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Batman-a-thon

The Batman Trilogy all at once. Faithful Phantom followers know that a couple of months ago, I attended the Marvel Marathon that featured 5 Marvel movies followed by the midnight showing of The Avengers. So when I learned that they would be doing a mini-marathon of the Batman Trilogy...I was all in and ready to go! My experience was quite different, which may be due to the fact that I did not go to the same theater that I did last time. Feel free to share YOUR experience in the comment section below.

The first thing that I noticed was when I first got there, it took a much longer time to get in. They were handing out lanyards to all the ticket holders to get in and out of the theater, just like they did for the Avengers Marathon. However, they were also handing out posters to every ticket holder, which not only slowed down the line, but made it difficult to position yourself in a crowded theater with a couple of hundred other people trying to figure out the same thing. It was a nice offering, but I liked the raffle of movie posters and cardboard standees the Avengers did between movies better. It made it a bit more special if you walked out with one, and by doing it during the breaks, you had a chance to put those items in your car before watching the next movie so you wouldn't have to worry about where to put it during the movie.

And let's talk about those lanyards for a moment. Great idea, but the mall I saw this one at closed all it's food courts pretty early on, so there was not a whole lot of walking in and out to do. The other thing about them was that however they were made, when you moved the slightest bit, the metal "jingled" a bit. Now picture a few hundred people shifting in their seats sitting for 9 hours during this event. During slow points in any of the movies, it sounded like Santa Claus was making an early delivery.

I mentioned how the food courts closed early. This was really a poor decision on their part, but great news for the theater concessions...or at least you would think. After the second movie, and right before the start of the Midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, EVERYBODY was ready to get something to eat besides popcorn. Not only that, but you had the people who had just come to see the Midnight showing being let in as well. If you had 3 hours to prepare for this onslaught, and knew everyone was gonna come at you all at once, you would have thought you could be prepared for such a situation. That was not the case. If you didn't spend the entire 40 minutes of the break you had on line for food, you were not gonna make it in time, which a lot of people did not. (Good thing they had that 20 minute buffer of previews to make it before the movie started). It really was poor planning on their part.

The other thing that I noticed was that there was not so much of the camaraderie between the movie goers as I experienced with the Avengers Marathon. That may be due to the fact that it was half the amount of time spent together,or it could have been just the situation at the time. Whatever it was, it was just not there. I did however, see a LOT more people dressed up in full costume. Many different characters from the Batman Universe were represented and THAT was really cool!

The sad fact is that this may be the last time you get to see that. AMC (and other theater chains, I would assume will follow suit) is gonna be cracking down and not allowing masks and costumes into their theaters due to the tragic shooting that happened in Colorado that night. It's a depressing sign of the times that something like that had to happen and my prayers go out to all the families of the victims of that night. It's a tragic truth also that not allowing people to have masks or costumes will not stop things like that from happening.

With all that said, I still had a good time at this event and would go again if given the chance. Maybe I won't go back to that particular theater/mall though.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

Eight years after the conclusion of the "The Dark Knight", Gotham City is free of the mob crime that ravaged it for so long and Batman has not been seen since. Batman has been blamed for the murder of city hero Harvey Dent, and Bruce Wayne has not been able to get past the death of Rachel. However, a curious cat burglar in his mansion and the appearance of a new criminal terrorist named Bane bring Batman out of retirement to protect the city once again.

Cast

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne
Tom Hardy as Bane
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle
Michael Caine as Alfred
Gary Oldman as James Gordon
Morgan Freeman as Fox
Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Blake


Who will like this movie

With the original cast and Christopher Nolan back as director (and co-creator of the story), this conclusion to the trilogy has many of the same elements that fans of the previous two will appreciate. New fans to the franchise will find themselves a bit lost as the story in this one relies heavily in an arc with the other two.

Phantom Thoughts

The nice thing about this trilogy is that it keeps almost all the main characters (except for Katie Holmes, who was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal in the second movie) and also a large part of the crew in all three which give the movies a natural flow as you watch them. Not all series of films can say this, as bringing on new directors or writers cause an obvious distribution in the continuity.

