Top Posts of 2011

It was the year of Catwoman, the triple threat of the The Dark Knight Rises, hot sex with Batman in the first issue of the DC Comics Reboot, and Arkham City’s excessive promotion made Selina Kyle the hottest Batman commodity on the internet in 2011, with Tom Hardy’s Bane chomping at her gloriously high heels.

1. Anne Hathaway, Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises: so very good at being bad (via Sexy Girls Dressed)
2. DC Reboot Catwoman #1 – Wrong costume is a warning sign to fans but characterization sounds like an improvement
3. The Dark Knight Rises Set Photos: Bane
4. Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne / Batman in The Dark Knight Rises
5. First peak at the Dark Knight Rises Batmobile
6. Bane Mask, Other Batman Items coming up for sale in Movie Memorabilia Auction
7. Arkham City Epic Fail on Catwoman Costume
8. Hot New Location Photos: Not Bruce and Selina this time. It’s Batman and Catwoman IN FULL COSTUME (or is it?)
9. The Dark Knight Rises Location Photos: Batman/Batsuit #TDKR
10. Why I’m passing on Arkham City
11. Batman and Catwoman Cosplay: The Best of Dragon Con
12. Batman at Comic Con: Catwoman of the DC Comics Reboot, not apologizing for sexy!
13. Anne Hathaway Wardrobe Malfunction – too much Catwoman for the costume?
14. New Set Photos from The Dark Knight Rises: Christian Bale/Bruce Wayne looking very Wall Street and Joseph Gordon…
15. The Real and Fake Official Catwoman pic from The Dark Knight Rises

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“Sorry to spoil things, boys…” Did LA Times overstep on Anne Hathaway Catwoman interview?

LA Times Online’s “Hero Complex” is running an interview with Anne Hathaway where she “Talks The Dark Knight Rises Catwoman.”  As was noted on Twitter, what she actually does is perhaps more reminiscent of her Princess Diaries past, for as was said of the late Princess Diana, she demonstrates the art of saying (almost) nothing with great distinction.

Hathaway talks about the origin of her character in Batman #1 (and narrowly misses insulting Bob Kane in the process!) and its inspiration in screen actress Hedy Lamarr, said to be the most beautiful woman of her day, how she studied the actress for her performance, etc.  Standard actress stuff.  She repeats her defense of the disappointing costume, but she reveals no specifics about her character or the plot.  She merely makes general comments about Selina and her ties to Gotham City, and how any individual Catwoman ties to a creator’s version of the city.

Hathaway herself spoils nothing.  LA Times columnist Geoff Boucher, on the other hand, describes a scene and plot point in detail.   He opens with it so you’ve read it before you knew what was coming.  (An advisory has since been added to the top of the article.)

Could Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan and producers have known this was coming when they gave him access?

Readers are advised to avoid this interview and remain unspoiled, but if you absolutely must, follow the link to the full Hero Complex material.
Dark Knight Rises’ star Anne Hathaway: ‘Gotham City is full of grace’ 

The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of his Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and other Nolan alums Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, to be released by Warner Bros. July 2012

See Related:
Anne Hathaway says you ain’t see nothing yet on her Catwoman Costume!

The costumes in Dark Knight Rises are pretty amaz … wait, these are Oregon’s Rose Bowl uniforms?

The Dark Knight Rises - No wait, that's Nike?

This has nothing to do with The Gotham Rogues or Bane’s assault on Gotham Stadium/Heinz field.  We would have said it was a simple case of Nike Pro or Off the Bench standing next to the popular kid, using the interest in The Dark Knight Rises to bring a little of the spotlight their way for Phil Knight “Nike Pro Combat experiments” except this stuff really looks like the Dark Knight inspiration started back on the drawing board, not writing the press release.  Check out the “liquid black metal finish”, “armored wing design,” and “chaine maille mesh” for the back, arms and sides.

Note: I’m pretty sure the wings aren’t an actual part of Oregon’s new Rose Bowl uniforms, but when it comes to Phil Knight Nike Pro Combat experiments, one never knows. Well, here you go Wisconsin: deal with this.

