As a young boy touchingly sings “The Star Spangled Banner” at that most American of events, a football game, the new trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” cuts to scenes of impending mayhem and violence as Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) menacingly whispers the following into Bruce Wayne/Batman’s (Christian Bale) ear:

You think this is going to last… There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends had better batten down the hatches. Because when it hits you’re all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.

That not only sounds like a threat (notice how Wayne backs away in shock) but an awful lot like the direction in which Barack Obama is taking his re-election campaign. Obama is all about Occupy Wall Street, class war and envy, and pitting the haves against bitter and, at times, violent have nots.

Is that what “The Dark Knight Rises” is about?

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In 2008, Nolan’s blockbuster and unqualified masterpiece, ”The Dark Knight,” was openly embraced by conservatives who saw the film as a thinly veiled, intelligent, and very welcome allegory sympathetic towards America’s and George W. Bush’s role in the War on Terror.

Andrew Klavan:

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The Caped Crusader will be sneaking into movie houses a few days before Ol’ Saint Nick does his annual toy run.

A prologue to director Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” will hit theaters Dec. 21 in front of the new Tom Cruise feature “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.”

Nolan says the upcoming film will be set eight years following the action seen in “The Dark Knight,” according to TheWrap.com.

Nolan told the British film magazine that the prologue is “basically the first six, seven minutes of the film” and will serve as “an introduction to [the villain] Bane, and a taste of the rest of the film.”

“The Dark Knight Rises,” the third and presumably final film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, will hit theaters July 20, 2012. The new film stars Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard.

Batman has bested such fiendish villains as the Joker, the Riddler and the Penguin. But his next enemy could be a gaggle of incoherent protesters clogging the fine streets of Gotham City.

‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ the anticipated third chapter in director Christopher Nolan’s Bat-saga, is expected to start shooting in New York City at the end of the month. And, if the Occupy Wall Street crowd isn’t dispersed by then, Nolan might find his meticulously planned sequel held hostage by the movement.

Under its code name “Magnus Rex,” the Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures production will arrive in the nation’s biggest city for 14 days starting Oct. 29, according to a casting notice recently issued by producers. And, according to a person briefed on actors’ schedules who requested anonymity because production details were being kept confidential, cast members have been told the shoot could include scenes shot at the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Some actors have been all too eager to support the OWS movement. But will their attitude change if the group starts affecting their precious product?

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The Washington Times is wrong. Hollywood wasn’t AWOL in the War on Terror. In fact, just the opposite is true. Hollywood summoned every ounce of financial and star power at their disposal to fight this war.

Unfortunately, they chose to fight for the other side.

If our history is written by honest brokers, this generation of Hollywoodists will be remembered as those who openly enabled evil and spent hundreds of millions of dollars making bombs for the enemy — box office bombs. Over a dozen of them, specifically engineered with equal parts lies and hate and propaganda to undermine morale at home and on the battlefield in the hopes that we would lose this war.

Never forget the crime committed in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon on that terrible day.  And never forget  how Hollywood turned on your country.

There were some exceptions, however, and chief among them was Joel Surnow, the co-creator of “24.” Each week, for eight seasons, he gave this country a hero who openly loved America, did what was necessary to protect her, and who was willing to pay a terrible price for it. ”24″ also delivered the goods. Cathartic, exciting and righteous without being self-righteous, the addictive adventures of Jack Bauer became an oasis in a cesspool of Hollywood product delivering the exact opposite message.

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Here’s Rupert Wyatt, director of the blockbuster movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes in a recent interview:

“(The script) had become very different and much more exciting to me. It became less a story of domesticization of a pet and more about an uprising and a Che Guevara story.” 

Here’s the Associated Press review of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”: “Raised much like a human child by a researcher, with help from a veterinarian, Caesar becomes a Che Guevara-style revolutionary, leading a rebellion of apes against their human oppressors.” 

Ground control to Director Wyatt: In fact the only genuinely popular rebellion in Cuba in the 20th Century was against Che Guevara’s regime, among the most oppressive in modern history which mandates ( under penalty of prison or firing squad) what its subjects, read, say, earn, eat (both substance and amount) , where they live, travel or work. Wyatt’s inspiration for a freedom-fighter co-founded a regime that jailed more of its subjects than did Stalin’s during the Great Terror and murdered more its subjects in its first three years in power than did Hitler’s in its first six. 

