COUNTDOWN TO THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

HOT TUESDAYS

Victoria Silvstedt

Okay, so the way I see it is that this film will either be good or amazingly bad. The trailer at least makes it look like it will be beautiful to look at. There is no doubting that Bekmambetov is a wonderfully visual director, the question is will this film rise above its B-movie premise (though there is nothing wrong with B-movies, folks)?

A new trailer for Elementary has been released:

It looks and feels different from Sherlock, which is only a good thing. Whether it'll be as good as Sherlock, more than likely not.

I am hoping that, by making Watson a woman, this show doesn't fall into the whole "will they, won't they" attitude that shows of this ilk can sometimes (more often than not actually) fall into.

SUNDAY SOUNDTRACK

A new Catwoman poster has gone up on The Dark Knight Rises website and here it is:

QUICKIES

Vampires - John Carpenter attempt at doing a modern western with a vampiric twist. It is an old fashioned movie and it feels that way. Probably coming 15 years to late in Carpenter's career. James Woods is enjoyable playing a character that would have been better suited to Kurt Russell. Not good, not bad, just average. Final Rating: 2/5

Bubba Ho-Tep - A rich, blackly humoured horror. Bruce Campbell is superb as aged Elvis, never veering on an impression of the King, ably supported by a strong turn from Ossie Davis. Final Rating: 3/5

The Spirit - A truly awful film adaptation of Will Eisner's wonderful character. Yes, there are some nice visuals (no doubt courtesy of Miller's co-direction with Rodriguez) and Macht does his best. However, the film is let down by the dreadful script that tries to capture the noir of Sin City whilst also embracing the camp of Batman '66. So very, very bad. Final Rating: 1/5

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - Irreverent, quotable and damn funny. Anchorman is let down, as most of these movies are, by the final third. Final Rating: 3.5/5


The Artist - At its heart, The Artist is a love story: between a man and a woman, between a man and his job, between a filmmaker and the early years of Hollywood and between the audience and the film. An extremely well crafted movie across the board. It is not without its flaws (Missi Pyle; the internal chronology) but this movie is infectious in its joy that, as with being in love, you look past the flaws. Final Rating: 5/5


The Green Hornet - This film does not set the world alight, it does what it needs to. This is not to say it is a bad movie. The leads, Seth Rogen and Jay Chou, are affable whilst Cameron Diaz is no more than a cameo. Christophe Waltz, however, as the villain just feels he has walked straight off a Inglourious Basterds and does exactly the same schtick. Given this is a Michel Gondry film there is a visual flair, but it seems that he has been hampered by the studio. Final Rating: 2.5/5

COUNTDOWN TO THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

COUNTDOWN TO THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

A new poster has been released this week:-

It's a fairly cool poster, not to dissimilar to that of the The Dark Knight. The tag line is interesting and, I believe, may have more than one meaning to it.


As well as this poster there have also been some character sheets released too. Again, these are pretty cool.

It will come as not surprise that I am mad excited about this movie. Only 9 more weeks...

Next week (May 30) sees the release of Superman Family Adventures, which will be an all ages superman book from Art Baltazar and Franco.

With the release imminent, previews have started to go online. Here is a look at some of the character designs:-

I love the mix of the costumes from different era's of Superman. And the New 52 costume is looking much better here. Just from these designs you get the feeling that this series is just going to be plain ol' fun. In fact, it may bring the fun and whimsy back to the Man of Steel that has been lacking for many a year. 


Actually, just going by these character designs, you have to ask yourself: "why am I not watching this show on the Cartoon Network?"

Whilst I won't be picking this up monthly, I have a budget don't you know, I guarantee I'll pick up the collected edition.

(Source: DC Comics Source Blog)

I am so excited about this movie. This is going be an epic conclusion.

The teaser for the new Bond movie "Skyfall" is now online. It looks quite interesting.

Anchorman 2 teaser trailer have shown up online. It is amusing enough. But, man, Carrell is looking old.