Liquid black metal finish. Armored wing design that will go under the shoulder pads (whatever that means). “Chain Maille Mesh” on the back, arms and sides. More views at Nike’s Facebook page (check out the helmet).

Oh, and the numbers will shift colors as the player moves.

Nike is based in Oregon and Knight, the company’s co-founder, former CEO and current chairman, is a Ducks alum. But he also graduated from the Stanford School of Business … you should see the wild suits those students wear.

via Off the Bench.

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#TDKR composer Hans Zimmer teases a Selina Kyle/Catwoman theme in The Dark Knight Rises score

In an interview with MTV, The Dark Knight Rises composer Hans Zimmer answers a question about Selina Kyle/Catwoman’s theme saying:

She will have (one), she doesn’t yet.  That’s got something to do with ‘I haven’t written it yet.”

Apparently the award-winning composer who has done all Nolan’s oeuvre, including  previous Batman outings: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, has too many ideas, which certainly sounds promising for us.

The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of his Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and other Nolan alums Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, to be released by Warner Bros. July 2012.

See related:
Zimmer: Batman 3 score must do more than rehash The Dark Knight

My Favorite Scrooge « Chris Dee’s Cat-Tales Blog

No wonder Nolan cast him to play an Alfred who was unique to his storyverse but absolutely true to the essence of the character.

via My Favorite Scrooge « Chris Dee’s Cat-Tales Blog.

Top Posts of the Week: It’s the Big 3 all the way Bale/Batman, Hathaway/Catwoman and Hardy/Bane

In the last shopping days before Christmas, not a lot of Batman merchandise made it into the Internet consciousness.  A few lingering boos and hisses aimed at Arkham City as the Bat-letdown of the year, and the Riddler Converse shoes got some traction, but for the most part, the collective consciousness is fully occupied with The Dark Knight Rises, its prologue and trailer.  We don’t know what to expect from the movie itself, but it’s clear what fans are most interested in.  By a wide margin, it’s the big 3: Batman/Christian Bale, Catwoman/Selina/Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy/Bane.

1. Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne / Batman in The Dark Knight Rises
2. Anne Hathaway, Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises: so very good at being bad (via Sexy Girls Dressed)
3. The Dark Knight Rises Set Photos: Bane
4. The Dark Knight Rises Prologue: Leaked and Plugged
5. The Dark Knight Rises Gotham Stadium Video
6. Script pages from The Dark Knight Rises “leaked” (Not exactly, but they’re letting us know what Bane was saying)
7. Batman and Catwoman Cosplay: The Best of Dragon Con
8. Overheard on the Social Networks: Selina Kyle is “Very Hepburn”
9. Why I’m passing on Arkham City
10. The Dark Knight Rises: Batman’s plane the Batwing
11. Arkham City Epic Fail on Catwoman
12. Batman Merch: Riddler Converse

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Anne Hathaway among those to honor Meryl Streep at Kennedy Center Honors

Anne Hathaway, who has been the IT Girl since being cast as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, will be among those honoring Meryl Streep at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors, to be broadcast on CBS on December 27, 2011 at 9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors. Recipients to be honored at the 34th annual national celebration of the arts are: singer Barbara Cook, singer and songwriter Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins, and actress Meryl Streep.

“This year, the Kennedy Center celebrates its 40th anniversary by selecting five extraordinary individuals whose collective artistry has contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world,” said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein. “With her sublime voice and rich performances, Barbara Cook has defined all that is best and brightest in the Great American Songbook. Neil Diamond’s songwriting genius has created one of the most enduring catalogs of American popular music and his live performances have captivated audiences for five decades. Yo-Yo Ma’s sterling musicianship makes him one of the most versatile and popular classical music performers in the world and his Silk Road Project has inspired students across the world to love and honor music. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins’ masterful improvisation and powerful presence have infused the truly American art form of jazz with passion and energy. The sheer brilliance and breadth of Meryl Streep’s performances count as one of the most exhilarating cultural spectacles of our time.”

