SeedSing Classic: The Advent Calendar of Great Holiday Movies: Day 4 "Batman Returns"

ed note: This article originally premiered on December 4th, 2018

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a great movie associated with the holiday season. Many will be awesome, some will be extra awesome. Enjoy.

Day 4: “Batman Returns”

Opened Doors: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

The holiday season is filled with beautiful scenery and insane people. There is something magical about the look of fresh snow on late December night, but our boss at work may just kill us. The twinkle of the lights bring a feeling of festive joy, but we also know that some hideous looking forgotten son may arise from the sewer and try to take over the city. The sounds of children singing Christmas carols warms our heart, but a batman is out there having a sensual fight with a catwoman trying to keep the streets a bit more safe for the Christmas season. It is a weird time of the year.

In the summer of 1992 director Tim Burton and actor Michael Keaton delivered the promised sequel to their smash hit movie “Batman”. This time around Michelle Pfieffer and Danny DeVito joined Keaton’s Batman as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman and Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin respectively. Christopher Walken even joined the action as the villainous Max Schreck, a wild haired character created just for this film. The movie split some critics with many for and against the movie pointing to the surreal atmosphere Tim Burton brought to his vision of Gotham City. The snow was a blueish gray, the lights twinkled against the large impressive Gothic buildings, and the film takes place during the holiday season. ‘Batman Returns” would be the last Burton/Keaton outing for the Dark Knight. The weirdness of the this particular summer blockbuster was not acceptable by the major Hollywood studios of the early 1990’s.

What “Batman Returns” has in strangeness, it pays the audience back with a great story for the holidays. Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are insane, lonely, people. They find each other under a mistletoe in the midst of a struggle. The magic of the holidays takes over. Grotesque, and abandoned, Oswald Cobblepot comes back to a city who is willing to embrace the monster. The holiday spirit asks us to see the good in people. An army of penguins equipped with rocket launchers almost destroys a city, the first born son of every household is nearly kidnapped, but through the chaos and destruction Bruce Wayne and Alfred the Butler know to wish each other a Merry Christmas in the end. The holidays are too strong to let super villains, industrialists, and Catwomen bring it all crashing down. Batman knows this.

Every great holiday movie does not need to be steeped in the mythical figures of the North Pole, we can have a holiday lesson with the mythical figures of our comic books. Tim Burton saw the serene strangeness of the holidays, and he used it to tell a Christmas tale using the Batman. Chaos, quietness, destruction, and togetherness all have a place in every person’s holiday season. Embrace the gifts, and discard the negative. Batman and Catwoman learned this lesson in “Batman Returns”. Let us all bask in their victory.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Hanukkah is different year to year. Tragedy does not care for respecting the holidays, but people do. See one of the best Christmas stories ever told by one of the best television shows ever. Check out “Death Takes a Holiday from “M*A*S*H”.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Advent Calendar of Great Holiday Movies: Day 4 "Batman Returns"

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a great movie associated with the holiday season. Many will be awesome, some will be extra awesome. Enjoy.

Day 4: “Batman Returns”

Opened Doors: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

The holiday season is filled with beautiful scenery and insane people. There is something magical about the look of fresh snow on late December night, but our boss at work may just kill us. The twinkle of the lights bring a feeling of festive joy, but we also know that some hideous looking forgotten son may arise from the sewer and try to take over the city. The sounds of children singing Christmas carols warms our heart, but a batman is out there having a sensual fight with a catwoman trying to keep the streets a bit more safe for the Christmas season. It is a weird time of the year.

In the summer of 1992 director Tim Burton and actor Michael Keaton delivered the promised sequel to their smash hit movie “Batman”. This time around Michelle Pfieffer and Danny DeVito joined Keaton’s Batman as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman and Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin respectively. Christopher Walken even joined the action as the villainous Max Schreck, a wild haired character created just for this film. The movie split some critics with many for and against the movie pointing to the surreal atmosphere Tim Burton brought to his vision of Gotham City. The snow was a blueish gray, the lights twinkled against the large impressive Gothic buildings, and the film takes place during the holiday season. ‘Batman Returns” would be the last Burton/Keaton outing for the Dark Knight. The weirdness of the this particular summer blockbuster was not acceptable by the major Hollywood studios of the early 1990’s.

