The top 3 most anticipated summer movies.

This summer was the summer of super heroes. Everyone from Bat Man to The Hulk was invited to this extravaganza.
Its not that hard to imagine why these films were so successful instantly turning into block buster hits, sky rocketing to the millions in profits within the first few days of its release. Everyone’s favourite childhood hero/heroine from the comic book universe had their moment of glory on the big screen. The inner child in many of us was bursting out of our mundane office garb like the Hulk as we watched things explode and smash into each other with all the grandeur of a Hollywood film.
The time seemed right for these films to excel. After the initial ground work was done for the Avengers with the individual stories of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor movie goes were anxiously awaiting for the avengers to finally assemble.  Director, Joss Whedon did a marvelous job of putting all these characters in one room while maintaining their individuality. The witty dialogue and banter coupled with the quirks of each super hero added just the right amount of humour to the film.
The Avengers secured their spot as the number one hit for the summer block buster line up soon to be followed by Spider Man. After the last three movies, critics and audiences alike were skeptical about the upcoming Amazing Spider Man directed by Marc Webb. However there was no disputing the fact that this was fresh and new and just what summer movie goers wanted. Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker) and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacey) were perfect for the roles, creating a relatively new story for audiences to enjoy with the added bonus of seeing it in 3D.
And finally, what i would say is the final and most gratifying movie of the summer is The Dark Knight Rises directed by Chris Nolan. It was everything you hoped for in a grande finale, the last installment of the Batman trilogy. From the new gadgets to the elaborate sets and all star cast it was definitely worth the wait.
This summer the heroes came out in full regalia, smashing box office records and making 2012 a summer to remember. There are lots more to look forward to next year, with Marvel Studio’s already planning for a follow up to Avengers’ success. Lets keep our eyes out for those trailers !
Happy Watching !

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I love how the movie has so many twists and unexpected scenes I literally went WOW, OMG, NOOOOO at almost all the scenes in the movie. Even my friend said I was very noisy. LOLZZZZ, can you blame me? I was really hooked on to the movie but one thing is that the movie is seriously too long sia. Almost three hours? My butt turned into jelly sia.

Can’t even walk properly out of the cinema, whole butt was numb. HAHAHA!

&& is it just me or what? When batman is talking, the way his lips move is seriously IRRITATING MAXIMUM..!!!! Throughout the whole movie I was so distracted by how his lips is moving when he’s talkinggggg!!!!! PISSES ME OFF TO NO END MANNNNN. ARGHSSSS. Throughout the whole movie I kept complaining to my friend about how weird his lips are. Seriously. EWWWWWW.

Overall still a good movie nonetheless, totally worth it to go watchhhhh!!!! (Y)(Y)(Y). Full of surprises and action-packed from start till end. Dayummmm, &&& the detective Blake sibei hotttttttt sia!!!! HAHAHAHAHA. Omg, seriously. & i think in the whole movie he’s the strongest character instead of Batman. Batman only appears in the end & fights cooly. Other than that. Nope. BLAKE. YOU AWESOME.

HEHEHE, YES I KNOW HE SUPER HOT. Aw. love.

The Dark Knight Rises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

…the cinema!

I went to see The Dark Knight Rises and it was definitely the best film I’ve seen in ages. OK so I may not have made the best film choices previously but this one made up for it. I was  excited to go but didn’t want to get my hopes up too much in case it was a let down. It’s been too long since I left a cinema with that feeling – where you think all’s right with the world: people are still making great movies and it feels like there are more to come. The film didn’t disappoint. There were some classic lines, mostly delivered by Catwoman in all her leather-clad glory, which made me idolise her even more, although the build up to the kiss almost had me shrieking “get it over with!”. But I won’t dish out any more spoilers. Go and see it if you haven already. It’s truly great.

The cinema experience is hard to beat. For me, there has to be an accompanying three items. Lately this has been the crushed ice drink, toffee popcorn and pick n mix sweets. my greatest achievement to date is making the confectionery last beyond the trailers.

Hope you’re all having a great week! I’ll be back soon to bring you up to date with what I’ve been up to recently.

