Humor District

The first trailer release for The Dark Knight Rises. I see they’re also naming it Batman 3, which is a little weird. Get exited! Watch it below.

Plot:
Bane spreads chaos in Gotham in order to lure and weaken Batman, and break him.

Also interesting to note, Christian Bale has stated that he would not play Batman if Robin was in any of these 3 films. Christopher Nolan agreed not to include Robin as it would undermine the dark tone of his series.

After much speculation, Christopher Nolan has finally announced the villains that Batman will be facing in The Dark Knight Rises. Apparently Christopher Nolan is a fan of Humor District, as he has taken my advice and chosen Bane as one of the villains Batman will match wits with. Of course I fully support this decision, as I believe Bane is one character who has not been given his due recently. He is a villain who struck one of the most decisive blows against Batman in history, using his wits and considerable muscle mass to break not only Batman’s back, but his spirit as well. More recently he has been portrayed as a brainless heap of biceps, and don’t even get me started on the portrayal of Bane in Batman and Robin. Christopher Nolan has kept the Batman franchise grounded in reality, so it will be interesting to see his take on Bane. Will we see Tom Hardy bulk up like he did in Bronson? The one thing I feel confident saying is that we will see Bane’s more intellectual side.

The other big villain announcement was Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. It has long been rumored that Catwoman would be involved in The Dark Knight Rises, mainly because there needs to be a female interest for Bruce Wayne. This is Hollywood after all. Anne Hathaway seems to be a good choice for Catwoman AKA Selina Kyle. She is quite attractive and, more importantly, a good actress. Best of all, she is not Shia LaBeouf being cast as Robin or Eddie Murphy as Riddler. This news definitely indicates The Dark Knight Rises is moving in a very good direction. If Mr. Nolan needs any more ideas for The Dark Knight Rises, I am always willing to help.

In a recent interview with E! Christian Bale revealed that he does not currently have plans on reprising his role as Batman beyond The Dark Knight Rises. Before you start crying into your pillows, there are several things that need to be looked at here. First off, it appears that Christian Bale’s connection to Batman will only last as long as Christopher Nolan’s connection to the Batman franchise. As of right now it appears that Christopher Nolan is only planning on doing the three Batman movies, with The Dark Knight Rises being his last. Then again, Christopher Nolan is famously secretive, so who knows what his real plans are. For all we know, Nolan is planning on doing ten more Batman movies with Christian Bale. While that is unlikely, it is possible.

Secondly, the Batman franchise has been ridiculously successful, especially The Dark Knight. That means that no matter what happens, you can be fairly confident in betting there will be multiple Batman movies in the future. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Nolan and Bale will be involved. They have been great in the first two Batman movies, but they don’t seem like the types to continue working on a franchise just to churn out sequels and make money. Basically I am saying they actually have integrity. If they don’t feel like they can put out a quality movie, they most likely won’t do it. This is excellent news for the Batman movies they do make, but poor news for those who want to see continual installments in this franchise. Overall, it looks as though this could very well be the last Batman movie we see with Christian Bale in the suit and Christopher Nolan at the helm, but only time can tell.

Ryan Reynolds has basically become synonymous with comic book movies. He played Hannibal King in Blade Trinity, was rumored to be the Flash, played Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and is Hal Jordan AKA Green Lantern in the upcoming film of the same name. Oh yeah, he is also married to Scarlett Johansson, also known as the Black Widow. In case you forgot, she looks like this:

But enough about Scarlett Johansson, the amazingly sexy wife of Ryan Reynolds. We are focusing on Ryan Reynolds newest movie, Green Lantern, which DC is hoping will be as successful as the Batman franchise under Christopher Nolan. Fans were given a first glimpse of the movie at San Diego Comic Con 2010, but in all honesty that glimpse really didn’t reveal much of anything. Entertainment Tonight has a preview of Green Lantern coming up that will show some more scenes from the movie with completed special effects, and Ryan Reynolds using his power ring. They have also been kind enough to give us a preview of their preview. You can watch the full preview November 16th, but until then enjoy this preview of a preview. It’s entertaining, I promise.

The previous installments in Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise haven’t had much focus on female characters. The only female of any importance has been Rachel Dawes, who has been portrayed by Katie Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I don’t think we will be seeing either of them as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight Rises considering the many pieces she was in after The Dark Knight, courtesy of the Joker. It seems that Christopher Nolan has decided that there needs to be more of a woman’s touch in his next movie to compliment the sheer manliness of Christian Bale as Batman. It also seems like Commissioner Gordon might be getting a new lady friend.

According to Comic Book Movie, the script for The Dark Knight Rises features twice the number of women than seen in previous Batman movies. That brings the total for the next movie to two female characters! These ladies in question are Detective Sarah Essen and Julie Madison. Those of you who are familiar with the comics may remember Sarah Essen as Jim Gordon’s love interest, but he is already married with children in the previous Batman movies. Will Jim Gordon be having some extracurricular activities going on? It is rumored that Charlize Theron has been approached for the role of Sarah Essen.

