In Contention

Tag: Batman

  • Nolan for Best Director?

    Christopher Nolan and Aaron Eckhart on the set of The Dark KnightAlways willing to be a bit brazen with his predictions (I like that), Nathaniel Rogers is busy updating his picks over at The Film Experience.  My favorite left-field notion is his choice of Christopher Nolan in the lone director slot for “The Dark Knight,” naturally.

    I had the same idea in mind three years ago, right up until the day before the nominations, even.  I caught some email flack for thumping the fanboy drum in the process, but it really felt like a possibility.  Well, I’ve learned my lesson (somewhat) and haven’t bothered bringing it up this year, despite a nagging feeling that this critically acclaimed effort could indeed surprise us along these lines in January.

    But let’s just say I’m glad Nat’s here to help carry the burden this time around.  As he shrewdly notes, “This isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.”

    Elsewhere, Rogers is hanging onto his “Miracle at St. Anna” forecast in the Best Picture arena, allowing “Australia” to join the party, while he finally finds some room for a little “Revolutionary Road” love in the lead actor and actress categories.

    Read his expanded thoughts here.  The updates are on-going this week.

    And while I’m busy tossing up pics from the set of “The Dark Knight” — I’ve always loved this shot:

    Director Christopher Nolan (hands folded leaning on rail) watches as Christian Bale prepares for a scene in The Dark Knight

  • New ‘Dark Knight’ trailer and Thompson blows a raspberry

    I remember when I first heard about the footage shown to fans at Wizard World in Chicago last year.  I was partially still feeling burned from not getting anything at Comic-Con in San Diego, but the description still had me tingling with excitement (especially the Two-Face scene, which closed the trailer and was released almost a month ago).

    Well /flash film points us today to the old footage, which has finally been released online.  There’s not really much dialogue, but there’s plenty of action (and some nice shots of Batsy beating the hell out of the Joker).

    Take a look:

    Meanwhile, Variety’s Anne Thompson has published her review of the film, but she apparently was “overwhelmed” and must have been expecting something akin to the leisurely pace of “Wild Strawberries” or something:

    Finally, I would have preferred to see The Dark Knight in 35 mm, not IMAX. (I will go see it again when it opens July 18.) While the sequences that were shot with giant cameras were stunning at the IMAX venue–especially the deep detailed helicopter shots over Gotham and the amazing car/truck chase filmed in Chicago’s freeway tunnels–I found the movie overwhelming. My brain starts to shut down when it gets over-pixillated, and this film goes on for two and a half hours.

    I guess a dissenting opinion was bound to come down the pike sooner or later.  Jeff Wells is certainly happy about that.  Thompson’s colleague, Justin Chang, meanwhile, begs to differ.

  • Most anticipated of part two

    MGM\'s Quantum of SolaceLooking ahead to the second half of the year, there are more than a few films floating to the top of my list of anticipations.  Here’s what I’d call the top 10:

    1. “The Dark Knight” (hasn’t budged in six months)
    2.“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    3. “House of Lies”
    4. “Quantum of Solace”
    5. “Appaloosa”
    6; “The Brothers Bloom”
    7. “Milk”
    8. “Australia”
    9. “Pineapple Express”
    10. “Religulous”

    Anticipating with caution: “W”
    Movie I hope disappears before it releases the most: “Ace Ventura Jr.”

    How about you?

  • Speaking of ‘Dark Knight’

    I was reading through a schedule of upcoming TV appearances from the cast, and noticed one interesting pairing on “The View,” July 15: Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.  What a treat to get that duo in one spot.  I think they shared, what, one scene in “Batman Begins?”

    Check out the week ahead for the Maggie and the boys here.  It’s interesting that Christian Bale only has one show lined up (The Today Show on 7/14).  Maggie Gyllenhaal seems to be lifting the most weight with four separate appearances.

  • How much will ‘The Dark Knight’ make on opening weekend?

