Batson's Blog

I'll give Dumbo credit. While Aladdin made unnecessary changes from the 90s version and The Lion King was pretty much an awkward, lesser CGI'd version from that 90s version, Dumbo told an original story. The problem is: that it just wasn't very good. To me, there's still no better live action movie than Maleficent . It reminded me of 'The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.' It told the story from the opposite perspective. Dumbo added several characters that weren't in Disney's classic animated version, but most of them weren't that exciting. The movie had some predictable greedy characters and some dull heroes. Michael Keaton , Danny Devito , Colin Farrell and Eva Green weren't bad casting choices, but their characters weren't that exciting. The children meant nothing to me. I had zero cares for them. They had way too much screen time. The writers actually gave one of the kids a line in the movie where she said, ...

I was not looking forward to seeing this movie. I thought about skipping it until it was released for renting, but I caved in and saw it in the theater. I'm glad I did! Rise of Skywalker was a good movie. J.J. Abrams fixed a lot of what Rian Johnson messed up in The Last Jedi . I mentioned my disappointment on The Last Jedi in my review two years ago . Now, I wouldn't have disliked that movie so much had it not taken such an odd turn from The Force Awakens . Also, I would've had a different reaction if there was some indication that some of the unanswered questions I and a lot of other fans had were going to actually be answered. That wasn't the case. There was no hint that there's more to come. I remember walking out of the theater when the movie was over and everyone was just silent. No applause. Nobody talking about how good it was or discussing their favorite part. The excitement was drained out of all 100+ people in that theater. I gave ...

I'm torn on the Disney live action movies. There are a couple ( Maleficent , The Jungle Book ) that have been surprisingly good. Some ( Cinderella , Beauty & The Beast ) that have been just OK. Then there are some ( Aladdin , Maleficent 2 ) that haven't been that impressive at all. The Lion King falls into the 'OK' category. While those in charge of this movie didn't make the same mistakes that Aladdin did in deviating much from the original script, they had mistakes of their own. If you're not telling a new story (like in Maleficent or Dumbo ), then why exactly are you making the movie? If I want to watch The Lion King , then wouldn't I just watch the 90's version? What's the point? So that I can see overdone CGI instead of colorful animation? Sure, I guess it has the 3-D aspect going for it, but I couldn't care less about that. Disney is really in a no win situation. They can make a live action version of the same 90s cl...

Where to start with this one, huh? When I heard that Will Smith was cast as Genie , I was actually pretty happy about it. He is close enough to Robin Williams in the ability to deliver an over-the-top performance but he's not a complete replica. He's got his own style. Then I saw the horrible Entertainment Weekly cover with no blue makeup and I, like many others, was not irritated that they weren't making him blue. Then I saw the horrible makeup job with the blue paint and I thought, 'Maybe he shouldn't be blue.' Besides Genie and his lack of blue / poorly done blue makeup, the costumes looked like cheaply made (but still overpriced) Halloween costumes you'd find at The Disney Store. Lastly, the casting is way off here. Mena Massoud looks like Aladdin , but he doesn't have half the style or swagger that the animated version does. Marwan Kenzari neither looks like Jafar or has his demeanor. Oh --- and the animated version of Abu  >...

Everyone is talking about the Disney (Marvel) / Sony feud right now. It's a complicated situation, especially since we don't really know what the tone of all the discussions is like. There are some conflicting reports. Based on what I've seen, Sony and Disney made a deal. Spider-Man was successful in the MCU, so Disney wanted to renegotiate so that they had better terms in the deal. I don't blame Sony for saying 'Hold up' because legally they've been doing everything right. But the MCU is where all the action is, so of course fans want Spider-Man there. That being said, I think now may be the best time for Spidey to go solo with Sony. Both of Spider-Man's movies so far benefitted from having Nick Fury, Happy Hogan and Iron Man (or at least references to him in the second movie). Spider-Man got a huge rub from Fury and Iron Man. It's time to take that and move on and do his own thing. The crowded, crossover-filled MCU: It's ...

I like to stay pretty out of the loop these days when it comes to superhero movies. I don't want to know who is playing what characters will be in the movie or who is expected to live and die or who makes a cameo. The superhero movies have improved so much that I have enough faith it will be good without having to go to the spoilers. I went into Dark Phoenix the same way. I knew it wasn't going to be a gigantic blockbuster, based on the preview I'd seen, but I was hoping for the best. Let me say right out: this movie was awful! It's the only movie I can remember seeing in the theater where I sat there and thought 'Is this movie over yet??' It was that bad. I'm not even sure where to start. I was excited about seeing the Dark Phoenix saga told well -- even if it was crammed into one movie. Instead, we got a strange half-reboot of X3 (because that worked so well the first time) and poor man's Captain Marvel . I've read some reports ...