After watching The Dark Knight Rises, it is my opinion that The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger as the Joker was far and away the best one. But watching the trilogy as a whole, it was a very good way to put the franchise to rest. There are those who will say that it could have been left open to make another, but trust me, this is definitely the period at the end of the sentence.

Gary Oldman continues to impress me with how a good an actor he really is. His way of losing himself and becoming the character he is portraying is so impressive, I sometimes forget that it's him...which is what I think an actor SHOULD be. There was a lot of discussion on the casting of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. I believe she pulled it off just about puuurfectly. (Sorry. Could not resist). Although the relationship between her and Bruce/Batman was a bit forced at times, Hathaway did the character justice.

You may have seen the commercial of the football field collapsing behind a player sprinting down the field. What you may not have realized is that several members of the Pittsburgh Steelers make cameo appearances as members of the fictional Gotham Rogues football team in the film, including Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Wallace, Heath Miller, Aaron Smith, Ryan Clark, James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley, and Casey Hampton, and former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher as the head coach of the Rogues.

Speaking of cameos, there are a few others that fans may recognize from the previous two films. This was really well done and puts a nice finishing touch to the trilogy as well. LATE EDIT: I learned that there was unused footage of Heath Ledger in Joker make-up that Nolan refused to use because he did not want to "capitalize on Ledger's death". I can respect that view, but I disagree with the decision. The absence of even the MENTION of the Joker was blatant and awkward.
   The story had some nice twists and turns, some which were really surprising ...in a good way, that kept your interest enough to almost forget that this is an almost 3 hour movie.

I've heard from a few fans of the Batman comic books that were a bit disappointed in what they saw. To those die hards, I suggest you go back and read the Batman comic book series Knightfall (1993); The Dark Knight Returns (1986); and No Man's Land (1999) and see if you don't change your mind.

I really did like this one. Not as much as the second, as I stated before, but if you've seen the other two, go and see how the story ends. Why wouldn't you, really?

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Madagascar 3

The story picks up right where it left off in the second one. Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman are in Africa and decide to follow the penguins to Monte Carlo and try to get back home to New York. They soon find out that Monaco Animal control is after them and they are chased across Europe hiding out in a traveling circus as their cover. But in order to get the circus to New York, they need to get the other animals in the circus to step up their game to impress the American promoter.

Cast

Ben Stiller as Alex
Chris Rock as Marty
David Schwimmer as Melman
Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria
Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien XIII
Tom McGrath as Skipper and First Policeman
Chris Miller as Kowalski
Christopher Knights as Private
John DiMaggio as Rico
Bryan Cranston as Vitaly
Martin Short as Stefano
Jessica Chastain as Gia the jaguar
Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice
Andy Richter as Mort
Paz Vega as the Andalusian Triplets
Frances McDormand as Captain Chantel DuBois, the leader of the Animal Control

Who will like this movie

All the kids (some of which may be a little older now) who were fans of the first two will surely like this one as well. If you're looking for a first 3D movie to bring your child too, this is an excellent choice. Young viewers will be captivated by the 3D and unbelievable amount of colors literally flying at them. There are some funny moments geared toward the adults as well, however, not as many as in the previous two Madagascar movies.

Phantom Thoughts

This is a 3D movie. And I say that not to state the obvious, but to point out the fact that this was made to be 3D and unlike most other movies in this format, watching it on a regular screen or when it comes out on DVD without the glasses is really gonna take away from the movie.  When you see all the effects they put in to accentuate the 3D-ness, it really goes out of its way to make the most of it.

The main thing about watching the movie is the amount of characters in it. Alex is the "star" if you will, but the other three  "main" characters kinda get lost in the story as we still have the monkeys, lemurs and penguins which are now joined by all the circus animals including Vitaly the Russian tiger voiced brilliantly by Bryan Cranston, Martin Short as Stefano the preforming (and kinda stupid, but funny) sea lion and a love interest for Alex, Gia the jaguar.

