For people who have been reading the Bat-Blog for awhile you might remember a few months ago we introduced a new Batman product from La-La Land Records that was a special 2-CD set featuring the music soundtrack from the BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES TV Show. Well, that CD was a total success ( I think it totally sold out! ) & now La-La Land Records plans on releasing another Batman-related CD titled BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. This, of course, was the animated film featuring the characters from the TV series. Back when this movie came out it was a complete smash hit & has now become a cult classic among fans of both Batman & animation. It was a really great film! Well, next Tuesday, at 12pm PST, La-La Land Records will start taking orders on the La-La Land website for this brand-new Limited Edition CD... Shirley Walker's complete score to the feature film BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. Completely remastered and more than 27 minutes longer than the original CD release, this is the definitive version of Shirley's complete, amazing orchestral score. It will also contain a twenty page CD booklet that features in-depth liner notes! It will also be a Limited Edition of only 3000 units which means it will probably sell out like the others have. Please remember that you can only buy this product directly from the publisher & it will probably not be on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or other websites like that. Now, this is advance news from the Bat-Blog & the item is not featured on their website yet but you'll be able to see it there in a few days.( The release date is around March 24th, 2009 ). Here's a link to their website:
I have some very sad news to share. The Actor Michael Gough has passed away at the age of 94. Of course as Batman Fans we all know & love him as Alfred Pennyworth, the Butler to both Bruce Wayne & Batman. He appeared in 4 Batman films: 1989 Batman, 1992 Batman Returns, 1995 Batman Forever, and 1997's Batman & Robin. He played the character with Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. He is best known for this role but he also had a very long career, appearing in over 150 films. On a personal level, I have always had a lot of respect for this Actor. He played the "Alfred" role perfectly. He was very dignified, proper, and had a great sense of humor. I always enjoyed how he played the character in a "loving, caring" way.
As sort of a tribute to Michael Gough I have posted a few videos. One is a short documentary that covered his Alfred character in the "Batman Returns" movie. The 2nd clip is an appearance he made in one of his many Batman/OnStar TV Commercials. He was a great Actor & will be missed.
Here's one of the best video clips I have seen so far from the brand-new BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD Movie. It features Batman flying THE BATWING while in a car chase! ( Those Criminals don't have a chance, ha! ) The animation is looking very well done & I'm getting more excited about this new DC Universe animated film every single day! Remember, the DVD comes out on July 27th, 2010. Plus, I'm really liking the soundtrack's background music & sound effects...nice!
William Baldwin is the new Batman! Well, he will be in the next animated DC Universe film, JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS. The new movie has a release date of February 23rd, 2010. Baldwin recently had a very interesting conversation about his new role over at the COMICVINE website. You can read the interview by clicking HERE! Also, Look down below to see the JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON EARTH TWO Teaser Trailer!
Fans of the 1966 BATMAN TV Show are gonna totally love this! LA LA Records has recently come out with the original "BATMAN THE MOVIE" motion picture soundtrack on CD! Holy Re-mastered Re-issue! Nelson Riddle’s original motion picture score to the 1966 Twentieth Century Fox feature film BATMAN: THE MOVIE, starring Adam West, Burt Ward, Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero and Burgess Meredith, and directed by Leslie H. Martinson. Mr. Riddle’s propulsive jazzy score exemplifies the classic 60’s incarnation of the beloved Batman icon and is the perfect compliment to the film’s campy excitement. Produced by Nick Redman and Mike “BAT”essino and edited and mastered by Mike “BAT”essino, this release of Nelson Riddle’s BATMAN score boasts much-improved sound quality, includes a never-before-released cue “Bruce And Kitka”, and features the bonus premiere track “Submarine Battle,” in which “BAT”essino cut together tracks to re-create the score to the submarine climax as heard in the film. CD Booklet features exclusive liner notes by Brian “BAT”terwhite and Bat-tastic photos! Limited Edition of 2000 Units. For more information, click HERE!
The MTV Splash Page just released a new video clip recently from BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD. In the beginning there's a very short intro by Batman voice actor Bruce Greenwood. Then, we get to see some more action from the movie. This new animated film from the DC Universe will be released on July 27th, 2010 on DVD & Blu-Ray. The Premiere will be this year's San Diego Comic Con & most of the actors will be there. That list will include Bruce Greenwood ( "Star Trek" movie ), John DiMaggio ("Futurama" Cartoon ) as the Joker, Jensen Ackles ("Supernatural" TV Show ) as Red Hood, and Neil Patrick Harris ("Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog") as Nightwing.
Here's an extremely awesome set of photos sent in by a Bat-Blog Fan all the way from Egypt! Yes, Egypt! His name is Myret & he wrote,
"Here are some pics I took in downtown Cairo of a building that has an advertisement of the "Batman and Robin" movie on it's side. It's been up since 1997, so it's a little bit rough around the edges, but it's still cool. The translation of what is written is "NOW IN ALL CINEMAS IN CAIRO AND ALEXANDRIA - BATMAN AND ROBIN!"
WOW! Thank you so much Myret for sending this, it's totally GREAT! The fact that this wall mural ad has existed all this time & has never been painted-over is very cool news. I totally love this!