Wow! Wow!! On so many levels. Unlike some Star Wars movies, unlike The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings , Avengers: Endgame is not disappointing in any way. There are maybe two very minor things I could pick at, but that's it. Maybe two minor things in an entire 3 hour movie. Without giving spoilers, the most important thing I'd say is that nobody will be disappointed in this movie. You can't be disappointed if you liked any of the other Marvel movies ... at all. Some characters got more screen time than others, so fans of one particular character may not be happy about that, but the movie made sense for every character that so there's just no legitimate complaining about it. That's probably the most impressive thing about the movie: the writing. Sure, visuals were great (though I think I was more impressed by Aquaman in that aspect). Sure, the fight scenes (one in particular) was amazing. Yeah, the music was spot on --- taking you on a rollercoaste...

All the controversy about Captain Marvel . Who knew? If you've been paying attention to Twitter and other forms of social media, you probably did know about it. I heard bits and pieces a couple of weeks ago, but didn't bother to give it much research. I did take a look at the reports. I guess actress Brie Larson said while she was on a press tour promoting the movie that she wanted more diversity (specifically women) in the reviewers who get to see movies early. I can see why that may make some people upset. But then she clarified and said that she's not asking to take anyone's seat away from the table --- just asking for more to be added. I don't see an issue with that. That's a good way to put it. Then people tried to bomb the movie on Rotten Tomatoes, which caused the website to make some changes. Ehh, it is what it is. Let's get to the movie (no spoilers in this review). First, I really liked the way the movie handled the flashb...

WWE's Hall of Fame has become one of the fans' favorite nights of the year. Why wouldn't it be? You get to see legends and childhood heroes get the respect they deserve and hear some (hopefully) funny road stories. There are some glaring omissions from WWE's Hall of Fame that hurt its credibility: Owen Hart , Vader , Davey Boy Smith , etc. There have also been some questionable inductees that also hurt its credibility: Koko B. Ware , The Godfather and Rikishi . It's understandable that each year, come Hall of Fame time, there will be debate amongst fans. Each group of fans is hoping their favorite gets the nod. The inductions this year have caused some controversy as well. Chyna , for example, is being inducted. After the way Triple H 's comments about Chyna on Stone Cold' s podcast went viral a few years ago, seeing her name as a Hall of Fame inductee was a little surprising. It was also a little shady -- giving Chyna an induction, but n...

Fruit Loops donuts ?  Say what?!? They first popped up last Fall at Hardee's for a limited time, but I guess that was a successful trial run because they're back. I read that they were only available as a breakfast item, but the Hardee's I called and spoke to said they were available all day long -- at least at their location. So I had myself a cheeseburger slider and 5 mini Fruit Loop-inspired and flavored donuts! I have to say, they were all really good. Now, apparently the 5 Fruit Loops colors -- red, green, yellow, blue and purple -- all taste the same in cereal form. Maybe it's in my head, but I swear the different colored donuts each had their own, somewhat distinct taste. For example, I thought the yellow had more of a lemon flavor than the other donuts.  The green colored donut had the traditional Fruit Loops taste, for sure.  It was kind of dry without as much frosting, though. The frosting on the red donut wasn't amazing. The frosting...

Wrestlemania is just a few weeks away and it seems like it's going to be a lengthy show. After the Royal Rumble's main show was approximately 5 hours, there's no way that Wrestlemania won't be just as long. I'd like to see them place several matches on the pre-show (and start early so that the East Coast doesn't get done watching it at Midnight) so that it's not such a chore to sit through. Anything over 5 hours and it's bordering leg cramps, people going home from viewing parties so they can get up for work the next day and losing interest. So how would you book Wrestlemania? To be honest there aren't a lot of matches I'm really looking forward to seeing.  There are some matches I'd like to see happen but I know they're not going to. I have a dream card, but, realistically, it probably won't happen.  For example, I think this year would've been a great time to do The Undertaker vs. Shinsuke Nakamura .  I can say with ...

For a while there you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing some kind of superhero show. It seems that the end of a TV superhero era is upon us, however. Rumors are that Arrow (on the CW Network ) will be cancelled  after the next season. Along with that, Legends of Tomorrow is also apparently on the way out. There are even rumors that Supergirl may be replaced by a Superman TV show. Netflix just announced the cancellation of Jessica Jones and The Punisher . This is after Daredevil , Iron Fist and Luke Cage were all cancelled last Fall. And any Gotham fan knows that this show is going away after the end of this season, too. Relax --- it's all cyclical: While many fans are probably upset by the abundance of cancellation news, I'm not. I'll miss Daredevil and Gotham . To be honest, I haven't had the chance to keep up with Jessica Jones' second season, Luke Cage's second season, the last season and a half of Arrow or finish the first...