Gruesome, but I love it, whether this is the final version in the movie or not. Realistic and horrifying all at the same time, I respect Nolan’s attention to interpretation and how it relates to the audience’s empathy. I will admit, at the time, I though that visually Two-Face in Batman Forever visually was acceptable. Joel Schumaker was a tool who never respected the history and lore of Batman, and therefore never careda about truly developing Two Face / Harvey Dent as a character in a Batman movie. But I am giddy about Christopher Nolan’s take on The Dark Knight and Two Face this summer. All problems aside if Joker does create Two Face, and if he truly is lit on fire like the new trailer shows, I believe the story will be beyond memorable.

In all of Batman lore, the story of the relationship of Batman Bruce Wayne – Two-Face Harvey Dent, is one of the most powerful and should be respected. Harvey Dent is a good hearted man who wants the best for the city, but by no true fault of his own is destroyed by the criminals of Gotham. Bruce and Harvey are friends and common crusaders for good, and therefore Bruce has a bleeding heart to help Harvey, to help him regain his life. But Harvey has always had a dark personality and the physical and psycological damage from the scarring is too much, splintering his psyche. Now what does Batman do? Sit by and watch Two Face destroy the remainder of his life, or try to help him? It is a constant struggle, and I think we’ll start to see that in this movie.

My only concern about the Dark Knight story is this. If Two Face does go after the Joker for revenge, is there more story for Two Face beyond this Batman film? Would he really still be a villian next time? Or would his whole purpose for being in the Dark Knight end with the potential demise of the Joker? I hope Two Face wages a more general war on crime from the darkest side of the law, and that the two stories may entertwine but not connect. Time will tell. Let’s just hope that it isn’t the predictable sort-of-bad-guy-teams-up-with-good-guy in the end like Spiderman 3. Nolan respects the fans too much for that.

~Update
Here was our first glimpse of Two Face, one of a couple of blurry photos broke by Dark Horizons from the Toy Fair in New York in February. Can we really tell from a blurry photo whether the scarring is from acid or fire? Not really.

You're reading It’s Aaron Eckhart as Two Face! (Image) is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

What does this mean for The Dark Knight? I won’t add any new ideas to this news story, but you have to believe that Warner will still release the movie, it is too big of a money maker (sad, but true) to not. Too much investment.

And Ledger will be awesome as the Joker. This will be his crowning achievement, or at least I hope it will be regarded as the best role he ever took on over any movie. (edit – content removed)

10 Things I Hate was a fun movie, he was good in Patriot, and as a whole, he was a very talented actor. The media is make these claims that he was “poised” to be the “New Hollywood”, but how can they make a call like that? One thing is for sure, his success would have grown, and Heath is yet another example of “only the good die young”.

Heath Ledger’s death, probably due to an incorrect dosage of medication, reminds me somehow of Brandon Lee, even though the circumstances are wildly different.

This may be great publicity for The Dark Knight. I just hope Warner doesn’t take advantage of the situation and add some sort of label to the movie as a marketing ploy, that it was Ledger’s last film. Especially since we know how much respect Christopher Nolan had for Ledger. Nolan would never allow that, and this whole situation could be even more devastating if not handled correctly.

As a entertainment consumer, I will miss you Ledger.

You're reading Heath Ledger Passes Away is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Seeing the prologue like this took a lot out of it for me. It was hard to follow what was going on with the Joker’s henchmen and the action, or really get a sense for how sinister Joker really is when he takes off the mask.

I hope we get the prologue online in high quality like the regular Dark Knight trailers that went online last night or at the very least another individual who is daring enough to tape the prologue in the theater with better quality.

The one thing that worries me when watching The Dark Knight trailer is the harkening back to a recent superhero movie with two or more villains, Spiderman 3. Spiderman was so convoluted, trying to jam too much story into one movie that it faltered. Sure, it made a lot of money, but not as much as the other ones, and I think fan reaction wasn’t nearly as strong. Christopher Nolan has always put the story and character development first, so I have to trust his judgement. Momento, The Following, Batman Begins, and The Prestige all demonstrated those tireless efforts. The Joker appears to be the leading focus in this movie, I hope introducing any of the story about Two-Face and Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) doesn’t muddle things up.

The proverbial “Bat” is out of the bag. There will be small things to look forward to in the coming months for the The Dark Knight movie, but now the countdown starts for the major motion picture release. Hopefully the amazing viral campaign continues to deliver new bits of information to keep the Batman fanbase foaming at the mouth.

You're reading Dark Knight IMAX Prologue Leaked is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

~Edit – Just Added! This Batman Poster is the perfect companion to the Joker poster. How awesome would these looked framed side by side in the movie / entertainment / game room of your house. A must have!

This is an awesome poster of the Joker also, very fitting and scary.

With some much press on Ledger’s Joker I am still kind of hoping to be surprised in regards to Two-Face. But with over 7 months to go, I am not going to be naive. If the story does set things up that this movie is about the Joker and Heath Ledger, and act 3 is about Two-Face and Harvey Dent, let’s just hope that Nolan sticks with the Batman and doesn’t get the “3 movie burnout” which seems to be so common with these franchises.