Rosie x

By Bill Camden

If there is one thing that should remind me to not go on the old London Underground then it’s that of narcotics. The bright lights have my pupils at maximum expansion and the people on the train stare at me with a glare. Am I even on this Train or is this a crazy drug fuelled dream?

The mobile phone in my pocket vibrates intensely waking me up to some sort of confused sobriety. I answer the phone.

“ELLO?”

It’s Nigel. A good bloke is Nigel. A right geezer.

“Nigel mate. I am on the train on my way over. We still on to see this Batman flick? Right you are mate. Right you are. Dagenham did you say? I will find it mate. Is Tara joining us too? Super, well get me some amber in and I will…”

pic of random bloke on tube courtesy of http://peopleonthetube.tumblr.com/

A fucking tunnel. A phone that is apparently more technologically advanced than anything the U.S. President had in the 1970’s but it still can’t keep a bloody signal underground. Least that call has me feeling more with it, anyway. People don’t seem to be staring at me anymore and I take a seat. It feels like I’ve just woken up after my body had got me here on autopilot.

Today I am going to see ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. I don’t usually review films but that’s because I do not usually get asked to….. I tend to say it how it is. I lack the pretentiousness to write for Film magazines whilst the Entertainment blogs say I am too profound. It’s just a fucking movie, right?

The drugs were part and parcel of this feature and I tell you this with up most sincerity. The weekend just gone, there was a celebration regarding the launch of ‘THE GONZEAUX’, well I say launch, it was more like a confirmation of ideas.

Some geezer put an advert on that Gumtree site, you know the one where you go to look for free things like Dogs, Fridges and Sex. He was looking for some proper writers. Seekers of Truth and social commentary, he demanded. After the third round of beers he brought me I was hooked.

There were only four of us, and the guy who was given the Entertainments biz ended up taking a turn for the worse. He was a young whippersnapper. Full of energy and fucking surprised at anything that came out of our mouths. I wanted to punch him in the face but I realised it was only because he reminded me of a younger version of myself.

But fuck Freud and Carl Jung. I gave the kid some Truffles I’d got hold of from the Netherlands and no one has heard from him since. Hopefully it’s woken him the fuck up.

That’s why I am going to see this movie, the third film of this modern Batman franchise that started with Batman Begins in 2005 and The Dark Knight in 2008. This is 2012 and The Dark Knight Rises is the hopes and dreams of movie lovers everywhere for this year.

I usually can’t give two shits about these movies, The Avengers tickled my fancy and I avoided Spiderman. There is something special about Batman that makes it stand alone from the others, maybe it’s the fact he’s Mortal and that sense of realism feels less fairytale and more real.

I was up all last night watching the first two films of the trilogy. It confirmed my belief that Batman Begins is the best Comic book movie adaptions of all time. And that the sequel should’ve been called The Joker with a cameo from our favourite Hero.

Not that I am complaining of course. Both movies were great and as the train journey grew shorter, I was becoming more excited about seeing this closing chapter of a character, a City and a Universe that I’d just engrossed myself in via a small television and a DVD player.

I’ve avoided trailers for The Dark Knight Rises. All I know is that Bane is the bad guy and an American Football pitch collapses. I did not want to know more and I actually punched a guy last week at a party who began to explain the ending to anyone who listened. He was a dick.

Finally I arrive at the back of the Cinema where Nigel and Tara greet me with cold can of beer and a joint. I crack open the can, take a swig then search the pockets of my swimming shorts for a lighter.

It is clear that we’re all expecting greatness but know deep down that the heights of the previous two films will not be met…or can it?

Once in the cinema I grab my protocol of Large SWEET popcorn and a large soda before dropping the kids off at the pool. We take our seats and are treated to a teaser trailer for MAN OF STEEL, not once but twice. In case we missed it. The World needs a decent fucking Superman.

The cinema is empty but that’s just the way I like it. I’d purposely come to Essex to see the film for the cheap price. Only 8 miles separated the same cinema charging £16 and £5 for this movie. That’s London.

My mind starts drifting whilst some shitty trailers for Dredd and Total Recall play out on screen and take a moment to think of those in Denver who were unfortunate enough to be in that cinema massacre. I can’t fathom the words to describe such horror.

