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John Connor vs. Bruce Wayne: Which Blockbustin' Bale Is Better?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:30:28 -0700

Now that Christian Bale has lit up the big screen for another Summer blockbuster in Terminator Salvation, tell me: How do you like your Bale? As the gravel-voiced Bruce Wayne of the Batman movies? Or as the intense leader, John Connor, in a futuristic Terminator world?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

The Dark Knight to Get Another Round in Theaters, January '09

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:31:31 -0700

Even though The Dark Knight has gone above and beyond the line of duty at the box office, earning an estimated $512 million domestically, Warner Bros. has announced it will get a re-release in January 2009. The Hollywood Reporter notes:

Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman acknowledged ongoing talks with IMAX execs over the prospect of restoring the Christian Bale starrer to some giant-screen venues in January. It's uncertain if Dark Knight also will reappear in conventional venues at that point.

January, eh? Also known as: Oscar season!

So, what do you think? Over-hyped and political? Or yay? The DVD will already be out in December, though I still haven't seen The Dark Knight in an IMAX theater as many times as I'd like, so this might be fun come the new year. Also, a re-release could certainly help the movie beat Titanic as the biggest earner ever.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Dark Knight Wins Box Office for the Fourth Week in a Row!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:30:32 -0700

Interestingly, neither a BFF movie nor a stoner action-comedy could dethrone The Dark Knight in its fourth weekend. Having already surpassed the $400 million mark in domestic ticket sales, the superhero movie pulled in another $26 million over the weekend.

According to Variety, the movie has now taken the place of Shrek 2 to "become the third highest domestic grosser of all time with a cume of $441.5 million. It’s expected to beat Star Wars in the next week before finally settling at No. 2."

Pineapple Express came in second place with $22.4 million (however, it has earned a total of $40.4 million since it opened last Wednesday), followed by The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in third, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 in fourth, and Step Brothers in fifth place.

What do you think? Will The Dark Knight score five weeks in a row at No. 1?

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Dark Knight Smashes Box Office Records

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:15:23 -0700

Many thought that breaking Spider-Man 3's record for the biggest opening weekend ever would be difficult, even for The Dark Knight. But the much-hyped and critically adored sequel to Batman Begins shattered many records over the weekend - including Spidey's.

Earning an estimated $155.4 million, Bruce Wayne and gang smashed box office records for the biggest single-day gross in history and the biggest opening weekend for an IMAX release.

According to Variety, Mamma Mia! also broke records by "narrowly beating Hairspray to become the top opener for a musical," earning $27.5 million over the weekend.

That is a lot of money that people spent at the movies this weekend. What did you see? And how many times?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Prepare Yourself For Batman - Take My Quiz!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:30:20 -0700

So you're excited for the new Batman movie, are ya? Does your knowledge start and stop with Christian Bale? (I'd understand if it does, he's so beautiful.) Or do you sharply remember all that came before Christopher Nolan's reboot? Remember the '90s, when there were, like, three Batman movies? George Clooney even wore the suit at one point! As a kid I sometimes caught reruns of the Batman TV show from the '60s, and then there's the cartoon, and of course the DC comics that started it all. Phew!

See how well you know your Batman trivia (in honor of The Dark Knight of course) by taking my quiz!

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Take the quiz

The Dark Knight: Tense, Sad, Unsettling - And One of the Best Movies I've Seen in Years

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:30:27 -0700

"This town deserves a better class of criminal." – The Joker

Indeed. And by extension, audiences deserve a better class of villain. In The Dark Knight, we get one. Director Christopher Nolan seems to have a keen understanding that we want our heroes to be badass - but we want our villains to be way badder. The movie tells a story about Batman, sure, but really, this is The Joker's tale. Even when it's Batman's story. . . The Joker owns it.

