Earlier today Josh posted about the unexciting latest poster from The Dark Knight Rises. The poster is essentially a crap Photoshop job barely worth checking out. As Josh put it, there are better fan posters out there than what Warner Bros. gave us earlier today. Despite the ‘meh’ poster leaving us all unimpressed, the crack marketing team for The Dark Knight Rises followed that effort up with six character posters that perfectly embody the tone of the film presented in all the previous trailers/teases/prologue. It is odd to have two posts in one day featuring little more than posters from the same movie, but I couldn’t leave that hack poster as the only representation with these other magnificent works out there. Hit the jump to see the lot.

Check it.

Don’t You Think These Posters Are Much Better?

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery

There is no doubt that the hype for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises is building. There has been a lot happening on the marketing front with ESPN’s NBA playoffs and Mountain Dew to name a few. We got another taste yesterday with a brand new poster for the upcoming Batman finale. Check out the full spread after the jump.

Check it.

For the most part, I find movie posters difficult to judge. The X-Men First Class posters were garbage, but the film was pretty damn good. Posters are nothing more than a mood setting art piece to give audiences the tone of the film. This poster does exactly that. My complaint about this poster is the effort, or lack there of.

This poster may do what it’s suppose to, but let’s be honest. This is one of the laziest posters out there. It’s the first The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster with a flame-like coloring and a cropped picture of the brooding hero in the front. I’ve seen fan posters that are better than this. The teaser poster told us that shit is gonna go down, that Gotham is in real trouble. The second poster with Bane walking away from a broken Batman cowl told us that the hero is in for a world of hurt, that Bane will stop at nothing to destroy Batman. This third poster tells us nothing. It’s unoriginal, laggard, and looks like someone made it last minute. I honestly thought it was fake. Because I was expecting something more that told us something new or showed us something new. But maybe I expect too much from a poster.

Warner Bros. is being very careful and moderating how much they are giving us, and rightfully so. But this poster might be a sign that they are being too careful.

What Do You Think Of The New Dark Knight Rises Poster?     

Follow Josh on Twitter: @JWingface

What a day today has been. Usually the standard procedure for a big trailer release (specifically with Warner Bros.) is to attach their trailer to the next upcoming big blockbuster (like they’re doing with The Avengers this weekend) and then release the trailer online the following Monday. Well, seemingly to take the wind out of Marvel’s sails, this morning WB kicked off the long-dormant viral marketing campaign for the film, where fans had to tweet a picture Bat symbols painted on outdoor locations around the world with the hashtag #TDKR07202012, which slowly revealed stills from trailer #3. To our gleeful surprise, once all locations were found, they graciously released the trailer online. And it’s…EPIC. Check it out after the break.

Watch the third and final theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises below.

Instead of a long dissection of the awesomeness you’ve just seen, I wanted to layout a couple things worth noting:

• John Blake (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a MAJOR part of this film. He was prominently featured in this trailer, including several scenes with Selina Kyle; seemingly to display that the two are working together in some capacity to help Batman.
• Bane’s voice is loud and CLEAR! One of the major complaints from the prologue was the fact that people had trouble understanding Tom Hardy’s dialogue, as it was muffled under his mask. Well, it seems that Nolan & Co. have taken note and have done some re-touching in the sound booth, and he sounds amazing.
• Anne Hathaway is going to KILL IT. The other ongoing reservation fans have had, has been the casting of Hathaway as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, most notably that she “won’t be able to pull it off.” Well, she looked drop-dead gorgeous and was thoroughly convincing in her screen time; as well as bad ass in the short cut of her kicking ass. So, chillax, bros and gals.
• What makes me so excited for this film, on top of the fact that it’s FUCKING NOLAN, and I’m a lifelong Batman fan, is that this is really is an epic CONCLUSION to this story. This is the end of a trilogy. The end of a dynasty. And we are all witnessing cinematic history in the making. An epic moment in time that puts TDKR above the rest of 2012′s film slate as movie of the year.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to re-watch this trailer til’ I fall asleep.

The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20th.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

It seems like the news and marketing for The Dark Knight Rises is just about the kick into gear. Over the weekend several sites were reporting that we will get a new trailer for the final Batman film on May 4th attached to The Avengers. There is no word as to how long the trailer will be or when it will hit the web. But this is very exciting news to anyone who has been wondering where Warner Bros. has been on The Dark Knight Rises front.

In other Batman related news, The Wall St. Journal is reporting there will be over an hour worth of IMAX footage used in The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan is a huge fan of the quality the IMAX brings to the screen, so it should be no surprise that he used the massive IMAX cameras to bring his final Batman movie more to life than before.

