The Playlist

Last Gasp: 10 New 'Dark Knight Rises' Photos Show Off More Of Anne Hathaway & Joseph Gordon-Levitt

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 18, 2012 1:41 PM
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1 Comment

News

Well here we are. 48 hours or so to go until "The Dark Knight Rises." In fact, it rolls out in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and elsewhere tomorrow, so it comes even sooner if you're in that part of the world. The reviews are out, and they're mostly good, although as has been discussed at length already, good isn't apparently enough for the army of infants whose mental well-being depends on the film maintaining a Rotten Tomatoes score above 90%, and who treat Marvel and DC like Sunnis and Shi'ites not realizing that normal people don't care, and are capable of enjoying films from both companies, as well as, shock horror, some that aren't even based on comic books at all.

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10 Songs From 'Batman' Soundtracks You Probably Forgot About

By Drew Taylor
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July 18, 2012 12:01 PM
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21 Comments

Features

One of the more notable aspects, as far as tie-ins go, with the three Christopher Nolan Batman movies, is that there isn't a single pop song in the entire cluster of them. They are entirely pop-song-free, which is really something considering how soundtrack-driven the last batch of Batman movies were (beginning with the Prince-fuelled Tim Burton original and continuing through the two Joel Schumacher tragedies). In honor of "The Dark Knight Rises" (which really is as good as everyone is saying), we look back to the ten jams that defined the Dark Knight (that you might have forgotten about). All of these tunes are perfect for your next night out in Gotham City.

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Bat-Dorks Force Rotten Tomatoes To Turn Off Comments For 'The Dark Knight Rises'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 18, 2012 10:21 AM
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3 Comments

News

Well, this just went from dumb to dumber. As you might recall, earlier this week reviews started arriving for Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" and, believe it or not, some people just don't dig Gotham. A couple of negative reviews hit, and like some kind of bat signal for the fanboy moths, they descended en masse to Rotten Tomatoes unleashing their vitriol on those who dared to voice an opinion that didn't declare 'Rises' to be the greatest movie of all time. Now standing at a rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, the site has had it with Bat-dorks.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Batman Begins'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 18, 2012 9:56 AM
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9 Comments

Features

While we appreciate that you're probably focused on this Friday's release of Daniel Auteil's directorial debut "The Well-Digger's Daughter," this week also sees the release of one other little film: "The Dark Knight Rises," the third and final chapter of Christopher Nolan's reinvention of the Batman character and world. The most critically acclaimed superhero franchise to date, the films have seen Nolan (who before turning to the series had only made three movies, all relatively small-budgeted thrillers) take a grounded approach, tackling the on-the-surface silly premise of a man dressing up as a bat to fight crime, and making it psychologically plausiuble in a way that's proven endlessly influential on tentpoles ever since.

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The Bile Rises: Rush Limbaugh Thinks 'The Dark Knight Rises' Is A Nefarious Scheme To Bring Down Mitt Romney

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 17, 2012 7:21 PM
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22 Comments

News

A blowhard, windbag, crazy person, wingnut and all around unpleasant person, it boggles the mind that anybody, Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or whatever political stripe you ascribe to, can listen to Rush Limbaugh for more than a few minutes without getting nauseous. But not since Alex Jones went off on a delusional rant about how Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" was secretly about the Illuminati, has a media personality been so idiotic.

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Guess What? Some People Aren't Going To Like 'The Dark Knight Rises' & Why Aggregated Movie Scores Are Meaningless

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 17, 2012 12:03 PM
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58 Comments

News

Warner Bros. gave the thumbs up on the floodgates to open on reviews for "The Dark Knight Rises" yesterday, and for the most part, advance notices have been strong. We gave the film an A grade and critics from Variety, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Rolling Stone, HitFix, Empire and more have all given their stamp of approval on Christopher Nolan's finale to his Batman franchise. But as we mentioned earlier today, some folks have had the audacity to dislike the film. Christy Lemire from the Associated Press, Christopher Tookey at the Daily Mail and Devin Faraci at Bad Ass Digest are among those who have weighed in negatively, but Marshall Fine at Hollywood & Fine had the unfortunate distinction of being the first one online to offer a voice of dissent. And the reaction was both extreme and embarassing.

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You Can't Please Everyone: Negative Reviews Of Some Of The Best Loved Films In Cinema History

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 17, 2012 10:02 AM
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34 Comments

Features

As you may have noticed, the review embargo on "The Dark Knight Rises" broke yesterday, and the word, including that from our own Todd Gilchrist, is mostly good. We say mostly, because as with most films, there are objections from a few reviews -- Christy Lemire from the Associated Press, Marshall Fine at Hollywood & Fine, Christopher Tookey at the Daily Mail, Devin Faraci at Bad Ass Digest -- coming in on the negative side of the fence. And as has become increasingly common in the last few years -- particularly with Christopher Nolan's films, Pixar movies, and even "The Avengers" -- the fans are in uproar at the sheer concept that reviewers dare give a negative notice to "The Dark Knight Rises" (regardless of the fact that these fans haven't yet seen the film for themselves).

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Where To See 'The Dark Knight Rises' In True, 70mm IMAX; Plus Even More New Photos

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 16, 2012 11:42 AM
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56 Comments

News

There's a storm coming, and it's the audiences who will be packing theaters and lining up around the block this weekend for "The Dark Knight Rises." By now, you likely already have your ticket, but if you don't, here's a little handy guide of where to go see the film in full, glorious IMAX with 70mm projection. But, wait -- why is this a big deal?

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Review: Visceral 'The Dark Knight Rises' Is A Cinematic, Cultural & Personal Triumph

By Todd Gilchrist
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July 16, 2012 3:00 AM
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55 Comments

Reviews

In a season filled with big movies that somehow ask even bigger questions, “The Dark Knight Rises” feels like the superego to its competition’s id. An action opus that manages at to be both viscerally and intellectually engaging, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated third Batman film comes full circle, examining both the Dark Knight and the society that produced him without sacrificing any of the sweeping thrills for which the series is known. A literate, thoughtful and invigorating finale, “The Dark Knight Rises” delivers everything audiences ask for and then some, albeit in fewer of the ways that they might expect.

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Weekend Box Office: 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' Provides Box Office's Last Gasp Before 'The Dark Knight Rises'

By Gabe Toro
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July 15, 2012 11:49 AM
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5 Comments

Box Office

And lo, there was an 'Ice Age' franchise. “Ice Age: Continental Drift” looks like it will continue the winning tradition of animation studio Blue Sky’s crown jewel, opening at a decent $46 million. Despite the fact that the lead characters of this franchise should be extinct by now, this past-due series still managed to generate solid opening numbers despite a summer that has already seen openings from “Brave” and “Madagascar: Europe’s Most Wanted.”

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