Curio: The Dark Knight Rises, Posterized

Alexa here. It seems like anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises has been going on for years. With it has come an inevitable stream of fan poster designs that recently broke into a flood. (Riding the wave is Mondo, the indie press affiliated with Austin's Alamo Drafthouse, which recently showcased some Dark Knight Rises posters at Comic-con, including this stunner by Olly Moss.) I've been reveling in my own excitement (yes, I have my tickets already) by sifting through the multitudes to choose my favorites. The lack of strong designs featuring Hathaway's Selina Kyle has been disappointing; I'm hoping this will change once the film is released.  Here's what I've culled from the masses.

Design by Paul Shipper.

Pulp version by Shaun Watson.Click for more...

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Pfeiffer Premieres, Then & Now

It's Pfeiffer Pfriday... on Saturday! (I can't be constrained by calendars and sunsets.) Joe reminded me in the comments earlier today that 20 years ago on this very day the stars were walking the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of Batman Returns (1992) -- I'd casually mentioned it a month ago but pforgot on the day of! -- and just yesterday Pfeiffer was walking the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of People Like Us (2012) so things are set right again in Pfandom-Land. She's right where she's supposed to be.

Look how happy she is hugging Chris Pine!

And just as a reminder here she is exactly 20 years earlier at the Batman Returns premiere and at the Globes and Oscars that year, too ...

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Pfeiffer Pfriday

I recently got a Pfacebook message from one of her biggest pfans  and he asked me if I'd misplaced my love for the one and only Michelle Pfeiffer. "Of course not!" I wanted to shout only to immediately realize that though she's been far less elusive than usual: magazines, press conferences for Dark Shadows, fresh on DVD with New Year's Eve, at premieres -- I've said pfew words. This must be corrected.

This is my favorite 2012 pfoto of her, taken last month at Cinema Con where she was honored as a "Cinema Icon".

Catwoman black / Susie Diamond sexy.

Since I abandoned my Thursday "Burtonjuice" series which y'all didn't seem to be into, I'll redirect my eyeballs and pfantasize about Pfeiffer each Pfriday till People Like Us premieres... even if it's only a pfoto. Deal?

With Pfeiffer back on the red carpet I was expecting a parade of sleek black but she's been mixing it up: Red and gold to Dark Shadows premieres; black at Cinema Con; gray at the Globes in January (couldn't find a full length pfoto since she didn't do the press lines); purple at New Year's Eve in December.

poll by twiigs.com

Red and black are her standbys (it's easy to see why) but it's nice to see variety. Lock-wise Pfeiffer has never much believed in variety, preferring long curly toussled for most of her career give or take stick straight detours here and there.

With Dark Shadows opening today (more on that later) here's a pflashback to the Batman Returns premiere 20 years ago...

Penguin. Batman. Catwoman. Burton

Links:

The Awl remembers actress Milla Jovovich's debut album "The Divine Comedy". OMG I loved this record in 1994 and I didn't know anyone else knew it.
Celebitchy Matthew McConaughey designed his own assless chaps for Magic Mike. Commitment!
IndieWire Tribeca Film Festival winners include the child soldier drama War Witch (not the first of its big festival wins) for Best Narrative Feature and Best Actress and Una Noche for Director and Best Actor(s)

Austin Translation the Not-So Dark Knight
Towleroad gay superhero Northstar, just about the only superhero the movies don't seem interested in, may be tying the knot soon 

Belle almost looked more like Ava Gardner! Sketch by Andreas DejaDeja View Belle originally had a younger sister in Beauty & The Beast. Who knew? Also Ava Gardner as an influencing model for Belle's look.
Coming Soon Looks like Colin Farrell's career is most definitely on the upswing again with a slate of new projects including possibly Winter's Tale, a period romantic drama based on the 1983 novel of the same name co-starring Jessica Brown Findlay and Russell Crowe. 
How Are You I'm Fine Thanks died (RIP). If Tom Hiddleston loved the comic you drew from him, you would too

Yes, No, Maybe So: "The Dark Knight Rises"

It's our practice to break trailers down to their components which make us eager / annoyed / unsure. But for this sort of event we're aware we're supposed to be all YES, already in the (bat) tank. But let's break this down anyway. Batman would surely appreciate the importance of rituals and this is how we do.

The Greatest Logo in the History of Super Logos

YES

• That friction between Anne Hathaway's menacing whispers and that young choirboy's national anthem is perfect. But then Chris Nolan movies are always good with the sound.
• The chanting at the end is also hot: Best Sound Editing #2 here we come.
• Oooh Escher-like staircases inside. Where are we? Let's go to there.
• The brief glimpses of Inception players Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard are welcome. Because movie trailers are future movies invading our dreams, right? Come on in.
• Anne Hathaway's Hepburn hat. This is so girly for a Nolan movie. They better bring it with Catwoman. That's sacred ground!
• I'm fond of the trailer's and possibly the movies interest in vertical points of view rather than horizontal spaces. Batman should be vertiginious. He is Gotham City.
• It also makes me happy that he is fighting during light snow flurries for some reason.
• That collapsing football field is sick. Also reminds me of Sunnydale as sinkhole at the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And anything that reminds of Buffy...
• "Ward" the quarterback, eh? I hope that's a Dick Grayson/Robin injoke because these movies need a few jokes.

 

NO 

• Football? for a second I thought I was watching the wrong trailer.
• Ugh where is Aaron Eckhart?! I feel cheated.
• Um... Anne Hathaway doing Catwoman at a masked ball? Is this a Batman Returns homage? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this. I love me some Hathaway but #PfeifferPforever. Don't risk direct comparison!

MAYBE SO 

• Christian Bale looks so haggard. Is this an intriguing aestethic choice or is he just bone tired from all the weight loss muscle gain flip-flopping of the past ten years?
• Speaking of weight loss/gain. Can someone give Tom Hardy a role where he is forced to lose the steroid look and the alien trapezius. He looks so much better human.
• Speaking of... what kind of voice is he doing? And will I be able to decipher the words under that mask. Covering up the best pair of male lips in the movies is such a crime!
• More politics with the Mayor and such zzz
• I'm not sure I trust Chris Nolan with political plotlines/metaphors. As I recall The Dark Knight was quite muddled in the messenging arena. And we REALLY don't need martyr heroes made of the 1% in the movies nor the 99% as angry crime mobs and that's kind of what the visuals and Catwoman's speech suggest, right? Is this Iron Lady 2: Right Wing Harder !? 

Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So?
This tweet from Matt Patches is a perfect joke about how wild people go for every glimpse of future event movies, particular movies by the blogosphere's favorite human person director Chris Nolan.

Hee.

So perhaps for this one we should just ask how much of a "Yes" you are?

And since we've got Oscar on the brain (tis the season) why don't we go there, too, in the comments. Batman Begins received one nomination (Cinematography) and The Dark Knight eight bids with two wins (Supporting Actor and Sound Editing). What's the ceiling for this one without the elevating force of Heath Ledger (RIP) but with the momentum of this franchise's epic epicness and ever expanding Nolan mania ?