Christopher Nolan’s final chapter in the Batman series continues to stress the moral messages about man’s self-determination in the compelling, although ultimately hollow, way that Nolan has become famous for over the last decade.

First off, I have to say that even when Christopher Nolan is showing signs of storyteller exhaustion, as he does in The Dark Knight Rises, he still stands out way above the pack. Let’s highlight just a few strong points. Number one, he’s a master of suspense. I’m pretty good at predicting plot-twists in movies, but Nolan is the best by far for throwing me for a…

Marvel is starting to get the word out on the home release of The Avengers, and the associated Marvel Cinematic Universe box set. To promote the film the company has released the first post-credit scene from the film, which means you can now gaze at the first appearance of the next big Marvel bad guy as many times as you’d like.

This is pretty fun. I confess that, not being a comic book geek I had no idea what was going on exactly but I could certain tell that they were setting something up. Here’s the video.

“Cloud Atlas” explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.

In many ways this film looks like it could be interesting, and it is from the creators of The Matrix which I greatly enjoyed. It looks like it has some very interesting elements. The trailer was very long, and at first it was a bit…

Playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises might have made Tom Hardy a household name, but it wasn’t his first major genre sequel. The actor – who really hit the radar of film fans starring in Nicolas Winding-Refn’s Bronson – previously appeared in Star Trek: Nemesis as Shinzon, a villainous clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and a video of the actor’s screen test has surfaced online.

Given Tom Hardy’s big role in The Dark Knight Rises, it’s fun to roll back ten years and see this budding actor in the Star Trek: Nemesis screen test. A lot of folks didn’t like Nemesis (I thought it could have…

Apparently, when it comes to Middle-earth, director Peter Jackson thinks three is the magic number. Last month at Comic-Con, Jackson teased fans with the idea that he was interested in pushing beyond his planned two-film adaptation of The Hobbit. Today, after weeks of intensive talks with Warner Bros. over how exactly that might be achieved, Jackson announced on his Facebook page that he is, in fact, going to turn The Hobbit into a trilogy.

I have not been a big proponent of some of Jackson’s decisions. Particularly his decision to shoot The Hobbit at 48 frames per second. But I will…

Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises literally brought tears to my eyes. It’s a fitting, emotional and exciting conclusion to what must now be considered one of the best cinematic trilogies in history, firmly planting its flag alongside other classic trilogies like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Godfather, Back to the Future and the Lord of the Rings. Like all of those, though, there’s usually a weak link and The Dark Knight Rises is it. Nolan’s film, while a great cinematic experience, attempts to raise the stakes to such incredible, devastating and unsolvable heights, the narrative…

Born 15 June 2005. Laid to rest, 20 July 2012.

A lot has already been written about The Dark Knight Trilogy. And in writing the first review for this site I want to find a way to make it interesting, to make you want to come back for more. And yet I pick the topic that has already been written and talked to death. I am my own worst enemy.

But, now that the trilogy is finished, I can say with certainty that this is way up there on my list of favorite trilogies, taking its place in my own personal hall of fame with the likes of the original Star Wars films, Back to the Future, Lord of the…

TJ and Joseph before and after Episode 2 of The MovieByte Podcast. They discuss Mystery Men, have technical issues, prepare for the show by reading Nolan’s good-bye letter to the Batman Trilogy, discuss who should do the show opener, computers, beef jerky, comments on websites, the development status of MovieByte, show art, and more.

TJ and Joseph discuss things pertaining to The Dark Knight Rises. Please be aware there will be spoilers in the second half of the episode. Topics of discussion include the shooting in Colorado and what a horrible tragedy it was, trilogies in general (Indiana Jones, Toy Story, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings), likes and dislikes about The Dark Knight Rises, Spoilers, Liam Neeson’s roll and more. Plus we follow up on Joseph’s “sealed note” predictions for what he thought would happen in this film and whether Christopher Nolan lived up to expectations. Our podcast is also now live and listed in the iTunes Podcast directory so be sure to rate the show in iTunes!