O’DONNELL: Ultimate Tazer Ball; Hoax or Sport of the Future?
Feb 21st
In recent years, the sports world has seen the rise of the UFC as the primer fighting event. As boxing became bland and the audience dissipated, the UFC stepped in with an amped up take on hand-to-hand combat. The sport involves various types of fighting like martial arts, wrestling and boxing.
O'Donnell
For those who had become bored with boxing, the UFC brought a more extreme take to satisfy an appetite for a new generation. Also, sports that are a part of the X-Games have also grown in popularity. BMX bikers and Skateboarders are now considered legitimate athletes. The rise of the X-Games and the UFC could be a sign that sporting audiences are seeking a more electrified take on sports.
If this is the case, then there is a sport slowly gathering attention around the Internet that could be the next be thing. Of course, this all depends on the fact that this sport is real and not a hoax. The name of this new extreme sporting competition is Ultimate Tazer Ball.
The game is a very simple one. The matches take place on an indoor soccer field pitting two teams of four players against one another. The game ball is a comically large soccer ball that rivals the size of the common beach ball. As the players try to score goals using their hands and their feet, they must avoid being shocked by a Tazer gun. Each of the players on the field are armed with one as a unique tool to play defense.
Ultimate Tazer Ball has an official website that features a video depicting a practice match. There are plenty of close up shots of the Tazer guns and the electric blue current that surges at their tip. The website also advertises the league currently has four squads. One of the teams is located in Toronto, Canada, were oddly enough Tazers cannot be acquired by civilians because they are considered dangerous weapons.
In an interview with CBC News Toronto, league creator Eric Prum is standing beside the idea this is no joke and Ultimate Tazer Ball is aiming to be the next big thing. According to the article, Prum claims the league will be launched with the help of the partnership with German businessman Erik Wunsch.
There has yet to be an official event, but the Ultimate Tazer Ball website claims the first is scheduled for early March. The location of this inaugural competition is no other than the setting of the film “The Hangover 2,” Bangkok, Thailand. If this event proves to be true and does actually occur, Ultimate Tazer Ball would fit in nicely with the rest of the craziness that apparently occurs in that place. Now, it is just time to wait and see if the UTB actually steps out and shows itself to the world. Till then I still have my suspicions.
For more information on Ultimate Tazer Ball, check out the website http://utblive.com/ . After taking a look, you decide if this crazy venture could be a potential legit sport or is it simply an elaborate Internet hoax.
Jordan O’Donnell
O’DONNELL: The awkward world of “The Voice”
Feb 16th
I have never been a big follower of the string of talent search-themed reality shows.
I remember watching the first season of “American Idol,” but since that year, I haven’t paid any attention. Despite this, I have found myself intrigued by NBC’s answer to the singing competition titled “The Voice.” It is the concept of the show that I find fascinating.
“The Voice” features four major singing stars as coaches for teams of aspiring singers. In the opening round of the show the talent of the singers are judged solely on their singing talent. Appearance is somewhat taken out of the equation, because the celebrity coaches have their backs turned to the stage while they perform their opening numbers. Slowly, but surely, each celebrity coach’s team takes form as they make their selections.
O'Donnell
This is a really interesting concept for drafting potential talent. In a perfect world, one would like to think looks don’t matter, but especially in the music business, image is an essential aspect of making a mark. There have been some surprises throughout the show’s first season and already now in its second year. What has proved to ultimately overpower the high concept, is the almost creepy nature of the coaches. Each episode seems to become increasingly filled with awkward moments.
The first coach is Maroon 5′s lead-singer Adam Levine. He checks in on the awkward list due to the fact that he can’t seem to let go of the fact that one of his singers was the winner of season one. An occasional mention here in there would be fine, but it seems that is his defense for any argument between himself and his fellow judges. I think this shows the true nature of “The Voice.” The actual contestants are only background players, because the show is much more about promoting the personalities and projects of the judges.
Pop star Christina Aguilera serves as the lone female judge. She may have important, witty advice for the contestants, but who would ever know. It becomes impossible to listen to her, because she seems to be trying to revive the “Xtina” moniker she sported during her “Dirrty” stage of her career with her gestures. Promoting herself in that fashion just seems unnatural and forced now from her occasionally referring to herself by the nickname and showing it on the rings on her fingers that spell it out.
