Movie Morsels 76: Trailers! Trailers! Trailers!

I was chatting with Wade and Robert about the new The Dark Knight Rises trailer and neither had actually seen it. It was then that I realized my reduced blogging schedule is beginning to hurt the people I love. So I must take a quick moment and post some much buzzed about trailers before it gets too late!

(Make sure you click the little red bubble in the lower right-hand corner of some of the videos to remove the annoying annotations.)

The Dark Knight Rises:



Assessment: Looks awesome! Of course. Though I could've used more hot Christian. And I hope I can understand Bane without subtitles...


The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:



Assessment: I love that Martin Freeman has a job! He's adorable. And Robert and I started our 'movies on New Year's Eve' tradition with the first LOTR movie so it'll be nice to have another to watch at that time of year.


Prometheus:



Assessment: I've never seen Alien (I know... sorry) so this doesn't really mean much to me but I like Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace so I would be willing to give it a whirl. If it isn't to scary/stressful.


Wrath of the Titans:



Assessment: I like Sam Worthington and all but Clash of the Titans was Stupid (note the capital S). A sequel seems completely and utterly unnecessary. And that song is horrid and adds nothing to the trailer. At all. Plus, was Perseus Australian in Clash? Preeeeetty sure he was supposed to sound British. I'm all for actors getting to use their natural accents but let's have a little consistency, please! But I'll probably still rent it because I'm a sheep and will want to see if it's any good, even though I already know it isn't.

Movie Morsels 74: The Dark Knight Rises

This info is a few days old but I didn't really see it mentioned anywhere else so chances are it'll still be news to you. According to EW.com, TDKR will be set eight years after TDK left off:

Hollywood franchises don’t really end anymore. If you look at the current list of 2011′s top 10 top-grossing films, eight are sequels/spin-offs/prequels that were specifically designed to create more sequels/spin-offs/prequels. (Heck, four of the movies — Thor, Captain America, Fast Five, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes — all included teasers for the next installment in their freaking end credits.) The highest-grossing movie of the year is Harry Potter 7 — Part 2, the eighth film in a franchise based on seven books. The only non-franchise film is Bridesmaids, a movie that will soon be pushed aside byTwilight 4 — Part 1, which features already the most popular teen pregnancy since the Gospel of Matthew.

It wasn’t always like this. There was a time when no respectable Hollywood franchise lasted longer than three movies. I’m talking about good threequels — like Return of the King, or The Bourne Ultimatum, or the underrated Back to the Future Part III — but I’m also talking about not-so-good franchise cappers. The Matrix Revolutions, Alien 3, and Return of the Jedi aren’t perfect, but by god, they all follow through on the most basic promise inherent in telling a story: They have endings.

The secretive Christopher Nolan hasn’t talked very much about his upcoming third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, but a close reading of his public statements indicate that he envisions the movie in those classical terms. In a new interview with Empire, Nolan explains that the movie is “all about finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne’s story.” So much so, in fact, that Rises will feature a rather significant time jump: “Perhaps surprisingly for some people, our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after The Dark Knight. So he’s an older Bruce Wayne; he’s not in a great state.”

That’s a huge time jump for a blockbuster franchise, but it’s especially notable in light of Batman’s particular character mythology. The first two films in Nolan’s franchise focused on Batman’s early days: His origin, his first meeting with the Joker, his decision at the end ofDark Knight to pretend to be a bad guy for the good of Gotham. By leaping forward in time almost a full decade, Nolan seems to be shifting focus onto the hero’s declining days. In fact, that time jump leads me to wonder if the director is going for a Dark Knight Returns thing with this final movie. Frank Miller’s iconic ’80s graphic novel was about a middle-aged Batman coming out of retirement just long enough for a few final adventures. Returns has always been a spiritual predecessor for Nolan’s Bat-series, and I wonder if that vision of an older Batman — who was also “not in a great state” — will influence the film.

