Check out this awesome article IGN wrote on Batman’s gadgets.

Humanjunk: Okay,  I’ll start this shit.

I have to say that I was in awe of the movie. I sat there speechless through the credits trying to catch up to the mind blowing experience that was The Dark Knight. It made Tim Burton’s versions look like Adam West shit them out and Batman Begins seem like kids stuff. There’s also a certain character element that Christopher Nolan loves to play around with and that is the concept of the gray area. Even the protagonists are flawed and questionable and the antagonists seem to play a similar role; Joker’s concept that he is there to be the natural antithesis of Batman, the element of Chaos in the world that inspires destruction as a form of  and element of creation.

The acting was superb and I almost want them to pull a George Lucas and digitally replace Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal in Batman Begins. George Lucas needs to take some notes as Nolan was able to make Harvey Dent’s forced descent into “the dark side” infinitely more unbearably tragic, personal and epic in one film and Lucas, well, couldn’t even make us give shit that we saw the evolution of some pumpkin headed kid mutate into the “vicious” Darth Vader. And The Joker was nothing short of amazing, three steps ahead of everyone, audience included “I’m gonna make this pencil disappear…”

This is arguably the greatest comic book movie ever made.

Swank-mo-tron: While I disagree strongly with Humanjunk’s assesment of Anakin Skywalker’s fateful turn to the dark side since it was flawless, I will agree that The Dark Knight was pretty damn good.  I’ve been going back and forth a lot about this new Batman universe that Nolan has created and I don’t think Batman Begins was exactly as good as the Tim Burton Batman film, but this film was as good as Burtons and possibly, possibly better.  I really do feel like the whole film was a climax and that is sort of what I needed from this movie.  It was creepy and scary and I really felt like lives were at stake. In fact, I was surprised when they didn’t kill Jim Gordon’s son.  I mean, the guy does have a bad habit of losing family members to bullets when the Joker is involved (Barbara, Sarah, etc.).

Having said that, I would really like to see a lot of elements of Dark Victory in the next one.  Yes.  I want to see Nolan handle Dick Grayson in this universe.  Bruce Wayne needs a meatier part and that’s the best way to do it.

Seriously though, this movie was really fucking good and I’m going to go see it again.

Humanjunk: You know, I felt the same way about Bruce Wayne needing a meatier part. But then, Bruce Wayne is the mask… I don’t know how I’d feel about seeing Robin in a Nolan movie…

Swank-mo-tron: Read Dark Victory again and you’ll feel fine.

Neotron: Approximately 86 % of my robot hard drive has been clumped full of “Dark Knight” anticipation for the last 4 months. Last night, my system overloaded and I needed a reboot. I saw the best picture of the year. TDK is the most gigantically ambitious epic I’ve ever seen. The places Nolan was willing (hoping?) to go with this picture was awe inspiring. The was truly the franchise’s “Empire Strikes Back”.

Acting: Everyone was pitch perfect in this picture. Nolan deserves a best director nod for balancing an immense amount of talent and and gluing them all together into one despairing yet brilliant conglomerate. My only complaint is Bale’s Batman voice. I had no idea what he was saying half the time. Even though I’m sure whatever he was saying was awesome. Heath Ledger…?

Joker: Yes, give him the Oscar and call it a knight. Villians in movie history stand in the shadows of Ledger’s human embodiment of the Devil himself. For those of you with even the slightest religious programs installed saw the obviousl comparisons to Lucifer in the Bible. Remember, in the Old Testament, when Satan appears to Moses and starts fucking with his head and it ends with him laughing so loud the mountains tremble? Whoa. The devil doesn’t want money, sex, or power. He just wants to fuck things up and he just wants to destroy and burn those who represent good. Not because of hate or anger, but for fun. His motivations alone were frightening, but Ledger’s performance created a nightmare of reality. We laughed because his limits of darkness were so unsettling. This was the Joker. THE Joker.

Script: Is is wrong to compare this to Shakespeare? A brilliant tragedy with poetic messages and comic relief, Shakespeare would have been the first in line to see this movie. Especially the reasoning Batman gave to Gordon in the end to still hold up Dent as a hero. The societal implications in this film were crystal clear and all the more tragic. I almost got teary eyed watching the cops chase the Dark Knight through the streets in Gotham at the end. He was Hamlet. He was Macbeth. He was Han Solo taking a douse of carbonite for the cause.

Too long: My review that is. So, quickly, one of the deaths in this film kicked me straight in the gut. Ballsy. The pencil magic trick is one I’d like to try. Oscar noms should go to Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor. This is my favorite comic book movie ever. I can’t wait to see it again.