FINALLY…the film has begun. The Dark Knight Rises is here and I am waiting to be entertained.

The opening scene with Bane and the Plane hijacking blows my mind. They certainly made the right choice in casting as Tom Hardy has given Bane an extra dimension with his muffled posh voice behind that meat head villain persona.

Unfortunately I wasn’t impressed with how the film went on to be structured, I expected the story to show us how low Bruce Wayne has fallen, he’s been in his ivory tower for 8 years since the Death of Harvey Dent (Two-Face) at the end of the last film. He’s also walking with a Cane, after 8 years and all the money in the World he can’t get this fixed? But then I remind myself comic book movies are not supposed to be logical. I get it.

But maybe it’s why I like Batman, he’s not got any special powers, he’s just a tough son of bitch looking to serve some justice to some evil fucking cunts in Gotham City.

My attention is turned by the introduction of Cat Woman (Anne Hathaway) but the pace of the story is starting to become lethargic like it’s just eaten a Big Mac meal. My mind starts to wonder into a fantasy featuring me and Cat Woman but I’ll spare you the details

.

Finally we see Bruce Wayne don the Batman suit for the first time in 8 years (in the story) and he gets his arse handed to him by Bane in a close combat scene where Bane breaks his back and sends him to the prison which he was born in.

It’s another cue for Bruce Wayne to come back again as Batman but this time it’s going to be tougher than ever. Despite walking with a cane for 8 years which he fixes with a high-tech knee brace, he manages to fix his broken back in a prison with no technology in a few months. He should become a chiropractor.

I was expecting Bruce Wayne to fulfil some epic Joseph Campbell styled Hero Journeys in this movie, but these were too sloppy and somewhat predictable. But they know that.

My only conclusion is that Nolan and Company didn’t want to over shadow the previous two films by making this as Epic as I feel it could’ve been. Instead they wanted to end the franchise with a subtle “awwwww” rather than an “OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT?”

Overall it was still a brilliant movie that hit all the right notes although I wish there was more action and less drama.

Once the film finished I turn to Nigel and Tara for a post-movie review and Nigel points out how they got Bane all wrong compared to the comic, where he’s full of steroid-venom or something.

In Dark Knight Rises he uses a surreal oxygen/gas mask that prevents him from feeling pain which is still quite clever and felt it worked with this version of the Batman Universe.

There was also the introduction of Robin too, although not in costume that made all three us ponder about a spin-off Robin movie, but probably not under Christopher Nolan’s direction.

Once I left the cinema I couldn’t help feel disappointed. Perhaps I’d over hyped the movie by having watched the previous two the night before. I was expecting the same quality. I supposed that’s the trouble with a 3^rd Film in a series, on its own it can be great but compared to the others it just don’t cut the mustard.

Not wanting to leave this review on a sour note, I totally dig this movie as the wrapping of an amazing Batman trilogy and best Comic book film series ever.

Tom Hardy has made Bane cooler than Chuck Dixon and co could have ever imagined. Whilst surely no one else can even attempt to play Batman after Christian Bale’s performances, he IS Bruce Wayne.

Now you’ll have to excuse me as I browse the World Wide Web for more pictures of Anne Hathaway as Cat Woman. Meow.

I would have started out this review by saying whether it does or does not contain spoilers, if I knew how to define the territory of a spoiler. For some, it’s what the word means in a traditional way, that the writer disclosed a key dramatic event in the plot and spoiled the suspense. And for some others, it’s as much as writing… the movie was good or not good.

I guess the second category of people define the word spoiler a bit differently. As in, the review having spoiled their mood or enthusiasm. I’m not kidding. It’s true! This group very much exists and in quantities larger than you would like to believe. A critic received death threats for posting his opinion about TDKR being not so great. Click on this link and check it out for yourself.

Take a deep breath and relax. The guy lived and so did the people who threatened him. And everybody went back to work the next day with their lunch box. The reactions were so strong because the stakes were higher than ever. For everybody… Warner Bros, Nolan and his huge fan base. It’s his longest movie (164 minutes) till date. It’s also his most expensive film ($250 million) so far. It’s the ‘epic conclusion’ of Batman series he started back in 2005. People were expecting nothing short of a miracle for a movie… and along comes a review like that? Well… there was going to be some emotional heat and head-butting.

