the dark knight Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Pitch of the Day: 'Superman Returns 2'
Filed under: Classics », Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Today's pitch is sort of a last chance grab at any possibility of Warner Bros. not rebooting the Superman franchise yet again and instead letting Bryan Singer, or someone else, simply move forward from the underrated Superman Returns. I'm sure to be in my own boat here, especially since all the geeks are celebrating Christopher Nolan's reported involvement with version 3.0 of the superhero on film (if we're talking theatrical releases, isn't this version 5.0? And if we're talking all adaptations it's like version 10.6.2). Still, I'm going to once again make the case for...Superman Returns 2
Of course it wouldn't be titled that. What an awkward title. But my point is that I'd like to see Singer's installment get a follow-up rather than another reboot. As I noted in my take on the pseudo Mr. & Mrs. Smith reboot yesterday, and as some commenters agreed, sequels are usually more desirable than reboots. I know, go on about Nolan's Batman franchise reboot. Well, a sequel can go in a new direction, too, without the lame connotations of a reboot. Or, it can be a combo like Singer's movie was. Superman Returns continued the original Superman series while also rebooting it. I'll admit I'm a wee bit torn on the idea, as I'd like to see Brandon Routh return but I could certainly do without Kate Bosworth -- though, if Nolan can switch it up with the female lead in his Batman films, they can do it with this, as well.
'Star Trek 2' Will Focus on the Villain
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Scripts », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
With only a week to go before the Oscar nominations are announced, Star Trek seems less and less a candidate for one of the ten Best Picture slots. But there's still a good chance the film's script, by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, will be honored with a Best Adapted Screenplay nod. After all, the duo is nominated for a Writers Guild Award. But does it really matter what honors the first film receives? Aren't we all just looking forward to the future, interested about what the sequel will be like? Yes, this is why we're ignoring the majority of what Orci and Kurtzman had to say at a WGA nominees screening of Star Trek last week in order to focus on what little tidbits of info they spilled about Star Trek 2 (or whatever it will be called). They don't seem to really know what the sequel will entail yet, so there wasn't much to divulge. Orci admitted they're still discussing whether or not the film should pick up directly after the first film or take place much later, for instance.
One thing that's for certain, however, is that it won't be a remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Yet it will be similar to that much revered installment in that it will be concentrated on its villain. Check out the exact quote after the jump.
Oscar Discuss: 'Avatar' vs. 'The Dark Knight'
Filed under: Awards », Oscar Watch »
When The Dark Knight was left off the Oscar lists last year, the cries of injustice were heard loud and far. The Academy is biased. Who did the Weinsteins buy off? How many dirty pictures of AMPAS members does Stephen Daldry possess to get three director nods for three films? How could this have happened? Could it happen again? Well just four months after the gravelly growl heard round the film world, here came the Academy with an announcement.
Ten.
That's right. For the first time since 1943, the Oscars are going to have ten nominations for Best Picture instead of the usual five. "Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going to allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," said Academy President Sid Ganis. In other words, no longer will films as lauded as The Dark Knight get screwed. Gone are the days that animated films would be discriminated against. At least not those labeled with Pixar. It's the reason that three successful science fiction films are in legitimate contention for a Best Picture nomination this year. Only one of them serves up comparison to The Dark Knight though. In the numbers, not your particular preference over which film is a masterpiece of genre filmmaking and which has blue people in it. Put those personal opinions aside for the moment and ask yourself this question: If there were still only five nominees for Best Picture, would Avatar have been this year's Dark Knight?
New 'Inception' Trailer Still Brings The Weird
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »
We've been waiting for it, and here it is! Apple has unveiled the second trailer for Christopher Nolan's Inception, which definitely gives us a bit more than the first -- including the first clues as to what this sucker is actually about -- but remains restrained, dazzling us with strange visions of sideways people and a determined Leonardo DiCaprio. Based on what we've already learned and what we see here, it appears the film will follow people who have somehow figured out a way to hijack the human mind and enter the space in order to steal an idea. Hence all the trippy slo-mo shots of people falling sideways and fighting in mid-air -- it would appear as if Nolan has created his own Matrix-like world inside the human mind, and unleashed his powerful ensemble cast to do his dirty work.