I really don't have a whole lot more to say about this one. It's a good, fun movie that the kids will really like and that the parents won't be bored to sit through. It's worth going and seeing in the movie theater as long as you spend the extra money for 3D. In this case, the extra money is absolutely worth it.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Amazing Spiderman

The "reboot" of the the 2002 "Spiderman" movie with Tobey Maguire based on the Marvel comic book character. It's the story of a high school outsider named Peter Parker who obtains spider characteristics and powers from getting bitten by a biologically engineered spider. Peter must now wrestle with who he is and who he has become and the choices he makes along the way. Some of those choices end up putting him at odds with the police as well as a scientist (Dr. Curt Connors) who worked with his father before his parents disappeared.

Cast

Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
^{Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
Denis Leary as Captain George Stacy
Martin Sheen as Ben Parker
Sally Field as May Parker}

Who will like this

People who know the Spiderman character, but are not comic book fans will appreciate this movie more, as it deviates in a lot of ways from the Marvel series. Fans of the last few Marvel superhero movies might like to see this one as well. Because it is an origin story, it is a bit slow starting and then may be too intense for very young viewers.

Phantom Thoughts

I would like to start out by saying that I have been a fan of Spiderman comic books for a very long time. There are many different titles of books that have different storylines and even alternate universe stories that any "reboot" could have chosen to take. Instead, they decided to go their own way with the story for this one and in the process, I think they failed miserably.

After Spiderman 3, plans were made to make Spiderman 4 with a release date of May 2011. However, after several scripts were turned in and turned down, Director Sam Rami was not confident that they would be able to create a good enough story and "realized we didn't have a good reason to make another one."

Well then, they shouldn't have made one at all. Now you have to tell the same story of how Peter Parker becomes Spiderman all over again to an audience who all pretty much know from either the comic books or the movies from just 10 years ago. I guess they knew that, and added or subtracted some things to try to make it original. The only good thing about this movie was Emma Stone. She played a great Gwen Stacy. The rest of this rant will be riddled with spoilers, so instead of tagging each one, I suggest if you don't want to know what happens in the movie, read no further.

Peter Parker's parents mysteriously disappear when he is younger. It is revealed that Richard Parker is working on some secret experiment with Dr. Curt Connors at Oscorp. Oscorp being the big bad corporation owned by Norman Osborn, who we all know is Spiderman's biggest foe, the Green Goblin. But none of that is brought up in this movie. I guess we'll have to wait for the sequel for THAT one. So he is raised by his aunt and uncle, but since he was old enough to remember his parents, Aunt May and Uncle Ben were not the parent figures they should be to Peter. Martin Sheen plays a great Uncle Ben, but Sally Field is not the frail, old Aunt May that the character should be.

The whole story of why he lets the robber get away that later kills his uncle is REALLY flimsy as well. Basically, it was over a matter of 2 cents. Seriously? And the entire Wrestling story, which was done so well in the original Spiderman movie was reduced to him falling into a deserted wrestling arena and getting the idea for the mask from a poster there. Pathetic.

Peter Parker is a thief. Yep, I said it...and here's proof: When he finds his father's old secret file, he comes across an equation. This is the equation that is the key to regenerating limbs based on lizard DNA that Connors has been working on for years without his partner, Richard Parker. Peter gives him this equation, presenting it as his own. If you're saying to yourself  "Well, that doesn't REALLY make him a thief though". OK...how's this? He STOLE the web cartridges he uses from Oscorp. Now, I was never a fan of the fact that the webs were organic in the original series, but Peter Parker is supposed to invent the webs and web shooters himself. As much as this is a pretty big stretch of the imagination, it is used to highlight his intelligence. We're talking about a story of a kid who takes on the abilities of a spider and becomes a superhero. I would think your imagination is pretty stretched already. But this movie leads you to believe that he stole these from this corporation and Oscorp would not notice their "webs" being used by a guy in a mask swinging across the city? And what happens when he runs out? How will he get more for the sequel?

