Reactions to story from /Film | Blogging the Reel World

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  Defending robin

  http://www.incontention.com/?p=715
  95 days ago in In Contention — No one needs film awards coverage this deep. · Authority: 113

  Batman scribe Jeph Loeb (The Long Halloween, Dark Victory) has jumped into the recent Robin debate, defending the characters potential in Christopher Nolans current trilogy. Hunter Stephenson at /film points us to this MTV story, which offers the
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  Assessing the Themes of The Dark Knight

  http://uk.cinok.com/assessing-the-themes-of-the-dark-knight-...
  78 days ago in Movies news, articles, videos, podcasts · Authority: 4

  I hauled my ass out of bed at 7:30 AM ton Saturday morning and saw The Dark Knight at 9 AM in a packed IMAX theater, and boy was it was worth it. From the opening establishing shot, which was incredibly vivid and breathtaking, I knew that this film would be something different. It’s been said dozens of times already, but Nolan truly uses the entire screen (six-stories tall as it is) as a canvas to paint a rich and dramatic tale. My podcast review will have to wait for Monday night, but I felt the overwhelming desire to write something about the subject. Please note: The following is not a review. I will not be discussing Heath Ledger’s tremendous performance, nor Nolan’s directorial choices, nor my problems with the film (yes, I did have some). It’s an attempt at coming to grips with some of the themes in the movie, a cathartic but not exhaustive brain dump. So here we go… [From here on out, SPOILERS ABOUND. DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE DARK KNIGHT YET] The Symbology of Batman The final monologue that Commissioner Gordon brings the themes from Batman Begins to their logical conclusion: Namely, that as a man, Bruce Wayne’s powers to evil crime are rather limited. As a man, he can be corrupted, he can be killed, and ultimately, he can be defeated. As a symbol he can become far more, and at the end of The Dark Knight, he becomes, to society, an uncontainable force in very much the same way the Joker was. He becomes hunted, making people believe that he cannot be controlled, that he has lost all respect for societal norms and the rule of law. As Gordon realizes he needs to blame the murders on Batman, he acknowledges not only the need for society to push their fears onto something, but their hopes as well (which he allows them to do by preserving Dent’s good name). In order to keep from tearing itself to shreds, society needs to believe in the incorruptibility of good and the relative remoteness of evil. The Dark Knight points us to ways in which we cope with this need. Simultaneously, it’s also made clear that, in fact, Batman never succumbs to his own dark, inner urges. In the movie, Bruce Wayne says the line, “I’ve seen what I have to become to fight men like him,” and he rejects the path he has to take to stop Joker, a man who has no rules whatsoever. In one of the more memorable scenes from the film, the two have a showdown in Gotham’s city streets, the Joker manically screaming “Hit me!” as Batman is propelled towards him in the bat pod. As much as Batman wants to annihilate the Joker, he knows he can’t violate his own moral code, and almost sacrifices himself to prevent this from happening (albeit as part of a broader ruse to capture him). Still, Batman doesn’t seek to kill evildoers, but to bring them to justice. The dichotomy that the film sets up between Joker and Batman is one of chaos vs. order. The dichotomy between Joker and Dent is one of good vs. evil… The Triumph of Evil Over Good “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” These words, spoken by Harvey Dent in the film and its trailers, portend the inevitable corruptibility of heroes in the Batman universe. At the beginning of the film, Dent represents absolute good, a goodness that’s so pure, that has so much potential to change Gotham, that even Batman is thinking of hanging up his spurs. Dent is referred to frequently as Gotham’s “White Knight,” a term used throughout the course of the film. I was speaking with a friend about this movie today and he pointed out that when he went to see the movie he did not anticipate “The Dark Knight” could actually also refer to Dent, a clever yet profound subtext to the film (and that’s not even mentioning the night/knight pun, which I will choose never mention again after this sentence). Indeed, Dent’s journey from light to darkness is handled plausibly and adeptly in the film, which makes his story arc monstrously tragic. Many people have remarked on how depressing the film is and I would say that I mostly agree: The Joker’s ability to destroy that which Dent loves and turn him to the evil that he becomes is sad in a way that can only be experienced by seeing the film. But the apparent relative ease with which Joker does this is what makes the Dent storyline strike so close to home: The film makes us realize that we, as humans are limited, and that our capacity to be good is subject to the vagaries of fate and whatever the hell else decides to destroy