    How much will The Dark Knight be worth to audiences?In 2005, “Batman Begins” opened to just shy of $49 million. It’s fair to consider that a low number, because it came in behind the openings of such films as “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “8 Mile” of all things, even failing to best the $52 million mark of “Batman Forever” ten years prior.

    However, the film went on to gross over $200 million at the box office, displaying considerable legs built on word of mouth and repeat viewings.

    I think we all expect the film’s sequel, “The Dark Knight,” will open to larger numbers than that, but I’d like to get a gauge on just exactly where the readers expect this thing to drop.

    I’m on the record all over the place as thinking the film would be the biggest box office draw of the year, but I truly didn’t expect the $300 million ceiling to be crashed by “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and especially “Iron Man.” Now I’m not as sure, but I also can’t shake the feeling that there is an incredibly unknown element at work here. This thing could obviously be MASSIVE.

    So tell us in this week’s poll: how much to you expect “The Dark Knight” to rake in when it opens in the U.S. on July 18?  And if you want to be a real smarty pants and offer a specific number, tell us in the comments below.  We’ll follow this up with a poll predicting the final box office tally for the film next week.

  • Defending Robin

    DC Comics\' RobinBatman scribe Jeph Loeb (“The Long Halloween, “Dark Victory”) has jumped into the recent Robin debate, defending the character’s potential in Christopher Nolan’s current trilogy.

    Hunter Stephenson at /film points us to this MTV story, which offers the following from Loeb:

    Take the time to tell the story properly…There is a story of Dick Grayson and how he becomes Robin that is extremely moving and very helpful. …[Grayson/Robin] doesn’t understand why it is that he needs to do this and Bruce doesn’t understand why he’s doing it either because he’s not a parent. He doesn’t know how to be a parent…together, they make each other better people…that for me would be the next step.

    Stephenson also mentions that the recent Star Pulse item quoting Christian Bale’s dismissal of the character may have been misattributed, indicating that the actor once noted one of his favorite Bat-stories was the very Robin-heavy “Dark Victory.”  I never commented on the dismissal, because it frankly didn’t sound like something he would have said.

    Anyway, you’ve all heard my side of this debate.  I think there is plenty of room to do this story maturely and powerfully, and unless the filmmakers prefer to lock in to what could be a very straight-line, three-film arch, a saga more epic than most could imagine is there for the taking.  And Loeb seems to understand that it would need to be something for the long haul, not a quick fix:

    I wouldn’t let him become Robin until the third act, if that. I think that’s the other problem when you tell that story is that there’s this rush to put him in a costume by the end of the first 20 minutes and in that case I think it’s a disaster…

    Read more of the Loeb interview here.

  • EW ‘Dark Knight’ cover story

    The Dark Knight cover story in the July 11 issue of Entertainment WeeklyBenjamin Svetkey has cranked out a thoughtful, compelling cover story study of Heath Ledger’s performance in “The Dark Knight” for next week’s Entertainment Weekly.

    The piece, titled “Tragedy and Triumph,” concerns itself with how Ledger’s death has affected expectation and perception in the lead-up to the film’s release in a little more than a week.  It’s tightly written, one of the better features out there on the film.

    There are money quotes all over the place and plenty of insight from Svetkey’s early set visit woven in here and there.

    However, there is a stupid, pointless graph at the top of the fourth page that is ridden with a few spoilers.  It’s totally unnecessary and evidence of a journalist strutting, if you ask me.  But the rest: top notch.

    On the casting of the Joker, here’s what Svetkey cranked out:

    With Bale contractually locked in for two more Bat movies, and Nolan on board for at least one more, the only thing needed was an actor to play the bad guy. There certainly wasn’t a shortage of options. Robin Williams, Sean Penn, and even Mark Hamill were rumored to be on Nolan’s short list (at least Hamill had practice, having voiced the Joker in various superhero cartoons). What nobody knew at the time, though, was just how short the director’s list was. ”Heath was the only one on it,” Nolan insists. “I knew he was it from the start.”

