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Details Emerge on What Ben Affleck’s Standalone Batman Script Was About Andddd I Want That Movie Instead

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Indiewire – In a new interview on MTV’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, cinematographer Robert Richardson reconfirmed Affleck’s Batman script was finished and not exactly beloved by everyone involved in the film’s development. Richardson was hired by Affleck to film his Batman standalone film…

As for what Affleck’s script entailed, Richardson revealed the Batman franchise was going to Arkham Asylum to dig into Bruce Wayne’s own insanity. The cinematographer said Affleck’s film would have showed “the darker side of Batman,” which is quite the statement given how brooding Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of the superhero was in his “Dark Knight” trilogy.

“Well, [Affleck] was going more into the insanity aspects,” Richardson said. “So I think you would’ve seen something a little darker than what we’ve seen in the past and more into the individual, who was inside Batman — what element may be sane and what element may actually not be sane. So he was entering into a little more of the Arkham, as you know, he’s going into where you keep everyone who was bad, everyone that shifted and Batman. And so that whole aspect was sort of, it was very fascinating to go to the darker side of Batman.”

Give me *that* movie. What the hell Warner Bros? Its like these studios and DC Comics just cannot get out of their own way. Now I don’t want to shit on the yet to be released Robert Pattinson Batman movie because who knows it could be awesome, but this Affleck script sounds way more interesting than rebooting Batman for the third time in a decade.

It’ll be hard to ever top The Dark Knight, which for my money is arguably the greatest superhero movie ever made because it doesn’t rely on CGI and dozens of characters.

At its core The Dark Knight is a crime thriller with a heavy focus on psychology and mental health. As much as I loved Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale’s version, I really enjoyed Ben Affleck’s take on the character. He was a much angrier, morally ambiguous, jaded, and more violent version of the Batman than we’d ever seen before.

Now who knows the real story behind why the Batfleck is no more, but there was always drama around his standalone film. Maybe starring, writing, and directing was too much for Affleck or maybe he said to hell with it when he realized he didn’t actually have the creative freedom he thought he would. Either way this movie was on life support for a long time before he officially retired as the caped crusader in January. This movie sounds like it could have been incredible though. Similar to The Dark Knight‘s exploration of psychology and mental health, but taken to the next level with the physical embodiment of Arkham Asylum. Theres just so much meat on the bones and so many directions they could have went with that entire idea. I literally own The Psychology of Batman book so I may be a bit biased in my opinion, but I know for a fact that we could have seen something seriously compelling with Affleck’s script. Not even just with the criminals, but with Bruce Wayne himself. You obviously have to be pretty fucked up to lurk around city rooftops at night fighting bad guys while dressed like a BAT. The Batman movies have never really explored that too much other than the typical backstory of Bruce’s parents being murdered in front of him. Batman Begins delves into that a bit, but its more of how he became Batman whereas this could have been why.

After the flame out that was Justice League, it seems DC has decided to explore individual stories in standalone flicks that aren’t actually connected. We’ve got the upcoming Joker coming out later this year, which is already getting some early Oscar buzz, and that movie reportedly will not be connected to the larger DCEU at all.

I don’t expect this Pattison Batman role to be teaming up with the Justice League any time soon either.

The problem DC always had was they were continuously rushing projects along despite poor vision/execution. They seemingly thought they could just slap together a couple of movies and catch up to Marvel despite the MCU’s painstaking, carefully laid plans. People forget that Marvel released five movies over the course of 4+ years before teaming everyone up in The Avengers. And to be honest, 3-4 of those movies kind of stunk. If The Avengers didn’t completely nail it we could have seen the MCU shuttered a LOT quicker than originally anticipated, which is why Thanos isn’t even referenced until Thor.

Whereas DC released Man of Steel in 2013, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 and then Wonder Woman in 2017, immediately followed up by Justice League five months later. World building this was not. It didn’t help that Man of Steel never even made hint of a larger world of heroes and then 3 years later it turns out Batman has been running shit for years right across a literal bay of water from Clark Kent so that always came off as a shoddy retcon. Oh and that movie made the unforgivable decision to cast Mark Zuckerberg as Lex Luther and had one of the most ridiculous convoluted plots with the dumbest turning point (which Snyder still defends) that I can remember seeing in a movie.

