Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

Michael Keaton remains the only Batman i recognize. I still think of the Val Kilmer travesty as new fangled new thing I refuse to accept.

@BruceCM Leto was never a good choice to begin with. He has some qualities, and made some pretty good movies, but The Joker he most definitely ain't. Way too much over-acting. Ledger had just the right amount of "reminds me of Nicholson" along with a very large part of method acting and his own twist on it, which was absolutely brilliant. And not just in retrospect because he happens to be dead.

@ThanosReXXX This film isn't even connected at all to the DCEU which is the thing

The film is purposely set in the 1980s to make that distinction. This Joker is not going to crossover into meeting Robert Pattinson Batman

DC seems to have realized how badly their approach to a cinematic universe was doing that they've begun to deemphasize the shared aspect a lot if you've seen films like Wonder Woman, which takes place so far back in the timeline that it can't reference a thing about BvS or JL, so it gives the director more creative freedom which I like.

I still think my personal favorite Batman overall is Kevin Conroy but that's just me. I grew up on watching The Animated Series, Batman Beyond and especially Mask of the Phantasm, the DVD Animated films and playing the Arkham games so his voice is pretty much etched in my memory whenever I think of what a media portrayal of Batman could be.

Onto something completely different, my mom bought a rice cooker and I’m low key excited about it because we are completely incompetent when it comes to cooking rice.

I’m doing the first test run right now and it seems relatively simple to set up. Fingers crossed!

@NEStalgia Keaton was definitely good, especially for that time period, and also as a kind of a transitional Batman, as happened in the comics, from the 60's and 70's almost caricatural Gothic style to the darker and grittier Dark Knight story arcs, starting from the late 80's to now. Keaton is also a great actor in general, but besides that stage presence, he obviously never really had the physic to tick all of the boxes of what Batman/Bruce Wayne is supposed to be. And seeing as the movies were done by Tim Burton, he definitely influenced their appearance, making them both transitional and generously campy.

But I enjoyed them nonetheless, and they're a nice memory to revisit every now and then.

@StableInvadeel Cooking rice 101:

Fill a pan with 1/3 part of water.
Put pan on fire, making the water boil.
Add a sprinkle of salt.
Add a small coffee cup of rice per person.
Boil on medium fire for about 8 minutes.
Turn fire/stove off.
Drain rice in a sif afterwards, to get rid of the water.
Put rice back in pan, put the lid back on it, and preferably a cloth or oven mittens on top.
Allow to steam in pan for about 4 minutes.

Presto! Perfectly cooked rice, consisting of nice and loose grains.

It came out a bit clumpy, but it didn’t stick to the pot, which is a huge improvement already.

It’s a learning process.

@BlueBlur101 Good choice of Batman. For the animated series, I definitely agree. But obviously, he doesn't have the face or the physique, to star in the life action movies. But if they would use him, then they would DEFINITELY have to use Mark Hamill as The Joker...

As for the DCEU: I've no idea what their exact plans are, but it's pretty clear that they've not entirely abandoned the over-arching story line, what with more Justice League coming up, as well as standalone movies of the characters of that team, so in that respect, they're still trying to follow suit along the Marvel routine.

On a side note: it would seem to me that you missed me saying that I'm actually NOT criticizing this specific movie for not being part of or canon to the DCEU, so I'm perfectly fine with that. To further explain: it just annoys the hell out of me that they weren't able to hold on to either Ben Affleck or Henry Cavill.

It's going to be extremely weird and immersion-breaking to see Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg alongside a completely different Batman and Superman, regardless of how good and/or convincing these actor's performances might be. And God knows which actor is going to become the new Flash, if the rumors of that actor also being replaced are true. For all intent and purposes, they might just as well start from scratch and pretend that first JLA movie never happened...

Those are the things that annoy me, NOT the Joker movie. You bringing that up in the first place just reminded me of how much DC has done wrong, compared to Marvel. And they too were far from perfect, but at least they've found a formula that not only works, but which is also highly successful.

@StableInvadeel The trick is in the steaming. Once you've drained the water, the rice is still soggy, so allowing it to steam in a closed pan with a cloth over the top, will allow the rice to absorb that moisture, and the heat will dry the outside of the rice grains.

The same method actually also works for perfectly cooked potatoes, except these take around 20 - 25 minutes to cook...

@NEStalgia @ThanosReXXX The only 2 Batmans that I did not like in the movies were George Clooney and Ben Affleck.
I have no idea how Robert will perform but I can't get that image of a depressed-emo-sparkling-vampire out of my mind.

This is an electric cooker, so I followed the included directions.

The rice is cooling off right now. So the texture may be a bit different once we serve it.

@ThanosReXXX I wasn't criticizing
In fact I didn't even think you were implying critique to begin with
I also don't think Henry Cavill is done for the time being but it seems DC is just willing to let him sit on the sidelines after he showed up to set one day with his moustache fresh off of the Mission Impossible set

I do feel bad for Affleck because he could've accomplished so much as a good on-screen Batman had he been given the right material and a script that wasn't written by someone who clearly doesn't understand the character and his moral code whatsoever. In fact I was excited when it was announced he would direct the standalone film himself as he has pumped out really good directorial efforts before like Fargo, but I do wish him the best and Matt Reeves isn't a bad choice either as I really like the Planet of the Apes reboot films, especially Dawn and War, which were the ones he directed.

@Zuljaras Haha, yeah... there's that, indeed. I'd say just watch some of his other movies. He's actually a pretty good actor, from what I've seen so far, if you ignore the Twilight saga.