The annual Honors Gala has become the highlight of the Washington cultural year, and its broadcast on CBS is a high point of the television season. On Sunday, December 4, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, produced by George Stevens Jr. and Michael Stevens, the 2011 Honorees will be saluted by great performers from New York, Hollywood, and the arts capitals of the world. Seated with the President of the United States and Mrs. Obama, the Honorees will accept the thanks of their peers and fans through performances and heartfelt tributes.

The President and Mrs. Obama will receive the Honorees and members of the Artists Committee who nominate them, along with the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees at the White House prior to the gala performance. The 2011 Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a supper dance in the Grand Foyer.

The Kennedy Center Honors medallions will be presented on Saturday, December 3, the night before the gala, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

via kennedy-center.org

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer shatters records with 12.5 million first day downloads #itunes #TDKR

Excited about The Dark Knight Rises trailer?  You’re not alone.

A press release from Warner Bros. declares that the new trailer was viewed more than 12.5 million times in its first 24 hours,  shattering the record for most combined downloads through the iTunes Movie Trailers site and the iTunes Trailers iOS app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Now “Shattering records” is a common term for this sort of thing, but Warner Bros is specific:

“breaking the previous record by well over two million”

The fire is rising indeed.

Savvy watchers are giving a lot of the credit to the “Big 3”  approach.  The appeal of this movie is Batman, Catwoman and Bane.  The Bane-heavy prologue was thrilling, but there was no taste of Batman, only a fleeting shot of Bale in the batsuit and a similar shot of Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle and Catwoman in costume.

The Official Trailer remedied that, putting the emphasis where it belongs, on the Big 3.

The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of his Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and other Nolan alums Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, to be released by Warner Bros. July 2012.

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The Dark Knight Rises Official Trailer 

Great Comics Artists Who Redefined Batman

io9 has a nice retrospective of the artists who have defined Batman’s look over the years.

Batman’s appearance is intended to provoke superstitious cowardice among the criminal element of Gotham City — but it’s also become a part of our culture. The bat-ears, cowl and dark silhouette are instantly recognizable. And when you think “superhero,” Bruce Wayne’s cape and cowl are among the most likely images to come to mind.

But there’s no one style of Batman that dominates our culture — he’s changed tremendously over the years, and a handful of artists have put their design stamp on Bruce Wayne. The fact that Batman still rules all our worlds is in large part due to these great artists.”

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It is encouraging to see the modern “comics reader” who knows no name but Bruce Timm and perhaps Jim Lee, being educated on the likes of Dick Sprang:

Sure, Bob Kane gets all the credit for creating Batman, but other artists did more to define the Caped Crusader for the ages — chief among them Dick Sprang. Sprang, who started working on Batman when he was just in his early 20s, was one of the main Bat-artists for the first 20 years. And he helped create what many of us consider the “classic” look of Batman — beefy and athletic, with a chunky head and a totally square jaw. As Cloud 109 puts it, “Sprang threw… naturalism out the window and dispensed with a waistline altogether. In Sprang’s Batman, the chest erupts from the utility belt, figures don’t run, they leap and everything seems to inhabit a high octane adrenalin charged world.”

Camine Infantino:

When Julius Schwartz created Batman’s “New Look” in 1964, he turned to Infantino, who was already celebrated for his work on the Flash. Infantino was instrumental in moving the character away from the goofy 1950s storylines, and helping to create a somewhat more realistic look for Batman. And I’m always kind of blown away by Batman’s puffy, expressive lips in Infantino’s drawings. Infantino aimed for sleek lines, in which he tried to “take the drawing out,” although his inker Murphy Anderson usually wound up putting it back in. Infantino’s most famous Batman image shows an intent, muscular Batman, with huge white eyes and noticeable white eyebrows, holding his dark cape over his face, while Robin squats at his feet. Batman is all business, and the slight cartoony touches only accentuate how serious he is about fighting crime.

