In 2024, Bat-fans will have the opportunity to watch Tim Burton’s classic Batman film in a whole new way. In conjunction with the film’s 35th anniversary, Warner Bros. has once again teamed up with TCG Entertainment to bring superhero cinema to a concert hall near you!
Continue reading “‘DC in Concert’ to Celebrate the 35th Anniversary of ‘Batman’”
Netflix Geeked Week kicked off today with the teaser trailer of the anticipated Wednesday Addams series Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega.
Continue reading “First Look at Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams”
Just a quick post to wish all you nerds a Happy Holiday, and to also check out this dope artwork from Japanese artist Yuko Shimizu celebrating the best Christmas movie ever, Batman Returns:
Continue reading “Happy Holidays and Remember, “Mistletoe Can be Deadly if You Eat it””
From the cold fronts of Westeros, to the chilling halls of Nevermore Academy. Gwendoline Christie joins the cast of Wednesday — the brand new Netflix series — as Larissa Reems.
Continue reading “Gwendoline Christie Joins the Spooky Cast of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’”
Netflix has cast Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in a new live-action, comedic coming-of-age tale. Wednesday will be directed by Tim Burton, who will be making his directorial TV debut. The legendary character has already been portrayed in television, film, video games, and musicals, but Wednesday has always been part of The Addams Family ensemble until now.
Continue reading “Jenna Ortega Set to Star in All-New Netflix Series, ‘Wednesday’”
The early years of Disney Animation are marked by some of the most seminal classics in the history of everyone’s childhood. Among one of the most dear and tearfully sentimental was 1941’s Dumbo. It came at a time when folks had never conceived of the possibility of seeing something as grand as an elephant flying. But Walt Disney, and the first generation of Disney animators, dreamed of what it would look like and brought it to life in vibrant colors and adorable designs. And the results have since become something of legend.
Continue reading “An Afternoon With the Crew Who Brought ‘Dumbo’ to Life”
The joyous sounds of Casey Jr, rolled into Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. The huffing and puffing of the rustic steam engine was an indicator that closely following by would be the promise of magic and wonder as soon as it arrived. For on that train came the legendary cast and director that would bring one of Disney’s most beloved animated classics to life, Dumbo.
Tim Burton, the legendary ringmaster led to the stage his circus troupe of experienced acting veterans. A veritable who’s-who of extraordinary talent — many of whom served as Burton-alumni from various projects — crossed the stage following Burton, including Colin Farrell, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Eva Green, Danny DeVito, and Michael Keaton.
Continue reading “Making an Elephant Soar with the Director and Stars of ‘Dumbo’”
Since it’s the 29th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton, we’re rewinding back to this classic Hard NOC episode from 2014 when we had a pre-Fatman on Batman Marc Bernardin as a guest!
Continue reading “NOC Rewind: Marc Bernardin on ‘Batman 89’”
On June 19, 1992, Batman Returns premiered and was unlike any comic book superhero movie that came before — or after. Starring Michael Keaton as Batman, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and Danny DeVito as Penguin, Batman Returns was a beautiful dark twisted fantasy that doubled down on Tim Burton’s gothic tendencies and created one of the most enduring female characters in superhero cinema.
Continue reading “Ira Madison III Talks Catwoman and the 25th Anniversary of ‘Batman Returns’”
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is the YA/action adventure film directed by the master of macabre, Tim Burton. This is the live-action adaptation of the book by author Ransom Riggs. Rumor has it that the books have potential and are engaging. That’s too bad because the movie isn’t any of those things. This painfully slow adaptation isn’t a return to form for Burton. It’s the same old hokey filmmaking, but time actress Eva Green is the victim! He really wants to show the audience that he still has that Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks charm. He wants you to know that his version of what is weird is acceptable. In a time where weirdness, geekiness, is the new norm, his message, and Miss Peregrine seem 10-years too late.
Continue reading “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children: Another Tim Burton Borefest”
Finding something decent to watch on Christmas can often be a challenge. Reruns have no appeal, neither do cheesy holiday specials, and you probably couldn’t care less about sports.
Fear not. The following are five film suggestions that are appropriate not only for Christmas but basically any day ending in ‘y.’
In Part One of our conversation with Michael Uslan, the Batman movie uber-producer recounted his decades-long journey to bring a “dark and serious” version of the Dark Knight from the comic pages to the movie screen, a journey that is the foundation of his memoir, The Boy Who Loved Batman. After a string of Hollywood studios and financiers initially rejected the idea, the Batman film franchise has gone on to earn billions of dollars in box office and merchandising and solidify Batman as a cinematic legend, with even more big screen adventures on the way.
After the jump, Michael and I continue our discussion of what makes the Batman such an iconic — and enduring — character.
