By Robert Mancini
Sometimes, the coolest stuff happens as soon as the cameras are off. Of course, it's our job to make sure that doesn't happen, but let's face it -- we're not that good at our job. That must be why I didn't hear about Adam West's biggest regret until after our interview wrapped.
He came in today to talk about the Blu-ray release of 1966's "Batman: The Movie," and along the way he dished about his iconic take on the character ("Now you've got the Dark Knight; I was the Bright Knight" he explains), his stories from the set ("Burgess Meredith taught me a LOT about wine," he said) and even who the mayor of Quahog might be backing in the Presidential election ("I'm too busy with graft and corruption... my own"). He was, as you might imagine, amazing (much more from that interview is coming in the weeks ahead), so I wrapped thinking we had it all in the can. Then, as we were breaking down the set after the interview, I tossed out a reference that seemed too obscure to touch on in our interview.
"I have to say, I really enjoyed 'Lookwell'," I blurted out, recalling fondly the hysterical but doomed series about a forgotten TV detective that never made it past the pilot stage back in 1991. Read more...
Sit back and enjoy a hot steaming cup of our links of the day, back again in the new year with news on Daniel Radcliffe, Frank Darabont, and possibly the greatest trailer mash-up ever.
- Daniel Radcliffe to play photo-journalist Dan Eldon in "Journey." 22-year-old photographer was stoned to death in 1993. (The Observer)
- "Back to the Future," "Dances With Wolves," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" all among flicks added to National Film Registry by Library of Congress. (Library of Congress)
- "Be Kind, Rewind" director Michel Gondry opening video store in NYC. Will give people the opportunity to create their own short films. (/film)
- Frank Darabont prepping movie about "Tokyo Rose," famed Japanese-American broadcaster convicted of treason. (Collider)
- "Why so serious?" This trailer mash-up of "The Dark Knight" and Adam West's "Batman" television series might be the funniest thing we've seen in a while. (YouTube)
With the release of the trailer for "The Dark Knight" has come near-universal acclaim for what we've seen so far of Heath Ledger's vicious portrayal of Batman's chief nemesis, the Joker. As part of our ongoing coverage, we reached out to a variety of individuals to get their own thoughts of this dark take on the Clown Prince.
Among those we spoke to include Paul Dini, the legendary writer/producer of "Batman: The Animated Series," as well as fellow comics auteur Jeph Loeb, who penned "Batman: The Long Halloween" which was cited by Christopher Nolan as a heavy inspiration for his trip to Gotham. We also caught up with "Hellboy" helmer Guillermo Del Toro and even the icon himself, Adam West. So with that in mind, click here to read what all of these notable folks thought and what has them smiling.
