“Batman: The Animated Series” managed to perfectly capture the essence of the Batman character and the world he inhabits. It’s often viewed as one of the greatest cartoon series of all-time and even got its own theatrical movie with “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm”, which you should check out. Here’s a list of my personal favourite episodes.

10. Mad As A Hatter

The Mad Hatter is a rather underrated foe but I like the “Alice In Wonderland” gimmick and this episode puts all that to great use. It’s a simple story of a man trying to win the heart of a girl but when he can’t have her, he’ll use any means necessary to be victorious. It all ends in a confrontation in an “Alice In Wonderland” amusement park in Gotham.

9. The Forgotten

A rather overlooked episode because it doesn’t feature any signature villains (aside from a brief hallucination scene). However, this episode is really interesting and a nice change of pace as we see Batman lose his memory. The music is also really memorable in this one.

8. Beware The Grey Ghost

Batman has to join forces with the actor that played the superhero The Grey Ghost when he was just a child to foil an insane criminal that is copying crimes from the old show. What makes this episode so great is that they got Adam West from the 60s “Batman” show and movie to voice The Grey Ghost.

7. The Strange Secret Of Bruce Wayne

Professor Hugo Strange learns that Bruce Wayne is Batman. He manages to capture this on a tape with a special machine and hopes to auction it off to some of Batman’s greatest foes. It’s interesting to see a villain finally learn who Batman really is.

6. Heart Of Ice

Mr. Freeze makes his debut in the fantastic “Heart Of Ice”. Unlike the goofy portrayal in “Batman & Robin”, this episode manages to make Mr. Freeze both intimidating and sympathetic. A great introduction to one of the most iconic Batman villains.

5. If You’re So Smart Why Aren’t You Rich?

I love all of The Riddler’s episodes but this first one might just be my favourite. The whole final act where Batman has to navigate a giant maze and fight a giant robot is just brilliant. The Riddler is great because he always makes Batman uses his mind as much as his muscles.

4. Almost Got ‘Im

This is an episode that could have easily just been a clip show. The Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Penguin and Killer Croc all sit around a table reminiscing about how they almost beat Batman. They could have cut to old episodes but thankfully, we get all new material. This packs so much action and character into just one episode.

3. Trial

We get to see Batman put on trial in Arkham Asylum by a collection of his greatest adversaries. Two-Face serves as the prosecutor, The Joker is the judge and a handful of others serve on the jury. It’s great to see all these bad guys in one place and the entire premise is just fantastic.

2. The Laughing Fish

Probably my favourite solo Joker episode. While some of the others such as “Christmas With The Joker” and “Be A Clown” are great too, this one is probably the most disturbing. The Joker poisons Gotham’s fish so that they all have his awful grin on them. Things soon get even creepier and it all ends with Batman fighting a shark.

1. Perchance To Dream

My personal favourite episode has to be “Perchance To Dream”. Batman gets knocked out and awakens to find his life is perfect. His parents are alive, he is marrying Selena Kyle and somebody else is Batman. However, things are not as they seem and he will have to discover who is pulling all the strings.

Honourable mentions:
Be A Clown, Riddler’s Reform and Dreams In Darkness

While the “Godzilla” franchise has given us plenty of memorable monsters, there are some that are probably best forgotten. Here is a list of my personal least favourites.

5. MUTO

MUTO is not particularly bad but it was just a rather unremarkable creature. It reminded me a lot of monsters from other films such as “Cloverfield” and “Super 8”. It just felt generic and soulless, missing the outrageousness of the monsters featured in the Japanese “Godzilla” movies.

4. King Ghidorah (Planet Eater)

King Ghidorah is actually one of my favourite monsters from the franchise but the redesign that he was given in the anime movie “Godzilla: The Planet Eater” was just horrendous. Instead of being a three-headed dragon, he now had three completely separate parts. The whole design was ugly.

3. Gabara

Probably the goofiest of all the “Godzilla” monsters. Appearing only in “Godzilla’s Revenge”, this monster just looks beyond ridiculous. While it’s fine for Godzilla foes to look silly, this one doesn’t come across as even vaguely threatening.

2. Orga

“Godzilla 2000” was a rather bland entry in the series and Orga certainly did not help matters. It’s just a really aesthetically uninteresting monster. I dislike the heavy use of digital effects for it too.

1. Zilla

It really couldn’t be anything else. While not completely terrible, it just isn’t anything like the Godzilla we know and love. The 1998 American “Godzilla” got a lot wrong and probably the worst thing it did was completely change the star monster. Zilla can’t even breathe fire. Thankfully, he gets destroyed by the real Godzilla in “Godzilla: Final Wars”.

