{"id":8910,"date":"2019-06-18T13:47:50","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T17:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=8910"},"modified":"2019-06-21T10:04:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T14:04:27","slug":"8910","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=8910","title":{"rendered":"Batman &#038; GoT in the news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Three stories appeared in today&#8217;s Montreal Gazette which are of interest to fandom:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>The Evolution of Batman<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li data-bind=\"text: articleTitle\"><em><strong>Overreaction to casting of Pattinson may be premature, given Keaton history<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li data-bind=\"text: articleTitle\"><em><strong>Thrones actor no longer strongest man<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"copy-snippet fontset1 scale3\">\n<article class=\"art\">\n<header>\n<hgroup>\n<h1 data-bind=\"text: articleTitle\">THE EVOLUTION OF BATMAN<\/h1>\n<h5 data-bind=\"text: articleSubtitle\">Tim Burton\u2019s film about crime fighter changed the superhero landscape<\/h5>\n<\/hgroup>\n<ul class=\"art-byline\">\n<li class=\"art-source\" data-bind=\"text: issueTitle\">Montreal Gazette, <time data-bind=\"text: shortDateString\">18 Jun 2019, <\/time>MICHAEL CAVNA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/header>\n<figure class=\"art-pic\">\n<p><figure style=\"width: 443px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"articleImage\" src=\"https:\/\/i.prcdn.co\/img?regionKey=9iBNCcBvosMRB7HcbRYEew%3d%3d\" alt=\"\" width=\"443\" height=\"289\" data-bind=\"attr: { src: imageUrl }\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">WARNER BROS. Tim Burton\u2019s Batman, which starred Michael Keaton, turns 30 this year and Warner Bros. has announced a new franchise beginning in the summer of 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div data-bind=\"foreach: articleBlocks\">\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Michael E. Uslan was a wideeyed, 28-year-old comics fan when he improbably scooped up the film rights to a character Hollywood had kicked to the curb. Brimming with belief, he bought Batman. Problem was, no one else in town was buying.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">It was the late \u201970s, the era of The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, when Uslan, a comics scholar turned aspiring producer, pitched the major studios on his idea for a Bat-project. He was met with rejection after rejection. One industry executive told him Batman was \u201cas dead as the dodo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cIt can\u2019t be comprehended today,\u201d Uslan says. \u201cThere was no respect for superheroes or their creators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">The film industry, like much of society at large, still viewed comic books as simply kid stuff. But Uslan saw a path forward: \u201cIf we do it as a dark and serious movie, it will almost be like a brand new form of entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Today, it\u2019s easy to overlook Batman\u2019s long \u201980s slog to Hollywood respectability and bankability. The film\u2019s roller-coaster evolution \u2014 from finding producers to winning over wary comics fans \u2014 spanned much of the decade.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">But the movie\u2019s bruising history can be obscured by its massive success and influence. The Batman film franchise has since grossed nearly $5 billion globally, and the character has been central to the ongoing DC Extended Universe, which has grossed nearly $5.3 billion worldwide.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Everything changed on June 23, 1989, with the release of Batman, directed by rising animator turned auteur Tim Burton. Thirty summers ago, the film radically expanded the parameters of action-hero casting and box office forecasting, as well as the marketing and merchandising around comic book movies. The A-list, PG-13 film also paved the way for three decades of superhero cinema that has come to increasingly dominate Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">So much was different in a pre-Batman world \u2014 before superhero trailers were pored over like the Dead Sea Scrolls; before the demand for new toys and action figures swelled well ahead of a comic book movie\u2019s release; before a superhero\u2019s tale was the biggest title of the year.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Comic-book adaptations made in roads in the late \u201970s, when the first Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve made a major splash. But that franchise fizzled out by its third sequel in 1987 as yawning audiences turned away from the growing silliness, so there was no industry momentum leading up to Batman.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Making matters more difficult, the \u201960s Adam West-starring TV series, saturated as it was with cheesy effects, costumes and sound-effect balloons, had taken a toll on the character\u2019s wider pop-culture appeal. As a result, \u201cThere was no great interest in the movie business in making Batman,\u201d says Paul Levitz, who was then executive vice-president and publisher at DC Comics \u2014 even though the comic books had begun to reclaim the grittier shades of the Dark Knight.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Since the character had become a caricature in the mainstream imagination, the project needed a director who could craft a shadowy, psychologically rich movie to attract adult audiences, says Uslan, an executive producer on Batman.