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I reviewed “Inception” upon its release, watched it again for this countdown, and found it even better — much better, in fact — the second time. There’s really no point in re-reviewing what I now consider to be a grand, old-fashioned piece of entertainment that hearkens back to the big-budget epics of the ’60s (especially in the third act). But director Christopher Nolan’s  snub in the Oscar category of Best Director is worth talking about because it’s unforgivable. “Inception” is easily the best directed film of last year, encompassing a complicated and layered story, not to mention wildly different changes in environment and a welcome lack of CGI, except where absolutely necessary. And every element is controlled with a steady hand and creative eye.

Is Hollywood still angry at Nolan for making that near-billion-dollar-grossing ode to George W. Bush we call “The Dark Knight”? Maybe. It’s more likely, though, that the snub has to do with professional jealousy. Nolan seems incapable of making a film that isn’t heralded by some segment of the move-going population as some kind of masterpiece. With a number of bona fide classics already under his belt, he’s something so many directors wish they were but simply aren’t: a true auteur who delivers truly original stories in unforgettable ways. Furthermore, Nolan was able to do something so few can anymore, he was able to convince a big studio (Warner Bros.) to back his big vision (“Inception”) and ended up with huge box office ($823 million) and a Best Picture nomination.

But Nolan’s biggest sin is likely something worse than his refusal to work on the liberal plantation when it comes to his ideas and themes or his winning the “Inception” gamble both creatively and financially. His biggest sin is that he’s only 40 years old, a whippersnapper in comparison to those aging Boomer directors, most of whom lost their mojo long before completing a canon of classics to match what Nolan’s already racked up after only a decade.

As a film lover who’s legitimately heartbroken over the creative crash this industry is experiencing right now, as a film lover who’s turning more and more towards this new golden age of  television were currently in the midst of in order to receive a steady fix of new, compelling dramatic stories and characters, Christopher Nolan is the brightest spot in Filmdom’s universe  – a shockingly gifted and original storyteller determined to dazzle with every new offering.

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When word hit that Zack Snyder would be directing a Christopher Nolan produced, David Goyer written version of “Superman,” many a geek heart rejoiced. Images of super slo-mo action, desaturated color palettes, and snappy and powerful one-liners filled our heads. All was good in the Geekosphere.

Then, alas, came word that the script for the film was “a mess.” The oddly named “Vulture” dropped the bomb that Snyder had been hired because the studio wanted a director capable of putting together a hacky “rush job” so Warner Brothers could keep the rights to the Man of Steel. Director Darren Aronofsky, fresh off the buzz of his upcoming film “The Black Swan” passed on the project because it was in such disarray and reeked of a studio cash grab…. Great Ceasar’s ghost, what’s going on here?

If you haven’t been reading Big Hollywood, or living on Planet Earth, you might not know that Hollywood has a leftist bent to it. You also may not know that the Hollywood press is just as corrupt, self-serving and leftist as their cousins in the mainstream media. The reports of “Superman’s” death are greatly exaggerated. This is nasty spin, aimed to take down two of Hollywood’s new school power players while boosting up a critical darling who has little appeal outside the coastal critics community. It also has a lot to do with politics and ideology.

One has to feel for Darren Aronofsky. I like his films to a certain degree, but don’t think that he is a ground-breaking visionary the way that many film students, mainstream critics, and hipsters claim him to be. “Requiem for a Dream” is not some seminal milestone in the history of film. I do think he is capable and incredibly talented. He has been attached to several high profile projects, and it seems that whenever a film is hunting for a director, his name pops up. He was attached to “Batman” before Nolan and has long been rumored to be the man behind the camera for the “Robocop” reboot. Yet, instead of those films, he continues to do well received, smaller, art house projects like “The Wrestler” and “Black Swan.” (more…)

Some very (to say the least) encouraging news from filmdom broke yesterday: “300″ director Zack Snyder will direct the new Superman film for Warner Bros., and as we already knew, ”Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan will oversee the reboot as a producer. You couldn’t ask for a stronger super-hero Dream Team, which is why I couldn’t disagree more with comments like this:

Snyder is all about style over substance, and I think that’s a big reason why Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” didn’t work, causing the studio to reboot the franchise just four years later.

Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen,” which will someday be recognized as the masterpiece it is, was twice as substantive and complicated (in the best way) as any film that came out that year. But even before that, with “300,” Snyder proved he understands and is uniquely capable of managing big, important, universal and timeless themes without hurting the overall story’s broader commercial appeal. And since this latest incarnation of the Man of Steel will be yet another reboot, Snyder is the perfect director to intelligently bring together all the necessary elements – mythology, character, action and excitement. 

Some leftist critics slammed “300″ as simplistic and stupid. Intentionally or not, they unfairly judged the film from a political point of view as opposed to an artistic one because they see the themes that drove “300″ — those of self sacrifice, what it means to be a man, live free or die, and opposing cowardly appeasers willing to enable evil in exchange for the “stability” of slavery – as simplistic and silly. While that may be their sophisticated and impressively nuanced political opinion, artistically those are far from simplistic themes and extremely difficult to pull off without resorting to the inane, on-the-nose political speechifying that’s plagued every anti-war film since Bush Derangement Syndrome ravaged the Hollywood Hills.  (more…)

1. After “truth, justice, and all that stuff…” and knowing that the upcoming Captain America won’t be so American, hearing that Superman, Son of Jor-El, is now in the smart, capable hands of The Mighty Christopher Nolan means that there is hope that the next screen incarnation of The Man of Steel will not be a brooding stalker on some sort of journey of self-discovery to find his inner meterosexual and emotional life.

Nolan will oversee the film’s production and is currently looking at a short-list of potential directors:

Making the list are “Unstoppable” helmer Tony Scott, “Let Me In” director Matt Reeves, “Battle: Los Angeles” helmer Jonathan Liebesman (who tapped for “Clash of the Titans 2″), Duncan Jones of “Source Code” and “Sucker Punch” guy Zack Snyder.

Expect news of a decision to come sooner rather than later because Warner Bros. and Legendary need to get the picture made by 2012 because of a rights ruling that went against the studio and favored heirs of Superman creator Jerry Siegel and takes effect in 2013.

Though we will never enter into the business of second-guessing Mr. Nolan, we are lighting candles for Zack Snyder.

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2. ‘Twas political correctness that killed “Sex.” (more…)

In the United States, the highest grossing movie of 2008 was “The Dark Knight,” a movie with a strong story, fascinating characters and great visual effects. The highest grossing movie of 2009 was “Avatar,” a movie with great visual effects, weak characters and a forgettable story. There was a great difference between some of the biggest blockbusters of 2008 and the blockbusters of 2009. 

Now, with a solid weekend at the box office and strong reviews, “Inception” (directed by Christopher Nolan, the director of “The Dark Knight”) might mark the beginning of a return to the smart special effects-laden blockbuster. ”Inception” is a smart thriller that shows that highly-anticipated blockbuster movies can have great imaginative stories to go with their eye-opening effects.

“Inception” tells the story of a team of experts who break into people’s minds to steal their secrets. “Inception”stars as Cobb, the leader of the team, who has spent several years studying how to infiltrate dreams and steal information from them. (more…)

According to reports, Warner Brothers sweated over whether or not audiences would come out for “Inception,” fearing the multi-layered brain teaser might be too smart and cerebral due to a plot that couldn’t be explained in the logline of a sentence or two. Many elite critics looked down their nose and tut-tutted with the same thoughts. Well, today we have our answer. “Inception” is a hit, on track for a $55 million weekend, and as of now enjoying a 9.3 rating out of 10 over at IMDB, already placing it in the top 100 reader favorites of all time. Score another one for the great unwashed.

Before reaching the age of 40, director Christopher Nolan’s already become one of our most impressive and important directors. He has many talents to be sure, but what’s set him apart is a stubborn refusal to talk down to the audience. Or should I say, ”his” audience, because it appears as though Nolan’s built enough trust and goodwill to make his name as much of a box-office draw as any star.

