ChristopherNolan Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'll admit that when it comes to Batman, I'm a bit of a novice (I'll just take a moment to let you finish yelling at your monitor). Granted, I've been taking steps to remedy that situation over the past couple of years, but I'm still a long way from an expert. The reason I mention this is because I'm not steeped in Batman lore and I never really found The Joker to be all that scary. But because of Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger, I now understand what was so creepy about that clown thanks to the interrogation scene in The Dark Knight.

It's one thing to hear someone say they have nothing to lose, but it's a hell of a lot more frightening to watch that philosophy in action. What makes this scene so memorable is that in under five minutes the Joker sums up everything about the Batman/Joker relationship that makes it one of the most fascinating in comic book history -- it's an interesting idea that the person who is supposed to save you might not be able to because of his moral code. Batman's adherence to the law is his Achilles' heel, and no matter how many times I have seen this movie, I can't help but crack a smile at Ledger's gleeful maniac turning the knife on our Caped Crusader with "You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength." And the scary thing is ... he's right.

After the jump: "I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curve..."

As we crawl toward Labor Day Weekend, you may have noticed that news has slowed down considerably while Hollywood skips town for the last two weeks of August before dusting themselves off for the upcoming film festivals and awards season. So when it's a slow news time, you should expect some folks to take chances on a few crazy movie rumors in order to give them some nice traffic during an otherwise uneventful period. And what a better way to get traffic than to make up ridiculous rumors about the next Batman movie.

The latest rumors? Well, Britain's The Sun claims Megan Fox has been cast as Catwoman in the film. Yup ... and as I was writing that a pig flew past my window! Also, AICN (who, I'll admit, are definitely more legitimate than The Sun) claim there's a chance Christopher Nolan may shoot the next Batman flick using just IMAX cameras -- making it so the entire movie is in IMAX, instead of just a few key scenes like with The Dark Knight. Then again, there's also a chance Nolan will off a guy in the street with a machine gun while singing The Star Spangled Banner with two Twinkies hanging out his mouth ... but that doesn't mean it's actually going to happen.

These rumors, however, aren't much fun unless you collect them all together and vote on which one you'd actually like to see come true. So, because it's slow and because we love time-wasters, sound off below on which of the many Batman 3 rumors floating around online you'd like to see come true.

UPDATE: Yahoo has posted the full Inception trailer, and you can check it out after the jump.

Sometimes anticipation is delightful; sometimes it's maddening. With Christopher Nolan's über-mysterious, eagerly awaited 2010 sci-fi release Inception, anticipation is a bit of both. We know precisely two things about the plot: that it is a "contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind", and -- thanks to the possibly less-than-reliable IMDb blurb synopsis -- that it involves a "CEO-type who gets caught up in a blackmailing scandal." It's that first description that's so tantalizing. My immediate instinct was to think of the John Cusack/James Mangold thriller Identity, which I quite liked but would rather not see again, if you get me. But suffice it to say I am not worried that Inception will be a retread.

The teaser trailer, which should be officially released later today, has leaked in bootlegged form -- you can see it here, at least for now. (I am told it was attached to Inglourious Basterds, though there was no sign of it when I saw the Tarantino film last night.) It shows glimpses of various freaky but out-of-context goings-on, along with the tagline "your mind is the scene of the crime." And the official site has launched, though those hoping for more information will be sorely disappointed. All you'll see is a spinning metal widget that will follow your mouse around like a puppy.

It is dizzyingly awesome to see someone as smart and ambitious as Nolan operate in Hollywood's blockbuster A-list, with creative control and the clout to make big budgets serve big ideas. Rumors continue to swirl around the question of whether Nolan will return to the Batman franchise, but I halfway hope he doesn't. Inception is my most anticipated movie of 2010 in a walk.

This just in from The Book of Eli panel at Comic Con: Gary Oldman, who of course plays Commissioner Gordon in the latest series of Batman films from Christopher Nolan, has announced that the next Batman movie will begin shooting next year with a potential release date of 2011. Since these actors can never actually officially go on the record, Oldman followed up that news with the line "... but don't quote me on that." Thus, we're now left wondering whether he was guessing when he threw out a production start date of 2010, or if he really was telling the truth -- that he's been contacted, that they're currently ironing out a preliminary schedule behind the scenes and that Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie will indeed go in front of cameras next year at some point.

Unless we're talking really late in 2010 (like fall, winter), then we can't imagine when Nolan would have the time to begin shooting in 2010, especially since he just started production on his sci-fi flick Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which will arrive in theaters on July 16, 2010. One imagines Nolan will be busy in post-production on that sucker through at least the beginning of 2010, followed by press junkets for Inception and all that jazz. So when, exactly, would he be shooting Batman 3?

Unless he won't be directing Batman 3?

Stay tuned for more details as they develop from The Con -- and check out all our Con coverage right here.

