Batson's Blog

Something that's been happening in recent years is casting black actors in the roles of comic book characters who were typically white. Of course, it's something that goes back to timing and culture and society. When comic books were published several decades ago, it was during a time when race was still a very sensitive subject. Race may be a sensitive topic these days too, but in the 1940's and 1950's, black people still didn't have the rights they do today. I wasn't alive at the time, but I'd imagine it was even more tense than in today's current climate. It creates an interesting dilemma for Marvel and DC movie and TV-makers.  Do they change the race of beloved characters? Do they create new superheroes who are black (and Asian and LGBT, etc, etc?) to satisfy their diverse readers?  Do they elevate their lesser-known black characters to more prominent roles (like Luke Cage and Black Panther)?  Or do they stick to the original portrayal...

I recently brushed up on the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot (now renamed Alien Turtles ). Turns out I haven’t been keeping up on the news very well. Michael Bay (director of the Transformers franchise) is the director and he broke the news on his blog that Megan Fox (the woman he booted from the Transformers franchise) has a spot in the TMNT movie. One has to assume she'll be playing April O’Neil, the dedicated and fearless TV reporter who always manages to get captured. It’s actually not a bad choice. I’m not sure she would have been my first choice, but I can see it working – in an updated, not-like-the-cartoon kind of way. I was watching the first two Transformers movies last week and Fox is a decent enough actress. She may not win awards, but she can get the job done in an action movie. If Bay can revive the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the way he did the Transformers, then Fox may have a couple of box office hits coming her way. Fox being cast as O’N...

I recently made a very interesting discovery. It’s not quite at the level of sliced bread, but darn close. Let me set it up first though. I recently watched Home Alone , just like I do every Christmas. One of my gifts this year was the Dennis the Menace DVD. That’s how I made the discovery. I was watching Dennis the Menace – the scene with the – and noticed two familiar faces. Bill Erwin and Billie Bird played the married couple in this scene. Now if you’re like me, those names probably don’t ring a bell. What if I mention the movie Home Alone – specifically the scene in the airport with the mother? Yep. The same two actors. That’s two movies that Erwin and Bird co-starred in where they played a married couple. And – there’s another Home Alone connection. Devin Ratray – who will probably always be most famous for playing Kevin McAllister’s older brother, Buzz, in Home Alone is also in Dennis the Menace. He plays the babysitter’s boyfriend. Well ther...