A Perfect Sequence I: Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series
Episode 406532 "Robin's Reckoning Part 1"
Original Airdate: February 7, 1993

The sequence begins as Batman, in flashback (as signified by his different chest emblem), gathers information (using strongarm tactics) on the whereabouts of Tony Zucco, murderer of Robin's acrobat parents, The Flying Graysons.



Cut to Zucco's hideout at his uncle's homestead (armed guards included). After a brief musical cue, Batman enters the house and the soundtrack switches to only diegetic sound. Having received a denial from the uncle, Batman covertly bugs the house. Hiding out in the garden, he hears Zucco inside, but is forced to take out the armed guards given when his position is compromised.


Zucco, tipped off by the sound of gunshots, tries to run Batman over with his car as he escapes.




Thanks to some excellent animation that sets just the right tone and mood, filled with shadows and tension, this is a perfect sequence.

Weekly Wikipedia Find: Glasgow smile

This one's just a bit of the old slang.

Joker has one in The Dark Knight. The Black Dahlia had one in real life (in death). It is the Glasgow smile. Alternatively, it is known as the Chelsea grin. It was popular, among gangs, in Glasgow and Chelsea. It's where one cuts the face of their victim, mouth to ears. It ain't pretty.

Wikipedia by Week

Week Thirty-Four: Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel
Week Thirty-Three: Mono no aware
Week Thirty-Two: Royal intermarriage
Week Thirty-One: Amputee fetishism
Week Thirty: Turtles all the way down
Week Twenty-Nine: The Diogenes Club
Week Twenty-Eight: E pur si muove!
Week Twenty-Seven: Unico
Week Twenty-Six: Panopticon
Week Twenty-Five: Legendary
Week Twenty-Four: Ostern
Week Twenty-Three: Kilroy was here
Week Twenty-Two: Jack Parsons
Week Twenty-One: The Wold Newton Universe
Week Twenty: Anonymous
Week Nineteen: Monty Hall problem
Week Eighteen: Brown Booby
Week Seventeen: Dieter Dengler
Week Sixteen: New Jerusalem
Week Fifteen: Technological Singularity
Week Fourteen: Numbers Station
Week Thirteen: Culper Ring
Week Twelve: Mary Sue
Week Eleven: Byford dolphin diving bell accident
Week Ten: Deep-sea gigantism
Week Nine: Bloop
Week Eight: Rat king
Week Seven: Gustave Doré
Week Six: Tomorrow
Week Five: Borscht Belt
Week Four: Swampman
Week Three: Chinese room
Week Two: Ambrose Burnside
Week One: Lolita fashion

More on Watchmen

I briefly brought up the film adaptation of Watchmen, and I thought I would add a few more thoughts now, over writing anything substantial.

Two main things that are evident from the trailer which differentiate it from the book, other than living, moving people with sound.

Oh, and I should mention that Watchmen, the comic, was itself a sly commentary on the medium of comics and the superhero comic in particular. That being the case, I have also read an unsourced internet comment claiming the director Zack Snyder mentioned the film would likewise be a commentary on the superhero movie. My points kind of support that thesis.

1) The Smashing Pumpkins' track "The End is the Beginning is the End." The big tie-in song for the atrocious Batman and Robin was the Smashing Pumpkins' "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning." The version here is an alternate version with a slower tempo (and more?) that closes that films soundtrack and might have also been over the closing credits. Thusly it implies a darker take on what was essentially camp.

2) Nipples. There be nipples on Ozymandias' molded suit armour. Just like Batman (and Robin) in, yes, Batman and Robin. This makes sense as the Batman franchise had devolved into giant toy commercials by that point and in the comic, Ozymandias was always the most commercial of heroes, having built an industry on his image and if I remember correctly (and I believe I do) selling his own Ozymandias action figures (pet lynx Bubastis toy sold separately).



Sort of related (had I not titled this point "Nipples") is the sort of modern rubber suit that Nite Owl II wears over the more traditional spandex (Batman-esque) costume he wears in the comic. This is an obvious references to the sort of costumes the movie Batmans have worn.

Hype: Most Anticipated 2008+

Having now seen The Dark Knight, what am I looking forward to next?