what we love. Dent is not just a proxy for hope, he’s a proxy for us as well, reminding us of the duality that lies within each of us. The Thin Line Between Anarchy and Order As Nolan has stated in interviews, this movie was not meant to explore the Joker’s backstory because it’s really not that important to the film. Simply put, the Joker represents anarchy and chaos, a constant and near-unstoppable force whose origins are inexplicable (something which is made clear rather explicitly when the Joker delivers two creepily different monologues as to his scars’ origins). Many people compare Joker to other film and comic book villains but the one that I think he can be most closely associated with is Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men, who is a force of nature. His origins are unclear but his actions are strongly felt by those around him (to put it mildly). The Joker is unpredictable and can’t be reasoned with, nor does he have any broader goals except to create chaos and destruction. When I saw the movie Funny Games and watched an interview Michael Haneke, I was struck by something he said: To paraphrase, he said that we as individuals have personal spaces that go unsaid but are accepted by almost everyone. When people violate this personal space, the results can be terrifying. In a similar fashion, the Joker upends the genre conventions of a villain in that he has no inhibitions and refuses to hew even to the ultra-basic moral code of criminals (see: the opening scene). When a character has no values that you as a viewer can relate to and hold on to, the results are extremely disorienting. This unmoors our basic assumptions of the person’s capabilities. All of this comes to a head in the hospital scene, when Joker gives Harvey Dent the “It’s all part of the plan” monologue, a speech that’s chilling not just for its content and delivery, but also because of its incisive commentary for us as Americans. I will not make any overtly political statements here, except to say that the complacency with which we as Americans have accepted atrocities and miscarriages of justice committed around the world as well as right here at home may have consequences beyond what we can imagine. The Joker’s monologue points to our baffling perceptions and reactions to the events that disrupt our lives. In our society, what exactly constitutes cause for alarm? And how much sense do those standards really make? The Terrible Logic of Human Nature What do people do when they are put in the worst of situations? What would you do if you were given the ultimate power over someone else? The movie touches upon these questions of human nature, but they are perhaps its least developed. We see this theme pop up several times, most notably in two separate instances. Firstly, it’s evident when Batman breaks into Wayne enterprises and gives Lucius Fox fee reign of the cell phone hackery he has perpetrated upon all of Gotham. Fox demurs, believing that one person should not have this power. People are so easily corrupted that even an initial desire to do good can ultimately lead to evil, the film seems to be saying. This is further confirmed as the entire video interface comes to a fiery end, in a spectacular Batman-programmed self-destruction. We also see it at the very end, when two separate sets of people are given the ability to destroy each other. Given the lead-up to the film’s climactic action scene, it’s a little bit strange that the boat-bomb storyline ends in the way that it does: With both criminals and everyday citizens concluding that they won’t take another’s life just to preserve their own. Throughout the whole movie, Nolan seems to be trying to tell us we are all easily subject to the temptations of the dark side, but the rest of the movie is already so relentlessly dark that perhaps this ending was more palatable to general audiences. Humans can’t handle power responsibly. But maybe, in our shared humanity, there is still hope for compassion. *** At its best, The Dark Knight holds a mirror up to us as viewers and asks us to look closely, to examine ourselves as humans and as citizens. It doesn’t always do this gracefully, but it tries far more than any comic book movie in recent memory has ever done. The fact that it succeeds most of the time is a testament to Nolan’s script and artistry. Discuss: What themes did you see in the Dark Knight? How well did you feel the film explored them? Make sure to tune in on Monday night, 7 pm PST / 10 PM PST to Slashfilm’s LIVE page to hear us review The Dark Knight with Kevin Smith! Related Stories: Round 2: Comic Writer Jeph Loeb Defends Robin’s Place In Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Agree? The Dark Knight: Bat-Pod and Tumbler Go On Tour VOTD: Battle of the Batmans Aaron Eckhart Says Two-Face is Gross, Like, Really Gross Christian Bale Talks “Batman 3″ Sequel to The Dark Knight First Look Video: Batman: Gotham Knight
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  Terminator 4: John Conner and T-600 First Look, T-800 Casting

  http://uk.cinok.com/terminator-4-john-conner-and-t-600-first...
  80 days ago in Movies news, articles, videos, podcasts · Authority: 4

