Director Joel Schumacher passed away at 80

There is one true and lasting cultural legacy that he left. I know because it was mentioned in every single obit I scanned: he added nipples to the Bat-suit.

He had an eye for talent, and a career almost anyone would envy. He made a great living by writing and/or directing a crapload of other films that rarely, if ever, involved Bat-nipples.

I never really gave it any thought, but now I realize I was not a fan. As I looked through his filmography, I realized that I’ve seen almost every film he ever made, and could not find a single one that I want to watch again.

6 thoughts on “Director Joel Schumacher passed away at 80

  1. Falling Down is a brilliant movie. It’s often misinterpreted as a character study, but, according to the movie’s writer, it’s a caricature of the early 1990s ‘angry white male’ who lived specifically in California and who listened to Rush Limbaugh. The movie was very prescient in that it predicted the downfall of conservatism as the dominant political movement in California.

    The writer was pointing out what he regarded as the selfishness of these Rush Limbaugh conservatives especially in regards to their ‘rights.’ For much of the film D-Fens is complaining about not being allowed in certain places like private golf courses, however, at the end of the film, when the Robert Duvall police officer comes along, D-Fens tells him to get lost, saying that Duvall doesn’t have a right to be there.

  2. Someone – “What did you think of the new Joker movie?”

    Me – “I liked it better when it was called Falling Down.”

    I did really like Lost Boys too.

  3. Overall I agree with you – the only film of his that I repeat view is Lost Boys, which I think is a lot of fun. St. Elmo’s Fire is not one I enjoy, but I guess it was an essential piece of establishing the Brat Pack.

    Otherwise a lot of mediocre / bad films.

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