NEWSWEEK

The Dark Knight XXX - Have to say the batsuit is really quite good (save for the gloves). The catsuit is very good too. (Source: AICN)


Phantom Lady returns - Of all the characters to return/relaunch with the New 52 doubt anyone would have called this one. (Source: Robot 6 @ CBR)


More DC Robot Chicken stuff (Source: Newsarama)


Avengers surpass $1b Worldwide - Does it have the legs to keep going? Will def make more bank on DVD sales... (Source: CBR)


Third Wave of the New 52 coming? - Wait and see what happens with this. But a revamp of the recently revamped? Hmm. (Source: Bleeding Cool)


Full DC Comics August 2012 solicitors - This may be the month I drop Justice League. (Source: Newsarama)


Anchorman 2 - News Team! Assemble! (Source: Spinoff @ CBR)


Another look at Arrow - Looks interesting... (Source: CBR)


First look at Elementary - Seems different enough from the brilliant Sherlock. Which can only be good. (Source: Bleeding Cool)

Here is the trailer which has been released for the new CW series Arrow:

The trailer has got my interest. For some reason DC/Warner Bros. seem to do these small screen adaptions, or direct to DVD animated movies, better than they can with their superhero movie output (Nolan's Batman movies aside).

COUNTDOWN TO THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Just a quick one today. Here are the three trailers for TDKR in release order:

QUICKIES

The Proposal - A cliche ridden script which isn't as funny as it wants to believe it is, coupled with a number of under-developed characters. It has Betty White, who is enjoyable as the kooky grandma. Whilst Reynolds and Bullock lack any real chemistry with each other there is enough chemistry between the leads and the audience to make this a satisfying time killer, that you'll forget about as soon as the credits roll. Final Rating: 2.5/5

Tabloid - A fascinating documentary. Joyce McKinney has had a fascinating life that itself seems like it was created by Hollywood. The director seems more interested McKinney herself rather than the looking at the culture of the British "Red Top" that the title suggests. Splitting the story between McKinney and her take on events with the everyone else involved, such as journalists, makes for an intriguing narrative. You tend to feel both fascination for and pity towards McKinney herself. Final Rating: 4/5

The Lake House - An interesting, if silly, premise. This movie lives and dies on the chemistry of the lead actors, and in that respect this film works thanks to the chemistry between Reeves and, always likable, Bullock. Only slightly however. Final Rating: 3/5

FAQ About Time Travel - An amusing script, which deals with the wibbly-wobbliness of time travel. Not as funny as it aspires to be. The three leads are likable, but wastes Anna Faris. It feels less like a film and more of a TV movie, not that that is a wholly bad thing. Final Rating: 3/5

COUNTDOWN TO THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

In 11 weeks the character of Bane returns to the big screen as the antagonist to Batman in the last of the Nolan Bat Trilogy.

Bane was created by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan and first appeared in "Batman: Vengeance of Bane" (January 1993). Whilst you can read all about Bane here, the main purpose of his creation was to be the primary villain in the event story "Knightfall" which ran through the Batman books.

Much like Doomsday in the "Death of Superman", it may be true to say that Bane's career peaked when he broke the back of Bruce Wayne/Batman. It can be argued, though, that Bane only accomplished this due to a super-steroid coupled with the fact Batman was exhausted and suffering with the flu. Fair fight? Since then, however, he has enjoyed a modicum of popularity but none of the writers that worked on him have really managed to "get" him (with the notable exception of Gail Simone) which, again, probably goes back to the purpose of the characters creation in the first place.

The same can be said of Joel Schumacher and Akiva Goldsman who first brought Bane in to the live action realm in the truly God awful "Batman and Robin".

In "Batman and Robin" scrawny serial killer Antionio Diego (Michael Reid MacKay) is acquired by Dr Jason Woodrue (John Glover) for illegal experiments in producing super-soldiers for the shadier nations using his Venom drug. By injecting Venom into Diego, via tubes in this head, Woodrue creates the mindless Bane (Jeep Swenson).

Gone was the devious, intellectual villain in the comics. This version of Bane was an inarticulate thug (he barely does more than grunt) who acts as a bodyguard for Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). He has become almost a faux-Hulk. He does, however, still wear a variation of costume and is muscular enough to prove formidable to Batman and Robin (though in this movie it wouldn't be that difficult) though is ultimately taken down Robin and Batgirl (oh, the shame).

Whilst there are so many other terrible aspects to this dire movie, this wasteful depiction of the character met with negative criticism from the fans. With good reason too. But maybe that is about to change.