A brief aside on The Dark Knight first. Amazing. It was truly a film. Not a superhero movie. More than that. A crime drama. I remember hearing beforehand (mostly likely based on the opening bank heist scene that was released last December) that it would be Heat-esque. But about halfway through the film, I thought to myself for a moment, this is kind of reminding me of The Departed. This is a crime epic. An ensemble. And so many great moments. I can't wait to see it again.

A lot of big movies, and not just superhero movies, but action movies, summer blockbusters just feel like a bunch of set pieces tied together. Like they have the budget for 3 big set pieces, and the story is kind of built around that and services that. Iron Man felt a bit like that, but thankfully was able to overcome it on the strength of the acting and what the actors had to work with. The Dark Knight did not feel like that. It felt breathless. Never letting go. Constant momentum. I'm sure some enterprising soul could still break it down as a series of set pieces. But The Dark Knight did not feel like that.

That aside, what's next. Originally I was just going to bring up Che, which I hope comes out this year, but there was also a Watchmen trailer that was just released. And while I'm sure it can never live up to the comic book (ahem, graphic novel), it is looking good. Here's the direct link to the trailer in Quicktime. That shot of Mars gives me chills.

Now the Che that I'm talking about is really two movies: The Argentine and Guerilla, both directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro as the titular Ernesto Guevara. These films played as one at this year's Cannes but last I heard had no current North American distribution. Together they're supposed to account an 260-minute epic. But I've heard it described as a masterwork and am thusly excited.

Reading List: Winter 2008

Here's what I read Winter Term (January-May). A lot less than expected considering I had internet for the nearly the entire time unlike the summer. Then again, there's a lot more comics bloating it to mass.

the golden age*, james robinson and paul smith
all-star superman vol.1*, grant morrison and frank quitely
catch-22, joseph heller
superman: whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?*, alan moore and curt swan
batman: year one*, frank miller
batman: the dark knight strikes again*, frank miller
jla: earth 2*, grant morrison and frank quitely
y the last man vol.1: unmanned*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.2: cycles*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.3: one small step*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.4: safeword*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.5: ring of truth*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
y the last man vol.6: girl on girl*, brian k. vaughan and pia guerra
jla/jsa: virtue and vice*, david goyer and geoff johns and carlos pacheco
catwoman: the dark end of the street*, ed brubaker and darwyn cooke and mike allred
special topics in calamity physics, marisha pessl
crisis on infinite earths*, marv wolfman and george perez
extremely loud & incredibly close, jonathan safran foer
u.s. war machine*, chuck austen
chronicles: volume one, bob dylan
the age of reason, jean-paul sartre
the outsider, albert camus
preacher book 1: gone to texas*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 2: until the end of the world*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 3: proud americans*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 4: ancient history*, garth ennis
preacher book 5: dixie fried*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 6: war in the sun*, garth ennis and steve dillon
preacher book 7: salvation*, garth ennis and steve dillon

*comic books

Most Anticipated 2008: The Dark Knight

Today is the first of the year, and at this moment, the film I am looking forward to most in 2008 is The Dark Knight. Not to be too much of a Batman fanboy, but the combination of being so utterly satisfied with Batman Begins as well as the official trailers and posters for the new film are building my expectations. That first official trailer, oh boy, it sends me two conflicting messages. I want to watch and re-watch so much, yet at the same time never watch it again lest anything be too familiar and jarringly contextualized when I finally see the film come summer. And I refuse to watch the first sequence from the film that can be found pirated after being released in front of I Am Legend on IMAX screens. I need to save something. I have some sense of aesthetic dignity. And I have complete faith in Christopher Nolan that I need not become ingrained in the marketing.

Can't sleep. Clown'll eat me.

Top Five I: The Films of Tim Burton

1.     Beetle Juice (1988)
2.     Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
3.     Edward Scissorhands (1990)
4.     Batman Returns (1992)
5.     Mars Attacks! (1996)

Unseen: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Ed Wood (1994)
N/A: Shorts (likewise an honourable mention should be given to Vincent (1982), although it's been awhile since I've seen it)