One of the criticisms by this person was that Nolan did not stay true to the comic. I’ve read a Batman comic here and there, but I am not so familiar with details as to comment on it. One thing I do know is that a movie can never be as good as literature, if it’s very large in volume. Many Bat comic writers over the years created several different characters who gang up with or against one another and have complex past associations and future connections. It’s a universe of it’s own. What you seen on screen, I believe, is Nolan’s modified version of Batman. Well, we the popcorn munching audience, don’t care as much about loyalty to the origin as much we do about getting to watch good, entertaining cinema… No? We’re happy if you put Batman in Iraq. Maybe he’ll figure out what’s actually going on.

TDKR’s background score is awesome and the visuals are great. The image of a masked man (Batman) fighting another masked man (Bane). A big plane preying on a small plane. The ground of a football stadium collapsing in the middle of a game. The view of high rises from below forms the shape of a bat. The broken bat mask. Excellent. Full points!

The pace of the movie is good and there are a lot of clever twists and turns in the plot. But I think, Nolan, in this last part did end up with a little bit more on his plate than he should’ve. Having a lot of characters often leads to screen crowding and not being able to do justice to all of them. Personally I would have lived through the series just fine if I was not introduced to Cat Woman. I don’t think the character of Miranda Tate added much either. But I guess you can’t not have estrogen around a Superhero. So, the ladies got to keep their jobs.

A few other things I found hard to digest… Batman’s back is broken and a vertebra protrudes out. It’s pushed back in by a cell mate and he’s back to doing push ups in couple days… Other inmates try getting out of prison and die from injuries, but Batman survives two such failures without a fracture, not even a bruise… After tasting delicious gizmo like the tumbler, batpod and bat flying machine, the climax between Batman and Bane is a good old fist fight… Batman’s million dollar suit is bulletproof but yields to a small retractable knife… And yet again, a superhero movie couldn’t stay away from a nuclear weapon climax. You wonder if Nolan was getting tired of Batman and wanted a break.

The best part in TDKR/Batman series were the conversations between characters. By design, the audience obviously will always identify with the hero. But to get the viewers to make sense of even what the baddies have to say is a feat. We’ve all had a frustrated thought like Ra’s Al Ghul (Batman Begins)… “Crime can not be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society’s understanding”. And witnessed instances in our lives where the Joker’s lines (Dark Knight) has proved right… “You’ll see, when the chips are down these uh… ‘civilized’ people… they’ll eat each other”. Or admire Bane’s noble statement… “It does not matter who we are (in this world). What matters is our plan”.  These lines instantly establish a connection with the audience. We’re intrigued. Is it because there’s a part of us in them? We question our understanding of good and bad to slowly find ourselves in a dilemma of whose side to take. The confusion is solved by the character that wins in the end. The one who gives humanity and hope a chance, despite all of life’s imperfections. And rightly so.

Shocked but yet again that’s life,

Alondra

Movie was amazing, I mean SERIOUSLY! Please go and see this epic youthful…teenage…young adult…adult and senior citizen movie! LOL ……

ANYONE at any age would  love this seriously….. at least any American! The Dark Knight Rises, Batman Movie made me sad but a must see! Watching The Dark Knight is like gazing into a mirror on a waning moon night: chilling and mesmerizing.  You know you’re watching a good movie when it puts a smile on your face right from the start. In the The Dark Knight it may be a twisted grimace but given the right perspective there’s enjoyment to be had in even the bleakest subject matter!

Of course…. my 10 year old son wants this costume for Christmas! I was like huh??? Boy let’s go! lol – We will find the poster!

Christain Bale is the man that played Batman again and he was super #beautiful DOT.COM

According to reports:

At least 12 people were killed early Friday morning when a masked gunman opened fire at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. It has been reported that 10 people died at the scene and two others died after being taken to local hospitals. Over 50 other moviegoers, including children, were injured. The incident occurred in the Century 16 Movie Theaters in Aurora, a suburb just east of downtown Denver.