Now if you're a superhero wearing a mask, it's probably for a reason, right? So nobody knows who you are? Spiderman rips off his mask so many times in this movie, he's not wearing it more than he is! Look, I understand the whole problem with this: if you hire an actor, you want to show his face. I get it. But first of all, Andrew Garfield is not dressed as Spiderman in MOST of the movie, so believe me...you get to see his pretty little puss enough. At least when they did it in the original Spiderman movies, they did it in a reasonable way, where it got torn away in a fight sequence or for the storyline. In this one, he's just pulling off that mask like it's an Alien Facehugger for no reason whatsoever. Take a page from the ONLY thing they got right in Watchmen: Rorschach never takes that mask off until it is ripped off of him, kicking and screaming the whole way.

And where's the rest of the movie? There were scenes in the trailers and commercials we've been watching over and over again for the past 6 months that were not in the movie. Where is that amazing sequence of the POV shot where Spiderman is running over the rooftops? This happens with a lot of films actually and it's one of my pet peeves. But there is also a point in Amazing Spiderman where there is a BLATANT edit of a scene missing that left me saying "How the Hell did THAT happen?"

Speaking of that POV shot, when I saw that as a 3D trailer, it was one of the most amazing 3D scenes I had ever seen. But the movie itself was really lacking in the 3D department. Maybe I'm spoiled after seeing how great the effect was in Prometheus. And perhaps I was expecting too much from that trailer, but if you're going to entice me with effects like that, you better deliver. Amazing Spiderman did not.

And since we are on the subject of special effects, The CGI work on the Lizard was horrible. I know a few computer geek friends who could have done just about as good a job as I saw on the screen. And they are certainly not making the millions of dollars Columbia has to work with.

I really wanted to like this movie, being a fan of the franchise and all. And even though I kinda saw it coming from the previews, I tried to keep an open mind. But the only thing "Amazing" about this Spiderman movie was how bad it was.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Rock of Ages

A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, fall in love and pursue their dreams of rock and roll fame. A famous rock star fights the demons of what he's become with the help of his scumbag manager. And a historic rock bar fights bankruptcy and  public ridicule by the conservative Mayor's wife. All three storylines intertwine in an 80's montage of classic rock hits.

Cast

Diego Boneta as Drew Boley
Julianne Hough as Sherrie Christian
Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx
Russell Brand as Lonny Barnett, the manager of The Bourbon Room
Paul Giamatti as Paul Gill, Stacee's manipulative manager
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Patricia Whitmore
Mary J. Blige as Justice Charlier, the owner of The Venus Club
Malin Åkerman as Constance Sack, a Rolling Stone reporter
Alec Baldwin as Dennis Dupree, the owner of The Bourbon Room
Bryan Cranston as Mike Whitmore, the Mayor of Los Angeles and Patricia's husband.

Who will like this

Fans of the Broadway show that inspired the movie will get a kick outta seeing it on the big screen, although some of the songs and storylines have changed. Anyone who is a fan of 80's hair bands will recognize the songs throughout the movie. If you're looking for an accurate depiction of what it was like to live in this time and space, you're looking at the wrong movie as this is a bubble gum, fantasy and made to be fun movie for the older teen and up crowd.

Phantom Thoughts

Rock of Ages went with the very typical, almost parody-like story of "Mid-West girl gets off the bus in the Big City and dreams of being a rock star. Meets a boy. Falls in love. Love is tested against Fame. Love endures". Mix that in with the sleazy agent only out to make a buck for himself and the Famous establishment that is in financial trouble and being targeted by the conservative political figure who SPOILER: is hiding a past of being a part of that rock community. All very played out and nothing original to see here.

But I can forgive all that in the environment of being put together in a musical with this great music. However, that was not the case. The music seemed to be shoe-horned in and forced at times to try to make it go with the story. I don't know if this was due to the changes they made from the play to the movie, but some of it just didn't fit right. They also did some mash-ups with songs which I liked and worked well together.

It was really a super clean version of the 80's. No one was smoking at all and there were no drug references anywhere to be found. This was extremely obvious when Catherine Zeta-Jones is making a speech about the evils of the Bourbon Room (an obvious reference to the Whisky a-go-go) stating the three things that it's about is "Sex, Rock 'n' Roll and........Sex!"