If you recall, The Dark Knight had about 30 minutes of IMAX footage. The timing and use of that footage was well worth the extra cost of the ticket. I saw The Dark Knight at a standard theatre before I saw it in IMAX, and the contrast was evident. The scale of those IMAX scenes really made me feel like I was watching something bigger than just a film. Needless to say, I was very excited when I read there would be over an hour of IMAX footage for The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises comes out July 20th, 2012.

Are You Excited For The New Dark Knight Rises Trailer?

Follow Josh on Twitter: @JWingface

Until it was confirmed last year that Bane would be the featured villain in The Dark Knight Rises, director Christopher Nolan emphatically stated that there would be no attempt, in any way, shape or form to bring back the Joker for his final Batman film. Still, people speculated that Nolan could/would/should use CGI, or cut footage of Heath Ledger from TDK, or recast the character (Joseph Gordon-Levitt was mentioned often). It was incessent, endless, blind hope and speculation that grew rather tiresome over many, MANY months. So that’s why this recent Onion article is side-splitting hilarious. It reports that a legion of movie fans are demanding Nolan include Ledger’s Joker in TDKR, and “aren’t interested in what is or isn’t physically possible within the generally accepted bounds of reality.” It’s great, read the full article after the break.

See the full article below, as well as an image of the “online petition” that was started. Haha!

LOS ANGELES—Saying they don’t want to hear anything at all about what film producers can or can’t do, moviegoers across the country warned Thursday that the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, had better include an appearance by the late Heath Ledger as the Joker.

The film enthusiasts, who adamantly stated they aren’t interested in what is or isn’t physically possible within the generally accepted bounds of reality, told reporters they don’t care how difficult it might be for director Christopher Nolan to add a scene with the deceased actor, nor do they want to be bothered with the details of how it could happen. The movie studio just needs to figure it out and get it done, they said.

“I don’t want to sit here and have an argument about who’s alive or who’s dead, because, quite frankly, I don’t care,” Boston resident Sean Barksdale, 32, said. ”This is what I want: I want an original scene with original dialogue that features Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as Joker. And it has to be the real Heath Ledger, too, not someone doing a Heath Ledger impression or I swear to God I’m asking for my money back.”

“It can’t be some deleted scene from the last movie, either,” Barksdale added. ”That doesn’t count.”

Claiming they weren’t interested in getting into an existential conversation about life or metaphysics or anything like that, moviegoers hinted that the film could suffer at the box office without an additional scene—ranging anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes—that features a living, breathing Heath Ledger. Audiences noted that by submitting their demands in February, they are giving Warner Bros. Pictures more than enough time in advance of the movie’s July 20 release to ”do whatever they need to do” to make sure Ledger is in it.

“In the last one, they flipped over a semi and blew up an entire hospital, so don’t tell me they can’t use a little movie magic to bring back Heath Ledger,” said Hagerstown, MD resident Erin Matthews, adding that she doesn’t care if Ledger’s scene makes sense within the narrative framework of the film, just so long as he makes a cameo. ”Don’t ask me how—I’m not the moviemaker here, okay? If Warner Bros. does its job and makes me happy, I’ll do my job and pay to watch the movie. It’s as simple as that.”

The moviegoers said any of the following scenarios would be acceptable in the film: Batman visits Joker—played by Ledger—in Arkham Asylum, there is a kind of mutual respect between the two, and they have a conversation about the film’s main antagonist, Bane; an epilogue featuring Ledger that subtly suggests the Joker will be the main villain in a future Batman movie; a completely unrelated scene in the middle of the movie where Bruce Wayne talks to a makeup-less Joker, but it’s clear that neither is aware of the other’s secret identity; a brief vignette in which Jack Nicholson’s Joker from the 1989 film Batman talks to Heath Ledger about how the two Jokers should team up and run Gotham City together.

When asked how they would respond if the movie studio is unable to add any of the requested scenes, moviegoers said they ”literally don’t want to hear it.”

“First off, this isn’t open for discussion; it’s not about able or unable,” Kyle Reardon, 26, said. ”Secondly, I’m not the head of Warner Bros., but if I were, and I were spending $250 million on a film, damn straight I’d spend an extra 5 or 10 million or whatever it costs to put a living, breathing Heath Ledger up on that movie screen. Thirdly, everyone likes it when the bad guy from an older movie shows up in the sequel and talks about stuff that happened in the last one, so this seems like a no-brainer to me.”

“Clearly the movie will be better with Heath Ledger in it, so get it done for Christ’s sake,” Reardon added. ”And throw Adam West and Burgess Meredith in there, too. And also a quick scene where Michael Keaton talks to Bob Kane about Batman.”