The shooter was reportedly wearing an all black outfit, riot helmet, goggles and bullet-proof vest. Reports have said that the gunman started firing during one of the film’s many action sequences, and that many of the moviegoers did not realize the shots were actually coming from inside the theater. Tear gas also went off inside the theater, and bullets apparently pierced the walls of the auditorium and entered an adjoining theater.

Police have apprehended a 24-year-old male suspect who was found in possession of a gas mask and two firearms with ammunition in his car. The suspect also suggested he may have additional explosives at home. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said there was no evidence of any additional shooters.

What can be said? My first hope is that we resist the urge to imply any causality on the part of The Dark Knight Rises with this event, as it paints the content as something potentially parasitic, and more importantly undermines the magnitude of the tragedy that has occurred. Anyone who could chalk this up  to anything as simple as storytelling is only succeeding in spreading the very same misappropriated fear and pain that this desperate young man was looking to incite.

If there are correlations to be made, they should be first and foremost under the assumption that the gunman sought to lash out at a decadent society during one of its most decadent pastimes. He too aspired to his own level of decadence, choosing a highly populated showcasing of violence to compliment his own violent act. He wanted to be scary, and he undoubtedly considered this the “coolest” way he could do it. The truth is that this sort of individual is pathetic, and is engaging in the very same behaviors that idealistic comic book films like The Dark Knight Rises are inherently railing against.

The unfortunate reality is, due to the film’s aggressive ideas and subject matter, we will forever struggle to disassociate this event from the film. That said, I believe The Dark Knight Rises is a good movie with many challenging ideas, most of which articulate and allow us to consider (in a highly palatable way) the very social modalities that can lead to this type of tragedy. If you want to go to the movies, please go. Otherwise, we’re letting one asshole ruin things for the rest of us.

My heart goes out to those who will suffer as a result of this tragedy, and please send any links our way of potential charities so that we might help out in any way possible.

I’ll tell you what every good filmmaker wants… every good filmmaker wants two things.

Number one, they want to stay true to their creative DNA. To be able to make the kind of cinema they believe in. The kind, which when they look back upon arouses feelings of inspiration, pride, originality, art, challenge etc etc… And the other thing, arguably equally important if not more… is for that movie to set the cash counters ringing.

You would agree that while the former makes them want to keep doing what they’re doing… the latter needs to happen so they can keep doing it. You would also agree that Chris Nolan, with his 8 movies, has so far managed to get both things, every single time.

When someone achieves a consistency like that you want to know more. How is he able to do it? Is he truly gifted? Is it hard work? Is there a reproducible method? Are there some common traits… is there a pattern… a theme ?

These are just a few things that caught my attention…

Nolan makes mind bending movies. But calling his movies psychological thrillers is clearly injustice. He delves much deeper than the genre requires. In other words… in his movies, your mind is the scene of crime…. Addiction (Following),  Memory (Memento), Sleep (Insomnia) and Dreams (Inception)…. My personal favorite is Memento. What a movie! I still can’t believe that it did not win the academy award for best screenplay that year. The black & white scenes playing forward alternates with story in color going backwards… fantastic!… I must have seen Memento more than ten times. And each time I have found or understood something I missed the previous time.

Another Nolan trait is a dead woman. She’s responsible  for the hero’s situation and drives his actions. She’s a powerful memory but is missing from his present. In Following, Memento, Dark Knight and Inception… she dies.

I suspect Chris loves teasing his audience. After getting you emotionally involved in an intensely psychoactive situation, towards the end of the movie when you think you’ve understood the premise, he hints at another possibility. He points to a mind bending alternative. And then as you’re re-considering things, he ends the movie, leaves everything to your interpretation and goes home. For example, in Memento, is Leonard a victim or a serial killer? In Inception, does Cobb make it home in the end? You think you know the answer. Let me just tell you as a good friend, it’s the answer you’ve chosen for yourself.

After all this adulation… my predominant feeling for Christopher Nolan is that of genuine concern. The kind that comes with a strong protective instinct. Why? you ask…

Nolan is not the first. Hitchcock, DePalma, Lucas, Zemeckis and Spielberg… they’ve have all been worshiped. The audience held their breath and studios raised the bar for their next movie. And then, there’s one human mistake they all made. They took a leap of creative faith. Also known in the real world as their ‘megaflop movie’. After which everyone wrote them off and started looking for the new invincible kid in town.