  Warner Bros released the first high resolution photo of Christian Bale as John Connor (seen above). Meanwhile, io9 took a closer look at the kick ass Terminator Salvation teaser trailer and spotted what is believed to be a a T-600. In an earlier blog posting, the filmmaker explained that the T-600 is a “bigger, grimier, nastier version that preceded the T-800….they’re easier to spot but they pack a mini gun and carry kick ass fire power. They’re eight-foot tall killers that prowl the badlands looking for anything with a heartbeat to terminate.” And apparently Roland Kickinger, an Austrian native who actually played a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2005 biopic See Arnold Run, has been cast to play a younger version of Schwarzenegger’s T-800 character. “It’s Arnold’s character in the first Terminator. That’s basically my role, but 20 years before, so it establishes how the Terminator [came] about,” Kickinger told the Clinton News Record, continuing with the slight spoiler: “There’s a very strong scene in the film where John Connor for the first time meets the Terminator, and he doesn’t know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy.” Related Stories: Terminator Salvation Teaser Trailer - What Do You Think? Dark Knight Cast and Crew Tease Third Batman Film Round 2: Comic Writer Jeph Loeb Defends Robin’s Place In Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Agree? Christian Bale Rules Out Robin For Batman 3 (and beyond) Christian Bale Compares Terminator 4 to Batman Begins; Helena Bonham Carter Joins Cast VOTD: Gotham Tonight Profiles Bruce Wayne
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  Dark Knight Viral: Citizens For Batman Chicago Report

  http://uk.cinok.com/dark-knight-viral-citizens-for-batman-ch...
  90 days ago in Movies news, articles, videos, podcasts · Authority: 4

  Citizens For Batman arranged meet-ups tonight in Chicago and New York. /Film reader Mike Wolf sends in this report from tonight’s Dark Knight viral event in Chicago. Photos thanks to PizzaPaul on CFB.org. —– I just got back from the Citizens for Batman rally in Chicago and it was very anti-climatic. Rather than having a real rally where someone was preaching support for batman or getting people to chant for the dark knight, swag (which was cool) was given out and then they delivered pizza. After which, everyone began to ran as clues that most of us never saw were given out telling us to go north or south depending on who you followed. What ensued was a mad dash through upper and lower Wacker drive, admittedly a great memory despite the end result. People were hoping barriers, jumping 10 -15 feet from upper to lower Wacker and sprinting all out for the next clue or what we hoped would be something worth our efforts. As would be expected, Chicago’s finest showed up to try to control the crowd of over 200 people and eventually everyone made their way to the Sears Tower. This is where things fell apart. A message was left on a radio that someone found, or so we were told, that said to look north. Everyone did and for an hour plus everyone watched as a light flickered on and off. No one working the event would give out any information on whether or not there would be a reason to stay or if the problems would be fixed. Many disgruntled fans left before the problems were solved and the bat symbol finally came into view. Do not be fooled by the video on citizensforbatman.org of the Chicago location, as of 11:15 pm CT it did not look anywhere near as good as it does currently on the site. Maybe they fixed it even more after I left but after already waiting for an hour and half at that location as well as having run my ass off through the streets, I had given up on this poorly executed event. This viral marketing campaign has easily been one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had while preparing for the release of a movie and if things would have gone as planned tonight, it would have been cool but not great. The biggest issue was the lack of communication between the organizers and the fans. I understand not breaking the fourth wall or giving away too much but when things are not working someone needs to let people know what is going on. All that being said, the swag is great and running through the streets of “Gotham” was an exciting experience. The end result could have been better and considering that we heard New York went off without a hitch, wouldn’t be nice if the real Gotham City of the film would have gotten a better effort? Related Stories: /Filmcast Episode 7: Hancock LOL: What if Michael Bay Wrote The Dark Knight? The Dark Knight’s Wizard World Chicago Trailer The Dark Knight’s Entertainment Weekly Cover Round 2: Comic Writer Jeph Loeb Defends Robin’s Place In Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Agree? The Dark Knight: 100 Opening Weekend Shows Already Sold Out
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  /Filmcast Episode 7: Hancock

