Batman Forever commentary

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Batman Forever, myself and Drew got together to record a commentary track for the film so get your copy - DVD, Blu-ray, VHS, whatever - queued up and listen along with us.

If you'd prefer to listen to it as an mp3, here's a link.

Podcast: Episode 3 of 1995Batman podcast out now

In this episode, Drew and I continue listening and commenting on Eyebrow Cinema's Revisiting Joel Schumacher's Batman video. 

Enjoy!

Podcast: 1st two episodes of 1995 Batman podcast out now

So Drew and I have started a recording a few episodes of this discussion podcast where we watch some videos or read some articles  related to the Schumacher Batman films and have a chat about the contents. 

Hope you enjoy! It's a fun way of getting us to bring up our individual thoughts and ideas about what does and doesn't work about the two Schumacher films.

The first episode has us looking at an article from TheShot.com about 5 Reasons Why Batman Forever is the Best of the  Batman Movies.

And in episode 2 we take a look at Eyebrow Cinema's video essay looking at both Schumacher Batman films (*note, this video will have a part 2 later).

Podcast round-up: Batminute & All Star Superfan podcasts

I've been so snowed under with other work this year that I completely forgot to post here the multiple podcasts I've guested on.

First up I returned to the Batminute podcast with Niall McGowan and Jonfen Parker earlier this year talking about three minutes of the 1997 Batman & Robin movie. The toyetic sections covered was the bit when the heroes turn up in their silver suits and ice vehicles while Gotham freezes. 

Here's the links:-

https://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-robin-minute-103-artificial-arnie-a-with-neil-rickatson-1

https://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-robin-minute-104-rollin-with-my-homies-with-neil-rickatson

https://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-robin-minute-105-doin-up-my-coil-with-neil-rickatson

I was also invited onto a special (non-Superman related) episode of the All Star Superfan Podcast with Rob O'Connor and Alan Burke to talk about all the previous Batman movies before dissecting the latest Matt Reeves' movie The Batman. More than a few juicy stories got spilled here, not least the time I was an extra on the set of Batman Begins. 

Here's the link:-

https://allstarsuperfan.podbean.com/e/adventures-in-the-dc-universe-the-batman-spoiler-review/

Both these podcasts are very much worth your time (even the episodes where I'm not guesting) and are well worth subscribing to or catching up with.

External link: I Read Movies Podcast covers Batman Forever by Peter David

One of the best podcasts that I've been listening to recently is I Read Movies in which host Paxton Holley breaks down all the changes from a movie compared to its novelisation. 

Novelisations are fascinating at times because 1) often authors are given licence to include their own material and 2) because they have to start writing so far in advance they will usually adapt the original script which can often differ from what gets shot.

Most recently Pax covered the Batman Forever novelisation by Peter David. If you've never read the book (which can be found as an ebook here) this is a nice way of finding out what's different.

Here's the link to the podcast. Be sure to check out his other episodes too, he's also covered Batman and Batman Returns by Craig Shaw Gardner.

https://ireadmovies.libsyn.com/batman-forever-1995-by-peter-david

External link: Listen to me on episode 101 of Batminute

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of chatting with Jon and Niall for the Batminute podcast about minute 101 of Batman Forever.

For reference that's the bit of the movie where Robin drives the Batboat out of the batcave and Batman flies the Batwing. It culminates with Gordon almost shutting the bat signal down only to have Batman fly through and give him a 'thumbs up'.

It was tons of fun to record (*note: this was recorded prior to Joel's death). We covered the vehicles, the merchandise, the toys, the deleted red book scenes, the pros and cons of the Synder Cut (which was announced the day we recorded - for reference I'm pro), Gordon's lazy approach to policing and whether Michael Keaton would ever do a thumbs up. 

I hope you'll have a listen and support this podcast. Jon and Niall are doing a fantastic job and have a Patron for bonus content. 

Here's the link to the episode:-

http://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-forever-minute-101-release-the-tut-cut-with-neil-rickatson

External link: The Bat Minute Podcast

If you're a fan of Batman Forever AND a fan of podcasts I hope you're aware that there's a something out there that combines both your interests!

Yes, it's called The Bat Minute - a podcast that covers each Batman movie one minute at a time.

The podcast is hosted by Jon Parker and Niall MacGowan who are joined by a series of guests. Each episode is around 45 minutes and is a fantastic balance of insightful analysis and warm humour.

One thing that's particularly nice is that it's not one long love-in. The guests range from fans who love the movie to people who have never seen to people who hate it. This really helps keep the podcast fresh.

I have to say I was only recently made aware of Jon and Niall's herculean effort. You see this podcast has already covered over 240 episodes - covering the first two Burton movies - and is currently around the 70 minute mark of Batman Forever.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking it out. They are releasing 3 episodes a week. If you can catch up, go for it, but the podcast is so accessible it's easy to jump right it on their current episode.

Here's the link:- http://thebatminute.com/

Miscellaneous Content: Schumacher talks to Vulture and Schumacast recommendation

Quick post here to recommend some Joel Schumacher stuff I've been digging this week.

First up, Schumacher gives a fascinating and super honest interview to Vulture about his life and career. It's an odd mix of questions - some tough digs about his past association with Michael Jackson (The Wiz) and Woody Allen - but he come across as brutally honest and utterly comfortable with film making legacy. At 79 and being seemingly retired from directing I guess he doesn't need to care much about burning any bridges.

There's not a whole lot of Batman Forever content - it mostly revolves around the difficulty of Val Kilmer and Tommy Lee Jones on set. It was fascinating though to read about how he's dealt with negative reviews through the years. He's clearly grown very thick skin though there's something to be said about how well he remembers things like Siskel and Ebert's review of St Elmo's Fire.

https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/joel-schumacher-in-conversation.html

And my other discovery was a podcast called Schumacast hosted by Noel Thingvall and Angie Tusa where they go through Joel Schumacher's filmography in great detail - covering one film every episode. It's exhaustive, insightful and very well researched. I'm only a few episodes in but it's already pushed me to check out Flatliners (1990) which has a lot in common with Batman Forever in terms of production design.

Anyway, they are currently up to Dying Young (1991) so I'll give a heads up when they get to Batman Forever because I'm sure it will be great.

https://schumacast.blogspot.com/

External link: Fthismovie reviews Batman Forever

Surprised and pleased to see one of my favourite podcasts - fthismovie - has just done a podcast on Batman Forever.

Regular hosts Patrick Bromley and Adam Riske were pretty complimentary about it. I've got to agree with Adam Riske in particular - it may not be the smartest or most respectable Batman movie but it is the most fun.

Check it out here:-
http://www.fthismovie.net/2019/06/ftm-496-batman-forever.html?m=0