Of course Batman can’t go without a damsel in distress to save, so Julie Madison makes sense as a character. She is basically a rich girl who falls in love with Bruce Wayne and seems to get captured by villains a lot. She has actually been in comic books and a previous Batman movie, just not one of Nolan’s. This gives Batman something to do in the evenings, and allows Christopher Nolan to cast some eye candy for the male masses. Of course this is still all rumor at this point, but it sure would be nice to see some more ladies with a prominent role in the Batman franchise.

The next installment in the Batman franchise has been creating a lot of buzz. This is mostly because nobody has any idea where Christopher Nolan is going to take it. The only things that can be said about the movie with any certainty are that Christian Bale will be Batman, Christopher Nolan will be directing, and at least some of the filming will be done in New Orleans. Other than that, it is pretty much just speculation at this point. The really big question at this point is what villain Batman will be facing off against. One thing is for sure, the next villain will have some big shoes to fill after Heath Ledger’s portrayal of  Joker.

Killer Croc

According to the creator of Kick-Ass, Mark Millar, Killer Croc is going to be Batman’s nemesis in the next movie. Mark Millar hinted on his Twitter account that he had insider information on who the villain was going to be, and that the filming location of New Orleans was very relevant. Killer Croc is a man with tremendous strength, great lung capacity, and less than impressive intellect. He also resembles a crocodile. What villain would fit better in a New Orleans location?

Riddler

Most of the villain rumors floating around the internet involve the Riddler in some capacity, and whether it will be Johnny Depp, Dane Cook, or Eddie Murphy who will be portraying him. The thing is, the Riddler makes sense as a Batman villain. He is capable of setting up an elaborate crime spree/puzzle that will keep Batman on his toes and the audience on the edge of their seats. Christopher Nolan is also the type of director who can analyze the Riddler’s motivation, and whether he leaves riddles because of the thrill of the game or because he wants to get caught.

Catwoman

With the death of Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, both Batman and Bruce Wayne are pretty much devoid of female company. Sure, Bruce Wayne has the whole billionaire playboy schtick that involves numerous lady types, but they don’t really count as romantic interests. Catwoman could fill this role quite nicely, leading Batman on chases throughout the city while he struggles to discover his true feelings about her. Her alter ego, Selina Kyle, could also enter Bruce Wayne’s life around the same time. The plot thickens!

Penguin

Christopher Nolan has gone on record as saying Penguin is a bit too campy of a character for his taste. At the same time, he could easily transform the Penguin from a waddling joke to a criminal mastermind that has to be taken seriously. One actor whose name is thrown around frequently for this role is Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Give him a beak-like nose and a big budget and he could give Batman some real troubles. I don’t think Nolan would keep the umbrella machine guns, though.

Scarecrow

The Scarecrow might appear in the third installment in the Batman franchise simply because he has been in the previous two movies. It is highly doubtful that Scarecrow will be the main foe Batman faces off against, as he and his fear toxin were already featured prominently in Batman Begins, but he might make an appearance. It could be one of those little details that helps to bring a series of movies together.

The Dark Knight was a ridiculously successful movie, both financially and critically. Christopher Nolan’s work on the Batman franchise has created a huge fan following and a great demand for another installment in the Batman saga.  Christopher Nolan has been confirmed as the director of the as of yet untitled Batman 3 movie, but so far that is about the only fact that has surfaced about the movie. On the other hand, there has been no shortage of rumors about the next movie. It seems that everybody with access to a message board has some inside connection to the movie and is revealing some big twist. The problem is these revealed twists are stupid as hell, and nobody in their right mind would believe them. These are the most ridiculous Batman 3 rumors that can be found on the web.*

Christian Bale Out?

Christian Bale has cemented himself in the minds of fans as the ideal actor for Batman. He has put on great performances as the caped crusader in Christopher Nolan’s first two Batman films, and there is no reason that he wouldn’t do the same. Nonetheless, a rumor appeared stating that Sam Worthington would be replacing Christian Bale as the dark knight. The two co-starred in Terminator Salvation, but that seems to be about the only connection. Sam Worthington is a capable action movie star, but there is no way that Christian Bale would be replaced as Batman by anyone, not at this point in the franchise.

Two-Face Lives

Before you read on, know that this paragraph contains a spoiler alert about the ending of The Dark Knight. If you aven’t seen The Dark Knight, take this time to go watch it. Preferably on Blu-Ray. Now that you have done that, you know that Harvey Dent/Two-Face died at the end of The Dark Knight. Or did he? Many rumor mongers have said Two-Face will return since no casket was seen at his public funeral. With that said, Aaron Eckhart and Christopher Nolan have both publicly stated in numerous interviews that Two-Face is dead. Even the script for The Dark Knight confirms this: “Dent lies at the bottom of the hole, his neck broken…DEAD.”