The king of awkward on the show is eccentric crooner Cee Lo Green. Judging by the first two episodes of this season, it seems like he is less concerned with putting together a talented team and more occupied with hitting on the contestants. Then Cee Lo kicks the weirdness into high gear during interview segments. For some reason he finds it necessary to discuss the show while stroking a large, fluffy white cat. It’s almost like he is doing his best to channel a James Bond villain of some sort. Why producers allow Cee Lo to bring his feline to the studio has me bewildered.
The final celebrity coach is country star Blake Shelton. Before the show’s premiere he was probably more famous for being married to spitfire Miranda Lambert. It seems there are moments when Blake himself is confused by what he is doing on the show. He has yet to establish a consistent attitude or direction on the show. It seems one week he is trying to snatch up one type of artist, then the next he has completely changed his tune as to what he wants. Also, because he is a physically imposing force as well over six and half feet tall, I think he scares some contestants. Then there is the fact that he spends more time bickering with his fellow coaches than actually judging the talent.
Whatever my impressions of the coaches may be, “The Voice” is proving to be a solid success for NBC. In the end, it does not matter if the eventual winner goes onto big things or not, because the viewership for the show itself is there. So as I continue to scratch my head at the odd tension between Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera or the repeated shots of Cee Lo Green ominously stroking a kitty, I cannot argue that this singing competition has most certainly found it’s voice and should not be regarded as an “American Idol” ripoff.
Jordan O’Donnell
O’DONNELL: Frights for the modern age
Feb 14th
Daniel Radcliffe
Chances are that if there is a new horror movie out in theaters I will be at it. Recently I ventured out to my local film house to take in the flick “The Woman In Black.” This frightening picture stars Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.
All the reviews I read about “The Woman In Black” reference how it was an old-style horror movie. Without spoiling anything, I can assure you that there are plenty of frights in this movie without buying into the recent moves of horror made by films like the “Saw” franchise. Since the movie centers around ghostly apparitions, there are plenty of opportunities haunt the audience.
O'Donnell
The vengeful woman in black makes appearances in fun ways like appearing in reflections. The ghostly antagonist rears her sinister head through reflections in mirrors, windows and even through rain water. These are classic scary movie devices to reveal the cause of the horror, but does it really translate to our modern age. “The Woman in Black” takes place roughly around the early 20th century, when seeing a car was a huge rarity so the reveals work here.
Maybe a few contemporary ways to scare would work better:
• I spend the majority of my free time in the evenings messing around on my iPad. The device basically has become an extension of my hand. I can spend hours toggling through the Apple made tablet with a few swipes of my finger. Something that that would send shivers down my spine, would be if late one night I saw a ghostly reflection of a woman’s face on the screen of my beloved iPad. I would probably have to put the tablet away for good and switch back to my iPhone to download the latest Black Eyed Peas song. Maybe the smaller screen would prevent any risk of seeing the reflection of ghosts peering over my shoulder.
• There are some who consider the size of the “rims” on a car to be a status symbol. I have never fully understood this notion, but I do get that apparently 20 inches seems to be pretty awesome. Also, I have noticed at several stop lights some people have ones that actually spin while the car is in idle. With the size and shine of these “rims” they become a perfect portal for ghosts to contact us. A young aspiring rapper would never be the same if he came to his SUV to find ghostly messages written around the “rims.”
• In restaurants and shopping malls, I have started to notice a lot of kids walking around with their eyes glued to their handheld gaming systems. I was once told by one young boy who was quizzing me about my job that if I ever made a lot of money I needed to get one of these gaming things. I still do not have one myself, but I can see why they are popular. I also think they are perfect devices for ghosts to give the kiddies a bit of scare. As they are glued to the screen on the final level of a hard game, it would be appropriate for a ghost to appear on the screen. After viewing something like that, truck loads of kids around this nation would finally stop running into people because their head is constantly down focused on Mario Kart.
• No one would really like to admit it but a national hobby for many of us has become Facebook stalking. For those of you who want to pretend like you do not know what this means, this hobby involves cruising through Facebook for hours going through friends, ex-spouses and family members profiles. There are varying degrees of Facebook stalking, but that’s a whole other blog together. The Facebook stalker would never be the same if while they were going through a despised ex’s profile, they suddenly see a shape move behind them in the reflection of their laptop monitor.
