Posted on September 3, 2009 by Darren
Say what you will about the Caped Crusader, as well as having the finest rogues gallery in comicdom, he also gets most of the best storylines and plots. The Long Halloween is widely considered a classic, a true Batman story for the ages and a perfect companion to Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. In many ways, both stories heavily influence the two Christopher Nolan Batman movies (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) to the point where the notoriously shy-about-his-work Nolan actually provides the introduction to this collection. There’s a mark of quality right there. The story is so highly regarded for a reason, and has helped define one of the most enduring depictions of the Batman.
Batman might not be able to leap buildings in a single bound, but that won't stop him trying...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute batman, absolute batman: the long halloween, absolute edition, batman, Christopher Nolan, comic books, dc comics, graphic novels, harvey dent, jeph loeb, the caped crusader, The Dark Knight, The Long Halloween, tim sale, two face | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 24, 2009 by Darren
I’ll do a retrospective of this year’s comic con when it’s finished, but today has been a big day for news at Comic Con. These are two of my favourite discoveries:
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: Batman 3, Christopher Nolan, comic con, gary oldman, jeff bridges, movie gossip, Movies, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, tron, tron: legacy | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 16, 2009 by Darren
We don’t know if Nolan’s coming back. We don’t know (though we doubt) if they’ll recast the Joker. We don’t know that Johnny Depp is the Riddler (though we know he’d like to be). We know nothing about the third film in the Batman trilogy.
Except know that there will be a third film.
You'll believe a man can glide...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, batman rogues, batman villains, bruce wayne, caped crusader, catwoman, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, dark knight returns, dark knight sequel, gotham, gotham city, heath ledger, joker | 4 Comments »
Posted on July 15, 2009 by Darren
Don’t get us wrong, we did enjoy the two Burton films (I have a soft spot for
Batman Returns, despite fandom’s opinion of it). It’s just that the Nolan films –
Batman Begins and
The Dark Knight – managed to perfectly capture what it was about the Caped Crusader that we really loved. There was just something about them that really worked, and we thought we’d take a look at five of the reasons why we liked them so much.
Reason #243: excellent cinematography...
Filed under: Movies, Opinion | Tagged: batman begins, Christopher Nolan, Comics, film, Movies, The Dark Knight | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 14, 2009 by Darren
… I’m a Joker, I’m a Smoker, I’m a Midnight Toker
What is it about the Joker that makes him such a great villain. He’s appeared in just about every media form where Batman has appeared since Batman #1 way back in 1940. He is one of only two villains to appear in both of the more recent Batman film franchises and he seems to be the only character in the history of the Batman family who has survived every era of the character unblemished. Be it the light comic relief of the Dick Sprang era reflected in the Adam West show (where Ceasar Romero is clearly wearing a mustache under his makeup), the darker sense of humour of the animated Joker voiced by Mark Hamill in The Animated Series through to the anarchist/nihilist terrorist portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight – none of these incarnations are any less in character than any of the others. What is it about the Joker that makes him one of the great villains of our time?
The world's leading cause of coulrophobia...
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Filed under: Movies, Opinion, Television | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, Comics, grant morrison, heath ledger, jack nicholson, joker, The Dark Knight | 5 Comments »
Posted on July 13, 2009 by Darren
Even four years after is original release, The Dark Knight casts a pretty big shadow. Not only is it the best Batman movie ever produced, and easily one of the best stories to feature the character in any medium, it’s also a wonderful piece of cinema on its own terms. Christopher Nolan is an astounding craftsman, and one who constructed his superhero sequel without ever feeling the need to dumb down. The Dark Knight is a wonderfully effective and stunningly constructed piece of popcorn cinema, but it’s also the most profound and engaging (and, importantly, even-handed) meditations on the War of Terror that Hollywood has produced. It’s bold and accessible, but it’s also intelligent and engaging. More than an astoundingly impressive blockbuster, it’s just a superb piece of cinema.