Though the movie studio has yet to comment on the demands, sources confirmed Ledger’s former agents are working on a deal similar to one reached with Warner Bros. to allow a basically dead Robert De Niro to appear in 2011′s New Year‘s Eve.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Two reasons that made Inception such a polarizing film is because of a) the complex nature of the plot/narrative that subsequently b) made the ambiguous ending open to interpretation. This lack of concrete resolution didn’t sit well with a select few critics and audience members (most of which are too embarrassed or stubborn to say that they just didn’t “get it.”) I would also say this same resentful attitude towards Christopher Nolan’s intelligent blockbuster applies to Academy voters, who famously snubbed Nolan in the Best Director category two years ago. Which is why I wanted to share this presentation to you. It’s a video of the author of the book Inception and Philosophy (Kyle Johnson), passionately arguing why the film should have won Best Picture to Google employees, spurring some seriously interesting thoughts on the film’s clever and DELIBERATE subtext, within subtext, within subtext. Check it out after the break.

I speak of “resentment” because of the insecurity SOME people felt, because a summer blockbuster made them think. A lot. Maybe so much so, that they were overthinking every aspect of the film, dissecting every moment of when reality turns to dream, and vice versa. This aspect of the film had a, as I stated, “polarizing effect.” Group A loved the ability to think and interpret and try to figure it out for themselves. Group B  called the film “pretentious bullshit” as a defense mechanism. Not because of anyone being “stupid,” but simply for their laziness and/or lack of an ability to accept the fact that not everything is explained in full, as is the case with 99.9% of summer blockbusters

For those of you who didn’t like Inception because it was ambiguous: Do you think it would have made the film better if, at the end, we knew FOR A FACT that Cobb was dreaming or not? If so, I’d love to hear your arguments in the comments below.

In the meantime, watch the wonderful presentation by Kyle Johnson below.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Just to keep all those in desperate need of something new from The Dark Knight Rises I thought I’d pass along some photos that will be in the next issue of Entertainment Weekly. For now, this is all we have — don’t be so ungrateful, we just got a new trailer and the prologue barely a month ago. Besides the new photos, Christopher Nolan recently responded to the critics calling out Tom Hardy’s dialogue as Bane indecipherable. Hit the jump to check it all out.

First I’ll start off with Nolan responding to the backlash concerning Bane’s voice. The quote below appears in the issue.

I think when people see the film, things will come into focus. Bane is very complex and very interesting and when people see the finished film people will be very entertained by him.

While I for one didn’t understand everything that came out of Bane’s… eh, mask, I got the gist of everything he was saying in the prologue and the trailer. The beauty that lies within this “problem” is the ability to watch the movie over to catch it all. If Nolan isn’t concerned, I’m not either.

Below you can see the spread of new images which includes Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon as well as Bane vs. Batman. You can also follow this link to see the cover of the magazine.

What Do You Think Of The Images?

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery

It’s no secret, that here at the The Movie Mash, we are big fans of Christopher Nolan. Barrett and Mike each have The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Inception among their top ten movies of all-time — I have Batman Begins amongst my ten favorites. Nolan is a cinematic genius, and has yet to fail as a blockbuster filmmaker. Many montages have been made showcasing the director’s work, but I think this latest rendition is definitely one of the best. Hit the jump to watch it.

Kees van Dijkhuizen is the man behind the video. He has worked this year on creating a video montage of his favorite directors which include: (my personal favorite) David Fincher, Tim Burton, Ridley Scott, Wes Anderson, Pixar, and more. After creating the previous entries, van Dijkhuizen said he got, “hundreds, literally hundreds of requests” to mash up the work of Nolan. Well, why wouldn’t there be hundreds of requests? Nolan is a visionary with strengths in structruing breathtaking beauty in all his shots — especially his landscapes. We all want to see a man with van Dijkhuizen’s editing talents praise our favorite snippets from Nolan’s films. Without further ado…

What Did You Think Of The Video?

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery

What a difference a week makes. Just last Monday Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises wrapped its long, action-packed, 7-month production. Earlier this week, Empire held a clever cover reveal contest where fans could vote on who would be featured on their Nov. 24th TDKR issue: Batman vs. Bane. Bane won handily, but both covers were revealed online several days ago. Now, thanks to some awesome Bat fans in the UK, we have some digital scans of the hard copy issue featuring  new set pics, as well as some big reveals into the story of Nolan’s final Batman chapter.

SPOILER WARNING: There is a major plot reveal, albeit an “official reveal” via Nolan himself.  

Proceed at your own peril….

