Buying the Batmobile

mikemcclary:

My dream car sold for $4.62 million at the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction in Scottsdale last night.

Mike pretty much echoed my thoughts. 

If you watch a car on television as a kid and are able to purchase that exact iconic vehicle later in life, you're probably pretty successful in life. Or you've chosen a TV show with the worst piece-of-shit clunker ever that somehow holds appeal for you.

The man who purchased the Batmobile, Rick Champagne, said he planned to put it in his living room. His wife must be awesome. 

The Los Angeles Times has a photo gallery of the Batmobile under construction.

I would totally go to pick up my niece from preschool in the Batmobile. Although it doesn't really look car-seat friendly, which could be a problem. 

This is reminding me that I'm long overdue to watch The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray, which includes a documentary on the history of the Batmobile. 

Michael Keaton's interview with Marc Maron

Was Michael Keaton the best Batman? He was probably the best Bruce Wayne. Although could he have played the character created by Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale, which was much more physical? 

But Keaton's Bruce Wayne had the tortured thing down. He also seemed like he could go off the edge into Nutsville if pushed, which made his version so compelling. Plus, he was a little bit funny, which is something that the Nolan Batman films lacked. 

Keaton would be an interesting actor to me even if he'd never played Batman.

Night Shift was one of those movies I watched constantly on HBO — or whatever movie channel we had at the time — as a kid and even back then, I think I understood that Keaton's character was just a guy trying to get through a shitty job and make the world a little more fun.

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Mr. Mom was intriguing to me, because I tried to picture my father doing that and he would've been a disaster. Gung Ho is a situation so many of us can probably relate to: adjusting to a new job — possibly a more lucrative one — without losing touch with who you are, even though you can see and feel it happening. 

(I can only imagine that the interpretations of these movies are way off, and some Michael Keaton expert is going to correct me. Or, I'll watch them and realize I completely misread them as a pre-adolescent.) 

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that Keaton's interview with Marc Maron on the WTF podcast was a great listen. There's some really good stuff in there, as Keaton recaps his career, talks about the life of an actor and the craft of playing a role. 

Of course, they do get to Batman eventually and Keaton has some interesting tidbits to share.

For instance, even though he'd worked with Tim Burton before on Beetlejuice, Keaton didn't think he could play Batman because of his take on the character. (Keaton didn't read the comics, though Keaton gave him a copy of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.) 

"He's ridiculously depressed, he's a vigilante, he's got issues," Keaton said. "That's interesting if you're thinking about it as an actor, but nobody's gonna make that." 

But that's exactly the Bruce Wayne Burton wanted to do in his movie. 

Keaton admitted he's never seen all of the Nolan Bat-films, but from what he watched, he thought Christian Bale (and Nolan) didn't give himself anywhere to go with the character, in terms of his personality or his approach. 

I don't know if I agree with that. (Of course, I've watched the movies multiple times.) I feel like Bale's take on Bruce Wayne is someone who has created this mission for himself and let it define him. But he doesn't want to do it for the rest of his life. 

However, Keaton did say that he wanted to do an origin story or prequel for a third Batman movie. Unfortunately, Joel Schumacher had no interest in that, so Keaton walked. 

The whole interview is worth your time. And Michael Keaton should start doing more movies again. 

** Here's another interview Keaton did in May 2011 with the Los Angeles Times' Geoff Boucher.

Reading stack: Flipping the bird, Louis C.K.'s experiment, and Bane vs. Batman

• Oops — looks like Chuck Todd was caught giving someone the finger on "Morning Joe" Wednesday morning. Live TV, Chuck!

So when exactly did raising the middle finger become an offensive gesture? What exactly makes it profane? Is it that the finger resembles a... penis? I never quite thought of it that way. I'll make sure to ask someone about it if/when I give him the finger today. [Mental Floss]

• Did you stream or download Louis C.K.'s "Live at the Beacon Theater" show last Saturday (or since then)? C.K. charged $5 through PayPal for the show, hoping that people wouldn't put the show on torrents and give the material away for free.

People paid for the show, C.K. made a tidy profit, and everyone got to enjoy a great hour of comedy from maybe the best comedian working right now. For the most part, C.K.'s experiment seems to have worked. He explains the whole process here. [LouisCK.net]

• Bane seemed like a curious choice of villain for Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. But as he's been portrayed and promoted so far, it's clear that Bane is supposed to be an imposing, fearsome rival, one who actually places Batman in some jeopardy. Of course, in the comic books, Bane broke Batman's back and put him out of commission. The new movie poster implies that the same could happen on film. 

