December 2004
December 28th, 2004
Magazine alert: Check out Film Review #652 for another great cover and article!
December 20th, 2004
Clooney hails new Batman
Former Batman George Clooney has applauded makers of the new superhero movie for focusing the film on the Dark Knight himself.
Previous sequels Batman Returns and the Clooney-starring Batman Forever were critically mauled and accused of not being true to the comic books that conceived the superhero.
But Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins promises to take Batman, played by Christian Bale, back to his roots - and Clooney is glad.
He says: "Honestly, I'm quite sure it will be a heck of a different movie from mine and fun to watch. I'm happy they're focusing on the Dark Knight. They're doing it the way it should be done.
Read original article here
December 14th, 2004
New Trailers
The trailer of "The New World" is online (but Christian is not featured in that one!) You can check it out here
The new "Batman Begins" trailer is online since Monday, December 13th. You can watch it right here
December 10th, 2004
Bale delays Batman decision
Brit hunk CHRISTIAN BALE has hinted he'll only sign up to play BATMAN again if his first venture as the caped crusader is a box office hit.
The Hollywood star has stepped into the role previously occupied by stars including MICHAEL KEATON, VAL KILMER and GEORGE CLOONEY in the latest installment BATMAN BEGINS.
But Bale will only decide on his future as Batman when the first film is released, because he's aware studio bosses won't ask him again if it flops.
He says, "We'll have to wait and see. I've never had a hit movie in my life, so who the hell knows if this is going to be one or not?
"And who the hell knows if I'll get asked back to do it again?"
However, Bale has assured fans he's happy with what he has brought to the legendary comic character.
He adds, "At least I've played it the way I've wished to."
Read the original article here
December 9th, 2004
Goyer on Batman
"The ultimate anti-hero."
Since he first burst onto the scene back in 1990 screenwriter / producer / director
David S. Goyer has more or less carved out a rather successful niche out for
himself working on genre-oriented films. While he cut his teeth on low budget
martial arts vehicles and maniacal toy exploitationers, he's been most successful
with comic book-oriented fare. His major breakthrough, Blade has turned out
to be one of the most consistent and successful comic book franchises of the
recent boom in the genre, while his directorial debut, the small indie film
ZigZag, expertly fused comic book mythology into a tale of an autistic outcast
in the inner city. And even as Goyer's sophomore directorial debut, Blade: Trinity,
makes its way into a cineplex near you, he is already deeply ensconced in his
next project.
Not surprisingly, Goyer's current project is once again a comic book adaptation, this time, however, he's switched his allegiance from Marvel to DC as he tackles the screenwriting chores for the forthcoming Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman Begins. At any rate, since Goyer successfully transformed a character from the Marvel Comics universe onto the silver screen, it seemed only logical that he'd eventually attempt to replicate that success with one of DC Comics' characters. That he chose to tackle one of their most recognizable icons shows a certain amount of confidence on his part. The daunting task of bringing yet another Batman movie to the big screen, especially in light of the franchises' last feeble attempts, really isn't that far of a leap for Goyer. In fact, his attachment to the Batman Begins project steadily keeps in tune with his well known affinity for cinematic anti-heroes. "I mean it's funny because Batman, in a way, is the ultimate anti-hero, but he's so well-known that people don't think of him as an anti-hero. But of course he is.
"One of the things that we're doing in our film, which is the origin story, is that I tried to really think about 'Well, why would Batman exist?' If the police and the law enforcement types were really doing their jobs, there wouldn't be a need for Batman. So, ergo, one of the problems has to be that the police force in Gotham is corrupt and, you know, littered with bad cops. So in our film, since it's the origin story, when Gordon comes in he's not the Commissioner yet and he's sort of like the only honest cop in Gotham and the only cop that's not on the take and things like that. So that's one of the reasons they need Batman there."
One of the major obstacles facing Goyer, in terms of his screenplay for Batman Begins, is the very fact that Batman is so well-known to the public. This is almost the complete opposite from his work on the Blade trilogy where he took a relatively unknown tertiary character and was allowed to flesh it out and turn it into his own creation. "We had much more leeway with Blade," he admits. "I mean we could mess around with the Blade origin and we did." But Batman is a different animal. "Batman's the polar opposite. With Batman, of course, we had to walk a very thin line. With Batman, there were definitely people that would cry murder if we screwed that one up. But I will say this, I really do believe of all the versions of Batman that have ever existed – movie, TV, animated – I think that our film is the closest to the comic book depiction of Batman."
Which brings up a valid question: which comic book version are Goyer and Nolan referencing? Are they culling from the original Bob Kane Batman? Or are they borrowing from the classic Neal Adams period? What about Frank Miller's revisionist Dark Knight? Let's face it, there are several seminal Batman periods the duo could be drawing from. "That's true, there have been different generations of the character," Goyer agrees. "The points of reference we used for this film were Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One – personally I always liked that story a little better than The Dark Knight – and then some of Jeph Loeb's stuff like The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Those were definitely influences on us. And then because our film has the Ra's Al Ghul character, the Denny O'Neal/Neal Adams Batman. I think those are all seminal depictions of Batman."
There is no question that the hype surrounding Batman: Begins has been boiling over, from the moment the project was officially green-lit on through the various casting decisions. Given director Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David Goyer's previous track records one can only hope that this cinematic version of the caped crusader will truly capture the darker elements of the character. And if Goyer's attention to detail and obvious reverence for some of the seminal periods of Batman's comic book history are any indication, it may very well succeed.
-- Spence D.
December 6th, 2004
Christian Bale is in for some Harsh Times
According to Variety, Christian Bale (The Machinist, Batman Begins) is set
to star in Harsh Times, David Ayer’s directorial debut.
This semi-autobiographical flick is about a Marine who comes home from Iraq
to start a family and civilian life but quickly becomes entangled with an old
friend from South Central whose layabout ways have begun to catch up with him.
The project will begin production in Los Angeles and Mexico at the end of January. Freddy Rodriguez (“Six Feet Under”) and Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) also star.
Read the original article here
December 5th, 2004
Magazine alert: Check out the January issue of Total Film for a great cover, interesting new pictures and an interview!
November 26th, 2004
Desperate Housewife Faces Harsh Times
Source: MTV November 24, 2004
Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria (she plays Gabrielle Solis) has signed on to star opposite Christian Bale in Harsh Times, the directorial debut of writer David Ayer (Training Day, The Fast and the Furious), reports MTV.
The story follows Mike Alvarez (Freddy Rodriguez), unemployed and looking for a job, and Jim David (Bale) who has just been accepted by the DEA to do his share of the dirty work in Columbia.
A pair of hell-raising beer-drinking screw-ups with time on their hands, they spend a few days riding around Los Angeles, causing trouble and leaving havoc in their wake - until it all catches up to them and the good times turn harsh.
Shooting on the independent film starts in Los Angeles in January.
Source: comingsoon.net and mtv