Christopher Nolan

The dire headlines and unsettling images from Colorado tell us that a dozen moviegoers lost their lives after being gunned down at a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” — it’s an ugly spasm of deranged violence and everywhere people are trying to make sense of it, whether they reach for tissue, their Twitter accounts or  a sturdy soapbox. In Paris, a red carpet premiere was canceled and Christopher Nolan was in lockdown mode with his cast and crew awaiting further information on the rampage of a 24-year-old gunman who reportedly referred to himself as the Joker when questioned by police. A short time ago the filmmaker released a statement through his Los Angeles publicist. “Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has […]

When director Christopher Nolan brought Batman out of the shadows seven years ago in “Batman Begins” and carried on the character’s adventures in “The Dark Knight,” he produced a hero and setting appropriate for the times: a grim, hard-nosed loner in a world racked by corruption, shaken by terrorism and standing on shaky moral ground. With the concluding chapter “The Dark Knight Rises” poised to plunge into blackness once again, here’s a refresher on what brought us to the brink: CLICK THROUGH THE PHOTO GALLERY ABOVE TO REVISIT KEY CHARACTERS AND EVENTS.  BE SURE THE “CAPTIONS ON” OPTION IS ACTIVATED. (And if you haven’t seen either film, just an obvious warning that spoilers lie ahead.) – Oliver Gettell RECENT AND RELATED Christopher Nolan opens up about Bane choice Christian Bale says goodbye to Gotham ‘DKR’: Where to see the IMAX […]

Neal Adams is a legendary name to comic-book collectors, but he holds an especially exalted place in the hearts of Batman fans — it was the vivid, muscular and irony-free art of Adams that tugged the character back toward the serious shadows and away from the campy 1966-1968 television series that made Gotham City a joke. With writer Denny O’Neil, Adams also introduced the evil mastermind Ra’s al Ghul and steered the Joker’s persona into a truly bizarre brand of lunacy — key contributions that would echo years later in the Batcave films of Christopher Nolan. Adams was one of the special guests at the New York premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” and he agreed to do a guest review of the film. THIS  REVIEW is 100% SPOILER-FREE I listened to the vibes out there, and they said, “How […]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has 500 things to fill his days this summer — including filming his directorial debut (which stars Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore), tending to his record label and ramping up for the release of several new films with August’s bike-messenger thriller “Premium Rush” and September’s promising sci-fi film “Looper,” in which he and Bruce Willis play the same contract killer at different ends of a time-travel adventure. And then there’s the topic that everyone wants to hear about the most but Gordon-Levitt wants to talk about the least: “The Dark Knight Rises,” the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which arrives July 20 with Gordon-Levitt as one of the stealth weapons in its all-star ensemble. If you approach Gordon-Levitt now you’ll get the same answer he offered last year during an on-the-set interview between scenes filmed at […]

The stars of “The Dark Knight Rises” are walking the red carpet at the film’s world premiere in New York City, and we’re live-streaming the event. The film, which opens in theaters Friday, caps Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy, which stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle (also known as Catwoman). Attending the premiere are Nolan, Bale, Hathaway, Tom Hardy (who plays villain Bane), Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon), Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Nolan, writers Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer and producers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven. Nolan’s first Batman film, 2005′s “Batman Begins,” earned an Oscar nod, and 2008′s “The Dark Knight” won two Oscars, including a posthumous supporting actor win for Heath Ledger, who stunned critics and theatergoers as the Joker. “The Dark Knight Rises” is poised to […]

British actor Tom Hardy has been able to dream bigger since he delivered a memorably roguish performance in ”Inception” — but that doesn’t mean he’s following the paint-by-numbers career path of mainstream monotony. Instead, just like his acting idol, Gary Oldman, the 34-year-old Hardy has shown an active interest in roles of submersion and transformation. He’s also presented himself as a mercurial voice whether the topic was violent sports, fame, his struggle with addiction, his acting process or even the sexual experimentations of his younger days You can read about all of that in the PHOTO GALLERY above, which features the actor’s quotes through the years (as well as comments about Hardy that were made by costars and filmmakers). Be sure to click the CAPTIONS ON option so you can take a tour through the vivid life of Hardy. One of Hardy’s more audacious efforts arrives […]

From a distance, Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City sure doesn’t look like much. The “skyline” begins to emerge over the horizon in the rolling green farmlands about 50 miles north of London, but there are no gothic spires or granite citadels, just the slanted, pocked roofs of two boxy metal buildings. But nearing the complex on a winding two-lane road, the immensity of the filmmaker’s make-believe metropolis comes into focus: The structures that looked squat from afar are actually 15 stories tall — and as long as 81-story skyscrapers lying on their sides. Constructed more than 85 years ago to house Britain’s Royal Airship Works, the giant coffin-shaped sheds sat unused or ignored for years, and waiting for some great undertaking, after the nation’s flagship dirigible went down in flames in a horrific 1930 crash in France. The field mice had […]

A new trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” was just released, a month before the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy is slated to hit the big screen on July 20. Although it contains much of the same footage introduced in the last trailer and the six-minute preview released in December, the new trailer adds several new scenes that will spark some speculation among fans of the comics, most notably a face-off between Batman (Christian Bale) and villain Bane (Tom Hardy). In the scene, Bane calls the Caped Crusader by name — “Mr. Wayne.” We see a few blows, then the trailer cuts to Bane walking away, Batman’s shattered mask in hand, leaving fans to wonder if Nolan drew from the punishing fight scene that left Bruce Wayne with a broken back in the comics’ “Knightfall” arc. The new […]

The concept seems almost quaint in this age of viral marketing and elaborate ARG promotions but the allure is undeniable for anyone who had dreamed of riding shotgun in Gotham City — the Tumbler, a.k.a. the Batmobile, is touring the country and drawing thousands of fans who come to point, grin and snap their photos with Bruce Wayne’s sweet ride. The Tumbler returns to theaters July 20 in “The Dark Knight Rises” but since May 12 it’s been cruising the country and parking at movie theaters, Wal-Marts, museums and stadiums. The Tumbler Tour will run through July and finish up in Southern California. The 15-foot-long vehicle has been described as “part-Lamborghini, part-tank” by Nathan Crowley, the production designer for Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City trilogy, which began with 2005′s “Batman Begins” continued with 2008′s “The Dark Knight” and wraps up with this summer’s much-anticipated […]

This post has been corrected, as detailed below. LONDON — The University of London’s stolid Senate House echoes with secrets and hidden history — it was headquarters for Britain’s propaganda and censorship department and “1984” author George Orwell used it as a model for his Ministry of Truth — so it was a fitting workplace last July for Christopher Nolan and the masked ambitions of “The Dark Knight Rises.” “Back in Gotham, back in Chris Nolan’s city,” actor Morgan Freeman said as he stepped past barbed wire and debris used in a just-finished scene. A moment later, he added: “The only drawback is this is the last one we get to work on with him. And a lot of us won’t really get that until later. It’s not until the curtain goes down that you think, ‘Jesus, that’s the last […]