That's led a surprising number of bloggers to speculate that Batman could be killed off by the end of this movie. I suppose it's possible, and would be a hugely bold move by Nolan and Warner Bros. But I wonder if the story could go in another direction, with Batman making a decision that violates his moral code. That's been a theme through Nolan's two previous Bat-films. [Hero Complex]

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• Ever since getting myself an iPad, I've often wondered if it was something I could actually produce content with. Could I actually do some regular blogging with it? (That certainly would've made my life easier during the baseball playoffs.) My impulse has been to say no, because of difficulty with creating links and an inability to work with photos. Even though I should do so, I've never been one to write in a word-processing program first, then cut-and-paste into a blogging platform.

Yet tech writer James Kendrick insists he cranks out 3,000 words a day on his iPad with the help of a wireless keyboard and knowing which apps to use. I might give it a try at some point, especially now that I'd be a bit more willing to shell out for a keyboard. (If I was going to spend $500 on an iPad and $100 on a keyboard, why not just buy another laptop?) [ZDNet.com]

• I'm not going to claim I was any sort of athlete as a kid, let alone one as talented as Tim Hardaway Jr. But I do think I would've played more sports — especially football — if my father hadn't sucked every ounce of fun out of the endeavor with constant criticism. I did eventually become okay at baseball and basketball, but as with my love of sports, I had to get there on my own. 

So I'm admittedly a sucker for father-son stories. Read into that what you will. But Chantel Jennings' story on Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. and his NBA All-Star father Tim Hardaway really got to me. Reading about how hard the father rode his son about basketball reminded me of some painful memories. But some fathers eventually get it, which makes for a nice ending here. [Wolverine Nation]

Reading stack: Tuesday's links

• I'm really eager to read John Bacon's book on Rich Rodriguez's tenure as Michigan football coach. (Even though I realistically won't get really into it until after baseball season ends.) Not only do I expect it to confirm several beliefs I've long held, but it sounds like there's plenty of other inside stuff that is rankling a lot of people close to the program. [MVictors]

• The list of movies currently in theaters that I want to see is growing. (No, I haven't seen "Moneyball." Yes, I know I write about baseball.) That concerns me since the baseball playoffs are about to begin. Between that and sneaking in some Michigan football, I don't know how much "leisure" time will be available. I just hope "Drive" stays in theaters for a week or two.

Oh, this is an interview with the director, Nicolas Winding Refn. He shoots his movies in chronological order. [The A.V. Club]

• With DC Comics rebooting its entire comic book line (I've read a few of them on the iPad, out of curiosity, and intend to write about them soon), a trio of forensic psychologists would like to see comics creators be more responsible about depicting mental illness. They feel the Batman line, in particular, with several "criminally insane" villains in its rogues gallery (i.e., The Joker) perpetuate dangerously negative stereotypes. [New York Times]

• I already wasn't thrilled about my height. But apparently, I have some getting shorter to look forward to. And it might be happening sooner than I would like to admit. Actually, it may already be happening. To you, as well.

But if height loss indicates all the other stuff that's going wrong with you, you might be ready to die anyway. So get some smokes and a bottle of whiskey and just ride it out. [Wall Street Journal]

• As a comic book-loving kid, one of my absolute favorites was "The New Teen Titans" by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. At one point, my life's ambition was to draw like Perez.

If you'd have told me those two were coming out with a new Teen Titans story — 25 years after they first began working on it — I would've been excited to read it. And I was, for many, many years. Even within the last six years. But now, I'm not sure I can work up too much excitement for it. [The Beat]

When The Dark Knight Can't Get Away

This probably would've been better before Halloween, but I told my friend Ms. Hooz that I'd post it.  I guess this video shows what would happen if Batman hadn't gone to ninja school in Batman Begins before putting on the pointy ears and cape.

You'd think Commissioner Gordon would be onto Batman's act by now.  And I watched a cartoon over the weekend where Batman pulled the vanishing act on Superman, too.  That doesn't seem possible.  I mean, he's Superman.  (Although Batman is probably just that good.  The cartoon, unfortunately, was not.)