Batman at the Circus: 'Massacre Under the Big Top'

Kurt here from Your Movie Buddy, offering a circus-themed post to coincide with the release of Water for Elephants, 20th Century Fox's spring tentpole (nyuk, nyuk). My three-ring subject is a pivotal scene from Batman Forever, that neon-coated guilty pleasure that gave way to what's likely my most hated movie of all time. It begins with a cube of cheese:

I've really got to get you out of those clothes...

            "Excuse me?"

...and into a black dress. Tell me, doctor, do you like the circus?"

And with that, Bruce Wayne (Val Kilmer) and the bankly-named Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) head out for a very script-friendly first date, conveniently opening the door for The Birth of Robin. We soar into the Hippodrome, a waterfront arena just outside the downtown area of Joel Schumacher's rainbow vision of Gotham, and pass multiple instances of the production designer's imperialist-society-by-way-of-paper-mâché aesthetic.

Inside, Gotham's finest gather to watch the acrobatic stylings of The Flying Graysons, a carnie clan that includes Dick (Chris O'Donnell), his brother, and his mom and dad. To my knowledge, this setup adheres rather closely to the lore of the Batman comics, though Dick/Robin was just a wee lad of 10 when taken under Batman's cape.

Anyway (getting ahead of ourselves), the Graysons prove a crowd favorite.

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Reader Spotlight: Chris

Continuing the weekly or twice weekly series of reader spotlights. Today's reader is Chris a Midwestern reader with a great sense of humor who started reading TFE in his senior year of high school back in the mid Aughts and never stopped. That's the way we like it, the never-stopping part.

Nathaniel: Do you remember your first moviegoing experience or first movie obsession?
CHRIS: I'm pretty sure it was The Little Mermaid, because I have a distinct memory of Ursula's entrance. I can't remember my first movie obsession, because there have been so many. Probably the biggest was the summer that Moulin Rouge! and Hedwig and the Angry Inch came out. I flipped for both movies individually, but collectively they made me feel like musicals were back for good.

Take one Oscar away and give it to someone else.
I have to go with two on this one (and I'd take them away from double winners actually): First, I'd give Sean Penn's Mystic River Oscar to Bill Murray for Lost in Translation, because Murray gave a career-defining performance and, let's be honest, Penn was light years better in Milk anyway. Second, I'd give Hilary Swank's second Oscar to Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine, because it's her best work and Hilary Swank was the weakest performance in the category by a mile!

You're suddenly in charge of world cinema for a year! How do you you wield this awesome power?
I'd get rid of the whole "Oscar movie" release pattern! I hate that having to wait all year for the quality movies, and then try to cram in far too many movies into too little time. Plus, living in the crappy midwest means most of the smaller films don't stick around and I have to rush to see them ASAP anyway.

Have you ever dressed as a movie character for Halloween? And has a movie character ever dressed as you?
I went as Wall•E. Made it myself, too! On the flip side, Joseph Gordon-Levitt totally raided my wardrobe in (500) Days of Summer.

Chris makes his own costumes. JGL steals his look! 

Three Favorite Actresses?
Only 3 is so not fair! I'd have to go with Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Laura Linney.

Name your favorite movie in the following five genres: musical, drama, scifi, horror, woody allen. Go!
Aladdin, Boogie Nights, Children of Men, The Shining, Interiors. Most of those are hard to narrow down just to one, but I was half tempted to put The Room as one that fits all these categories. Jokes!


Previous Reader Spotlights: Peter, Ziyad, Andrew, Yonatan, Keir, Kyle, Jamie, Vinci, Victor, Bill, Hayden, Dominique, Murtada, Cory, Walter, Paolo, Leehee and BBats

Overheard: On Marisa Tomei

Last night my girlfriend Kay and I saw Marisa Tomei in the revival of Wallace Shawn's 1979 play Marie and Bruce. (I'll tell you a bit more about it and how it compares to that very underseen Julianne Moore film in next week's theater column). As you walk into the theater, before the show starts, Marisa and co-star Frank Whaley are already on the stage, tossing and turning in bed.