Oh yeah, and some footage and the Dark Knight trailer was leaked today. Is it what we will seen in front of I Am Legend? I am not sure.

~Edit Here is more information about that Dark Knight footage, and this is a good explanation of the two different “trailers”. Here is what John Bierly had to say ;

If you go see Will Smith’s I Am Legend at a regular theater this weekend, you’ll get to see the first trailer for the July 18 Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight.

If you go see I Am Legend on IMAX, you won’t get the trailer but you will get to see the first few minutes of The Dark Knight in glorious IMAX. It’s a prologue of sorts, featuring a bank robbery executed by The Joker (Heath Ledger) and his goons.

And though the IMAX Joker prologue won’t arrive online, it looks like the trailer will be popping up on “A Taste For The Theatrical.com” on Sunday.

What to do! The desire to see it now on IMAX is stronger than ever! But at what cost? $25 for 6 minutes of joy?

On a related note, here are two fake Two-Face images that I am seeing for the first time. The original of the first image can be seen on IMDB. (Thanks John) I am told the second Two Face image is of Eckhart from Black Dahlia.

You're reading Three New Dark Knight Posters! is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

I will just say that I am impressed with the Batman suit. These photos show that there are some significant changes visually to the cape and cowl from Batman Begins, and structurally. Any aficionado has heard that the Batman suit is more maneuverable, and isn’t as cumbersome to wear for Christian Bale in this sequel. A coupe of the images of Ledger’s Joker, immediately made me think of Tim Burton. Not Tim Burton’s treatment of Batman or Joker, but just the white, faceless, ghostlike expression seemed like a page out of Burton’s morbid dreamscapes.

I just hope that Christopher Nolan, who has been so great at relating the wealth of information in these stories to some sort of modern, believable explanation. I am sure he will explain, subtly, why the suit changed and why it was necessary. Not like Joel Schumacher (*hiss*), who just thought the suit needed something…oh! Nipples (Sang with an Opera voice).

You're reading More new “The Dark Knight” Photos – Batman & Joker is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Here is the cover of Wizard magazine, a tongue in cheek comic book price guide, news, and review vehicle.

I am not crazy about this image of Heath Ledger as the Joker, it wasn’t the best shot for Wizard Magazine to use. Joker looks a little constipated.

~ Edit 12/10/07 I knew it was only a matter of time before we saw this photo of the Joker without the trade dress. The full body photo showing all of the Joker is much better in my opinion, much more maniacal.

You're reading Today’s New Dark Knight Joker Image is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Sure enough, the image got leaked, and we don’t have to wait until the three days are up. That is, we don’t have to wait to see most of the Dark Knight Joker image….but I am waiting to see what is in the background without the magazine trade dress messing everything up. Wouldn’t it be awesome is they threw in some images of Harvey Dent in the shadows in the back jail cell, or another famous Batman villian like Riddler or the after effects Scarecrow?

Take a look below. One of the few images showing Heath as the Joker to premiere in full body length, and not some snap scene from the movie. Very maniacal! Very Awesome!

You're reading New Joker Image Leaked! is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

As you can see, on the personality questionairre I scored a “Belly Buster”. I tried to answer all of Joker’s questions how I thought he wanted them answered, but I still few a number of notches short from the top.

The imagry for the Dark Knight movie is right on, just look at the style and the subject matter, such awesome ideas to get people involed and excited.

It was asked if anyone has gotten “A Scream” on the profile test, and if anything happens. I haven’t found anyone who has, and it appears right now as if this is just a fun test. So many other viral websites are popping up that it appears this is just one more cog in the whole campaign wheel that adds to the fun, not something you solved for an additional clue. Hence the “Send to a friend”. They want you to get other people interested in the Dark Knight movie to get involved in this hype.

You're reading Joker’s Personality Profile is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

The last viral campaign for the movie was “Rory’s Death Kiss.com”, a website dedicated to taking photos of Batman fans dressing up a Joker’s and taking photos of themselves all over the world. From group photos of Joker’s to single Joker’s, there were a ton of submissions, and a lot of them were really fun. The whole Dark Knight campaign was to end at 11:59 on November 17th, the last time anyone could submit a group Joker photo. So everyone anticipated that on the 18th, something new would happen. Well, I was up at Midnight, and there was a message on the website. Those Joker photos that were chosen as the best would be receiving something in the mail. Regular mail.

Today, I finally heard what that object was. It was a fully mocked up “Gotham Times” newspaper! How lucky for those Batman fans. I had thought about trying to submit something, and now I wish I had.

So, photos went online of the “Gotham Times” newspaper that the fans got, with a message saying that the new www.thegothamtimes.com website would go online today, November 23rd.

I just check five minutes ago, and it is now online. I should be doing something else, but I will be reading this 4 page Batman Dark Knight newspaper first! Viral marketing is awesome, this has taken some great creativity.