Batman vs Superman could have been so so good. The trailer and the visuals taken out of context from that movie are still gorgeous. Just the perception of Bruce Wayne that Superman is actually evil and he needs to destroy this god-like figure to protect the world is so intriguing.

Especially after 40 years of Superman being portrayed as this Eagle Scout who flies in to save the day. Buttt the movie itself was a microcosm of the DCEU’s overarching issues and ended up being kind of a mess.

Wonder Woman was actually pretty good and was probably the only reason Justice League faired as well as it did. Except Justice League was another disaster in terms of vision and execution. In a vacuum its fine, I watched it on a flight and it kept me entertained, but it jumps around, its dark then its humorous, the villain was terrible and forgettable, and it seemed more like a comic book artist’s wet dream than a major movie studio’s tentpole franchise. Obviously a lot of that is likely due to the film having to switch directors midway through production after the death of Zack Snyder’s daughter. Ironically enough The Avengers mastermind Joss Whedon took over, but this movie was an amalgam of bad ideas thrown together skating by on IP alone.

So I’m holding out hope that DC has seen the error of its ways (Guys, not everything has to have a connected universe) and the casting of Pattinson has potential because he’s actually been grinding away as an indie character actor for the last decade. Who knows what direction Reeves will go in, but its tough not to wonder what could have been with Affleck giving it one more go.

Reds Pitcher Amir Garrett Started a BRAWL and Yasiel Puig (Who Had Just Been Traded) Was Ready to Throw Hands

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Yasiel Puig can drink from my canteen anytime. The dude just got traded so he technically wasn’t even on the Reds anymore yet he was still ready to throw hands.

Since we’re in the trust tree I’ll admit that the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve soured on baseball fights. It’s usually a bunch of dudes who’ve never thrown a punch in their lives just throwing their gloves at each other and flailing away. Last season’s Joe Kelly brawl was the exception.

But, THIS was different. So when an actual fight breaks out with haymakers being thrown, all started by a pitcher literally turning into Leroy Jenkins, I am all the way in.

Hell even the managers got into the mix and ended up getting tackled to the ground.

Reds manager David Bell (who was previously ejected) had been wrestled to the ground by Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein after charging Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, and nobody seemed convinced that this drama was actually over at all.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it sparks up again. We don’t take lightly to what happened tonight and the way that they acted,” Bucs starter Joe Musgrove said. “The guy that’s running their team over there is the ringleader. You saw him come out and go right after our manager after being ejected. Who knows what’s going to happen down the line, but we definitely expect something to happen at some point. We’ll be ready for it.”

Also, shoutout to this cop who said fuck this I do not get paid enough to break up fights between millionaires, let them sort it out.

If baseball is going to thrive despite its pacing problem, length of games, umpire debates etc. etc. then some legitimate brewhahas couldn’t hurt to drum up excitement. Hell it was the 15 year anniversary the other day of my favorite baseball fight: A-Rod vs Tek

 

Steve Ballmer May Rename the LA Clippers. Here’s My Choice AND Custom Jersey Design

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LA Times – Ballmer would not rule out changing the logo — and the colors, and perhaps even the nickname itself — when the Clippers move into the new arena. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to really step our identity up another level,” he said.

Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Los Angeles?

Women, weed and weather.

Okay whats the second thing? The grizzly bear flag of course.

I’m from Boston and as much as I love the sports teams, the charmfully parochial attitude, and the 8 month long winters, I never pass up a chance to visit California. (Huntington Beach is where The 300s west coast office will be based in 2025)  I’ve also always had a fondness for the California grizzly bear flag because if for no other reason it is a sharp look. You could throw these on a uniform tomorrow and Uni Watch would cum themselves. Actually, hang on a sec….

Without further ado, I introduce the California Monarchs and the below jersey that was custom designed by The 300s.

Monarch was apparently the name of the grizzly bear that was the inspiration for the original Cali flag. Needless to say, I want royalties and commissions when you steal this design for your new LA empire, Mr. Ballmer. If nothing else I might just make this a summer league jersey for my mens league team.

And that my friends concludes this episode of how to kill time at the office on a Monday.