  http://uk.cinok.com/filmcast-episode-7-hancock-3165
  90 days ago in Movies news, articles, videos, podcasts · Authority: 4

  In this episode of the /Filmcast, Dave, Peter, Adam, and Devindra lament the damage that Joel Schumacher has done to the Batman series, get excited about the possibility of an Apatow-produced Sherlock Holmes, and try to make sense of Hancock. Also, Peter reports on the geekgasm that was his trip to LA. Special Guests include the illustrious Adam Kempenaar from the Filmspotting podcast as well as Andy Sorcini from The Drill Down. Download or Play Now: Subscribe: Show Notes Introduction What Have We Watched Peter Sciretta: (01:24) Hellboy 2 and The Dark Knight (L.A.) Dave Chen: (09:01) BSG: Season 1, White Light/Black Rain Devindra Hardawar: (15:13) The Kite Runner, Batman: Gotham Knight News Discussion (20:00) Fanboy now in the dictionary (23:17) Sacha Baron Cohen, Will Ferrel to Star in Judd Apatow’s Sherlock Holmes (29:13) Christian Bale Rules out Robin for Batman 3 and Jeph Loeb Defends Robin (36:39) Trailers: Knowing and The Day The Earth Stood Still (46:46) Mark Millar Has a Big Name Action Director for Superman Revamp? Xmas Announcement? Featured Review (53:30) Hancock Credits Our music comes from Point 22 courtesy of the Podsafe Network, and Brad Sucks If you’d like advertise with us or sponsor us, please e-mail slashfilmcast@gmail.com Related Stories: The Day the Earth Stood Still Movie Trailer on Hancock EW’s Highest Grossing Movies of the Summer? Summer Showdown 2008: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Most Anticipated Movie? LOL: What if Michael Bay Wrote The Dark Knight? The Dark Knight’s Wizard World Chicago Trailer Hancock is a Ssssmash: So What Did You Think?
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  This Week in DVD: The Ruins, Stop-Loss, Batman: Gotham Knight, and More

  http://uk.cinok.com/this-week-in-dvd-the-ruins-stop-loss-bat...
  91 days ago in Movies news, articles, videos, podcasts · Authority: 4