What “Batman Returns” has in strangeness, it pays the audience back with a great story for the holidays. Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are insane, lonely, people. They find each other under a mistletoe in the midst of a struggle. The magic of the holidays takes over. Grotesque, and abandoned, Oswald Cobblepot comes back to a city who is willing to embrace the monster. The holiday spirit asks us to see the good in people. An army of penguins equipped with rocket launchers almost destroys a city, the first born son of every household is nearly kidnapped, but through the chaos and destruction Bruce Wayne and Alfred the Butler know to wish each other a Merry Christmas in the end. The holidays are too strong to let super villains, industrialists, and Catwomen bring it all crashing down. Batman knows this.

Every great holiday movie does not need to be steeped in the mythical figures of the North Pole, we can have a holiday lesson with the mythical figures of our comic books. Tim Burton saw the serene strangeness of the holidays, and he used it to tell a Christmas tale using the Batman. Chaos, quietness, destruction, and togetherness all have a place in every person’s holiday season. Embrace the gifts, and discard the negative. Batman and Catwoman learned this lesson in “Batman Returns”. Let us all bask in their victory.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Hanukkah is different year to year. Tragedy does not care for respecting the holidays, but people do. See one of the best Christmas stories ever told by one of the best television shows ever. Check out “Death Takes a Holiday from “M*A*S*H”.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 13 Finale

So, I have had about 3 days to digest the season 13 finale of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and I am finally ready to talk about it.

It was, hands down, one of the best episodes of television that I have ever watched. It was incredible.

It started like any other "IASIP" episode, but it only grew from there. The episode is called, "Mac Finds his Pride". I have been excited to watch this since I saw the name of it about 3 episodes into this season. I have been a fan of this show from the start, and to see that as a title, I figured it would be filled with their odd, sometimes vulgar humor, and it is, for the first 15 minutes. The episode centers around Frank trying to get Mac to come on their Gay Pride Parade float. They need their, as they say on the show, "token gay guy to dance around". And Frank is as crass and mean and vulgar and homophobic as you'd expect, at first. He takes him to an underground S&M club. That scene is hilarious for the buffet alone. He takes him to a drag show, and that is funny. But, at both these places, Mac keeps telling him that the way they live their lives is fine, it is not for him. He is really struggling to find his identity as a gay man. Frank decides he needs to tell his dad that he is gay, to get it out to the scariest person they know.

Boy oh boy is Mac's dad terrifying in this episode. When they try to tell him the first time, Mac's dad, and Frank has told him this earlier, that he "doesn't get him". But, Mac's dad takes the news they have to tell him that he is going to be a grandpa, that his son got a girl pregnant. And what he tells him to do if it isn't a boy was horrifying. Mac then decides that he cannot tell his dad that he is gay, so he tells him that the news is he is going to be a grandpa. He then retreats to his home and he seems even more despondent.

Oh, by the way, at the very beginning of this episode, Frank smashes his nose on Mac's door, and he is constantly trying to plug up the cut to no avail. It just keeps bleeding, and his face continues to balloon.

After Frank informs the rest of the gang that Mac won't be on the float, they get Cricket to do it in bondage. It was scary and hilarious. Mac keeps telling Frank about this dream he is having where he dances with a female God, and this God lets him tell the world how he feels, personally, as a gay man.

Frank, finally coming to his senses tells Mac he needs to let it out. He needs to tell his dad in his way. He gets the prison to put on a show so Mac can show his dad, and Frank, how he feels. Franks has also let his nose bleed go, telling Mac, "you cannot keep that shit plugged up forever or you are going to live in agony. Don't live in agony anymore" he tells him.

Mac then takes the stage, tells his dad that he needs to let him know that he is gay, and this is how he feels. He then proceeds to put on a modern dance show for 5 minutes. It was masterful. It was a thing of beauty. I don't know much about modern dance, or interpretive dance, but this made sense to me. Mac is tortured. Mac is struggling to find his place. He needs people to accept him for who he is. He needs his friends to stop antagonizing him. The lady that danced with him was delightful and sad all at once. When Mac's dad leaves, I was so sad I almost cried, at an episode of "Always Sunny". It was unlike anything that I have seen before. It was beautiful, sad, modern and cool. I could not take my eyes off the screen. I could have watched this for another 20 minutes. And what made it even better was, Frank says, after watching the dance, "I get it now". I feel like we do to as the audience. And, it just ended there. There was no funny button at the end like with their other musical episodes. It just ended with Mac crumpled into the woman's arms and Frank saying his beautifully eloquent words.

This was tremendous.

"Always Sunny" took a big swing, and they knocked it out of the park. I cannot wait to see how they use this in the upcoming season. This was a masterpiece and I am so glad that I watched it multiple times. I cannot recommend this episode enough. It is perfect on so many levels. I am still in awe almost a week later.

Again, this was tremendous. I loved it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.