The Dark Knight is unlike almost any other superhero movie that came before it. It's insanely dark, it's melancholy, it doesn't leave you with a great sense of peace. But the thing is, we can handle it. I think this is Nolan giving audiences some credit. And every superhero tale has these themes of good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, hero vs. villain. It's just that this one doesn't sugarcoat these things at all. And why should they be sugarcoated? The superhero's tale is actually the perfect vehicle for exploring these things, and explore them we do. Nolan brings us an affecting, disturbingly dark tale, and one that could easily be seen as an allegory for the goings-on of today's world (terrorism vs. peace, cowardice vs. heroism, etc.). To see more what I mean (and I promise - no spoilers), read more.

Christian Bale reprises his role as the manly, gravel-voiced Batman by night and the wealthy Bruce Wayne by day. Michael Caine again dryly charms his way through the role of Bruce's helpful butler Alfred, and Gary Oldman is again the likable Commissioner Gordon. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives Rachel Dawes, Bruce's love interest and Gotham City's District Attorney, some much-needed depth and chutzpah. In this installment, there's an evil mastermind on the loose, terrorizing Gotham, and his name is The Joker. As The Joker continues to taunt Batman, trying to get him to break his noble moral code of beating the bad guys without actually harming anyone, the body count rises and Joker gets closer and closer to forcing the citizens of Gotham City to turn on each other. He is the greatest fearmonger of all time.

Heath Ledger is thoroughly mesmerizing as Joker. Should we be talking Oscars? Absolutely. I haven't seen a performance so impeccably realized, so desperately truthful in a long, long time. However, another impressive performance comes from Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Gotham's great white hope for a safer, Joker-less future. His mixture of political-minded bravado and inner turmoil makes for a far more layered character than one might expect.

In perhaps my favorite scene - one that is so exciting, and yet so agonizing - we get both of these tortured souls, The Joker and Harvey Dent, alone together. The outcome of this scene is a profound sense of despair because in it we witness how quickly people can shift from good to evil, and how easy and nonsensical violence is. On Joker's part, there is no real reasoning behind his cruel madness, and we're reminded that sometimes evil simply exists for no good reason. It taps into a very real, basic and horrible fear: that in this world where terrorism could lurk anywhere, where chaos and war and murder exist, we struggle continuously to figure out "why?" The Joker represents our most feared response to that question: There is no reason.

Then again, here is another truth: Sometimes people choose good over evil, no matter what. Some will surprise you with their unselfishness. There is a lot of bleakness in this film, but there is also hope.

Of course, compounding the darkness of the movie is the maddening real-life tragedy that is forever intertwined with it. An unsettling side effect of Ledger's death is that we will never see the man behind the garish, horrifying makeup. And in this sense, the Joker is forever, hauntingly alive. There’s no Heath Ledger to do the late-night TV show circuit or the red carpet interviews. He's not coming out from behind the screen to reassure us, "No, no, it's all an act. Here I am, just a guy, just an actor, see?" Logically, we're adults who understand that the Joker doesn't exist. And yet. . . Ledger's absence causes the tiniest of doubts in the back of our minds, the part that's still on board for superhero movies. With no one telling us otherwise, we're left with the cryptic suggestion that the Joker might very well be. . . real.

This is partly what has left me with such a sense of uneasiness since watching the movie, and one of the things that is keeping The Dark Knight at the forefront of my mind. But even beyond that, the film is so well-written, thrillingly suspenseful, action-packed and brilliantly acted. It's all the things we want in a superhero movie - along with a whole bunch of dark, thorny morality issues tossed in.

All told: It. Is. Amazing.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Movie Night: The World of Dark Knight Director Christopher Nolan

BuzzSugar — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:30:46 -0700

Christopher Nolan is a director who initially made a huge splash with a little budget and not much celebrity star power. He's the director of The Dark Knight and the man responsible for resuscitating the Batman franchise. Not so long ago, he was an independent filmmaker, but after this weekend he'll probably be seen as one of the most influential creative forces in Hollywood. So who is the visionary behind the ~~mask~~ camera? Well, you could read this interesting New York Times profile, or you could let his work speak for itself by embarking on a Christopher Nolan Movie Night!

