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?

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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.

Big week for DC Comics. Yesterday Warner Bros. released the first awesome image of Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Today, it appears the studio is looking to get a head of the army of spy photos and videos that seem to be leaking by the minute, by releasing the first official image of Anne Hathaway as SELINA KYLE in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Check it out after the break.

Click image to enlarge the image of Anne as SELINA KYLE.

So, why am I capitalizing SELINA KYLE throughout this post so far? Well, the general consensus amongst the interwebs is that of unsatisfactory with Ms. Hathaway’s look. I mean, I do like it a lot. I’m not IN LOVE with it. It’s not what I was expecting. But knowing Nolan, it’s not surprising at all. As with all Nolan’s costume choices in his Batman films, they all serve a functional purpose to fit within the realistic world he has fashioned. Obviously, this picture implies that Selina Kyle is a thief with high-tech gear to facilitate her robberies; think Batman’s sonar tech in TDK. Those glasses WILL NOT be her final get up as Catwoman. Just look at the URL of the image that’s hosted on the official website is labeled ”selina_kyle – click HERE to see. If this was supposed to be THE BIG reveal of Anne as Catwoman, one of the most famous of his adverseries: Why wouldn’t they label that JPEG “Catwoman”? I might be reaching at straws there, but I find it to be too coincidental.

There’s also a report from Batman News saying that this image is her as SELINA and that she will “don a cowl” eventually in the film at some point – but this is before that. I’m just not sure why everyone is flipping shit. What they hell were you expecting? This is Nolan. You’ve seen the first two Batman films. It’s your fault for expecting her to have cats running around.

Lastly, there’s a shot of Hathaway’s stunt double riding the bat pod on the steps of Gotham City Hall, seemingly after or during the big brawl with Bane and Batman. I think this full side shot makes her outfit look a lot cooler and hopefully those of you who were disappointed will agree. Click image to enlarge.

Anyway, surely there will be a bunch of more stuff coming from the Heinz Field shoot tomorrow. Stay tuned for more news on The Dark Knight Rises, opening July 20, 2012.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Well, it’s here. After dozens of bootlegs making their way online last week, the first teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises hit theaters over the weekend in front of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II. It then hit the web yesterday morning via www.thedarkknightrises.com, which had a link to the film’s Facebook fan page hosting the video in glorious high definition. That Facebook fan page as accrued just over 123,000 Likes within a day and a half – not bad. The teaser isn’t what I, nor most people were expecting. It’s got a different feeling than the previous two film’s teasers, but after multiple viewings, it gets better and better. Because hey, it’s the f***ing Dark Knight Rises! Check out the trailer after the break.

Check it out. Analysis to follow.

Couple things just to start here. A decent amount of folks out there are disappointed with this trailer because it “didn’t show anything.” I don’t know if I need to define the term “teaser trailer,” but I will for the thick-headed. A teaser trailer is simply the announcement that a major blockbuster will be coming out the following year. It’s saying “hey, this movie is gonna be huge. Here are some brief images. Get excited. The real trailer will come in a few months.” It’s entire purpose is to make general audiences aware that the film is happening. Geeks know, but maybe a lot of Harry Potter fans don’t. The other purpose is that it is supposed to leave you wanting more. Regardless of the fact that they’ve only been filming for two months, and probably don’t have that much footage to use. The purpose of this teaser trailer is to leave you drooling for more Batman. And that’s what it did.

Some people complained about the use of footage from Batman Begins and TDK, but I thought it was great. Nolan & WB are trying to complete this story. Make it come full circle. And the first step in doing that, from a marketing standpoint, is letting the public know “Hey, we know you like The Dark Knight. But remember the first one? THIS IS A TRILOGY!” And the dialogue of Ra’s al Ghul’s schpeal to Bruce that motivated him to become Batman, perfectly encapsulates everything Nolan’s Batman movies are about.

Now on to the good stuff. Just look at the image above. How badass is that? Of course it’s our first high-resolution close-up shot of Tom Hardy as Bane; featuring his crazy-looking mask apparatus, that he surely uses to inhahle the Venom that makes him the jacked monster he is. Awesomeness. But the main focus of this trailer was the hospital scene, featuring a sick/dying/banged up Jim Gordon – talking to who we can assume to be Bruce – about Batman needing to come back. What happend to Jim? Did Bane do that? Is it at the end of the film or the beginning? So many questions. But obviously Gordon’s illness will be the catalyst for Bruce to get his shit together and don the cape once again.

