Batson's Blog

I was really excited about a new adaptation of Peter Pan when I first heard about it, especially after hearing that it’s a friendship story between Captain Hook and Peter Pan. Peter Pan is one of the most repeated stories there is, so having this fresh take on it was a fun idea. Then I saw the trailer. That’s where the excitement ended. Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) looked like she went shopping in Cher’s closet rather than being tribal member. Then again, she’s not Native American, so I’m not sure why she was cast in the role in the first place. Then there was Blackbeard. Hugh Jackman seems like a great choice to portray Blackbeard, but good Lord! The costumes and the awful hair piece ruined any excitement I had in seeing Jackman in the role. He looks like a freaky pirate version of Michael Jackson --- and that’s not a compliment. So, yeah. Questionable casting so far and bad wardrobes in the trailer. Not a great way to get people excited for a movie, huh? Oh yeah...

I have yet to see Oz: The Great and Powerful , but I hear it’s a pretty decent movie. It’s on my ‘to see’ list – maybe even in the theatres. I’m curious to see what the plot is since I’ve stayed away from reviews and spoilers. I’m equally curious to see what Oz looks like with the technical capabilities of the 21st century. Over the years, Hollywood has done a pretty spectacular job at making some make believe places look very real. Here are nine other make believe lands that would provide a lot of fun if they actually did exist: Narnia Imagine being able to step through a mirror and being transported to a magical land of talking lions, talking beavers and other magical beings. As long as it's a time of peace, there wouldn't be any evil witches to worry about. I think I'd be a little scared to go, honestly. I'd be worried Aslan would get a bit of an appetite and I'd be his lunch.  It'd be and adventure though -- that's for sure. Neverlan...

It was a Redbox double feature once again last night. I wasn’t going to rent anything, but Redbox e-mailed me a special weekend-only offer: get $.50 off your purchase of two or more movies. I took the bait. This time I went with two remakes: Neverland and The Three Musketeers . Neverland I’d never heard of Neverland , but the cover looked pretty cool on Redbox.com. Despite what they say, I do judge a book (or in this case a DVD) by its cover. It usually works too. I guess it was successful with Neverland as well. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. I could tell that something was up as soon as I saw the previews, which were straight-to-DVD SyFy channel releases. Then the menu screen pops up and says “Play Part 1” and “Play Part 2.” Great. I was done with a day of work, it was 7 in the evening, and I just rented a two-part TV series. All I wanted was regular movie – with some special effects, a decent story and cool action scenes. I hit “Play” any...