Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Riddler in Third Batman?

Inception has now been released, and is the number one movie in the country. So what's next for director/genius Christopher Nolan? Let the games begin... Batman 3 rumors. This one is actually a few days old, but Comic-Con kicked my butt and I'm just now recovered enough to actually post on the blog again.

The rumor is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play the Riddler in Batman 3, the sequel to The Dark Knight. This is a great rumor for multiple reasons.

First, Christopher Nolan has always stated, 'he wont talk about the next film until the one he's working on is complete'. Well, after about a hundred million dollars in two weeks, I'd say Inception has categorically finished as far as production. So the rumor that Gordon-Levitt has shown up on casting sheets could be true.

Second, Nolan loves to work with actors on multiple projects. Christian Bale: Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight. Michael Caine: Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception. So it's not too far of a stretch to believe he would want to work with Gordon-Levitt after Inception.

Third, Gordon-Levitt could pull it off. The Riddler was never a physical challenge to Batman, just a mind game type of villain. JG-L has the physique to play the Riddler, as well as the acting chops. He's one of the few child actors that has transitioned nicely into adult roles. I would be supportive of JGL as the Riddler, even thought the masses are hoping for Johnny Depp.

That's all I have for now, just some food for thought. Would you like to see JGL as the Riddler in Batman 3? Or would you even want the Riddler as the main villain in Batman 3? Your thoughts.

133.6 Million for Iron Man 2 is no Dark Knight

Iron Man 2 opened to a HUGE 133.6 million dollars opening weekend. The movie opened at the high end of it's studio's estimates (125-135 million). The movie was well below the record opening of The Dark Knight (158+ million). It was however the 5th biggest opening in history; pretty damn good!

I have to say I called this one. Last week I told you I didn't think it was going to surpass The Dark Knight's opening weekend numbers. I did give the movie a mostly positive review despite it's flaws. The rest of the movie going community feels the same way as I do... 74% at Rotten Tomatoes and 89% from their users.

I've spent most of the weekend reading reviews all over the net, and everyone is on the same page, which was refreshing. Most of the time, these big movies split people across a wide range of reviews; but with Iron Man 2, people all agreed about what they did and did not like.

Everyone also agrees that it's unfair to compare Iron Man 2 to The Dark Knight. Unless we're discussing box office numbers. So until the next HUGE comic book movie is released, The Dark Knight is still opening weekend king of the box office!

Iron Man 2 tickets on sale today, will it beat The Dark Knight's record weekend?

Visit Fandango for tickets to the midnight showing of Iron Man 2, May 6th. The movie looks to battle The Dark Knight for biggest opening weekend in history. I have my doubts though.

TDK opened to the tune of $155.34 million to top Spider-Man 3 for the biggest opening weekend in history. The web is flooded with predictions that the record will be broken, come May 7th. The picture above is courtesy of a movie blog in the UK, heyuguys. They put their money on Iron Man 2 winning this obscure race, I'm going the other way.


The Dark Knight:
Strong buzz

Critical praise

All star cast

Heath Ledger's death raised awareness of the film

IT'S BATMAN!


Iron Man 2:
Strong buzz. Just like TDK, the online buzz is huge. The trailer is one of the most watched on the web and Jon Favreau is a Twitter nut (who we do follow); he's always updating fans on great info, casting, etc.

No praise so far, and in fact, the few people out there that HAVE seen it, say the story is not written well enough to keep us interested; something the critics panned the first film for.

All star cast, including the amazing Robert Downey Jr.

An awesome sidekick character in War Machine that has fans really excited. Also, I'd like to note, that War Machine would beat the ever living poo out of Robin! Know that!

I'm sorry, Mickey Rourke is great and all, but A) he's no Heath Ledger, and B) he's not playing The Joker.

It's Iron Man, yeah he's a cool character and Robert Downey Jr. was the man in the first film. Also, I'm sure the first film lifted comic book sales to unprecedented levels, but come on... it's Iron Man.