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">The fortunes of the Batman project changed significantly in the mid-\u201980s, when the producers sought the vision of Burton, a visual stylist then best known for Pee-wee\u2019s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cI know it was a team effort \u2014 with a lot of brilliant writers, designers, actors, musicians and architects involved \u2014 but the decision to hire Tim Burton as the director was the real turning point,\u201d says Andrew Farago, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco and co-author, with Gina McIntyre, of the forthcoming book, Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">After Burton was aboard, Uslan screened Pee-wee\u2019s Big Adventure. \u201cI\u2019d never seen a more creative combination of direction and art direction,\u201d he says. \u201cI was amazed he was not a comic book guy. It was my job to indoctrinate him into the world of dark and serious Batman comics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">A dark tone was especially crucial because the filmmakers were determined to restore Batman to the proper perch that had defined the character soon after his Detective Comics debut in 1939. Batman\u2019s creators, Bob Kane and Bill Finger, had painted the Caped Crusader not as a wacky combatant, but as a menacing, tormented figure of the night bent on vigilante justice.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Uslan says Burton also brought two especially crucial concepts to the film. \u201cHe said: \u2018This is not a movie about Batman. If we\u2019re going to do it seriously, this is a movie about Bruce Wayne,\u2019\u201d Batman\u2019s on-the-edge playboy alter ego who goes down a dark path.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Burton also knew it was vital that the audience quickly suspend their disbelief and buy into a Gotham City that would be \u201cthe third-most important character in this piece,\u201d Uslan says. \u201cBecause if they don\u2019t believe Gotham City, then they will never believe this guy getting dressed up as a bat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">But what kind of cast and crew could help make this twisted Gotham City setting feel real?<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Burton found a simpatico spirit creatively in British production designer Anton Furst \u2014 who, working with Peter Young, would deliver Batman its lone Academy Award nomination and win, for art direction and set decoration.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">The producers also landed a superstar to play their villain. The highly compensated Jack Nicholson ($6 million plus a big cut of the box office), who Uslan had admired in 1980\u2019s The Shining, would play their Joker, delivering a high-octane, Golden Globe-nominated performance \u2014 and setting a high bar for all future superhero-cinema baddies.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Yet what actor could stand toe to costumed toe with Nicholson? The team, led by producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, looked away from unknowns and tall, dramatic stars and toward Michael Keaton, the kinetic comic actor of slight build and fastpaced delivery best known for Mr. Mom before teaming up with Burton on 1988\u2019s Beetlejuice.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Comics-savvy executives were initially skeptical about Keaton, whose physique was abetted by a new kind of rubber-carved Batsuit. Uslan says his first reaction to the casting was, \u201cI can picture the posters now: Mr. Mom as Batman. I was apoplectic.\u201d And Levitz scratched his head before being won over by Keaton: \u201cHe turned out to be just an amazing actor.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span id=\"b86ef4061a\">In viagra buy germany <a href=\"http:\/\/deeprootsmag.org\/tag\/juggy-gayles\/\">deeprootsmag.org<\/a> short, he loses all his happiness, confidence and self-esteem. One should take the required steps according to the doctor.  <a href=\"http:\/\/deeprootsmag.org\/2020\/01\/23\/the-deep-roots-elite-half-hundred-of-2019\/\">sildenafil 50mg<\/a> Fortunately, there is an alternative to these local  <a href=\"http:\/\/deeprootsmag.org\/page\/9\/?feedsort=date\">india generic cialis<\/a> courses. It is manufactured by the liver and derived from the <a href=\"http:\/\/deeprootsmag.org\/2014\/07\/29\/thinkin-livin-thinkin-life\/\">deeprootsmag.org<\/a> buy 10mg levitra foods and beverages consumed by us however some people suffer from general body weakness. <\/span><br \/>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"copy-snippet fontset1 scale3\">\n<article class=\"art\">\n<header>\n<hgroup><\/hgroup>\n<\/header>\n<div data-bind=\"foreach: articleBlocks\">\n<div class=\"copy-snippet fontset1 scale3\">\n<article class=\"art\">\n<header>\n<hgroup>\n<h1 data-bind=\"text: articleTitle\">Overreaction to casting of Pattinson may be premature, given Keaton history<\/h1>\n<\/hgroup>\n<ul class=\"art-byline\">\n<li class=\"art-source\" data-bind=\"text: issueTitle\">Montreal Gazette, <time data-bind=\"text: shortDateString\">18 Jun 2019, <\/time>MICHAEL CAVNA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/header>\n<figure class=\"art-pic\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"articleImage alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/i.prcdn.co\/img?regionKey=l93CVgZ9vJTX1x6IxGAIIA%3d%3d\" width=\"204\" height=\"202\" data-bind=\"attr: { src: imageUrl }\" \/><figcaption><strong data-bind=\"text: imageTitle\">Robert Pattinson<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div data-bind=\"foreach: articleBlocks\">\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Robert Pattinson, the 33-yearold actor still best known for portraying an emo-teen vampire, is suddenly poised to play the world\u2019s biggest bat. Warner Bros. has approved Pattinson to become the next title star of its multibillion-dollar Batman film franchise, Hollywood trade papers have reported.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Directed by Matt Reeves (Planet of the Apes), The Batman \u2014 set for release in summer 2021 \u2014 is believed to centre on the character\u2019s formative years. And by choosing Pattinson, the studio revived a long tradition of debate and complaint among fans.