PostPWN 22: Batman The Movie

Batman: The Movie
Basic Information
Release date	April 10, 2020
Runtime	1:27:47
Spotlight	Batman: The Movie
Cast
Voices of:	Ari Froehlich Wesley Davies Nick Geoghegan
Edited by:	Nick Geoghegan
Links PostPWN #22 on anchor.fm PostPWN #22 on Spotify

PostPWN #22: Batman The Movie is the twenty-second episode of the PostPWN podcast, released on April 10th, 2020. The episode features the voices of Ari Froehlich, Wesley Davies, and Nick Geoghegan. In addition to their spotlight film, the 1966 Batman TV show spin-off, they also discuss the alleged "butthole cut" of Cats, coronavirus updates, and Danny Peary's "Cult Movies" series.

Description

"ZAP! BONK! SPLADOOSH! POW! Hello, fellow crime fighters. Join us on the joyous romp through the land of 1960s self-aware superhero comedy. Also, we talk about Cats again. The dastardly arch-villains! To the Invisible Boatmobile– I mean to the Batmobile! Hark, Robin, let's jump right in! (This cancer brought to you by Nick's brain)"
– Description of PostPWN #22

The episode begins with a rapid-fire news segment for Coronavirus Corner, with Nick listing news topics ordered from most positive to least. This is followed up with extensive discussion of the "butthole cut" of Cats (2019). The trio take great joy in discussing the alleged controversy. They then transition to discussion of Nick's spotlight for the week, Batman: The Movie (1966). This includes a very long plot breakdown, followed by brief comments on the filmmaking and a discussion of whether the movie is self-aware. All three members of the podcast enjoyed the movie.

For Q&A corner, the trio introduce the first of three discussions about the "Cult Movies" book series by Danny Peary, with each member picking a cult film to recommend to the audience. Ari talks about The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Wes talks about Eraserhead (1977), and Nick talks about The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). For the next spotlight film, Wesley recommends It Comes at Night.

Timecodes

• 0:00 - Intro
• 0:56 - This week's "Coronavirus Corner"
• 13:10 - The Legend of the Butthole Cut of Cats
• 24:52 - Batman: The Movie discussion (Spoilers, I suppose)
• 1:07:41 - Q&A Corner
• 1:25:48 - Recommendation and outro

Background

In the prior episode, Nick announced his spotlight pick after a long pause by saying "Fuck it. We're watching Batman 1966." In the episode, Nick implies that he always intended to recommend the film at some point, and did so in April because his intended recommendation was taken off of the Criterion Channel before he had a chance to rewatch it (this intended recommendation was later revealed to be Fitzcarraldo, which ended up being the spotlight in PostPWN 31).

Batman has long been a recurring point of discussion in PWN history, most notably with Paul Gaurano's oft-quoted "Batman!" joke from Interstellar: PWN #1. In December of 2018, Batman was the subject of The Dark Knight - PWN #30.

Movies Referenced

In order of reference:

News Topics and Citations

Nick read all of the news articles for the week, ordered in what he considered to be "most positive" to "most negative":

1. SXSW on Prime – SXSW festival features being played on Prime. Source:
2. HBO "500 Hours of Fun" – HBO makes 500 hours of TV content available online for free, including The Sopranos, Veep, and others. Source:
3. Criterion relief fund – Criterion Collection begins a fund to help struggling arthouse cinemas. Source:
4. Only 14 theaters – During the first week of April, only thirteen drive-ins and one sit-down theater were open nationwide. Source:
5. Louisiana police purge – A police department in Louisiana was accidentally using the siren sound effect from The Purge to signal curfew. Source:
6. Movie release delays – Delays include Top Gun: Maverick, Sponge on the Run, Morbius, and The New Mutants. Source:
7. Movie production delays – Production halted on Jurassic World 3, Matrix 4, the Avatar sequels, Fantastic Beasts 3, and the live action Little Mermaid remake. Source:
8. R.I.P. Honor Blackman – Actress in Goldfinger, A Night to Remember, The Avengers, and Jason and the Argonauts. Source:
9. R.I.P. Lee Fierro – Actress best known as the grieving mother in Jaws. Source:

The following news articles and tweets were referenced in the segment discussing the "butthole cut" of Cats:

1. Original Vanity Fair article – DESCRIPTION. Source:
2. Update by Vanity Fair – DESCRIPTION. Source:
3. Original Twitter thread – DESCRIPTION. Source:

Q&A Corner

1. "What is your least favorite film that you have given a perfect rating?
2. First discussion of Danny Peary's "Cult Movies".