THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012/ C. Nolan)

Yeah, this film isn't scheduled to appear for another year, but I must post about it.
The final film in the Holy Batman trilogy (my opinion only) will be something to behold.
Michael Caine has let it slip in an interview that fans don't know what they're in for with this one.

All I can say is that the mere presence of BANE has got my juice on and my jack up.
Next to the Joker, he's my absolute favorite Batman villain.
I'm insanely curious what Nolan will do with that character. Can't wait.
Catwoman's cool, but BANE is where I get excited. I've seen the only photo of him from the film online, looking over his shoulder.
Looks BOSS. And totally right. Will Batman get his back snapped in two, like he did once upon a time in the 90's in the comics?
We shall see.

It cannot be understated what Christopher Nolan has bestowed on us comics fans. (and film buffs).
I admire that man to the fiftieth power. If only I could be a fly on the wall on his set..
2012 cannot come soon enough.

A teaser trailer is out now, apparently showing before the latest/last Harry Potter movie.

www.geektyrant.com

My blockbuster consultant at the local grocery store told me about this trailer before I saw it, but it was not shown at the Harry Potter iMax show.

It doesn't give you a whole lot, this trailer.
Par for the course for Christopher Nolan.
The Dark Knight teaser was even more sparse.

I'm certainly not worried that the film will suck...

I hope not. For me it's up in the air. But as blockbusters go it will be sophisticated, I suppose.

I know you weren't particularly fond of The Dark Knight and I'm sure you'll be steely in your assessment of The Dark Knight Rises.
I'm totally, unabashedly biased on Batman. Especially this screen version.
It's the kind of trilogy you pray for but never, ever get.

I heard that the filmmakers want to shoot it almost completely in IMAX (a Canadian invention), way more than the first two films did.
Praise the Cinema Gods.

Nolan can do drama, he can do action (brilliantly), and his cinema is exciting, interesting, VERY watchable.
Movies should be so well thought-out by their creative teams that the films have LONG LASTING shelf lives.
A film should be so good that you could watch it again at any time and you'll never be let down.
Nolan's Batman trilogy is just that for me.
I have to say tho, that after seeing The Dark Knight as many times as I have, the scene with the boats that could detonate could have been chopped down a bit- a little too long and drawn out, Otherwise, that movie is ACES.
The acting and PACE is great.
Batman fans are just really happy that the mythos is being taken seriously. BY ANYONE.
It's a real blessing.
Batman has dignity now.

I like "steely." I'm still convinced The Dark Knight was over-praised, and think Inception was a pretentious disappointment. I still have great hopes for Nolan, though, for the edge and innovation of Memento. He could be a risk-taker if he tried. If he could rediscover his beginner's mind.

Too much praise? Probably. Whenever films are hyped as much as these are, it's real easy to hate it just for the hype.
Inception is my least favorite Nolan film, despite having some amazing shots.
I just couldn't get into it.
Batman?
Oh Yeah.

He should take more risks. I agree. He could deliver some really surprising tricks, like he did for The Prestige, a fantastic film.
One thing I do love about him is his Kubrick-level of secrecy.
Very little gets out about what he's up to.
even Christian Bale tried to get into Nolan's editing room and was told to fuck off!
That's control.

You have a love of the whole Batman idea, story, and fanboy expernece, and Nolan seems almost too good to be true because he is a more sophisticated diretor than usual to be dealing with comic book blockbusters. (Maybe Kenneth Brannagh was too sophisticated and Shakespearean to do Thor, or maybe he just doesn't have a good grip on the pop sensibility). Inception didn't have that tie-in for you. It was so high concept it was like a snake feeding on its own tail. It's a worrying sign that the new trailer has showers of disintegrating fragments, one of the CGI tricks Nolan fell for too much in Inception. If only Michael Bay had any ideas or stories to tell, his handling of CGI is solider and more savvy and just plain fun. The Transformers idea of morphing from a car to a giant robot is one of the simplest, most satisfying uses of CGI technology.

Kubrick-level secrecy is a sign of creative seriousness and independence that is indeed admirable.

I hope you'll take a peek at my reviews of Sarah's Key and Project Nim. These are the current movies I'm thinking about and some people are talking about today and this week.

I also just saw Tabliod, but despite being from one of our big names in documentary filmmaking, Errol Morris, it seemed disappointingly opaque in its obsession with the gossipiy and anecdotal.

Another movie that's coming and has some promise if only as an acting tour de force is The Devil's Double, starring Dominic Cooper (of The History Boys etc.) as Uday, son of Saddam, and the man recruited to front for him.

