The Dark Knight Rises, one of the most highly anticipated movies (at this point) of all time is released next year. Director Christopher Nolan is, by his very nature, a very secretive filmmaker. He likes to reveal as little as possible about his projects, which leaves his fans desperate for the barest snippets of information.

So when the first piece of major viral marketing for the movie was released, the Internet went into meltdown. In keeping with the marketing we have seen previously in Nolan’s Batman series, it was a bit of a game. A website was set-up with the name of The Fire Rises and featured a black page with chanting in the background.

Now, I have no idea how long the team behind this idea were expecting it to take for someone to solve, but it was mere minutes. Some bright spark ran the chanting through a visualiser, which revealed a hashtag, #thefirerises. This lead to a Twitter account called @thefirerises, and a process by which you could use the hashtag to reveal the first image from the forthcoming The Dark Knight Rises. We were treated to our first look at Bane, as played by Tom Hardy, and it was a pretty significant look, showing much of his facial apparatus and costume.

Clever stuff, and no doubt only the first salvo in a viral marketing war to be raged upon the internet community. My problem with these events is the timing. The Dark Knight is released in July 2012 – a full 14 months away. It is obviously important from a studio’s perspective to get people excited for a film, but the problem is, in this case, they are not trying to get people excited for The Dark Knight Rises, they are trying to keep them excited, and this is a level they are going to struggle to sustain.

Think about it. When did the excitement start? For some, it started the minute they walked out of the theatres after watching The Dark Knight. We have of course had Inception since then, so for many others it will have been the announcements of the project, and confirmation that Nolan would be directing it. Then came the casting rumours, the reveal of the movie’s name, and then the first solid casting confirmations. More rumours would follow, then more casting. Character names began to be revealed, and speculation was cut back once the main characters had all been announced. This process took place over the course of a year.

So excitement has been building for a long time. the problem is, once all these details have been confirmed, the long shooting period begins, and with a secretive Director like Nolan, there is very little information to come from the process. So after getting the fans all excited with character and cast information, Warner Bros were rightly concerned that it would all be pointless, as things went pretty quiet for the next 12 months.

To counteract this, we were given our first visual clue from the movie, even though some cast names are even now only just being revealed. To release this kind of marketing so quickly into the movie’s production smacks of desperation. Unfortunately, it gets worse. Rumour has it the first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises will be attached to Warner’s other tent-pole franchise, the final Harry Potter film. A trailer, just 3 months into production? It will obviously be merely a teaser, as there will clearly be precious little footage to cut from, so you have to question what the point is?

There is a danger, in these circumstances, of escalation. You release a picture, then a trailer, and there is still twelve months before the film’s release. What do you offer next? There is no way, after this effort has been expended to keep up audience anticipation that things will go dark, so to speak. So there is a very real danger that more puzzles will be offered, and solved, and more precious information will be released. Now, the internet community is pretty smart, and will jump on every tidbit they can find, to try and extrapolate how what is being revealed fits into the Batman continuity, and subsequently the upcoming film. The marketing wizards may think they are being clever, but there will always be someone more clever on the outside, and there is a real danger of something big slipping out.

In this new age of social networking and millions of blogs, with the best will in the world it is impossible to stay spoiler free. Remember, of course, that Nolan himself is probably against all this information being released, and there is always a possibility that if too much information is gleaned by the public it could be a distraction to Nolan from the task at hand. Nolan is pretty powerful nowadays, but the studios will always believe they know best, and this could give rise to some inner conflicts.

I may, of course, be over analysing it all far too much. Only time will tell what the PR gurus have in store, if anything, for us over the next few months. Fans will see the recently released image and teaser trailer, if there is one, as just reward for their continued interest and commitment, and by no means do I think it isn’t deserved. I just hope the right level of caution is exercised by all involved, as it would be a damn shame if we all go into Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film knowing just that little bit too much.