“Inception” is not “Pirates of the Caribbean 3,” a bloated, confusing, narrative mess with no idea what to do with itself. We see all kinds of movies like that these days — “comedies” and family films and action flicks that clock in at 140 minutes when 90 would do just fine thank you very much. “Inception” dares to challenge us to catch on, keep up, and hold off on the bathroom break. If there’s a Nolan style, a respect for the intelligence of his audience along with a commercial sensibility is a large part of it.  (more…)

For a storyteller to fully satisfy an audience after promising to bring to life a particular concept, they must include every detail about that concept the audience is already familiar with, remind them of a few things they forgot, and then find a way to wrap all of that into a logical and clever story that touches on those familiar and unfamiliar beats while constantly surprising with the execution. That’s a tall enough order when Pixar is bringing toys to life. With “Inception,” writer/director Christopher Nolan brilliantly pulls this off in previously unconquered territory.

Nolan’s mind-melting triumph is without a doubt the most psychologically ambitious film I’ve ever seen. Previous cinematic attempts to grab hold of and realize the concept of consciously entering the world of dreams have usually focused on the visual (Hitchcock’s “Spellbound”), stuck to very simple rules (“Nightmare on Elm Street”), or fizzled out entirely (‘Dreamscape”) when the boundaries beyond simplicity were nudged. The idea of fully and successfully exploiting a psychological dimension where there are no rules seemed futile. Until now. Leave it to the director of “Memento,” a brilliant neo-noir Rubik’s Cube of a mystery audaciously told backwards, to be the first to successfully crack this genre.

What does the average person know about dreams? Among other things, we know that there can be dreams within dreams within dreams. We know time has no meaning, that we wake before we die or as we fall, and that oftentimes what’s happening, for good or bad, is a reflection of our subconscious fears, desires, and knowledge. Without giving any of the story away, Nolan takes these universally familiar ideas (and many others) and then uses a familiar framing device — The Last Big Heist Before I Get Out — to explore the living hell out of them. (more…)

One of the big stories in filmdom today is about all the concerns surrounding the marketing of Christopher Nolan’s new film “Inception,” which cost a reported $160 million to produce and hits theatres next Friday, July 16th. According to Reuters, awareness isn’t as high as the studio would like, especially in Middle America.

Well, here’s one way to entice Middle America into your film, insult them by having your three main stars hit the promotional circuit and savage Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin as stupid and evil: 

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QUIZ: What makes you most want to see “Inception” now?

1. Ellen Page’s insufferably cruel sanctimony?

2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s pathetic, butt-boy me-toosim?

3. Leonardo DiCaprio’s wild hypocrisy?

Actually, “wild hypocrisy” is an understatement….

The same Leo you see in that video belly-aching with so much touching concern over Mother Earth, just happens to be the very same elitist whose PRIVATE jet-setting helped cause the chaos that cost hundreds of World Cup fans — who had spent upwards of $1300 for tickets — the ability to attend the game. Found buried yesterday in the sometimes useful L.A. Times: (more…)

There’s more creativity in these billboards than most films these days. Director Christopher Nolan has an awful lot of hype to live up to on July 16th.

But if anyone can do it…

“Inception” opens July 16th, and represents one of those rare cerebral summer flicks that sometimes end up being the best studio offering of the season. With Christopher Nolan’s name on it and this mind-blowing trailer that promises plenty of realistic-looking special effects and action set upon a strong emotional foundation, every new piece of publicity makes it more of a must see.

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In the hands of any other director, the premise of entering someone’s dreams to gain their secrets would be worrisome. The key to that kind of concept is The Rules. Without the rules the premise can get away from you — become unwieldy — and you end up with a film where a lot of numbing special effects infest a dull but attractive world where nothing makes a damn bit of sense. With “Memento,” the man who brought us George W. Bush “The Dark Knight” proved that he’s more than capable of grabbing hold and executing a seemingly impossible idea and making it work… brilliantly. (more…)

Other than this has to be too good to be true, there’s nothing to comment on. To make suggestions or to give advice or to create some kind of wish list regarding these upcoming films, as though anything anyone could come up with will surpass the genius of Christopher Nolan, is foolish. So carry on, Mr. Nolan. See ya, opening day.

