Bane is revealed, for Dark Knight Rises

In a stroke of viral marketing brilliance, Christopher Nolan gave his intrepid fans on Twitter a sneak preview of “The Dark Knight Rises“: the first photo of Tom Hardy as Bane in the next Batman film.

As fans discovered, tweeting “#thefirerises” helps fill in the hidden Tom Hardy image on “The Dark Knight Rises” website, which launched Friday. Holy Twitter, Batman! What a way for Nolan to mark the first week of filming.

Bane, the chemically created brute who first appeared in the comics in 1993, is a “younger” villain for Nolan’s Batman mega-franchise, which has most prominently featured the Joker (who first appeared in 1940) , Two-Face (1942), Ra’s Al-Ghul (1971) and the Scarecrow (1941). But don’t let Bane’s relative newness fool you; the muscular juggernaut once broke Batman’s back in the comics.

– Noelene Clark
source: LA Times

"Mad Max: Fury Road" to start filming January 2012

the Original MAD MAX was played by Mel Gibson

Director of the Mad Max franchise George Miller sat down with The Daily Telegraph to give an update on the status of his delayed project Mad Max: Fury Road. The film, which has Tom Hardy set to star as the new Mad Max and also includes Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, and Teresa Palmer in the cast, was already set to begin filming, but has been shut down due to extreme flooding in Broken Hill, Australia, where it was scheduled to shoot.

If you’re a fan of Mad Max, then you know how important its dry, desolate, scorched Earth setting is to the story. Getting that post-apocalyptic desert landscape feel to resonate on film is pretty hard when you’re standing in ankle deep water. Miller said, “The week we were to start, it rained the heaviest it had in 10 years. I’ll never forget the first day — we were holed up in a big sort of shed watching the rain. We couldn’t shoot. If you want the rain to come, just send a film crew there.”

a scene from Mad Max 2

The decision has been made to hold off on shooting for 12 months, and try to get back on the saddle next January. Miller seems to want to assure fans that while this is a huge setback, the film is still going to happen. He said, “We’ve built the vehicles. We’ve designed the movie. The principal cast is locked in. The film is funded. It’s all ready to go. We just wait.” When speaking about the current cast, Miller seemed confident that they would all still be onboard, he reiterated, “All the contracts are signed. It’s a locked-in film. It has been for 18 months now.”

When talking about the decision to push the shooting back an entire year, Miller said, “It also gives me a chance to get Happy Feet really going well — so there were a lot of factors in the decision. But the big one was that we really had nowhere to shoot.” With the fast changing landscape of Hollywood contracts it seems like it would be pretty impossible to put off a film for an entire year and have all of the same pieces come back together for a second go. I’d say at the very least some of these actors are going to have other offers coming in and will try to get out of their contracts. And really, how long does big budget film funding sit around before investors start getting antsy and litigious? Miller says he’s confident though, “We will restart pre-production later this year and begin early next year — weather permitting.” Good luck, George.

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman? Tom Hardy as Bane? The Dark Knight Rises News

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle (AKA Catwoman) in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Christopher Nolan stated, "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story."

In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane. Nolan said, "I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies."

Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Batman 3 title revealed! No Riddler?

Big news from Gotham. L.A. Times reveal the title of Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie(which is set to be a trilogy). Its title is "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" And the film's release has also been set to rise on July 2012.

In addition, Nolan went on to dispell what many had begun to assume to be a given – “It won’t be the Riddler,” reports L.A.Times' blog Hero Complex. So easy to get ahead of yourself, isn't it? Of course, true to form, the director wouldn’t reveal who it would be.

What Nolan seemed most interested in imparting was that he’s convinced Warner Bros. to keep telling his story in 2D, and to continue down the path of hi-def IMAX sequences. And he’ll get no argument from us on the subject – if it ain't broke, etc.

The post contains one other potentially juicy, enigmatic Nolan quote: “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.”

If it's not Riddler, then there are still so many characters out there that are still in Nolan's Gotham. Two-Face could still be alive, Scarecrow is still alive, Zsasz may still be out running free, and the League of Shadows could return just to complete a circle from the first movie. Since Nolan's Batman series is grounded, we could put in a more realistic (& more based on the original comicbook concept) Penguin and Catwoman. We all know now that Tom Hardy is the new guy to join in on Nolan's Gotham universe. He could play a new character like Deadshot, Black Mask, Firefly, or Doctor Hugo Strange. Well at least we trust Nolan to do what's best for the series. Let's just hope this third movie will not be hit by the same jinx that hit Spider-man 3, Blade 3, and X-men 3!