    And an interesting segment on the makeup of the character:

    Ledger also gave plenty of thought to the makeup that would be splattered across his face throughout the film. ”He started applying the makeup himself — just to see what it would look like if he put it on with his own hands,” Nolan says. ”We talked about how streaking the paint could get across the idea of corruption, of decay.”

    Check out the rest here.  But be wary of that first graph on the last page.  You can skip it totally and the article reads just fine.

    And finally, here’s a glimpse of Ledger’s work in the film:

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4FZdsIDsKE

  • Official site for ‘The Dark Knight’ soundtrack

    Sounds…so…amazing.

  • Variety on the darkness of ‘Knight,’ Kevin Smith’s thoughts

    David Cohen offered up a pretty standard story at Variety yesterday, touching on the darkness of “The Dark Knight” and the danger of alienating general audiences versus appeasing fans, etc.  He quotes two online Batman fansite sources (truthfully, a knowledgable step if you want to convey any real education on the character — these guys are committed).  He then tosses in some perspective from poducer Charles Roven.  But I’m wondering if this was the best choice of words for Mr. Roven:

    We walk that narrow line of making sure we were true to the character, but it’s not so gruesome. It’s not so utterly real that you turn away in disgust. You watch it and it’s one of the things that lets you know the film is not a real thing. We call it hyper-reality.

    I get what he means, but it kind of made me take a step back and read it again.  Sort of goes against the grain of the franchise’s mantra just a bit.

    Meanwhile, comic geek extraordinaire Kevin Smith was impressed with the film to say the least. Here’s the brief blurb from his MySpace blog:

    Without giving anything away, this is an epic film (and trust me: based on the sheer size and scope of the visuals and storytelling, that’s not an overstatement). It’s the “Godfather II” of comic book films and three times more earnest than “Batman Begins” (and fuck, was that an earnest film). Easily the most adult comic book film ever made. Heath Ledger didn’t so much give a performance as he disappeared completely into the role; I know I’m not the first to suggest this, but he’ll likely get at least an Oscar nod (if not the win) for Best Supporting Actor. Fucking flick’s nearly three hours long and only leaves you wanting more (in a great way). I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed by it. Nolan and crew have created something close to a masterpiece.

  • ‘Dark Knight’ interviews with cast and crew

    Warner Bros. publicity has made the round table interviews from last weekend’s “Dark Knight” junket available.  There’s a lot of good, in-depth stuff from Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart and the rest.

    There is, however, a big hole in everything, because you can’t help but wish Heath Ledger was there to discuss his approach to a character that seems to be an award-worthy swan song.

    Keep in mind that these are junketers…so sometimes you get a few doosey questions (usually the first person out of the gate).  But everyone weathers the storm well enough.  Pay attention to the end of the Bale file; he talks briefly about Michael Mann’s upcoming “Public Enemies” and McG’s “Terminator Salvation.”

    There is also a slight spoiler around the 11:00 mark of the Aaron Eckhart interview, however, one that you might want to skip.  It isn’t specific, but it’s enough information that could be irritating to know before seeing the film.  Enjoy.


    Christopher Nolan (writer/director):
    [audio:Nolan-TDKjunket.mp3]
    Download


    Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman):
    [audio:Bale-TDKjunket.mp3]
    Download


    Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face):
    [audio:Eckhart-TDKjunket.mp3]
    Download

    More after the jump, including Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jonathan Nolan!

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  • Revamping Superman for 2011?

    Two posts at /film and Obssessed with Film have me spinning my wheels this morning, wondering just who in the heck has approached comic scribe Mark Millar to revamp Superman for the screen in three years.

    The whole story started with a Daily Record interview that quoted Millar as saying he “always wanted to reinvent Superman for the 21st century.”  He then went on to reveal that he had his “director and producer set up” and that there was even a target year in mind: 2011.