  This Week in DVD is a new column on /Film compiling all the latest info regarding new DVD releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Fry’s. BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT (Available as single-disc and 2-Disc Special Editions) What The Animatrix did for The Matrix, Gotham Knight does for Nolan’s Batman series. This straight-to-DVD anthology collects six animated segments, each with their own unique Japanese anime style, and acts as a segway of sorts from Batman Begins to The Dark Knight. The quality of the shorts are varied, with specific ones noticeably excelling in animation, story, and the amount they add to the Batman mythology, while others are a little more dull and feel essentially like filler. Overall though, there’s still enough here to appeal to die-hard and even casual fans. (That is, as long as you know what you’re in for.) Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: The 2-disc set includes a sneak peek at Wonder Woman, an audio commentary, a documentary about Batman’s villains, a documentary about Bob Kane and the creation of Batman, and four episodes from Batman: The Animated Series. BEST PRICE* Target Best Buy Circuit City Fry’s $12.99 *Does NOT include 2-Disc Special Edition, which costs $19.99 at Target, $22.99 at Best Buy and Circuit City, and $24.99 at Fry’s. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Steelbook box art, plus a free character guide (with purchase of the 2-Disc Special Edition). Where? Best Buy. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Bonus episodes of Batman Beyond. Where? Target. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Free Batman patch. Where? Circuit City. THE RUINS (Available as regular and Unrated Editions) While not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, The Ruins deserves special notice for being one of the few horror films in recent years to tackle such a clichéd set-up—a group of good-looking American teenagers venture to a foreign country and get into all sorts of crazy shenanigans (in this case involving evil plants)—and manage to not completely suck at executing it. (Take that, M. Night Shyamalan!) In fact, just about everything that most horror films fail at, this movie exceeds at to some degree. So if you’ve become bored with all the J-horror remakes and want to see some good old-fashioned, suspense-filled, gore-laden, psychologically-twisted fun, then The Ruins is pretty much your only option (as far as new releases go). Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: An audio commentary, a making-of featurette, a look at the development of the plants, a featurette about the set design, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and the original theatrical ending. BEST PRICE Target Best Buy Circuit City Fry’s $16.99 $13.99 EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Save $5 when you buy any two of the following: The Ruins, Stop-Loss, and Superhero Movie. Where? Best Buy. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Free $5 gift card with purchase of both The Ruins and Stop-Loss. Where? Target. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Save $5 with purchase of both The Ruins and Stop-Loss. Where? Circuit City. STOP-LOSS Director Kimberly Peirce’s follow-up to Boys Don’t Cry isn’t a flawless movie, as has been noted by audiences and critics in regards to its sloppy political message, but its heart is in the right place, and the sincere performances keep the picture engaging all the way through. The story focuses on the act of stop-lossing, which involves a solider being forced to return to duty after already serving his full term. As far as movies portraying the Iraq war go, this is one of the more successful efforts. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: A commentary, a making-of featurette, a boot camp featurette, and deleted scenes. BEST PRICE Target Best Buy Circuit City Fry’s $17.99 $16.99 $13.99 EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Save $5 when you buy any two of the following: The Ruins, Stop-Loss, and Superhero Movie. Where? Best Buy. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Free $5 gift card with purchase of both The Ruins and Stop-Loss. Where? Target. EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Save $5 with purchase of both The Ruins and Stop-Loss. Where? Circuit City. BATMAN BEGINS (LIMITED EDITION GIFT SET) For those of you who don’t yet own Batman Begins (anybody?) or just love splurging on cool box sets, Warner Bros. has seen fit to milk the release of The Dark Knight even further with this gratuitous but welcome limited edition gift set, which also marks the first time the movie’s been made available on Blu-ray. In addition to the Two-Disc Special Edition of the film, it comes with an exclusive sneak peek of The Dark Knight, a ticket to see The Dark Knight in theaters (up to $7.50), a 128MB flash drive including 18 images from The Dark Knight, a Batman Begins lenticular, and five collectible Batman Begins post cards. Blu-ray? Yes. Notable Extras: Aside from all the box set goodies (listed above), the special features are the same as what was found on the previous two-disc release. BEST PRICE Target Best Buy Circuit City Fry’s $27.99 $25.99 $29.99 EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Joker lithograph. Where? Best Buy. THE X-FILES: REVELATIONS For those of you who need to take a break from all the Dark Knight hype, don’t forget that there’s another fanboy-favorite sequel coming out soon with The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Big-time fans of the show probably won’t need this new set, since they likely own all the DVD seasons already, but for those of you who are interested, creator Chris Carter and producer Frank Spotnitz have hand-picked 8 of the show’s best episode, each of which connects to the new movie and acts as an introductory guide for unfamiliar viewers. Plus, if you take advantage of the free movie ticket to see the new film, it basically only costs you $5. What do you have to lose? Blu-ray? No. Notable Extras: This two-disc set comes with a ticket to see The X-Files: I Want to Believe (up to $8.50), a series introduction, 8 episode introductions (which explain their relation to the upcoming film), and footage from the Q&A panel at WonderCon. BEST PRICE Target Best Buy Circuit City Fry’s $14.99 $13.99 SUPERHERO MOVIE (EXTENDED EDITION) The spoof movie genre gets yet another savage beating with Superhero Movie, although thankfully it’s not as severe as the self-inflicted eye-gouging you’d receive upon watching Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie, or Date Movie. At least here they attempt in places to actually spoof the genre at hand, even if it is rarely successful. It’s essentially a carbon copy rip-off of Spider-Man, minus the action, and come to the think of it, the laughs as well. Blu-ray? No. Notable Extras: An audio commentary, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and two featurettes. BEST PRICE Target Best Buy Circuit City Fry’s $17.99 $19.99 $13.99 EXCLUSIVE DEAL: What? Save $5 when you buy any two of the following: The Ruins, Stop-Loss, and Superhero Movie. Where? Best Buy. Other noteworthy DVDs available this week… Stargate Atlantis (Season 4) – Monk (Season 6) – Sleepwalking – Psych (Season 2) – Fearless (Director’s Cut) – The Mummy (2-Disc Deluxe Edition) – The Mummy Returns (2-Disc Deluxe Edition) – The Mummy (Universal Legacy Series) (1932) – The Batman (Season 5) – Van Helsing (2-Disc Collector’s Edition) Discuss: What are you planning to rent or buy this week? $7.99 – Live Free or Die Hard, 28 Weeks Later, Little Miss Sunshine, Once, The Last King of Scotland, and more… $5.99 – Borat, Waiting…, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, American Beauty, Idiocracy, American Psycho (Unrated), Reservoir Dogs (15th Anniversary Edition), Syriana, Stripes (Extended Cut), and more… $19.99 – Veronica Mars (Seasons 1-3) [Ed. Note – If you haven’t yet seen this show, you’re missing out.] $5.99 – Superman II (The Richard Donner Cut), V for Vendetta, Blade, Blade II, and more… $6.99 – Equilibrium, The Warriors (Ultimate Director’s Cut), and more… $8.99 – The Fly (Special Edition), Wall Street (Special Edition), Tora! Tora! Tora!, Predator, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The French Connection, Alien, and more… $4.99 – Boys Don’t Cry, Sexy Beast, Raising Arizona, TAPS, and more… Related Stories: The Dark Knight: Bat-Pod and Tumbler Go On Tour VOTD: Battle of the Batmans Round 2: Comic Writer Jeph Loeb Defends Robin’s Place In Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Agree? Mortal Kombat vs. DC Gets Fatalities Cool Stuff: French Connection’s Dark Knight and Hulk T-Shirts Cool Stuff: Batman “The Beginning” T-Shirt for Only $10; Threadless Sale!
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  The excitement continues!

