The Dark Knight Rises - Catwoman is the Villain

       Warner Bros revealed today who the villains will be in the sequel to the highly successful Dark Knight…..Catwoman and Bane. This was released after Nolan cast the role of the feline favoring villain from a list of auditioning actresses that included Jessica Biel and Keira Knightley. So who did they cast to play Catwoman? None other than the Academy Award nominated Anne Hathaway. According to Warner Bros, Nolan was very impressed with Hathaway’s audition and is looking forward to the shooting of The Dark Knight Rises which is expected in theaters on July 20, 2012. Anne Hathaway will be playing Selina Kyle (Catwoman), however the studio never mentioned the word “Catwoman” as to try and avoid association with the 2004 movie starring Halle Berry. There is good implication that Nolan could be following the story before she transforms into Catwoman.

       Anne Hathaway appeared in several large movies in the last couple years such as: Love and Other Drugs, Alice in Wonderland, Rachel Getting Married, and the Devil Wears Prada. Oddly enough, Anne Hathaway co-starred along The Dark Knight’s Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain as Jake Gylennhaal’s love interest. Maggie, Jake’s sister happened to play Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight to confuse things a little more. On top of the news for Anne Hathaway, it was announced what role Tom Hardy (Inception) was decided. Tom Hardy will playing the role of the villain, Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. They will be going with the DC Universe Bane, that sees him born and raised in a South American prison. Many wonder if Nolan will use CGI to embrace the 8 ft height that Bane is supposed to be. If not, you can expect Tom Hardy to be at the gym to prepare for this role. Stay tuned for more updates on The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises - What To Expect

What can be said about The Dark Knight that hasn’t been said already? It’s the most successful comic book derived movie in history. It turned Heath Ledger into a DC legend. Christopher Nolan is probably one of the most innovative directors in the last ten years, and The Dark Knight has set the bar for every other superhero movie made before and after it. Like I’ve mentioned in the previous blog regarding the Spiderman reboot, Dark Knight is far more relatable than its flashy Tim Burton counterparts. Nolan found a way to separate Batman Begins and The Dark Knight so that they could operate completely autonomous of each other. Their titles, their stories, and their plots are fully understandable without dependence of each other. But the reason you are probably reading this is because you’re expecting to read something you didn’t know, so I hope to offer you an estimated guess into the elements of the Dark Knight Rises.

First of all, I am not crazy about the name. The most obvious contrast between Dark Knight and Batman Begins were their varying names. Hell, a lot of people didn’t even know that the two movies were written and directed by the same people. So I feel like the Dark Knight Rises plays more like a sequel rather than a new chapter or story. I feel like its going to correlate a lot closer to The Dark Knight than everyone may of hoped. In fact Christopher Nolan was quoted saying “We use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones”. In comparison with BB (Batman Begins) to Dark Knight, you only saw a cameo of the first film’s villain Scarecrow, and he didn’t play much of a role at all.

Next, is new casting. Tom Hardy was the only confirmed new talent added to the project as of now. Tom Hardy was recently seen in Christopher Nolan’s last blockbuster hit “Inception” which is currently nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director. Christopher Nolan is known for carrying over his talent from one movie to the next. Michael Caine was used in Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception. And the same goes for Christian Bale minus Inception. With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if he favored bringing in previous actors/actresses including Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, 500 Days of Summer).

News has hit that several actresses were trying out for unknown roles in the movie. The actresses were Katie Mara, Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley, Kate Mara, Charlotte Riley, and Jessica Biel. Why mention of these female actresses? It has strongly confirmed that the Dark Knight Rises villain is going to be a female. No one knows the roles that are being cast but when you eliminate male villains the list becomes shorter. Here are the most likely villains and the reason for them.

Harley Quinn: A mental patient, who without the Joker is kind of a hard villain angle to run with because she normally accepted as a secondary villain rather than the primary. However, it would certainly tie this movie to the last, and seeing as I’ve heard that Nolan had filmed extra scenes with Ledger before he died it’s a strong possibility.

Talia al-Ghul: The daughter of Ra’s al-Ghul (played by Liam Neeson in the first movie). This would make sense because it would bring the trilogy to a full 360, and it would bring Bruce Wayne back to the beginning where he started. It also leaves a lot of room for Christopher Nolan to storytell which he loves to do in all of his films.

Dark Knight Rises is set to be released in July 2012. With it approaching closer and closer to the date, more information is being revealed, and I will keep you updated on the latest news regarding the movie. One hope is that this third and final movie done by Nolan doesn’t fall to the same fate as Spiderman 3, where the movie plot is terrible, and its overcrowded with character development.

Golden Globe 2011 Predictions

Golden Globe Predictions
Tomorrow at 8pm on NBC

The Golden Globes. Second fiddle to the Academy Awards, but a lot more personal for the average viewer. The problem that the Academy often suffers is the arrogance that comes along with them. They don’t really transfer well across different social backgrounds, although with recent years they have made great attempts (Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin/Steve Martin). Anyways here we are, and tomorrow the Golden Globes will air. Below I’ve given a list of who should win the award, and who will win the award. Feel Free to post your predictions, and opinions below as well.