And of course the blockbuster-of-the-week is Captain America, but I have to go out and see that--I didn't get invited to a preview of it. (Maybe I could have seen it last night at midnight but I'n not that gung-ho and I like my sleep).

You get invited to previews!
*turns green*
You're more gung-ho than the rest of us.
Look how many reviews you've cranked out over time.
You are a writing MACHINE.
:)

Reports have surfaced that The Dark Knight Rises set has shut down whole city streets in New York.

Next summer has an ANVIL of a blockbuster coming....

Quote:

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You get invited to previews!
*turns green*
You're more gung-ho than the rest of us.
Look how many reviews you've cranked out over time.
You are a writing MACHINE.
:)

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I'll take all that as a compliment. The mainstream print critics have turned out many more than I have. Ebert's weekly output far exceeds mine. And I don't get invited to as many screenings as I'd like to. My timers in NYC throughout the year are invaluable in enriching my output.

Quote:

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Reports have surfaced that The Dark Knight Rises set has shut down whole city streets in New York.

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It's a city that has streets to spare for movie making. More than likely a block or two though, during off hours.

Of the movies I mentioned in this thread earlier, the one that stays worth remembering is PROJECT NIM. That stays in my best 2011 documentaries list. It is depressing and deeply revealing, and it plays into any informed consideration of the PLANET OF THE APES prequel.

My comments weren't meant to be negative.

I wish I could see all the films you write about.
By the time I get around to seeing a particular film, your memories are probably lesser than when you typed the review. Hard to have a decent *topical* dialogue in this way. It becomes piecemeal, lacking relevancy.
I'm way behind you on seeing recently released movies.

On The Dark Knight Rises: people are already saying this film will suck (I've gotten into heated exchanges with peeps on Facebook already).
Chris Nolan is going out with a bang on this one.
I know it already, and I've only seen that *very* short teaser.
People think they've got the inside edge on these things when they aren't anywhere near the production.
How can you be so presumptuous when you're not even in the movie business?
Monte Hellman just had a great dialog on FB about Pauline Kael and how she knew zilch about moviemaking and was never called on it because her readers knew even less about filmmaking than she did.
Critics and lay people have to keep in mind that someone put their heart and soul into making that film.
Having your claws out when you haven't even seen a frame is a bit precious. I only do it when I'M ALMOST CERTAIN or CERTAIN on my impressions. I never go off half-cocked.
Because I don't like looking like an idiot.
If I do, it's unconscious. (and then I don't care! Ha ha)

Yes, Pauline Kael was called on her mistakes about filmmaking, though I don't know what they were specifically. I still honor the memory of how stimulating she was about movies -- like you.

I don't know that about how Nolan's coming film is predicted to be a failure.

I hope I can discuss movies with you even a long time after I've seen them. What I'm not as good as you at talking about is movies that haven'et come out yet.

Just one example of Pauline Kael's obliviousness to the craft of making movies:
she famously panned 2001: A Space Odyssey (and Eyes Wide Shut for that matter- I think smart women have a dislike for Kubrick for some reason) and the plain-as-the-nose-on-my-face CRAFT on display wasn't even acknowledged.
Same with Barry Lyndon, where she said "it's saying: things are pretty and people are not". That is sheer over-simplification, and I don't know why she did that time and time again. Are we supposed to be impressed with her ability to reduce a movie to a two-line dismissal?
You do the filmmaker and the film in question a disservice, unless the movie truly deserved such cutting down.
(and 2001 does not deserve it. Nor will it ever).

She didn't give much historical import to her writing. She seemed to live in the moment to me. Her passion for movies is without question.
I just wonder where she was coming from on some films. Sometimes she nailed it for all time (Last Tango in Paris) and sometimes she had no compass (Kubrick).
I'm 50/50 on her legacy. She got cozy with Godard and got development deals from Hollywood (that went nowhere) so I'm aware of and a little green over her stature. Her panning of Kubrick right up to the end of her life sticks in my craw. I admire her for at least giving film buffs something to chew on. She gave you something to mull over, for good or ill. She was stimulating, I can agree.
When Tarantino says "I wanted to see a movie the way she saw a movie, write about a movie the way she saw the movie" THAT'S a compliment.
He was upset that she retired right when he released Reservoir Dogs- "Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe I don't want to know what she thinks of my movie".
I was on the SeaBus in Vancouver in 2001 reading the paper that announced she died. I saved the article but I've since "Lost It". Pardon the pun.