Not much is know about Bane (the excellent Tom Hardy) in "The Dark Knight Rises" other than what has been revealed beyond what has been revealed in the trailers and in magazines/on websites. We can see straight off the bat (no pun) that he is not going to look the same.

We know that, in some way, he will match his comic book counterpart and take down Bruce Wayne/Batman. At what point during the film is unknown. We also know that he is going to reign terror down on Gotham. Even with this little information, we know that he is going more menacing, devious and intelligent than his previous film iteration.

Everything coming out seems to point in the direction of Bane being the main antagonist (the trailer implying that Catwoman in the film is more ambigious as to her loyalties, and quite right that is too). However, rumours have swirled that he is hammer for Talia Al Ghul to strike at Bruce Wayne and Gotham. Whether this is true, we'll just have to wait and see. From what we do already know, it seems that Nolan, Hardy et al have crafted a fascinating villain to rival the Dark Knight in a different way than those that have have come before.

NEWSWEEK

Earth 2 Hawkgirl - On the fence about the new look. May pick up the Earth 2 TPB. (Source: CBR)


Scary Movie 5? - To be honest, didn't really need a Scary Movie to be honest. (Source: IGN)


Kick-Ass 2 - I quite enjoyed the first movie, even though Nic Cage was in it. But haven't they said all there is to say? (Source: SFX)


Avengers 2 - I suppose it was inevitable really... (Source: CBR)


Dredd talk - Quite looking forward to "Dredd". Lets hope it gets a decent release. (Source: IGN)


Dr Who premiere date - Been tough not having new Who, but at least we have an idea of when we can look forward to new episodes. (Source: Bleeding Cool)


Arrow gets picked up - Look forward to checking this out. (Source: Newsarama)


NBC renews Community - Best. News. Ever! (Source: Spinoff @ CBR)


TDKR talk - No news to anyone, but I cannot wait for this film! (Source: Comicbookmovie.com)

COUNTDOWN TO THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

In twelve weeks time the last of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy will be released. So, in anticipation, for the next twelve weeks I will be looking at Batman on the silver screen. To start, lets list all the live action Batman movies:-

Batman (1943)

In his first screen appearance, the Caped Crusader of Gotham City (belying the lethargic facade of his alter ego Bruce Wayne) battles Dr Draka, Japanese mastermind of a wartime espionage-sabotage group. Draka has a radium power death ray that pulverises walls, a classic alligator pit to dispose of enemies and can turn men into electronic zombies who do his bidding and transmit video signals to Daka's lab! Batman has no batmobile, but there are bats in the Batcave. (Source: IMDb)

Batman & Robin (1949)

Antisocial Professor Hammil's remote control device, which enables the user to take over any motor vehicle within 50 miles, is stolen by the Wizard, black hooded mastermind, and his gang. Batman and Robin (who drive about in a standard convertible) must prevent the Wizard from obtaining jewels, needed as fuel for the device, and rescue magazine photographer Vicki Vale from periodic perils. Where is the Wizard base, reached only by remote controlled submarine? Which of several suspicious characters hide beneath the Wizards hood? (Source: IMDb)

Batman (1966)

The archvillains of the United Underworld - Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin and the Riddler - combine forces to dispose of Batman and Robin as they launch their fantastic plot to control the entire world. From his submarine, Penguin and his cohorts hijack a yacht containing a superhydrator, which can extract all moisture from humans and reduce them to particles of dust. The evildoers turn to the nine security council members in the United World building into nine vials of multicoloured crystals. Batman and Robin track the villains in their batboat and use batcharge missiles to force the sub to the surface. (Source: IMDb)

Batman (1989)

Gotham City: dark, dangerous, "protected" only by a mostly corrupt police department. Despite the best efforts of District Attorney Harvey Dent and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon, the city becomes increasingly unsafe... until a Dark Knight arises. We all know that criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot so his disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. He becomes a Bat. Enter Vicki Vale, prize winning photo journalist who wants to uncover the secret of the mysterious "Bat-man". And enter Jack Napier, one time enforcer for Boss Carl Grissom, horribly disfigured after a firefight in a chemical factory who, devoid of the last vestiges of sanity, seizes control of Gotham's underworld as the psychotic, unpredictable Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. Gotham's only hope, it seems, lies in this drak, brooding vigilante. And, just how does billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fit into this? (Source: IMDb)

Batman Returns (1992)