Neal Adams:

If Infantino added a bit more realism to Batman as compared to his 1950s camp, then Neal Adams supercharged that realism, adding a lot more sharp edges and a much more dramatic, cinematic style. There’s an amazing sense of composition in some of Adams’ covers, including Batman #244, “The Demon Lives Again,” with a shirtless and apparently impaled Batman lying at Ra’s Al Ghul’s feet. Adams, in an interview, explains why his Batman was better than some of the earlier artists’ attempts: It’s that-most of those guys couldn’t draw that well. But as well as they could draw, they drew this nifty Batman, within the framework of their style and their abilities. I happen to be a slightly better, more accomplished artist. So I would tend to draw a more finished piece. Not because-not because I’m better but because that’s what I do. So it’s just what they did brought forward, and I just left out the stuff in the middle. The crap.

Although it is impossible to take the survey seriously without a single panel of Jim Aparo.

Even if the talents of one or two did lasting damage to the character and mythos, they had an impact.  The visual style comes to define the underlying philosophies of the period and will continue to do so as the popular attitudes change towards the underlying work.

Make no mistake, there is no real insight in the survey.  io9 displays no ability to see beyond the attitude of the moment towards recent and current DC creative teams.  But for those with the capacity to see beyond the fanboy’s devoted repetition of his catechism, the survey is worth a read.

Via io9.com.

The Dark Knight Rises Official Movie Trailer

The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of his Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and other Nolan alums Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, to be released by Warner Bros. July 2012.

See the teaser trailer:
The Epic Conclusion to The Dark Knight Saga 

Interview: Gary Oldman

From supporting roles in Harry Potter and The Dark Knight Rises, Gary Oldman is starring again, leading an extraordinary cast in the remake of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

From supporting roles in Harry Potter and The Dark Knight Rises, Gary Oldman will be starring again – and seems pre-destined for an Oscar Nom, recreating the role of George Smiley in the remake of  the 1974 Cold War Spy novel  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre.  Oldman will be appearing with TDKR Co-Star Tom Hardy Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch, just to name a few.

Anyway, when I was at the New York City press junket I interviewed Gary Oldman twice. The first time was a video interview where we talked about how he found Smiley’s glasses (it was a very important part of discovering the character) and working with the IMAX cameras on The Dark Knight Rises. However, I also participated in a roundtable interview with the extraordinary actor where he talked about how he got involved in the project, working with the rest of the cast, if he used John le Carré as a source and if le Carré told him anything that he could share, and a lot more. Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

Question: Was this a project that you went after or did it come after you?

Gary Oldman:   It came to me.  It was a rare occasion to me where it was an offer and one wasn’t in the lining up with the usual suspects where you are one in five people that they are looking at.  So it just came in.  It was a constant director.  I know that Tomas [Alfredson] wanted to cast Smiley before they cast anyone else.  The story that he tells me is that they were going through the lists and after five months of this they were almost giving up.  Then the casting director said, “What about Gary?”  Then I think from that day on….directors can sometimes become obsessed with a casting idea and the story is that was it was once she suggested me.  So I came in fighting for that role and when you are on that list…sometimes the lists are ridiculous.  Sometimes they are looking at me, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Harrison Ford and we are all up for the same part. [laughs]

Did you see yourself in the role immediately when they came to you? Was it a no brainer to do?

Oldman: I am old enough to remember the series when it was first shown. Obviously, [Alec] Guinness made such a mark playing it and carrying the face of Smiley. He was nearly 70 when he played and my first thought was “Well, I am a bit young.” But it was Tomas’ idea to cast it younger across the board. But the ghost of Guinness was large. You could honestly say that it was almost a definitive portrayal of Smiley. I said, “God, how do you pull that off?” because he was so beloved and so much part of the British establishment as an icon. In the end, I sort of played a trick with my head. I sort of thought, “Well, there have been other Romeos, Hamlets, and King Lears, and it is just another reinterpretation” So I sort of approached it rather how you would approach a classical part. It is a role that has been played by someone else…especially in the U.K. because the inevitable comparisons were going to be there and they have reacted very flagrantly and there have been a few that have said, “There will only ever be one Smiley.” It is like we are in some kind of competition, you know? But I didn’t jump at it. I had to consider it. 

