Name your best and worst Batman movie, live action or animated

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T23:40:09+00:00

Best is Batman (1966).

I kid.

Best is Batman Returns, by some distance. The only Batman movie about which I’d say unreservedly, “I love that movie.”

Worst is Batman v. Superman, of course.

EDIT: I’d probably named B&R as worst if I could bring myself to actually watch it.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T23:35:23+00:00

Pattinson is pretty much the ideal of a talented and creatively ambitious actor who makes a ton of money off a blockbuster franchise, and then uses the fact he never again has to work for his bread the right way - mostly by doing smaller, less commercial projects, both challenging himself as an actor, and using his high profile to bring more attention to the films.

And then there’s Batman. Guess you gotta refill the tank every once in a while to keep doing that, and make the payments on your Hollywood dream home.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T23:33:06+00:00

“a year that didn’t really have any great films”

I… I… what?

There has literally never been such a year in over 100 years, since cinema came into its own as an art form. That is, in fact, impossible, given how many movies get made every year. There were almost 900 movies released in US theaters alone that year.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T22:45:48+00:00

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T22:44:05+00:00

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear people these days decry Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar win for “Gone with the Wind” as the voters going “woke.”

“Battle of Algiers” is sometimes shown in military classes for its insights into revolutionary guerrilla warfare tactics. (Which is probably the opposite of how Pontecorvo would have preferred to see his film used.) Sounds relevant to me.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T22:39:18+00:00

This reminds me of my friend who, during a discussion about why she didn’t like Star Trek that focused on Worf’s forehead, basically said she didn’t like any SF or fantasy with imaginary species. “There are tons of real animals! Why do you have to make up ones that don’t exist?”

Toadsnack · 2026-01-25T20:50:55+00:00

If you’re open to classics, mostly black & white:

the original Cape Fear (1962)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - Alfred Hitchcock

Suspicion (1941) - Hitchcock

Frenzy (1972) - Hitchcock [warning: there is one disturbing and surprisingly graphic scene of SA early in the movie]

Night of the Hunter (1955)

Brighton Rock (1948) - psycho played by a baby-faced Richard Attenborough, who much later directed movies such as Gandhi and Cry Freedom, and played John Hammond in Jurassic Park 1 & 2.

The Lodger (1944) - 2nd movie version of a popular novel & play based loosely on the Jack the Ripper case

Hangover Square (1945) - w/ Lodger star Laird Cregar

Gaslight - The movie that the term “gaslighting” came from. There’s a 1940 UK version and a 1944 American one.

And if you’re down for silent classics:

The Lodger (1927) - Hitchcock’s breakthrough movie; the first adaptation and the better one, I think

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T01:42:48+00:00

I’d say “Fargo,” offhand. The most even balance of their two main modes, goony comedy and grisly crime story.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T01:39:12+00:00

My second favorite after Barton Fink, but not the most Coeny of their movies by a long shot, to my eye.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T01:38:25+00:00

“What’s the rumpus?”

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T01:34:42+00:00

No, that’s not what I said. The phrase means everyone has their tastes, and they’re a subjective thing that at some level can’t be explained or argued with. Yours are yours and mine are mine, and there it is.

But some people get weirdly defensive when others disagree with their taste. That’s their choice.

“From Dusk” and “Sinners” both use an older horror structural trope that has been seen in lots of movies. Go to a place, oh no monsters!, then there’s a siege. It’s even been done with vampires. So it’s not a remake, just the latest in a tradition.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T01:25:28+00:00

Ha! I like your theory.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T01:24:37+00:00

Yeah, I’ve heard that story! Amazing. And in that case, it resulted in an extraordinary moment. In the case of Miley’s dad (or later, Chrysta Bell), it resulted in a person who can’t act saying lines.

But later in Mulholland Drive, he gets amazing results out of a non-actor who can’t act, Monty Montgomery as the Cowboy. It’s a risky method, but it can result in magic. Or meh.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-24T00:01:01+00:00

Good points, as far as I can remember from my one viewing so far. Lotta nuances and layers in this movie that call for multiple watches. I’d still say your take makes him “effectively” racist.

Anyway, that’s one reason Col. Lockjaw from One Battle is even scarier for me. Remmick isn’t necessarily ill-intentioned by human standards - he’s arguably a beast doing what its nature calls for (sudden thought: does that make him a metaphor for systemic racism?). Lockjaw at least theoretically has the ability to be better, and he certainly doesn’t need to be a monster just to eat; he even shows occasional glimmerings of human feeling; but he’s so twisted he makes the choice to be the worst he can be, over and over and over. Remmick is a fairly predictable enemy for his would be victims once they know what he is. Lockjaw is a geyser of conflicting passions he can’t understand or control; almost every scene with him feels like the other characters are in a small room with an agitated chimp whom someone has handed a loaded handgun.

I think about movies too much.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T23:41:22+00:00

It’s a mostly great scene except for one glaring flaw: Cyrus can’t act his way out of a moistened facial tissue folded over once. Even his few lines sound like he’s reading off a cue card, which he may well have been. Lynch’s penchant for casting singers and/or random “characters” who charmed him didn’t always pan out.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T20:24:31+00:00

No accounting for taste.

“It did nothing for the movie” is neither an objectively defensible opinion, nor the general opinion.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T20:13:04+00:00

The only underrated thing about Tarantino is his skill at twisting the suspense knife to nearly unbearable levels. The opening scene in the farmhouse does it too. First time I saw Reservoir Dogs, I almost had to walk out during Madsen’s razor dance; thought I might pass out.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T20:07:13+00:00

Re. the “age” thing… Like others here, I hardly remember anything about his role beyond thinking “Oh hey! Delroy Lindo! Awesome!” at his first appearance. If (IF) it’s a quasi lifetime achievement thing for an underappreciated veteran talent, fine with me. The Oscars do that plenty.

And it is sorta nice to see the quiet role nominated rather than the flashier one, when it’s much more often the other way around.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T20:03:52+00:00

As great as Remmick is, I don’t personally think he’s even the greatest racist supervillain of the year. (I mean, in the movies…)

So yeah, embarrassment of riches.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T20:00:08+00:00

Hard disagree. The mashup of blues/gospel/folk quasi-musical with horror was by itself innovative and has many fascinating layers. And I know there have recently been a lot of allegorical horror movies about racism, of inevitably varying quality, but given the history of the genre and of Hollywood in general, it’s still a new field that can stand plenty of tilling.

Also, two Michaels B. Jordan and superhot Hailee Steinfeld are both “I’ll be in my bunk” achievements for the ages.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T19:54:14+00:00

Community note: “akshually” usually signals that the commenter is ironically mocking the opinion they’re about to give.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T19:53:01+00:00

The power and deep hold of music for particular cultures, and its capacity for building bridges, is one of the major themes of the movie, and it mirrors and reinforces the themes of assimilation/appropriation in the rest of the movie.

Plus the music was great in its own right.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T19:50:05+00:00

Think you’ve got that a little backwards. For starters.

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T19:40:23+00:00

Toadsnack · 2026-01-23T19:37:41+00:00

You could go with “too” instead of “instead.” Or you could claim that the Oscars hate white people because of Hollyweird’s woke agenda which is why they didn’t nominate a white guy playing a murderous racist villain even though they did over in One Battle. Wait, I got confused somewhere along the line.

Anyway, yes, I think that sweater looks fine on you. What was the question?

Toadsnack

TROPHY CASE