To mark the return to Narnia with Prince Caspian, EW.com celebrates “18 ‘Awesome’ Imaginary Worlds,” including Gotham City: “It’s what Liberty City would see in the mirror, just before waking up from a LSD-fueled nightmare: riddled with crime-ready alleys, populated by villains with severe homicidal psychoses, and cursed with a seemingly eternal lack of sunshine.”
May 19th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I thought, from this post, they gave actually recognition to Anton Furst’s work. They do not. They make bland statements and have a Jim Lee picture of Batman. I was real curious to see the first Batman get some recognition in the days of Gotham is Chicago Christopher Nolan era.
And the rest of the list is awful. Mongo? Please. The serial made it look better. And no Star Wars?
May 19th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Yes, what a strange list. I love LOST to bits but the Island is not particularly awesome. (In fact, I think that the show uses a minimum of FX to make the jungles of Hawaii into something both creepy and believable is a good thing.)
But yes, let’s salute Anton Furst. Whatever else the new films might get right, I miss the gothic unreality of his Gotham. Here was a city that would breed Batman and the Joker and the freaks. Here was a city that was impossible and yet, to those of us who have been in the old alleys of New York and London, not as unlikely as you might think. And here were films that had a certain visual elan missing from far too many SF, fantasy and super-hero films.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:48 am
A shame that Furst’s work isn’t getting the long-term respect that it’s earned. Furst is among the few artists who really made Gotham look like its own place.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Argh! Another one of EW’s goddamn “one entry per page” lists. I’m interested in the list, but this format always annoys me.
Also: the land from “Neverending Story?” Not awesome at all.