Is it more difficult to portray someone who is quiet than someone who will act out loud and be wild?

Oldman: Do you mean in comparison to some of the other stuff that I have done? [laughs]

Like Romeo is Bleeding, just to throw that out there.

Oldman: Well, I’ve played quiet before. I wouldn’t say Beethoven was over the top or Lee Harvey Oswald. I just felt that it was…I’ve been 30 years for someone to offer me a part like this. The challenges are that when you play a character that is so emotionally closed there are times when you ask yourself if you are doing enough and if it’s reading. That is where you have a director, who is the barometer of what you are doing. Occasionally we would do a take and Tomas would say to me “Can you glance to the tape recorder or when you look can you…?” and I was would say “Well, I did” and he would say “Well, can you make it a little bigger because we couldn’t catch it.” So you can actually go the other way. The trick is that one likes to think that you have a certain charisma because we are in a profession where you have to a certain extent believe that you are interesting and that people want to watch you and that you are playing a character that actually wants to disappear. He is beige and he just becomes part of the room, which makes him forgettable. So that was an interesting challenge – you have to dial everything down. But the roles that you play in are what is required of you. I think you can get a bit typecast. I think people remember movies like Leon: The Professional and certainly the two movies I did with Luc Besson. They are very big, but they are cartoonish characters. So it was great to work on a piece of material where you can really play subtext.

You share a lot of scenes with Benedict Cumberbatch. How did you feel your dynamic was with him behind the scenes. He didn’t live through that era, but you did. So did you offer him any advice on how to change his mannerisms?

Oldman: No. We all had this great book. So in terms of one’s homework it was one stop shopping because there was the book and we had access to John le Carré if we needed it as there is a resource. I know that Benedict spoke with him. But he is intuitive. He is a wonderful actor, isn’t he? I always think it is exciting to see these people come up. But it is the linage. It is like we are links in a chain. Now it is people like…you look at a different generation and at people like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, and Michael Fassbender, who are great young actors that are coming through. But Benedict is intuitive.

Did you use John le Carré as a source and did he tell you anything that you could share?

Oldman: I wanted to know a little bit more about George in the earlier days before we meet and the movie begins because John was a spy and he lived through that time. He was a great inspiration and I modeled George on John initially as a sort of springboard. You put a character like this and he had a certain musicality in his voice and a certain wonderful quality about him. So I kind of started and stole some little mannerisms from him. You begin almost with an impersonation and the more that you do the work the further that you get away from it. But he is sort of the DNA of the whole thing. He is 80 this year and it is like kind of hanging out with a 30 year old. He has a prolific memory and he is a great actor, impersonator, and a wonderful raconteur. He says “I’m there if you need me. I am at the end of the telephone if you need me.” He sort of plays that a little but once you meet him and you get him talking it is like putting a coin in the juke box. You just put the coin in and then the record plays. It is fantastic. You can’t shut him up. [laughs]

There is that scene where George Smiley becomes an actor when he is reenacting that initial encounter with Karla. Was that in the script or did you take that away from John le Carré?

Oldman: In the book it is a flashback. I think Tomas didn’t want to do another flashback so he reinterpreted it and reshaped the scene for it to become almost a story that I tell to Guillam. I think it is Smiley working out something in the moment even as he is telling it. He creates Karla in a way. I think he feels responsible that he was the one that got away and he couldn’t turn in so he subsequently becomes Karla. It must be a very odd profession. We showed the movie to people in MI6 who loved it and thought that it was very accurate. There was a guy there whose family believes that he is a chauffeur for diplomats and that that is what he does for a living, but he is a spy. It is a strange profession in as much that if you are part of law enforcement and you go off after a bad guy and you are lucky enough to catch him – he goes through the process of the justice system and is imprisoned. With a spy, you find a guy, you get him, and you try to turn him. He may have killed people, but there are no consequences in that respect. You want him now to come over to you.

