batman | the m0vie blog

A Bluffer’s Guide to the Dark Knight Rises Rumours…

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Darren

This week has been a bit of an early Christmas for movie geeks such as myself, with Warner Brothers unveiling both the teaser poster and the teaser trailer to The Dark Knight Rises, the much-anticipated closing chapter to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. When we know a bit more later in the year, I’ll dig into the movie in a bit more depth, but it occurred to me that a lot of fans on-line are throwing out concepts and references that might seem a bit foreign to the uninitiated. I can’t imagine how strange it must be for a non-comic-book-fan to hear titles like Knightfall or “Lazarus Pits” thrown into casual conversation. So I’ve put together a bluffer’s guide to all the speculation and rumours, so that you can hopefully understand a bit more of what nerdy geeks like myself are talking about when we casually reference stuff like “I will break you!” It should be stressed that all these are 100% rumour, and not meant to reflect the film, but to help understand geeky references in discussions about the film. Sort of like a handy guide to the “offside rule”in soccer or such.

Welcome to underground comcis culture...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bane, batman, Batman in film, Batman: Knightfall, bluffer's guide, bluffing, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, film, film rumours, Knightfall, lex luthor, liam neeson, movie rumours, Movies, ra's al ghul, rumours, Talia Al Ghul, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, the dark knight rises rumours, United States | 2 Comments »

Discussing The Dark Knight Rises’ Teaser Trailer: Long Day’s Journey Into Knight…

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Darren

The trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has been doing the rounds on-line, as Warner Brothers try to keep it under wraps. Originally supposed to premiere before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II, I reckon it’s a matter of time before the studio officially releases it on-line. When they do, I’ll post it up here, but let’s actually talk a bit about the teaser and what it tells us – especially about this instalment as opposed to the previous two entries in Nolan’s superhero franchise.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bane, batman, batman begins, Batman in film, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, Dark Knight Rises, gary oldman, gotham city, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Dark Knight (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray], The Dark Knight Rises, the dark knight rises teaser, the dark knight rises teaser trailer, the dark knight rises trailer, Warner Bros | 4 Comments »

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Poster Has Arrived…

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Darren

… and it is awesome. It’s done in that rather minimalistic approach as the early Dark Knight posters.

And we get a teaser this week. I am really excited, and I hope it’s half as effective as the teasers for Batman Begins or The Dark Knight, both of which were perfect examples of trailers that spurred interest and intrigue without giving anything away.

Click to enlarge...

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bane, batman, batman begins, Batman in film, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, films, harry potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film), Movies, Teaser trailer, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, the dark knight rises poster, the dark knight rises teaser, the dark knight rises teaser poster, Warner Bros | 6 Comments »

Green Lantern’s Light: Why I’m Holding Out For a Hero…

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Darren

You know, I’m actually really impressed with how this summer’s slate of superhero-themed blockbusters are coming together. Despite fears about market saturation, I honestly think that the four big pictures this summer offer enough distinct flavour to avoid generation some superhero fatigue coming in. X-Men: First Class is a Cold War Civil Rights action adventure. Thor the story of a god, humbled. Captain America: The First Avenger is a bit of pulpy history set against a World War II backdrop. Green Lantern is an epic space opera about an intergalactic police squad. There’s enough variety there that it isn’t just wave after wave of people in silly costumes.

Still, Green Lantern holds particular interest to me. It’s been interesting to watch the buzz on-line, following the seemingly disappointed first trailer through the four minutes of footage from Wonder Con towards the well-received second and third trailers. Still, my affection for the character and the movie aren’t necessarily drawn from Warner’s publicity campaign.

You see, Green Lantern was really the character that introduced me to modern comics.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: arts, Bat-Mite, batman, comic books, Comics, dc comics, films, geoff johns, grant morrison, green lantern, Movies, Warner Brothers, world war ii | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Batman & Robin

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Darren

It takes a lot to kill Batman. Just ask Bane. That character broke Batman across his knee, discarded him and claimed Gotham for his own… only to have Bruce claw his way back and reclaim the mantle. The evil New God Darkseid once decided not only to kill Batman, but to send him back to the dawn of time to live through a cycle of death and rebirth in the hopes of destroying the Caped Crusader… Batman just sorta shrugged that one off. He’s a tough nut to keep down, is that Dark Knight.

