The Balcony is Closed

Bad news guys: Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are leaving the show that is currently known as “At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper.”

Apparently while renegotiating Roeper’s contract, Disney decided they were going to change the shows format, despite that format being the main reason the show is successful. So Roeper decided to not renew his contract and go on to start his own show, a spiritual successor to the show Gene Siskel and Ebert began more than 30 years ago.

Ebert soon announced that he too would be leaving the show. Since he can’t talk right now, I’m guessing that means we won’t be seeing him on TV again. A damn shame.

We here at Cat Fancy are big fans of the “At the Movies” as it is right now, and will continue to watch it through August, Roeper’s last month on the show. After that? Who knows. At the end of all things, we’d all just like to salute Ebert, Siskel, Roeper, A.O. Scott, Michael Phillips, Robert Wolansky, and all the others that made the show so enjoyable over the years.

Retrospecticus: The Vines

Bursting out of the early 2000s in an era that has since been dubbed the “Garage Rock Revival”, The Vines quickly established themselves as a high adrenaline band with a knack for grunge, 60s pop ballads, and an occasional foray into psychedelia. Though their popularity has waned in the states since 2004, this gang of rambunctious rock musicians is still a fan favorite in their native Australia. Let’s take a look at the body of work that got them there.

Highly Evolved (2002)
It was in the summer of 2001, that Sydney rock band The Vines (recently signed by Capitol Records) headed into Sound Factory studios to cut their debut album. Fronted by lead singer/guitarist Craig Nicholls, bassist Patrick Matthews and drummer David Oliffe (who left the band after only recording a few tracks) The Vines put together the heavy and melodic collection of alternative rock that makes up Highly Evolved.

Receiving mostly positive reviews, many described their unique sound as having the heaviness of Nirvana with the pop sensibilities of The Beatles. Of course they are no where near as good as those bands, but I understand the comparison to describe their sound.

Songs like the manic “Outtathaway!” and hit single “Get Free” display hints of 90s grunge while ballads as “Homesick” or “Mary Jane” wade in deeper pop waters. Throw in the island themed “Factory” and trippy “Sunshinin'” and you got an album that honors every rock genre. Though the flow of heavy to soft songs doesn’t always gel, it’s as respectable and fun a debut you could want from a blossoming rock band.

Favorite Tracks: “Homesick”, “Outtwathaway!”, “Mary Jane”

Winning Days (2004)
This time around, The Vines returned to the studio as a four piece. Here they are joined by fellow Aussies Ryan Griffiths on guitar/Kurt Cobain impersonator and Hamish Rosser (who looks like a lost Beach Boy) on drums. Working again with producer Rob Schnapf, The Vines turned out a more stylistically consistent record. Though Winning Days received lukewarm reviews, it is my favorite album by the group to date.

Leading off with the catchy single “Ride”, Winning Days never slows down cruising from angsty grunge pop song to another. Craig Nicholls song-writing and vocals are in the best place with this assortment of dark rockers and spacey Summer of Love ballads. Schnapf’s producing is tight, but not restricting. Everyone on here does a stand up job.

Honestly, I’m not sure how this album got such a bad rap, I heard a lot of people complaining that a lot of these songs were written before Highly Evolved but I don’t see how that’s relevant. Maybe that’s to say they weren’t moving forward, but I disagree. Regardless of when these songs were written, there’s no denying they are more complex and mature than anything than Highly Evolved. Maybe they didn’t include because they weren’t ready for more complex songs?

Backlash aside, the album was successful. Though this wouldn’t prevent the resignation of founding member and bassist Patrick Matthews in mid 2004. Tired of Craig Nicholls bizarre stage antics–only heightened by his abuse of heavy drugs, mental issues–Matthews walked off stage in the middle of a show never to return again.

Favorite Tracks: “Amnesia”, “Ride”, “Winning Days”

Vision Valley (2006)
Recovering from Nicholl’s difficult personal issues after Winning Days, The Vines kept on trucking and recorded their third album. Nicholls cut back on his drug use, finding a more mellow state of mind and the now three man Vines’ went into the studio with producer Wayne Connolly.

It was at this time that The Vines switched to writing shorter, more immediate songs, often barely hitting two minutes. This new approach was a nice experiment, but overall Vision Valley lacked the creative spark of the previous two albums.

Songs like “Anysound” and “Don’t Listen to the Radio” are easy to enjoy, but most of these songs feel watered down and the album’s length of 31 minutes for 13 songs makes it feel like a kind of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it experience. Not only this, but the maturity has been stripped back for songs like “Fuk Yeh” and “Futuretarded”. There’s definitely a couple gems, but they’re mostly lost in a sea of unrealized ideas. Not the worst album they could of made but this was definitely the turning point.