Are you ready to jump back into the role or are you going to need a little bit of a break before you put the white hair back on for Smiley?

Oldman: There are whispers that we may do another one.

Are you ready for it?

Oldman: I would love to do it. I’ll love to play him again. I kind of miss him.

Did you have any Cold War experience? Did you travel during these days to Eastern Europe or Eastern Germany?

Oldman: No.

via collider.com

See related:

Profile: Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises
New Trailer: TDKR’s Gary Oldman starring in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
TDKR Oldman and Hardy in New Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy New images released
TDKR’s Gary Oldman To Receive Gotham Award Tributes

Top Posts of the Week: Dark Knight Rises Prologue: Leaked, Plugged, Re-Leaked in script form, plus Christian Bale in China

It takes a lot to push Anne Hathaway in a see-through blouse out of the top three.  It takes an awful lot to displace some composition of Anne, Selina Kyle, Catwoman and the word “sexy” in the top google searches.  The quadruple cocktail of the Operation Early Bird viral screenings of The Dark Knight Rises Prologue, the video being leaked online and pulled down, the script being leaked so we could find out what the heck Bane was saying, and the movie’s star getting roughed up by Chinese police on his way to see a political dissident, that did it.  She’s down to fifth.

Better luck next week, Anne.

1. Script pages from The Dark Knight Rises “leaked” (Not exactly, but they’re letting us know what Bane was saying)
2. TDKR star Christian Bale roughed up in China | CNN
3. The Dark Knight Rises Prologue: Leaked and Plugged
4. The Dark Knight Rises Set Photos: Bane
5. Anne Hathaway, Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises: so very good at being bad (via Sexy Girls Dressed)
6. Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne / Batman in The Dark Knight Rises
7. The Dark Knight Rises Location Photos: Batman/Batsuit #TDKR
8. Arkham City gets it all wrong: Edward Nygma
9. Hot New Location Photos: Not Bruce and Selina this time. It’s Batman and Catwoman IN FULL COSTUME (or is it?)
10. The Dark Knight Rises Gotham Stadium Video
11. Dr. Leonid Pavel: The Curtain Rises on The Dark Knight Rises Viral
12. Set Photos: The Dark Knight Rises Selina Kyle/Catwoman Stunt Fight

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Script pages from The Dark Knight Rises “leaked” (Not exactly, but they’re letting us know what Bane was saying)

There was a dirty little secret about the Operation Early Bird that gave lucky viral participants the chance to see the prologue for The Dark Knight Rises days before the rest of the world.  We were all honor bound to love it but, well, the truth is, we couldn’t understand a word Bane was saying.  Warner Bros. noticed and we hope that means the problem will be fixed in the rest of the film.

In the mean time, the script has been released leaked so fans can go on being excited without risking embarrassing questions.

Now look, if you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and DON’T READ IT.  WATCH – not some leaked copy online when it comes out but on the BIG SCREEN.  But if you have seen it, and you want to know what Bane is saying, read on…

via script pages from the Dark Knight Rises have leaked

The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of his Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and other Nolan alums Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, to be released by Warner Bros. July 2012.

Dark Knight Rises Set Photos: More pics from TDKR location shooting in NYC, LA and Pittsburgh

Everyone who is anyone knows Gotham City is New York, but creating the imagery for The Batman’s City is too big a job for one city to handle.  Christopher Nolan primarily used Chicago for the first two films, but for The Dark Knight Rises has used parts of London, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and of course Manhattan.

Below find assorted pictures from the multi-city location shooting to supplement those archived elsewhere throughout this blog.

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The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment of his Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and other Nolan alums Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard, to be released by Warner Bros. July 2012

TDKR star Christian Bale roughed up in China | CNN

This is not an amusing case of life imitating art*.  CNN is reporting Christian Bale was roughed up in China in an attempt to see an activist.  The text story follows, but there is video of the incident on cnn.com.