• A popular fashion trend is wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses. I rocked a pair for several years until I went to a coffee shop and noticed every male around my age was donning the exact same glasses. This optical fashion movement could also be invaded by ghosts. A cute hipster couple looks longingly into one another’s eyes after a Death Cab For Cutie concert and as the young girl leans in to give her man a kiss, she catches the glimpse of a shrieking demon in his glasses. The horror is enough to scare the ironic t-shirt off one of those hip kids.
• The wonders of having a DVR system still manage to excite me. Though I am not an expert at learning, I know I am in complete control of what gets recorded and what does not. It’s this notion that I feel the ghostly possession of a DVR system is in order for cinematic light. Imagine the torment of someone plagued by a ghost sabotaging their programming. All this person wants is to record this week’s episode of “Law and Order” but instead they are besieged by back episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Glee.” The very thought is bone chilling.
“The Woman in Black” was a peculiar movie but it did feature some thrilling frights. Nevertheless, I think it’s time to update how ghosts find a way to reveal themselves. I will forever remember being shaken to my core when first seeing the original “Halloween” and Jamie Lee Curtis sees the murderous Michael Myers standing between the clothes lines in her backyard during the daytime. My mind was blown, because I thought scary things should only happen at night. In our world of advanced technology there are many ways for ghosts to make their presence known. So in a message to directors, filmmakers, screenwriters, and storytellers alike I ask you to consider invading the comforts of this new world many of us hold so dear.
— Jordan O’Donnell
O’DONNELL: What I learned from the Super Bowl ads
Feb 7th
I consider the Super Bowl to be like the deadbeat, black sheep brother of Thanksgiving. Much like the Turkey holiday on “Super Sunday” people get together to share mass quantities of food, beverage and watch football. The Super Bowl manages to include all the elements of Thanksgiving but maintains a more causal feel.
O'Donnell
One popular aspect of Super Bowl Sunday that even non-fans of sports tend to enjoy is the commercials that air during the game. Companies fork over big bucks to get their commercials air time during the most watched sporting event of the year. These companies put extra muscle behind the creative presentation of these spots. A well made or funny commercial can equal big revenue for companies.
In the days and weeks following the Super Bowl people from different media venues concentrate on what ads were a success. It is these analysts who try to determine how effective was the ad, was it entertaining, did people strongly dislike it and did it just fall flat with a bland message.
An interesting thing I’ve noticed in how I took in the ads this year is that for me they served as an educational tool. The sometimes silly Super Bowl ads taught me a lot about my fellow humans and myself. After reviewing lists of ads picking which were hits and misses it becomes a quite telling examination of us a people on earth in 2012.
Ads from Doritos, Careerbuilder.com and Volkswagon earned high marks from the USA Today Admeter. These ads nail home the fact that people love silly dogs, babies and monkeys wearing human clothes. These commercials all bought into old adages that have seemed to grab the attention across a wide demographic. Super intelligent dogs outsmarting their human counterparts can be traced back to black and white television with Lasse. Almost every year there is a few comedies centering around babies performing feats that if you tried to recreate at home with your infant Child Services would be called pretty fast. Finally there is the long standing idea, that if you have a monkey performing everyday human tasks like going to work, smoking, tying a tie, then you will be sure to have an audience in tears from laughter. Evolution has not brought the human race past the fact that we will sit in front of the TV and laugh wildly at a monkey in a suit and turn to a friend to exclaim “Look that silly monkey thinks he is a human.”
The next lesson learned from the 2012 Super Bowl ads is Clint Eastwood will forever be crazily intense. It does not matter if he is playing Dirty Harry or discussing the auto industry in a simple ad, the aging actor always seems posed to knock some one’s teeth in. With his face looking like it was roughly carved out of granite and a voice that sounds like an old growling animal, Eastwood made many take notice with his ad this year according to the USA Today Admeter.
Its official, I am tired of every single Insurance company commercial. Its because of this, I think there needs to finally be a street fight between the three major companies pitch people. Its time for either Flo from Progressive, Mayhem from Allstate, or that irritating Gecko from Geico to finally go. These ads have just grown incredibly stale and all the concepts have been worn out.
