Lego Batman and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

I saw Lego Batman when it first came out and, man, I had a great time.  This, to me, is what a comic book movie should be.  Just a fun ride from beginning to end.  Great dialogue, nice music, and a pretty weighty consideration of the relationship between good and evil all accompany the film.  If you haven't seen it yet, please do.  You won't be disappointed.  Next on my agenda is to see the Lego Movie itself.

I was also able to see Batman: Mask of the Phantasm on Netflix.  I actually saw it for the first time with my mom when it debuted in 1993.  It didn't really wow me then, but man, was I wrong!  Folks, this might be the best movie ever made.  I think the Batman from Batman: The Animated Series is the best version we've gotten, and this is one heck of a story.  I love Bruce's relationship with Andrea, and how that ties in to the mystery of the Batman.  And the whole underworld of Gotham (complete with the Joker) is expertly crafted.  Such a great film!  I'm glad I thought to see it twice.  Check it out, if you can!

R. E. M. (a retrospective)

After this past Christmas, I had enough ready cash available to finally purchase the latter R.E.M. albums that I  never got around to buying.  Until recently, I had always trusted the conventional wisdom that their later stuff (everything from Document on) was basically bad and not worth listening to.  Their first four albums (Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, and Lifes Rich Pageant) are brilliant and, for me, never lose their appeal.  I can literally listen to them over and over, and they have a timelessness and at the same time an old-fashioned quality that always rings true.  Another fine album of theirs is Dead Letter Office, a compilation album consisting of B sides and covers.  Though Fables of the Reconstruction is probably my favorite, I have probably listened to Dead Letter Office the most of any of them and in fact am listening to it right now. 

After this Christmas, I was finally able to gain some perspective on their more recent albums.  First, I must say that I've never liked Document and never will.  I even gave it another chance, but for me, it just doesn't come together as an album and features an unfortunate mix of really bad and really good songs.  Their other albums from that era don't bother me as much and, in fact, there are some that I really like.  I've actually owned Automatic for the People for a while now (I bought it based on a recommendation), and it's a terrific album that many consider their best.  Very melancholy, and unforgettable.  Definitely in that same weight class is Out of Time, which has the popularity, if not the reviews, to back it up.  Losing My Religion, Country Feedback, and many other songs on that album sound great and can be played again and again.  I kind of associate Automatic for the People and Out of Time as the best of this later period, even if they don't quite touch the diffuse sounds of the earlier period.  Other stand out albums for me from this later period are Green and Collapse into Now.  Green has some great, poppy as well as dark songs on it, and Collapse into Now is just a great, fitting end to the band, also with some great, catchy songs on it.  To be honest, the other albums aren't as memorable to me as the ones I've mentioned, but their later period definitely has some great moments and shouldn't be underrated.

Up for next Christmas: Led Zeppelin box set.  Stay tuned.

Alien by Alan Dean Foster

This weekend I was finally able to finish Alien by the great science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster.  I usually don't read movie novelizations (which Foster is known for), but when I heard that he was going to come back and adapt (and also write some original material for) Alien: Covenant, I decided to give his Alien Omnibus (which collects his novelizations of Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3) a try.  Though I haven't made it to the other two, I must say that Alien does a great job of recapturing the suspense and sense of dread of the film version.  The characters are really given a sense of depth, just like they have in the movie. . .  Ripley in particular is very well written and has some great scenes and dialogue.  When the crew is trying to get the Alien-infected Kane onto the ship and Ripley won't permit it, it really makes you stop and ponder who is right and wrong.  Which is more important, the many or the individual?  The technical details of how the ship works are also very well done.  All in all, a captivating read.  I look forward to the next two and to seeking out other books by Foster.