Bale is in China in conjunction with Zhang Yimou’s ‘The Flowers of War’

DONGSHIGU VILLAGE, China (CNN) — As Christian Bale approached an impromptu checkpoint leading to this tiny village in eastern China, four men blocking the narrow path started marching toward him in menacing unison.

“I am here to see Chen Guangcheng,” the Hollywood actor said and I translated, with correspondent Stan Grant and cameraman Brad Olson next to us.

“Go away!” the plainclothes guards barked, pushing us back.

Amid the scuffling and yelling, dozens more guards in olive-green, military-style overcoats — and two gray minivans — emerged from the other side of the checkpoint, all coming toward us.

“Why can I not visit this free man?” Bale asked repeatedly, only to receive punches from guards aiming for his small camera as they tried to drag him away from the rest of us.

As we retreated, I recognized the ringleader — the same burly man who had hurled rocks at the CNN team 10 months earlier to force us out of the same location.

A precarious scene ensued Thursday as one of the gray minivans chased our car at high speed on bumpy country roads for some 40 minutes.

When the dust settled, we counted a broken car, a damaged camera — and a “Batman” star disappointed at — but not shocked by — his failure to see a personal hero.

“What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is,” Bale said.

Christian Bale visits China as activist

The man, 40-year-old Chen Guangcheng, has been confined to his home along with his wife, mother and daughter, and watched around the clock by dozens of guards since he was released from prison in September 2010. A local court had sentenced him to more than four years in prison for damaging property and disrupting traffic in a protest.

Blind China activist recovers amid call for his release

His supporters maintain authorities used trumped-up charges to silence Chen, a blind, self-taught lawyer who rose to fame in the late 1990s thanks to his legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices by China’s family-planning officials.

Bale first learned about Chen through news reports, including our coverage in February, when he was in China filming “The Flowers of War,” a wartime drama set in 1930s Nanjing in which he plays a mortician trying to save a group of schoolgirls from the clutches invading Japanese soldiers.

Blind lawyer makes Chinese officials jittery

The injustice faced by the activist and his family stirred such strong emotions in Bale that, upon hearing his impending return to China to promote the movie, he decided to do something unusual to raise the international awareness of Chen and thereby to turn up the heat on the Chinese government.

“This doesn’t come naturally to me, this is not what I actually enjoy — it isn’t about me,” he explained during our eight-hour drive from Beijing to the eastern city of Linyi, where Chen’s village is located. “But this was just a situation that said I can’t look the other way.”

Known to be a media-shy celebrity, Bale reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to visit Chen.

In the car, he lamented the American public’s lack of knowledge on Chen’s case, despite senior U.S. officials’ increasingly vocal support for his freedom. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Gary Locke, the American ambassador to China, have both championed Chen’s cause.

Bale appeared a little surprised to learn a studio that produced his Oscar-winning hit recently filmed in Linyi and was accused by activists of cozying up to the same officials who ordered Chen’s detention and torture.

Although China’s state media has largely ignored the story, Chen’s plight has spread online and outraged a growing number of Chinese “netizens.” Many have tried to visit Chen, and activists say nearly all would-be visitors have been turned back, often violently, by plainclothes police and local thugs.

“I’m not brave doing this,” Bale emphasized. “The local people who are standing up to the authorities, who are visiting Chen and his family and getting beaten or detained, I want to support them.”

As our car sped toward Beijing in the dark, Bale wondered aloud if he would never be allowed back — a prospect he is prepared to accept — even as “The Flowers of War” became China’s official entry into next year’s Academy Awards.

“Really, what else can I do to help Chen?” he kept asking as the clock struck midnight, with his latest movie — partially funded by the state — about to open nationwide in China.

via ‘Batman’ star punched, stopped from visiting blind Chinese activist – CNN.com.

Breakout
*refers to opening sequence in Batman Begins where Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne is in a Chinese prison.