However, Joel Schumacher managed to nearly knock Batman out for the count (at least on film) with Batman & Robin, the movie which – if it didn’t kill the Batman franchise – at least put it into a coma for several years.

It's some kinda storm (it's not "snow", but it begins with "s")...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alicia Silverstone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, batman, batman & robin, batman forever, bruce wayne, camp, dark knight, filom, joel schumacher, michael gough, Movie, non-review review, review, sylvester stallone, terrible | 10 Comments »

Joseph Gordon Levitt as Johnny Blake in The Dark Knight Rises…

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Darren

There seems to a strange bit of symmetry here. The same night that I went to see Thor, starring a hero with a fictional identity of “Donald Blake” (which… sorta… makes a cameo appearance), Joseph Gordon Levitt’s role in The Dark Knight Rises is announced as the long-established Batman supporting character John Blake.

Wait, what?

Even I don’t recognise that character. Thankfully, Bleeding Cool have done some digging and they’ve come back with the secret origin of Johnny Blake. He shares a history with the Joker. Follow the link above for the complete story.

More (genuine) thoughts about this casting announcement probably next week (including the “Marion Cotillard really, really isn’t Talia… we swear!” bit), but enjoy this in the meanwhile!

Also, no confirmation that Zack Snyder’s Superman will see Lex Luthor take forty cakes (that’s as many as four tens!), because that would be terrible.

Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman in film, Christopher Nolan, Dark Knight Rises, john blake, Johnny Blake, joker, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, marion cotillard | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Darkman

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Darren

This is a post as part of “Raimi-fest”, the event being organised by the always wonderful Bryce over at Things That Don’t Suck.

Spider-Man wasn’t Sam Raimi’s first foray into the world of superheroes. Darkman stands as one of the very few earnest superheroes created originally in the medium of film (as opposed to being adapted from comic books or other pulp fiction), and it’s certainly an interesting and entertaining feature. Going on to produce two direct-to-video sequels, some books, some comic books and even a computer game, the character is the very definition of “cult.”

The real Dark Knight?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: batman, danny elfman, dark knight returns, dark man, Darkman, Evil Dead II, Ivan Raimi, liam neeson, non-review review, Raimi, review, sam raimi, spider man, tim burton | 4 Comments »

Michael Gough, RIP

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Darren

You know, I’m never quite sure what to say about the passing of actors who I only really associate with one particular role. It’s not even that the role is all that I know them from or that I haven’t seen them anywhere else – I am well aware that Michael Gough’s prolific career spanned everything from theatre to movies to television, in the UK and the USA. However, to me, Gough will probably always be Alfred. I just hope I am not doing the distinguished actor a disservice by remembering him like that.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actor, alfred, alfred pennyworth, batman, michael gough, rest in peace, rip | 2 Comments »

Back to Begins: Is Nolan Bringing The Dark Knight Rises a Full Circle?

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Darren

As The Dark Knight Rises draws closer and closer to filming, the rumours are just going to grow more and more intense. The latest rumour de jour (succeeding in a long line of debunked suggestions like the Riddler or Robin Williams as Hugo Strange) suggests that the League of Shadows will return to take on the Dark Knight in the final part of the trilogy, led by the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul and her lover Bane. I was initially skeptical of the rumours, perhaps because they so neatly dove-tail back into the first film of the trilogy, Batman Begins.

The birth of Batman...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, batman trilogy, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, dark knight trilogy, film, heath ledger, Hugo Strange, joker, League of Assassins, Movies, ra's al ghul, Talia Al Ghul, The Dark Knight, the dark knight trilogy, themes, trilogies, trilogy | 11 Comments »

Can a Sequel Spoil the Original Film More Than a Remake?

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Darren

So, the rights to Blade Runner have been sold. However, us on-line film nerds are being told to breathe easy, because the rights that were sold explicitly do not include the option to remake or “reimagine” or “reboot” the classic Ridley Scott film. However, is that really that much of a comfort? Surely a terrible sequel can tarnish an original film just as much as a terrible remake?