It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a remarkably well made Batman film. It’s even more impressive that said amazing film is a straight-to-DVD animated adaptation of a short Elseworlds graphic novel – a series of graphic novels from DC Comics that takes popular characters and places them in new situations/settings/etc. Batman: Gotham By Gaslight is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, originally written by Brian Augustyn and featuring art from Mike Mignola, placing Bruce Wayne/Batman squarely in the late 1800s in Gotham City, where it seems that the infamous Jack the Ripper has relocated to continue his spree of terror by murdering women. Written by James Krieg and directed by Sam Liu, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight follows the Caped Crusader as he works – from the shadows – to stop Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror before it can get any worse while dodging the ever-suspicious Gotham police. If ever there were a crime from the world’s greatest detective, this would be it. (Mild spoilers follow.) Continue reading
“Batman: Gotham By Gaslight” is the Best Batman Movie in Years
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I fully understand and appreciate the message that The Post tries to communicate. In this current political climate, it’s a very important one to support: Freedom of the Press is essential to the health of any democracy. The problem with The Post, however, is that it’s too focused on being an important movie that it doesn’t actually take the time to do the story its telling justice. It spends the whole movie telling us how important the press is but never gets around to actually showing us why the press is important. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, The Post explores the cover-up, revealed by the infamous Pentagon Papers, that spanned four U.S. Presidents and pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher Meryl Streep) and a hard-driving editor (Tom Hanks) to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government. (Mild Spoilers follow)
*NOTE: THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE SCRIPT, ONLY*
A new Fall Out Boy album has been released, which means it’s time for me to revisit my days as a pop-punk kid! Released by Island Records and DCD2, Mania is the seventh studio album from Fall Out Boy and the followup to 2015’s American Beauty/American Psycho. Mania features a runtime of 36 minutes and contains the songs “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea”, “The Last of the Real Ones”, “Hold Me Tight or Don’t”, “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)”, “Church”, “Heaven’s Gate”, “Champion”, “Sunshine Riptide (featuring Burna Boy)”, “Young and Menace”, and “Bishops Knife Trick”. 
Everyone loves a good making-of documentary in the bonus features of the DVD of a film. Well, this book is the next best thing. Written by Gina McIntyre, The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times details the making of director Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, The Shape of Water. From the Publisher: From master storyteller, Guillermo del Toro, comes The Shape of Water—an other-worldly fairy tale set against the backdrop of the Cold War-era United States circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Rounding out the cast are Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Doug Jones. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times chronicles the entire filmmaking journey, from development to design to filming. Featuring interviews and commentary from key actors and members of the creative team, the book also showcases the amazing concept art and design work created for the film. For del Toro fans and movie lovers everywhere, it’s the perfect way to explore this exciting new movie from a master filmmaker known for his poignant storytelling and visual grandeur. 
Well, I finally got around to seeing The Disaster Artist and, man, I wish I liked this movie. I really do. It’s not that it’s a bad movie, it just doesn’t really work for me. I mean, it’s really hard to get into a film that’s about someone as supremely unlikable as Franco’s Tommy Wiseau. There are ways to successfully have a film that follows an unlikable main character, but The Disaster Artist never latches onto any of those ways. Written by Scott Neudstadter and Michael H. Weber and directed by James Franco – and based on Greg Sestero’s memoir, The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made -, The Disaster Artist tells the story of the unlikely friendship between Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) and how their friendship led to the creation of one of the worst films ever made: The Room. The Disaster Artist also stars Seth Rogen as Sandy Schklair, Ari Graynor as Juliette Danielle, Josh Hutcherson as Philip Haldiman, Alison Brie as Amber, Mega Mullally as Mrs. Sestero, and a variety of cameos from other actors. (Mild spoilers ahead) 
You know how there are those movies that you watch and think are really well made, really enjoyable, and very good, but you also know that you’ll never watch it again? That’s how I felt about Lady Bird. It’s a genuinely very good film, but it’s one that I doubt I’ll ever end up watching again. That’s not a testament to the quality of the film, merely a testament to my own personal interests. Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird tells the story of Christine “Lady Bird” MacPherson (Saoirse Ronan), a high school senior from the “wrong side of the tracks.” She longs for adventure, sophistication, and opportunity, but finds none of that in her Sacramento Catholic high school. Lady Bird follows Christine’s senior year in high school, including her first romance, friendship and family drama, her participation in the school play, and most importantly, her applying for college. Nominated for four Golden Globes, Lady Bird marks the directorial debut of Greta Gerwig. (Mild spoilers ahead)
As must always happen, another Doctor’s time has come to a close. This time we must say goodbye to Peter Capaldi, the Twelfth Doctor. Not only is this Capaldi’s swan song, but it’s also showrunner Steven Moffat’s final episode. For Doctor Who fans, the regeneration episode is always a bag of mixed emotions. It’s sad to see a beloved Doctor leave, but it’s exciting to get a glimpse of the new one and all the surprises that await us in the episodes ahead. In Twice Upon a Time (written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay), the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) teams up with his former self, the First Doctor (David Bradley) and a returning Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie), for one last adventure. Two Doctors stranded in an Arctic snowscape, refusing to face regeneration. Enchanted glass people, stealing their victims from frozen time. And a World War One captain destined to die on the battlefield, but taken from the trenches to play his part in the Doctor s story. An uplifting new tale about the power of hope in humanity s darkest hours, Twice Upon A Time marks the end of an era. But as the Doctor must face his past to decide his future, his journey is only just beginning… The 60-minute special guest stars Mark Gatiss as The Captain and Nikki Amuka-Bird as the voice of the glass woman, and will see Peter Capaldi’s Doctor regenerate into the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker). (Mild spoilers ahead) 
What if the Creature from The Creature From the Black Lagoon wasn’t actually the monster of that film? Well, you’d have something similar to The Shape of Water, which clearly takes inspiration from The Creature From the Black Lagoon and other classic Universal monster movies. Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water is an otherworldly fable set against the backdrop of Cold War-era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Rounding out the cast are Michael Shannon as Colonel Richard Strickland, the man in charge of the creature research team; Richard Jenkins as Giles, Elisa’s friend and neighbor, a closeted commercial artist; Michael Stuhlbarg as Dr. Robert Hoffstetler, one of the lab’s scientists; and Doug Jones as the Creature. (Mild spoilers follow) 
Thoroughly Modern Reviewer 