Also, there needs to be national mandate issued that if Budweiser is to run Super Bowl ads, then they have to have atleast one that features the famous clydesdales. When there is no spot featuring the iconic horses galloping in the snow or on a sunny day, I feel like I’ve been ripped off.
Another thing is, I’ve come to firmly believe that when I am old and gray and cooped up in my nursing home, I will still be seeing Coke commercials featuring those adorable cartoon polar bears. The long running ad campaign was back again this year. These spots were running when I was a little kid and will still be airing on a TV somewhere during my funeral.
I owe a huge thank you to Dannon yogurt and their commercial. Just when I was starting to really worry, I was filled with reassurance on Sunday that John Stamos is not dead. Thank you.
Overall, this year I can say I enjoyed the selection of commercials from the Super Bowl. Not only was I entertained I felt I left with new found knowledge. I cannot say I was encouraged to acquire any of the products advertised but I enjoyed the entertainment provided. My analysis of the commercials this year did leave me with one problem. I was so busy taking in all my revelations and making notes I forgot to watch the stupid game. I still am not sure who won, it was the blue team right?
Jordan O’Donnell
HAHN: My glasses! My glasses! I can’t see without my glasses.
Jan 24th
Kevin Hahn in his new glasses.
I’m a nerd. There are very few ways to avoid that fact. Sure, I try to publicly disguise that fact by writing a cool pop culture blog for The Local Q. I don’t go up to complete strangers and tell them how much I love “The West Wing,” “Firefly,” “Dune,” Battlestar Galactica,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars,” “Skyrim,” random trivia, puns or going to school. I at least try to delay the obvious fact that I am a nerd through self-restraint, maintaining an operational knowledge of sports, and (I would like to think) functional interpersonal skills.
Sadly, my days of outwardly masking my nerdhood are at an end. I have glasses now.
I’ve always been on the cusp of needing corrective eyewear, but in the past I have always opted against glasses because of the cost, inconvenience, and I didn’t want to be called “four eyes.” However, this summer when I took the basic eye exam to get my driver’s license renewed, I could barely read the letters (please, nobody tell the Illinois Department of Motor Vehicles). That is when I began to realize I actually need glasses.
Now I have glasses. I like them a lot more than I imagined I would. Even though it’s a minor correction they really help my eyes. Everything is crisper and sharper looking. Plus I get complements like, “wow those really make you look smart.” I guess I didn’t look very smart before.
I guess now that I have glasses I can do dramatic things like take them off when I’m delivering important news or throw them down on the table in frustration. While this has taken some time to get used to I don’t think it will change my life considerably, aside from the mocking taunts of “four eyes,” which strangers walking down the street have started to hurl at me.
Also, I would really appreciate it if no one stole my lunch money.
Kevin Hahn
HAHN: You really need to watch this show
Jan 12th
I finally got caught up on AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” an all-around terrific show. I missed the first season, but I watched it on DVD. I missed the first six episodes of the second season, but I DVRed them. Now, I am all caught up and ready for the season to start again.
Hahn
Being “in” on a TV series is fun. You get to look forward to weekly episodes. You can chat, speculate, and go on about each episode with your friends who are also “in” on it. There is a special kind of excitement knowing that every week you get a new slice of regularly scheduled entertainment. It’s awesome.
The only problem is that to be part of the in crowd on these shows you have to have seen it from the beginning. Picking up a show mid-season, unless it’s a sitcom or episodic drama like “Law & Order,” is very, very hard. If you are watching it by yourself, you typically have no idea what is going on. You need an “in” person to explain it to you, which means frustration for both of you. You want to know what is happening, and they just want to watch the show.
If you want to enjoy an ongoing series, it means you need to get caught up. Catching up is a process that takes time, money and commitment. Time because you are trying to compact one season — or two or three — into a normally unhealthy amount of time. Money because if you want to get to watch multiple seasons it means either buying or renting previous seasons of the show — unless you are fortunate enough to have friends who already own them. Commitment because the path to enjoying the fruits of being caught up is fraught with obstacles, peril and mortal danger. Maybe that was an exaggeration. But whether it is renting seasons, watching online episodes, DVRing, or — heaven forbid — using a VCR you will need to invest an embarrassing amount of effort into the process.
Here is an example. The Fox serial drama “24” came out in 2001. Because of its format — every hour-long episode represents one hour in a day — it is almost impossible to miss an episode and have any idea what is going on the next week.