Having defeated the Joker, Batman now faces the Penguin - a warped and deformed individual who is intent on being accepted into Gotham society. Crooked businessman Max Shreck is coerced into helping him become mayor of Gotham and they both attempt to expose Batman in a different light. Earlier, however, Selina Kyle, Max's secretary, is thrown from the top of the building and is transformed into Catwoman - a mysterious figure who has the same personality disorder as Batman. Batman must attempt to clear his name, all the time deciding what must be done with Catwoman. (Source: IMDb)

Batman Forever (1995)

The Dark Knight of Gotham City confronts a dastardly duo: Two-Face and the Riddler. D.A Harvey Dent, Two-Face, incorrectly believes Batman caused the courtroom accident which left him disfigured on one side; he has unleashed a reign of terror on the good people of Gotham. Edward Nygma, a computer genius and former employee of billionaire Bruce Wayne, is out to get the philanthropist; as the Riddler he perfects a device for draining information from all the brains in Gotham, including Bruce Wayne's knowledge of his other identity. Batman/Wayne is/are the love focus of Dr Chase Meridian. Former circus acrobat Dick Grayson, his family killed by Two-Face, becomes Bruce Wayne's ward and Batman's new partner, Robin the Boy Wonder. (Source: IMDb)

Batman and Robin (1997)

Mr Freeze plans on taking Gotham hostage by freezing the town into a permanent winter. In the meantime, a new seductive villainess, Poison Ivy, has appeared to cause a rift in the partnership of Batman and Robin. While all this is happening, faithful butler Alfred is dying. Mr Freeze holds the key to saving his life. Enter Batgirl to help save the day. (Source: IMDb)

Batman Begins (2005)

As a young boy, Bruce Wayne watched in horror as his millionaire parents were slain in front of him, a trauma that leads him to become obsessed with revenge. But the opportunity to avenge his parents deaths is cruelly taken away from him by fate. Fleeing to the East, where he seeks the counsel of the dangerous but honourable ninja cult leader Ra's Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne returns to his now decaying Gotham City, which is overrun by organised crime and other dangerous individuals manipulating the system. Meanwhile, Bruce is being slowly swindled out of Wayne Industries, the company he inherited. The discovery of a cave under his mansion, along with a prototype armoured suit, leads his to assume a new persona, one which will strike fear into the men who do wrong; he becomes the Batman! In this new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon, Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as mafia don Falcone, the twisted drug dealer/doctor Jonathon "Scarecrow" Crane and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne and waiting to strike when the time is right... (Source: IMDb)

The Dark Knight (2008)

With one year past after taking out Ra's Al Ghul's plan to have Gotham eliminated, Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman, continue the seemingly endless efforts to bring order to Gotham, with the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and the newly appointed D.A Harvey Dent, but a new threat has emerged onto the streets. The Dark Knight faces a rising psychopathic criminal called "the Joker", who's eerie grin, laughter and inhuman morality makes him more dangerous than what he has yet to unleash. It becomes an agenda to the Batman to stop the mysterious Joker at all cost, knowing that both of them are in the opposite line, one with no method at all and seeks to see the world plunge into the fire he is yet to light, one who represents the symbol of hope and uses his own shadow to bring peace and order he has yet to accomplish doing. (Source: IMDb)

NEWSWEEK

Avengers global numbers so far - Impressive. Seems to be on its way to becoming the highest grossing movie of all time. Not sure of "Dancing with Smurfs" final earnings though... (Source: CBR)

Creative changes on Superman - Never read any Lobdell. May give it a go. #0 at least. (Source: Bleeding Cool)

Ruffalo signed for 6 Movies as Hulk - Hulk was the breakout star of the Avengers. Maybe another Hulk movie would be worth watching. (Source: IGN)

Arrow picked up? - This looks cool. Maybe it'll be more actual Oliver Queen than the Bruce Wayne/Batman stand in he was in Smallville. (Source: Bleeding Cool)

Trek 2 villain confirmed? - Interesting... (Source: IGN)

Expendables 2 Trailer - This film is going to rock. Hopefully. Man, what a cast. (Source: Spinoff @ CBR)

Cast and heroes revealed for the Robot Chicken TV Special - Recently watched the Star Wars Robot Chicken. Very funny. Look forward to this one. (Source: IGN)