Dishonourable mentions:
Giant Condor

With “Godzilla vs. Kong” finally being released, here’s a look at some of the whackiest moments from the entire series. Expect things to get weird.

10. Zilla’s Design – Godzilla (1998)

We can’t mention ridiculous things in “Godzilla” movies without mentioning the awful design of Godzilla in the 1998 American remake. He looks nothing like his Japanese counterpart and can’t even breathe fire. This American version has since been referred to as ‘Zilla’ and shows up in “Godzilla: Final Wars” where he’s destroyed by the real Godzilla.

9. The Flying Kick – Godzilla vs. Megalon

Giant robot Jet Jaguar holds Megalon so Godzilla can do a flying kick. Godzilla then shuffles back and does the exact same thing again. The filmmakers must have known how golden this was because the decision to have him do it twice is just genius.

8. The Fish Hallucination – Godzilla vs. Hedorah

"Godzilla vs. Hedorah" had strong environmental messages and had some weird psychedelic imagery too. One sequence shows a guy hallucinating as he sees everybody in the room wearing fish masks. It’s the only moment on this list that doesn’t feature a giant monster so you know it must be weird.

7. The Bird Fight – Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Godzilla fights a giant bird in probably the worst edited sequence in any of the films. It’s a terrible fight sequence that has to be seen to be believed.

6. Godzilla’s Parenting – Son Of Godzilla

It must be hard raising a kid when you’re a giant monster. Godzilla’s parenting skills seem to leave a lot to be desired as he struggles to teach his offspring to use his powers. It’s touching while also still being hilarious.

5. Godzilla Victory Dance – Invasion Of Astro-Monster

After beating up King Ghidorah, Godzilla celebrates with a goofy dance. It seems so random to see a monster just jump up and down like a cheerleader.

4. SpaceGodzilla Steals Godzilla Jr. – Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

The Heisei era “Godzilla” movies tended to be a little more serious than the earlier ones but they still had some silly moments. A rather funny one sees SpaceGodzilla kidnap Godzilla Jr. as Godzilla is powerless to stop him. Seeing Godzilla Jr. helplessly flying through the air as SpaceGodzilla traps him with some sort of ray is certainly a memorable moment.

3. Godzilla Flying – Godzilla vs. Hedorah

In his pursuit of Hedorah, Godzilla starts flying. Sure, we are used to seeing Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah fly but Godzilla mainly stays on the ground or in water. The way it’s done is just so whacky that I just love it.

2. King Kong Shoves A Tree In Godzilla Mouth – King Kong vs. Godzilla

In their epic battle back in the 60s, King Kong resorts to shoving a tree in Godzilla’s mouth. This is already a truly absurd film with an awful King Kong costume and a fight with a giant squid but this moment is easily the funniest part of the whole movie.

1. Godzilla’s Revenge

I couldn’t narrow it down because the whole movie is ridiculous. This one actually takes place mainly inside a small boy’s mind. We see the Son of Godzilla talk with a human voice and we see the monster Gabara, who might just be the goofiest creature in the whole franchise. The movie also extensively uses stock footage from earlier entries with whole scenes just being recycled.

To celebrate the release of “Godzilla vs. Kong”, here’s a list of my personal favourite monsters from the series.

5. MechaGodzilla

I couldn’t do a list of the best “Godzilla” monsters and leave out MechaGodzilla. While it’s essentially just a robot version of Godzilla, it’s so satisfying watching it shoot lasers and missiles. It was also brilliant when MechaGodzilla had a cameo in “Ready Player One”.

4. Biollante

Often overlooked, Biollante is one of the more visually interesting “Godzilla” adversaries. To date, Biollante has only appeared in one film (“Godzilla vs. Biollante”) but the creature certainly left an impression on me. This giant plant monster reminds me a little of Audrey II in “Little Shop Of Horrors”.

3. Mothra

Mothra had starred in her own solo movie before joining the “Godzilla” franchise in “Mothra vs. Godzilla”. Sometimes appearing as a friend and sometimes as a foe, Mothra has become an essential part of the franchise with roles in many of the movies.

2. King Ghidorah

King Ghidorah is a three-headed golden dragon that shoots lightning out of its mouths, what is not to love? Ghidorah is often seen as one of Godzilla’s strongest opponents. There is a reason why all the other monsters had to join forces against King Ghidorah in “Destroy All Monsters”. It was great to see Hollywood do justice to the creature by including him in 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”.