Starring DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page, Inception is slowly climbing to the top of everyone's most anticipated movie list for 2010. Here, Nolan follows up The Dark Knight with a film that once again looks dark, grimy and sinister with a steel-like shine. I'm sure others will cite early script leaks and try to piece together the entire plot for you, but I kinda like how we don't know every inch of this sucker yet. Might be better if we let her simmer for awhile over low heat before we throw in everything but the kitchen sink. After all, based on what we see here, Nolan has definitely cooked up something tasty.
Check out he trailer below. What do you think?
The Best of the Decade: Sequels
Filed under: Fandom », Remakes and Sequels », Lists », Best/Worst »
Oh, the dreaded sequel. For a while, it was the loathed S-word -- an inevitable drop in quality, almost always revealing an increasing degree of cinematic laziness. But then came the aughts. Not only did we find the S-word replaced with the dreaded R-word (remake/reboot ... take your pick), but we also got a slice of something good. This decade brought some impressive sequels that challenged the well-established notion that continuing a story and revisiting beloved characters would be a bad thing. And now, as the decade wraps up, it's time to rank them.
Compiling the best sequels of the decade is not the most harrowing task out there. My fellow writers have that honor, shuffling through hundreds of films to pick out a few mere handfuls, but the sequel list does elicit questions. For example: What do you do when you desperately want a comedy sequel to be on the list, but you really don't like the best choice of the bunch? Should you consider the film's box office success? What about installments in a series? There's so much to consider...
What follows are the best and most successful sequels and series installments (they must have love here!) that the aughts have brought us. Of course, this is the opinion of one mere writer, so dig in, and as always, be sure to comment with your own picks.
The Best of the Decade: The Comic Book Flicks
Filed under: Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Lists », Best/Worst »
Trying to rank the best comic flicks of the decade is a surprisingly tough task. I've approached it with all the enthusiasm Hester Prynne must have shown walking to the scaffold. It's not because I don't love discussing the past ten years of the genre, but because I hate ranking films. It puts me into knots of indecision. If I could, I would rank things in a sort of Venn diagram – Iron Man overlaps Batman Begins which overshadows Spider-Man.
But Venn diagrams are impossible to post, and the end of the decade demands lists. So please, take this as one humble writer's list, and use it to jump-start your own. To keep myself sane, I'm leaving off adaptations such as A History of Violence and Road to Perdition. They were based on graphic novels, and they certainly elevated the art of comic adaptation to a whole new level, but that's precisely the problem. Trying to rank Perdition against X2: X-Men United feels like a disservice to both films, and a cheesy way to flesh out the list.
So, don't think of the exclusion of American Splendor, Road to Perdition, Ghost World, Persepolis, and A History of Violence something negative. They're excellent films. They prove what rich material is often contained within a mocked genre. But I would rather think of these films as literary adaptations that belong in dramatic categories. Even that implies they're "better" than superhero tales, which I suppose is true to some extent, but also unfair. They hit us in different ways, and appeal to us on different levels. Asking Tony Stark and Marjane Satrapi to compete just because they're both illustrated is just wrong. But your mileage may vary. If you can resolve the conflict, I applaud you, and am anxious to see how you rank them.
Now, on to the rankings -- and you don't know how I longed for more time to re-watch every selection.
The Geek Beat: 'Kick-Ass' Commentary
Filed under: Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », The Geek Beat »
Do you know what movie came out 31 years ago on this very day?* Superman: The Movie. What a Christmas present that was for every kid and geek in 1978!
It's a nice anniversary to think about as every print and online outlet races to put up their Best of the Decade lists (and yes, I'm working on a superhero / comic one as you read this). Many are counting up the genre films in amazement, and feeling very culturally aware by labeling it the decade of the geek. But all of this began 31 years ago, except that no one thought to label it "geek" or snicker at comic book fans. Superman: The Movie was just that -- the movie. I wish I could pinpoint the exact cultural moment when Superman and his heroic ilk took about twenty steps back into something that studios were sure nothing but "fanboys" would watch. I'm sure it's possible, and I'm also sure it would be a relatively recent date.
