Some pretty things to look at without thinking too much. Good for a Monday morning…A little high-brow, a little low brow and something in between… 

Well, to start with, we have a poster for Dennis Quaid in Beneath the Darkness, which was supposed to come out in theaters this months. Evidently, Imagine Entertainment pulled it and it’s now going to straight to dvd and blu-ray.  Quaid’s been enjoying a bit of a resurgence lately, with Footloose and Soul Surfer in 2011 and Playing the Field and The Words in ’12 alone, so I’m surprised they aren’t taking the gamble with this. Not even in January. It must be realllllly bad…

The rural bliss of small town life has been celebrated as part of the American dream, but sometimes a small town is the perfect place to hide one’s secrets, one’s mistakes, one’s sins. And once discovered, it doesn’t take long for the American dream to become the American nightmare. On February 28th, Image Entertainment unleashes the small-town shocker Beaneath the Darkness on Blu-ray™ and DVD. Starring Golden Globe™ nominee Dennis Quaid in a rare villainous turn and coming off a recent national theatrical release, this gripping psychological thriller entwines cold-blooded murder, sinister secrets and modern hauntings on Maple Street. .

 Directed by Martin Guigui (My X-Girlfriend’s Wedding Reception, National Lampoon’s Cattle Call) and written by the late Bruce Wilkinson, Beneath the Darkness is a taut thriller pitting high school kids against a psychotic killer in a community where adults blindly refuse to see the ominous dangers right before their eyes.

If nothing else, Yimou Zhang's The Flowers of War has had some really beautiful, suitable-for-framing posters. (Given the current trend in movie advertising art, or the lack thereof, making most of them bland photo-shopped messes,  that's an achievement.) This latest, the official US version, is no exception.  

The Flowers of War stars Christian Bale in China's official Academy Award entry, as a Westerner who finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety. Grossing $83 in just 17 days, making it China's sixth top earner of all time, The Flowers of War will also screen, out of competition, at next month's Berlinale.

The new French poster for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance features a perturbed looking Nicholas Cage, which I suppose is only appropriate given that he’s…dead? A Ghost? The 2^nd Ghost Rider movie, which Idris Elba (that’s Golden Globe winner, Idris Elba – see how I did that?  They’re only relevant when people I want to win actually do) insists is not a sequel, sees Johnny Blaze (Cage) hiding out in Eastern Europe, where he is called upon to stop the devil (Ciaran Hinds), who is trying to take human form.

Idris plays Moreau and all I really know about him is that he rides a motorcycle, wears black leather and looks badass. Does anything else matter? No, it doesn’t. The movie also stars Christopher Lambert, Anthony Head, Johnny Whitworth and Violante Placido. It opens February 17 in the US, Canada and the UK.

Finally (for this post), we have a poster for a new movie. God Bless America was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait,  who believe it or not actually directed  a couple more films (no, I didn’t see them either) after 1991’s almost universally hated Shakes the Clown.  

God Bless America, which premiered as a Midnight Madness selection at last fall's Toronto International Film Festival , stars Joel Murray and Tara Lynn Barr as two citizens who, one day, decide that the reality TV culture could be cured with some violence. As with Shakes the Clown, there’s a lot of anger and humor being mixed here. This time I’ve heard that it pays off. (That’s certainly a concept I can get behind.) Murray and Barr allegedly have more of a father/daughter thing going than a May/December Bonnie and Clyde, even if this poster almost makes GBA look like an action film, but I’m sure the producers are doing whatever it takes to generate some interest. The movie will premiere on VOD on April 6, then open in limited release on May 11.

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New plot details have emerged for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, along with some fantastic new pics. Thankfully, the images don’t really give anything away, just hints at what we might expect. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a “comic book” movie. I’m of the opinion that the combination of a hero and villain of mythic proportions like Christian Bale’s Batman and Tom Hardy’s Bane will be something we haven’t seen in a very long time. Co-screenwriter Jonathan Nolan who has written the script his brother Christopher, has been speaking about the plot, to some degree. “If Batman’s plan was to stamp out crime, the new movie asks: What if the plan actually worked?”

The director himself told EW, “The movie deals with the idea that if you’ve papered over the cracks, then you’re just solving problems in a way that may not hold for the future”. About Tom Hardy’s character, he said, “I think when people see the film, things will come into focus. Bane is very complex and very interesting, and when people see the finished film they will be very entertained by him.” Jonathan has called Hardy’ performance “spectacular”  As for the flap surrounding the trailer and some audience members’ inability to understand what Bane is saying through his mask (I’m on record as not being one of those people),  and the rumor that Warner Bros. is pressuring Nolan to "change the sound mix" to make him easier to understand, director Nolan has flat out denied it and the studio is backing him up. Nolan said that “things will come into focus” when the finished product is released.

The full article is in the new edition of Entertainment Weekly

Synopsis: 

Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the terrorist leader Bane arrives in Gotham City, pushing it and its police force to their limits, forcing its former hero Batman to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes.

In addition to Bale and Hardy, The Dark Knight Rises stars Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Anne Hathaway as Selena Kyle/Catwoman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Gotham PD Off. John Blake and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate, an employee of Wayne Enterprises.  The  Dark Knight Rises begins world domination on July 20th. Enjoy the new pics!

We have another batch of new images of Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon…oh and Tom Hardy…from This Means War, either on the set or official pics. The film is about two CIA operatives who find themselves at “war” over the same woman. I’m probably going to be too soft a touch to judge on this one, but I’m starting to think it could be fun. Really though, this post is just an excuse. What with all of the hoopla surrounding one of our other boyfriends, Michael Fassbender, you know, Haywire coming out, plus everyone still buzzing about Shame and the awards hype, not to mention the prizes he’s collecting, I didn’t want Tom to feel slighted.

