I am Batman, but it was the Joker's show

7/6/13 Batman, Best Art Direction 1989

I'm kind of a wishy-washy Batman fan. I love the utility belt, the Batmobile, and the Batcave, so cool, but I was never very psyched to see the older Batman movies, I don't know, maybe I couldn't believe any of the Batmen as a super hero. This was the first time I watched Batman all the way through, and eh, it was okay. It was directed by Tim Burton and starred Michael Keaton as Batman. Jack Nicholson played the Joker, and he was suitably maniacal. I don't know if other comic books fans are the same way, but when it comes to movies, sometimes I am much more interested in the bad guys than the super hero. I think that was true in this case. The Joker was much more fun to watch, and it seemed he was on screen more than Bruce Wayne/Batman. There were several songs by Prince which annoyed me more than anything. In some places in Minneapolis, it's blasphemy to not like Prince, so sue me. The movie won for Best Art Direction, and it was very good, but The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen and Glory were among the other nominees, and I think I would have picked the Baron, which is a fantastical movie by Terry Gilliam (another Minnesota native) and well worth a watch.

Batman wasn't horrible and is worth seeing to watch Jack Nicholson and perhaps draw your own comparisons between Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance, which I purposely did not do here. Also, since there were several more movies made in this particular 'series', it's good start at the beginning and then see the different Batmans (Batmen?), including Val Kilmer and George Clooney.