Mouth said
You'll like the IMAX, Griff.  Which city you hitting up?  You might have to get there early to get a good spot in line, rushing the aisles once they open the doors so you can get a center seat or whatever you like.  The cool thing about IMAX, though, is it doesn't much matter where you sit (beyond the front 4 rows), b/c the screen's hugeness compensates for the presumably bad angles of a far left/right seat and b/c the stadium seating obviates the problem of the backs of people's heads.  

 

I, too, will be going a tad out of my way in order to see TDKR IMAX, Thursday midnight show style.  Not b/c I'm that excited that I have to see it ASAP, but b/c that's likely the most convenient showtime for me next weekend.  Not that I mind seeing it ASAP, though.  I'm a Nolan fan, duh.  And I think I like 3 hour action movies.  

 

The IMAX theatre I'm attending doesn't do Fandango, sadly, but I'll of course be using Vern's Fandango ad-link to buy my tickets to a 2nd, non-IMAX showing.  

 

And I'm not even supposed to be here right now.  All my overseas summer plans are dependent on my business partner getting over some strange insect-borne disease before I fly across the Atlantic, so in the meantime, I'm in an air-conditioned office discussing Batman with you all.  

 

Could be worse.

I'm going to an IMAX theater near Jacksonville Florida 

I'm seeing TDKR at London BFI IMAX, which is where I also saw The Dark Knight, which was a good time and with great atmosphere before and after. I get the impression that american moviegoing audiences are far more uh, not obnoxious, but they make their presence felt more. I keep reading about people applauding stuff that happens at just regular screenings and that's not really something I've experienced over in the UK. You get people laughing at funny stuff, but otherwise, nothing. When I saw THE WRESTLER though, when Rourke bashed Nirvana, someone in the back of the cinema booed him though, which was funny.

Broddie said

Batman is dropped like a bad habit as of this week thanks to issue 11. Not just because of the anti-climax but because it really wasn't anything worth caring about overall. I mean the villain just yapping about is one of the lamest and most overused tropes in any type of scripted media. Once Bruce was hanging on to a jet engine my eyes rolled to the back of my damn head. Then Bruce and Dick with all the heavy expository dialogue that sounded so unnatural it hurts.

 

The story overall suffers from it for having a good build up and shitty pay off. I've lost faith in Snyder Batman stories cause it was worse than Gates of Gotham and Gates wasn't really all that either. I will consider The Black Mirror a fluke and will trade wait his Joker story because I have no real faith in that.

 

In the end it really did feel like a bunch of contrived nothing. To his credit though Snyder is working on the theatrical and operatic book in the line. With 'tec he was more about making detective stories. This is Batman the "blockbuster" book so you go big and he did by throwing in everything from secret societies to zombie assasins and long lost brothers. I get it but I will no longer buy it monthly. I'm good just with Morrison's book.

Issue eleven was pretty much what I thought it would be. I knew they wouldn't disprove the brother thing, but not make it definite. I'd say overall I enjoyed it, but it was spoiled at times by some really silly things, like the scope of that final fight and some of the more ridiculous/fantastical aspects that clashed with the serious conspiracy story tone of the arc. Plus it was very similar to Hush and RIP in various respects.

I hear that Batman: Earth One is a pretty good, and different take on things though. Anyone read that?

Stu said
I'm seeing TDKR at London BFI IMAX, which is where I also saw The Dark Knight, which was a good time and with great atmosphere before and after. I get the impression that american moviegoing audiences are far more uh, not obnoxious, but they make their presence felt more. I keep reading about people applauding stuff that happens at just regular screenings and that's not really something I've experienced over in the UK.

It's been happening in cinemas out here as far back as I can remember. The first time I encountered that was when I saw T2 during the scene where Sarah goes buckwild on the T-1000 with the shotgun. The audience fucking roared and I'd be lying if I said I didn't too but I was also 8 years old.

LETHAL WEAPON 4 and TRUE LIES I also remember having huge pops from the audiences I saw them with. It was annoying with TRUE LIES though cause the fucking guy next to me kept talking and laughing like a hyena and I would miss a lot of the jokes. The last time I did anything remotely like that was during THE MATRIX when Trinity jumps over the roofs in the beginning people just started clapping after I audibly blurted "holy shit!".

The older I get though the more obnoxious it kind of is. It's one thing to applaud during the end credits like the audience I saw PROMETHEUS with did. Or even claps or "oh shits" during hard hitting action scenes like when I saw THE RAID.

It's another to be like the TRUE LIES guy and too many people just carry on way beyond the point where they should've quit laughing or being excited. Like recently with THE AVENGERS where I completely missed the "puny god" line and subsequent dialogue because people wouldn't shut the fuck up after the Hulk pounded Loki into the ground lol. So I try my best to watch movies with a smaller or at least more reserved audience now and that could only really be accomplished when the movie is already a few weeks old and not during opening weekend.

I wouldn't necessarily call Batman: Mask of the Phantasm the best Batman film, but it's definitely my personal favorite.  Even after Nolan's Batman movies, I still enjoy MotP the most.  Strangely enough for a cartoon, it has the most realistic depiction of an adult romantic relationship.  It makes sense why Bruce would fall for Andrea Beaumont, since they're both cynical, slightly broken individuals that can only find solace with each other.  By comparison Vicky Vale and Rachel Dawes both come across as kind of flat.  Actually, screw it.  I'll go ahead and claim that MotP is the best theatrical Batman movie.