@StableInvadeel I know, you specifically mentioned it. In that case, just cook the rice, drain it and then drop it into another pan to let it steam for a bit. Or, if there's actually a built-in sif/drain, let it steam in the electric cooker. With the cooker switched off, obviously...

It has a mode after it’s done cooking where it’s just kinda warm so that’s nice.

Anyway, isn’t rice supposed to completely absorb the water? There’s nothing left to drain.

I managed to miss all the Twilight films. ... So, prepared to see how he does!

From the previews only, I really like the look of Phoenix’s Joker. I think it lightly tickles my Caesar Romero nostalgia in that department. I like his face paint. It’s reminiscent of carnival clowns from mid last century.

The only thing that slightly annoys me, and this is the second time this has happened, the first time with Ledger, is that I’ve heard a lot of talk about how some people have retroactively decided Nicholson’s Joker wasn’t demented enough and he played it “straight”. That’s really not true, he was a revelation at the time. I think of his gas balloons, joy buzzer, feather to the throat, comically huge gun, and him dancing with Vicki Vale in the bell tower as gleefully psychotic.

There’s only been one bad Joker in my opinion, and I knew it would be bad the moment I found out it would be Leto. Much like I knew this Joker would be well done played by Phoenix.

@bimmy-lee I'm not sure how Nicholson could ever be accused of not playing any character demented enough. He wrote the book on demented. He's the acting lesson...
There's no greater master at over the top demented, and certainly in my mind the archetype all jokers are based on. Thats like saying a Kojima game isn't weird enough.

My favorite Joker and Batman (and overall interpretation of the DC Universe in general) belongs to the DCAU pantheon. Most other interpretations of the two that I've seen so far have been mostly decent, but Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy are still my favorites.

Leto's Joker was the only performance that truly disappointed me.

@bimmy-lee I definitely had fun Friday night!...minus the dead period we had about halfway through. The local high school's homecoming game was that night, so the initial crowd dwindled to nothing before the game got over in the 9:30-10 PM range. Then we got slammed with a ton of teenagers lol.

Last night was actually one of my two nights off. I went to a late wedding/anniversary celebration for a cousin. I enjoyed it overall, but it ate a good chunk of my evening. I knew I wouldn't make it back in time to act.

@NotTelevision We differ there as I do like dipping my fries into various things. Besides the classic ketchup, I also make a special "French Fry Sauce" (a mix of ketchup and mustard) to dip my fries in. I've also used ranch, barbecue, honey mustard....

And yes, I've also dipped fries in ice cream. You wouldn't think something like that would work, but the sweet actually merges with the salty crunchiness of fries pretty well.

@BlueBlur101 It's definitely on my must-watch list; a friend and I are trying to coordinate a day/time to see it. It's hard for me to ignore a film about someone who's arguably my favorite DC universe supervillain.

As for the negative press, that's a mix of a myth related to the Aurora shooting, the times we live in, and the press making a mountain out of a molehill for views and clicks.

@ThanosReXXX You're very welcome! Returns bow

I don't know if that's a battle I can aid in at this point. You've already explained the whole "Audrey isn't a psychopath" thing just as well, if not better, than I could have. XD As much as I prefer text communication, some verbal and nonverbal actions as you listed does get lost on the digital canvas.

Horseshoes are delicious, but yes, they're definitely calorie bombs. That's why I recommended a ponyshoe or sharing a portion with another person and not to indulge in them often.

On that note...I had to search what kapsalon is. It's something I'd definitely try.

@NEStalgia - Jack Torrance. Enough said. I’ve read online and heard it mentioned in podcasts multiple times that media types now think Nicholson played it straight. The first time I heard it mentioned was after Ledger’s surprise performance in DK. It’s really ramped up in the lead up to this movie. Boggles my mind.

@Tyranexx - Ha, I’ll bet that was a rowdy crowd of teens all whipped up on adrenaline and hormones after homecoming. They would have been extra fun to scare. Sounds like you had a nice evening anyway, and there’s still plenty of time to scare plenty of teens.

@StableInvadeel Well, normally, when you cook it in a regular pan, the water has nowhere to go, except up to the roof of the lid, and then it will condense and drop down again in the pan, so unless you cook it with the lid off, the water will largely stay right where it is, and only part of it will be absorbed by the rice.

@bimmy-lee Nicholson was stellar as well, and he perfectly portrayed the classic Joker. Also the original origin story, so I'm with you all the way where Jack is concerned.

@Link-Hero Well, although I do agree that Hamill was pretty much the perfect Joker, it's obviously a pretty skewed comparison, seeing as they are voice actors, so it's an entirely different method of acting, and doesn't necessarily need a tangible "stage presence", that on screen acting obviously does.

So, having said that, and skipping all the voice actors of the animated series, which actor is your favorite on screen Batman? And far as I'm concerned, any and all shows and movies count, so Adam West is in the list that you can choose from as well.

@Tyranexx I feel like I should probably start with something even smaller. Maybe a miniature horse shoe?

P.S.

And not to worry, I was only half-serious when asking your help, seeing as me and NES always seem to find a way to get along again. Sometimes we just seem to talk past each other, for whatever weird reason, causing probably equal amounts of wonder and annoyance on both sides, but in the end, we just shrug it off and move on. This was a particularly hairy one, though, far as I'm concerned...

On a side note: with what you've now said about it, it does puzzle me even more how the heck he wasn't able to get it, or me, if you so clearly did. Oh, well...