Pixelbot 7: All right, I’m weighing in. Personally, I don’t think there has been a comic book movie this good to date. You get so wrapped up in the characters, story, and the living nightmare that is The Joker. I forgot halfway into the movie that he was even Heath Ledger, as he brought the joker to life. You don’t agree with his actions, you even begin to hate this fictional character because he just makes him so sick.

Furthermore, I felt the star of this movie was not Bale, but Eckhart and Oldman. They brought so much superb talent to the Dark Knight and really made this movie come to life. I will see this multiple times, and buy the 8-disc-super-high-def edition of the DVD when it comes out. Also, The disappearing pencil trick is cinematic gold. Not one person in the theater did not gasp at that.

Kill-tacular-tron:  One word. Two syllables. Seven letters. Perfect.

Fucking perfect.

I loved Batman Begins. I couldn’t wait to talk about it with fellow nerds. The Dark Knight, I can’t even wrap my brain around it yet. Gordon’s final words, “He’s our Dark Knight.” The yin to the yang. Holy shit. And I’m sorry Swank, but Humanjunk is right. I felt more for Dent in the last hour of this movie than I ever have (or will) for Anakin. Once again Nolan does a great job of explaining Batman’s reasoning and gadgets. In the trailers the bat-pod threw me off. I thought, “chill out Kill. Nolan will explain it. Have faith.” Boy, I’m glad I did.

Up until this point, my favorite villain entrance in a movie was Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2. But the disappearing pencil trick blew me away. What better way to tell the audience, “enjoy those three inches on your chair. Because we’re going to keep you there for the next 2 hours.” Along with, “this isn’t your parent’s Joker.”

Fuck this movie was good.

Dr. Cyborg Robot M.D.: Well I wouldn’t give it a negative rating or anything, but I didn’t think that it was the greatest superhero movie ever made, in fact it fell far short of my expectations.

Maybe I read to many Batman comic books, but seems to me that in both this movie and Batman Begins they take good idea’s that were executed well in various comic books, then neuter them and pretend like it was there idea, and that they portrayed it the only way it would work on screen. It just bothers me to see them get an idea from a really good book, hint at it, and not do a good job making it work. I think Nolan was trying to keep to many things underlined. Is it just me, or was the stupid bat sonar cell phone/ Lucius quitting crap stupid or what? If you are going to make a two and a half hour movie, you can’t put in stupid stuff that no one cares about and waste everyone’s time. And about the Batman voice, not enough people complained the first time, so it wasn’t something they could have just done better, Nolan couldn’t have possibly known that people were annoyed by it.

What I am trying to say is I hoped not to see the same mistakes made twice. Batman Begins doesn’t exactly suck, but it isn’t as good as it should be, The Dark Knight is the same thing………………..Joker ruled.

I wonder what would have to be done to get these to STOP. Is there really an audience for these?! Seriously! Who’s paying money to see these!?

“Disaster Movie” follows the comic misadventures of a group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and catastrophic event – asteroids, twisters, earthquakes, the works – hits the city and their path as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the rampant destruction.

Taking aim at everything and everyone, from “Indiana Jones” and “Iron Man” to Amy Winehouse and “High School Musical,” “Disaster Movie” lampoons the blockbuster movie, pop culture icons and public figures along the way as Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer satirize everything as only they can.

Wow. Sounds hilarious. Will there be advanced screenings for this? Good thing Jason Friedberg wrote and directed this. In fact, let’s review all the movies in this “series” (I use that term loosely) which he also happened to write and direct:

• Date Movie: Shit.
• Epic Movie: Epic shit.
• Meet the Spartans: Actually not that bad!… Totally kidding, shit on top of shit with a side of shit.
• Superhero Movie: Now, apparently Mr. Friedberg didn’t have anything to do with this one, but it doesn’t mean it was any less shitty.
  Disclaimer: With exception to the first 15 minutes of Epic Movie (as ashamed as I am to admit that), I have not actually seen any of these movies, my reviews are strictly based on assumptions from trailers, commercials, and the general knowledge people with more than a 6th grade education have that these movies blow. Scary Movie was sort of funny, Scary Movie II was okay, it was all down hill from there.

And let’s face it, Disaster Movie will not be any better. I can’t believe there is actually a studio out there sinking money into this franchise and that there are people out there buying tickets for this. I wonder, are there actually people excited for these who look forward to them when a new one is released? And on top of all this, the creaters had the audacity to do this:

I think I’ll end on that note and let your anger subside…

Apple has just released the teaser trailer for Zack “300” Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen, which you can check out here!

I really enjoyed his adaptation of 300 to the big screen, and judging by the teaser it appears as if Snyder has done it again with Watchmen. I am really digging the style and the character design and just the teaser gives off the feeling that this is going to be something epic if Snyder has done it right.