Then there’s the best part. The very end of the trailer featuring the two-second shot of a banged up, wet, fatigued Batman, backing up from a pissed off, monstorous Bane who’s about to throw down. That is just an awesome image to see. Not that I want Batman to get hurt, it’s just so powerful to see The Dark Knight, SCARED SH*TLESS!! Look at the picture above. He’s pretty much saying, “Holy f***ing sh*t!” You never see that. Bane, in TDKR, will be the biggest challenge Batman will have faced to evoke that type of reaction from the Bats.

Awwww!!! I’m just so excited. AND they haven’t even started filming the meat and bones of this movie yet. They start their 6-week stint in the new Gotham, Pittsburgh, in a week or two, and that’s where we’ll get a majority of footage for the new and surely, much-better received full length trailer this winter. Hopefully then we’ll get a really close look at Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.

As always, check back here for all your TDKR needs. The Dark Knight Rises opens everywhere July 20, 2012.

What do you think of the trailer? Epic? Disappointment? Discuss.

‘Classic Nolan’ refers to the greatness of this poster. Christopher Nolan is a man who knows how to capture his audiences’ attention. The poster is subtle, yet overwhelming and powerful. It’s simple, yet something to think about. Is the city crumbling down, or building back up? The Dark Knight Rises.

This is usually Barrett’s department, a la Christopher Nolan news, but since he has turned in for the night, I had to jump on this new The Dark Knight Rises poster like Batman from a rooftop. While my obsession does not rival Barrett’s, I cannot begin to express how jacked I am to see this movie. I don’t think I have ever been this excited/antsy to know or see anything new from this blossoming production. This is my most anticipated movie ever. That’s right, I have never wanted to see a movie more than this one. After two stellar films, a fan like myself can only try to imagine what type of crescendo Nolan is cooking up for final film in his Batman Trilogy. To see the full poster, and more info about the teaser trailer, hit the jump.

The official website dropped this poster, so look at the ridiculous full version below. Inception-esque right? Devin over at BadAssDigest came across this nugget… is that the Joker’s face hidden in the poster?

This part is something Barrett knows much more about than I do, so he can add in thoughts or details when he gets a chance if he chooses. As some know, The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer is set to be attached to the Deathly Hallows Part II when it hits theaters this weekend. Rumor has it, the teaser could be online by early Thursday evening. Both of us were hoping the teaser would be attached to the Potter finale when we saw it Monday night — but, we weren’t so lucky. At this point, I’m trying to decide what disappointed me more, not seeing the anticipated teaser, or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II?

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

What Do You Think Of The Poster?

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery

OMFG. After weeks and weeks of nothing, nada, ZIP on The Dark Knight Rises front, Superhero Hype (via Batman News), claims to have “received word from a trustworthy source” that the teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film will indeed be attached to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II next week. Makes total sense. They’re both Warner Bros. films, HP is WB’s biggest movie of the year, AND it follows the same tradition of all Nolan’s big films releasing the teaser a year prior to the film’s release. . Anyway, if that wasn’t enough to make nerds all over the globe explode, not only will we be getting a teaser trailer, but a teaser poster for TDKR is supposed to hit the web at some point as well. (hold on. gotta catch my breath. just. so. damn. excited.)

No word on what will actually be featured in the trailer, but SHH was able to obtain the length of the trailer, which will clock in at 1:33. That’s significantly longer than The Dark Knight’s teaser trailer, which clocked in at just under a minute. Nolan & Co. have been shooting in London, India and Scotland for just over two months, so there’s gotta be some decent footage that they can show off to wet our appetites. People complained about TDK’s teaser which featured the burning bat symbol and voice-overs from Bale, Michael Caine and Heath Ledger’s Joker. I thought it was great. That’s what a teaser is supposed to do…TEASE you. So if that’s the case this time, I’m totally fine with it. But with a 1:33 run-time, it stands to reason that we’ll get some visuals to supplement that time-frame.

When an HD version pops up online sometime next week, we’ll have it up here on The Movie Mash for your glorious viewing pleasure. In the mean-time, check out the official trailer for The Dark Knight. God… it still gives me chills. The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20, 2012.

What Do You Think? Exciting, right?!

