Reading stack: Tuesday's links

• I'm really eager to read John Bacon's book on Rich Rodriguez's tenure as Michigan football coach. (Even though I realistically won't get really into it until after baseball season ends.) Not only do I expect it to confirm several beliefs I've long held, but it sounds like there's plenty of other inside stuff that is rankling a lot of people close to the program. [MVictors]

• The list of movies currently in theaters that I want to see is growing. (No, I haven't seen "Moneyball." Yes, I know I write about baseball.) That concerns me since the baseball playoffs are about to begin. Between that and sneaking in some Michigan football, I don't know how much "leisure" time will be available. I just hope "Drive" stays in theaters for a week or two.

Oh, this is an interview with the director, Nicolas Winding Refn. He shoots his movies in chronological order. [The A.V. Club]

• With DC Comics rebooting its entire comic book line (I've read a few of them on the iPad, out of curiosity, and intend to write about them soon), a trio of forensic psychologists would like to see comics creators be more responsible about depicting mental illness. They feel the Batman line, in particular, with several "criminally insane" villains in its rogues gallery (i.e., The Joker) perpetuate dangerously negative stereotypes. [New York Times]

• I already wasn't thrilled about my height. But apparently, I have some getting shorter to look forward to. And it might be happening sooner than I would like to admit. Actually, it may already be happening. To you, as well.

But if height loss indicates all the other stuff that's going wrong with you, you might be ready to die anyway. So get some smokes and a bottle of whiskey and just ride it out. [Wall Street Journal]

• As a comic book-loving kid, one of my absolute favorites was "The New Teen Titans" by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. At one point, my life's ambition was to draw like Perez.

If you'd have told me those two were coming out with a new Teen Titans story — 25 years after they first began working on it — I would've been excited to read it. And I was, for many, many years. Even within the last six years. But now, I'm not sure I can work up too much excitement for it. [The Beat]

When The Dark Knight Can't Get Away

This probably would've been better before Halloween, but I told my friend Ms. Hooz that I'd post it.  I guess this video shows what would happen if Batman hadn't gone to ninja school in Batman Begins before putting on the pointy ears and cape.

You'd think Commissioner Gordon would be onto Batman's act by now.  And I watched a cartoon over the weekend where Batman pulled the vanishing act on Superman, too.  That doesn't seem possible.  I mean, he's Superman.  (Although Batman is probably just that good.  The cartoon, unfortunately, was not.)

15 Years Later, The Crow Still Flies

To commemorate the 15th anniversary of The Crow, MTV's "Splash Page" blog ran a five-part series this week, devoted to the film's development and impact.  And what better time to run it than leading up to "Devil's Night," a central setting of the story. 

(The realization that it's been 15 years since I saw The Crow in theaters is one of several anniversaries that have reminded me of how old I'm getting.  20 years since an earthquake interrupted the World Series.  20 years since Nine Inch Nails' "Pretty Hate Machine" was released.)

Even though Tim Burton's two Batman films had come out before The Crow, this felt like the first time a comic book really came to life on the screen.  The iconic imagery of the hero perched atop a building, prowling, watching.  (How could a Batman movie not have Batman doing that?  Christopher Nolan got that right 16 years later.)  The kinetic energy of him running across rooftops, leaping over alleys from one surface to the next with exhilaration.  (Just like Daredevil!) 

And of course, you can't talk about The Crow without discussing Brandon Lee and his death during filming, something that added a deeper poignance and pathos to the movie.  The character's inherent tragedy was almost overwhelming at times, knowing what really happened off-screen.

I'd almost forgotten just how much I loved this movie.  No way I'm getting through the weekend without watching it again.  (The Crow was also one of my best Halloween costumes ever, despite carrying much more padding than Lee ever did.) 

This series provided quite a nostalgia trip.  Here's a link to each post, with a short excerpt:

Part One: From Comic to Screen

[Producer] Jeff Most: "I took the comics around with the treatments. I was told it was too dark, too bleak, too out there. One studio executive, who later became a president of a studio, threw the comics across the table at me and said, 'I didn't think you were gay.' I said, 'What?!' He said, 'Well, your character is gay. He's got long hair, he looks gay, he's dressed up in makeup.' Interestingly, I had a meeting with somebody else about a week later who also later became president of another studio who said to me, 'I heard you've got a comic book about a woman who kills people.'"

Part Two: Casting Eric Draven

John Shirley (Writer): I myself pushed for Christian Slater, who seemed cool and quirky and had a great voice. And the voice seemed important to me. I seem to recall [producer Ed] Pressman wanted to use Jon Bon Jovi! He had a whole fixation on Bon Jovi, as I recall. I am afraid I recoiled, visibly, to that prospect.

Part Three: The Crow's Lost Character

The Skull Cowboy appears in James O'Barr's comics and nearly made it into "The Crow." An other-worldly guide for Brandon Lee's resurrected avenger Eric Draven, the mysterious figure would have provided a great deal of the film's exposition, setting up the "rules" of the afterlife and Draven's mission.

Part Four: Best Soundtrack Ever?

Jeff Most (Producer): I wanted every song in the movie to be original, unreleased, born of the film. I was considered a crackpot for doing that at the time. Soundtracks were made up of hits, regurgitated top 40 collections. And the songs that were done for the film were not, at the time, the kinds of songs that were put out as singles. I wanted to create this world on camera and with the music in the film.

The first person I asked to join the soundtrack was [Nine Inch Nail's] Trent Reznor. I knew he'd never done anything for a movie.

Part Five: Remembering Brandon Lee

Jon Polito ("Gideon"): I believe that Brandon was, much like on script, fated to have a wonderful life. He was killed on Thursday and was going to be married on Saturday, to this wonderful woman. He was finishing his dream project. As in the movie, he was living the life with this woman that he was in love with and he was cut down. You have to say... Where does the reality end and the fantasy begin? The movie and real life came together in a way that was horrific but historic.