My older brother and I started watching episodes from the first season in the summer leading into my sophomore year of high school in 2005. After purchasing four seasons (for more money than I would care to admit), recording one season every week, and 120 hours of watching Kiefer Sutherland blow stuff up and yell orders at people, I was finally able to watch one season live. It was my junior year, season six, in 2007. Then in 2008, while I anxiously awaited season seven, the writer’s strike happened. It was another year until I was able to watch more wholesome goodness of hourly televised action. By the time season seven eventually rolled around I was a freshmen in college and because of night class, I couldn’t watch the weekly shows. I tried keeping up with streaming video, but sadly I had lost the spark and stopped watching.
After all that effort I will think twice about getting caught up on a show again.
Here are some of the shows that I have gotten caught up on:
- The Walking Dead
- Game of Thrones
- The West Wing
- 24
- Deadwood
- The Wire
- Heroes
Here is a list of shows (past and present) that I’d like to see but I lack the willpower to get caught up on:
- Lost
- The Sopranos
- Madmen
- Glee
- Breaking Bad
- Entourage
- Dexter
Kevin Hahn
HAHN: Woe to Those Who Read the Book
Jan 10th
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
“Well it wasn’t as good as the book.”
This phrase has plagued my movie going existence for years. I like to read, and I like movies; therefore, I typically see movies that have been adapted from books. The result: disappointment.
Hahn
This past Friday, I finally got to see “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” a film I have been looking forward to since this June when I read the spy novel by the same name. The book was terrific; an old-school, Cold War spy novel from the 1970s. I loved the book, and while I was reading it, I found out that it was being made into a feature film. Needless to say I was thrilled. I knew this was destined to be one of the best movies of the year. The book had everything that a blockbuster needed, yet it contained enough character development and highbrow suspense to be a commercial and critical success.
Friday, I saw the movie. (Friday was the first day it opened back home in Peoria). Now I sort of want my money back. I should clarify, the movie wasn’t that bad. It was pretty good. The pacing was slower than it needed to be, and the major plot points weren’t well signified, but on the whole, it was a pretty good movie. The problem for me was my expectations were way too high. I had been building this movie up in my head for over six months. My level of great expectations probably couldn’t have been met, at all.
Therein lays the key to the disappointment felt by fans of a book that is adapted to the silver screen. If we really liked a book, then there is an overall elevation of expectations, which are frankly unrealistic. Whether it is because of the limitations of film (time, commercial viability, or technological ability) or the nature of the written word, a film typically satisfies the unfettered expectations of an unrealistic fan, like me.
I had similar feelings for a lot of other film adaptations; however, there have been some exceptions to the overall trend. I read the “Harry Potter” books as they came out, and I devoured them, but I never really watched the movies. I saw the first when it was released and was disappointed. I kept reading the books but refused to watch the movies. Then this summer, I was convinced by my friends to watch the film series. I did and I enjoyed them. They were very entertaining, and I didn’t have that big of a problem reconciling the film with my memory with of the books.
The reason, I think, why I was so thoroughly entertained was the fact that I didn’t have insurmountable expectations to deal with, and I was able to enjoy the movies as complementary to the books, not a visual transcription of the book. This approach of restraining my nerdy expectations should be extended to other movies as well. “The Dark Knight Rises” comes out this summer. I need to start reining in my hopes of this movie being as good as I expect it to be. If I can do this, only will I be able to limit the chances of disappointment. If I can go into a movie with low expectations, then there is only room to be surprised.
Kevin Hahn
HOLOWICKI: Hockey anyone?
Jan 6th
Monday was very exciting for Hockey fans throughout the United States. The Philadelphia Fliers hosted the New York Rangers in what is debatably one of the NHL’s most brutal rivalries. The NHL’s annual Winter Classic, this year, was held at Philly’s Citizens Bank Park.
Holowicki
Earlier this year, Brendan Shanahan, veteran forward from Hartford Whalers, Detroit Red Wings and later the New York Rangers, was appointed the position Director of Player Safety. Shanahan has become the disciplinarian of the National Hockey League and has suspended many players this year for illegal blows to the head, including Raffi Torres and Jody Shelley.
Hockey has become very physical over the last decade. The players are bigger, faster and tougher. Injuries are more intense than they were. Listening to four HBO documentaries this past week gives the listener a different perspective.
