Christopher Nolan | the m0vie blog

All This Flying is Making Me Tired: Superhero Fatigue…

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Darren

Well, blockbuster season is really kicking into swing at the moment. Next week will see the release of X-Men: First Class, which will be the second major superhero movie of the summer, following Branagh’s superb Thor. There are two more due to touch down before the end of the blockbuster season, Green Lantern and Captain America: The First Avenger. It’s fascinating how large the superhero genre has grown in recent years, to the point where one might legitimately argue that it has subgenres. Part of me wonders if this particular blockbuster fad is approaching its climax – if the superhero movie might out-stay its welcome, and go the way of the Western.

Is the superhero genre's blackest night ahead?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Batman in film, captain america: the first avenger, Christopher Nolan, Dolph Lundgren, films, genre, green lantern, Movies, richard donner, sam raimi, superhero, superheroes, western, X-Men (film) | 12 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 »

The Trouble With Trilogies: Why Superhero Fanchises Have Trouble With the Third Instalment…

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Darren

So, it turns out that The Dark Knight Rises has a top secret ending. That’s very interesting, and I wonder what it could be. A few obvious possibilities have popped into my head, but there’s one facet of this news which really fascinates me: this piece of information gives weight to the suggestion that Nolan is going to give his superhero franchise a definitive ending, something that perhaps explains why we don’t really have a “classic” superhero trilogy yet, despite the fact that quite a few comic book characters have pushed well past the third film. So will Batman be able to do what Superman, Spider-Man, the X-Men and even another Batman have failed to do before him? Will he craft a complete and wonderful trilogy?

Batman really wants to know what the ending is...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman forever, Batman in film, Christopher Nolan, closure, conclusion, endings, film trilogies, films, george lucas, Movies, spider man, spider-man 3, star wars, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, The Godfather Part III, trilogies, Wachowski Brothers | 3 Comments »

Time to Worry About Snyder’s Superman?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Darren

Well, the reviews for SuckerPunch are in, and they are… less than encouraging. I could have great fun going through them looking for pithy put-downs, but let’s just agree that it looks pretty bad. The film was a critical and commercial flop, generally agreed to be the handiwork of a director who was allowed to run completely wild with Warner Brothers footing the bill. As inevitably happens after a disaster like this, people are wondering about the director’s next film – it would be a hot topic even if it wasn’t relaunching Superman, but the amount of weight that Warner Brothers is putting on Superman makes it a downright explosive little issue. So, do I believe that Snyder can do it?

No Snyde(r) remarks...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Christopher Nolan, david s. goyer, directors, film, Kevin Costner, man of steel, Movie, steven spielberg, Sucker Punch, suckerpunch, superman, superman reboot, superman returns, Warner Bros, zack snyder | 8 Comments »

Justice for the JLA: Warner’s New Stand-Alone Superhero Team-Up…

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Darren

News broke during the week that Warner Brothers are planning a new Justice League movie, apparently for 2013. Reportedly Ryan Reynolds has not been approached to play the Green Lantern in the film, and – based on comments from both film makers – it’s unlikely that Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot or The Dark Knight Rises will play into the film in any meaningful way. One might consider that something of a marketing faux pas, as that would represent a fairly intense lead-in into the movie (as opposed to the four-odd years Marvel has been teasing The Avengers). Indeed, it has been suggested that the proposed Justice League movie might stand entirely on its own two feet, completely distinct from the superhero movies that Warners are churning out. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this was exactly the plan with the company’s last aborted attempt at a Justice League film.

Justice for all?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Batman in film, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, ensemble, film, green lantern, jla, justice league, Movies, ryan reynolds, spotlight, superhero ensemble, superman, teams, Warner Bros, zack snyder | 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...

Continue reading →

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 »

Three is the Magic Number: Why Do We Like Trilogies?

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Darren

Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing all three films in the Matrix trilogy. I sat down yesterday, watched all three back-to-back and wrote reviews of them. As I did, I found myself thinking about how nice the concept of a “trilogy” is. It’s even a nice word – it sounds much better to say “the [insert film name here] trilogy” than it does to say “the [insert film name here] tetralogy” (or, to quote the Alien films, “quadrilogy”) or even the more generic “[insert film name here] series.” So what is it about sets of three movies that we like so much?

Looking for a stellar trilogy...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3, arts, batman begins, Batman franchise media, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, film trilogies, Movie, movie trilogies, number three, sergio leone, superman, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, three, trilogy | Leave a comment »

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel (Review)

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way.

Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo worked together on Joker, the rather wonderful reinvention of the Clown Prince of Crime which happened to almost perfectly synch up with the release of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. However, the pair had worked together before on a very similar story – an attempt to offer a more in-depth look at another iconic comic book villain. Lex Luthor: Man of Steel was originally released as a six-issue miniseries, but it has now been released as a graphic novel branded only Luthor, in an attempt to cash in on the success of the pair’s stand-alone Batman novel. In the form of a lovely hardcover with the covers relegated to the extras at the end, it actually makes quite a compelling read.

He needs to Luth-less to win this...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, brian azzarello, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book review, comic book reviews, comic books, dc comics, graphic novel review, joker, lee bermejo, lex luthor, lex luthor: man of steel, Lexluthor, luthor, review, superman | Leave a comment »

Iron Man 3: Tony Stark to Face Real World Baddies…

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Darren

You know what? I was sad to hear that Jon Favreau wasn’t coming back to direct Iron Man 3, especially after Marvel so thoroughly mucked with his vision of Iron Man 2 – turning the second act into an extended infomercial for The Avengers. However, I was kinda glad to see Shane Black come on board, if only because his last collaboration with Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) was pure gold. Anyway, Black – as a screenwriter – will be writing the new Iron Man film, and he’s promising a Tom Clancy plot and “real world villains.” So what exactly does that mean?

The other "Man of Steel" (well, gold-titanium alloy)...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avengers, Christopher Nolan, iron man, iron man 2, iron man 3, james bond, jon favreau, kiss kiss bang bang, marvel, marvel comics, matt fraction, Movie, robert downey jr, Shane Black, superheroes, supervillains, tom clancy, tony stark | 2 Comments »

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (Review)

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way. In honour of the Scottish scribe, I thought I’d review the latest chapter in his on-going Batman epic.

It’s a testament to writer Grant Morrison how much I enjoyed his weird and fantastical six-chapter “Batman lost in time” adventure epic. Between this and his superb run on Batman & Robin, Morrison might have redeemed himself for the mess that was Batman R.I.P. That said, the collection isn’t for everyone, but it marks a rich exploration of the evolution of the Batman archetype through his various iterations – a meta-textual look at the elements which make Batman who he is, and why those elements are important to him. It also, of course, features Batman in a sword fight with Cthulhu.