The door is open for all of us to discuss. Which will be a bigger hit at the box office, opening weekend? We have a month or so to discuss, so let's get started. I don't think Iron Man 2 has that intangible THING that TDK had. I don't know what it is. You can't see it or hear it, but it's something special that only comes around once every decade or so and I just don't see it in Iron Man 2.

Ps... I will be seeing Iron Man 2 opening weekend. ;o)

Quickie: Avatar breaks 1 Billion dollar mark

Was there really any doubt? I'm not posting because the picture did well... I'm posting because James Cameron IS as good as I thought. FattMatt and I had an "AtD" moment a few months ago when discussing Quentin Tarantino.

I accused him of kissing Tarantino butt, he accused me of the same when it comes to Cameron. Well; let's look at it this way. Cameron is the only director in history, to have TWO films top the 1 billion dollar mark. I haven't seen the film, FattMatt has; so I will not review in anyway; I'm just stating facts.

The movie is doing well, the same way Cameron's other billion dollar blockbuster did, Titanic. It's consistent and has taken the number spot for 2009 away from Revenge of the Suck. This movie could reach The Dark Knight and Titanic proportion. We'll have to wait and see.

Blade vs. The Dark Knight fan-made video

Staying with the superhero themed postings; here's a great fan-made video. I've seen a ton of fan-made videos featuring our favorite superheros, but I have to say, this is the best one yet. What IF there were a Batman vs. Blade film? Here's what it would like like:

A little secret: Check out this incredible site of fan-made videos featuring your favorite superheros. Enjoy.

Castlevania video game adaptation a reality

Dave McNary at Variety reported today that Castlevania, the popular video game would be adapted to the big screen. The game is about Vampires battling Belmonts every hundred or so years. Steven Paul is producing (Ghost Rider). Saw director, James Wan, has signed on to direct the film. The video game first came onto the scene in 1986 in Japan. Crystal Sky Entertainment bought the rights to a picture in 2005, but nothing ever took off because of the Writer's strike.

My only worry with this news is that a new trend will begin, the video game adaptation trend. I don't think I have much to worry about though. In order for a trend like this to occur: A. The movies have to be good, and B. They need to make a lot of money. That's what lead to the Comic Book movie trend we're seeing a lot of these days. A. The movies are good, i.e. Iron Man and The Dark Knight. And B. They're making a lot of money, i.e. Wanted and Ghost Rider!

Does anyone else see this trend coming? Before you answer, remember that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tekken are coming soon.

Voltron is a go, producers hired

Does anyone remember Voltron? The 1980's cartoon about five pilots who command machines, which combine into one huge robot! The news that Voltron is becoming a movie came out months ago. We're still young at AtD so we're just now reporting this. The Hollywood Reporter states that producers have been hired for the project. Charles Roven, Richard Suckle and Steve Alexander have been brought on board. The trio has produced movies like Get Smart, The International and The Dark Knight. A decent list if I'd say so!

Sony Pictures owns the rights to the movie, and I doubt they'll let it go. The challenge now is, how to make a movie different from Transformers and The Power Rangers? I seriously don't have the answer. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please voice your opinion in the comment section.

Picture from Deviant art, artist: JPRart

The Academy Awards to have 10 Best Picture nominees next year

Last year's Academy Awards was probably the most entertaining of the award show's history, in a long time. Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway doing a mini Broadway show of the nominees was pretty creative. The format for presenting the major acting awards was also very creative. Next year, the Academy will do something they haven't done since the 1940's... have 10 Best Picture nominees.

The move will hopefully create more interest and also give fan favorites a better chance of being nominated. Movies like The Dark Knight and Iron Man missed out last year for more dramatic movies like Milk and Frost/Nixon. The Associated Press reported President of the Academy, Sid Ganis, had this to say:

Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize. I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.

I personally think it's stupid, and a waste of time, just trying to get people to somehow tune in for the show. Let's say for example a movie like Defiance was in the running last year for Best Picture, would it really have affected Slumdog Millionaire's chance of winning the prize? My answer is NO. But! But! If it is a year with a close race, a movie third on the list of favorites could screw up the votes and a surprise fourth or fifth place movie wins Best Picture.