I know I needn’t worry. If everyone is talking about Fassy this year, next year it will be Hardy. In addition to This Mean’s War, set for a February 17 release, Hardy will be in probably the biggest movie on the planet for 2012. There’s no way in hell that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises will not be GARGANTUAN. (Midnight showings for the night of July 19 have already been sold out for weeks in New York and LA -the only 2 cities where they’ve been available). Nolan chose his Inception star to play Bane because of what he could bring to this supervillain. He was Nolan's first choice and it was a fluke of scheduling that he became available. Hardy's Bane will be a match for Christian Bale’s Batman and then some.  (The film will certainly overshadow Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, however huge that will be. Fassy’s in that one.)

Hardy’s got another hot property in the can for fall release, Wettest County (The title has been shortened from The Wettest County in the World. Personally that drives me batsh*t. What’re we stupid? But I digress.) Release has been pushed back from Spring to late August by Harvey and The Weinstein Company to position it for festival inclusion. He thinks Hardy and the film will get a bump from TDKR and Bane’s popularity. I don’t often second guess Harvey.

Both Fassbender and Hardy will have had five films in theaters in a 10 month span (granted they are a different 10 months for each) and if one isn’t being considered for a role lately, it’s the other.  I’ve been watching Fassbender’s rise a little longer (since 2007 as opposed to Hardy from 2008), but I can’t get enough of either one of them. They’re both only 34. The mind staggers at the thought of what either one of them are still capable of.

Okay, okay…this was supposed to be about This Means War and you want the pics. You’ve indulged my meandering long enough…enjoy! 

btw, can I just say that I hate the posters for This Means War? They are bland photoshopped messes. Tom Hardy just looks odd and Chris Pine looks like he has an enormous alien head. Just sayin'

Below, you can watch the German version of the new The Dark Knight Rises trailer that’s been all the rage since last week. Some of the rage has been literal since a lot of people are upset that the villainous Bane (Tom Hardy) is difficult to understand behind his mask. The big deal about this German trailer (courtesy of Movieweb) is that his voice can be clearly heard, despite the fact that it’s dubbed into another language. My take? Big deal. As I’ve said, I don’t have a problem with the fact that Bane’s words are a bit muffled. That mask is ever present. He needs it to survive since it supplies him with an aerosol version of the snake venom which is the source of his power and vitality. I’m pretty sure that his words are usually unintelligible behind it. That, imho, makes him even more sinister. Whatever he actually says, his intent is clear.

I’m not a fan of dubbing to begin with and this trailer is a prime example of why. One of the things I liked best about the original English language version of the clip is Michael Caine’s Alfred and the heartbreak in his voice as he tells Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) that he feels he’s failed in his appointed task to protect him. There’s practically no inflection whatsoever in the German version.  Unless you’re watching The Artist, then an actor’s vocals are at least 50% of his performance. If you’re watching a dubbed version, then you’re getting whatever the dubbing actor puts into it (or doesn’t put into it). Just my humble opinion. (For the record, Selena Kyle/Catwoman still sounds appropriately kittenish.)

The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20 almost everywhere on the planet. We’ll have much more to follow until then, I’ve no doubt.

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The movie related stocking stuffers (or Hanukkah presents) just keep-a-comin’!  Today we have some nice shiny images from The Dark Knight Rises. Granted, most of them are not new, we’ve seen them as scans from Empire or obscured with copy but Warner Brothers has decided to gift us all with the hi-res versions!

The more I look at Tom Hardy’s Bane, the more excited I get for this movie. I expect Christopher Nolan to put together a coda to his Dark Knight trilogy of epic proportions. To that end, the villain chosen to match or even best, Christian Bale’s Batman must be up to the task. Hardy is an actor, not an action figure, despite his propensity for bulking up for a role. The official synopsis describes Bane as a terrorist leader who arrives on Gotham City’s doorstep eight years after the events of The Dark Knight to hatch a nefarious plot of mass destruction and socio-political upheaval, pushing Gotham City and its police force to their limits, forcing its former hero Batman to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes. When Batman tries to stop him, he finds that in Bane he has truly met a villain who is his equal, both physically and mentally.

A word about Bane’s voice: After having viewed the recently released trailer, a lot of people have been complaining about it. I, for one, don’t have a problem with it or the fact that director Nolan won’t be tweaking it. I didn’t find it that inordinately difficult to understand.  I got the gist of it. And I have to agree with Nolan, if it is a little garbled, it makes Bane that much more sinister. Imagine having to go through life with everyone struggling to understand wtf you’re saying all the time.

The Dark Knight Rises stars Bale, Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Juno Temple, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy and opens in theaters July 20 in the US, Canada and the UK.

The Flowers of War is a historical drama directed by Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers, Raise the Red Lantern), and is based on the novel “The 13 Women of Nanjing” by Geling Yan. The film has been selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

The imdb synopsis: “Chinese sex workers in 1937 volunteer to replace university students as escorts for invading Japanese soldiers” is a little misleading. There is so much more to the story.

“The film is set in 1937 in Nanjing, China during the Nanking Massacre, at the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War. A group of escapees, finding sanctuary in a Church compound, risk their lives as they struggle to survive the plight and persecution brought on by the violent invasion of the city. Christian Bale portrays John Magee, an American who disguises himself as a priest who helps a number of Chinese escape certain death.”

The second trailer for the film gives us a much bigger look at the heart of  the film. We know it’s set against the back drop of war and one of history’s most famously devastating campaigns, but The Flowers of War (as the title suggests) is about hope, not destruction.

Starring Christian Bale, Shigeo Kobayashi and Paul Schneider (Bright Star, Water for Elephants), The Flowers of War opens in China on Friday and will get an awards qualifying US release in NY, LA and San Francisco.