Best Motion Picture – Drama
Who Should Win: The Social Network
Who Will Win: The King’s Speech

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Who Should Win: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Who Will Win: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Who Should Win: Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)
Who Will Win: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)

Best Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Who Should Win: The Kids Are All Right
Who Will Win: The Kids Are All Right

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Who Should Win: Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs)
Who Will Win: Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Who Should Win: Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland)
Who Will Win: Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Who Should Win: Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Who Will Win: Helen Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Who Should Win: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Who Will Win: Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Best Animated Feature Film
Who Should Win: Toy Story 3
Who Will Win: Toy Story 3

Best Director - Motion Picture
Who Should Win: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Who Will Win: David Fincher (The Social Network)

Best Television Series - Drama
Who Should Win: The Boardwalk Empire
Who Will Win: The Boardwalk Empire

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Who Should Win: Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Who Will Win: Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Who Should Win: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Who Will Win: Steve Buscemi (The Boardwalk Empire)

Best Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
Who Should Win: Glee
Who Will Win: Modern Family

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
Who Should Win: Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Who Will Win: Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
Who Should Win: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Who Will Win: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory


Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Who Should Win: Jane Lynch (Glee)
Who Will Win: Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Who Should Win: Chris Colfer (Glee)
Who Will Win: Chris Colfer (Glee)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Who Should Win: Al Pacino (You Don’t Know Jack)
Who Will Win: Al Pacino (You Don’t Know Jack)

Andrew Garfield as Spiderman in 2012 Reboot

Movie Reboots: Andrew Garfield as Spiderman

First Look at Andrew Garfield as Spiderman

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not crazy about the usual remake or reboot. We’re in a generation where the current high school student hasn't known a world without a computer. The internet has integrated into the lives of even some of our oldest members of society. I feel like the idea of remake is just lazy. But with the changing times, comes more qualified workers and with that, higher expectations. We expect bigger, better, and have it all at a more convenient pace. So in a lot of ways, remakes are perfect.

Not only does it give a chance to retell a story that the current generation may never know, but it also forces directors, actors, and actresses to reinvent, to bring something new to a familiar tale. The first example of this that I can recall in the recent years is the Nolan brother’s reboot of the Batman franchise. I’m not frowning upon Tim Burton’s take, they were great films for their time but with evolving world, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are more fitting. They are gritty, and less flashy. They revolve closer to reality than their counterparts, and they are more relatable to the average viewer.

That’s how I feel about this new Spiderman reboot. Granted the last set of movies aren’t even ten years old, but the world is ready for that more gritty take on the web slinging superhero that Spiderman 3 failed to deliver, when it introduced us to a My Chemical Romance version of Spiderman. Toby Maguire sported hair in the face, emotional issues, and arrogance.

Emma Stone is set to play Mary Jane Watson, and is a far better talent than Kristen Dunst. Though I admit I’ll miss the presence of James Franco, I feel much more comfortable with this retelling of this comic book legend. The world will now know see Andrew Garfield as the new Peter Parker.

I can’t predict this reboot’s success but if his performance is anything like is role in The Social Network then I could only imagine the caliber of Spiderman. Andrew Garfield is nominated for Golden Globe for his portrayal of Facebook’s co-founder, Eduardo Saverin and most likely going to be nominated for the Academy Awards as well. Like I said, with the times comes higher expectations, and this untitled Spiderman reboot is sure to meet them.

Its release date is sometime in the Summer of 2012.

Below is a list of the best remakes or reboots of the last five years. Feel free to post your comments, and opinions.

1.       The Dark Knight

2.       The Departed

3.       True Grit
4.       3:10 to Yuma

Black Swan Review

Black Swan (2010)

Black Swan (2010)

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, and Winona Ryder

Possibly the best psychological thriller of 2010, Black Swan delivers along every edge of reality that it reaches. Black Swan is undoubtedly the best work that Natalie Portman has delivered thus far, and I’m a huge fan of her role in the movie adaption of V for Vendetta. Backed by a stellar cast, Portman finds a way to progressively distort your view of reality down to last minutes of the film.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a professional ballet dancer that wins the lead in the famous “Swan Lake”. Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) is absolutely convinced that Nina can perform the role of the White Swan, but feels that her role as the Black Swan won’t deliver. While pushing her emotional and mental limits, Nina begins to lose her mind in the hopes of perfecting her performance. Reality becomes hallucination, and hallucination become reality as Nina fails to separate the two in her quest to master the role of the Black Swan. Inevitably, like the White Swan’s fate in the final act, Nina manages to kill herself as well in her obsession to finish with perfection.

Performances are strong from Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Max Payne) who plays a rival dancer Lily, who befriends Natalie Portman’s character and delivers an intense sexual scene in one of the film’s major highlights. Also a strong performance from Winona Ryder, who plays famous dancer Beth Macintyre that is replaced by Natalie Portman’s character and falls to a destructive demise. All in all the movie exceeded my expectations, and it left me dumbfounded when I left the theater. If you have the chance, don’t miss the opportunity to see Natalie Portman at her best.

Rating: 9 out 10

Purchase V for Vendetta with Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving