Now Playing Presents: The Batman Movie Retrospective
17 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★ - 74 ratingsAfter The Dark Knight broke box office records in 2008 audiences have hotly awaited the next, and final, installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman saga. Now to prepare for that film, Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are looking back at all the Batman films, from 1966 through a weekend-of-release review of The Dark Knight Rises. Join us each week at NowPlayingpodcast.com to hear our reviews of a new Batfilm!
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Episodes
Justice League
November 22, 2017 05:08 - 2 hours - 110 MBHow does a DC Comics super-team come together when the Man of Steel is dead, Batman is suicidal, Wonder Woman won’t lead, and the most promising recruits are an aloof Merman, a renegade robot, and a neurotic runner who’d rather eat than fight? It will take the Classic Rock threat of Steppenwolf, reuniting with the Mother Boxes of Invention, to unify this Justice League. But is there any hope for Recommendations from Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie when the clashing visions of director Zack Snyde...
Suicide Squad
August 10, 2016 01:00 - 2 hours - 136 MBEarlier this year DC brought Batman back to the big screen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Now it’s time for his nemesis to get the spotlight. Suicide Squad stars villains like Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Enchantress — a group of bad people who may be able to do some good. The characters are the worst of the worst…but is the film also the worst? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out!
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
March 29, 2016 15:00 - 2 hours - 134 MBIt took fifteen years of development, but now the World’s Finest heroes are together on screen with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Can the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel share the screen? The box office was big but the audience divided. Now join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob for this review to find out!
The Incredibles -- A Now Playing Bonus Review
February 27, 2015 06:00 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBPixar films including Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo, had been smash hits. But could this success that worked on toys, fish, bugs, and beasts, work for a movie starring a roster of human characters? That was the risk they took with The Incredibles -- Pixar's first superhero film. The gamble worked and Pixar had another hit, but how does this film hold up more than 10 years later? Join Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob to find out!
Join us at NowPlayingPodcast.com for our Fast and Furious Retrospective Series!
February 24, 2015 06:00 - 1 hour - 94.9 MBAn undercover police officer infiltrates a group of thieves, but can he resist the lure of the subculture and do his duty? No, we're not talking the Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze film Point Break--we're reviewing the 2001 car racing film The Fast and The Furious. Starring Vin Diesel, fresh off the success of Pitch Black, the film raced to box office success and launched a billion-dollar franchise. But is there more to this film than fast cars and attractive women? Join Stuart, Arnie, and Ja...
Catwoman
July 31, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 42.2 MBSince Michelle Pfeiffer squeezed into latex in Batman Returns an idea of a Catwoman movie had been teased. Writers, directors, and stars were attached to the project over the years, and it took over a decade for the film to become reality. Now starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry as Patience Phillips, a woman given the mystical powers of a cat, the film hoped to jump on the superhero bandwagon and launch a new franchise. Instead, it won several Raspberry Awards and tanked at the box o...
The Dark Knight Rises
July 23, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 53.2 MBThe Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated conclusion to his Batman trilogy, opened last Friday under the pall of a senseless tragedy that occurred at a screening in Colorado. Nationwide, people mourn for those lost, and pray for those injured. But the majority refuse to let the acts of one man taint a movie they've waited four years to see, and audiences rushed to theaters and IMAX to see if Nolan's latest effort could measure up to 2008's record-breaking, Academy Award wi...
The Dark Knight
July 17, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 53.3 MBThe Dark Knight opened under the dark cloud of Heath Ledger's death but went on to break box office records and set a new standard for superhero films and cement Christopher Nolan's A-List status. But why so serious? Listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review of this Academy Award winning tale of capes and cowls!
Batman Begins
July 10, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 51.8 MBIt took eight years after Batman & Robin for the caped crusader to return to theaters with Batman Begins. Directed by a cult director with only two studio films to his name, starring an actor best known for extreme roles in small films, and released in a summer dominated by lightsabers, Batman Begins burst onto the scene and changed the public perception of what a superhero film can be. Now listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review of Batman Begins as we lead up to Nolan's final film in h...
