This was supposed to be a Top 5 list -- 'cause that's what we do here in The Basement -- but I quickly realized we'd watched a lot of cool shit during the last 12 months. As in years past, this list is based strictly on what I was able to see during the year and is genre heavy. Duh. It's what I do. Note, the list is far from complete. I have yet to catch Skyfall, Looper, Dredd, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty, all flicks that'd have a decent shot at making this list. If only I could be all things to all people. Anywho, on with my thoughts on the best of 2012. 10 - Kill List This movie ruined my day in the best possible way. I'm still left reeling from it, like I'm punch drunk. Or just drunk. You decide. I can't say I enjoyed this movie, although I know I will watch it again and would recommend it to horror fans in a heartbeat. Yes, it's a horror film. But not in the traditional sense. It's frightening and surreal, but oddly f...

As a film fan, there's no better feeling than watching a movie told by a master storyteller. Few writer/directors can claim to be such a filmmaker, but Christopher Nolan is certainly one of them. He's proved it with his first two Batman films and movies like Inception and Memento, and he drives the point home with The Dark Knight Rises. Eight years after events in The Dark Knight a new threat, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest and breaks the hero the city has labelled its enemy. Plus there's a mysterious and sexy cat burglar in town who may or may not side with the Batman. Nolan's final Batman film -- and there's no doubt that this story is done -- is just as complex and gritty as The Dark Knight, weaving multiple characters and story arcs into one very grown-up take on what is an epic comic-book story. There's a lot of movie in the two-hour-and-45-minute running time, but everything moves so fast you don't notice. Yet the film isn't...

The Brothers Warner has played pretty coy with the marketing campaign for their upcoming summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises. There have been trailers, posters and TV ads hyping the film, which opens July 20, but no real talk on what it's all about. Until now.  If you want to go into The Dark Knight Rises cold, stop reading. If not, here's the official synopsis from the studio: It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans f...

Just the other day we gave you a peek at the cool one sheet for Christopher Nolan's Batman finale, The Dark Knight Rises. Well, hidden deep within the electronic bowels of the Interweb is a poster that's even cooler . . . and dead sexy in its own way. The only way to unleash the nifty design below is by scanning the QR code at the bottom of the previously mentioned poster. Being technically inept, I waited for someone else to do it and nabbed the .jpg. Because I'm evil that way. Enjoy! I gotta say, of all the banners and poster and promotional items for The Dark Knight Rises, this is my fave. It's a bit of a personalized throwback to the Joker posters from The Dark Knight. And I've always had a thing for stiletto heels. Sue me. The Dark Knight Rise arrives in theatres July 20.

It's late, I'm tired and this is a really cool fucking poster! That's reason enough for me to post it here for your eye holes. Besides, we've done countless stories about Christopher Nolan's final chapter in his Batman trilogy and posted pictures, previews and rumours . . . so why not the poster? Why not indeed! I'm about as jazzed as jazzed can get for this movie. And it arrives July 20, the day after my 40th, so Happy Birthday to me! Enough chit-chat. Take a gander at this bad boy. It's cool, and keeps the theme of previous posters for Nolan's Bat films.

Oh. My. A-God! What more can be said? This is chill-inducing stuff, the kind of awesome that makes guys like me not ashamed to be geeks. Not at all. You know the deal, you already know your ass will be in a theatre seat come July 20 (one day after I turn 40. Happy Birthday to me!), and there is little to no doubt that Christopher Nolan's film will be superb. But you still gotta watch this trailer . . .

Alright, alright. We're whores and we can't deny it anymore. We tried fighting it by posting the Prometheus pre-trailer, but why bother? It must be done. It's our duty as movie geeks! We contemplated posting the bootlegs that popped up on the net these last couple of weeks but didn't, knowing this day would come . . . a day of high-quality epic greatness. So, without further adieu, The Dark Knight Rises trailer! It's great. July can't come soon enough. 'Nuff said.

I know, I know. We're not supposed to be giving props to mainstream releases. But we've given extensive coverage to The Dark Knight Rises so far, including featuring the teaser at the fans' request. And we do like to point out when Hollywood does things wrong. But, in this case, it's good to show when Hollywood does something right. Not that any of us doubt writer/director Christopher Nolan when it comes to his Batman trilogy. He's said his take on Catwoman is Selina Kyle as a thief and robber and that the costume would not be geared for the sexy like Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry. Judging from the pic below, he was telling no lies. I'm fine with whatever Nolan does. Sure, the first image of Catwoman could have had more umph. But it does feature the Batpod motorcycle, which I want. And, costume or not, it's impossible for Anne Hathaway not to look sexy. The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20, 2012.

