Batman team-ups with a smile

On Friday, November 14, the latest Batman animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, debuts on Cartoon Network. Aimed at younger audiences than previous shows (even younger than the recent The Batman), this series features a less stern Batman acting as a mentor and leader to various heroes throughout the DC universe, most notably, the new Blue Beetle. You can catch a sneak peek of the series on Cartoon Network's website, and read profiles of the initial set of heroes here. The first group also includes Aquaman, Plastic Man, Red Tornado and Green Arrow.

Here's how supervising producer James Tucker describes the show's demographic and approach:

The target audience for The Brave and the Bold is broadly based. Nevertheless, it works demographically for 6-15 and still appeals to the hard-core comic/animation fan. In addition, of course, we're making it so that anyone who enjoys comic books/ superheroes and is a "kid at heart" will get something out of it. This is just the version of Batman that has been in the comics from shortly after his creation up until some of the darker, grittier versions of his character appeared in the late '80s and onward. Typically, people start telling the story from where his parents are murdered. That's not suitable for what is deemed children's entertainment. This version signals a return to a more innocent time. Batman is a crime fighter and hero first. As a result, Batman can be ironic ­ he can show more sides of himself than if he's just brooding, being gruff and distant to his usual cast of characters. He simply has to be more approachable for the premise of this show to work. Otherwise, why would anyone even bother to work with him? It's pretty much the Batman from the Brave and the Bold comics I read as a kid.

The first episode, "Rise of the Blue Beetle," features both Green Arrow and the Blue Beetle (the Jamie Reyes version, currently appearing in the comics, voiced by Batman Beyond's Will Friedle), whose origin is recounted in the episode. The heroes face JLA space villain Kanjar Ro, seen in the clip.

My Favorite Scene: Some Like it Hot

At about an hour and a half into the two-hour Some Like it Hot, the scene opens with Jerry (Jack Lemmon) dressed as ‘Daphne” – wig, dress, jewelry, make-up – lying on the bed, humming the tango and shaking maracas above his head, smiling at the events of his evening. Joe (Tony Curtis) climbs in the window, returning from his own escapade:

“Hi Jerry, everything under control?”
“Have I got things to tell you!”
“What happened?”
“I’m engaged!”
“Congratulations! Who’s the lucky girl?”
“I am!”

This exchange sets the tone for scene as Jerry, who up to this point had trouble playing along with the evening’s scheme (his occupying an elderly millionaire by accepting a date with him so Joe can woo a girl on the millionaire’s yacht he pretended was his own), fully embraces his role. That is why, for almost the entire scene, from when he is alone at the beginning until after Joe enters the room, he remains in “costume.” He only removes his wig when Joe tells him to remind himself “you’re a boy, you’re a boy” (a call back to a scene earlier in the movie when Joe has to remind Jerry “you’re a girl, you’re a girl” when they are surrounded women parading around in their underwear early into their masquerade).

Throughout the scene, Jerry cites all the clichés of a woman about to be married – “Do you think he’s too old for me?”, marrying him for “security,” mulling over honeymoon locations, wondering what his fiancé’s mother will think. After all, it’s his “last chance to marry a millionaire.”

Joe insists to Jerry that he has to call off the engagement/marriage. “There are laws, conventions, it’s just not being done!” but Jerry says he will go through it only until after the honeymoon, when he will ask for a divorce and “keep getting those alimony checks every month!” This represents the first time we see Jerry initiate his own money-making scheme, which are usually spearheaded by Joe. This time, however, Joe thinks, the idea is too far out – until Jerry shows Joe his engagement presents, a diamond bracelet. “Hey these are real diamonds!” Of course they’re real! Do you think my fiancé’s a bum?” Now, Joe recognizes the possibilities. When Jerry finally realizes he’ll have to call of the engagement and return the bracelet, Joe, replies “Now, Jerry, let’s not be hasty.” Joe’s true nature shines through.

In only about three minutes, attitudes, plans and schemes evolve, with a role reversal that unravels, as Jerry can’t maintain the deception and Joe is motivated by easy money. This, however, is the last scene where we see Joe behave in this way, as reality closes in and he also realizes the emotional damage his masquerade has caused. His change of heart is illustrated by what he ultimately does with that diamond bracelet (not that it was his to do anything with, but why quibble?). As such, this scene sets the stage for the final act of this brilliantly written, directed and acted classic with one of the best closing lines in movie history: “Nobody’s perfect.”

Hulk vs. Thor

A clip from January's Hulk vs. DVD, which pits the Green Goliath separately against Wolverine and Thor. Here's Hulk dropping into Thor's homeland, Asgard:

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Earlier this week, an expanded trailer for Watchmen debuted during Spike TV's Scream Awards, and showed up online shortly thereafter in regular and HD versions (in HD, you can see Dr. Manhattan's junk about 19 seconds in when he and the Silk Spectre appear on the moon). Coinciding with the new trailer was the release of this new poster featuring an image from the end of the trailer and the beginning of the book, the event that kicks off the story.

Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen was published by DC Comics in 12 monthly installments in 1986, and is considered the greatest graphic novel ever by most critics, and in fact is on Time's list of Top 100 Novels. Many, including Alan Moore, who hates all adaptations of his work, consider the book unfilmable, but based on the trailer and other images that have been released so far, it seems pretty close. Anticipation has been building since the release of the first trailer in front of The Dark Knight over the summer. Sales of the book have exploded since then, and this new footage will likely sell even more. The book is prominently displayed in all bookstores -- not just comic shops, so awareness is pretty high.

Barring complications due to the lawsuit between Fox and Warner Bros. over the movie, Watchmen opens in theatres on March 6, 2009.