Batman will return! In the meantime, join us at nowplayingpodcast for our current retrospective series -- Spider-Man!
June 19, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBFor over a year the hosts of Now Playing have watched and reviewed every movie based off a Marvel Comics series, but now they enter into their last Marvel review series with the most popular Marvel Comic character of all time -- Spider-Man! Join us as we watch and review all the Spider-Man movies from the 1970s made-for-TV films through the 2012 Amazing Spider-Man reboot!
Batman & Robin
June 12, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 47.2 MBAfter Batman Forever exceeded expectations, a sequel was rushed into production. Trouble on the set led to Val Kilmer being replaced by TV superstar George Clooney, but the real star power was held by the film's villain--Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. And this film brought even more superhero star power, with more super heroes and super villains than any previous Batman movie, including Robin, Poison Ivy, Bane, and even Batgirl! The film was not well received and put Batman on ice for...
Batman Forever
June 05, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 49 MBAfter Tim Burton's Batman returned to diminishing results, audiences put off by the salacious Penguin and dark tone, Warner Bros. brought in Lost Boys director Joel Schumacher to give Batman a new vision. With Val Kilmer now the man behind the cowl, Gotham City was given a new look, a new hero in the form of Robin the boy wonder, and two new villains. Batman Forever came in only second to Toy Story at the 1995 box office, but was it as big a hit with the Now Playing reviewers? Listen to fi...
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
May 31, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 29 MBWhen Batman was a huge success in 1989 a new Batman animated series was immediately approved, but due to the production time of animation it did not premiere until 1992. With a heavy dose of Tim Burton's gothic style but a mood more loyal to the original comics, allowing for such baddies as Clayface and Harley Quinn to fit alongside Joker and Penguin, Batman : The Animated Series was a huge hit reaching outside the normal after-school cartoon demographic to Batman fans of all ages. With the...
Batman : Mask of the Phantasm
May 31, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 29 MBWhen Batman was a huge success in 1989 a new Batman animated series was immediately approved, but due to the production time of animation it did not premiere until 1992. With a heavy dose of Tim Burton's gothic style but a mood more loyal to the original comics, allowing for such baddies as Clayface and Harley Quinn to fit alongside Joker and Penguin, Batman : The Animated Series was a huge hit reaching outside the normal after-school cartoon demographic to Batman fans of all ages. With the...
Batman Returns
May 29, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 43.8 MBWhen Batman defied expectations to become the top grossing film of 1989 interest in all things Batman exploded. Batman T-shirts were everywhere, and even the 60s television series enjoyed a revival on syndication. But while comics, toys, and TV coasted on Batman 's success, what everyone really wanted was a sequel and so in 1992 director Tim Burton reteamed with star Michael Keaton to bring the next installment in their Bat-franchise--Batman Returns! With Batman facing double the trouble w...
Batman (1989)
May 22, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 47.5 MBIt was a film that couldn't succeed. It was a superhero film starring a comedic actor. It was directed by the quirky, cult Tim Burton. It was a superhero known more for a campy dance than for kicking ass. And it was the most expensive film ever made. Yet in 1989 Batman dominated not only the box office but the pop culture landscape, bringing a darker, more modern superhero aesthetic to the big screen and becoming the movie that all other superhero films would be compared for over a decad...
Batman (1966)
May 15, 2012 06:00 - 1 hour - 36.3 MBWhen it comes to box office superheroes, none looms larger than Batman . He dominated theaters in 1989 with Tim Burton's vision of the caped crusader, and in the 21st century Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman made him the box office champion, with The Dark Knight becoming the highest grossing superhero film ever. Now, as we ramp up for Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, Now Playing will be looking back at all of the Batman films, starting with the 1966 theatrical release! When Batman knoc...