TheRetroCritic

The famously confrontational Joan Crawford and Bette Davis duo finally shared the screen in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? , a 1962 horror thriller directed by Robert Aldrich. The making of the film is the subject of new FX series Feud starring Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon. Like a cross between Sunset Boulevard and Psycho , What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? explores themes like madness, jealousy and guilt in a Hollywood setting as Bette Davis' ex child star "Baby" Jane Hudson keeps her disabled sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) imprisoned in their house feeding her rats and scaring the crap out of her. The film first gives us some background on the sisters as we see Baby Jane singing to a crowd of fans very much in her element: she is talented but also a spoiled brat. Blanche, on the other hand, is cast aside by her father who is too busy pushing Jane down the path of stardom. Skip to a few years later and the tables have turned with Blanche being a respected Holl

Back in 2003, Tom Cruise starred in Edward Zwick's The Last Samurai , a film chronicling the fall of the samurai at the hands of a tactical collaboration between an increasingly modern Japanese government, its Emperor and the US. If you can get past the idea of Tom Cruise as a samurai and the fact that this is basically Dances With Wolves in a different setting, then The Last Samurai is actually a very good film. Cruise plays disillusioned, alcoholic former US Army Captain Nathan Algren, who is haunted by the memories of massacres involving Native American civilians, as he is hired to help train the Japanese army. He reluctantly agrees to travel to Japan and teach the Japanese soldiers how to use modern weaponry but he is captured after an impromptu battle against the samurai and is brought back to a village where he gets to know Ken Watanabe's Lord Mastumoto, the leader of the samurai rebellion, and learns the ways of the samurai. Realising how much of an underdog the sa

Gore Verbinski directs this strange horror thriller about a young executive who is sent to Switzerland to bring back his company's CEO. The latter has been staying in a spa or "wellness center" in what can only be described as Dracula's castle so what could go wrong? Dane DeHaan is Lockhart, the cocky up-and-coming employee who is essentially blackmailed into retrieving his own boss and who discovers just how unusual that mysterious establishment really is, the hard way. What was meant to be a quick job soon becomes a descent into Hell as Lockhart suffers a car crash, is forced to stay in the spa as a patient and slowly uncovers the sordid truth about this seemingly idyllic Swiss Alp location. This is a surprisingly derivative thriller as it evokes Shutter Island heavily in terms of plot and tonally resembles a reliably messed-up season of American Horror Story with shades of Guillermo Del Toro thrown in for good luck. On the plus side, A Cure For Wellness deli

Before becoming one of Pixar's most valuable filmmakers, Brad Bird of course worked on The Simpsons but he also made The Iron Giant , an animated feature about a little kid who befriends a giant robot in the 1950's. Using a mix of 2D hand-drawn and computer animation to bring its characters to life, The Iron Giant was a critical hit and it soon became a beloved modern cult classic. Upon its release, however, it failed at the box-office and didn't come even close to matching its hefty $70M budget. This was due to Warner Bros. underestimating the film following a couple of financial set-backs and not wanting to invest in a proper marketing campaign. The movie eventually found its audience and the fact that it was once a flop is largely forgotten. The sweet, simple story is framed in post-war paranoia with the American government obsessed with competing against the Russians in the space race. When the titular Giant, who is far more adorable than its stature suggests earl

I try Big Red and another fancy schmancy cola. 

I discover two more Snickers variations.

I try another Sprite flavour in this new episode of Tastin' .

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE HERE In this 31st episode, I discuss episodes 20, 21 and 22 of  Gotham  Season 2 plus review  Batman Returns . (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  Soundcloud , iTunes, Stitcher and Player FM) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

I try Cheerwine and other goodies in this new live episode of Tastin'! What should I try next?

In this live stream, I talk all things Keanu. More specifically: John Wick: Chapter 2 .