1. Godzilla

Who else could it possibly be? Besides King Kong, no other giant monster has left a greater impact on cinema. From his debut in 1954, Godzilla has been the star of dozens of movies and become synonymous with Japanese culture. The designs for Godzilla have changed significantly throughout the years but whether it’s a guy in a rubber suit or a fully digital creation, you know he’s the ‘King of the Monsters’.

Honourable mentions:
Gigan

Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”, “Driven To Kill”) stars in “A Dangerous Man”. This is another pretty generic action flick but it has some wonderfully goofy moments that made me chuckle. I also love the hilarious title.

Shane Daniels (Seagal) was in the Special Forces for many years before he was wrongfully imprisoned for murder. He is eventually freed after his innocence has been proven but during the years he spent inside, he’s lost his wife and his dignity. Not long after his release, he gets involved with Chinese and Russian gangsters and corrupt police after intervening to stop a crime.

Seagal has mastered the art of looking like he isn’t remotely interesting in being there. It’s just so funny to watch him slouching in most scenes as he walks around with absolutely no urgency. Some of the fight scenes are so funny because he looks like he is barely acknowledging the existence of any of his opponents as he casually tosses them around like ragdolls. The way he talks throughout the movie is rather amusing too. The ‘highlight’ of Seagal’s performance comes during a ridiculous love sequence near the beginning. Byron Mann (“Skyscraper”) is a frequent Seagal collaborator and he’s here as one of the bad guys. The other characters are not very memorable.

If you’ve seen any of the other 2000s Seagal direct-to-video films such as “Shadow Man”, “Pistol Whipped” or “Into The Sun”, you know pretty much what to expect. There is nothing here that will excite the general public but for those that find some joy in these low-budget Seagal movies then “A Dangerous Man” is another one to check out. You’re not going to care about the plot or most of the characters but you will find it hard to contain your laughter as Seagal murders tons of thugs with the enthusiasm of a man waiting in line to pay a parking ticket.

The only experience I have with the “Ratchet & Clank” videogame franchise consists of a literally a few minutes so I did not go into this film with any real understanding of what to expect. This is another C.G.I. animated movie but as it is based on a videogame, it really feels like we are watching a videogame and the film even contains a training scene that plays exactly like a tutorial from a computer game.

Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”) is a mechanic, who stumbles upon a small robot that he nicknames ‘Clank’ (David Kaye). The two of them decide to help a ground of intergalactic heroes stop some evil villains from destroying planets.

If you are a fan of the videogames then you will probably like the Ratchet and Clank characters. I found the duo to be very boring. Clank can speak but has less personality than R2-D2. The only remotely funny character was Captain Qwark (Jim Ward), a goofy hero that puts fame above actually being heroic. What’s really sad is that Sylvester Stallone (“The Expendables”) plays one of the villains. Aside from the Captain Qwark character, none of the characters are the slightest bit interesting.

“Ratchet & Clank” looks like a videogame and not a particularly pretty one. The movie involves battles across the galaxy yet I’ve got more thrills from buttering toast. The dialog in this movie thinks that it is really funny but most of it falls completely flat. Young children that are big fans of the videogame franchise might get some enjoyment from this but I think most of them will be wondering where the controller is because a lot of it feels like you are watching a friend play a game. “Ratchet & Clank” might be okay for fans that have played all the games and own action figures and everything else but for the rest of us, this is a terrible children’s movie.

Well it’s about time I had a look to see what director Akira Kurosawa (“Seven Samurai”, “Ran”) had to offer me. “Rashomon” is often considered to be the first film to show a direct image of the sun and is also considered one of Kurosawa’s best films… it’s entertaining but overhyped. Hopefully, the next Kurosawa picture I see will deserve its reputation.

In “Rashomon”, there is a large storm that places three strangers in close proximity to each other. Two of them claim a terrible event has taken place. They recite stories they have heard about this event, all of which are different, to the third man. It’s an interesting set-up and narratively it’s done well but I can’t help but feel that the film just isn’t as exciting as it should be.

The acting/character department is always tricky to write about when it comes to foreign films as there’s either subtitles or dubbing, neither of which enable you to get the same vibes you get from hearing the real actors speak a language you are familiar with. From what I can tell, the characters in “Rashomon” are intriguing and demonstrate their differences very well with an excellent use of body language.