OK, it keeps freaking me out a little bit that the 1989 Batman Movie was 20 years ago. I feel so old now! Here is some old Local TV News Footage from back then talking about the release of the Warner Bros BATMAN VHS Video Tape in Retail Stores. The moment was almost as hyped-up as the original movie premiere, ha ha! In fact, at the time, it did set a record for fastest time for a movie to become available in stores ( 4 months ).
It's built by Leif Garvin from Stockholm. It took him over 20 000 hours of work and $1 million to finish it. The engine is an 460 Ford big block V8, 700 hp and it's built on a 1973 Lincoln Continental.
Remember the BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT Animated Movie that Warner Bros released awhile back? It was done in a very cool "anime style" & the DVD sold really well. OK, for 2009 they're gonna release a special DC Infinite Heroes 3-pack that is going to include some characters from the cartoon. Shown here are Batman, Deadshot, & The Scarecrow. These should be pretty successful so expect them to release even more of these. Be sure to click on the small graphic up above for a larger, more detailed, version.
Recently there was a Documentary Film I wanted to see but it had very limited distribution & I missed it. Well, I'm pretty happy to say that now it is on the Hulu website & you can watch it for free. It's about an 1 1/2 hours long & is pretty fun to watch. The basic story is about these 4 real-life people who make their living working as superheros on Hollywood Boulevard. I thought I should post it here because, besides being a very interesting movie, it has Batman as one of the characters. The four "actors" portray Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, & The Incredible Hulk. I should also add that Ghost Rider, Margot Kidder ( Lois Lane ), & Chewbacca make brief appearances. Here's a link button to check it out, enjoy. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that since it has a slightly adult theme to it you will have to register with Hulu but it's not a big deal, you can do that in just 5 minutes.
A friend of ours over at Facebook sent us this link to a really great BATMAN Fan Film. Now the thing that's extremely cool about it is that it was done in 1967! Yes, some kids back then must have had an 8mm camera or something & they put this BATMAN movie together! The thing that's so cool is that the "vintage look" of the movie gives it a lot of charm. Plus, they used some old Batman Halloween Masks as props, which are great to see! They also featured a fun 1966 Batmobile toy car that acts as the car in the movie. It's use is really clever... enjoy!
Here are some recent photos of a very serious JOKER FAN named Franziska. She lives in Germany & when I asked her if she wore this for Halloween, She said, "No, I wore this the other day!" Ha! That's cool! Here she is with awesome JOKER Make-Up just like Heath Ledger wore in "The Dark Knight" Batman movie & it looks great! She's got the green hair, dark eyes, & even the scars on the mouth... good job! I wanna thank Franziska for sharing these wonderful pics.
Ya' know, a lot of younger Batman Fans today totally forget ( or don't even know about ) how people back in 1989 went totally bat-crazy over Tim Burton's 1st Batman movie! I mean, it was almost equal to the craziness stirred-up by the 1977 Star Wars movie. People dressed-up like the characters, there were lines of people that went around the block, people camped-out for tickets for days, some theaters even dropped another movie so they could show "Batman" on more than one screen...it was crazy! Well, here's a funny vintage newspaper story I found on a website called "Fantastic Flashbacks". It shows a few Batman Movie Fans wearing THE JOKER make-up & costumes ( Jack Nicholson version ) at an opening in California. Now I plan to feature some more of this kind of news coverage from the past so if any readers have something similar then please let me know. In the mean time, if you're interested in visiting the "Fantastic Flashbacks" blog then do so by clicking HERE!
On March 21st, 2011, Michael Uslan will be a Special Guest Speaker at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The event is FREE & if you're a film buff ( or Batman Fan ) you need to go! Of course Michael Uslan is the Executive Movie Producer responsible for bringing us the 1989 Tim Burton BATMAN movie & 2008's The Dark Knight. His speech will mainly be about his journey of creating his career to bringing Batman successfully to the big screen. He shares the principles that allowed him to persevere despite repeated rejection and encourages people to reach for their dreams and believe in themselves. It should be pretty interesting. Now, shown here is a Promo Video made by some College Students for the event.
OK, The new Batman video news right now is that Warner Bros is gonna release the 1989 BATMAN MOVIE on Blu-Ray for the 20th Anniversary Edition! It's hard to believe this movie has been out that long! Thinking about it kinda makes me feel old, ha ha. Of course we're talking about the classic '89 Tim Burton film with Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, & Jack Nicholson. Here's the deal: The official release date for retail stores is on May 5th, 2009 but you can pre-order it on March 31st, the end of this month. It's gonna come with a 50 page book that has script pages, excerpts from the movie, color photos, & a comic book adaptation by DC Comics. It will also have a Digital Copy you can download to your PC.
In this MTV Interview Video Clip Gary Oldman ( Commissioner Jim Gordon ) talks a little bit about the next Batman movie, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES! Of course he is sworn to secrecy & we don't get too much information, but at least he's talking about it, ha!
Here's the brand-new trailer for the DC Comics / Warner Brothers Animated feature JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER. It's gonna be directed by Bruce Timm & is based on the graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke.