Memento
Try to remember back to 2000 - there was a lot of hype around a little movie about a guy suffering from short-term memory loss looking for the man who murdered his wife. Memento was a big deal and shot Nolan to the head of the class in the eyes of film critics and Hollywood bigwigs alike. Guy Pearce is mesmerizing as a man forced to tattoo himself to remember things, and the way the movie plays with time is chilling and mind-blowing.

Two more Nolan flicks to go so read more.

The Prestige
Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, David Bowie, magic, murder - what more do you need for an exciting movie? Nolan created a spooky atmosphere in which to set this tale of two illusionists competing against each other at the turn of the 20th century. The film earned Oscar nods for both art direction and cinematography. The gripping story follows both magicians (Bale and Jackman) as they try to outdo each other, taking their competition to deadly extremes.

Batman Begins
While it had only a third of the hype The Dark Knight has, Batman Begins wiped the superhero's slate clean of the tarnished image of the franchise (and memories of George Clooney's nippled batsuit) and brought the tale of the dark hero back to its roots. Its super darkly awesome roots, that is. If you haven't seen this first installment of Nolan's reboot, you definitely won't be lost at Dark Knight this weekend, but it's well worth watching and will get you super pumped.

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Link Time! 4/1

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:35:29 -0700

Give Me My Remote introduces us to the first resident of the new Beverly Hills, 90210: this guy (Dustin Milligan, pictured at right)!
Cinematical has a heads up on the essential reading list to get everyone brushed up on all things Batman before The Dark Knight comes out this summer.
Vulture lists 10 terrible music slumps, including dark periods from Madonna, Bob Dylan, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The Film Experience also braved a viewing of the atrocity that is Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman, just as I did. I feel validated.
The idea of Chris Cornell as an indie rocker just about blew Idolator's mind.
Stereogum has the latest kooky, colorful music video from Bjork.
On the 45th (!) anniversary of General Hospital, a TV Squad writer lists off six things that keep her tuning in daily.
Want to talk Dancing with the Stars? TV Cocktail is your place.
In light of the upcoming Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy Baby Mama, LilSugar wants to know: Would you consider being a surrogate?
If you're feeling paranoid today, Pop Candy has a list of some of the biggest April Fool's pranks on the web. Don't get fooled!

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Holy Dark Knight News, Batman

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:38:05 -0700

Another day, another few tidbits of news from the set of The Dark Knight. For starters, remember this guy from The Breakfast Club?

Well, Anthony Michael Hall (a.k.a. "The Brain") is all grown up and has now been cast in The Dark Knight, though apparently he signed a confidentiality agreement and can't reveal which part he's going to play. Rumor has it, however, that he'll be playing Mr. Nygma, a reportedly "good guy," though fans of the Batman comics will know that Mr. Nygma is actually The Riddler. All I know is it would be funniest if Hall reprised his role as Brian the Brain in The Dark Knight. This movie could use some comic relief.

Mattel has also announced that they will be releasing a frenzy of toys, games and puzzles based on The Dark Knight. ComingSoon reports:

Mattel's action figure line will feature Batman and the new Batsuit. Tyco R/C vehicles bring to life the speed and action of the Batmobile and the new Batpod. Additionally, Mattel will release a line of games and puzzles that will capture the film action through board games, puzzles and a special-edition UNO card game.

A special-edition UNO game! I'm so there.

As for the other tidbits, we've got photos of the crazy Bat bike and a full picture of the Batman suit if you read more

For up-to-the-minute rumors, speculations and news about The Dark Knight, check out BatmanOnFilm. Those folks are dedicated!

The Batman Suit:

The Batcycle:

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New Joker Photo From Dark Knight is Gross and Creepy

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 May 2007 12:32:17 -0700

After the whole debacle with a false photograph of The Joker from the next Batman movie The Dark Knight, real photographs of The Joker have been in high demand. Well, now there's a new, real photo of Heath Ledger as The Joker.

When did the Batman movies get so dark and gruesome? The Joker of my youth was played by Jack Nicholson (creepy in his own right, certainly) and he was spooky in that cartoonish, clown-gone-mad kind of way. This time around, Joker looks scary-gross. You've been warned, but to view the photo, read more