The filmmaker’s work always involves some twists and turns, making it more of a risk with his pictures than with many others. The biggest laugh of it all is that such intense marketing isn’t even necessary. The Dark Knight broke box office records, and when he Rises he may well break more. I will, of course, try and avoid spoilers as much as possible, and my biggest hope is that The Dark Knight Rises, when it finally does hit our screens, is something truly special to behold.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

Over the last week or so, we’ve seen yet more casting rumours for the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman series. Most recently, we’ve heard that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is being primed to take on the part of The Riddler, based on as little as a supposed conversation on the set of Inception between Levitt and director Christopher Nolan. We’ve also been given an apparent start date. Seeing as the script probably hasn’t even been finished, the naming of actors for unwritten parts seems ludicrous. A release date may be easier to swallow, but really, how can these kind of unfounded rumours continue to spread?

These are not the first casting rumours regarding Batman 3 of course. Soon after the release of The Dark Knight, its huge financial success meant that ‘news’ stories regarding the next installment were everywhere. Just weeks after it opened, there were rumours that Batman’s producers had singled out Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the stars they wanted for the third movie, as villains The Riddler and The Penguin respectively. Considering how paramount great casting has been to the quality of Nolan’s work, it’s impossible to imagine him ever again letting a studio dictate his casting, particularly for main roles. It was shortly after this that Angelina Jolie was being named for Catwoman. This before director or studio had even acknowledged the potential of a third film being developed.

The rumours have continued since, with a parade of characters being named, with The Riddler seemingly being the most popular. Actors have been mooted with just as much regularity, again a favourite has emerged, with Johnny Depp being the one most frequently referred to. There are numerous reasons why this is all so ridiculous.

As far as we know, the screenplay for ‘Untitled Batman Project’ hasn’t been completed, and without a clear storyline in place, even Nolan and Warner Bros don’t know who they are looking for. David S Goyer has been working on the story, and is writing the screenplay with Jonathan Nolan, but with Christopher Nolan tied up for the last several months with work on Inception, it seems highly unlikely that there has been any talks based around casting. It is quite possible that even character decisions are yet to be finalised. The only ‘guarantees’ are that Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman will  be back. Certainly, without scripting and storyboards, a clear shooting schedule is unlikely to have been established, which again makes casting difficult due to potential scheduling conflicts.

Perhaps more importantly than this, is the fact that Nolan is habitually very secretive with his filmmaking. Both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were made under false working titles, The Intimidation Game and Rory’s First Kiss respectively. With his most recent film, Inception, the storyline has been kept almost completely under wraps until very recently, and is only now coming to light because it would be impossible to promote the movie without revealing some plot details. Based on the sheer number of rumours and stories that have been thrown around, the director would have had to have undergone a complete personality transplant for even a small percentage of them to contain any truth. The talented filmmaker will take the selection process very seriously, and would not want any details leaked until he was sure of his decisions first.

With Nolan now doing the rounds on the Inception promotional trail, it’s natural for questions to be asked of him regarding Batman. Any answers he gives are going to be open to interpretation, so there are obviously going to be numerous stories doing the rounds again. But Inception is the reason i think the stories need to be put on hold. By fixating on a movie not due for release for a couple of years, we are very much undermining Nolan’s latest film. Inception is just a month away. It is a highly anticipated film, one of the biggest releases of the year, with some fantastic actors, and right now it deserves all our attention.

Asking Nolan questions about a future project when he is trying to sell his latest vision to the public is actually pretty unfair. He wrote it himself, and based on the appearance of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the promotional pictures and trailer, it looks to be a very personal piece of work. Unlike Batman, it is a completely original concept. In a time when franchises, reboots and sequels are taking over our multiplexes, we should be falling over ourselves for the chance to promote this kind of movie. Nolan has never made a bad film, and his original stories and ideas have made him one of the most popular filmmakers of his generation.

The interest in Batman is inevitable, and once Inception has been released, i have no problem with looking ahead to the next, and probably last, installment in Nolan’s series. But for now, ignore the easy hits, let Batman 3 marinate, and anticipate the potential beauty, and brilliance, of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

Iron Man 2 is already on release around the world, and this weekend opens domestically. It has already passed the $100M mark before it even hits screens in the US. Arguably the most highly anticipated movie of the year, it could quite conceivably turn out to be the highest grossing, and has already enjoyed a good critical reception. A comic book movie, the biggest film of the year? It hasn’t always been this way, and superhero movies have been looked down upon in the past, but in the last couple of years Hollywood has been forced to sit up, and take notice of costumed adventurers. So how did this happen?

Over the last decade, a huge amount of movies based on comic book and graphic novel properties have been released. The quality of these movies has varied wildly, and they have never really been considered guaranteed box office. This situation has begun to change greatly however.

Spider-Man was the first big comic book movie that demonstrated that superheroes can simultaneously score big box office and critical acclaim. Thanks to great review scores, word of mouth and a main character that was well established even outside of the comic book fraternity, Spider-Man was a huge success. It proved that comic book adaptations were not only financially viable, but able to make huge profits.

Numerous other comic book movies were subsequently released that did not necessarily enjoy the same success. Spider-Man had convinced Hollywood that superhero movies were a good idea, but there was very little quality control in evidence amongst the lion’s share of the various adaptations. Storylines were bastardised, and the differing franchises picked up by different studios had no clear vision.

The Spider-Man series continued its success, but reported studio interference meant that the subsequent movies struggled to match the first film for quality. Meanwhile, Batman Begins was released. Christopher Nolan mixed the Batman mythos with a contemporary setting and ideas to create one of the best comic-book movies to date. Another critical and commercial success, it kicked off another successful superhero series based on a character already well known to the general public.

The big turning point came with 2008′s Iron Man. It was a risky movie to make, a big budget action movie based on a superhero that had no previous cinematic exposure, almost completely unknown outside of the comic fan’s world. The success of Iron Man, again both commercially and critically, was a surprise because it wasn’t based on one of the big four or five comic characters. It showed that second tier characters could also be successful, and paved the way for more adaptations based around less high profile characters, allowing the set-up for the forthcoming Avengers movie.

Parallel to this, The Dark Knight was released. It had already been proven that Batman could make big money, and that Nolan could make a great movie to boot. But The Dark Knight took it up a level. It just missed out on an Academy Award nomination for best picture, but Heath Ledger was not only nominated posthumously for best supporting actor, he actually won the Oscar. Not only could comic book based films make huge profits, and wow movie goers, it had now been proven that they could garner real critical acclaim, and be considered for the biggest awards.

With Marvel now at the helm of movies based on their own properties, quality control can be greatly increased. That has been shown with Iron Man 1 and 2, and with a clear vision in place for the future of not just the property, but the shared universe of the Marvel characters, the future is looking brighter than ever for comic book movies. DC  look to be following Marvel’s lead. By taking control of their own characters cinematically, in partnership with Warner Bros, future movies look set to enjoy better, more faithful storylines, and properties that are over 50 years old finally look to be allowed the respect that they deserve. Marvel’s plans allow for at least one movie a year, and now with The Green Lantern, Batman 3 and The Man Of Steel set for annual release over the next few years, DC’s output looks to be set at around the same frequency.

Add to this the movies made outside the control of DC and Marvel like the Spider-Man and X-Men reboots, and it looks like we are set to enjoy 4 or 5 big comic book movies a year, all with the potential to break box office records and gain critical success. Superheroes have found themselves in a position to dominate the industry. News articles based around comic book adaptations are filling  web space on a daily basis, speculation is rife wherever a new project is mentioned, and some of the biggest hit counts are for trailers and clips from forthcoming comic book movies.

With Marvel and now possibly DC working towards a unifying vision for their respective universes, it looks like adaptations of their properties will continue to be a dominant force at the box office for years to come, and the other Hollywood studios are sure to continue looking for other comic book and graphic novel licenses to pick up in order try to replicate the current success these companies are enjoying. It is a great time for comic book fans, and with a rich history of amazing storylines for the movies to draw from, mainstream audiences can also enjoy the benefits of years of great work from the comic book writers and artists.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

By now you’ll have heard the story doing the rounds about Christopher Nolan starting prep on Batman 3, and playing a ‘Godfather’ role in the development of a Superman reboot. (If not, you can find it here). I have no issue with the accuracy of either part of this story, it all sounds pretty feasible, even likely. What i do take issue with is whether Nolan mentoring another director through a superman project is really necessary, or even a good idea.

I understand the logic behind it. One of the best filmmakers of the last ten years, Nolan has made a huge success of the Batman series, both commercially and critically. Warner Bros clearly want to recreate this magic with the Superman franchise, and rightfully so. Superman is probably the biggest superhero in history, and is being buried by the success of Batman, Iron Man and even Spider-Man in recent years.

However, rather than recreate the Batman success by attaching the mastermind behind it in some way, i think it’s more important they recreate the conditions. They gave the project to a highly talented, contemporary filmmaker, and allowed him to make the project his own. Nolan used his own personal style to spin the comic series into a coherent, entertaining movie, with a compelling storyline.

To recreate this, Warner Bros need to hand the Superman series over to another highly talented, contemporary filmmaker. They don’t need Nolan’s spin on the comic series, they just need another director with his own voice, his own strong ideas, with the talent to make a great movie. By having Nolan overseeing the project, they are making this almost impossible

No filmmaker worth his salt is going to want to take on this project with another director figuratively, if not literally, looking over his shoulder. There ARE many directors who would find this situation tenable, but they aren’t going to be great directors who can inject their own style into the film. Now, i know people will point to Neill Blomkamp’s work with District 9, and the fact that Peter Jackson was the producer, and effectively overseeing his work. But Blomkamp was a first time feature helmer, was working on a screenplay entirely his own, and needed the big break he was being offered. District 9 could have turned out badly, with an untried director behind the camera. Warner Bros can’t afford to take this risk. If Superman fails again, the franchise will be cinematically buried.

If instead, they turn the development over to, say, Sam Mendes, or Darren Aronofsky, if either of them were interested, they’ll be allowing someone with huge talent to make the work their own. Both would make a very distinctive piece, with very strong ideas. Mendes would excel if they wanted the movie set during the period of the original comics, as he has shown a great eye for period detail. He would also provide focus on the love triangle between Superman, Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Aranofsky would provide a much more contemporary setting and ideas, with an intelligent and absorbing storyline. David Fincher reportedly turned down Batman before Nolan took charge, but i imagine if he didn’t feel Batman was for him, the more primary coloured world of Superman may be even less interesting for him.

I also believe that an origin story is necessary. One of the problems with Superman Returns was that we were thrust straight into it with no origin, and whilst yes, we know the story, i think it made the movie feel less complete, the universe somewhat unfinished. The recent lawsuit may make the origin a grey area, and possibly unworkable, but there definitely needs to be a definable beginning. In my opinion.

If they do start from the beginning, an unknown actor is traditional for Superman. Personally, however, my choice to play the Son of Jor-El would be Karl Urban, Bones in last year’s Star Trek reboot. I think he has the look, the likeability, and the presence to play the part perfectly. He is maybe a little too old to play it from an origin standpoint, and is very busy over the next couple of years, so that’s more of a fantasy casting for me. The shadow of Christopher Reeve still looms large over the role, so i do think someone with a strong presence and acting ability is required to redefine the role, much like Bale did with Batman.

Whatever happens, i hope they get it right. It’s a travesty that a character as strong and popular as Superman has been so badly mishandled cinematically for so long. The world deserves a great Superman movie, and if it really takes Christopher Nolan’s influence to make that happen, i won’t complain. The important thing is that someone makes it happen, before the rights disappear into oblivion.

Bazmann – Remember, you can follow the HeyUGuys IMDb250 Project here, and our progress at http://twitter.com/baz_mann and http://twitter.com/gary_phillips_

So, it would seem that the US gets a giant theme park in the form of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter but over here in good ‘ol blighty, we’re going to get to keep all the sets and get a major studio coming along for the party! The Financial Times (and backed up by this tweet from WB which initially got my attention) has reported that Warner Bros. is attempting to buy and then expand Leavesden Studios which, as the tweets says, is the ‘home of Harry Potter”.

The studio  is just outside of London near Watford and the FT are reporting that:

Warner Brothers will today (27th January) register plans to establish a permanent base in the UK as part of an estimated £100m-plus investment that would make it the only Hollywood major to own a studio outside the US.

This is great news for the UK film industry as it will encourage new big budget movies to be made here, especially if plans are approved to expand the studio. The Dark Knight was filmed at Leavesden which means that it’s more than likely the third installment, whenever that happens will be filmed here. This will make Warner the only major studio to have a base outside of the US.

The new plans involve building two new permanent stages, refurbishing the existing buildings and redesigning its 100-acre “backlot”, the area used for shooting outdoor scenes. A person familiar with the plans said Warner Brothers wants to make Leavesden a European hub for post-production, including visual effects, animatronics and film editing in the UK, and believes that it will attract film business to the country.

More info as we get it.

Today, HeyUGuys was able to interview a true legend when it comes to movies. Examples of films he has scored include True Romance, Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down, more recently the likes of Gladiator,  Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and his latest being that of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. On his first ever assignment for HeyUGuys, Adam Farina was given over 30 minutes to talk with the composing icon and you can listen to the full interview audio below.

Points that might be worth taking note are that of the ‘projects’ he and Nolan are currently looking at collaborating on. It has to be the Dark Knight follow-up doesn’t it?! Or is it just Inception which they are both currently working on?

Take it away Adam…..

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”The job is about being better”, says the Maestro. ‘Elementary, my dear Zimmer’.

OK, so I never said that, but Sherlock never said said ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ either, so Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I are even!

But that quote is verbatim Hans Zimmer and what’s far from elementary is the fact that I am sitting opposite a genius of cinematic score. When people talk about James Cameron elevating the level of visual effects into the stratosphere, Hans Zimmer has been doing exactly the same thing to movie scores for years. Dark Knight, the Rock, Pirates of the Caribbean and now Sherlock Holmes. He even did the jingle for ‘Going for Gold’. Yes, indeed THAT ‘Going for Gold’. While you may not have the latter on your iPod ready to help you break the pain barrier on an early morning run or even earlier morning commute, his work has elevated the pulse rates of cinema goers and  now game fans alike with the sound track to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the record breaking video game released only a month ago. Hans Zimmer has brought another modern and masterful score to fruition with a character who is 150 years old this year.

Listen to the audio below and you can use these quick-guides to give you  more of an idea of what we talked about and where you can jump to for the relevant bits.

• 00:00 – 03:30 Comparing the Sherlock Holmes Score to that of Dark Knight (and possible sequel!) and how they tried to keep away from it
• 03:30 – 05:00 Sequels and how the scores came together for them
• 05:00 – 08:00 Watching (listening to) his work with an audience and their reaction to his work
• 08:00 – 10:30 Working with Robert Downey Jr. and how he can rely on his performance to help his score
• 10:30 – 13:00 Location
• 13:00 – 14:00 Inspiration
• 14:00 – 15:15 Action and setting the scene
• 15:15 – 16:40  Finding the right sound
• 16:40 – 20:00 Working through the creative process & finding the right musicians
• 20:00 – 21:30 Would Holmes approve with his work & what was his favourite part of the movie?
• 21:30 – 23:00 How to present your work to the studio
• 23:00 – 26:40 What makes a ‘massive’ score?
• 26:40 – 29:30 Presenting ‘crazy ideas’ to Guy Ritchie
• 29:30 – 31:07 What’s next (Working with Christopher Nolan on the ‘next project’ – what could it be?!)

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/sherlock_holmes/HansZimmerInterviewSH.mp3"]  [/gplayer]

After my final question I begin to make my exit and sincerely wish Hans all the best for the future, he nods with thanks and says ”that’s perfect timing” as he must check in with his wife and children in Santa Monica, also home to his sound company ‘Remote Control’ productions. It’s a nice note to leave on, a private family moment at Christmas time. I’ll look forward to mine with ‘the clan’ watching (and listening) this modern re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, expertly crafted through just as an imaginative score. Elementary, really.