More of this, please…

Deadline Hollywood Daily:

Warner Bros is trying to ready its DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a “godfather” role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus. Nolan’s leadership of the project can set it in the right direction with the critics and the fans, not to mention at the box office. Besides, Nolan is considered something of a god at Warner Bros and has a strong relationship with the studio after the success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Though he wasn’t obligated to do so, he gave the studio first crack at his spec script Inception, and Warner Bros was able to buy it before other studios even got a sniff. While Nolan completes that Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer for a July 16th release, he’s also hatched an idea for Warner Bros’ third Batman installment. Now his brother and frequent collaborator Jonah Nolan, and David Goyer who co-wrote Batman Begins and penned the story for The Dark Knight, are off scripting it.

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Last week, I stirred some folks up with my Top Ten Most Overrated Directors of All Time.  To recap, they were: Ridley Scott, Michael Mann, David Lean, Darren Aronofsky, Mike Nichols, David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock.  And by “stirred some folks up,” I mean faced down a virtual lynch mob.  Who knew that Aronofsky supporters were fans of the film Fury? 

A few quick items in response to that piece.  First, it was not about “bad directors” (although some were plain bad, including Aronofsky), but about overrated directors.  Alfred Hitchcock is nowhere near the worst director ever (I was probably too harsh to label him “slightly better than mediocre”), but it is a travesty to label him the greatest director of all time, as so many have.  The same holds true for David Lean (I appreciate Great Expectations, Brief Encounter, and swaths of Bridge Over the River Kwai, I just think he doesn’t deserve to make the top 20 list). Second, I neglected three directors who clearly should have made the list: Roman Polanski (somebody stop the Chinatown cult!), Spike Lee (how can he make race relations this dull?), and Tim Burton (damn you for ruining Sweeney Todd).  Third, two corrections: (more…)

Looking back at The Karate Kid (1984), which turned twenty-five years old this week, a thought keeps recurring.

Wow. . . Avildsen made it work twice.

John G. Avildsen is, in some ways, a director of little distinction when compared with well-known marquee names like Spielberg, Scorsese, Nolan, and Tarantino. The vast majority of his movies are utterly forgotten by the average filmgoer — indeed, he’s been nominated for Worst Director at The Razzies three times. And yet, like Victor Fleming decades earlier with his twin successes The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind (both 1939 — read a great recent article on Fleming here), Avildsen has twice punched way above his weight, netting himself an Oscar for Best Director and giving birth to some of the most memorable moments in motion picture history. (more…)

Over the weekend, I was pondering why the low budget, standard genre pic The Haunting in Connecticut (Lionsgate) has become a nifty little box office hit. The film added almost $9.5M over the weekend for a new 10-day cume of $37M, and the only conclusion I have been able to reach is that it’s all about the poster.

Creepy, right? I have not seen Haunting and will probably wait for DVD or pay cable, but that is a weird, startling, attention-grabbing image. As a movie junkie, I love good movie art. The best movie posters are evocative. They capture what a movie is all about without giving away the mystery. There are certain movie posters that instantly put me back in that theatre experiencing the film for the very first time. The best movie posters are not just promotional tools. They stand as a work of art on their own. These are my favorites, buit it is by no means a definitive list. Feel free to add your favorites (and subtract any of mine).

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I am forecasting a coronation for Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) at Sunday’s Academy Awards. My final predictions call for Slumdog wins in 8 of the 9 categories it is competing in including Best Picture and Best Director: Danny Boyle. The only place I think it will fail is in the Sound Mixing category where The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) may trump it.

Slumdog Millionaire is about to win the Hollywood's Grand Prize

The “Battle Royale” of the night is Mickey Rouke from The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) vs. Sean Penn in Milk (Focus) in the Best Actor category. There have been two ties in major categories in Academy Award history. The first was in 1932 when Frederic March in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde shared Best Actor with Wallace Beery for The Champ. (March had one more vote, but in that era, any finish within 3 votes was rules a tie.) Then in 1968, Katherine Hepburn for The Lion In Winter and Barbara Streisand for Funny Girl tied for Best Actress. If there was any justice, Rourke and Penn would share the award. In any other year, either of them would be a lock. Forced to make a pick, I’m going with Rourke.

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