July 25, 2012 
Brenna 
As the details of the Aurora, CO, tragedy emerge, I’d like to point Batman fans to something that will get their minds off this dreadfulness. Surprisingly, I haven’t heard much about Christopher Nolan’s comments that this latest Batman installment was inspired by Charles Dickens. That is, until this article on Slate. (Warning: Do NOT read this article if you haven’t seen the movie yet!)
Take a moment to consider this. There’s the location—the corrupt, crime-ridden city; the orphans as principal characters; the lower class uprisings. You may even notice (full disclosure here: I didn’t) that the novel itself makes an appearance in the film. As we all know, there are a handful of stories that have been told and re-told throughout the centuries. Some people just happen to be better at re-telling those stories in new and unusual ways—like Christopher Nolan—than others. Yes, other film directors that have come out with a new superhero movie lately, I’m thinking of you.
We’ve been seeing interpretations a lot more than usual recently—or maybe I’ve just been noticing it more—from Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter being the basis of Easy A to the influx of modern day fairy tales at the multiplex. What classic tales would you like to see re-told and in what way?
I would pay good money to see “The Cyborgs Karamazov” – a sci-fi actioner exploring themes of guilt, nihilism, and filial relations against the backdrop of a giant alien war. Tagline: “It’s always rewarding to talk to a clever…KAPOW!!!”
SPOILERS BELOW.
The A TALE OF TWO CITIES parallels were some of the most interesting parts of the movie for me! I actually wanted more French Revolution during the five-month interval where Bruce was gone from Gotham.
As for classics I’d love to see adapted in some new way: MOBY-DICK. And not with some cheesy alien instead of a white whale, although that might be interesting in its own right. I want to see someone tackle the depths and consequences of (non-romantic) obsession the way Melville did.