I may be in trouble after this...then again, I think not.

1001 makes room on the list for Batman. Being that my edition was published in 2004, they're talking Michael Keaton's version. Yes this one:



No, not this one:



Now, are they both great movies? Sure. Is there room for both of them on the list.

No.

Would I replace the old with the new?

No.

I know, I know.

Breathe in, breathe out. I promise, I love superhero movies.

But this is the deal. Look at that first trailer again. In Tim Burton's Batman, you're seeing the best of the special effects. Yes, they're rivaling the wizardry of Team America, but in 1989, that was something great. In The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's trailer barely has to show up in order to smack the original Batman into the corner, steal his milk money and sully his sister's reputation.

At the same time, our Dark Knight could stand to turn around and shake Batman's hand. Sure, before Tim Burton, there had been plenty of Superhero movies and television shows - before that, radio had brought on more than enough action. Many an actor got their start in the business as a hero and made a fine living making movies for kids.

Tim Burton promised to take it a step further for the 80s shiny, super-synthed, computer-obsessed, greed-addled, materialistic, overly active brains. It had to be more than just a Super Hero movie back in the day - it had to be an event. And worse yet, it had to overcome the campyness of a television show that was better known for gargantuan KA-POW!! shots, bat-shark repellent, a crime fighting duo that always buckled up and practiced good grammar. Tim Burton also fought to take Michael Keaton and turn him into the brooding, conflicted Batman who was playboy by day and crime-fighting badass by night.

This was a tall order for anyone. Especially when CGI wasn't even a gleam in anyone's eye. And then you announce your caped crusader is going to be played by the star of Mr. Mom and Beatlejuice. Yes, that guy. Have I mentioned that you're putting him up against Jack Nicholson as the Joker?

Tim Burton was doing the first reboot before we even knew to call them reboots.

Yes, the effects are laughable and yes, the Batmobile looked a little too much like the campy car of old, but there was a roadmap being drawn that would become everything we know about our flawed Superheroes of today. No more mere flashes of doubt or an easily glossed over brush with mortality; Burton was ushering in the era of the flawed hero.

This is where Mr. Mom became sheer genius for the role - who better than someone who had previously been known for comedy to portray a boy struck by tragedy driven to protect a city from itself? Why would the guy previously undead seen trying to marry Wynona Ryder in a formal prison tux suddenly be a conflicted playboy trying to do good anonymously? It makes no sense.

Neither does Batman.

Any other director that's supposedly taken a casting risk on a hero is just pretending compared to what Burton did before him. And this is where Tim gets all the credit. Sure, there's been awesomeness since, but you have to give credit where credit's due.

A Hard-to-Find Film

Just a head's up.

If you're looking to watch Hal Hartley's Trust and you've got a subscription to Netflix, it's available this month on the instant-watch. The film isn't available on DVD right now (long out of print), so this is a pretty easy find if you're willing to go for the subscription.

Where I Stand (April 1-st-ish Edition)

Ah, 449 movies watched. We actually watched a dozen movies this month and decided to take the plunge with a little outfit called Netflix to get those DVDs that aren't available through the library (inaugural checkout from the list - Five Easy Pieces). I've also discovered that I may have a list problem over at List of Bests. Of the 27 Lists I'm working on, 15 are related to movies. Everything from The Films of Marilyn Monroe to Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments to the IMDB top 250 to this list. Hey, there's crossover.

So, onto the favorites for March:

Dersu Uzula - Yes, when it comes to Akira Kurosawa, I'm picking the one filmed in the former Soviet Union with the all USSR cast! However, in our Kurosawa mini-film festival this month, this was the one that spoke to us the most. Sure, there was the sweeping King Lear spectacle of Ran and then there was the bleak realization that no point of view would ever make sense or right out of Rashomon - and while all of that was rolickin' good times, Dersu Uzula's story of an unbalanced friendship left the longest impression. In Dersu Uzula, there is much to be said about allowing the organic nature of friendship to exist and to let yourself be helped by a friend that is offering without worrying about future repayments.

Sleuth - Every single film where there's a con of some sort wants to be this movie. Including the remake. Two men in the cast and nothing but words and your imagination to carry you through their various games of one-upsmanship. I'd say that you'll find yourself rooting for one over the other, but really, both are cheaters and liars. At the same time, you really do want to know how it's going to turn out.

The Wild Bunch - Peckinpah. Guns. Bullets. Lots and lots and lots and lots of bullets. Really - over 90,000 blanks were fired during that movie (it's on IMDB, so it must be true!). All in all, this is not a throwaway story dependent on bullets. What starts as a deadly double-cross on a "one-last-heist" (aren't they all?) turns into a run-in with Warlords demanding that our survivors now try to figure out how to rob the U.S. Army...which wouldn't be a terrible problem if one of the posse members weren't looking to help out the rebels on the sly.

Here's to a few more movies from multiple outlets, figuring out a better posting schedule, and spending some time in the great outdoors!