In Praise Of Joel Schumacher And BATMAN FOREVER, Part Two

By Paul Casey

Since Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has begun shooting, we thought it appropriate to revisit the frequently maligned Joel Schumacher film Batman Forever, which was released on June 16, 1995. Click here to read Part One.—Ed.

Joel Schumacher is obviously not the most well-read Batman fan ever. This is apparent from some of his befuddling mistakes in the commentary on the Batman Forever Special Edition DVD. He does however, apparently independent of “the rules,” have a very solid understanding of the appeal of the character:

I think the one unique thing that separates him from a lot of super-heroes is that he’s a man. He’s not a super force from another planet; green lasers don’t shoot out of his fingers. And he has all the vulnerabilities and all of the flaws and all of the human drama, that any human being has. He’s not perfect and he’s not impenetrable; he’s a man, not a superman.

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In Praise Of Joel Schumacher And BATMAN FOREVER, Part One

By Paul Casey

Since Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has begun shooting, we thought it appropriate to revisit the frequently maligned Joel Schumacher film Batman Forever, which was released on June 16, 1995.—Ed.

First, a bit of background.

To many fans, Christopher Nolan’s work with the Batman franchise has served as a legitimization of the artistic worth of comic books. As both a comic book movie and also as a signifier of the depth of the character and the source material (from which the film’s subtleties originated), The Dark Knight laid down the gauntlet, setting the critical and financial standards by which every comic book movie will be judged in the future.

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Love, Death, And Tragedy: L.A. Noire

By Paul Casey

Click for larger image.

L.A. Noire, released by Rockstar Games on May 17, carries on the grand tradition of the adventure game but does so within an impeccably crafted, open-world vision of 1940s Los Angeles. Its narrative is linear; it does not branch off, resulting in those malformations of character seen in Fable or Fallout. Simplistic questions of morality are not used as a choice between different powers and abilities. Overall, L.A. Noire is an experience unique to its medium and sets a new standard in both writing and performance.

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Sea Of Bees, Songs For The Ravens

By J Howell

I became instantly curious about Julie Baenziger’s Sea of Bees a couple of months ago, after seeing a half-page ad for Songs For The Ravens in every audio geek’s bimonthly bible, Tape Op magazine. Being an almost-obsessive Sparklehorse fan, I knew any band compared to Sparklehorse would quickly make the top of my must-check-out list. After reading a bit about Sea of Bees and checking out a YouTube clip of “Skinnybone,” I had to hear more.

As it turns out, there’s more of a connection between Tape Op and Sea of Bees than an ad.
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Flogging Molly, Speed Of Darkness

By Magda Underdown-DuBois

Speed of Darkness, the fifth album by Flogging Molly comes in low, Perfect Circle-style, for a full 30 seconds and then crashes into one’s ears like a comet of sound.

Full of working contradiction, the band is a proud member of the new Celtic rock music generation along with The Pogues or The Secret Commonwealth. From their own record label Borstal Beat, Speed of Darkness is a self-professed concept album in an age of MP3s and singles, with the pounding rhythm of punk, but the articulated lyrical message of traditional Irish music.
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Our May/June 2011 Issue Is Out Now!

May/June 2011 Issue – Climb Onto The Nearest Star

Click the image
to read the issue!

Issue 022—Climb Onto The Nearest Star—Staff Picks: NASA Fandom, Top Five Sci-Fi Movies, Ten Reasons Rock & Rule Is Here To Slay; Features: Fantastic Planet/La Planète Sauvage, Marooned a.k.a. Space Travelers, Alien 2: On Earth, Mockbusters, Tarantula/Piranha/Inseminoid, Zardoz, Hanna, Demon Seed, The Films Of H.P. Lovecraft, Black Sci-Fi Music, Ziggy Stardust, Doctor Who‘s Elisabeth Sladen, Lost, BSG‘s Starbuck, Sci-Fi Romance, and The Silver Metal Lover.

Life In A Post-Space Shuttle World

It’s mid-2011, and NASA’s 30-year-old Space Shuttle program is coming to a close. There is no permanent shuttle replacement scheduled at this time to send astronauts into orbit; the flagging United States’ economy has impacted the space program, along with many other governmental programs, immensely. The mood along Florida’s Space Coast—the Eastern coast of Florida—is one of sadness and resignation. Many Florida residents like myself sort of took the activities at the Cape for granted; somehow we didn’t really believe the shuttle program would ever come to an end. Why couldn’t 30 years last forever?

Picture of the author in front of an unused Saturn V rocket
Kennedy Space Center, 1987

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Five Things You Should Know About NASA Fandom

By Emily Carney

The 30-year-old Space Shuttle program is winding down to its end, scheduled for a last launch of the shuttle Atlantis in June. Sadly, NASA currently has few plans to extend space travel after the shuttle is phased out.

Given this bleak situation, a few loyal “space hipsters” on Blogger and Tumblr have put together some rather unique, often completely hilarious tributes which hearken back to the Good Old Days of Space Flight, specifically from 1961—beginning with the first Mercury missions—through the early days of the shuttle program.

Internet memes which originally were created about cats have now been carried over to legendary astronauts such as Gus Grissom, Alan Shepard, and John Young. Without further ado, here are five things you should probably familiarize yourself with if you’d like to acquaint yourself with the new fandom, the NASA Fandom.
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My Top Five Favorite Sci-Fi Films

By Ann Clarke

I’ll be honest; I’m not that crazy about most science-fiction films. If I like them at all, it’s when they have an underlying theme about some sort of society based in the future, but with a skewed slant that isn’t even typical of a sci-fi film! I’m not into Star Wars, if that gives you any idea of what you wont be seeing in my list.
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Ten Reasons Rock & Rule Is Here To Slay

By Less Lee Moore

Back in the ’80s, USA’s Night Flight, a late-night “variety” show, played a mix of weird videos and cult movies on weekends, essential viewing for kids who thrived on that kind of stuff. It was Night Flight that first introduced me to the wonders of Fantastic Planet (La Planète Sauvage), Smithereens, Ladies and Gentlemen…The Fabulous Stains, Urgh! A Music War, and Rock & Rule, an animated, epic sci-fi musical.

I’ve been watching it for more than 20 years now and Rock & Rule is still one of my all-time favorite movies. Here are ten reasons why.

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