“Rashomon” isn’t a retelling of the same story from different perspectives; it’s the same characters with different events but ultimately the same conclusion. That is what separates it from titles such as “Reservoir Dogs” and “The Killing”. I had a good time with “Rashomon” near the beginning and the last third is very enjoyable but somewhere in the middle, I felt my interest fade slightly. Kurosawa is a director I’ve heard discussed frequently and held up by some of the big names in the business as being an all-time great. However, based on “Rashomon” I can’t say that I’m as impressed as some others. “Rashomon” is a really good film yet it’s not the best.

“Rasen” (also known as “Spiral”) was the first sequel to the Japanese horror sensation “Ringu”. In a strange marketing decision, both films were actually released simultaneously in Japan. While “Ringu” went on to inspire many more sequels, an American remake and even a crossover film with the “Ju-On” franchise, “Rasen” faded into almost total obscurity.

“Rasen” takes place shortly after the events of “Ringu”. Mitsuo Andô (Kōichi Satō “The Gate Of Youth”) is a pathologist tasked with performing an autopsy on his friend, Ryûji Takayama (Hiroyuki Sanada “Sunshine”). He slowly learns the details of the cursed videotape as well as the biological threat that the ghostly Sadako may pose.

The characters are actually very interesting. The film quickly establishes that the main character is suicidal yet cannot bring himself to cut his flesh. This is despite the fact that he cuts the flesh of others for a living. It’s a very chilling concept. I’m glad they didn’t just recycle the stuff with the ghostly girl coming out of the tv. Some of the effects on Hiroyuki Sanada’s character near the beginning are wonderfully unsettling and still look fantastic to this day. There are arguably too many characters in this movie and I cannot help but feel the movie would have been better without some of them.

“Rasen” is a truly intriguing film. It is in many ways, a companion piece to “Ringu” yet it has its own style. Part of me wishes it was just a separate film because I think really does rely on you having seen the original film. In my opinion, parts of “Rasen” are actually creepier than anything in “Ringu”. Overall, I think “Ringu” is a better film though because this one just cannot stand on its own like the first one. I do recommend it but only if you have seen “Ringu”.

Akira Kurosawa (“Yojimbo”, “Rashomon”) directs “Ran”, an extraordinary epic that loosely follows “King Lear”. The film is filled with mesmerising shots of the Japanese landscape and it’s made even more impressive when you discover that Kurosawa was virtually blind when he made this film. “Ran” was a passion project for Kurosawa, who referred to an earlier film, “Kagemusha”, as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for this one.

Set in feudal Japan, “Ran” follows an elderly warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai), who wants to retire and entrust his empire to his three sons. Power quickly corrupts the sons and so the warlord begins a slow descent into madness.

The aging warlord is Lord Hidetora and he is a great character. He is a stubborn old man that is struggling to find a suitable candidate to inherit all that belongs to him. The make-up on him looks fantastic; in some scenes, he genuinely looks tormented. It is interesting to see the three sons quickly become enemies as they battle for control of the Ichimonji land and castles. Also, there is a great female character as Lady Kaede (Mieko Harada) is a woman that is always scheming. I did not particularly like the Jester character. The are countless extras in the film, many of them ride into battle in wonderful sequences where the armies mount attacks on the castles. The costumes on everybody looks great and it really helps make us feel that we are being taken back to the feudal era of Japan.

“Ran” is beautifully shot and a fascinating watch. Its battle scenes are terrific and the characters are interesting. Kurosawa remains one of the most celebrated directors, not just in his native Japan but across the world, and it is not too challenging to see why when you watch “Ran”. If you are a fan of samurai films and these historical epics then I really must recommend “Ran”.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for the world’s cinemas. Most major films have struggled at the box-office with many major films being released theatrically and on a streaming service simultaneously. However, there may be hope for cinemas.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” has finally been released and it’s made a lot of money at the American box-office. In fact, it’s made more money than any other film since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in the United States. It seems people are willing to brave going out to a theatre to watch something if they think it’s going to be something worth seeing on the big screen.

This may spell disaster for smaller productions and movies that are more about the dialog and the performances but for big blockbusters, things are looking better than they were previously. Those behind the latest “James Bond” and some of the Marvel superhero films may feel more confident that their films will be able to make some money at the cinema and not just be forced onto the small screen.

It seems only fitting that King Kong and Godzilla, who have both been staples of cinema for decades, are the ones to help revive the industry. The original “King Kong” is still an iconic film despite being released back in the 1930s. The “Godzilla” franchise continues to enjoy name recognition across the world and not just in its native Japan.