Making Da Rounds- Man of Steel, Dark Knight Rises & Batgirl

The last two days of vacay have been filled with significant first looks from the WB that have forced me to jump out of the ocean and bust out the laptop so I can tell you whats up with all this fab-fresh comics/film news!First up is Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel.  Henry Cavill does more than just fill out his Kryptonian digs, he gives Kal-El a much more intimidating look with his bulkier physique, menacing glare and a Travolta-greaser doo.  With that he is busting the ever so fashionable honeycomb texture (ala The Amazing Spiderman) in the new threads along with a cape that appears more regal and a larger family sigil on his chest.

All of this is a far departure from Superman Returns and the classic Reeves-look but I appreciate that Snyder/Nolan & team are working to make their Man of Steel representative of the type of film they will be visioning which I am still optimistic on it being a throw-back retelling in the 30's or 40's rather than in a modern day setting.  I mean that worked for Captain America right?  Whaddup to Kimo and Ted of Gecko Books that got me all riled up today on this badass flick!
(Via MTV Splashpage)


Next is our first action shot of Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) from DKR on the Batpod.  As you can see we got her in the all black Catwoman-like leather, though this may be just an initial costume or biker jumpsuit.  
My thoughts on this changed once I saw more clips of Hathaway's stuntdouble that has her in the middle of a firefight between Gotham SWAT and some military garbed fellas.  The picture shows more detail in her costume with stylized high boots and gloves and a utility belt that signals to this being Catwoman in full-effect and not just Selina Kyle out on a spin for a Bat-joyride.  Girls look way better on bikes over doods tho yeah?!
(Via Gotham Knights Online)


And keeping it in the Batfam is news on a surprise teaser of Batgirl: Year One animated that was shown after Batman: Brave and the Bold on The Cartoon Network.  The teaser is narrated as a new show though it may just be the Year One story broken into 30 minute segments as a series.  Firefly and Batgirl are doing work in an alley and it shows Batman wrapping things up with Mothman who-- are the two main baddies in the Dixon/Beatty/Martin story. 

(Via ComicVine)



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big O

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if you don't know, now you know- Amy Adams is Lois Lane

Zack Snyder has been owning the newsfeeds with the release of Sucker Punch and more recently due to the announcement of Amy Adams (The Fighter, Enchanted) being selected as Lois Lane in Christopher Nolan and Snyder's forthcoming project Superman: Man of Steel.

“There was a big, giant search for Lois,” Snyder said. “For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning but we had this meeting with Amy Adams and after that I just felt she was perfect for it.”

Snyder also spoke with G4 on the project and Adams' casting but similar to the talks with Hero Complex, not much of anything was given on what we could expect-- unless you are like me and you look out for some commonalities in things referenced.  The main blurb that resonated a few times by Snyder were on the importance of Lois Lane representing the era of her creation- which was the 40's.

Frank Miller's The Spirit, that was set stylistically during the FDR-era but with more of an exaggerated modern spin comes to mind as a potential new look for the Superman: Man of Steel films.  And lets keep in mind how popular those timepiece, fashionista type projects like Mad Men-- that are all the rage now.

Yes, nothing but speculation though Joe Shuster's iconic Lois Lane illustration sure does bear resemblance to Adams.  Hmmm...


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big O

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Life Imitates Art- Sucker Punch

With Zack Snyder's first step into live action film-making from his last two comicbook adaptations (Frank Miller's 300 and Alan Moore/Dave Gibbon's Watchmen)-- he proves in Sucker Punch that there is a place on the big-screen for his videogame/music-video/anime mashup of a flick.

Snyder's stylistic imprint is prevalent in this original story (Moulin Rouge meets The Matrix) that follows Babydoll (Emily Browning) and four other asylum inmates in their prison break that takes them through shifts in reality ala Inception, but being that each world is so visually distinct (psych ward/brothel/fantasy) you don't get lost or confused on what is really happening.

Snyder brilliantly plays on every fanboy denomination out there-- whether you are from the school of demon samurai, steampunk WWII-garbed zombies, fantasy-world of orcs and dragons or just the more techno-futuristic robot-- you get all of em wrapped into Babydoll's dreamworlds.  Where all of the epileptic action and innovative blue-screen magic was breathtaking, out-of-this-planet entertainment, sadly the drama and more intimate acting sequences were painful to highly excruciating to sit through.   

Vanessa Hudgens as Blondie, who I believe is the biggest name of the cast-- sucked the most, to the point where SPOILER ALERT...she ends up getting blasted..and the sold-out IMAX theater audience APPLAUDED.  I felt bad for like a second.

Thankfully there is some substance in performances by Aussie-imports Abbie Cornish (Sweet Pea)- wasn't used nearly enough in the script and the fledgling star Browning-- who blew me away in her haunting vocals of classic re-imaginings from The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," The Smiths' "Asleep," and The Pixie's "Where Is My Mind."  Actually, after listening over and over to the soundtrack I think that Snyder could pull a movie to music cross-over in the same way Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze went from music to film.  That's a complement to his sense of style period.

Really tough to draw comparisons to his earlier works that again lauded comicbook source material that were immensely successful along with stronger casts that had superior acting chops to sell the story.   But I was really blown away that Sucker Punch walked away this weekend with only $19 mil, where 300 and Watchmen finished with $71 and $50 mil respectively.  Whoa.

I just caught wind of these sick animated shorts that give us teasers and a backdrop for the main "bosses" that Babydoll faces. Check it!


And if you prefer waiting on this flick till DVD, Snyder indicated that there will be a Director's cut that should include some of the "dancing" that was obviously cut out to keep it PG-13. 


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big O

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Snyder is Killing It

Frank Miller fanboy, Zack Snyder has become the authoritative guide on how to make comics sexy and demanding through cinema.  In 300, Snyder made a film that said it was cool for the female species to join their BF for bloody-gorefest, Watchmen redefined the hero-film genre-- showing its okay to be a fat superhero, walk around nekkid if you are hung like Papa Smurf-- and with Sucker Punch in just 3 months,  and Superman: The Man of Steel next...Snyder is running things in Tinsel Town.



Yo Zack!  You had me at cute chicks locked in an all girl prison, wearing private school unis and fighting demon samurais & giant robots!! For the HD quality res of the featurette released today go to Apple.com

And for the rest of the gallery too!

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big O

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