There are other reasons to be excited about the time jump. An eight-year break means there won’t be any questions about the Joker’s absence. It also means that, hopefully, Bruce Wayne won’t spend the entire movie moping over a lost love interest (a plot point that essentially derailed the most recent James Bond movie). What excites me most of all, though, is the fact that this time jump instantly reconfigures our understanding of the films’ universe. It feels like Batman could genuinely be in danger.

The Batman franchise will probably never really end, of course; Warner Bros. has already put plans in motion to reboot the series post-Nolan. But am I the only one intrigued by the idea that Nolan might actually bring his interpretation of the character to an actual conclusion?

Intriguing. I like this idea a lot; people have been questioning how the story is going to handle the Joker question and this seems like a good way to deal with that baggage. I also like that it sort of sweeps the whole Rachel thing under the rug, too, so two birds with one stone! I say this all the time but expectations are so high for this installment that I hope stupid Anne Hathaway doesn’t ruin it   it doesn't disappoint.

Today's TDK Post

Okay, so I've changed up today's posts a bit. I've moved the two TDK-related bits from 'Random Round-Up 14' to this post and added a few more Batman-centric articles to boot. I think that, since I seem to be so taken with these articles and I highly doubt that anyone else is - or has the ample free time I do - I will now post all articles concerning TDK here. Any anytime I add one or two, I'll update the post and bump it up to the top of the queue. Now you'll be able to skip such interesting-if-you-have-time-but-definitely-skippable- under-most-circumstances articles with just one click!! Won't that be nice? :o) (*NOTE: This does not apply to Christian-specific articles. Deal with it.)
"And... here... we... GO."

__________ August 4 __________

Robert forwarded this cnn.com article to me this morning:

What's with Batman's voice in The Dark Knight?

He knew it would make me chuckle - and it did. (My favorite quote: "But here's the critique most widely held: Why does Batman talk like the offspring of Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear?" Hee!!) As much as I love Christian as the Batman, I find his Batman voice sort of strange. I can barely understand him at times it's so grrrrrowly!!! I know it's supposed to be animalistic or whatever - and I am glad he at least distinguishes between his Bruce Wayne and Batman voices - but it actually makes me laugh out loud sometimes. I'd read somewhere (before seeing TDK the first time) that Batman's voice would be "better" in TDK than it was in Batman Begins. Hmm.... really? I wasn't getting that at all. But it's okay; he still looks pretty!

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The Curse of The Dark Knight

Michael Caine better watch his back! At this rate, he scheduled for some sort of tainted food or something (what with drugs, fights and car accidents checked off the list...)

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As many of my gossip sites have begun to note, a backlash to the uber-popular and oh-so-successful TDK has begun. Here's an article from The Detroit News summarizing 10 Things That Bothered Me About The Dark Knight. My favorite?

7. The mayor's obituary. In one scene in the film, the Joker somehow places an obituary for the mayor of Gotham City in the daily newspaper, as a threat. And not some sort of small classified ad, but a full, half-page article, complete with art. Since I work at a newspaper, I know what it takes to get an article in the paper, the amount of meetings editors partake in discussing pages, the layers of editing pages go through before they go to print; it's not like these things just appear. So how did this article get in the paper? Does the Joker have friends at the Gotham Times? Did no editors ever see the pages? Who designed the page? Who copy-edited the obit? And did no one think that if the mayor actually did die, it might warrant slightly more high profile placement than on the obit page? Put it this way: If some crazy makeup wearing villain were to stroll into The Detroit News asking us to place an obit of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, it would probably raise a few eyebrows, and the story probably wouldn't make it to print. My only guess is there's a deleted scene somewhere of the Joker hanging out in the paper's newsroom, peering over several of the top editors' shoulders and making minor tweaks to the page as deadline fastly approaches.

Do I find this particularly humorous because I'm living with an editor and thus better understand the minutiae of publishing? Gosh, I hope not.