There’s a Bromance Blossoming Between Julian Edelman and Patriots Rookie Chase Winovich

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If you’re a cynic you might say Julian Edelman should find someone his own age, but we don’t choose who we love. Thats exactly what we have brewing here between Edelman and rookie Chase Winovich; bromance. As the great Lupe Fiasco rapped on “Kick Push” oh so many years ago:

Love is what was happening to him now

At 33 years old with a torn ACL, 2 surgeries to fix a broken foot, at least two concussions, a fractured hand, a fractured arm and most recently a busted thumb — I think its safe to say Edelman is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. Maybe the veteran receiver sees something in the fun loving free spirit that Chase Winovich (Mattes’ pick for everyone’s soon to be favorite Patriot) seems to be. Maybe Edelman sees himself in Chase. Despite the obsessive work ethic required to make it as a 7th round draft pick in the NFL, Edelman’s always been a quirky, funny dude trapped in the body of a professional athlete/male model.

Or maybe Edelman just remembers how veterans like Wes Welker gave him the cold shoulder (which Brady has done to every young QB ever) when he was coming up and wants to be more of a friend to the rookies.

In any event, Jules’ first love Tom Brady is uber intense and probably not the best guy to goof off with, whereas Chase is a buddy cop pairing for the ages. So I look forward to what kind of cheeky shenanigans these two get into.

Fire Flames Alert! Browns Damarious Randall Has the BEST Visor of All Time

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For anyone that still hasn’t put it together, my man Damarious Randall just flipped the helmet visor game on its head with this homage to Friday. 

We’ve seen guys with wacky socks, we’ve seen basketball players with the Christmas day kicks and even Kyrie’s kicks shouting out literal Kix.

But never have we seen anything quite like this and I cannot ring the Fire Flames Alert any louder than I already have. Remember when guys like JPP started putting all the unnecessary bars in their facemasks like they were fucking Shredder?

It literally got to the point where the NFL had to step in and say alright cut the shit you clowns.

All of that pales in comparison to the sheer originality of a guy shouting out a 24-year-old movie and emblazoning it across his visor. Now its a real shame we won’t be able to see this in an actual NFL game because they’ll fine you for wearing the wrong color shoe laces. So hopefully we see more fire attire like this across NFL training camps this summer and if not I hope Vince McMahon and the XFL are taking note…

The Indians’ Trevor Bauer Had a GLORIOUS Meltdown on the Mound

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Just an A+ flip out by Trevor Bauer who lost his shit and decided to just launch the ball OVER the center field wall before getting yanked. Part of me loves how much he cares about losing and another part of me wants to rip him for being a gigantic baby. I remember one time in my softball league we were playing this team of jacked, roided out 5’8″ dudes and we were really taking them to the shed. Well after a long night of getting their doors blown off this one guy strikes out and proceeds to scream at the top of his lungs and literally fires his bat into the woods. It was like watching a train wreck, it was superb.

The only thing funnier than Bauer’s meltdown was Terry Francona’s reaction.

“What the FUCK is wrong with you?”

For a guy like Francona, who has been around baseball his entire life and has seen it all, over to have a genuine reaction like that was laugh out loud funny. This is a guy who publicly defended Mark Bellhorn for 6 months straight so needless to say you don’t normally get this honest of a response from a major league manager.

Its Friday So Lets Go Back to 1999 and SPIN’s List of the Greatest Alt Rock Songs

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I am in a full blown tailspin of nostalgia today after hearing songs I haven’t heard in years. 1999 had some BANGERS from the wildly popular bands like Blink-182 to the groups people don’t like to admit they actually enjoy like Limp Bizkit to the one hit wonders like LIT. It was an awesome year for angsty kids. Lets take a look at SPIN’s 69 best songs of 1999 as I pick out the best songs I liked the most from the list.

1999 was a simpler time and was the absolute height of music videos. Record labels and it’s artists poured a shit ton of time and money into making these 4-minute movies so we’ve got highly produced vids to go with each song. Enjoy wasting the next 20 minutes of your day with me.

It probably helps that all of these songs came out in my most formative years, but a ton of them were also featured in the video games I played endlessly so these songs are burned into my brain. Featured at No. 34 on this list, remember Powerman 5000’s “When Worlds Collide”? No? How about now?

No. 65 – Smashmouth – “All Star”


Smashmouth really is peak 90s as they were poppy and bubbly, but still sang/rap about getting blackout drunk. All Star was a mega hit before becoming a legitimate meme after being featured on the Shrek soundtrack. Also, shoutout to Dane Cook making an apperance in the All Star video as he was the King of the early 2000s when he was a comedy god.

