The Batman Film and The National at the Hollywood Bowl Podcast

This week on the Torg Stories Podcast, Anne and I talk about the film The Batman, our favorite super hero movies, and Anne tells us about walking to the Hollywood Bowl to see the bands War on Drugs and The National.

Click on the audio player above to listen to this week’s podcast.

Torg’s notes for the podcast:

In the spirit of The Riddler being a main character in The Batman movie, we opened with two riddles: 

Riddle 1: 

The less of them you have, the more one is worth: a friend. 

Riddle 2: 

What animal can jump higher than a building? Any animal. Buildings don’t jump. 

The Batman Discussion questions: 

What brought us to watching this The Batman film? 

Do you have favorite super hero movies?

1. Deadpool 
2. Ironman I 
3. V for Vendetta 
4. The Dark Knight with the Joker, Maggie Glynehal, Joker goes in with the mobsters and proposes he kill Batman. (realize I didn’t see the dark knight rises) 
5. The Joker
6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 

Rotten Tomatoes summary click here. Lots to discuss even in this…

What’s this Batman movie like? Describe it for someone who has never seen it.

1. Action crime drama 
2. Snuff film element that is a lot for me
3. Darkness, lots of different kinds of media on screen (contact lenses that film, security cameras, through the bat suit, watching screens) 

What’s the premise of the plot? 

1. The leaders of the city work for the mob, and The Riddler is exposing them and taking them out. Why must he be stopped by batman? Sure, the waitress gets caught up in it, he’s torturing people, and flooding the city is one where he does need to be stopped. 

What are some themes? 

1. Batman has inspired vengeance. Revenge as a them. Does it eat you up? 
2. Renewal, is it possible? 

What worked great in this film? Strengths? 

1. Batman calling the Riddler a freak. Purposeful tension right? How are they so different? Thought provoking to me. Not 100% that was the idea. 
2. Stylized violence in the spirit of The Matrix and Kill Bill. 
3. Riddler. His riddles. His costume. His motivation. The cards he leaves. 
4. Pretty good mystery. Who’s killing the mayor? Can we get the Riddler? 
5. The mash up of architecture. Gotham Garden. Cobblestone Streets. 
6. The music. Operatic sometimes and Nirvana sometimes. 
7. Chase scene in the bat car with Penguin
8. Drops and drop heads invented for this movie? 
9. Falcone. The “very sneaky” guy from Mr. Deeds. 
10. Catwoman as a foil almost love interest. 
11. The bat car. The flying in the squirrel suit. 

What didn’t work so great in this film? 

1. Always kind of hard to see what is going on because it’s dark. Dark and rain gets old after 3 hours. 
2. Pretty hard to hear what is being said.
3. Batman doesn’t have much personality. Quiet depressed recluse as the star.  
4. This wasn’t a 3 hour movie that couldn’t afford to lose anything. 

What kind of guy is Batman? 

1. Inspired by Cobain. Trying to make a difference and not sure he is. Motivated by avenging his parents death by fighting crime. 
2. Code breaker / crime scene investigator. Smart guy. 

What’s on screen that creates the tone? 

1. Darkness. Gothic, old English architecture 
2. Operatic sounding music. 
3. Video surveillance footage. Camera in the eyes. Flashing lights in a club. Explosions. 

Who directed this? What else have they directed? 

1. Matt Reeves. Age 58. Cloverfield. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. 

Who is acting in this? What else have they done? 

1. John Turturro. Mr. Deeds. 
2. Colin Ferrell: I only know him from The Phone Booth. And now the penguin. 
3. Paul Dano – Little Miss Sunshine. Did you see the Fablemens? 
4. Jeffery Wright as James Gordon. The one good detective we know about. 

Who gets the MVP acting performance? 

1. Paul Dano as The Riddler  John Turturo runner up? 

What are your favorite long movies? (this might be the longest I’ve ever watched) Vulture list click here. 

1. The Green Mile. 3 hrs 9 mins. MY FAV OF THE LONG ONES
2. Magnolia. 3 hrs 8 mins. 
3. Oppenheimer 3 hrs. 
4. Gone with the Wind. 3 hrs 58 mins. 
5. Lord of the Rings. Return of the king. 3 hrs 21 min 
6. Godfather Part II. 3 hrs 22 min. 
7. Titanic 3 hrs 14 min. 
8. The Right Stuff 3 hrs 15 (I did watch that)

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!