Our newest writer, Nick Rapp, has something to say about Anne Hathaway’s Cat Woman....

It’s been a long time since the news was announced that Anne Hathaway would play Cat Woman in the upcoming Nolan film, The Dark Knight Rises. Well, I’m still not happy about it. Christopher Nolan has brought integrity to the super hero movie genre with The Dark Knight. It wasn’t just a good super hero movie, but a terrific movie altogether. I felt a similar excitement upon watching Heath Ledger perform his villain as I did with Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men -  a Best Picture winner. The addition of Anne Hathaway scraps this integrity.

It was not typical Anne Hathaway in her performance in One Day. She attempted a British accent and just did not deliver. The world of acting is too competitive for that to be okay. If Rooney Mara can master a Swedish accent, then an Oscar nominated actress [Rachel Getting Married (whiney, in my opinion)] should certainly be able to pull off British. But integrity isn’t the only reason Hathaway doesn’t fit Nolan’s Cat Woman. Let’s talk about type.

When you think “Anne Hathaway,” what’s the first thing that comes into your mind, other than the frustration that she’ll be Selina Kyle? I think of Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted. I think of a sympathetic, and nerdy character who is always the reacher in romantic comedies, and despite her good looks, never the settler. What with her whiney voice and teenage angst, she does the reacher well! But Selina Kyle is no reacher. And there are plenty of women in Hollywood that fit Selina far better. Olivia Wilde for her slinkiness, and confident sex appeal. Rooney Mara for her attitude and capabilities for depth. And Scarlett Johansson for her sultry voice.

Love and Other Drugs was a good example of Anne Hathaway venturing to be received as an actress who could convey heartbreaking realities of life – you can’t change disease. Some might argue for Rachel Getting Married, but I still think it was just adolescent whining. Maybe Cat Woman is Hathaway’s attempt to further tread down the path of fulfilling character work. Alas, it’s hard to escape your type. As much as she might like to grow, her essence will not falter, and her voice will not change. I can only hope Nolan keeps her from using it to whine, and hell, I might even enjoy it.

10- Battleship

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I admit when I first heard they were making a film based on the Hasbro board game Battleship I thought it was a terrible idea. I thought it was an even worse idea when I heard it was starring Rihanna. But after this full trailer was released a few weeks back, I can’t help but grin while watching it. This movie looks like a blast.

Release Date: May 18^th 2012

It appears to be Bane walking away from a fight with Batman, a fight which he presumably won judging by the condition of Batman’s mask. Although I have to admit the tagline makes me a bit sad, “The Legend Ends.” I know that Nolan wanted just a trilogy but I will definitely miss Nolan’s take on the franchise!

As I’m sure you already know, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ hits theaters July 20^th of next year!

It should be noted that Bane’s cover won the voting process which should come as no surprise considering everyone knows what Batman looks like. However, although Bane does look pretty badass, I think Batman has the cooler poster of the two, what’s up with that new weapon he’s holding? I’m intrigued! Either way, check out the two new covers below and let us know which one you like better!

As I’m sure you already know, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ stars Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, and Josh Pence and comes to theaters July 20, 2012!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In other news, some early rumors are reporting that actress Juno Temple’s role has finally been revealed, she will play “street smart Gotham gal” Holly Robinson, a character first seen in Frank Miller’s ‘Batman: Year One,’, and she might be a sidekick to Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman! Pretty exciting stuff eh?

Is this your most anticipated movie of 2012 Banters?

Instead of battling the Joker, this time around Batman finds himself at the clutches of quite a few baddies ranging from Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), and Bane (Tom Hardy). While we got a quick glimpse of Bane in the teaser trailer a couple of weeks ago we finally have our first up close set photos of Tom Hardy as Bane and he looks quite menacing.

Take a gander at the photos below and let us know what you think of him!

Is this your most anticipated movie of next year Banters?

Since EVERYONE and their sisters and mother and brothers and great uncles went to see Harry Potter this weekend, that also means that all six billion of those people saw the new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises.

