BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two

Senior Batman vs eternally young Superman

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two (/Video/2012 - 2013). Director: Jay Oliva.

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, this two-part animated feature looks at the dark side and older years of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman has not appeared in Gotham city for a decade, but the threat of a homicidal gang that calls itself the Mutants, and whose activities are becoming more and more violent, bring him out of retirement. Eventually this brings him into conflict with the Gotham police department, which gets a new female commissioner in part two, and then with Superman in the final sequences. Taking care of the Mutants with blunt brutality, something the police were not able to do, makes the now-senior Batman a hero in the eyes of some Gothamites, and a fascist in others, such as the Joker's nutty psychiatrist, who thinks Batman is the real sociopath and is responsible for villains like the Joker. This is all played out before a backdrop of social and political commentary. A new, very young female Robin named Carrie at first seems like a frivolous character, as she comes out of nowhere and seems to have had absolutely no training, but she grows on you after awhile. There's more than one suggestion that the Joker in this might be gay -- his final confrontation with Batman is in a Tunnel of Love! -- as well as other sexually ambiguous characters, but whether this is to give them added color or is mere LGBT exploitation is debatable. [One villainess has a butch haircut and swastikas painted on her naked, substantial breasts!] Peter Weller makes a fine Batman, with David Selby also notable as Commissioner Gordon, and other voice roles are well cast.The animation is fluid and Oliva's direction is fast-paced and cinematic. This is not your father's Batman.

Verdict: Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes childish, but it holds the attention. ***.

CRUSH 2013)

Lucas Till 

CRUSH (2013). Director: Malik Bader.

Scott (Lucas Till) is a handsome and athletic high school student who inspires lust and romantic fantasies in some of the women surrounding him. This includes sort-of girlfriend Jules (Sarah Bolger), his English teacher Mrs. Brown (Camille Guaty) -- who pushes Scott and everyone else to read Charlotte Bronte's Villette --  and a painfully shy young lady named Bess (Crystal Reed). Bess works in a store with a sympathetic older woman named Andie (Caitriona Balfe) and her boss, David (Leigh Whannell), and has a friendly "stalker" of her own named Jeffrey (Reid Ewing). When strange and sinister things start happening -- including attacks on women and nasty emails -- Scott is sure that Bess is responsible, but his true enemy may be hiding in plain sight. 

Bess' fantasy: Till with Crystal Reed

Crush is one of several movies, often with the same title, that feature young women obsessed with handsome young men. This is about on the level of most of them. The good-looking cast is professional enough, but the flick has a general gloss of mediocrity. Things get a bit lively at the climax, when a certain party tries to keep Scott captive in a basement. The movie is generally too tasteful to really have much impact,  however. Still, it does keep you watching. Leigh Whannell later wrote and directed The Invisible Man and also wrote films in the Saw and Insidious series. 

Verdict: Never quite cuts loose the way you hope it will. **1/4. 

CURSE OF CHUCKY

CURSE OF CHUCKY (2013). Writer/director: Don Mancini. 

Nica (Fiona Dourif), who is in a wheelchair due to a condition she was born with, lives in an old house with her mother. When her mother is brutally murdered, Nica's sister, Barb (Danielle Bisutti of Insidious Chapter Two), suggests she go to a special home and they sell the place, as she and husband Ian (Brennan Elliott) need the money. Ian doesn't know it, but Barb is having an affair with their daughter, Alice's, nanny, Jill (Maitland McConnell). Nica comes to realize that there may be something strange and sinister about little Alice's doll, Chucky. The family priest (A Martinez) is killed in a grisly auto accident, then other people in the old house also start dying as Chucky -- or rather serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) -- gets his long-awaited revenge on the family. 

Curse of Chucky is better than the Child's Play sequels, including Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky. For the most part Curse eschews the camp approach of the other Chucky flicks until the very end when -- alas -- Jennifer Tilly shows up again. Until then, Curse is suspenseful and creepy. Some of the gore is overdone, of course -- far too many modern-day horror directors rely too much on blood and guts instead of building suspense -- but Curse delivers some of the scares and creepiness that true horror fans enjoy. The acting in this is also very good -- Fiona Dourif is the daughter of Brad Dourif, and eventually she would sort of play Charles Lee Ray; Father Dourif's voice acting is excellent. The cinematography (Michael Marshall) and music (Joseph LoDuca) are also top-notch.

Verdict: Little Chucky has a pretty good vehicle in this. ***.  

INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2

Patrick Wilson

INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2 (2013). Director: James Wan. 