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All the dudes I know that I've talked to about the movie all agree that they didn't like Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel. Why? "She's not hot enough to be lusted after by Bruce Wayne." This, to me, is a shoddy argument. I'm not saying Maggie is gorgeous or gave a dazzling performance as Rachel that knocked my socks off. But I find it distressing that guys - or, at the very least, Robert, Biji and Wade - would blow Maggie off so nonchalantly simply because she isn't a giant set of boobs on a stick. Bruce fell in love with Rachel as a child - he doesn't care what she looks like! I mean, when I fell in love with Robert he had a full head of luscious hair and abs. Should I kick him to the curb just because both of those attributes have long since said bye-bye?!!! I think not. Same logic applies to Bruce and Rachel. If, in fact, he finds her so "ugly" in the first place. Hmm... what was my original point here? Ah, yes, that Best Week Ever has published a big "Eff You" to all the Katie Holmes haters. I'm not exactly sure how that ties into my Gyllen-ugly rant but oh well.

Eff All You Haters - Katie Holmes Should Be in The Dark Knight

Random Round-Up 11

Overthinkingit.com has a couple of articles on 'The Philosophy of Batman' that I thought were kind of interesting. Not fantastic or anything but definitely enjoyable reads. The first one breaks down the two dilemmas faced by our hero in the first and second movies: the trolley experiment and Prisoner's Dilemma, respectively. (Random side note: I had to do a ton of work with Prisoner's Dilemma as an Anthro major. A lot. In a nutshell, the best course of action is to confess.) The second article deals more with the psychology behind the back story put forth in Batman Begins. This article is not a quick read - 6 pages - and I confess I haven't read the entire thing yet. But the first page looks promising! ;o)

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I found this Brangelina entry from Gallery of the Absurd amusing. It's a long post but it's the comment excerpts that following the drawing that offer the most humor!

After reading blog comments under the announcement of the Jolie-Pitt Twins yesterday, I witnessed first hand the raving insanity of the frothing Brangeloonies. Similar to the Claymates in their blind devotion and ceaseless worship of famous people they don't even know, the Brangeloonies were out in full force yesterday practically declaring the birth of The Twins a national holiday and labeling anyone who dared to disagree as "haters" or "trolls". How very pre-school! A commenter might write something as innocent as "what's the big deal, so lots of babies were born that day" and within minutes a stomping crowd of torch bearing witch-hunters are at his throat. I found it perplexing, yet highly comical. Another curious trait of the Brangeloonie is the nearly unanimous vitriol aimed at Jennifer Aniston. Brad and Jen divorced 3 years ago, but in the snarling eyes of the Brangeloonie, somehow she's still an unwilling player. I collected some of the goodies from various blogs to share with you. And no, I did not make any of these up - they're all 100% real:

"I only want to celebrate and sing her praises. I have been down on my knees all morning, where I know she would want me to be, blessing this holy family. god bless the jolie-pitts!"

"OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG—– My life now has meaning. You guys, today is totally my birthday…. and my mom’s name is Vivian! (I know darling Vivienne is spelled differently, but still)This is the first thing I’ve been able to share with the blessed Jolie-Pitts. I am over the moon."

"The trolls are really losing it, they are dying of envy. I won’t even give a second of my time reading or posting about a person I don’t like. That’s the power of Angelina, they can’t get away from her."

"This is such exciting news and the lovely posts are a pleasure to read from you JP fans. Makes it easy to bypass the unhappy jealous hateful people who cant help but show their ugliness at such a blessed time. Nothing can take away our joy today."

"I’m really getting tired of being hated on just because I want people to be happy. Babies are a gift from God, especially from people as wonderful as Brad and Angie. All you Aniston (yuck) lovers out there are just jealous that he’s happy and successful now. I think she needs to adopt an Indian baby next or something even more exotic to add to the beauty that is their family. Maybe one from Romania?"

"I still think we should find a way to let Brangelina know that there are people out here who love them and want to wish them all the best… I wanna write a poem like some other people did but I’m not that smart. "

"By the crazy reaction from the haters, we know Jen Aniston is miserable and in pain right now. hehehe. Brad got really emotional as he cut the ambilical cords, awww. I couldn’t even imagine how thrilled they both are."

"This should be a day of celebration, yet everyone is just so MEAN. Why can’t the twins and the rest of the Jolie-Pitts have at least ONE nice day without so many people trying to ruin it? She just had TWINS for crying out loud. Angelina is such a beautiful matyr; I wish I could be more like her. Sure, she’s kinda shunning America, but I still luv, luv, LUV her!!! Anyone else want to start a petition to wish them the best luck in the world?"