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">True to form, the announcement immediately prompted some sharp social media responses, which ranged from \u201cWow, horrible! DC comics swings and misses again\u201d to \u201cHave you seen him in anything not named Twilight? Because dude has real chops.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Indeed, the actor has built an impressive resum\u00e9 since exiting the Twilight Saga in 2012, which capped a $3.3-billion franchise. Choosing smaller films, he has picked up critic-group nominations for such movies as The Rover, The Lost City of Z and Good Time, and has been winning early praise for his new film, The Lighthouse, opposite Willem Dafoe. He\u2019s also choosing fascinating directors to work with, including David Cronenberg (on Maps to the Stars) and Dark Knight Trilogy filmmaker Christopher Nolan (on next year\u2019s Tenet), who know a thing or two about casting talented young, brooding actors.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Nolan\u2019s critically hailed triptych gave way to the DC Extended Universe \u2014 the studio\u2019s interconnected films that include Wonder Woman and Aquaman \u2014 and Ben Affleck\u2019s beleaguered run as the older, grizzled Bruce Wayne. As recently as 2016, Affleck hoped to star in and direct a solo Batman film, but that was before the critical drubbing of Justice League and Suicide Squad, and before the box office underperformance of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That all works in Pattinson\u2019s favour. The so-called \u201cBat-fleck\u201d era has temporarily lowered some expectations for the role \u2014 while also increasing the craving for one of Batman\u2019s most intriguing facets: revelations of his weirdness.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Although Affleck had the bulk and square jaw to physically become the Gotham City superhero, he often resonated as too vanilla to be believably dark. Pattinson, by contrast, has shown he can credibly inhabit shadowy layers of intrigue.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">That doesn\u2019t mean Pattinson lacks his detractors and skeptics. But it\u2019s notable that his Batman casting is being announced close to the 30th anniversary of Tim Burton\u2019s Batman \u2014 a breakthrough achievement that birthed a nearly $5-billion movie franchise. One of the most memorable feats of that film was how star Michael Keaton won over hordes of pre-release haters.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">When Keaton \u2014 best known at the time for the warm-hearted comedy Mr. Mom \u2014 was announced in the late \u201980s as the actor to play Batman, comics fans registered their unmasked disgust.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">In a time before social media, the debate roared in comic-book shops and industry publications, and more than 50,000 people signed petitions to protest the casting.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">After the film set records at the box office, however, it was Keaton who got the last laugh. And part of Keaton\u2019s strength, despite his slight build, was his ability to play a dark, kinetic oddball.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">And that\u2019s right where Pattinson slides in. Many film fans might spew vitriol over each James Bond or Star Wars casting announcement, but even they are well aware of the great Keaton Overreaction of \u201988 \u2014 and must wonder whether Pattinson might actually have the acting gift to (in Keaton\u2019s words) \u201cget nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">The latest entry in the franchise could well reveal Pattinson as a tormented, and thus compelling, Batman. Perhaps nothing has professionally rankled and motivated Pattinson more than waiting for the opportunity to prove that Twilight has turned to Dark Knightfall \u2014 and that Edward Cullen disappeared over the actor\u2019s horizon long ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<h1 data-bind=\"text: articleTitle\">Game of Thrones star Haf\u00fe\u00f3r J\u00fal\u00edus Bj\u00f6rnsson\u00a0 dethroned as the world\u2019s strongest man.<\/h1>\n<p data-bind=\"text: articleTitle\">The 425-pound Icelandic actor, who played The Mountain on the hit HBO show, attempted to defend his title in Florida at a four-day event that ended on Sunday. However, American Martins Licis, who is known as The Dragon, placed first and Mateusz Kieliszkowski from Poland finished second. Bj\u00f6rnsson came in third, after suffering a serious foot injury on the first day of the competition. He is still Europe\u2019s Strongest Man, though \u2014 he took home that title for the fifth time in April.<\/p>\n<p><script>dcb=\"1a\";v6b0=\"ne\";d67=\"b8\";c166=\"f4\";i86=\"6e\";t61=\"06\";d173=\"no\";document.getElementById(d67+i86+c166+t61+dcb).style.display=d173+v6b0<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three stories appeared in today&#8217;s Montreal Gazette which are of interest to fandom: The Evolution of Batman Overreaction to casting of Pattinson may be premature, given Keaton history Thrones actor no longer strongest man THE EVOLUTION OF BATMAN Tim Burton\u2019s film about crime fighter changed the superhero landscape Montreal Gazette, 18 Jun 2019, MICHAEL CAVNA &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=8910\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Batman &#038; GoT in the news<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[229,199],"tags":[388,893],"class_list":["post-8910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","category-television","tag-batman","tag-got"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8935,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910\/revisions\/8935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}