Here Comes Robin

Shia LaBeouf has emerged as a big name in Hollywood, mostly for his work on Michael Bay’s Transformers series. He is also well known for being a terrible addition to the Indiana Jones franchise. Now rumors have appeared that he will be assuming another sidekick role as Robin. The problem with this is Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have both voiced their disdain for Robin as a character. Bale went so far as to say he would not be involved with a Batman movie that also had a Robin. The whole feel of Christopher Nolan’s Batman is far too dark for a kid sidekick to be involved.

Villains, Villains, Villains

There have been many rumors about which villains will appear in the next Batman movie. Some of the more ridiculous rumors have Cher playing Catwoman, Eddie Murphy playing the Riddler, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing the Penguin. Others have Megan Fox as Catwoman and Johnny Depp or Dane Cook as the Riddler. Not only are some/most of these rumored casting choices terrible, the script hasn’t even been finished yet. At this point it is still a mystery which villains will be in the movie, much less which actors will be playing those villains.

Batman 3-D

One rumor that as been picking up steam is that the next Batman movie will be filmed entirely in 3-D. This actually does make some sense, as 3-D movies are a bit of a craze in Hollywood at the moment. Another benefit of 3-D movies is that tickets sell for more. Still, the whole 3-D craze is fairly gimmicky, and Christopher Nolan has never been one to rely on gimmicks. It is more likely that Christopher Nolan would film the entire movie in IMAX, like certain scenes in The Dark Knight. Even that is highly doubtful though.

*This list is subject to change as stupid rumors are proven to be true.

There have been a lot of rumors swirling around the next installment in the Batman franchise. Both Johnny Depp and Eddie Murphy have been rumored to play the Riddler in the next movie, and even more oddly, Cher was rumored to be a candidate for Catwoman, and a Shia LeBeouf as Robin rumor was also floating around. Basically everybody with an internet connection and a friend of a cousin of a friend in the industry was posting ridiculous crap about the next Batman movie on message boards. We now have one fact amidst all these rumors, Christopher Nolan will be directing Batman 3.

Christopher Nolan did a great job directing Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and proved alongside Iron Man that comic book movies could be serious and seriously fun. When asked by Empire if he would be directing Batman 3, Nolan replied: “If I haven’t announced it, I think that people probably all know at this point that I’m doing it.” It would just feel wrong at this point to have anybody other than Nolan directing it. A change of this magnitude would rival replacing Christian Bale as Batman. Fans have become as attached to Christopher Nolan’s directing as they have to Batman’s gravelly voice. Perhaps most importantly, Nolan said he is hard at work for the script with his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Hopefully we will be getting casting announcements and finding out which Batman villains will be in the next movie. I’m hoping for Bane.

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez brought grindhouse style films back to popularity with Death Proof and Planet Terror. By popularity I mean I enjoyed those movies and the style they were filmed in, so I assume others did too. Now people have started to wonder what other movies would look like if they were filmed in the grindhouse style. Of course the rational jump there was to move from other movies to the children’s book, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. It is a little known fact that Dr. Seuss, real name Theodor Seuss Geisel, was actually not too fond of children. He didn’t hate them or anything, he just didn’t like to be around them. I feel like he would approve of this Lorax grindhouse movie made by Classy Hands. Hell, he’d probably play it with a projector on the side of his house to keep those pesky kids off his lawn.

Now that I have seen this, I would really like to see a gritty remake of Hop on Pop. Perhaps One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish could be turned into a psychological thriller. Somebody needs to get Christopher Nolan on the phone right now. Just remember it was my idea, with a guiding hand from Classy Hands.

The trailers for  the new Christopher Nolan movie Inception look pretty awesome, even if they don’t reveal a whole lot about the story other than it will be confusing. Leonardo DiCaprio plays some sort of dream detective and a bunch of dreams involve things blowing up or flipping upside down. That’s the basic plot as far as I can surmise. Luckily the producers of Inception and Yahoo! have realized that some of us would like to go into the movie with some understanding of this dream world, and have released a graphic novel on the Yahoo! website.

The Inception graphic novel is 34 pages long and features a great story that introduces us to some of the main characters. The story focuses on Leonardo DiCaprio’s character of Cobb and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character of Arthur. Yahoo! has done a great job of formatting the online comic so it is easy to read. Add the fact that the art is good and the story is fantastic, you should definitely check this comic out if you are planning on seeing Inception. The best part is the comic is a prequel, introducing us to the main characters without revealing any spoilers from the movie. You can read the Yahoo! Inception comic here. Do it.

Chances are Inception will still make you do some brain gymnastics, even after reading the comic. Christopher Nolan doesn’t really do straightforward movies. After you have read the comic you can see Inception in theaters on July 16th. I would definitely recommend seeing the IMAX version.