Tom Hardy joins the Batman 3 cast

For all of you who are eagerly anticipating some news for the upcoming third Batman movie from Christopher Nolan, well this week, geeks were geeking out to find that Tom Hardy (who was on Inception and also played Shinzon on Star Trek Nemesis) will be on the third Batman movie directed by Christopher Nolan. Insiders are keeping the role secret and won't even say if he's up for a villain role, but that seems a reasonable assumption. I think Hardy would make a fine Riddler, but I prefer Joseph Gordon Levitt for that role. Besides, there are still so many villains to choose from from the Batman universe rogues gallery. Who knows, Hardy might play the role of Black Mask or maybe an Azrael?

It has also recently been reported that Warner Bros. Pictures is looking to shoot Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie in New Orleans starting in April. We assume that won't be the only location they'll be filming, but the studio must like the city after recently wrapping the Green Lantern movie shoot there.

Other anticipated movies getting underway include: Men in Black III, which starts filming on October 18 in New York through May; Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which will shoot in Romania and Turkey starting in November; the untitled Spider-Man

Inception

INCEPTION: MIND-BENDINGLY GOOD
by Reymundo Salao

"Was that a dream?" I asked myself after watching Inception. It was quite an action packed and at the same time, mind-boggling movie. I would want to say it's confusing, but the word just sounds too negative for a film that is enjoyable and does challenge you to understand it. But then again, I doubt if after the movie anyone has a full grasp of the storyline. It's a movie that you would either hate because it seems incoherent, or you would forgive because the cerebral pace is just too fast. The others who blindly just worship this movie and claim they fully understood it are either very smart and attentive, or just leveling themselves higher apart from those who did not understand it.

Basically, INCEPTION is about a group of individuals who know how to navigate through dreams, and there, you can do anything you want; you can steal an idea or plant an idea. For Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team, they are about to undertake a very difficult and very dangerous assignment. And any mistakes may lead them to a fate worse than death. Are you happy with that synopsis? Well how about this: this movie is directed by Christopher Nolan, who just recently directed the greatest film ever made; The Dark Knight, and has directed several other masterpieces including The Prestige, Memento, and the remake of Insomnia. With a line-up like that, who needs a synopsis?

This is the kind of movie that you will want to have coffee or hangout with your friends after watching it in order just to discuss it further. Nolan's film asks mind-bending questions about dreams and reality, and anything that has some sort of existential depth. At the same time, delivering some hard-ass action.

The action was radically awesome. Joseph Gordon-Levitt looked very agile in that gravity-bending fight scene; he has that swift grace of a fast-moving fighter (makes Batman geeks out there, including me, wonder if he's going to be in Nolan's 3rd Batman movie). The ensemble cast was brilliant as expected. Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, and the rest; all of them are great performers that did deliver as expected. The movie had tremendous-looking visuals. From the exploding reality scene where Cobb discusses to Ariadne (Ellen Page) the concept of dreams, up to the near end part where we see crumbling skyscrapers on the background, the film is a superb kind of fantastic.

The film actually has several flaws, but most of it are questions you do not bother to ask because the film does a great job diverting your attention to how well the movie is executed and how awesome the action gets your cinematic adrenaline going. There is also the issue of clarity as I pointed out earlier as well. The fluidity of the storyline feels that it lacks some fragment scenes because some sequences felt like it needed to slow down for us to understand. Either I’m slow, or the movie is indeed to fast and oftentimes go by with a blur. The movie begs to be watched again, not because of how good it was made, but because you may need to understand it more.

At the end of it all, the flaws do not do much damage on how great the overall movie is. By comparison, I think his previous work The Prestige is way better, but this one is more spectacular and far more visually exciting. Regardless of that little comparison, the film is in its own right, a masterpiece as well. And it really is worth watching in the big screen. Full Price for this mind-bending gem.

SPOILER SECTION

(1) In the scene that we see in the trailer where Eames (Tom Hardy) was saying "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling" and pulls out a grenade launcher, it seems (I think) he was suggesting that they could dream up a bigger weapon. If this is so, then why did they not just dream up an ambulance or a tank when they were in trouble?

(2) While in a second level of dream state (in the snow-filled setting) why did Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) say "...when we hit the water" suggesting that he seems to know that they are about to hit water in the first level dream state when he is asleep in that state?

(3) If Saito suffered in Limbo for years and that's the reason he's very old in that Limbo, why has Cobb not aged as well?