I’ve been watching it online and, well, I’m pretty much ready for this movie. Is that just me? Nah. Although, it doesn’t come out until next summer, we finally have some actual footage from the movie. After the Bane images and reports from the set, it is a nice official change of pace. That being said, not really much to the trailer is there?

I know it’s a teaser, and what a tease it is. It’s a lot of voice over and not much reveal. But damn it if I haven’t been smiling each time I watch it. Everyone’s wondering if Gordon is talking to Batman or Bruce Wayne. Dun dun dun. Mystery! I guess that matters? Because then he maybe knows Wayne is Batman? And that would be…fine? Less mystery!

The best part of the trailer is easily the two small shots we get of Bane. Tom Hardy looks like he’s going to play quite the convincing psycho killer. So worry not fans of Heath Leger’s Joker, it seems we will again be treated to a maniacal Gotham villain. This time, at least according to the teaser, it looks like Batman has met a formidable opponent. As he stands there getting ready to fight, he looks beat down and winded while Bane looks pretty ready to go. Has Batman met his match? Nope! Because they have to keep the franchise alive even after Christopher Nolan leaves.

My point is if you haven’t seen the trailer, check it out. If you have, watch it again and get even a little bit more excited. I say that because we only have one of these left. A superhero movie that is more content than comic. Here’s to them waiting at least ten years before they recast the whole thing and destroy its reputable name again. Speaking of which, when does The Amazing Spider-Man come out?

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We have previously seen photographs of villain Bane (Tom Hardy) as well as a couple of set shots and today we have a few more stills for you! They may not look all that exciting at first but upon a closer look it is clear these are photographs of Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne’s original mansion which was burned down in ‘Batman Begins.’ There also seems to be a set of a graveyard, most likely the location of Bruce’s deceased parents.

This is definitely good news for me because it definitely brings the series full circle with having Wayne rebuilding his home for the final chapter in this trilogy. It’s especially symbolic considering the mansion was destroyed by Ra’s Al Ghul in part 1 and early rumors have suggested this entry will deal heavily with Ghul’s mythology.

Click the link below to see the rest of the photos and stay tuned for more ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ news.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=79011

What do you think Banters? Excited for the third entry or is this series old news?

Yesterday, the Academy decided that ten could be too much. Instead, anywhere from five to ten films could be nominated in a given year. This seems…fair. Good job! Ten nominees were clearly too many. Everything was getting in there. If you ask me, sometimes five is too many as well. That is somewhat of an exaggeration because the goal here is to nominate five for the recognition. But really, by the time the nominees are out, everyone knows who the two frontrunners are. There may be one underdog who never wins, but that’s really it.

They supposedly used the last ten years to determine that some (the last two) could have used less nominees and some more. Most notably there was the debate that The Dark Knight deserved a nomination in 2008 but was shafted because of its box office showing and its comic book nature. However, in five years time, when The Reader and Frost/Nixon are dust in the wind, The Dark Knight will still be remembered. I’m sure there are plenty of other examples, but that seemed to stir up some feelings that Oscar season.

However, ten was clearly too many considering the last two years were a race between a pair of noticeably different films. In 2009, it was exciting to see a film like District 9 get nominated but clearly it had no shot to win. But everyone was still high on the idea that it could. By 2010, it was clear that a film like Inception was an excellent and entertaining film; however, it didn’t stand a shot at the big prize. Let alone films like Winter’s Bone and True Grit which, while very good, had no reason to be up there.

But I guess that’s the beauty of the Oscars: to get people excited about movies. The only thing to worry about (and it’s really not a concern for us but more for the reputation of Academy) is the legitimacy of receiving a Best Picture nomination, and I think that it has actually been a problem the last two years. People will run to see five movies so they’re not out of the loop. But when there’s ten and it’s clear that four of them have no shot of winning, it’s less likely. Regardless, Academy, this is the last time! Stick with it.