No. 30 – Sugar Ray – “Someday”


I’m still beyond jealous that Papa Giorgio has seen Sugar Ray in concert not once, but multiple times and has even received a high five from Mark McGrath.

No. 29 – Kid Rock – “Cowboy”


Before Lil Nas X made rapping about cowboys and country cool again, Kid Rock invented the entire style. Never forget the pioneer that Robert Richie was in the 90s.

No. 26 – Creed – “Higher”


Surprise of the century is that Scott Stapp is still touring. I saw he

No. 25 – Limp Bizkit – “Nookie”


I vividly remember how big of a deal it was when “Nookie” beat out the Backstreet Boys for the No. 1 spot on TRL. Holy shit do I feel old having just written that sentence.

No. 24 – The Offspring – “The Kids Aren’t Alright”


These guys vanished into thin air, but not after dominating MTV and becoming the soundtrack for basically every movie made in the late 90s/early 2000s like American Pie 2, Orange County, The New Guy, Tomcats, Idle Hands, Varsity Blues, and The Faculty. I challenge you to show me a better run from that era because you can’t.

No. 20 – Santana feat. Rob Thomas – “Smooth”


20 years later and this song still fucks.

No 18. – Beastie Boys – “Alive”

I feel like this will wind up being one of those groups that I opine about the older I get and the more I start to despise the popular music of today because the Beastie Boys changed the damn game.

“While it’s not as flashy or seminal as singles like “Intergalactic” or “Sabotage,” the understated majesty of “Alive,” from their two-CD anthology, showcases the consistent brilliance of the crew as talented MCs, feeding off each other like they share one brain.”

No. 16 – Sugar Ray – “Every Morning”


Absolute kings of 1999.

No. 15 – Blink-182 – “What’s My Age Again?”


So Papa Giorgio and I actually saw Blink twice in the span of a week back in senior year of college and its one of the few bands that I would ever do that. These guys have 20+ years of hits to pull from and I mean this in the best way, but it feels like you’re back in high school any time you throw them on. Unlike just about every artist on this list Blink has found their stride with excellent new music to ride out the second act of their career. They even remade the same goddamn video with a slight twist.

No. 14 – Korn – “Freak on a Leash”


Korn was a clear line of demarcation between kids in high school. Freak on a Leash was a banger, but it was definitely the single that crossed over because I was never a huge Korn guy until I heard this single. Even better though is the Korn rap crossover with Dem Franchise Boyz on “Coming Undone With It” because the early 2000s were a breeding ground for mashups that in theory sound like an abomination, yet somehow work.

No. 12 – Kid Rock – “Bawitdaba”


If you had the Kid Rock CD in middle school you were definitely already rolling blunts before you could drive. Dope song though.

No. 9 – Foo Fighters – “Learn to Fly”


Full disclosure, Foo Fighters is my favorite band of all time so I stan for Dave Grohl. Hell I had them on the Must Play List at my wedding. So I’m glad to see this song so high up on the list. If you haven’t seen the video of them playing this live alongside a thousand people simultaneously, stop whatever you’re doing and watch it right now. Incredible.

No. 8 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Scar Tissue”


I don’t know why, but the SPIN description of this song hit the nail right on the head.

“As with many great Chi Peps tunes, Frusciante provides a cover for all of the band’s worst instincts here: His guitar and background vocals manage to make Anthony Kiedis’ lyrical gibberish ring true and forlorn, transforming the track into a classic of late ’90s rock ballads.”

No. 7 – Lit – “My Own Worst Enemy”


I vividly remember the teenage, probably drunk, camp counselors blaring this on the bus every goddamn day at Summer Camp when I was a kid, which is probably why its worked its way into my brain and never left.

No. 5 – Fatboy Slim – “Praise You”


Not my favorite song to be honest, but you’re lying if you don’t *taste* 1999 when you hear this song.

No. 4 – Len – “Steal My Sunshine”


Another cringeworthy level of 90s nostalgia, this song was a massive hit in 1999, but probably wouldn’t get played anywhere other than Soundcloud if released today. Also, this video always creeped me out because the Canadian brother-sister duo just seemed a little too close. Even the front man didn’t love the album, but this song popped.“Some of it’s terrible. A lot of it’s terrible,” Marc said about Bum Rush, but hit single “Steal My Sunshine” was huge with fans and critics alike.