On TV, you don’t hear Ranger’s coach John Tortarella drop one F bomb after the other in the locker room nor do you hear the Fliers bench taunt New York’s goalie Henrik Lundquist or the team captain Ryan Callahan about being insignificant or jeers of “Go back to the entry draft.”
Jeers can be lighthearted or not. These teams play physical. It’s not personal though. This is business. Darren McCarty said that years ago when he was playing for the Red Wings.
I think back to my little league baseball coach who used to make me run laps after games when I didn’t make big plays or hits. That’s at least the way it felt at the time. I was smaller than most kids my size and couldn’t hit nor field the ball as good as other kids my age. This was frustrating. Do I look back and respect my coach for making me run laps? No, absolutely not. I resented it then and I resent it now. He should have been working with me one on one to improve my game. He would not. Why is that important to the NHL Winter Classic?
Discipline, albeit not a good way to discipline a player unless you’re going to initiate some sort of positive reinforcement. These are elite players and many NHL players play in the Olympics nowadays. The best of the best. Six or seven years ago, these two teams were nowhere near contenders for a Stanley cup victory. Today is different. Philadelphia has forward James Van Riemsdyk and Chris Pronger. The Rangers have Marion Gaborik and Ryan Callahan.
Remember two years ago when the Chicago Blackhawks won in a surprise victory in an overtime win with Patrick Kane shooting the game winning goal in OT? The Fliers stood there in shock. The Fliers were, at the time, struggling to make the post season. After three post season rounds, clinched the Eastern conference. By the way, Chicago’s Marián Hossa is the first player in NHL history to appear in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams, having previously made the Final with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and again with the Detroit Red Wings in 2009.
Recap of the game:
Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year, $51 million contract this past year, didn’t have much of a game and the was sent to the bench. Sergei Bobrovsky filled in when coach Peter Laviolette called him up but couldn’t hold an early lead front of tens of thousands of Fliers fans.
The game without Jaromir Jagr, the Fliers forward who played only a minute in the second period before leaving the game with an injury. The 39-year-old Jagr, a former Ranger, said after the game he injured his left leg and expected to return soon.
Brad Richards who was one of the summer’s top free agents (behind Rookie Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent Hopkins) is in his first season with New York. Richards scored the game winner knocking in a rebound making it 3-2 Rangers for his 14th of the season.
Its great to see the former underdog teams like these on top again!
Steve Holowicki
HAHN: Batman — a look back
Dec 27th
The latest trailer of the greatly anticipated “The Dark Knight Rises” is now being shown before most screenings of “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” This theatrical trailer is the first substantial exposition of the characters, setting, and snippets of plot so far. Likewise a six minute opening prologue, which has been playing in select IMAX showings of “Mission: Impossible- Ghost protocol” as well as floating around the internet, gives the first extensive depiction of this film’s main villain, Bane, played by Tom Hardy.
With all of this buzz and excitement circulating around the forth coming end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga, I have decided to take a look back at the humble roots of some of images and icons of Batman.
Posters- the public face of any movie, helps portay the tone of the film as well as show who’s actually in the film.
This was the poster of the 1966 film Batman, which was the first big screen incarnation of the batman or as the poster touts, “For the first time on the motion picture screen in color,” an apt description. I learned this wasn’t actually the first Batman movie. There was series of serial films made in the 1940s.
The poster itself has a disjointed visual theme. The art team who put it together must not have all been on the same page, half the poster is live action stills of the protagonists, antagonists, and two Bat-means of conveyance. The other half of the poster is comprised of cartoon renderings apparently of five anonymous bad guys who have been clobbered by the Adam West and Burt Ward, Batman and Robin. This quaint little poster does a great job portraying the campiness of the film and the earliest portrayal of Batman.
Holy Crap. Those were the words that went through my head the first time I saw this poster. “The Dark Knight Rises” will supposedly be the last Batman film Nolan will direct and Christian Bale will star in, and is apparently a definitive end to the Bruce Wayne story. That taken into account this poster reflects the dark gritty foreboding of an actual end of a Batman story which has never been done on film.
The Batmobile- is one of the mainstays of the Batman universe, it embodies the futuristic side of the caped crusader.