Continue reading “Legend of The Dark Knight: More with Michael Uslan”
Originally posted at WilliamBruceWest.com
Confused by the title? That’s really just me using a bunch of words to say “Batman’s a badass.” More appropriately, he’s a dangerous badass. In recent years, especially due to his many cartoons and animated appearances, two things have become prevalent about Batman: he doesn’t use guns AND he doesn’t kill. That’s all well and good, but this had led somewhat to what you might call “the Pussification of the Bat.” People seem to forget that there are fates worse than death, and Batman has dealt out this kind of justice time and time again. After all, why else would criminals be afraid of him? Anyway, this is just my way of saying that Chris Sims isn’t the only one devoting more thought that necessary to the legacy of Batman.
As we continue Bat Week here at the NOC, Keith (@the_real_chow) brings on William (@williambwest), Raymond, and special guest Marc Bernardin (@marcbernardin) — senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter who is also a comic book and television writer, as well as a frequent guest on Kevin Smith’s Fatman on Batman podcast. Together the four of them reflect on the legacy of Tim Burton’s Batman on Hard N.O.C. Life.
Continue reading “Shadow of the ’89 Batman with Marc Bernardin”
As you know, yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Batman 89, Tim Burton’s gothic interpretation of the Dark Knight Detective, and the reason we’re celebrating Bat Week this whole week. To mark the occassion, last night around 10pm, I pulled out the Batman disc from my Anthology collection and popped it into the old blu-ray player, fired up my phone, and tweeted along with some dedicated NOC followers on twitter.
A good time was had by all, and I’ve shared some choice tweets after the jump. If you want to relive the whole experience, you can find all the tweets on our twitter feed, or if you prefer them curated, head over to Storify.
Continue reading “Did You Follow our Batman 89 Live Tweets?”
If it weren’t for Michael Uslan, we definitely wouldn’t be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Batman this week. In fact, Uslan is the reason there are any Batman films in theaters at all. You see, Uslan and his producing partner Benjamin Melinker are responsible for every live action Batman movie from 1989 to Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, plus 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as well as the animated Mask of the Phantasm and even The LEGO Movie. Basically, anytime Batman’s been in a movie, you can thank these guys.
Continue reading “Producer Michael Uslan Reflects on the 25th Anniversary of ‘Batman’”
On Monday, June 23, the movie that kickstarted the modern comic book renaissance — Tim Burton’s Batman — celebrates its silver anniversary. So what better way to celebrate the landmark film than to dedicate a whole week’s worth of posts to the Dark Knight Detective himself? Because 2014 is not only the 25th anniversary of Batman, it’s also the 50th anniversary of Carmine Infantino’s iconic “new look” costume design, the 75th anniversary of the character himself, and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Batman’s co-creator Bill Finger.
So all week, we at The Nerds of Color will be honoring all things Batman — both the 1989 film and the character in general. Look for my interview with Batman executive producer Michael Uslan and a special episode of Hard NOC Life featuring The Hollywood Reporter senior editor Marc Bernardin.
Continue reading “It’s the Bat Week Ever as Batman 89 Turns 25″
Before I ring in Christmas 2013 with a traditional viewing of my favorite Holiday film, Batman Returns — this year with a special Fatman on Batman commentary track courtesy of Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin, I wanted to take a minute and thank all of you who have been reading and enjoying The Nerds of Color these last few months. It has really been an honor and a privilege to make this site a reality, and it blows my mind everyday that so many of you have taken the time to engage in our nerdy conversations.
We hope to bring you an even better NOC experience in 2014!
Continue reading “Happy Holidays from Gotham City and The Nerds of Color”
Last week, twitter was all, well, atwitter when artist Sean Murphy tweeted out a loose pencil sketch of Robin — Batman’s trusty sidekick — with an African American teen under the mask. Needless to say, the internet pretty much exploded when the initial tweet went out. Two hours later, though, Murphy and Scott Snyder deflated many a nerd’s bubble when they clarified that this “new” Robin wasn’t actually meant to be “in continuity.” Instead, the sketch Murphy sent out was only meant to be a brief glimpse into an alternate future in one of the anthology pieces in a special issue celebrating the 75th anniversary of Detective Comics #27 next year.
Still, all the swirl around “the first Black Robin” — and the fact that cross-racial casting of superheroes has been a popular topic on the blog recently — got me thinking about comics’ prototypical superhero sidekick. Few headlining superheroes are as indelibly iconic as the Boy Wonder. He’s also one of the few “legacy” heroes — that is, heroes whose mantles have passed down to different characters over the years — who has successfully navigated through several different and distinct identities without losing any of the iconography (while developing ardent fanbases for each version of the character). He’s also one of DC Comics’ most enduring multimedia stars as well, having been portrayed in several incarnations in very different media.