It was not by any means the end of things for them. They kept going. It just meant less freedom and more ‘supervision’. Atleast for a while. For instance, in Nolan’s case it would mean that the studios ask him not to experiment too much and stick to whatever has worked till now… let’s say a variant of Inception. How about ‘Inception returns’? This would instantly kill the number one for him…. his creative DNA. And that in turn, automatically translate into not getting number two… a.k.a. moolah. Wouldn’t it be a terribly sad day when a filmmaker like Nolan doesn’t have either of the things a good filmmaker wants?

I guess this thought crossed my mind because his 9th movie is coming out next week. The Dark Knight Rises. Go watch it with an open heart and forgive him if he makes mistakes (Would you… if it turned out to be a romantic comedy?)

Much love, to good filmmaking.

Millar had more to say on the topic:

“A pal of mine is good friends with the new Justice League screenwriter and said his take on the team is incredible. Very real-world and not at all what you might expect. WB has a chequered history with their superhero characters. They’re great with their boy wizards, but less consistent with their DC stable. But my chum said that this could be a thing of beauty and has been in the works for a little while now, not just an avengers knock-off. Best of luck to them. The tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn’t what I expected. But word on Gangster Squad is great too so I feel this is in really good hands.”

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Every once in a while there comes a trailer that is so nicely done that it qualifies as a work of art.  I am glad to report that the coming attraction feature above is not one of those.  It however is an ingenious Lego parody of the Dark Knight Rises trailer from the folks at Paranickfilmz who also gave the world Danish modular brick parodies of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter.  To see how uncanny a satire this is compare it with the official trailer below.   Enjoy folks.

Batman battles Bane while dealing with Catwoman.

Joining these three are Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Nestor Carbonell and Gary Oldman.I’m not worried about the massive cast because Christopher Nolan is involved. The man has made short-term memory loss, insomnia and magicians intriguing.

I love the Bane storyline and I have the comic where Bane breaks Batman’s back. (Thanks Don. V). The casting of Tom Hardy is perfect because if you’ve watched the movies Bronson and Warrior you know he is a formidable man who can act. I’m hoping Bane vs. Batman will be a battle for the ages.

The loudest criticism from the fan boys is that Bane’s voice is inaudible beneath the mask. Early previews left audiences wondering what Bane was saying. Nolan recently cleared up the sound levels and assured worried fans that they wouldn’t need subtitles. With great success comes very needy fans.

My biggest hope is that this film doesn’t turn out to be Pirates 3 or Matrix 3. I’m hoping that the Batman saga gets the conclusion it needs…………until they make the next one.

Why you should watch this: This movie has a lot to live up to. Chris Nolan has added a plethora of new characters into the mix and it will be interesting to see how they are incorporated into the Batman world. There has been a lot of criticism about Bane’s mask and how well people can hear his voice. The Dark Knight Rises will be a big time spectacle that is expected to be intelligent and violent. I’m hoping the Nolan Batman saga ends with a bang.

The first picture is of Henry Cavill as Superman from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. I love Superman because I like the messianic aspects of the character, but I do find him somewhat lacking in the badass department. Kal-El of Krypton may be virtually indestructible but sadly he has always been something of a wimp; too much of a nice guy. So imagine my surprise when the studio releases a photo of our new Supes, not only looking ultra cool in his new threads, but looking like he wants to kick your ass. He’s going to kick your ass and he’s going to enjoy it!

Two things I really like about the new suit; I may be wrong as it’s hard to see in this picture, but it looks like they have finally got rid of the super pants, always hated them, so the lack of pants and the length of the cape are a big thumbs up for me.

A golden rule of wearing a cape is that the longer the cape the more badass you are.

The second picture is probably from one of the most anticipated movies of next year, The rather unimaginatively titled The Dark Knight Rises, Chris Nolan’s follow up to the sublime The Dark Knight.

Batman has always been my favourite Superhero, he’s dark, he’s violent, and he shares a psychological  make-up not too dissimilar to the villains he pursues. He also has no superpowers, forcing him to use his vast wealth, his deductive reasoning, and his force of will to defeat his opponents, I find all that fascinating.