This is not to say that I hated the movie. It is a musical after all, and some "cleaning up" is to be expected. I think Tom Cruise did a great job as the washed up Rock and Roll Icon. He even did OK belting out the songs ("Dead or Alive" was one, which is not the easiest to sing by any stretch of the imagination.) Paul
Giamatti was excellent as the scumbag manager, but I expect nothing less from an actor of his talent. There was one plot line that I actually did NOT see coming. I will not ruin it for those who have not seen it, but it made me cringe through the entire "I can't stop this feeling" song/scene. It was disturbing on a level that made me laugh.

So for what it was, it was just "OK". The music really did save it in the end and I would probably have it on in the background of a party somewhere as subliminal entertainment. I would even watch it with some friends as an on-demand or rental, but I'm not wasting my money to see it in the theater again.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Brave

The story of a young princess set in what seems like 10th century Scotland, who is frustrated with the traditions and customs of being a princess that her mother has been teaching her. Merida is more of a free spirit and when she learns that she is about to be betrothed to be married against her will, it is the last straw. She sets out to change her fate with the help of the magical Will-O-the-Wisps and a reluctant witch. But when the spell turns out to have unforeseen consequences, she must try to figure out how to undo the spell and set things back on course.

Cast

Kelly Macdonald as Princess Merida

Emma Thompson as Queen Elinor

Billy Connolly as King Fergus

Kevin McKidd as Lord MacGuffin and Young MacGuffin

Craig Ferguson as Lord Macintosh

Robbie Coltrane as Lord Dingwall

Julie Walters as The Witch

John Ratzenberger as Gordon, the guard (Pixar's "good luck charm", having been in every Pixar film to date)

Who will like this

Pixar and Disney fans will be able to enjoy this although it is less in line with what Pixar has done in the past and more like the Classic Disney animated features. It is a fairy tale in the Hans Christian Anderson and even Brothers Grimm genre. Parents of very young children should be aware that it gets a bit more scary and dark than Pixar films thus far, but not anymore than a "Sleeping Beauty" for instance. This is also a good movie for Mothers and 'tweens, especially daughters.

Phantom Thoughts

Brave is the first feature-length film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. It was only in 14 of the 4,164 theaters, which is a record-high for Pixar. I was lucky enough to be able to experience it in a Dolby Atmos theater and it was amazing! If you are able to see it in one of these theaters, I highly recommend it. Visually it was a huge step forward as well, as Pixar seems like it has finally gotten the hang of animating hair, which plagued early movies like the original "Toy Story". The 3D was pretty impressive as well, giving the submersive look without having to resort to the "Hey, it's 3D! Look we're throwing things in your face" gimmick. (Although the 3D preview for "Despicable Me 2 that they showed before the movie had this effect and actually worked)

This is the first "Disney Princess" movie Pixar has done, and it should be the example for any of those type of characters going forward. Merida is is a great new female lead who is strong and independent, yet makes mistakes. The message of communication between parents and children is not a new one, but it is brought to light in a very unique way. When seeing the commercials and trailers for "Brave", I was not expecting the quest for Merida to change her fate to turn out as it did. I was debating putting what that was in the movie description, but it's kind of a major spoiler, so I will put it here:

SPOILER: The way the spell that Merida gets from the witch to change her fate is to turn her mother into a bear. Which is enough of a problem in itself, but the fact that her father lost his leg to a bear when she was a little girl just adds to the dilemma. Both Mother and daughter now need to work together to lift the curse before it's too late and in the process learn to communicate with each other better and see each others point of view a little more clearly.

This is a great success for Pixar and a film I enjoyed seeing it. I do think that parents of very young children should use their own discretion about taking their kids to see this, but other than that, it is a fun movie for everyone.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Technical Difficulties

I apologize for the lack of posts due to some extreme technical difficulties. Two entire posts have been lost already and I am working out the problems.

The films I have watched will be put up just as soon as I get these issues worked out, as well as the ones I plan on seeing in the very near future.

Keep a weathered eye on the Phantom page for more details, but until then...

You know where you'll find me!