Bad Girls We Love: Catwoman from The Dark Knight Rises

“It’s an ‘Ooops’ dripping in sexiness and insincerity, coming as it does after Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne interrupts her in the middle of a heist and before she dons her leather or rubber catsuit. The ‘Ooops’ and its Jean Harlow naughty-girl reading come early in the film and the rest of Hathaway’s performance seems to … Continue reading Bad Girls We Love: Catwoman from The Dark Knight Rises →

Random Image Dump #20

Let’s mark the occasion of the twentieth edition of this ongoing visual-stimulation randomness series with a selection of vintage and old school photos. Sure, nostalgia and retro are part of our usual M.O. around here anyway, but hey, when you have a schtick you’re known for, it never hurts to lean into it and please … Continue reading Random Image Dump #20 →

Batman Returns is a Christmas Miracle

Spending Christmas in Gotham City is an annual tradition for diehard fans of Batman Returns (1992). I have to watch the movie sometime in December—and often several times this month—and nothing brings me more Yuletide spirit than the most gloriously bizarre and unapologetically kinky superhero movie ever made. Tim Burton and screenwriters Daniel Waters and … Continue reading Batman Returns is a Christmas Miracle →

Hot Shots of the Week: Gotham City’s Ice Princess

“The tree lights up, and then I push the button. No-no, wait, wait, wait, wait. I press the button and *then* the tree lights up...” It wouldn’t be the holidays without the delightfully ditzy Ice Princess from Batman Returns (1992)—played brilliantly by Cristi Conaway—lighting up Gotham City’s Christmas tree. As cinematic dumb blondes go, she’s … Continue reading Hot Shots of the Week: Gotham City’s Ice Princess →

Hell Here

Scenes and dialogue from Batman Returns (1992) play in constant rotation in my mind. It’s the weirdest, most unique superhero movie ever made, in my estimation, and it’s also a delightfully subversive Christmas movie, too. It has everything going for it, from outrageously over the top characters to sumptuously gothic set designs, from a pitch-perfect … Continue reading Hell Here →

Happy 90th, Julie Newmar

One of these days I’m going to turn more of this blog’s attention to the 1960s Batman television show. Obviously, my pop culture loves range far and wide, so it’s hard to squeeze them all in here, but Batman was critical to my childhood, my love of comic books, and my development into a scholar … Continue reading Happy 90th, Julie Newmar →

From Screen to Page: Catwoman Returns

I finally got around to reading the six-issue miniseries Batman ‘89. Originally published by DC Comics between August 2021–July 2022, the comic was written by Sam Hamm, beautifully illustrated by Joe Quinones, and sumptuously colored by Leonardo Ito. Hamm, you might remember, wrote Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), so it’s fitting that he continues the story … Continue reading From Screen to Page: Catwoman Returns →