If you haven’t read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen, you really should make it a point to check it out. In my experience most people either love it or hate it, I happen to have really, really enjoyed it. It’s a pretty long read, and it’s not really your “typical” superhero graphic novel, but the story is solid and expansive and has some really cool ideas and depictions of what a “superhero” is. Go buy it, or at least find a friend that owns it, and borrow it from them. I would also like to note that it’s the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award and is the only graphic novel listed on “Time Magazine’s 100 Greatest English Novels from 1923 – Present.” To give you an idea of the plot, below is the synopsis for the movie, the graphic novel itself is 12 chapters long and way to deep and intense to sum up in a paragraph (which is why I will be nervous for the movie until the day I see it):

“A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, “Watchmen” is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the watchmen?”

I hope Snyder stays true to the source material and gives us all a Watchmen movie worthy of it’s title. Be sure to check out the official website!

Thebadandugly.com has posted a pretty good recap of the viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight. Now, obviously with as extensive as the campaign was, it would be impossible to recap it all, but I think they covered most of the basics. Check our their recap here, and as always you can review the campaign yourself at whysoserious.com.

Also, if you haven’t already, check out the sweet Dark Knight featurettes and a sweet alternate trailer On Demand if you are a Comcast subscriber, or here if you’re not.

I expect that all you BSR! readers will be heading out to the theaters this weekend to check out the awesomeness that is The Dark Knight so be sure to check back on Monday to see what the BSR! Bots thought of it and post your thoughts as well!

Arse-bot out!

If this pans out, I’ll be overjoyed.

According to the Playmate’s Toy website (here) Mirage is in negotiations for another Turtles movie set for release in 2010.

 “Following the success of the ‘TMNT’ theatrical release in 2007, Mirage Licensing is in negotiations with several companies about a new TMNT movie for 2010.”

What’s even more interesting is the fact that Ainitcool news is reporting that this post at Playmates has been altered significantly.  Originally, much more information about the movie deal was available:

“Following the success of the ‘TMNT’ theatrical release in 2007, Mirage licensing and Imagi Studios have begun work on a new live-action TMNT film for 2010.  It’s the turtles like you’ve never seen them before!  Shellacious!”

Aside from the bad “shell” pun and all the exclamation points, this paragraph excites me a lot more.  The first live action Turtles movie, directed by Steve Barron and starring Corey Feldman as the voice of Donatello and Elias Koteas as Casey Jones was a benchmark in comic book filmmaking and still stands up as a very good film to this day.  Seriously, I love this movie.

In case those responsible for the Turtles are reading this, a great mine of material for a movie can be found in the Image Turtles series.  If you can track them down, read them.  They are pretty much some of the best Turtles material EVER published.

I have them all in case any of you fellow robots want to check them out.

Okay… Maybe Not.

But watching this makes me glad that I’ve succesfully boycotted every Joel Schumacher film since this one.

And I still think Clooney could have been a good Batman in the right hands… But seriously, those fucking Ice Skates? Jesus.

The good folks at Yahoo Movies have two new posts today. A trailer for Frank Miller’s The Spirit (due on Christmas day) and a teaser for McG’s Terminator Salvation, due out in the summer of ’09. Both are worth a look.

The Spirit: I’ve stated in previous posts that I’m a bit nervous about Miller’s take on Will Eisner’s classic hero, and this new trailer hasn’t changed my mind. If anything it’s pushed me even a bit more down the road of “oh crap, this could be bad.” Samuel L. Jackson as the villainous Octopus looks like an early leader in the “most costume changes” of the year award, just ahead of that last Mariah Carey concert in New Jersey.

Pimp outfit? Check.

Nazi outfit? Check.

Samurai outfit? Check.

Fake sideburns and runny mascara? Check.

I can’t wait to see the action figures for this one!

I know, I know…wait and watch the movie. See it in context. Give it a chance. I will. I promise. I’m just nervous. REALLY nervous.

The Spirt Trailer on Yahoo Movies

Terminator Salvation: The idea that Batman himself (Christian Bale) is gonna be kickin’ some Terminator ass is pretty appealing. The fact that McG is directing this thing made me a little nervous. I know it’s just a teaser…but I’m getting a good vibe from this one. I’ll put in in my database under “Movies to see: 2009.” Let’s hope when they release a trailer it doesn’t make me nervous.

I did some freeze framing and came up with this little nugget of robot goodness. Our first look at a new Terminator? Nice. The camo pants look good with the big frickin’ gun.

Terminator Salvation teaser on Yahoo Movies

If you don’t get it, you can go to Hell.