Sherlock Season 3 opener details - They cannot start filming or airing this quick enough. (Source: Bleeding Cool)

The Dark Knight Rises trailer 3 - This is epic. Stop reading and click on the link! (Source: Youtube)

Two new Amazing Spider-Man posters - Between Avengers and the Dark Knight Rises kinda forget about this reboot.  Still not sold on the new costume. (Source: SFX) 


New Amazing Spider-Man Trailer - I like they are taking a visibly different approach than the Raimi movies and channeling Nolan's Batverse. You can't go too dark with Spidey though. (Source: Newsarama)

With the release of "The Avengers" to critical and commercial success Warner Brothers must be turning their Sauron like gaze to the biggest team franchise in their comic book arsenal: Justice League. This would not be the first time that they have done so either. A few years ago (2007) a movie tentatively titled "Justice League: Mortal", directed by George Miller, was set to go before camera's only for spiralling costs and the writers strike to do something even Darkseid could not accomplish, defeat the League. Was this a bad thing? We'll never know for sure.

Whereas "The Avengers" have Iron Man, Hulk and Thor, they can still keep the costs of the movie, from a special effects standpoint, manageable. Whereas the Justice League have the likes of Superman and Green Lantern, who themselves are in costly individual movies. But, add the likes of Wonder Woman and Flash and J'Onn J'Onzz... the costs of special effects alone would amount to the budget of a number of films. Take members of the big 7 away and add lesser known characters and you would dilute the Justice League franchise.

So, is there a way for DC/Warner Brothers to match Marvel/Disney with a movie like "The Avengers"? Quite simply, yes. One word: "Trinity".

Back at the turn of the century, before "The Avengers" was even a twinkle in the eye, the Bros. Warner had come up with an equally ambitious film idea: "Batman Vs Superman".

At this point the Batman franchise still had the stink of Schumacher over it, and the Man of Steel had been stuck in Development Hell since the 1990's. Andrew Kevin Walker (later rewritten by Akiva Goldsman) and Wolfgang Peterson were tapped to create a big screen adventure where the two biggest characters in comics meet. The plan was for this movie to act as a catalyst to relaunch each characters movie franchises. However, as you are no doubt aware, this film never got past development. Though, this is not a wholly bad thing as we may never had the Nolan Batman trilogy.

But, with a little bit of tweaking, this idea may still work. But the tweaking brings me back to the one word mentioned earlier:

"Trinity".

With the exception of Spider-Man, Warner Bros. have the biggest three superhero icons in pop culture and world history: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Or, to give them their comic book moniker: "The Trinity". Just these three characters alone in one movie will rival the scope of "The Avengers".

Obviously, the first tweak will be to get rid of the "Vs" in the title as, quite frankly, no genre/franchise movie with it in the title has ever been any good. Also, the creators should steer away from the villains that have been used on celluloid prior to this movie (bye, bye Zod, Lex and the Joker). These characters have formidable villains in their own rogues gallery capable of matching the three of them, and that is before you get to the wider DCU villain set. Maybe taking a villain not know to the public (hello, Vandal Savage).

With the Nolan Batverse coming to an imminent end in July, the franchise is gearing up to reboot with a whole new cast. "Trinity" would offer a chance to introduce a new actor in the cowl to the audience. It would also allow a much waited big screen outing for Wonder Woman, hopefully acting as a springboard to start her Development Hell trapped big screen franchise.

A "Trinity" movie, however, should not go into production until the new Superman movie is released. This way the audience will have a familiar actor (Henry Cavill) in one of the lead roles so there is not much of an adjustment to the new Bale-less Batman.

By having three superheroes, only two of which have effects heavy powers, the costs will be kept to a relatively (in these types of movie anyway) low. Plus, sequels could allow for the introduction to other members of the League, eventually leading to a Justice League movie.

Making a "Trinity" movie rather than a League movie also does not make it seem like the studio is riding on the coat tails of Marvel/Disney and, seemingly, try to cash in on their success with "The Avengers". "Trinity" would allow them to something on the same scope whilst being different enough that it would not draw any (perpetually negative) comparisons with "The Avengers".

Of course, the Bros. Warners would have to get the right creative people to be able to pull this movie off, not like the Green Lantern debacle. Just, please, not Michael Bay. Never Michael Bay.