Erik Davis and Todd Gilchrist contributed to this report

It's hard to believe it's been a year since The Dark Knight, and the Batman 3 rumor mill just hasn't stopped grinding. Someone, somewhere, is always trying to flog a rumor of who will be Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, or Robin. When they get tired of fantasy casting, they ponder when Christopher Nolan will abandon this Inception thing, and get going on Batman 3.

In a piece passed wildly around the net, Batman on Film is reporting that Nolan is very uninterested in returning to Gotham City. The story goes that Heath Ledger's death upset him greatly, and dismantled any and all plans he had for a third installment. The Joker was set to return (is that really a surprise?), and now there's simply no story. While Nolan and David S. Goyer are working on ideas, it's unlikely you'll see anything before 2012 at the earliest, with 2013 being more likely.

Here's what we currently know about Christopher Nolan's between-Batmans project, Inception:

• It is not, as initially asserted by a commenter, concerning "a war for the colonization of Venus."


• It is more likely along the lines of a sci-fi action film "set within the architecture of the mind" (which, coming from the brains behind The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Memento, is a scary-thrilling thought).


• Currently on board are Leonardo DiCaprio (as some sort of CEO), Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine...

...and, according to THR, rounding out the ensemble (for now) are Ken "Batman Begins" Watanabe as a blackmailing villain and Tom "apparently awesome in Bronson" Hardy as a colleague of DiCaprio's.

Sorry to be Avatar-level vague, but with a cast like this and a crew like that, there's little left to do but twiddle our thumbs and hope for the best between now and next summer. Either that, or Nolan just recast most of the third Batman film and doesn't want Christian Bale to know...

Christopher Nolan is one of those filmmakers who could make a rut or obsession seem so damned appealing. For many, it's great to branch out and not get rutted, but for Nolan ... it would be quite sweet to have a neverending onslaught of good, wow-worthy Batman films. That's not going to happen, but at least his post-bat project is becoming increasingly more interesting.

On the heels of Leonardo DiCaprio, Variety reports that Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, and Cillian Murphy are joining the Inception. Not much more is being said about the project, but this is what we know thus far: It will be a sci-fi action movie that takes place within "the architecture of the mind," and DiCaprio will play a CEO-type, Cotillard will be married to him, and Page will be a young grad student who is also his sidekick. There's no mention of Murphy's character, so I wonder: Could this all take place within his mind?

It could take place on a napkin for all I care -- Nolan has definitely proven he's got the chops, and this cast should be interesting in the realms of science fiction. But what do you think? Is Inception intriguing you, or do you just wish Batman would answer the bat signal once again?

It's the sort of story that puts Christian Bale's un-Batman-like rant into perspective -- Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan's brother may be a murderer.

Matthew Francis Nolan, 40, is wanted in Costa Rica for the kidnapping and murder of a Florida businessman. Nolan allegedly presented himself to the now-deceased Robert C. Cohen as an investor, claiming he wanted to do business in South America. But his real mission, authorities say, was to get $7 million that Cohen owed another man in Florida.

Nolan's accomplice, Douglas Mejia, has already been convicted of kidnapping Cohen when he and Nolan attempted to extort the money from Cohen's family. When that failed, cops say that the pair killed him.

Nolan was already under investigation by the FBI regarding an unrelated $700,000 bank-fraud scheme. He's now being held in the U.S., awaiting extradition.

Christopher Nolan collaborated with another brother, Jonathan, on the scripts for Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight, and Jonathan is credited with the upcoming Terminator: Salvation -- it looks like they don't have to search too far to find inspiration for the darker themes in their screenplays. A lot of families have black sheep, but who knew that Nolan's own brother might be the Joker?

Aside from the obvious cachet of being Chris Nolan's writing and directing follow-up to The Dark Knight, next year's Inception has the most intriguing teaser description I've heard in a while: it's billed as a sci-fi action film "set within the architecture of the mind." I have no earthly idea what that means, though I'm imagining something like the old "Body Wars" ride at Epcot Center, where you were shrunk to microscopic proportions and went on a simulated flight through the human body. Light saber battles on the parietal lobe! What? No takers?

As with every other movie coming out in 2009 and 2010, Leonardo DiCaprio is now attached to star. I mock DiCaprio's ubiquity, but I'm never sorry to see him: over the past few years it's become clear that he's a pretty brilliant guy. He knows how to pick material, too; he's fond of prestige projects, but he seems to have an eye for the good ones. His next film is his fourth Martin Scorsese collaboration, Shutter Island. And Inception is sci-fi from one of Hollywood's smartest screenwriters (and I'm not even necessarily talking about The Dark Knight).

Anyway, speculation on what an action film "set within the architecture of the mind" might entail, if you please. I'm sticking with my "Body Wars" hypothesis until further notice. In 3D, of course.