It all goes up in flames…
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aaron eckhart, batman, batman begins, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, film, gary oldman, gotham, harvey dent, heath ledger, joker, Movies, non-review review, review, two face | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 18, 2009 by Darren
Rumours are already circulating that Christopher Nolan may be calling it a day when it comes to his Batman franchise. Anonymous insiders – don’t you love ’em – are claiming the director has reached breaking point with the studio. Rumour has it that they want to recast The Joker and include him in the sequel, whereas Nolan is against the idea. It’s far too early to really start worrying about it – Nolan was initially reluctant to do a sequel to Batman Begins, for example. But, still, it’s a slow news day, so we’ll ponder it: What happens if Nolan doesn’t return?
There's no man like Nolan
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, Christopher Nolan, dark knight returns, david s. goyer, heath ledger, joker, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, Warner Brothers, zach snyder | 4 Comments »
Posted on June 15, 2009 by Darren
Batman Begins has been somewhat overshadowed by the success of The Dark Knight, but Christopher Nolan’s original reimagining of the Batman mythos is a compelling and clever examination of one of pop culture’s most enduring icons. I think there’s a case to be made that Batman Begins represents the best superhero origin story ever told in film – and quite possibly the definitive introduction to Batman and his world. The key isn’t collecting bits of trivia to explain the finer details, although the script from the Nolan brothers and David Goyer certainly does that. Instead, Nolan dares to examine the psychology of Batman. Richard Donner’s Superman famously boasted that you’d believe a man could fly. Nolan makes you believe that a man would dress up as a giant bat to fight crime.
Swooping ahead of the competition…
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: batman, batman begins, Bruce, bruce wayne, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, gotham, Henri Ducard, Movies, nolan, non-review review, ra's al ghul, review, richard donner, scarecrow, The Dark Knight, tim burton, Wayne Enterprises | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 14, 2009 by Darren
I’m on a bit of a comic book binge this week (it helps that Hollywood is churning out so many of the damned movies), and I couldn’t help but not with a wry smile on my face the internet response to the first pictures of Mickey Rourke as the villain (or “a” villian, given the ambiguous roles played by Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson as a business rival and catsuit-wearing spy) in the new Iron Man film. There had been a lot of gossip about whether the loud-mouthed Oscar-nominated actor would be playing Whiplash or Crimson Dynamo. From what fans are saying about the image (appearing below), it appears he’s playing a weird amalgamation of both… and a few more to boot. Though most of fandom appears to have taken this pastiche in their stride, there are a few cynical souls remaining out there who are a little ticked off to see these characters revamped in such a strange way. However, mixing and matching and distorting is by no means anew thing when it comes to adapting iconic characters to the big screen.
It looks like someone has finally tamed Mickey Rourke's wild streak by making him wear an over-sized shock collar
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adapting characters, backlash, batman & robin, Christopher Nolan, comic book movies, crimson dynamo, iron man 2, jon favreau, Mickey Rourke, Movies, mr. freeze, the penguin, whiplash | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 12, 2009 by Darren
We’re still months away from a release date for Avatar – though there are rumours of a trailer coming soon in front of Transformers 2 (the most interesting talk I’ve heard about that particular film) – but things are still very quiet. All we know about the plot is that it is a Pocahontas-style narrative, with one of a bunch of exploitive explorers “going native”. We know that t will be in 3D – apparently mindblowing 3D. We know that one of the reasons that the movie has waited 14 years to get made it because Cameron was waiting for the technology to do it justice. And we know that – according to early word of mouth from insiders – he has succeeded. I have to say, I am quite eagerly anticipating this film. However, I find Hollywood’s new-found love of innovations within major blockbusters fascinating, given the traditional cautious conservatism of the studios.
Wow, Cameron really has a thing for giant walking hulks of metal, doesn't he?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, avatar, blockbusters, box office, Christopher Nolan, hollywood, imax, james cameron, star trek, The Dark Knight | Leave a comment »
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