But, this isn't going to be another "geek is chic" column. I've done plenty of those, and I imagine I'll churn out one or two more as the mainstream begins to encompass everything the geek held dear. No, instead I wanted us all to laugh over the fact that 31 years ago the most wholesome superhero in history took flight on the big screen. He thrilled the world with his boy scout antics. And now, funnily enough, we have Kick-Ass, where kids who grew up on a steady Superman diet take to the streets as vigilantes.
Newsweek Blames George Bush for Dark, Depressing Movies - Do You Agree?
Filed under: Drama », Newsstand », Politics »
In the cold light of history, I'm sure there will be plenty of blame to be laid at the feet of one George W. Bush, but blaming him for movies? Well, that's what Ramin Setoodeh over at Newsweek is proposing -- that the rash of downer films that have littered the box office in the last two years is all because of big bad Bush, and it's a bit of a leap. After all, there's the tried and true logic that awards season usually has studios releasing their 'serious' pictures, and in the world of cinema, serious usually means depressing. But Setoodeh has some evidence to back up his claims, mainly that in the so-called 'golden years' of Bill Clinton, films like Shakespeare in Love and The Full Monty were Oscar contenders, and now we have grim, foreboding films like There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and Slumdog Millionaire. But it didn't stop at Oscar nominees, because according to Setoodeh, Terminators, the kids of Hogwarts, and even a pair of star-crossed lovers from Forks, Washington seem to be suffering from bouts of depression thanks to the Republican president.
Now I truly believe that if you need to take the temperature of any nation, pop culture is one the best places to start. But it does strike me a little odd that Setoodeh glossed over so many of the films released during Bush's reign that were far from the dark and depressing world of Cormac McCarthy. If you take a quick look, Bush's term was full of romantic comedies, animated films, superheroes and gross-out comedies galore, which makes it just like any other year at the movies.
After the jump: Oscar nominees that weren't a downer, and is Setoodeh right?
Phew! 'New Moon' Fails to Clinch Opening Weekend Record
Filed under: Box Office », Fandom », Newsstand »
According to estimates over at Variety, The Twilight Saga: New Moon failed to top The Dark Knight's three-day opening weekend record of $158 million, bringing what I'm sure will be a huge sigh of relief to all those folks (and there's lots of them) who felt the film was in no way deserving of these historic milestones. Instead, after clinching the Best Midnight Opening record and Best Opening Day record, New Moon will have to settle for third on the Best Opening Weekend list after walking away with a pretty astonishing
If that number holds up (and it should), the film will replace Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for third place on the list of all-time best opening weekends (domestic), and will settle in behind only Spider-Man 3 (second) and The Dark Knight (first). Still, with
'New Moon' Smashes 'Dark Knight's' Opening Day Record!
Filed under: Drama », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Box Office », Fandom », Newsstand »
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According to ERC, The Twilight Saga: New Moon sold roughly $71 million (Variety is reporting $72.7 million) worth of tickets on its opening day -- a number that, if correct, far surpasses the current opening day box office record of $67 million set by The Dark Knight back in 2008. With its $26 million take in midnight showings, that gives the second installment in the Twilight franchise two pretty giant records: Best Midnight Opening and Best Single Day Opening. Next up for the franchise is the three-day opening weekend record, also held by The Dark Knight with $158 million.
So what does this say about us? Well, while it's not as critically acclaimed as, say, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (previous midnight opening record holder) or The Dark Knight, these numbers do show just how much of an impact the female audience can have on a box office take. Sure, when The Dark Knight broke records everyone wanted to single out the teenage male audience as having won that film its titles, but polls showed females were responsible for upwards of 50% of that film's opening box office too. And now, with New Moon breaking records attracting a younger female audience, here's hoping studios wake up and realize that, yeah, the female audience is a damn powerful force.
So kudos to all you Twi-hards for showing up to support the property you love. Is the film truly worthy of its new records? Probably not. Will another film break those records within the next year? Yeah, most likely. But dammit if the folks at Summit Entertainment aren't partying their asses off this weekend. They just won the World Series at the box office. Congrats!
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams Reunite for 'Mission Impossible 4'
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
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