Tonight, Christmas spirit and all:

It’s hard not to feel bad for the Penguin in this movie. Really everyone here is extremely sympathetic except for Shreck.

What’s great about this movie is a baby is thrown into a river and received by a fleet of penguins and it’s a totally acceptable narrative turn. 90 seconds into it.

This whole thread is just going to be me saying “Michelle Pfeiffer is so god damn good” over and over.

Life imitates art I guess.

“Wow. The Batman. Or is it just Batman?” Great question

“I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘Aaaaaaaahhhhh!’” Is truly wonderful dialogue and we should all aspire to that level of craft.

DeVitos level of commitment here can’t be overstated. Zero vanity, zero artifice. He just fully goes for it and none of it is easy.

“Sir, this is a kids movie.”

Michelle Pfeiffer is so god damn good.

The fact that this movie is so sound stagey somehow harkens back to cinema of the 30s and 40s, which does give it a kind of ethereal umbilical cord to Batman’s origin. I have no idea if this word salad makes sense, but I know what I’m saying.

“His parents. I hope he finds them.” The movie is littered with these little pocket moments that when you think about them for half a second become oceanic.

The war between Bruce and Batman on full display as he goes from “I hope he finds his parents” to “this guy isn’t who he says he is” in back-to-back scenes. Wish it went a little deeper into the psychology here.

This was my desktop picture for a year.

I still can’t watch the nose bite with both eyes open. Childhood trauma.

I think wide shots of Batman on a street where you can see his whole body are extremely hard to make look cool. It really risks breaking the magic. This movie pulls it off several times over.

My favorite shot of the movie. Just puts a toe into reality that really hooked me...

It’s a weird scene.

Bruce using Penguins own words against him amidst a brazenly corrupt political campaign and having Penguins supporters instantly turn on him is evidence that 1992 Gotham is a better place than anywhere in 2020.

The “first born son” thing in the third act and the fact that penguin was literally a baby in a basket sent down a River isn’t something I had noticed before. I wonder if there was any more of this in any of the drafts.

Look, there are a number of scenes, a number of performances in comic book movies that really stand out and I would argue are “the best” but then I remember what Michelle Pfeiffer does here.

When she pulls out the gun, and she starts laughing and crying as she says she doesn’t know who she is anymore... she’s astonishing.

I’ve always found Batman’s plea to Catwoman at the end, “let’s take him to the police, then we can go home, together.” To be one of the saddest moments in a comic book film. They do fit together in a way that could work. He sees it, and that chance is getting away.

Danny Fuckin Elfman.

I will just say... from a very young age.. there is... something... about this moment... that did not sit right... but it’s ok now.

The visual metaphor here is so palpable. The parts of her eating each other, bursting at the seams, totally messy, you can’t tell who is who. So strong.

I would watch an hour of moody Bruce Wayne being driven through Gotham in the snow on Christmas Eve. Perfect tone.

Thank you for coming to my Bat-talk.