I recently started to catch up on some of my DVR viewing (hours and hours of programming, someday when I’m more free….).  I watched one of the tens of episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold that harkened back to the 60s series.  The pre-credits teaser found the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder up against a villain known as Crazy Quilt.  The villain was using a weapon that fired deadly multi-colored beams of light at the dynamic duo.  Robin uses a piece of reflective glass to throw the beams back at the baddie rendering him blind.

Years later, Crazy Quilt escapes from Arkham Asylum  and vows revenge on Robin.  Now, we are presented with an older, but not a lot wiser version of the crimefighter.  He no longer patrols Gotham City but is the guardian of a community known as Bludhaven.  The last thing he wants is his old mentor coming to town to swoop in and save the day.  He grew weary of the “Old chum” bit, felt he had nothing more to learn from the World’s Greatest Detective, and wanted to escape the Shadow of the Bat.  However, as Bats reminded him, Speedy (The Flash’s protege), Aqualad, and Red Arrow all served with older heroes before setting out on their own.  Once again, the team regrouped to battle an old foe.

Since there have been a total of three characters to assume the role, I was curious as to which Robin we were getting.

• Dick Grayson is the original and probably the most known.  Bruce Wayne’s youthful ward reached adulthood and became Nightwing.
• Jason Todd inherited the role and was murdered by the Joker (ironically, this came after a nationwide 900 number poll in which the public decided the fate of the hero).
• The most recent Robin is Tim Drake.  I know little about him apart from his name.
• In this episode, we have a pre-Nightwing Dick Grayson.

The look and feel of the cartoon very closely resembled the classic series. Several of the BEST devices of the show were there.  Notice I said BEST!  No bat shark repellent spray here and no exploding rubber shark for that matter.  But we had the classic bat traps and the obligatory “Holy delusions of grandeur, Batman!”

A very fun episode!

One of my best friends posted on his blog that readers would get “bored” with his posts about his family and his love of it.  However, I think it would be highly entertaining.  I hope I don’t bore anyone with my occasional posts about my awesome friends.  Tonight, a bunch of us met at their house for an Oscar party.  I must say that I was shocked after the final tally in which I was the winner.  I usually don’t do too badly at these things… I am pleased if I get a quarter of the catergories correct.  I do have a system that mainly involves paying attention to the news a week or two before the awards and I go from there.  Luckily, Slumdog Millionaire did not let me down for the most part.  In fact, I think I went against the movie a few times and lost.

There were a few sure things.  I honestly thought that Heath Ledger MADE the Joker his own.  An interesting point was made tonight.  Does anyone recall the villain falling to his death in the theatrical release?  If so, it was apparently edited out of the DVD release.  Definitely a bittersweet victory.  The Clown Prince of Crime was the best part of The Dark Knight.

Also, who would not vote for Wall-E? While I am a fan of two-d animation of old, I think studios like Pixar create very fun, noteworthy work.

I have often thought that costume pieces are the way to go when choosing whic Costume Design movie to pick.  Thank goodness The Duchess kept that belief alive.

As for the rest, many of them were pure pull them out of the hat guesses… some good… others not so good.  Guess I was just lucky.

At one time most people thought of clowns as those funny guys who somehow emerged by groups from very little cars at circuses. I realize that some small children were scared of the wild antics of clowns at circuses. This probably was the driving force of the dark turn that clowns took in movies. The latest clown prince was of course Heath Ledger’s “Joker” in “The Dark Knight”. But to keep your interest in clowns going, here is EW’s list of 18 TV/Movie Clowns.

I remember Bozo from my youth.  One not listed was a local clown, I remember seeing him as a kid in his clown suit and in normal person form.  He would always take time to talk to me in his clown voice, and he always had balloons to make balloon animals.  His clown name was Quacky the Clown.  I found a site listing for the for Quacky and a picture at the bottom of this page, but I don’t think it would be the same Quacky from my youth.

“Dark Knight” star Christian Bale pictured in London Sunday ahead of the movie’s European premiere

The 34-year-old actor spent four hours at a London police station before being released on bail.

British media had reported that Bale’s mother and sister complained he had assaulted them at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Sunday night, a day before the European premiere of his latest film, “The Dark Knight.”

The Sun newspaper said police did not question the actor Monday because they did not want to interfere with the premiere of the movie.

Asked Tuesday whether Bale had been arrested, a London police spokesman did not refer to him by name but said: “A 34-year-old man attended a central London police station this morning by appointment and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault.”

The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because force policy did not authorize him to be identified. British police do not name suspects before they are formally charged.

The force later said in a statement that the man had been released on bail pending further inquiries and told to return on an unspecified date in September.

U.S.-based representatives for Bale didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. Repeated phone calls to Bale’s London representative went unanswered.

Wales-born Bale first made a splash as the child star of Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” in 1987. His screen credits also include “American Psycho,” “The Machinist” and “Batman Begins.”

In “The Dark Knight,” Bale reprises the role of wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman, a brooding vigilante superhero still scarred by the murder of his parents.

The Warner Bros. film, which stars the late Heath Ledger as Batman’s nemesis The Joker, took in a record $158.4 million at the box office in its opening weekend in the U.S. last week.

Superhero comic books can be fickle things. They continuously shift from one interpretation to another I believe to adapt to the times and conditions in the “real world.” One of the greatest villains in all of superhero legend is The Joker . However, it has never been stated definitively how he came to be or even what his backstory is. There have been multiple interpretations involving a vat of chemicals that he falls into that gave him his distorted image with that ever-present maniacal grin, green hair, and pasty-white face. For purposes of plot alone, the 1988 Tim Burton directed Batman suggested that the caped crusader was ultimately responsible for the fiend’s condition. Some comics stories suggest that these interpretations are nothing more than lies concocted by the Clown Prince of Crime himself and that we will probably never know the real story. In fact, in the graphic novel,Batman: The Killing Joke , the villain does not seem to remember just how he came to be. “Sometimes, I remember it one way, sometimes another…if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.”

Over the years, the Joker has been the instrument in two major tragedies in The Dark Knight’s history (or three if you are going to follow Tim Burton’s interpretation). In the aforementioned The Killing Joke, he shoots Police Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barbara in the back rendering her paralyzed and ending her career as Batgirl. However, Barbara later returned as the heroine Oracle who uses her computer expertise to aide in the fight against crime.

Another incident involved Batman’s closest ally, Robin the Boy Wonder. After Bruce Wayne’s “youthful ward Dick Grayson” matured he became known as Nightwing and left the Batcave. A new Robin was introduced in Jason Todd. In Batman: A Death in the Family, The Joker captures Robin, beats him to a pulp and locks him in a warehouse set to explode minutes before salvation arrives. In a twist, the comic writers allowed the public to determine the new Boy Wonder’s fate. One 900 number would have him be saved; the other would bring his end. Ultimately, reader’s brought the life of the young sidekick to a close. So, the Joker was the catalyst but the public killed him. This incident only intensified Batman’s desire to apprehend his arch-nemesis and put him away for good. Now where is the fun in that?!

On Friday, audiences will see a new, even darker, more sinister Joker as portrayed by the late Heath Ledger. Who knows what interpretation will be presented for the villain. For more on the history of one of the best characters in comic book legend click on the link

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