Until about six months ago when it was announced that Christopher Nolan would be producing the new Superman reboot, now titled Man of Steel being directed by Zack Snyder, he had only been involved with projects that he either wrote, directed, or both. Now, having the pedigree as one of the most powerful filmmakers on Planet Earth, Nolan has the opportunity to use his brand name to help lesser-known talent get projects off the ground. Deadline is reporting (via Nolan Fans) that Nolan will be developing a ‘supernatural thriller’ through his production company, Syncopy, that will be directed by Keith Gordon – a veteran television director who has worked on Dexter and The Killing, to name a few.

Nolan’s former assistant Jordan Goldberg is apparently “the brains” behind the project. Nolan and wife Emma Thomas will act as executive producers. It’s just really cool to see Nolan recoginzing talent like this, and giving them a chance to prove themselves as filmmakers – similar to his own experience 11 years ago. Not many people know that Oscar-winning director Steve Soderberg (Traffic, Ocean’s trilogy) was the one who got Nolan his first gig at Warner Bros. to direct Insomnia, because he believed in his potential after Memento. That reference to WB to give Nolan a chance has led to like $2 billion and like 20 Oscar nominations. We’ll see if Gordon can do the same.

No word on the story, casting or when production will start. Stay tuned to The Movie Mash for updates.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

As it is one of the most anticipated films of the past 20 years, and moviegoers everywhere are salivating at the very mention of its name, I’m starting a weekly segment titled TDKR Weekly Status Report that will re-cap the past week’s news involving The Dark Knight Rises. Of course things like trailers, official productions stills and interviews will require their own individual post, but the TDKR Weekly Status Report will focus more on the rumor/speculation/things that aren’t necessarily headliners. It will also serve as your ‘know all, end all’ authority for what is real and what is fake. Over the past month or so, there have been endless false “insider reports,” fake Twitter accounts, YouTube channels and Facebook pages that have been created by fans in an attempt to pass it off as WB official viral marketing. In the TDKR Weekly Status Report, you will know what’s real and what’s BS. In this first installment, we’ve got a few juicy tidbits to wet your appetite, most notably (which some of you have surely seen), is this elaborate fake teaser trailer that “leaked” online a few days ago.

It’s certainly convincing and well-timed, but there are a few glaring errors. Check it out with analysis to follow:

Seems legit, right? They’ve only been shooting for 6 weeks, maybe they don’t have enough footage for a more content-filled teaser. Nope. By whipping out a magnifying glass and putting on our thinking caps, we can notice a few things. The first, which is the most damning evidence of all, is the green MPAA preview disclaimer that is present on all trailers. Upon a single glance it looks fine, but unfortunately it says “This Preview Has Been Approved for All Audiences.” You see, a couple years ago, the MPAA adjusted the verbiage of this disclaimer, which now states “Appropriate Audiences.” Why would they all of the sudden fuck that up for the biggest movie ever? The second piece of evidence, is the missing SYNCOPY logo for Christopher Nolan’s production company at the beginning. We see WB, Legendary and DC, but no SYNCOPY. After The Dark Knight, Nolan has full authority to brand his production company on all future films, which we saw in each of the three Inception trailers. Why would this be any different? So, there you have it. A golf clap to the bro who went out of his way to stir up so much commotion.

Next up, we have our first set of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne on set in England!!! Well, not really. Christopher Nolan productions are notoriously secretive, possibly the most tightly-secured sets in showbiz. But we now have official confirmation that Christian Bale walked near a white tent and he wore clothes yesterday! OMFG. Hey it’s been a slow week.

Next up we have some news on the Pittsburgh filming front. As most of you know, Mr. Nolan has chosen the Steel City as the new backdrop for Gotham in TDKR. They don’t start shooting there until the end of July, but there is some major shit going down in Gotham City as the Pittsburgh shoot is requiring the use of 3,000 local extras to play “thugs, prisoners, business men/women and sports fans” – surely for a major chaos/disaster sequence in the film. Arkham breakout/riot, poss? Def poss. Anyway, they only need 3,000 extras, but a whopping 8,000 Pittsburgh residents showed up to the casting office over the past two weekends with hopes of staying getting on screen with Bats. See this video below that shows the massive line that went on for blocks:

[via Nolan Fans forums]

Lastly, we have a cryptic tweet from JoBlo claiming that the next stage of viral marketing will kick into gear soon, and that it will reveal our first loook at Catwoman. Please God!!!

[via Nolan Fans forums]

What Do You Think? Discuss.