Marisa aka Marie is obviously NOT sleeping. In fact, she's chain smoking in between fights with the blankets and jabs at her snoring husband. Two older women walk past me.

Elderly Woman #1: ... [unintelligible] My Cousin Vinny.
Elderly Woman #2: That must be so frustrating, to win the Oscar your first time in a movie and then... nothing!

UHHnnnhh. So I say...

'First things first, ladies. Tomei has had quite a healthy early-skeptics-defying film career... complete with two follow up Oscar nominations and, one might argue, ever increasing levels of respect for her endurance and range. Just because you haven't been to the movies since 1992 does not mean she hasn't been making them. And with major directors, too -- Aronofsky, Winterbottom, Lumet, Clooney .... Also: she can hear you. There's no music, she's already on stage, it's a small house, you are four rows away from her'

Well, that's what I said in my head. In reality I just gave Kay a sideways look and she fully understood my grievance. Then we mentally projected "Break a leg, Marisa!" up to the stage. But she didn't need the help; she killed it as usual. Don't you totally love her?

P.S. Also on the way in I heard theater patrons talking about how weird it is for Wallace Shawn that people always want to talk to him about Clueless (1995) since it's such a microscopic part of his career. (Perhaps these people knew him?) But, come to think of it, that must be true of all character actors who have showy parts in mainstream hits. That people wouldn't know everything else you've accomplished in life? [cue Princess Bride voice] "INCONCEIVABLE!"

'it's linking men, hallelujah, it's linking men... Amen!'

The Film Experience likes the ladies best -- actresses forevah -- but today's links are curious phallocentric, hence the title.

Observations on Film Art one more piece on Sidney Lumet, something to fill out the "constrained" picture of the general mass of obituaries.
Tom Shone, in a wonderful concise piece, knows we're all more Brad Pitt than Terrence Malick in this Tree of Life.
Cinema Blend Katey worries that Hollywood is going to make us sick of Jeremy Renner. He's doing as many franchises as Samuel L Jackson adding The Bourne Legacy (lead role - taking over for Matt Damon) to the line-up. Ruh-roh.
The Wrap organized-crime-drama alert. There's always a few in production. Sean Penn and Josh Brolin, so memorably at odds in Milk, may be enemies again in Gangster Squad
Jezebel has a hilarious reel of men faking orgasm onscreen (in non-pornographic films). It's even a little bit interesting in a non-pervy way.
Movie|Line Joseph Gordon-Levitt trashes the Conan set for a Hesher promo.
Movie Morlocks RIP on the 1970s star Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses Don't They, For Pete's Sake) who passed away last week. So many major goodbyes in showbiz lately. Sigh.
TVLine Strange Emmy development, ladies division: January Jones is still campaigning as a lead for Mad Men despite her screen time being at least halved this past season. Bad move? This puts her up against Elisabeth Moss, who is back to lead.

GayGayGay
Stale Popcorn Yay. Another convert to writer/director/actor/producer Xavier Dolan. I'll  have more on Heartbeats once it hits DVD... whenever that is.
Towleroad this weeks column by moi. I would have reviewed Water For Elephants but I was in Nashville. Is it wrong that I'm super excited to see it?
Out Magazine Thomas Dekker (Kaboom, Cinema Verite) is sending out all sorts of mixed signals about his sexuality. I guess we're still a couple years away from (male) movie actors coming out.

Streep. The Lady Turns Blue

A new photo of Jim Broadbent and Meryl Streep as Mr & Mrs Margaret Thatcher from The Iron Lady [via The Daily Mail]

This is apparently a recreation of her "The lady is not for turning" speech when she was at war with the unions. As much as I hated Mamma Mia! from her Iron Lady director and as much as I am largely suspect about this movie and whether it will lionize (perhaps accidentally?) an über conservative doing the kind of thing everyone is correctly pissed at the Wisconsin Governor for doing, I'll have to admit I'm getting more curious about the movie.

If only because it's so hard to read this far out. Did I underestimate it in my Oscar predictions?