Sherlock Holmes is released on Boxing Day and you can read our review of the movie here or look at footage and photos from the World Premiere here.

To continue my review of my epic journey to watch all my films from A-Z, this is the Forth part.

For those that don’t know I am watching all 700+ Dvd/Bluray films from A-Z which has so far taken me 2.5 years to get to the end of H’s!

I thought I should retrospectively review each letter and give my top 5 films from each alpha block and maybe bring your attention to some films you may not have seen, films you’ve not seen in ages or films you should give another try. Click A, B, and C to read previous parts.

And so we reach the D’s and looking into the history of D’s I found some hideous movies I’m glad to say I don’t own like the Dr Doolittle remakes, Dude where’s my car, Deuce Bigalow male gigolo (2 parts, how!!), D3 Mighty Ducks, Daddy Day Care, Domino, Dracula dead and loving it, Dumb and dumberer when Harry met Lloyd and so on.
However I do own, or my wife owns Dirty Dancing and I had probably the best experience watching it as I took a bottle of tequila in hand and did a shot every time a scene annoyed me and so almost a full bottle of tequila later I finished the movie in high spirits and in the only way I was going to get through it.

I’m also amazed by my own inability to own all great films, I am missing the likes of Deer Hunter, Day Earth stood still (1951), Dig!, Dirty Dozen, Dirty Harry, Downfall, Dark City, Duck Soup and many more I’m sure that should must own as they really are missed in my collection, maybe santa will be kind this year.

And so onto my five choice films of the D’s. We have a classic Steve Martin on top form movie, the ultimate Stanley Kubrick film with the ultimate Peter Sellers in his finest performance, A deeply Dark Muppet Movie, a charming Steve Carell Rom-Com Movie and the best comic book superhero movie ever made. A wonderful choice of movies and again all offering something amazing and unique.

A few notable omissions from my top five are:- Dead man Shoes, Die Hard, Deliverance, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Duel and Desperado.

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

This is one of my favourite movies, not because of the story or the acting or the cast but because it’s so dam clever and completely original, I’ve never seen a film like it before or since.

Released in 1982 and staring Steve Martin as Private Detective Rigby Reardon whose recruited by Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) who is convinced that the reported death of her father, who was a prominent Cheese scientist working on a secret recipe, was no accident.

Rigby finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are “The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta.” And starts a search for these people and here is where it sets itself apart from any other film, for the people Rigby meets are all from scenes of old classic black and white movies cut into the movie to give impression Rigby is talking or interacting with the likes of Marlon Brando, Vincent Price, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and many more, it works brilliantly and is flawless mainly due to the excellent design of costumes that match perfectly to the original actors dress and the excellent set design that again matches to the original scenes in the old movies, this combined with excellent editing make a quite brilliant movie.

The comedy is top draw with Steve Martin showing off his timing and line delivery with utter natural comic ease which makes the film work so well and carries the movie on even though the plot goes completely bonkers when the Nazi’s get involved towards the end but never the less it’s a genuine classic comedy movie.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb

Stanley Kubrick is one of the greatest directors that has ever graced our eyes and Dr.Strangelove is my own personal favourite movie of his wide variety of films.

If you haven’t seen it then it’s definitely one of those films you have to see before you die.
Released in 1964, the plot is still very relevant and dark today as it was then and centres around a paranoid army general who freaks out thinking the Russians are polluting the bodily fluids of the American people and so starts off a chain of events that lead to a potential nuclear attack on USSR. The President meets with his advisers and is informed that if nuclear weapons are dropped on the USSR then it will set of a “˜Doomsday Device’ that will destroy all animal and plant life on Earth.

It’s Peter Sellers who makes the film so incredible and memorable as he performs as three entirely different characters throughout. Merkin Muffley The President of USA, British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake and the show stealing ex Nazi nuclear expert Dr Strangelove, an utter joy to watch Sellers at his best and utter such classic funny lines like “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room”. Brilliant.

