The Friends and Foes of Batman - Batwoman

Over the years there have been a couple of Batwomen. They aren't just grown up Batgirls either, they are completely different characters. The Batwoman was partly created to offset the charges made that Batman and Robin were homosexuals. While she has never been as popular as Batgirl, she did get her own Direct to Video DVD titled Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. While I won't reveal her secret identity in the animated film, I will say its a different person than in the comics.




Kathy Kane

The original Batwoman first appeared in 1956. She was a costumed crime-fighter like Batman, but while Batman wears a utility belt, Batwoman carried a utility purse.

Batman wished for Kathy to retire from crimefighting due to the danger. Nevertheless, she remained his ally (even when she temporarily became a new version of Catwoman). In 1961, Batwoman was joined by her niece Betty Kane, the Bat-Girl. Kathy and Betty were romantically interested in Batman and Robin, respectively. Robin seemed to return Bat-Girl's affection, while Batman remained aloof.

In 1964, DC dropped Batwoman, as well as Bat-Girl, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Bat-Mite from the Batman titles. In the 1970s, Batwoman only appeared a few times, often fighting crime alongside the second Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. During her retirement, she became the owner of a circus, which she kept until she died. She was killed by the League of Assassins and the brainwashed Bronze Tiger.

Kate Kane

Recently, a new Batwoman, Katherine "Kate" Kane was introduced. Kate is Gotham PD Renee Montoya's former lover and heiress to one of the wealthiest families in Gotham City. In spite of their spats, Renee and Kate have worked together to battle Intergang.

Friend and Foe Profiles:

Ra's al Ghul
Talia al Ghul
Azrael
Baby Doll
Bane
Bat-Hound (Ace)
Batgirl
Bat-Mite
Batwoman

The Dark Knight returns in 377 days!

Possible Soundwave Design For Transformers 2

I found these images over at The Movie Blog Community. Not sure how "real" this design is, but I hope if Soundwave is a car, that he will still have "tapes" of some sort. I want me some Laserbeak.

Radar Blips - Ghost Rider

The Year: 2007

The Players: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, and Directed by the guy who made Daredevil

The Take: $116 Million

What happens when you look into his eyes?: Among Ghost Rider's powers is one called the penance stare. If you look into his eyes you will suffer for all the pain you have inflicted on others.

Why you should see it: The movie has a flaming motorcycle driving up the side of a skyscraper. That alone is worth the price of admission. But this dude with a flaming skull can also throw hellfire, has a hellfire shotgun and a big chain and fights demons. Really, there is some good action a couple of funny jokes, and an overall decent comic book adaptation. If you read the comic, you will enjoy the movie.

Transformers has Arrived

The Transformers movie is here. Its made $36 million in a day and a half including a $27.5 million biggest Tuesday ever.

I caught this movie on Tuesday morning, and thought it was pretty good. It is definitely one of the better cartoon to live action translations out there. There are some great action scenes, especially with Starscream and Blackout. Bumblebee is awesome and Prime is pretty cool too. Also, there are a lot of humans in the movie and surprisingly they are all fairly interesting. Having said that, the big battle sequence was a bit too crowded and it was hard to tell who was fighting who. Also, the Deceptacons have a little gremlin bot that is kinda lame. But overall, an enjoyable experience.

If you have seen the movie, what did you think? How much is this mother gonna make?

Ratatouille Scurries Up the Charts

Pixar's newest has jumped to the top spot on IMDB.com list of animated films with a score of 8.8 out of 10. Spirited Away has been bumped to #2 with Princess Mononoke now at #3 and Pixar's The Incredibles and Finding Nemo rounding out the top 5.

In the overall film rankings, Ratatouille currently sits at #33. While its positions may drop as more votes are added, this speaks highly of the film's quality in spite of the mediocre ad campaign. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.

Its a Sign of the Apocalypse

I can't wait for the live action Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Ink Blots LXX - The Transformers: The Movie

This month is movies that have something to do with this summer's releases, and timed for the big debut of the robot in disguise, its Transformers: The Movie.

You know that episode of the Simpsons where Bart does something wrong so his punishment is that he can never see the Itchy and Scratchy Movie? Well, thats pretty much what happened to me with the Transformers Movie, except I didn't do anything wrong. My parents just heard that it was too violent or something and banned me. Imagine my surprise the next season when all of my favorite Autobots including the beloved Optimus Prime were gone and replaced by random bots I had never heard of. It wasn't until fairly recently that I finally caught the movie on glorious DVD.

The film does actually have a surprising amount of death and carnage (maybe my parents were right) for a toy commercial, but the intent was to mix up the toy line by "retiring" the old and ushering in the new. Casualties included big shots: Ratchet, Ironhide, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream.

Wow! You know, looking back on the film it is kind of nice that there were some stakes. Too bad only the wussy survived. The action is set to a pure 80s rock and roll soundtrack that is a lot of fun to listen to today. As for the main plot, there is a huge Galactus style planet eater on the loose named Unicron that must be stopped - and without OP to save the day, someone else must rise to the challenge. Sadly, this movie made only $6 million back in 1986 a number that should be devastated by midnight showings alone of this summers release. This is a fun one though my nostalgia and anticipation for the live action film may be biasing me I am still awarding Transformers a B+.

Marvel DC After Hours

Another parody has landed

Pixar's Newest is the Big Cheese

Live Free or Die Hard (AKA Die Hard 4.0) kicked off the weekend early opening on Wednesday, but Ratatouille was able to take Die Hard from behind to capture the weekend win. Sadly, the rat still needs a few days to bust onto the Summer Top 9 chart. Its only a matter of time before Surf's Up and Evan Almighty drop off to the rising Rat and next week's monstrous Transformers. Still, Ratatouille's sub $50 million opening ($47 mil) has to be a disappointment. I blame the flood of animated films in the marketplace which makes the special ones seem less special. Hopefully it picks up some July 4th bonus dough.

Fantastic Four and Ocean's 13 both surged past the $100 million mark this week becoming official Blockbusters. Pirates 3 continues to sail strong toward the monumental mark of $300 mil.

Opening this Monday at 8:00 PM is the Transformers. With only License to Wed opening against it, Transformers will rule the weekend after dominating the holiday. I predict that this film will have mustered around $130 million by next week's post. I think my early predict of $205 will be busted and the film will end up around $275 million.

Current Rankings:

#9 Live Free or Die Hard - $48,178,000
#8 Surf's Up - $53,814,000
#7 Evan Almighty - $60,625,000
#6 Ocean's 13 - $102,085,000
#5 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - $114,800,000
#4 Knocked Up - $122,407,000
#3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - $295,758,000
#2 Shrek the Third - $313,000,000
#1 Spider-Man 3 - $333,691,000



My Predictions:

#9 Evan Almighty - $170,000,000 (35.3%)*
#8 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - $175,000,000 (65.6%)*
#7 The Bourne Ultimatum - $185,000,000 (0.0%)*
#6 Transformers - $205,000,000 (0.0%)*
#5 Ratatouille - $260,000,000 (18.2%)*
#4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - $275,000,000 (0.0%)*
#3 Shrek the Third - $325,000,000 (94.7%)*
#2 Spider-Man 3 - $380,000,000 (96.3%)*
#1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - $395,000,000 (74.9%)*

*Percentages earned relative to my predictions

Read Megatrons Lips

Only 2 more days!!!