  http://whatistechnoagain.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/the-excite...
  91 days ago in What Is Techno Again? · Authority: 10

  The Dark Knight is less than two weeks away! And this post is brought to you by SPOILER CONTROL, so you can enjoy these and future posts on my blog without wishing you had gouged your eyes out prior to reading them. This (for the present) applies to future TDK-related posts until the 18th. Enjoy! Batman-On-Film has an interview with Jonathan “Jonah” Nolan (screenplay) and David Goyer (TDK story). Jonah says something in the interview about when he saw Batman Begins that mirrors why I get so excited to see a movie—especially this movie—I’m anticipating the first day it comes out. … You know I worked a bit on the last film as an consultant — very briefly. And I went to see BATMAN BEGINS at the 12AM midnight sneak. That was an exciting thing to be able to watch it with an audience — and audience that was very excited to see it and respond to all the amazing ideas that they had put into it. That was cool. The geeks and fanboys (or girls, hey!) are there opening day. The people who are just as, if not more, excited about the same film you are. (Goyer accurately describes them as a “real” audience.) I experienced this for the first time when I saw one of the Harry Potter movies … and it was such a rush. And hopefully I’ll get to see some people dressed up! If I do, I’ll try to take pictures and then post ‘em on my blog! Of course, I’ll be writing a review of The Dark Knight along with any other details of my movie-viewing experience on the 18th. Anyway, here’s hope for the Bat-fans like me who want to see a non-traditional villain in the third film! Thank you! JN: … Batman’s rogues gallery — most of them are very realistic. It’s BIG and it’s DEEP — that bench has a lot of depth. And uh, a lot of those characters feel as if they could fit into our “realistic” world. DG: You know the thing is with the first one, people would say “Who are you going to use? The Penguin, The Joker, The Riddler, etc.” These are the well known characters — known principally from the TV show — and guess what, we used Ra’s Al Ghul and The Scarecrow. Now they weren’t characters from the other films or the TV show but these were big characters from the comics. And there are a lot of big characters in the comics that haven’t been used — comic book readers know who they are though. Yes! Exactly what I think. On another note, there are some cool TDK wallpapers on Super Punch that you can add to your arsenal. Entertainment Weekly’s new issue has just about the coolest TDK cover I’ve seen. And you can read their full article (which also rocks, but be careful—there’s some Joker spoilers in it) at EW.com. You can watch a TDK Sneak Peak vid—which incorporates part of two of the twelve clips IESB.net recently featured—by E! News Now here. Now obviously something like that is a spoiler, so watch at your own risk (especially because the host is kind of annoying). BOF.com has a list of upcoming talk shows that will have TDK actors as guest stars, starting with Aaron Eckhart on tomorrow’s The Tonight Show. There’s a new episode of Gotham Tonight with Mike Engel up—guest starring Commissioner Loeb and Sal Maroni (haha, what an ass)! (I love how Maroni makes that “bored to death” comment and Engel is just like, “… No, we wouldn’t.” Haha! Poor Mike.) The Citizens for Batman website shows two coordinates where fans are supposed to gather when the countdown ends tomorrow: 9 pm Central in Chicago and 10 pm Eastern in New York. Damn, too bad I can’t be there. More on that after it happens. The Joker strikes (cell phones) again! Superhero Hype! posted this today: UPDATE: Fans with the Joker phones just got the following from humanresources@whysoserious.com: OK clown, I see one last test of skill in your future. Post this where everyone can see it: LAMB Hmmm, what could that mean? Can anyone shed any light on this? Anywho, want to see the Batmobile take on the Toyota F1 racing team and see how awkward (but fun) the Batpod must be to ride? Hell yeah! Click the Superhero Hype! link above to see the video. Besides all the picture-taking and driver posing mixed in, it’s pretty awesome. There are four brand new, must-watch TDK tv spots here! These are absolutely kick ass, and they each have new footage and voice overs. Thanks to John for the link! Andddd … oh my god! The trailer for The Dark Knight that was shown at last year’s Wizard World Chicago is finally online for our viewing pleasure! AWESOME! It’s way action-packed and has moments those of us who weren’t able to attend WWC have only recently been privy to. Like scenes from tv spots and hey, remember that special Two-Face scene on the Why So Serious page that’s now been taken over by the phrase “Hero today, gone tomorrow” (highlight everything on the site to see the message)? You can watch the trailer below. (Via /Film) More talk on the Robin (??) front is going on. Some people on the top of the Bat-fandom food chain are saying Robin might just be the perfect next move … which I’ve been concurring with. In fact, the great comics writer Jeph Loeb even said something I’ve been saying for a couple posts now: “Take the time to tell the story properly,” Loeb said. “There is a story of Dick Grayson and how he becomes Robin that is extremely moving and very helpful. …[Grayson/Robin] doesn’t understand why it is that he needs to do this and Bruce doesn’t understand why he’s doing it either because he’s not a parent. He doesn’t know how to be a parent,” Loeb said. “And together, they make each other better people. So that for me would be the next step.” … “I wouldn’t let him become Robin until the third act, if that. I think that’s the other problem when you tell that story is that there’s this rush to put him in a costume by the end of the first 20 minutes and in that case I think it’s a disaster…” Apparently Christian Bale is either dead-opposed or sarcastic (it’s hard to tell from articles sometimes written by people with no humor)—but various sources (like /Film and CHUD.com) say that this quote by him is sadly leaning towards the former: “If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I’ll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.” Christian, as much as I adore you as a talented actor … WTF, man?! Talk back: What do you guys think about the whole Robin deal? Would you like to see him in the next Nolan-Batman movie? And is it just me, or is Bale being just a tad ridiculous? | |
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  The Dark Knight’s Wizard World Chicago Trailer

  http://uk.cinok.com/the-dark-knight%e2%80%99s-wizard-world-c...
  92 days ago in Movies news, articles, videos, podcasts · Authority: 4