    This, of course, sent the Web geek community into a bit of a tizzy.  In response, Millar (creator of “Wanted” and author of “Superman: Red Son”) had this to say:

    PS: That Superman news is interesting, isn’t it? In the interests of clarity (because I’m sure this will be picked up somewhere) a very well known American action director heard about my love of Superman, approached my (sic) and asked me to team up with he and his producer to make a pitch for this. We’ve been talking for several weeks now and, if this is going to happen, we’ll know by Christmas. He has huge pull at WB so fingers crossed. But this is nothing more than a huge US name pulling me into his fold and making me part of a package.

    The first name that leaps to my mind is Wolfgang Petersen, but he’s obviously German.  However, you may recall Petersen was signed on to direct a Superman vs. Batman film for Warner Bros. way back in 2002.  That was, of course, way before Christopher Nolan unleashed his reboot of the Batman franchise on the marketplace.  Peterson might be construed as having “huge pull at WB” since he releases most of his films through the studio and has managed a few considerable hits there (“The Perfect Storm, “Troy”) despite the occasional clunker (“Poseidon”).

    The filmmaker was also quoted as recently as two years ago — during the build-up to Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” — expressing an interest in pitting the two superheroes on the screen together.  Sure seems like a possibility to me.

    Who else could Millar be hinting at?  The Wachowski Brothers have sure made a bundle of money for the studio in recent years.  “Watchmen” helmer Zack Snyder has also been welcomed with open arms in Burbank after delivering big on “300,” and he seems just the sort of person who’d be interested in reimagining the Superman character for a new franchse.

    Francis Lawrence?  “Constantine” didn’t really find its footing, but “I Am Legend” (thanks to Will Smith, of course) made a killing worldwide.

    McG?  The “Charlie’s Angels” films made bank at Sony, but he still convinced Warners to hand him the key to a massive franchise in the form of “Terminator Salvation.”  He’s also been here before and, according to rumor at the time, had one hell of a mind to revamp the franchise with casting speculation such as Beyoncé Knowles and Johnny Depp floating about.

    And surely Tim Burton — a WB staple through the years with “huge pull” indeed — isn’t treading these waters yet again.  Or is he?  He certainly had a unique vision of the character once upon a time.

    Thoughts?  As long as it isn’t Brett Ratner, I’m happy.

  • The Guardian dashes Ledger’s Oscar hopes

    Not particularly new or earth-shattering perspective, but worth a link nontheless.  From a Xan Brooks item this morning in The Guardian:

    History…is not on [Ledger’s] side. James Dean was twice nominated in the wake of his death and yet still finished up as a posthumous loser on the night. More recently, Oliver Reed (for Gladiator) and Ulrich Mühe (The Lives of Others) were both tipped in vain for at least a nomination. In fact, the only actor ever to be awarded a posthumous Oscar was Network’s Peter Finch. Felled by a heart attack during the voting period, he swept to glory on a tidal wave of grief.

  • It’s all part of the plan

    Source

  • The Robin debate

    (I’m going to geek out quite a bit here, so bear with me.)

    Erik Davis at Cinematical points us today to what I would consider a rather ill-advised rant from Sturdy of JoBlo against the idea of introducing the character of Dick Grayson (a.k.a. Robin) into the Christopher Nolan Batman franchise.

    Now, I would like to be measured here, because this is an argument far too easily given to hyperbole regarding what Robin is and what he means to the Batman mythos, to say nothing of what his existence means in the scope of a relationship with Bruce Wayne.

    I think an introduction is possible, if not valuable, to the franchise Nolan has crafted thus far.

    If there is one argument from Sturdy on which I side, it is that Robin has never worked on film or television.  Burt Ward’s incarnation in the 1960s television show worked for what the series was going for, but not for what the character was, while the Joel Schumacher films depicted a character far too old and leaning much too heavily on the “young, dumb and full of cum” credo that must have been difficult to resist.

    I do, however, think the notion that Robin has never worked in comics can only come from a reader never truly engaged in what DC writers have done with the character over the years.  Indeed, many story lines failed because it is a dynamic that is difficult to grasp and control (not to mention dense with a three character history), but the proof of Grayson’s worth came with his own evolution into an adult less convinced but more understanding of his role as a vigilante than Bruce Wayne could ever be.