OK, where to begin? Let’s get the biggest story tidbit out of the way first, shall we?. In the Empire issue, Nolan discusses the story timeline of TDKR in relation to the ending of TDK. Many have been speculating that this final chapter would pick up right after the last film left off. That being, Batman on the run from Gotham PD. A hunted vigilante, selflessly taking the blame for Harvey Dent’s death. Well, while that timeframe might be immediatley addressed in the film, Nolan has decided to incorporate a long gap into where this final chapter will take place….8 years later. Nolan elaborates on the time gap, as well as Bane’s archetype as a villain and how he’s the biggest foe (physically and mentally) Batman has had to face yet:

It’s really all about finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne’s story. We left him in a very precarious place. 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.

So when you’re looking to continue the story – in this case finish Bruce Wayne and Batman’s story, as we see it – then you certainly don’t want a watered-down version of a character you’ve already done. You want a different archetype. What Bane represents in the comics is the ultimate physical villain. 

8. YEARS. That is probably one of the most interesting/biggest reveal of the plot thus far. What does that mean? It means that Batman has hung up the cape and cowl for almost a decade because of  the emotional pain of being directly/indirectly responsible for Rachel’s death.  But what has he been doing all this time? Why did it take Bane so long to unleash his fury upon Gotham City? So many questions (Riddler pun).

Along with that reveal, probably the most exciting inside scoop comes from Tom Hardy describing Bane the character, who delves into graphic detail into just how brutal this character is. Hardy elaborates:

He’s brutal. Brutal. He’s a big dude who’s incredibly clinical, in the fact that he has a result-based and oriented fighting style. It’s not about fighting. It’s about carnage. The style is heavy-handed, heavy-footed, it’s nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his fists through chests, ripping out spinal columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action.

First of all. Look at the limited edition Empire cover above. For all those concerned about Hardy’s physical stature as Bane can rest easy. The dude is cut. Straight up jacked. Look at those arms! And we don’t even know if there will be some CGI touch-ups to make him even bigger than that. Anyway, let’s quickly revisit Hardy’s description of how “brutal” Bane will be in this film: “stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his first through chests, ripping out spinal columns.” HOLY SHIT. How will this film be rated PG-13. So. Bad. Ass.

We also have some deets from Oscar-winning Costume Designer Lindy Hemming on the functional aspect of Bane’s mask:

He was injured early in his story. He’s suffering from pain and he needs gas to survive. He cannot survive the pain without the mask. The pipes from the mask go back along his jaw line and feed into the thing at the back where there are two canisters of what ever it is…the anesthetic.

So what about the highly-anticipated 6-minute prologue set to debut in front of 70mm IMAX prints of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on December 16th? It’s seemingly a similar formula to the prologue of The Dark Knight that was attached to I Am Legend in 2007 – an introduction to the main villain and some random, juicy footage to chew on. Nolan elaborates:

The Prologue is basically the first six, seven minutes of the film. It’s the introduction to Bane and a taste of the rest of the film. With Bane we are looking to give Batman a physical challenge that he hasn’t had before. In terms of finishing our story and increasing its scope, we were trying to craft an epic.

Let’s revisit that again: “We were trying to craft an EPIC.” With all the on-set footage we’ve seen of prison riots, stadium explosions, grande chase sequences and an all-out war on the streets, it seems as though Nolan is attempting to craft the biggest film…ever.

See some scans of the Empire issue in the gallery below (click image to enlarge).

The Dark Knight Rises into theaters July 20th, 2012.

[via Slashfilm, First Showing]

What Do You Think? Discuss.

I’ve laid off the TDKR Weekly Status Report for the past couple weeks because of the ludicrous onslaught of leaked set pics and videos. I’ve said it before, and I’ll state it again that I am not immune to spoilers. I go out of my way to see what’s going on behind-the-scenes with production, BUT I respect those who wish to stay spoiler-free, thus I will not post spoilerific goodies on The Movie Mash. I will post anything and everything else. More after the break.

Despite Pittsburgh-ians pretty much ruining everything – Nolan, WB & Co. went out on a classy note by purchasing a full-page ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featuring the first official teaser poster with the words “Thank You Pittsbugh.” Check out the ad below. [via The HD Room]

Next up we have an MTV interview with Tom Hardy making the press rounds for his amazing upcoming UFC drama Warrior, where Tom discusses the fandimonium surround TDKR and how Nolan is “a genius” in how he handles it [via Batman-News].

Lastly we have an awesome fan-made poster for TDKR, seemingly inspired by posters from the Star Wars films, with dramatic hand drawings of all the characters: Catwoman, Batman, Alfred, Jim Gordon, Miranda Tate and last but not least Bane. It’s pretty sweet, kudos to the creator. [via Nolan Fans]

What Do You Think? Discuss.