  The movie trailer for The Dark Knight which was shown at last year’s Wizard World Chicago has finally been released online. It’s packed without a lot of action, very little dialogue, and the tease of two-face at the conclusion. It is kind of fitting that the final Dark Knight movie trailer is one that premiered almost a year ago. Related Stories: The Dark Knight’s Entertainment Weekly Cover Round 2: Comic Writer Jeph Loeb Defends Robin’s Place In Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Agree? The Dark Knight: 100 Opening Weekend Shows Already Sold Out Christian Bale Rules Out Robin For Batman 3 (and beyond) VOTD: The Dark Knight vs. Hellboy 10 Reasons Why I Loved The Dark Knight
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  Round 2: Comic Writer Jeph Loeb Defends Robin’s Place In Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Agree?

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  94 days ago in THEeCoSTREAM V2 · Authority: 2

  | /Film Yesterday, I posted on Christian Bale’s reported dismissal of Robin—both the character and his place in Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise—and the comments continue to unfold with incredibly lengthy diatribes widely in favor of Bale’s sentiments. Twenty-three words can unleash hundreds of thousands, and now highly respected comic writer Jeph Loeb, whose credits include both The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, has come out in defense of Robin/Dick Grayson’s place in a Batman 3. What’s worth noting is that both of the connected books mentioned above have long been considered by geeks to be fair game for a sequel(s) to The Dark Knight…if we’re so lucky. Here’s what Loeb told MTV regarding his vision for “the next step” in these high water mark superhero films.. “Take the time to tell the story properly,” Loeb said. “There is a story of Dick Grayson and how he becomes Robin that is extremely moving and very helpful. …[Grayson/Robin] doesn’t understand why it is that he needs to do this and Bruce doesn’t understand why he’s doing it either because he’s not a parent. He doesn’t know how to be a parent,” Loeb said. “And together, they make each other better people. So that for me would be the next step.” Right now, Robin is considered to be a hex for the series due to Joel Schumacher’s legendary wack-job with the character/costumes. Combined with Robin’s oft-pubescent, effete depiction, he automatically seems like a flamboyant anomaly to Nolan’s world of hardboiled crime staked in realistic technology and sophistication. Of course, Nolan’s take on Robin would certainly not resemble anything like the admittedly biased image above, but Robin would still prove a creative challenge to adapt unlike any other character in his mythology. Oddly enough, Bale stated back in 2005 that one of his favorite Batman comics was Dark Victory, in which Robin plays a considerable role… “But the two [Batman stories] that I liked particularly were Dark Victory and The Long Halloween. They just had some really fantastic imagery in there of the severity of Batman and everything and I would kind of imitate those positions.” There’s speculation that The Daily Mail falsely attributed the Robin diss to Bale; however, it’s equally as likely that Bale simply browsed through various graphic novels sent to him by DC (as he informed fans in the link above) with casual interest. As it stands, Bale hates Robin. Haha. If the third film is indeed the last, might it seem strange to have entirely overlooked such a well recognized part of canon? While /Film doesn’t wish to see Robin appear in any form, Loeb does make a nice and knowing effort to illustrate how it could be done tastefully… “I wouldn’t let him become Robin until the third act, if that. I think that’s the other problem when you tell that story is that there’s this rush to put him in a costume by the end of the first 20 minutes and in that case I think it’s a disaster…” Discuss: Do Loeb’s comments change your stance on the appropriateness/inclusion of Robin in a sequel to The Dark Knight? Is it worth the risk and if so, how old would Robin need to be for it to work? What do you make of Bale’s compliments to Dark Victory but dislike for Robin? Bonus Disuss: Is Chris O’Donnell’s Robin the lamest, worst outfitted superhero ever put to film?

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