“Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible …a…a…”
 
As if in answer, a huge image of a Caped Crusader flashed across a movie screen. Across monitors throughout space and time and other dimensions.
 
“It’s an omen!” each man, alien and other-dimensional imp declared. “I shall become a Batman!”
 
One of the attractions of Batman was, it’s often been said, the fact that a kid could actually imagine growing up to be the Caped Crusader. No one was ever going to grow up to be Superman but with an extensive training regimen (and a hefty bank account) …well, anything’s possible. Overlay that with the spirit of mainstreaming and conformity of the 1950s and you end up with a universe where there seemed to be a Batman knock-off on every corner and planet.
 
In 1964, editor Julius Schwartz found his arm twisted into taking over the flagging Batman titles. He immediately ditched the extended Batman family and the increasingly prevalent space alien stories for a more contemporary angle grounded in the real world. And as the years rolled on, Schwartz and company refined their approach and gradually, permanently put the Dark back in their Knight.
 

Continue reading The Stories That Informed 'Batman R.I.P.' ›

Ask anyone what film they're most looking forward to next year and they'll probably tell you Watchmen or Inglourious Basterds or some other crap. Why? Because they've not yet heard of Paper Hearts, the top-secret new Michael Cera movie debuting at January's Sundance Film Festival. According to The Hollywood Reporter today, Hearts' makers are trying to keep it under wraps — it's not even on IMDb! — in hopes that it might take the fest by surprise, like Napoleon Dynamite did in 2005. "Any movie that's going to be touted too much will have a bull's-eye on its back," says one of HR's sources. Still, though, if the film's anywhere near as good as its stealth marketing campaign implies, can there be any doubt that Paper Hearts will surpass The Dark Knight's box-office gross on its way to next year's Academy Award for Best Picture?

According to HR, Hearts — directed by newcomer Nicholas Jasenovec — is a "part-documentary, part-scripted comedy" about the relationship between Cera and Charlyne Yi, his real-life girlfriend (who played Jodi in Knocked Up). Presumably Cera will play another dolt who bumbles his way into an awkward sexual encounter, and the soundtrack will feature indie rock of some variety. Sounds awesome to us!

Michael Cera comedy flies under radar [HR]

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Filed Under: charlyne yi, countdown, michael cera, movies, paper hearts, sundance, sundance film festival