TheRetroCritic

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Michael Keaton's long overdue comeback is still on the right path as The Founder gives the actor yet another great role for him to sink his teeth into. He plays Ray Kroc, the man who saw the McDonald's brand back in the 50's and just knew he had to have it. This is one biopic that could have gone either way. The Founder could have easily just been an extended ad for the fast food chain or a highly critical look at it but this isn't so much a film about McDonald's as it is about the American Dream and how chasing it has its pluses and minuses. We first meet Ray Kroc as he struggles to sell milkshake mixers to various diners. He's married, lives in a nice house yet he feels like something is missing. It's when he discovers the first McDonald's restaurant, promising meals in 30 seconds instead of the half-hour it takes to get anything at a drive-in, that he has an epiphany. This strikes him as an idea too good not to expand all across America but the

I talk a bit about Spider-Man: Homecoming .

With the last Spider-Man reboot still fresh in our minds, Marvel and Sony's new collaboration needed to break the mould and try a different approach to keep everyone interested. Tom Holland's new incarnation of the iconic web-slinger being one of the most popular aspects of  Captain America: Civil War , this one looked like a promising re-imagining. Wisely bypassing the familiar origin story to give us a brand new take on things, Spider-Man: Homecoming is arguably the least faithful adaptation of the Spider-Man comics out there and yet what it introduces is so cleverly weaved into the new Marvel Universe that it would take a rather stern purist to crucify it for the liberties it takes. Set soon after the events of Civil War, the film first introduces us to Michael Keaton's villain Adrian Toomes who was part of the clean-up crew post-Avengers until Tony Stark made his job obsolete. Toomes vows to come up with a new way to cash-in on the alien technology left behind and

New Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer! What do you guys think?

The Best Picture winner at this year's Oscars, Spotlight pretty much set the tone for that particular awards ceremony as it talks about a serious issue as earnestly as possible. The film follows a group of Boston Globe investigative journalists as they try to shed some light on systemic sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests in the early 2000's. Based on a true story, the main goal of Spotlight seems to be to celebrate the hard work and determination of these reporters while reminding the world how easily that kind of recurring problem can be covered up. With a solid cast that includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Rachel MacAdams and Stanley Tucci, the film is well made and the performances are all very strong so it's easy to see why it did so well at the Oscars. Another great thing about it is it doesn't glorify its characters too much as most of them are flawed in some way and sometimes even get in the way of the investigation. Unlike Z

Who said the iconic "I'm Batman" line the best? The debate continues... For the original video: click here .

I finally review the one and only Birdman . KAH!

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this 15th episode, we discuss the 11th episode of  Gotham , The Electrocutioner, Tom Hardy and we finally review Birdman . (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

With Michael Keaton's comeback pretty much sealed and ready to take effect, I thought I'd revisit one of my own personal movies starring the actor: Night Shift . The film, directed by Ron Howard of all people, is a comedy in which Henry Winkler plays mild-mannered morgue attendant Chuck who is made to work the night shift with ebullient, fast-talking new recruit Bill (Keaton). While their completely different personalities fail to gel initially, Bill's constant flow of ridiculous business plans finally leads to an idea Chuck ends up going along with. Chuck's neighbour Belinda (Shelley Long), a prostitute, is left pimp-less after some shady goings-on involving the competition and Bill's plan to become "Love Brokers" with Chuck soon becomes a reality. The unlikely duo is soon working with a group of prostitutes, running their totally legit business harmoniously. Soon enough, of course, their success becomes threatened and Chuck's relationship with B

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this eighth episode, we discuss the third episode of  Gotham , eggs, The Balloonman, Sean Penn, Pyg Balloons, The Flash and we end with a riddle. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

Why is America so reboot-phobic? Because some stories just don't need to be retold, especially when they were told extremely well the first time and are beloved by all just the way they are. Over the years, we've had so many awful horror remakes, from Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Evil Dead , and with the criminally boring, unnecessary Total Recall remake still fresh in our minds, a RoboCop reboot just sounded like a bad idea. The idea of a more earnest RoboCop movie grounded in reality, with a grittier, more down-to-Earth feel and a mostly CGI hero with more self-awareness and an inexplicable human hand was missing the point of the original film entirely and, after watching the film, I can confirm that it has, indeed, missed the point on various levels. That said, unlike Total Recall, this is, miraculously, not a complete disaster. Where some changes either don't really work or simply backfire, some make sense in the new world introduced within the movie and ther