batman

Troperiffic Tuesday!: Big Damn Heroes

Chick 1 says:

It’s the moment we go to the movies to see; the Damsel in Distress, or the Mentor, or the Innocent Bystander is about to be killed by the Big Bad, but at the very last second the lead bursts in and saves the day, making him the Big Damn Hero!

The entrance of the Big Damn Heroes is one of the most popular tropes in movies today, especially big blockbuster popcorn movies.  It creates a huge rush of adrenaline and rightly so.  As conflict is the heart of all drama, waiting until the last minute to rescue the victim makes maximum use of this tension.  And it’s usually accompanied by a swell in the music. Read more

Posted on by Chick 1 in Tropes 194 Comments

Troperiffic Tuesday!: Deconstruction

Chick 1 says:

I have a friend who is an engineer.  When he was a child, he took apart a telephone just to see how it worked.  That is a great example of what the Deconstruction trope is all about.  We take apart a trope, a character, a genre, or even a series to see what makes it tick.  Or what would happen if we did…this?  

Deconstruction is an idea that is used in many disciplines besides storytelling but the goal is the same; to gain a better understanding of something by disassembling it. One of the most popular types of narrative Deconstruction is to ask what would happen to this trope, character or plot device if the rules of Real Life applied to it.  As Deconstruction often, not always, comes across as darker it can sometimes be interpreted as an attack on whatever is being deconstructed.   But it can give us a better understanding of how things work and an even bigger appreciation for tropes, characters, and stories we already love.  Read more

Posted on by Chick 1 in Tropes 15 Comments

Quote of the Week

Some days ya just can’t get rid of a bomb.

Batman (Adam West)

Batman (1966)

Posted on by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes Leave a comment

Randomness: Tim Burton’s Batman Turns 20

Chick 1 says:batman1

Yes, it was 20 years ago this summer that Tim Burton changed the landscape of comic book movies and made a ton of cash.  1989 was a great summer for movies; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, When Harry Met Sally, Parenthood, The Abyss, and Uncle Buck (an odd choice for summer release considering the cold Chicago setting).  But the mother of them all was Batman.  It gave me quite the little crush on Michael Keaton.  And while I sensed this was a significant movie, my understanding of its impact was limited to the rising prices at the concession, a phenomenon I dubbed “Batprices”.  There’s a great article over at Salon.com about the lasting impact this movie has had on the film industry.  Check it out if, like me, you’re interested in that sort of thing.

Posted on by Chick 1 in Randomness 21 Comments

2008: Best Moments in a Theater

Chick 2 says:zooey-on-scooter

 ***Spoilers follow*** Read more

Posted on by wj11 in Year in Review 64 Comments