This was the original batmobile. This is the first Bat car which Adam West drove around Gotham in the 1960s television show as well as the 1966 film. Based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura Show Car, this bat car is exactly what a 1960s Bruce Wayne would want as a stylish posh crime busting vehicle. Like the poster, this earliest batmobile fits perfectly with the lighthearted camp of the series.
As most Quincy residents should recall, earlier this year we got to see firsthand what Nolan plans on including in the bat mobile department. The Tumbler, featured in “Batman Begins,” 
“The Dark Knight,” and now “The Dark Knight Rises” is according to Lucius Fox (Batman’s tech guy), “She was built as a bridging vehicle. During combat, two of these would jump over a river, towing cables.” This piece of repurposes military hardware fits well into the realism of the newest series. The sight of an armored desert camouflage vehicle in a major American city might be subtlety used by the film makers to elicit a sense of fear and panic from an audience which is all too used to seeing similarly designed vehicles rolling down the main streets of Cairo, Damascus, and Bagdad.
Alfred Pennyworth- The constant loyal aid to the Wayne family and present in almost every rendering of Batman.
Circa 1966, a fine rendering of a British butler.
Michael Cain, more please.
The Sidekick- while not every super hero has a sidekick, usually there is some character who helps the hero along the way, trades jokes, and adds a bit of comic relief.
Robin, the classic batman sidekick.
Morgan Freeman as Lucuis Fox: he looks out for Wayne Enterprises, supplies batman with new weapons and technology, but probably doesn’t look that good in a pair of green shorts.
Kevin Hahn
HAHN: Prospective movies for the season
Dec 21st
The holidays are a great time to catch up with family, friends, and well wishers.
The holidays are also a great time to ignore all those people and go see a movie. Here are some movies that I am looking forward to seeing this holiday season.
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”
This sequel to the 2009 re-envisioning of the classic Sherlock Holmes universe looks to be just as action packed as its predecessor. There are explosions, slow motion, and slow motion explosions. Based on the trailer the movie looks to include the faintly realistic Victorian era fight sequences that helped make the last movie fun to watch. Another factor drawing me to see this movie is the on screen rapport between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson (played by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law respectably).
While this latest version of the Sherlock Holmes saga is much different from other incarnations—namely such classics as the 1922 silent film version, the 2010 BBC mini-series “Sherlock”, or my personal favorite “The Great Mouse Detective”—I am excited to see the ongoing portrayal of this literary and film classic.
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
This film is the first part of an English language reboot of a Swedish film and novel trilogy, Män som hatar kvinnor. I know very little about this trilogy aside from the fact that it was originally a Swedish book by author Stieg Larsson, that it was translated into English, and that it is by all accounts very very good.
From the synopsis that I have read and the trailers that I have seen the plot revolves around the search for a missing girl and a murder investigation conducted by a journalist and a computer hacking, tattoo having, dramatically compelling all around genius.
The investigative journalist is played by Daniel Craig in the English version and Mikael Nyqvist in the Swedish version. Nygvist is starring as the villain in the newly released “Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol.” The titular protagonist with the dragon tattoo is played by Rooney Mara in English and Noomi Rapace in Swedish. Mara was most recently featured in “The Social Network,” which was directed by David Fincher, the director of the English “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Coincidentally Rapace is starring as the female lead in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”
Hahn
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Since this past June I have been looking forward to this one movie more than any other coming out in 2011. As seems to be the trend with the good films this holiday season “Tinker, Tailor, Soilder, Spy” is a recreation of both a novel and a 1979 BBC miniseries starring Alec Guinness.
This latest rendering of the original John le Carré novel features a very well rounded british cast Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Coincidentally Cumberbatch stars in the previously mentioned BBC miniseries “Sherlock.” Likewise Oldman and Hardy are both starring in next summer’s excruciatingly anticipated third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga: The Dark Knight Rises.
This classic cold war high espionage spy story has me most excited out of these three films. I read the novel this summer and ever since then I have been waiting and hoping to see it. It was released in the US on Dec. 9 and I counted down the days till that day. Then I looked online. The movie had a limited release to only four theaters in the states, I was not pleased. Currently there are 50 theaters playing “Tinker, Tailor,” mostly on the east and west coasts. Focus Theaters plans on a wide release Jan. 13. I can’t wait.
Quincy theaters and showings are available here.
Kevin Hahn