I am sure the main point of interest in the Batman themed newspaper is the next charge for those who have participated in the campaign up to this point. There is an ad in the newspaper that reads;

Correction
A classified ad in our last issue was incorrect. It should have read:

Charming, handsome man with dazzling smile seeks amateur clowns for discreet encounters. No previous sense of humor necessary. Criminal record a plus. Interested? Write to humanresources@whysoserious.com in the full understanding that we have your email address and might send you alarming, disturbing, or annoying material at any moment.

Hollywood Chicago reports when e-mailed, the following auto-reply message is returned:

See you found my little message. So, do you think you have what it takes to be a part of my circle of friends?

Are you a backstabbing, self-promoting, ambitious clown who will do anything to prove yourself to me?

If so, the first step of your application process awaits … if you know where to look.

In the style of the other websites, there is a tear you can pull back on the front page of the Gotham Times. It has a bunch of “Ha Ha’s” written underneath. Seems odd to me that there is only one Joker touch that I could find, but maybe that will come to light in the next couple of hours.

~Edit www.wearetheanswer.com is now online as well. The Gotham Knight newspaper mentioned this website, and it wasn’t online at all until the paper went online. The website is dedicated to Harvey Dent’s crusade to take back the corrupt Gotham Police Force, offering this website as a annoynomous website to submit your tips through.

Also now online, an IMAX featurette on The Dark Knight 7 minute prologue debuting in front of I Am Legend on December 7th.

~Edit – 2:20 I sent a letter to the email address for “Letters To The Editor” (letterstotheeditor@thegothamtimes.com), a section in the Gotham Times. Here is the automated response I got back;

Dear Contributor:

Thank you for submission. Although we cannot run all letters we receive, please be assured that we read all letters. If we do use your letter in an upcoming edition of The Gotham Times, we may edit it for space considerations. We appreciate your letters and hope that you will continue to submit to us. And thank you for your support of The Gotham Times.

Sincerely,

The Editors

I also sent a tip through the wearetheanswer.com website. I didn’t get the automated response back that was mentioned above. That is promising.

There will be some clues in the newspaper about the next campaign. I have noticed some asterisks above random letters that may spell some sort of Dark Knight themed message. Will I investigate it all? I doubt it. I am done time wise for now. It also could be some website being launched about Gina Tortericci. Who knows. I just know I want to be involved in the next viral thing, and not miss out like I did on dressing up like the Joker.

~Edit – 6:25 I did end up getting an answer from wearetheanswer.com. It was just a confirmation email to make sure that I wasn’t posing as someone I wasn’t. I tried to write some really creative things, alluding to former Batman artists and the facts that were presented in the paper. I imagine everyone will get a response either way, whether they were creative or not…

Since earlier in the afternoon, the dedicated individuals at Hollywood Chicago.com have uncovered (as I figured they would pick everything apart) a number of other website launches. They are;

• http://www.thehahahatimes.com
• http://www.gothamnationalbank.com
• http://www.gothampolice.com
• http://www.rememberinggina.org
• http://www.gothamcityhall.com (Under Construction Still)

I was right about the website about “Gina”, just couldn’t find the address. The best site is probably the Ha Ha Ha Times website, with is just a copy of the Gotham Times website, with Joker’s special touches:)

I read about 60% of the paper, but apparently missed the phone number, 866-237-6480. If you call it, I guess it just directs you to visit The Gotham Times website. I will have to try it later.

~Edit – 11/24 10:45 AM – Got an email back today from wearetheanswer.com Tips line. I had used a cop with the name “Bolland”, just for a test, as a tip to the well known Batman comic artist Brian Bolland. This is what I got back;

The District Attorney’s office is not aware of an officer by that name.

Please be assured that the Gotham City DA takes all information seriously and confidentially.

Thank you for doing your part in making Gotham City better, safer, stronger. Together, We Are The Answer.
Reply

Thanks to Matt! for the great tip on entering in the cops names from the Gotham Times at wearetheanswer.com, should have been obvious….I will have to try and see if I get the same message.

You're reading ‘The Gotham Times’ Now Online! is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

The newest addition was a Joker Jack-o-latern, with a creepy grin and a burning candle. I visited the site and didn’t think too much of it.

But then, the Joker pumpkin’s candle kept burning further and further down, and it was obvious something was going to happen. What new inside bit would we see about The Dark Knight movie coming up.

Well, on Friday and over the weekend, the pumpkin started to rot! I know it sound stupid to get so excited, but for a Batman geek this is a big deal. All of us are excited about Christopher Nolan’s treatment of Batman, and all of the photos of the movie we have seen so far. We’ve already seen the joker, and Heath Ledger looks awesome. But what about an image of Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face?

Here are some progression images showing the original pumpkings, and then the pumpkin rotting on only one side. The pace of the changes makes it appears as if the final reveal will take place on Halloween. How cool, something for the geeky comic book legions to look forward to!

(I know this is mostly re-regurgitating information from a ton of blogs, like HollywoodChicago…but not all of my readers visit those sites:)

You're reading Halloween reveal of Two-Face at Why So Serious.com? is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.