What do you do when you want a Batman series but can’t actually feature the character? Sometimes the networks get creative and give us “Arrow.” Other times, they belly flop disastrously and hand us “Gotham.” Essentially “Gotham” is a crime drama set in Gotham City that’s basically either an Elseworlds tale, or a prequel. The series never can decide. It’s a lot like “Smallville” in that it features a world before the superhero came to fight for justice. And much like “Smallville,” the series pretty much stinks from the word “go.” Granted, “Gotham” is a good idea for a series. Who wouldn’t want to see what Gotham was like before the Batman came along? The problem is “Gotham” is so concerned with lip service to Batman rogues, and paying tribute to the fans that it never actually comes together to form an entertaining series.
Tag Archives: Crime
Cruel (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]
FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
Pierre Tardieu lives a quiet life in Toulouse. He does day labor work and goes home to his ailing father at night. Visits to the book store seem to be his only escape along with reading to his father. That is, besides being a calculated serial killer. Pierre picks his victims randomly to purposefully not establish a pattern. He follows them first, and then brings them home where he feeds them and talks to them for a few days before murdering them. One day, as he goes to the bookstore to buy some notebooks, he meets Laure with whom he eventually falls in love. As their relationship blossoms, the cops are moving in on Pierre, not having any proof but strong suspicions as to his possible involvement in disappearances and murders in the city. Laure supports him through this not knowing all that is involved while working on getting his life better.
Cash Only (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]
FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
Elvis Martini owes money, a lot of money, to a dog-fighting ring running psychopath Dino who has kidnapped his daughter for ransom. Elvis does everything he can to save her as she is all he has following the loss of his wife, her mother. He must find an insanely high amount of money to pay Dino back for stealing the money the madman sees as his that was stashed in one of the tenants’ place in Elvis’ building. The father will stop at absolutely nothing to save his child.
Blade Squad (1998)
1998 was a big year for FOX television. Despite handing audiences turkey after turkey (Nick Fury Agents of Shield, anyone?), you have to appreciate their relentless pursuit to deliver genre fare. “Blade Squad” is one of the many failed attempts to build a show out of a TV movie that works as a glorified pilot. As a kid I spent a lot of time in front of the television, and I caught “Blade Squad” one dull Friday night. Suffice it to say despite its interesting concept, “Blade Squad” is a missed opportunity and really dull execution. It’s also a really unique artifact of a decade obsessed with futuristic punk and neon colored dystopias.
LEGO Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
A flying Hall of Justice?! I want one! I want two! “Attack of the Legion of Doom!” is pretty much one of the more endearing glorified LEGO commercials Warner has released this year. Surely, it’s an ad for all their neato DC Comics toys, but it also is a fun and really funny comic book animated movie that has a blast with its characters. While these movies may not be for the more hardcore DC fanatics, they’re definitely wonderful entrance points for young aspiring comic buffs that want to figure out who among the Justice League is their favorite.
Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
If you can forgive the lack of compelling story, “Monster Mayhem” really is a fun animated Batman adventure with a unique elseworlds Batman universe. It has the kid like appeal of “Brave and the Bold” with the Bruce Timm sensibility, and this amalgamation works for the most part. Mainly, “Monster Mayhem” is a toy commercial, as everything in the movie is purely toyetic, from Batman’s robot wolf that transforms in to a bat cycle, right down to the Joker’s slick motorcycle. It pretty much comes with the territory with almost any animated series, since every company (especially Warner) wants to sell toys along with tell a good story.
Kuffs (1992)
I have a long history with “Kuffs.” Back when I was a kid I didn’t have cable so I watched movies on local television. “Kuffs” was one of my favorite movies as a child. It was that kind of kick ass crime thriller and buddy comedy that I loved. I must have seen it a thousand times as a child, and I loved how bad ass Christian Slater was in it. He was just so cocky and charismatic that it always kept me coming back again and again. Yeats later, watching “Kuffs” without the nostalgia glasses on, it’s a movie that’s just… pretty okay. It’s not a masterpiece, but it has its merits.







