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Reviews
Batman: Caped Crusader: The Stress of Her Regard (2024)
Fun and Different
I love how this show is taking these characters that many Batman fans have been reading about and watching in various media formats for decades and is doing some new stuff with it.
It's extremely amusing to see how certain segments of the fan base are so predictably outraged at all times by Women with Agency, Characters that aren't White, Characters that aren't Men, Women who are Depicted as anything other than Sex Objects, and Characters that aren't Hetero-Normative.
Get even madder, dude. It's really making a difference.
Not for nothing, but there are 85 years of Batman stories to choose from. Feel free to check out basically anything prior to 1989 if you can't stand to see black or brown faces.
With this episode, in particular, I love how Dr. Quinzel is depicted as her own unique character, with her own unique agenda that she is in charge of, instead of simply being Joker's accessory.
Arlene Sorkin's version of Harley Quinn from TAS is iconic and still my favorite. Margot Robbie's version from the more recent films is also very fun and she's an excellent actor, but she is also presented in an extremely "Male-Gaze" way, tarted up in skimpy outfits in a way she was not in TAS. I appreciate that her character in this series is more complicated.
I also was delighted by her lair - was it "Playpen"? "Playroom"? - it was totally creepy and disturbing! Pure Batman weirdness. And how fun are the winks and Easter Eggs referencing older Batman stories and characters? Made me smile a lot. I also loved that Quinzel isn't just robbing banks or whatever, but actually has a twisted mission that she is on, just like Bruce Wayne, but with very different goals, methods and outcomes.
Finally, I am really enjoying Montoya, who I first read about in "Batman: Year One" back in the 1980's. I don't know if she was around before that - like I said earlier, 85 years of Batman to explore - but I am definitely a fan of this version of her.
Eyes of an Angel (1991)
Surprisingly good, up until the end...
Just watched this on HBO this morning. I had never heard of it before , and was curious. Despite the opportunity for extreme corn, most of the flick is really engaging. It seems like it ought to be a lame Disney movie, with the kid and the injured dog, but it has cussing and violence. I was pleased to see Travolta playing a loser. Usually if he's not the hero, he's a ridiculous melodramatic villain. He's usually too smug for my taste, but in this (Probably a reflection on the state of his career at the time) his character is pathetic for most of the movie. The villains are not original, but I really liked the little girl. For the most part, it is surprisingly good. Until you get to the end. The end of this movie is so completely lame, you will kick yourself for sitting through the whole thing. They really, really dropped the ball with that stupid, illogical, unrealistic ending. Ucccch!!! I would recommend just turning it off right before the dogfight at the end. Imagine something cooler happened instead. Trust me, whatever you can come up with in 30 seconds will be better than the crap these people thought up. I would really be interested in knowing who came up with that ending. Test audiences? Studio people? Travolta? The director? If that was what the writer originally wrote, I will eat my shoe.
Dirty Work (1998)
Why Norm is good.
Look, Norm McDonald is funny. If you don't think so, then you need to relax and have a little fun. If you are looking for deep intelligent introspection, why are you watching a comedy? There is no pretense with Norm. He doesn't want you to love him. Most comedians who try to make a movie, they want you to think they are sexy or smart or nice or something so that you will want to be their pal. Norm just doesn't care. He's just interested in being funny. Therefore, he doesn't pretend this movie is anything more than an excuse to do some funny gags and say some funny lines. It's more honest. Like when they introduce the Dead Hookers In The Trunk bit. There is a room full of women in skimpy outfits, and Norm says, "Okay, prostitutes," That's funny. Nobody pretends that it is necessary to waste time with phony exposition trying to explain how the hookers get into the room, they just cut to the joke. Which is the best thing about this movie. It is dumb, silly crude humor, and I love it. "Dirty Work" is funny.
1941 (1979)
Is this really the worst movie of all time?
I believe that "1941" could well be the worst film ever made. This flick is unbearable. Unwatchable. You keep going because you are so sure it has to improve. John Belushi is in it, for Pete's sake. Surely there must be a laugh or two in here somewhere. It is there. About 40 minutes in, John is flying a plane over the grand canyon and can't open a bottle of soda, so he breaks it and pours it into his mouth and all over himself. This is the only time I laughed in the whole movie. It's supposed to be a comedy, folks. The young romantic lead gives one of the worst acting performances I have ever seen. It is as if Spielberg deliberately set out to create the most putrid celluloid scat the world had seen. I can't believe the person responsible for E.T. and Jurassic Park made this abomination.