Peter Sellers in my opinion was scandalously beaten to an Oscar for best Actor by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady and Kubrick was beaten by George Cukor for best Director also for My Fair Lady and personally Dr.Strangelove is easily a superior film, maybe it was too dark of a film for it’s time but it was the best film of that year by a long way.

Dark Crystal

The Muppet Show this isn’t. Jim Henson brings to life this amazing fantasy tale using entirely puppets, animatronics or actors wearing puppet outfits and the result is a dark and scary movie that is one of the most loved children’s films of it’s time.

The film is a fine old good vs evil tale that centres around the character of Jen, the last Gerlfling in the world and her journey to insert the missing shard splinter into the Dark Crystal to end the rule of the Skecksis when the three suns align.

On route she meets a variety of characters including a banished Skeksi who is trying to capture them to get accepted back (This Skeksi was the creepiest thing I remember witnessing as a child) another Gerlfling and her dog-like pet Fizzgig and together they travel to the Dark Crystal to finish the rule of the Skeksis.

Dark Crystal is a wonderful film showing off all of the Henson magic and adding a incredible fantasy tale that scares, excites and impresses at every turn and still to this day I can sit and watch and enjoy every minute of it.

Dan in Real Life

A hugely underrated film staring Steve Carell as Dan Burns a widowed father of three girls who takes them to his parents vacation home for a huge family get together.

Whilst visiting a book store he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche) who he connects with, something he hasn’t done since his wife died, they hit it off but and have to go their separate ways after she receives a phone call but they exchange numbers and Dan is left in love and further telling his family he may have met someone special.

It turns out that Marie is dating one of Dan’s brothers and when she turns up to the family get together things take a turn for the awkward, Dan can’t confess to the family that Marie is the girl and Marie can’t either after just being introduced to large family and so the two share a very awkward and frustrating time in the same home to very humorous consequences.

The film moves along nicely with some touching moments and laugh out loud scenes due to Carell’s excellent comic timing, and it’s Steve Carell who impresses the most in a great semi serious role as a father desperately trying to find someone to replace the hole left by the death of his wife and picking the one person to fill that that’s already taken by his brother.

Great film, moving and very enjoyable.

Dark Knight

The standout film by far, not only in the D’s but arguably from all of the letters I have done so far. It’s got everything you could want from a film, action, gadgets, plot and the best portrayal of Batman vs The Joker you could hope for.

The film will be remembered for the performance of Heath Ledger and rightly so, the Oscar was fully deserved as Heath Ledger gave us the perfect performance of the insane with genius to battle the gravel voiced Batman and was so good you wanted to see more of the Joker than of the Batman.

With the addition of a well setup story to create Two Face, played by the excellent and highly underrated Aaron Eckhart, it was the almost perfect film from the Director who can’t make a bad film, Christopher Nolan.

I saw this at the IMAX and it wasn’t quite as impressive watching it at home but still the quality of the Dark Knight is astonishing with the only down side for me were Batman’s voice and the sonar concept at the end.

It’s all setup nicely for the next film with everyone guessing who will be the next villain in Batman 3, my choice is the Riddler but who knows.

Thanks for reading, any recommendations welcome. Coming soon is part five the E’s.

Despite setting a new record for the highest US opening day gross in cinematic history with an impressive $72.7 million, The Twilight Saga: New Moon was only able to finish third in the rankings for biggest opening weekends. It managed to take a total of $140.7 million, which has only ever been bettered by Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million).

In the USA New Moon is now expected to surpass Twilight’s entire domestic gross of $191.5 million by the end of the week, and with worldwide ticket sales totaling around $260 million it won’t be too long before New Moon overtakes it predecessor’s international gross of $351.5 million.

Top 10 at the US weekend box office:

• The Twilight Saga: New Moon ““ $140.7M
• The Blind Side ““ $34.5M
• 2012 ““ $26.5M
• Planet 51 ““ $12.6M
• A Christmas Carol ““ $12.2M
• Precious ““ $11M
• The Men Who Stare at Goats ““ $2.77M
• Couples Retreat ““ $1.95M
• The Fourth Kind ““ $1.73M
• Law Abiding Citizen ““ $1.61M