The Brangeloonie Shrine is available exclusively at Babies R Us and Wal-Mart, but hurry, supplies are limited and rioting has already begun.

'The Dark Knight' is Awesome!!

Wow... Robert and I just got back from a sold-out IMAX showing of TDK (I bought the tickets on Wednesday because I'm smart - all the showings are sold out until tomorrow, which was to be expected. Still, just as Robert and I were picking our tickets up, two dudes walked up to the "Sold Out" sign and were actually surprised to see they couldn't buy tickets. Duh!! Sheesh.) and it was absolutely fantastic. I loved Batman Begins but I think TDK has it beat; the plot is fantastic, with lots of twists, turns, intricacies and action and take it from me, people - there is NO good time to go to the bathroom! :o) There was always something exciting and important happening, I swear!!! I definitely don't want to give any little thing away so I'll just say that the movie was just as awesome as the hype claims it is and both Robert and I highly recommend it. I think we'll be dorky and see it again next weekend...

Movie Morsels 19 - The Dark Knight (Limited Time)

Direct from TunaFlix this morning:

What is it with movie trailers and pizza these days? First Papa John’s premiered the Mummy 3 trailer, now Dominos has an extended Dark Knight trailer you can only watch if you’ve ordered a pizza in the last 48 hours. And because that’s probably the stupidest condition for watching a preview I can possibly think of, you can also watch the awesome new trailer above. And I won’t even ask for a tip.

This really is a stupid idea - but Domino's needs the help, I'm sure. But is this promo even advertised anywhere? I haven't seen it... but (1) I have TiVo and (2) I don't like Domino's so those could be contributing factors to my neglecting whatever ads there are. :o) Even if I had seen it, though, I would not really be tempted to ordering anything from Domino's. Bleh. Plus, I obviously have the connections... and thanks to me, now so do you!

UPDATE: I just stumbled across a link to two behind-the-scenes videos at IESB.net.

(And these actually have behind-the-scenes footage... not like the lamer Quantum of Solace video I posted yesterday!)

Movie Morsels 11 - The Dark Knight

I don't know if I should really categorize this under 'Movie Morsels' but... too late, I guess, because I did. Anyway, Empire (a British film magazine) has just released their July issue all about TDK. Seeing as none of us are going to rush right out and snatch the issue off the stands (most likely because we can't find it) I thought I'd provide the scans of the article. It doesn't tell you anything you don't already know, really, but I'm super excited about TDK and am reading whatever I can get my hands (or eyes) on.

[All images courtesy of christian-bale.org - there are 11 individual images and, as always, you need to click on each one to make it big enough to read.]

Movie Morsels 02 - Indiana Jones & The Dark Knight

Robert and I planned on seeing Iron Man this past weekend but didn't get a chance to do so. We are going next weekend but still... I'm bummed! Turns out the new trailers for Indy and Batman were shown before the flick and they look pretty good (if you want to save you viewing for the big screen, you can skip the rest of the post):

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The Dark Knight

"Why So Similar?"

Whoa! I came across this at Defamer.com and it's pretty interesting how similar the trailers really are. I don't know if CollegeHumor.com did any editing of their own, but I don't think we're supposed to think so. Regardless, I agree with Defamer:

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight—the hotly anticipated, second chapter of his radical re-envisioning of the Batman franchise for Warner Bros.—might be less of a radical re-envisioning than we might have been led to believe. Frankly, they could prove the entire thing was lifted frame-by-frame from an NYU film school thesis project, we wouldn't be any less excited about it. Dark Knight! Whooo! Movie of the summer!

UPDATE: Dang. According to Gawker.com "College Humor asked why these two previews were so similar — it appears to be because someone remixed the original movie to resemble the new trailer. So really, this is one trailer, plus one pseudo-trailer." LAME! Of course, Gawker offers no links or proof of this statement so it could be false in and of itself but the trailers are waaaaay to similar for me to think they're both 100% authentic.