Well, folks, here it is. Warner Brothers actually took the social networking route and debuted it on both Facebook and Twitter, rather than on an official website or iTunes. I must say that the trailer does display a bit more footage than I thought (even though people are already bitching about a lack of visuals). One thing’s for sure, Christopher Nolan has not before, nor will he (apparently) leave behind the gritty elements of realism that have made his franchise so immensely popular. This chapter looks about as cut and dry as anything I’ve ever seen. It appears that Nolan really knows what he’s doing in this final installment and I’m not expecting any disappointment.
As far as the footage goes: stellar. Gary Oldman on the hospital bed was probably the last thing that anyone was expecting to see, but it works. And the final shot of Bane approaching a beleaguered Batman in some kind of seedy industrial setting was chilling. Nothing on Catwoman, yet, but we’ve still got plenty of time. If this film follows the same publicity pattern as the last film, we can probably expect a second trailer with more footage by January, followed by a final piece by perhaps March or April.
One more thing. Before seeing this trailer, I had little to no respect for the film’s title. However, after getting a very loose glimpse of the film’s plot and tone, maybe the “Rises” actually works for it.
Check out the HD trailer below. Embedding has been disabled, therefore just play the video and follow the link to youtube.
Even though this was only released within the last few hours, it is already practically old news. Still it’s worth reporting on this mad publicity blitz for the highly anticipated film. This poster is only the first step. Accompanying the release of Warner Bros’ final installment of “Harry Potter” this weekend (thank God, by the way, that it is finally the last), there will be a featured first teaser trailer for Nolan’s flick.
To be quite honest, Batman fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. Their production has barely begun so I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of footage. I’m expecting something similar to the first teaser of “The Dark Knight,” a fancy, blue visual effects show with some voiceovers. Not that that preview didn’t give chills, but most of those came from hearing the first syllables spoken by an infinitely more anticipated antagonist. They might be generous and throw in a shot of Bane to wet appetites.
The poster, released today, granted is an early promotional tool, is honestly pretty boring to me. The design is cool, but the detail on the buildings is fairly sloppy. I understand that it’s just a poster and I shouldn’t take it too seriously, but take a look at the buildings again. That has got to be one of the most claustrophobic city blocks I’ve ever seen. Where does the street go?
I don’t know. Maybe I’m still just annoyed that it’s not a Chicago city street we’re looking at. I’m not sure if that grievance will ever be resolved in my mind, but we’ll save that round of bellyaching for a different article. I will post the new teaser as soon as it becomes available online, probably within a day of it’s release in theaters. In the meantime, I’ve attached the first “Dark Knight” teaser, below, to show what we can probably expect.
It’s no mystery that, through the course of my entire life, I have been an absolute Steven Spielberg fanatic. It seems that stating that truth is practically a mortal sin for any person who’s gone to school for filmmaking, yet, I have no shame in admitting it. No matter what genre, mood or style, Spielberg usually finds a way to nail it.
Despite all of this, both projects that the man is releasing in 2011 have never rung any bells for me. The whole concept of Spielberg directing a 3D animated feature, such as “The Adventures of Tin Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” is a little irritating. Being released within a few days of that film is his epic story of animal/human comradery and history, “War Horse,” which now has a teaser trailer.
Spielberg has always had a penchant for sentimentality, in different-sized doses per film. However, from what we see here, this theme has been taken to ridiculous heights. We can fully expect at least two hours of heart-warming sap, complete with a tear-jerker ending. On the bright side, the film looks absolutely gorgeous. Janusz Kaminski, the director’s longtime collaborator and my personal favorite cinematographer working today, has produced some fantastic images. I’m also quite excited to see the work of French actor Niels Arestrup, who absolutely devoured his role in Jacques Audiard’s “The Prophet,” last year.
Can’t say for sure yet whether this film will have the right qualities to return Spielberg to the Kodak theater in February. However, the original source material just won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play, along with four other awards. Hopefully, the same magic that made the theater version so popular will shine through on the big screen.
Check out the full HD version of the teaser below.
As promised a few days ago, here is the first trailer for “Blood on the Plain.” The film is a contemporary horror-western taking place in a small Kansas town. A savage tribe of humanoid creatures emerges from underground caves to seek revenge on the town by murdering their children. After the homecoming dance is massacred, the school burned to the ground, the remaining townspeople must band together and gain retribution for these acts. They enlist the help of four hardened trackers to bring the mysterious killers to justice and return order to their town.
I had a lot of fun working on this project, even if I was out in the freezing cold for much of the day. However, the production is far from over and a lot still has to be done. In the meantime enjoy this preview of what’s to come, and then check out the production photos posted that I posted a few days ago, if you haven’t yet.
The Edge of the Frame 