I know we said we're not posting news on mainstream movies anymore, but we're all about fulfilling fan requests here in The Basement. So when the fans say they want us to post the teaser for the much anticipated The Dark Knight Rises, we do it! The teaser is mostly old footage mixed in with some new. Hey, the movie has just started shooting for it's release next July, let's give Christopher Nolan and company a break. But we get a quick look at Tom Hardy as Bane and a sickly Jim Gordan. It's gonna be later this year/early next before the footage really starts cooking with gas. And we're pretty sure it's gonna be awesome! Nothing yet on what The Dark Knight Rises is actually about, but do we really care? Nolan had us at Batman Begins. Enjoy the teaser folks:

Remember that story we ran awhile back about the rumoured plot for Christopher Nolan's final Batman film The Dark Knight Rises? Well, turns out it was bullshit. Warner Bros. released details today about the actual roles Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard will have in the third Batfilm, and they are nothing like the ones speculated about on the Internet. EW.com reported earlier today that Cotillard will appear as Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a grieving Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) resume his father's philanthropic enterprises for Gotham City. Gordon-Levitt will play a Gotham City beat cop. Doesn't sound anything like that suggested storyline at all does it, which is fine by me. I like it when a film series moves forward, not back. The League of Shadows idea would have worked, but there's nothing wrong with breaking new ground. In fact, given the state of Hollywood these days, it's encouraged. The Dark Knight Rises hi...

That's right. Once Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Rises hits theatres in July 2012 plans are already in place to resurrect The Caped Crusader for a third time in 2013. But Batman isn't coming back in a solo film. Nolan has already said The Dark Knight Rises is the concluding chapter in his trilogy. The next incarnation of The Dark Knight will be in a Justice League movie. Warner Bros. tried to gather DC Comics' team of super heroes for a movie adaptation in 2007, but the project fell apart because of the writer's strike. Now they're trying again, with a release planned for 2013. The studio is following the Marvel route, with upcoming Superman and Green Lantern films setting the stage for the main event. The L.A. Times reports that standalone films for The Flash and Wonder Woman are also in the works. This all sounds a bit sudden to me given that it's 2011. That's a lot of cinematic ground to cover in two years. Word has it Nolan will somehow be in...

It sounds like we do, thanks to the crafty folks over at Badass Digest . And the details certainly work for me! As written by the Badass boys, who cite an unconfirmed but trusted source, Anne Hathaway is indeed Catwoman, but she's not the villain of the piece. She and Batman go after the League of Shadows, who were the bad guys in Batman Begins. The League is led by none other than Talia Al Ghul, Ras's daughter. Bane (Tom Hardy), is Talia's possible love interest and the League apparently tries to finish what it started in the first movie. Somehow Joseph Gordon-Levitt figures into all this and, according to The Digest, he's a bad guy too. This makes sense, and it sounds pretty damn solid. Writer/director Christopher Nolan is known for his misinformation, but it's fun to speculate on what could be. If this is indeed the plot for The Dark Knight Rises, then I'm sold. The final Batman film is due in theatres July 2012.

My hands down favourite working actor is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He was brilliant in Brick, the best part of Killshot and The Lookout, and got a much deserved bit of public exposure as Arthur in Inception. Now Deadline has it that Gordon-Levitt could be re-teaming with writer/director Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight Rises. No word yet on who he will play or how large the part. Knowing Nolan, it will be something interesting. In addition to the returning cast of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman, Nolan has added two stars to his final Batman film: Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Gordon-Levitt's Inception co-star Tom Hardy as villain Bane. That's a great cast and up them to anyone who thinks otherwise. Gordon-Levitt is currently finishing work on the sci-fi thriller Looper with Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. 

News broke across the Interweb today that writer/director Christopher Nolan has picked his Catwoman for The Dark Knight Rises, and she is Anne Hathaway. The Oscar-nominated actress is the first to play the role since Michelle Pfeiffer made latex and a bullwhip so hot in Batman Returns. Knowing Nolan, he'll give the character a gritty, down-to-earth vibe fitting the rest of his Bat Universe. A press release from Warner Bros. also states that Tom Hardy, who was announced as a cast member late last year, will play Bane, the chemically created brute who first appeared in the comics in 1993. It will be interesting to see how these two characters are used in the movie. But I have complete faith in what Nolan will do given how well he's not only handled his first two Batman films, but pretty much every other movie he's ever made. The Dark Knight Rises beats the Mayan apocalypse to theatres in July 2012.

I take this rumour with a grain of salt, but word has it that Christopher Nolan could use unseen footage from The Dark Knight to insert Ledger's Oscar-winning performance into the next film, The Dark Knight Rises. A report over at Showbiz Spy says fragments of cut scenes and CGI will be used to work The Joker into the new movie, which Nolan is writing as we type this. That way the writer/director can create continuity between the two movies and pay tribute to Ledger's Joker one last time. The sequence would be brief and only done with the consent of the late actor's family. If done right, and kept very brief, this could be great. I like how the Scarecrow appeared at the beginning of Dark Knight, and this would continue that tradition. The only thing is it all feels a bit . . . creepy. If it were any director other than Nolan I'd balk at the idea completely. The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled for release in July 2012.

Christopher Nolan has revealed the name of the third film in his Batman trilogy. In July 2012, we’ll be lining up for The Dark Knight Rises.  Good title, and it takes advantage of the The Dark Knights' popularity at the box office. Smart move, Nolan. The co-writer/director went on to dispell the rumour that The Riddler would be the villain this time around, but he hasn't said who the main adversary will be either. It will be tough to beat Ledger's Joker. Nolan also announced today that he’s convinced Warner Bros. to keep telling his story in 2D, and to continue down the path of hi-def IMAX sequences. He'll get no argument from us in The Basement on the subject either.