No. 3 – Eminem – “My Name Is”
Hi kids, do you like violence?

Massive Eminem fan here so shoutout to Marshall for making No. 3 on the ALT ROCK list as a rapper from Detroit. That my friends is what they call crossing over and I’m not talking about that shitty TV show where John Edward conned grieving people into believing he was talking to their dead relatives. But I digress, this along with The Real Slim Shady is when Eminem exploded onto the scene as the angry yet funny white guy who could rap better than anyone I’d ever heard. The Real Slim Shady video that doesn’t even try to hide the fact that its ripping on Tom Green, another MTV darling in 1999, probably didn’t hurt either.

No. 2 – Blink-182 – “All the Small Things”


I’ve already said my piece on Blink, but aside from the actual music these guys just knew how to make a video that would get played all day on TRL. This looks incredibly dated now, but it was massive at the time because it poked fun at the way too serious slo-mo boy band videos of the era.

No. 1 – Fiona Apple – “Fast As You Can”

Fiona Apple is the soundtrack for any movie scene where the main characters are strung out doing heroine, not the No. 1 alt-rock song of 1999. I reject this.

Anyways, you’re welcome for this trip down memory lane now excuse me while I go grab my chain wallet and slip into my JNCO jeans.

The Latest Episode of Phireside With Phil Mickelson Did Not Disappoint

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These Phireside With Phil videos literally make me laugh out loud because they are just absurd. As I wrote a few weeks back, its my new favorite show. For this episode Phil literally brought a candle into the clubhouse in between rounds of The Open for this sit down interview with 3x major champion Padraig Harrington. Mickelson seems like a guy I would love to go on a bender with as Harrington tells a story of Phil just handing out bottles of wine to 18 year olds at dinner one night, on Harrington’s tab no less.

Sneaky hilarious move to put the subtitles up just for Padraig too, just in case people get lost in the brogue.

Hopefully Phil is crushing all the fatty food he can get his hands on after dropping 15 pounds in the week leading up to The Open, only to miss the cut. Thicc boys are in these days Phil, embrace it.

Celtics Officially Sign Tacko Fall. Tacko Tuesdays Are a Go!

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NBA.com – The Boston Celtics have signed guards Tremont Waters and Max Strus to two-way contracts, and have signed center Tacko Fall and guard Javonte Green, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Update: Tacko Fall was actually an undrafted free agent, not a second round pick. I literally linked to my own blog about this and still got it wrong. Carry on. 

I’m doing my best here to not get run over by the hype train that is a second round pick, but simply put Tacko Fall will be must watch TV any time he enters a game. After a solid showing in the Summer League, Danny Ainge saw enough to take a flyer on the kid. For the people that wanted the C’s to just dump Fall I honestly don’t get the rationale. The Celtics are completely devoid of big men with Al Horford taking his talents to Philadelphia so why not see what you have in the biggest man in the NBA? Isn’t this the exact point of 2nd round picks? To throw darts? Sure most of them will be bums, but some of them will turn into diamonds in the rough. Not saying Tacko Fall is going to be the next Nikola Jokic or Draymond Green, but might as well commit the minimal dollars and roster flexibility required to find out.

PLUS the Celtics Marketing Department must be borderline aroused at the possibilities here, as am I.

You know, I would say its the first time The 300s will inevitably make a t-shirt for the last man on the Celtics bench, but come to think of it…..we did the same exact thing last year.

Tigers man, just can’t change their stripes.

Patriots Backup QB Danny Etling Taking Reps at Wide Receiver Now

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We’ve obviously seen this with the Patriots before as Julian Edelman was a QB at Kent State before becoming arguably Tom Brady’s best wide receiver ever. The Patriots love to move guys around the field whether its Edelman at WR, Cordarrelle Patterson at RB, or Troy Brown at defensive back so this isn’t necessarily a surprise. What is startling though is how BARREN the Patriots receiver group currently is that Belichick is resorting to second year QBs to help fill the gap.

This could just be a way to get an athlete on the field more or it could be Etling’s last shot at making the team. With Hoyer entrenched as Brady’s backup, I highly doubt the Patriots will carry four quarterbacks on the roster after drafting Jarett Stidham in the fourth round this year. Although the last time they did that it worked out pretty well when TB12 was QB4. If nothing else, we know Etling has some WHEELS.