Either way, let us know what you think... whether you agree or disagree, the decision has been made.

Tony: Dark Knight Review

It's been awhile since I posted a review, and since I've seen "The Dark Knight" about 5 times since it's release, I will explain my thoughts on the movie. Let me start with a little background information. Louie (my brother) and I loved superheroes like a lot of kids do. He was ALWAYS a Superman fan and I loved the X-Men comics/cartoon for as long as I can remember. But the Batman Animated series and Batman movies were kinda secondary. I liked Batman the superhero, I liked the bad guys/girls, but wasn't a "hardcore" fan.... untill now.

The Dark Knight is obviously a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins". "Batman Begins" did a lot of things that no other Batman movie did before. It took a detailed look at the origin story and how this billionaire named Bruce Wayne decided he would beat up bad guys in a bat suit. The second thing Christopher Nolan did differently was keep the movie "reality based". He makes the audience feel as though this could happen! "Batman Begins" was a great leap for "superhero" movies. The Dark Knight carries on the same reality based tone.

I don't want to talk about plot details, thats why you watch the movie. But I will say this; the story is very original and beautifully written by the director Christopher Nolan and his brother. Christian Bale is magnificent as Bruce Wayne and a very fitting Batman. It's too bad... he's magnificent but Heath Ledger is even better! All the buzz about this movie has always been around Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker. And it's all deserving! The way they re-invented this character, this iconic character is amazing. I loved the new look: the new clothes, the new makeup, the new hair, attitude, the deep and high pitched voice, the way he arcs his back, all of it! My cousin Matt said it best, "Heath Ledger is not in this film, The Joker is".

I think what also adds to the effect of the Joker is that the movie is based in reality. "This could happen" is what takes over your mind and it makes the Joker that much scarier. If Heath Ledger doesn't get nominated for an Oscar, it would be such a shame. It would only be because critics and writters are scared they'll get complaints that they only voted for him out of sympathy. Well the truth is, he deserves the nomination if not the win, whether he was still alive or not. He is brilliant by every definition of the word in the Dark Knight.

What most people don't understand about the Dark Knight, and what I've argued many times is: the entire movie revolves around Harvey Dent/ Two-Face. He is played by Aaron Eckhart who does a great job! The reasoning of my argument: "Batman Begins" dealt with the idea of fear. This notion that you can overcome your fears and do great things in life. Dark Knight's overal idea is "duality". Having two sides to every person. Bruce Wayne/ Batman, Harvey Dent/ Two Face, good/ evil, life/ death. They talk about Batman's only rule being not to kill; well the Joker kills throughout the movie. They talk about life/ death; and not to give anything away, but society sometimes has tough choices they have to deal with. The rise of Harvey Dent, the fall, and the outcome are the backbone of this movie.

Emotionally, the movie is fantastic, and may be nominated for Best Picture; we'll have to wait and see if the people in charge feel like rewarding this film the way they rewarded The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King. The writing is unlike any other action movie you'll see. Again, maybe a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Christopher Nolan and his brother. The action is unbelievable. You know how you see an action movie and notice nothing new, nothing you remember when you walk out of the theater? That is not the case with the Dark Knight. There are two scenes specifically that will blow your mind: one involves a semi-truck and the other a balloon and airplane. Trust me, just watch it.

Overall the movie is fantastic, there are some plot holes in the movie but nothing to complain about. The acting is amazing; including Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Cain and Maggie Gillanhall (spelling?). The action and story are unparrallel and the directing is top notch. GO SEE THIS MOVIE. There's very few times in a generation where a movie becomes a cultural event. The last one was The Passion of The Christ and Titanic before that. Appreciate the acting, believe the buzz, cheer the caped crusader and just admire the joker! 5 Stars, 9.5/10, two thumbs up and has officially taken the number one spot on my all time favorite movie.