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  • Nolan wanted the Joker ex nihilo

    Batman-on-Film.com’s Bill Ramey is probably the biggest Batman fan this side of…well, me.  He made the trip from Texas to Los Angeles over the weekend to see “The Dark Knight” and participate in the film’s junket, scoring a nicely in-depth interview with director Christopher Nolan.

    Here’s the money quote, describing Nolan’s philosophy on whether to include much in the way of an origin story for Heath Ledger’s Joker character:

    I felt very strongly that when you take these extraordinary characters — in the movies, I’m talking very much about the movies here. But you take these extraordinary characters and the more you find out about them — where they came from and all — the less interesting they become. And that’s very true to me of say Hannibal Lectre (sic) or Darth Vader. You know when we first saw them onscreen, they were fully formed and an absolute. Unlike Batman — who I wanted very much to explore his origin and where he came from — with heroes it’s just different. But with villains, it’s the opposite. So with The Joker, I wanted present him as an absolute, an agent of chaos and anarchy.

    Read the rest here.  They do love the Batman-on-Film Web site (11 years running) at Warners and on the Bat crew, I can tell you that.

  • Batman vs. Batman vs. Batman vs. Batman

    A…W…E…S…O…M…E:

  • Sayin’ it now

    With reviews trickling down for “The Dark Knight” in the last 24 hours or so, everyone seems to be going out of their way to hail Heath Ledger’s performance as Oscar caliber, perhaps even sporting the chops to win the award posthumously.

    Of course, we’ve been all over that scenario for months here at In Contention, but it’s occured to me now that Warner Bros. might have a case to push this apparently epic portrayal for all it’s worth.

    I’m talking about a nomination for Heath Ledger in the Best Actor category.

    Stranger things — indeed, similarly atypical scenarios — have certainly happened.  The easiest excuses remain Lee Marvin in “Cat Ballou” and Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”  If a genre performance comes along that is so earth-shattering, or perhaps not even that so much as a head-spinner that demands critical attention and adoration, the Academy seems willing to comply in those often heated lead races.  Why not this year?  Why not this performance?

    By all accounts, Ledger seems to be blowing his co-stars off the screen.  More than simply chewing the scenery, it appears he is gnawing on the film stock, owning the film and every meaningful aspect of it.

    Respect might well be demanded in a manner we didn’t expect — perhaps Mr. Ledger will go into the Oscar books a two-time nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

    More in the charts on Monday.

  • Campea on ‘Knight’

    Our pal John Campea over at The Movie Blog is back in Los Angeles after some time back home in Toronto this summer, and right out of the gate he’s slapped up a review from last night’s screening of “The Dark Knight.”

    It’s a glowing assessment to say the least, and at one point John says he was ready to call the film one of the best cinematic endeavors of the last three or four years.  But John’s getting old, what can I say — and the length of the film kind of got to him a bit.

    To each his own.  But I doubt there will be too many people upset with the apparent direction the final act takes (in the way of bridging over to the eventual third film).

    It’s worth noting that John structures his reviews in a very accessible way.  His site is and has always been a film site, a great community of movie lovers with no pretensions.  Keep that in mind as I offer his load-busting assessment of Heath Ledger’s performance:

    One of the things I was preparing myself for was how over hyped the performance of Heath Ledger was going to be. Since he passed away, I knew he’d be getting rave reviews out the ying (sic) yang no matter what and I’d be frowned upon if I said any different. But holy mother suck puss face… HEATH LEDGER DESERVES AN OSCAR NOMINATION FOR HIS PERFORMANCE AS THE JOKER… no… I’m not even kidding in the least. I was totally, 100% blown away like nothing I’ve ever seen in a comic based movie before.

    And the closer:

    Holy crap did Two Face look WICKED!!!

    Then he gets into why the length bothered him, etc.  Check out ther rest here.

    I haven’t seen any other reviews drop yet, but I’m sure we’ll start seeing them throughout Friday and into the weekend, when the junket screenings start to land.  Be on the lookout.