ve made me think “how did they film that?” or “how in the world did they get that actor to look like that?” and have shaped me into the way I am, as I want to learn so many things about movie making. Anyone who knows me personally, knows I’m sort of a movie buff. There’s fun facts I know about a lot of movies and interesting little tidbits & I hope to share that with everyone that reads this blog, as well as reviews for movies I see in the theater!

So my question is, what was the movie that got your attention? Comment below & let me know, and it can be more than one. Movies are subjective, there’s no wrong answer to this question.

Also, who is your favorite member of TMNT? Leonardo is my favorite Turtle, and Casey Jones is my favorite non-turtle member of TMNT.

A little “about me”

Who am I and why in the world do I have a Blog?

Well, my name is Kyle Shultz & I’m just a guy who loves movies and TV & love having a platform where I can talk just about that. I’ve been going to the movies since I was a kid, in fact, one of my earliest memories of going to the theaters to see a movie was Batman Returns back in 1992 when I was just barely two years old. I don’t remember a whole lot, but I just remember seeing the posters for it on the outside of the cinema and seeing Batman on the big screen.

I was basically raised on movies, which is odd to say because most people DO watch movies. But growing up and watching these movies, I’ve become invested in the questions of “how did they do that?” or “how did they make that?” or “how did the film that?” I’ve always wanted to know how movies were made and how costumes were made. Each movie I go to see, I save the ticket stub. Maybe someday I will do something with them. Maybe put them in a shadowbox or something cool. Who knows?

I don’t quite know what else to say in this thing. So I’ll cut this short. Hopefully, whatever readers I have, enjoy this blog and like the content I post.

Thanks for reading!