Podcast: Episode 12 - Batman Returns commentary

With Christmas just around the corner, now seems as good a time as any to do a commentary for Batman Returns.

Of all the Batman movies, this is the one where my opinion has changed the most over the years. I used to like it quite a bit as a teenager but recently I've found more and more issues with it. I don't have any problem with Tim Burton changing the origins of Catwoman and Penguin - making them more animalistic - but I do find the tone very off putting and the story a bit of a jumble of ideas.

It's also a shame that Batman/Bruce Wayne has so little to do in the film. It's really Penguin's story - featuring Batman here and there.

Anyway, give the commentary a listen and... come what may... Merry Christmas.

If you want to just listen to the commentary without having YouTube open, here's a link to the mp3.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Kilmer Batman and Batmobile figures from Blokees

It's amazing how much merchandise has come out related to the two Schumacher Batman films in the last few years. It's easy to overlook or miss stuff.

Luckily, I saw these Blokees figures pop up on eBay and snatched them up immediately. I thought they'd take an age to arrive from China but they took only a couple of days.

They are basically little blind box toys that you fit together (not unlike a capsule toy). Like a lot of merchandise that's come out recently, almost all the modern movie Batman and vehicles are covered. Weirdly, they included Adam West but skipped over George Clooney.

Still the Kilmer figure is cool and was fun to put together. I don't know about the Batmobile. It's kind of small and hardly any detail. 

Podcast: Episode 11 - Batman Begins commentary

Well, we did audio commentaries for the two Schumacher Batman films so it made sense to keep going and do one for 2005's Batman Begins - a film that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Both Drew are a little muted on our love for this film. Lots of complicated feelings. As much as we respect Christopher Nolan - we both find his movies a little robotic and cold at times.

One interesting thing I've never really talked about is how I actually got to go to the set of this film as an extra (sadly I didn't get in front of the camera) but I did get to have a good look at the sets contained inside Cardington Hangars. To hear more about this and other topics, go listen.

If you don't want to have youtube open while you watch, here's a link to the commentary as an mp3.