In case you couldn’t access it over the weekend (or just want a closer look), the new Batman Begins trailer is officially up, as is our most recent view of Keanu Reeves in Constantine.
Tag: Christian Bale
Samurai Bat.
The holiday trailer season continues today, with the first look at Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and, if you’re fast, this early copy of the spiffy new Batman Begins trailer. (If that doesn’t work, there are a number of screencaps here.)
Heaven & Hell.
In today’s trailer bin, Colin Farrell moves from Alexander the Great to John Smith in Terrence Malick’s very Malickian The New World, while Keanu Reeves Neos up Hellblazer in the full trailer for Constantine.
Ghost in the Machinist.
Batman? Try the Scarecrow. Christian Bale purportedly lost 65 pounds for his role as The Machinist, and, boy, does it show. In a film that swims in unease, Bale is the creepiest special effect of all, jutting collarbones and vertebrae this way and that. If nothing else, he has done for eating disorders here what highway-gore films of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s did for Driver’s Ed. And the movie itself? Well, I’m not sure if it (or any film, for that matter) would be worth Bale’s gruesome physical transformation, but The Machinist is a pretty solid foray into puzzle-movie territory, one that establishes a grim, unsettling mood early on and maintains it throughout.
Bale’s Trevor Reznick — Given the explicit nods to Dostoevsky throughout, the name resemblance to NIN’s frontman is probably also intentional — splits his time among his job, an airport cafe, and the bed of his favorite hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh, less show-offy than usual.) He shambles through the world without food, sleep, or even much color (everything, other than the occasional flash of red, has that institutional-green Matrix cast to it.) And, as the film goes on, Reznick tries to make sense of the increasingly strange events that befall him…events which I can’t really talk about without giving the game away, but that may involve conspiracies, murders, impending madness, and/or all of the above.
I have to say I was a bit dismayed by the way the pieces ended up fitting together in the end, but The Machinist is more about the journey than the destination anyway, and as a sinister tone poem the film works quite well…not a masterpiece by any means, but definitely a respectable night at the movies. Now, Alfred, could you please bring Mr. Wayne here a few cheeseburgers?
Mad as a Batter.
Newsweek visits the set of Batman Begins, and offers up a few new pictures of the Caped Crusader, including one of a pre-Scarecrow Cillian Murphy getting a severe talking-to from the Long-Eared one. ‘Bout time we saw the villains, no?
Man-Bat Stalks Gotham.
The official Batman Begins site and Entertainment Weekly give us our first look at the new Dark Knight. Hmm…this seems ok. I’d prefer longer ears and less of a hockey-pad feel to his shoulders and knees, but it’s hard to say anything more until we see Bats move around.
(Bat)Man about Town.
Ok, it’s just Christian Bale in a suit. Still, if you suspend belief, you’ve got the first look at Batman Begins Bruce Wayne here. In related news, the official site, in an attempt to keep the fanboy buzz happy, put up a few shots of the new Batmobile online last week. Hmm…it looks like a cross between a monster truck and the troop transport in Aliens.
Empire of the Knight.
The word has come down from director Chris Nolan: Christian Bale will be Batman. Of the possible contenders, I’d say that’s definitely the right choice. Now for everyone else…I’ve been hearing Aaron Eckhart as Commissioner Gordon for years, and still think that’s spot-on Year One casting. As for the villain(s)…it sounds like they’re leaning toward Ras Al Ghul and the Scarecrow. (Cillian Murphy, Raz?) Those are two of the creepier denizens of Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery, and if done right this film could be great fanboy fun, a la X2. I think they could just have easily used a young, whip-thin, and terminally insane Joker, particularly if they are trying to reboot the Batman mythos as intended, but oh well. If nothing else, it’ll be interesting to see what the director of Memento does with Arkham Asylum.
Four-Color Casting Call.
Eager to catch up with Marvel in the summer blockbuster dept., Warner Brothers and DC plan to screentest a bevy of young stars for Christopher (Memento) Nolan’s new Batman film. (Of these choices, I’d go with Christian Bale.) Also is comic casting news, it turns out cut-rate chanteuse/Newlywed Jessica Simpson will be playing the lead in Mort the Dead Teenager. Normally, this’d be a non-story, but she had been rumored to play Sue Storm (Invisible Girl) in the upcoming Fantastic Four flick, which — if true — would have instantly erased any interest I might have in the project. Now, Naomi Watts, on the other hand…
Love, Sex, and Balance.
I should’ve posted this yesterday, but forgot. Rather than see the fireworks last Friday, I decided to stay in and have a Blockbuster night. And, since I don’t feel like giving these films the full treatment at the moment, I’ll just say in passing that, despite attempting an open mind, I hated Punch Drunk Love (with the exception of the beautiful color fades.) I found it self-consciously arty and pretentious in true P.T.A fashion (Oooh, harmonium = love), and Emily Watson was a complete cipher throughout. Adam Sandler made the best of a bad hand, but I’ll still take Happy Gilmore over this any day of the week. Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs, and Emily Watson again, was cheesy C-grade sci-fi fun in a Dr. Who kinda way despite having the most implausible fight sequences since Gymkata. And Roger Dodger started out well enough, but I eventually became bored with Campbell Scott’s character. The opportunities for telling LaBute-like satire were rich, but instead we find out that all Roger needed was his lost innocence? What a waste of a good setup. Still, there’s some nice character work here, so I’d say Roger Dodger is a moderately enjoyable rental.