In 1986, DC published Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", which arguably re-established Batman as a grim and gritty character and influenced the way Batman stories were told forever after. One year later, DC hired Miller to retell Batman's origin in a story entitled "Batman: Year One". Unlike "The Dark Knight Returns", this story was part of official DC Universe continuity, and even further established the dark tone that this well-known character is defined by. "Year One" served as source material for a number of great comic book stories, and was drawn from heavily in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" movie. Now, the DC animated studios have turned their attention to "Batman: Year One" and set out to create an animated version of this iconic story. I'm pleased to report they succeeded wonderfully. The character driven story is what really sells this movie so well. Surprisingly, for those who...

I'm a big fan of monster movies. And the more creative the monster, the better. I'm a sucker for that tried and true formula of mysterious frightening deaths, followed by glimpses of a creature, followed by progressively revealing looks and information about the creature and culminating in a terrible, expansive revelation of the creature in the climax. It worked in Jeepers Creepers, Alien, Predator and my choice for "King Of All Monster Movies", John Carpenter's The Thing (a 1982 pseudo remake of 1951's "The Thing From Another World"). This awesome flick was unfortunately in theaters at the same time as E.T. and was essentially a box office failure. But it has gained a wild cult following on television and home video and you can consider me a card carrying member of that cult. What I love about the 1982 film is the great character performances and use of suspense and paranoia to carry the film, rather than the creature effects. But the cre...