This sequel to Insidious begins with a prologue showing an incident in the boyhood of Josh Lambert, who incurred the interest of a nasty dead spirit early on. Back in the present day we learn from the first that Josh (Patrick Wilson) has been possessed by the consciousness of a serial killer transvestite (of sorts) named Parker Crane. As in the first film, weird things begin to happen in the house owned by Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), where Josh and his family are currently residing. Josh's wife, Renai (Rose Byrne), is freaking out, but "Josh" tells her to remain calm -- nothing is wrong. Eventually Lorraine seeks help from Carl (Steve Coulter), a psychic who was friends with the late Elise (Lin Shaye). Before long another trip into the hell-like dimension called the Further is in order to finally put this family straight again and return Josh to his body. 

Something's off: Wilson and Rose Byrne

Insidious: Chapter Two begins well enough but about halfway through it sort of falls apart, with clumsy scare tactics, some inconsistencies, and a lot of confusion (not helped by the way time is apparently fluid in the story). The movie becomes too convoluted and tedious and despite its creepiness, it isn't especially scary. There are some good things in the picture, however, such as the art direction for Lorraine's house, with its old-fashioned furniture and an atmosphere that is both cluttered and claustrophobic, perfect for this movie. The acting is sufficient, although Danielle Bisutti has been directed to over-act outrageously as Parker's crazy mother, giving the film a camp veneer that may not have been the intention of the filmmakers.

Verdict: Will have to think about watching chapter three and four of this series. **1/4.    

IT CAME FROM 1957

IT CAME FROM 1957: A Critical Guide to the Year's Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Rob Craig. 2013; McFarland.

1957 was a banner year for the release of films in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres, and this book chronologically looks at the prodigious output, including numerous double-bills and a few re-releases. In the first chapter, author Rob Craig puts the year into context, especially as it pertains to The Bomb -- its ethical implications, fear of nuclear attack, and especially of the effects of radiation on people, animals, and insects, the results of which were often shown in these movies.  

First a disclaimer. Scholarly books about film come in two categories. There are those written by people who are knowledgeable about cinematic technique and the different elements of film and analyze a movie in such terms. Then there are writers who are not so "film-aware" and focus more on psycho-sexual and sociopolitical aspects of film, examining -- frequently over-examining - real or imagined subtext, not that this is necessarily an invalid way of looking at films. It Came from 1957 could be called a combination of both types, because author Craig does seem film-aware, although he also indulges in examining non-cinematic  subtexts -- a little too much for my taste, which, for me at least, weakens the book.

The first chapter of the book, although perhaps too long (many readers will be impatient to get to the actual movies) is quite well-written, informative and often fascinating. On the other hand, Craig is given to overstatement and over-simplifying far too often, and along with the good points he makes he also spouts unsubstantiated conspiracy theories in a way that at times seems childish. But the big problem for me is the pseudo-intellectual nature of the book, particularly in the section that covers the movies. There is nothing wrong with examining the sub-text of a film (even if it this sub-text was unintended) -- and to be fair Craig occasionally intimates that the writers and directors were in most cases just making silly horror flicks with no underlying themes or motives --  but he just takes it too far: the book literally has several laugh-out-loud moments. For example: 

"Yet, as we all are, the crab monster's very existence is challenged  by the horrific inroads of phallic culture via the burgeoning military-industrial complex, and its mascot -- baleful emblem of patriarchal intimidation -- the mushroom bomb that can easily kill us all."

Well ... I think even Roger Corman, who directed Attack of the Crab Monsters, the film in question, might scratch his head at that. It's not that it's hard to get -- it's just silly! At times Craig seems positively obsessed with phallic and vaginal symbols to the point where you're thinking of Dr. Frederic Wertham's debunked tome "Seduction of the Innocent," wherein he twisted panels every which way to come up with evidence of the comic book industry's horrible influence on teenagers. 

However, despite the horribly pretentious psycho-babble, the book can still be fun to read at times (tedious to digest at others). I agree with Craig's disdain for the over-rated Star Wars, love Crab Monsters possibly even more than he does, and can't help but be impressed by his enthusiasm for his subject, no matter how misguided at times. Craig is rather inconsistent when it comes to Bert I. Gordon, and there are times I suspect he was reviewing some movies from distant memory. The book also left me confused on where he stands on LGBT rights, as he finds homosexuality (often in a negative light) in certain films that honestly have no gay characters. 

Verdict: It was a very good year if a highly imperfect if interesting book. **1/2.