However the photo that was released was of one of the movies main antagonists; Selina Kyle, otherwise known as Catwoman. Now Nolan’s take on Batman has always been to have a more ‘real world’ feel to the universe, so Anne Hathaway’s take on Catwoman was never going to match the sheer brilliance of Michelle Pfeiffer’s turn in Batman Returns. But honestly what we have here is the beautiful Miss Hathaway wearing a skin tight black leather catsuit, utility belt, thigh-high spike heeled boots, funky goggles and riding Batman’s wheels. I don’t think there is anything in that equation that I don’t like.

Needless to say this fanboy is rather happy with how both these movies are progressing.

Be seeing you!

Movie Monkey Shoot has compiled a list of the Top 10 Incredible Christian Bale films  with an exclusive Trailer for his upcoming film The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

#10 Rescue Dawn (2006) Werner Herzog ****

Very underrated film where Bale plays Dieter Dengler a US Pilot who is shot down in Laos during the Vietnam War. Taken hostage and held as a prisoner of war, he must face physical and psychological torture and has to plan his escape with a fellow American inmate. Excellent film directed by German filmmaker Werner Herzog.

#9 3:10 To Yuma (2007) James Mangold ***

Bale plays Dan Evans a Civil War veteran opposite Russell Crowe, who must hold an outlaw awaiting his train to face court in Yuma, Arizona during a tense confrontation. Excellent western directed by James Mangold.

#8 Public Enemies (2009) Michael Mann ****

In Public Enemies, Bale plays FBI Agent Melvin Purvis who is pursuing notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and his ruthless gang consisting of infamous gangsters Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. Based on the true story and the early years of the FBI. Directed by master filmmaker Michael Mann.

#7 The Prestige (2006) Christopher Nolan ****

Christian Bale plays magician Alfred Borden opposite Hugh Jackman in this mystery thriller directed by Christopher Nolan about two rival magicians who engage in a series of competitions with tragic results. One of the best mysteries of recent years with an outstanding ending. This film definitely requires multiple viewings to grasp the complexity of the plot.

#6 The Dark Knight (2008) Christopher Nolan *****

In the amazing sequel to Batman Begins, Bale reunites with Christopher Nolan as Batman now faces his most ruthless adversary, The Joker (Heath Ledger) in the best Superhero film ever made.

#5 Harsh Times (2005) David Ayer *****

Bale’s gritty performance as ex-Army Ranger Jim Luther Davis was overshadowed by Batman Begins the same year. Bale plays a psychotic street thug suffering from post traumatic stress disorder who spends the days wasting his life and doing drugs with his loser best friend hoping for a job with Homeland Security. Great performance and one of his most underrated performances.

#4 Batman Begins (2005) Christopher Nolan*****

The film that gave a new life to Batman after the failed Batman & Robin. This film explores the origins of how Bruce Wayne (Bale) became Batman after studying extensively in far east Asia with Ra’s Al Gul in this outstanding reboot of the Batman legacy.

#3 The Machinist (2004) Brad Anderson *****

One of Bale’s best performances as insomniac factory worker Trevor Reznik who hasn’t slept in over a year becoming insanely frail and emaciated and having visions of a coworker who may or may not be real. Bale lost over 60 pounds and looks skeletal for his haunting performance.

#2 The Fighter (2010) David O. Russell *****

Bale gives a brutally raw performance as former Boxer and trainer Dicky Ecklund who is fiercely loyal to his younger brother and protegé Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) but is struggling with a serious crack addiction. One of Bale’s best performance and his 2011 Oscar Winning performance. A sequel is rumored but wouldn’t really add anything to the story since Dicky cleans himself up by the end of the film and everything they had to say was told in this film.

#1 American Psycho (2000) Mary Harron *****

Christian Bale’s best performance to date as New York City serial killing yuppie Patrick Bateman. He spends his days working out furiously, barely working on Wall Street, hooking up and torturing hookers and killing random people while obsessing over his good looks, 80′s Pop music and his business cards.

Watch the Exclusive trailer to The Dark Knight Rises (2012)