Favorite Tracks: “Don’t Listen to the Radio”, “Take Me Back”, “Vision Valley”

Melodia (2008)

With the addition of bassist Brad Heald, The Vines look to be in a better place on Melodia. I’m a little distressed by the brief running time of the album, but from what I’ve heard on their Myspace this could have the potential to grow on me. I’ve found a couple of the songs already stuck in my head so I’ll see how they hold up when I pick it up tomorrow.

Certainly a band that’s had its troubles with success and their outrageous front-man. I’m not sure if they’ll make a comeback over here anytime soon, certainly not through their live shows which Nancy and I can vouch for. Nonetheless, it’s a shame to see some of their wizardry in the studio go unappreciated. Either way, as long as they keep releasing albums as consistently as they do I’ll be listening.

The Final Frontier

With the release of the brooding, dark blockbuster epic The Dark Knight this weekend I think it’s safe to say that everyone could use a little cheering up and here’s one solution. Now for anyone that’s a fan of Simon Pegg and his frequent collaborators Nick Frost and Writer/Director Edgar Wright, then perhaps you’ve heard of the tv show Spaced, If you haven’t then let me briefly fill you in.

Before achieving wordlwide popularity with comedy films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, these three comic minds all worked on the short lived British series Spaced (1999-2001). Combining overblown cookiness, along with Hollywood cliches and surrealism to portray the seemingly dull lives of two British flatmates (Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes) this short lived series quickly established a strong cult following. With a cast of off the wall characters such as Pegg’s upbeat flatmate Daisy (Jessica Hynes) and military obsessed best friend (Nick Frost) this show established a fine starting off point for this styling of British comedy. It’s been unavailable in the U.S. for awhile now but it’s finally coming this summer. For the first time, all 14 episodes of Spaced are being released on DVD on of July 22, 2008.

I myself have only seen the pilot online, which I did very much enjoy, but this is the day I’ve been waiting for. Finally a chance to properly view the series that started it all. After all, I do consider myself a pretty big Pegg fan, I even saw Run Fatboy Run and I enjoyed it, Otteni out.

Batweek Conclusion

It’s been a hell of a week leading up to the most anticipated movie of 2008, and boy it was worth it. I’ve never spent so much time away from Wookiepedia for such an extended period of time. Instead I was over at Batman Wiki, trying to soak up as much Batman knowledge as I could in preparation. Reading the guys’ lists and posts was great and not being as much of a comic book guy myself I really enjoyed learning all the stories and Remy nightmares. Who knows what they’ll do next, because the more and more I think about it, the more I don’t want another Batman for a while. I really felt that there was enough material in The Dark Night for about 3 movies, and with Heath Ledger gone, I just feel like I don’t want anymore. Hopefully they’ll start production on WombatMan. I think the Dentist needs a little more character development though. All we can do is pray.

So while we wait and debate about what is coming next, I’ll leave you with this:

Batweek: The Knight Stuff

The Dark Knight

When The Dark Knight came to an end this morning, I had to stay sitting silently for a moment. My friends and I didn’t say anything to each other. I wasn’t that sleepy. The gargantuan line we had to summit to get in hadn’t fatigued me. I just needed to go over in my head exactly what I had just seen. More than 12 hours later, I am prepared to call The Dark Knight the absolute best Batman film ever made, as well as one of the finest I have ever seen.

The story picks up close to where Batman Begins left off, with Batman and Lt. Gordon working on bringing down organized crime in Gotham. Newcomer Defense Attorney Harvey Dent is working with Rachel to prosecute those criminals. And a psychopathic killer, called the Joker, is on the loose.

The Joker is not like any of Batman’s other opponents. He’s not after money or anything else. All he wants is to rise up to Batman’s challenge, to be the villain that can match him. His schemes are acts of diabolic genius, forcing Batman, Gordon and Dent into moral dilemmas seemingly free of “right” choices.

Heath Ledger has received a lot of hype for his work in this film, and it’s a pleasure to say he deserves all of it. He creates in this 2-and-a-half hour epic one of the most sadistic and memorable villains ever put to screen. When the next Batman comes around (and it will, this sucker is gonna make bank) the Joker will be a real problem, because no one else can play this part as well as Ledger did, and it’s hard to imagine a better villain.

But the film does not thrive on Ledger’s performance alone; the direction, writing, special effects and the cast are all top-notch. Christian Bale proved himself in the last film and remains just as strong here. Morgan Freeman and Michael Cane are as good as you would expect them to be. Newcomer Aaron Eckhart gives an extremely strong performance, and Maggie Gyllenhaal does more than fill Katie Holmes’ shoes as Rachel. Every major character gets their own moment, they all shine here.

The story and large cast of characters is compelling throughout. The action sequences are all memorable and easier to follow than in Begins. While Joker is the focus here, the other villains get more than enough screen time and development. Bale’s Batman has started to grow into the Batman of the 1980s, a fearsome man who must question whether what he is doing is right or wrong every time he puts on the mask.

In a summer of comic book super heroes, The Dark Knight stands alone. This is so much more than just a comic film; this is a genuine crime drama. The story and the themes it explores are complex and interesting. The pacing and the score keep you on the edge of your seat for almost the entire duration of the movie.

This isn’t just great super hero movie making, this is straight up fantastic movie making. I haven’t been so completely blown away by a movie since No Country for Old Men, and maybe even longer than that.

I feel proud to be able to say I saw first showing of The Dark Knight at Lincoln Square (which has the same name as the theater the film premiered at earlier this week). This is a movie people will be talking about for years to come, and absolutely cannot be missed. See this, now.

Batweek: T3: Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery

I always thought it was sweet that Batman’s group of villains has a name; the rogues’ gallery. Batman’s villains are the most compelling and interesting of the entire DC library, save for a few other examples. Few comic book series have so many great antagonists, which is why the movies spent so much time on them. Here are my top 10.

Honorable Mentions:
The Riddler is more popular that some of the villains on this list, but if you think about it, Riddler really sucks. All he does is come up with some stupid question which Batman usually solves without much difficulty. Then Batman beats him senseless. He’s pretty much Batman’s bitch. Harley Quinn is probably list-worthy, since she’s pretty insane, but I always think of her as part of a team, either with the Joker or Poison Ivy, so she’s not listed. Then there’s Clayface, who is a really kick ass villain. I love that guy.

10. Killer Croc
If I remember correctly, Killer Croc started out as a wrestler or something. He has this condition that makes him grow more and more crocodilian. He turns to crime, gets more monstrous, fights Batman, Robin, even Bane, and then eventually hitches up with Swamp Thing. I’ll take it!

This image is really big, so I have to do more typing. Based on the Wikipedia page, Croc’s pretty similar to the Spider-Man villain Lizard, in that he has regenerative powers, along with super strength, reflexes and the like. What makes him sweet, however, is that he’s much more willing to commit crimes and fight dudes, unlike Lizard. Plus he’s all about fighting dudes, especially Batman and Bane. Finally, I think I’ve wasted enough space.

9. Bane
The ‘roid rage villain. Despite his muscular disposition, Bane is a fairly intelligent criminal. Like this one time, he let all the crazies out of Arkham, which meant a lot of work for Batman. Then, when Bats had finally gotten them all captured, Bane showed up and beat the crap out of the exhausted Batman. He even broke his back.

I’ve always enjoyed that the steroids, or whatever, that Bane uses are both his greatest strength and weakness. Every time he’s defeated, its by someone cutting the tubes that pump the juice into his body. All he needs are stronger tubes!

8. The Penguin
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot’s origin is pretty lame in the comics. The best part is his mom always makes his carry an umbrella because his dad died of pneumonia in a rainstorm. But my favorite Penguin is the freak that was sent floating down a stream by his parents and raised by sewer penguins, yet still turned out to be a classy guy.

How classy, you ask? Well, he always dressed up nice and fancy for his crimes, even going as far as to wear a monocle. Plus, he like lives in the sewers but keeps his close nice and clean. And most of his weapons are umbrella themed. This made his Batman beatings rather amusing, if I do say so myself. Later on he gives up crime to open a fancy restaurant and acts as an informant to Batman, so I guess he’s on the up-and-up. But he’ll always be the freak too ugly for his parents to even keep alive to me.

7. Poison Ivy
A real seductress, Ivy is one of the many misguided crazies Batman has to deal with all the time. She just really loves nature and stuff. And I think we all should care a little more about the earth, don’t you? It’s the only one we’ve got.

Plus: her lips can kill you! Better make sure you wear those plastic things George Clooney has.

6. Mr. Freeze
Poor Victor Fries just wanted to save his wife. She had a rare disease, you see, so he stole technology from a company he was working for to keep her alive. When the higher ups found out, they came to shut him down, going as far as to throw him into cryogenic juice. The stuff lowered his body temperature, so Fries has to wear a special suit to keep himself cool. Developing frosty weaponry, Mr. Freeze turned to crime in a hope to save his wife. Sadly as time went on and options dwindled, Freeze’s heart, like his body, turned to ice. Should not have been played by Arnold.

5. Scarecrow
A much better intellectual villain that The Riddler, Scarecrow fights you with your greatest fears. You see, since he’s not physically threatening (at all) he’s all about messing with your head. So he use

s stuff that messes with your head and makes your fears real. In the animated series, Batman’s greatest fear was his father being disappointed with him. In Batman Begins, it was shaky cam, maggots and bats. Tomato, tomato. Well, that expression really doesn’t work in print at all.

4. Catwoman
Catwoman’s a crazy lady who’s all about felines and whipping shit. She’s always hard to read, since she both commits crimes and stops criminals. Even Batman has trouble reading her. Things get even more complicated with there on-and-off romantic relationship.

According to Kevin, Catwoman in fact inspired the Batman franchise. While this makes no chronological sense, Kevin seemed pretty sure about it, so it must be true.

Also, they made a Catwoman movie a few years back with accomplished actress Halle Berry. I’ve actually seen it (for free) and it was just as bad as everyone made it out to be.

Wikipedia says sometimes Catwoman has a “nine lives” super power, as seen in Batman Returns, where she dies and is miraculously reborn.

3. Ra’s al Ghul
Another villain complicated by a romantic relationship, this time between Batman and Ra’s’ daughter Talia. Ra’s is a badass immortal who, in the cartoon at least, calls Batman “detective.” He kind of hates people and wants most of us to die, but he thinks Batman is his only worthy successor and adversary. Neat!

As far as I know, “Al” is in fact, not Ra’s’ middle name. He might not even have one. The “al” is part of his last name, it just has a space in it to confuse little kids or something.

2. Two-Face
Harvey Dent was a friend of Bruce Wayne and an ally of Batman in the war on crime. That all changed when that cockblaster Sal Maroni chucked some acid in Harvey’s beautiful face, leaving him horribly disfigured. Dent returned Two-Face, so disturbed by his disfigurment that he turned to crime. He also uses a fucked up quarter to make decisions.

Has been played by Billy Dee Williams, Tommy Lee Jones and Aaron “The Core” Eckhart.

1. The Joker
The omega to Batman’s alpha, the story of Batman is not complete without a Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime stands for everthing Batman does not: chaos and good times. The saddistic son of a bitch even killed one of the many Robins. That is the whackness. In some stories, Batman is even responsible for the creation of the Joker, making him his responsibility.

My favorite portrayl of the Joker is Mark Hamill’s from the animated series. That voice is just so good. I can’t wait to see Heath Ledger’s take on the character.

The Joker is as classic a villain as there can be, and the unquestionable king of the Rogues’ Gallery.

Batweek: Batimation

In preparation of “Batweek”, I took some time out of my go-go gadget life to check out what I could of the latest direct-to-DVD animated Batman anthology “Batman: Gotham Knight.” If you haven’t heard, Gotham Knight is meant to set up the next Batman film much in the same vein as the Animatrix did awhile back. With the only element tying together these pieces being voice actor Kevin Conroy, (“Batman the Animated Series”) who dawns that infamous cowl this is very diverse collection of shorts. Unfortunately I was only able to find about 4 of the 6 shorts on the internet, being that I would never pay to rent this kind of thing, so I’ll share what I can.

Over the years the Batman mythology has proven itself to be a rich backdrop for slews of different stories and interpretations. On Gotham Knight we get 6 very different interpretations from six different writers including the talents of David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Josh Olson (A History of Violence) Alan Burnett (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) and others. Not all of them may hit the right notes, but every one of these pieces is still ambitious. With stories ranging from quick paced tech savvy field missions, to stories through civilian eyes, to stories reflecting the meaning of pain, Gotham Knight covers a lot of ground to show the complexity of this character.

If there was one thing your going to take in from the viewing experience, I’d say it’s the animation. Every segment here has been directed by a notable Japanese animator and every piece has there own style to set the mood. You have the kind of dough-eyed anime in Field Test, to a more basic approach in “Have I Got a Story For You” (which kind of looks like something Hayao Miyazaki would put together) to complexity of the Aeon Flux esque. “Deadshot”. Unfortunately I’d say this collection is actually more style than substance, but when they’re just animated shorts than that’s acceptable.

So should a Batman fan check this out before the new flick? Maybe if by reading about my mild reaction you got intrigued, otherwise this is just kind of a so-so artsy experiment. I like seeing Kevin Conroy taking on the voice again, and some of the stories here spark some interest but overall you should probably only watch this if you feel like killing some major time, see you around fellow Bat-fanatics