Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Trailer

Batman: Under the Red Hood Clip

Judging by this clip, Bruce Greenwood is the best Batman voice they've found so far who isn't named Kevin Conroy. Batman: Under the Red Hood comes out July 27, 2010.

Warner Bros. Takes A Great Idea And Runs With It

What makes it a great idea? For starters, it was mine. Okay, so I obviously wasn't the only person who had the idea, but it's something I've been advocating for some time now. Here's the text from a marketing e-mail I received today.

From Warner Bros.: Upgrade your Warner Bros. DVD library to Blu-ray™ with the DVD2Blu program presented by WBShop.com. Upgrade your DVDs for as little as $4.95 per exchange with free shipping* for orders of more than $35.00. Over 90 titles are available now! In just three easy steps you can enjoy your favorite Warner Bros. films in the full glory of High Definition. The Blu-ray upgrade is sent back to you complete with case, cover art, bonus material, etc. Jumpstart your Blu-ray library today! UPGRADE TODAY * For orders over $35.00 shipping & handling per order is $4.95 for the contiguous United States and District of Columbia and $6.95 to Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico (plus applicable taxes). Certain restrictions apply.

The reason I've been saying studios should do this for the last couple of years is that consumers bought a license for the movie when they purchased the DVD. The right to own a copy of the movie costs a lot more than the physical product, and upgrading means paying for that twice. If content producers want to encourage their customers to embrace the Blu-ray format, then an exchange program makes perfect sense. This way, you don't force them to pay for the license again, but only the cost of the physical media. I see three or four titles in the initial offering that I would definitely like to upgrade, so I'll be taking advantage of this opportunity shortly. You don't even have to mail in the cases of your original DVDs, so if there are inserts with artwork you want to keep (I'm thinking of the Batman Begins DVD as an example), that won't be a problem. My only complaint is that each household is limited to twenty-five exchanges total, but that won't be an issue for me. If you want to check it out for yourself, get the details here.

So for all the other studios in Hollywood, why aren't you doing this, too? Get on it!

Inception Teaser

So the teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's next project, Inception, was released online this week, but there hasn't been much talk about it. Maybe that's because people don't really know what to say yet. Of course, that's the brilliance of Nolan's non-Bat work, isn't it? With Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy (Handsome Bob in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla), this film is packing a stellar cast. Tom Berenger is in it, too, but even he has managed a couple of memorable performances in his career (A Murder Of Crows comes to mind). This is obviously the movie to see next summer, Iron Man II be damned.



With Paramount's odd decision to delay Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island until February, it looks like DiCaprio will be headlining the two biggest thrillers of 2010.

So About That Little Batman Movie...

I guess I haven't said anything about it here, huh? It's Nolan's masterpiece, and that means a lot, considering I'd have named Memento as the best movie I'd ever seen if you'd asked me on July 17. He's easily the best filmmaker of our time, and I couldn't be happier about Warner Bros. putting the Bat in his hands. Heath Ledger's performance is everything it's hyped up to be, and then some. Words can't do it justice. He brought so much to the role, and it's a shame he can't be around to enjoy the success. Seriously, Jack who? Yeah, 1989 ain't shit.

Who Watches The Watchmen?

No one, if Fox has their way.

The whole thing smacks of pettiness on Fox's part. The idea that Fox executives would actually prefer blocking the film's release to getting a cut of the profits seems absurd, but then again, this is Fox. Even they can't be that stupid, though. Right? Personally, this seems like 1) Fox jumping at their first chance to get even over Warner Bros. snatching Bryan Singer off X-Men: The Last Stand to work on Superman Returns and 2) Fox being jealous of Warner Bros.' success this summer, while none of their movies have managed to pull jack shit during the blockbuster season. WB has done $934 million in ticket sales with movies that have been released since May, while Fox has done $216 million on titles released during the same period.

Even if there is some moron at Fox hell-bent on getting even with a rival studio, dollar signs usually trump all, so I wouldn't expect an actual delay on the release.

Harvey Dent Wins In A Landslide!

Harvey Dent was elected as District Attorney of Gotham City today. Shocking, I know. Anyway, here's the e-mail they sent:

Quote: If someone were to tell me four months ago that Harvey Dent was going to win by the biggest margin in Gotham City history, I would have directed him to Arkham Asylum. But that’s the big story today. Thanks to the incredible efforts of people like you, we have changed the fate of Gotham City. Harvey Dent won every precinct, every neighborhood, every demographic, and every gender and age group. His sweeping victory shows just how far the desire for real change goes in Gotham City. This is not just Harvey Dent’s victory, it’s your victory. You passed out flyers, rallied, marched, created political videos, and got out and voted. You made your voices heard. And today, the entire world can hear you. Today, “Take Back Gotham” is not just a slogan – it is a reality. This is the last campaign email we’re sending out. Now, we turn our energies to the hard job of fighting and winning the war on crime and corruption. We’ll need your help – to keep the pressure up on the politicians, to show the criminals our will, and to support Harvey Dent’s crackdown on corruption. Together, we will save Gotham City. Allan Cypes Media Manager

Still more than a month to go for the flick, but at least there's an "alternate" trailer on YouTube today.

Sam Register Dooms All Hope For DC Animation

I somehow missed this last week, but Warner Bros. Animation has given Sam Register a full-time job title as "Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs". What does that mean?

Quote: Register will oversee all development and production for the studio's toon wing, which aims to reinvigorate its operations to produce series and other content for TV, online and direct-to-video platforms. Register reports to (Peter) Roth, and will also work closely with the Warner Premiere direct-to-DVD division.

Awful. Seriously, just awful. It really shouldn't be a surprise, though, considering the way studios keep throwing cash at music-video-cameramen-turned-movie-directors like Michael Bay and Brett Ratner. Why would animation be any different?

Sam Register Dooms All Hope For DC Animation

I Voted! (for Harvey Dent)

Got this e-mail from the Harvey Dent campaign yesterday:

Quote: It’s been an incredible last few weeks. Ever since the vicious smear campaign collapsed and Harvey Dent’s remarkable courage at the hostage crisis at Rossi’s Deli, our campaign has ridden a wave of support I have never seen in all my political life. Our Headquarters reopened and thousands of volunteers show up here every day, every night, fighting for change. Fundraising has reached incredible heights, with over 100,000 Gotham citizens contributing their hard-earned money in support of Harvey Dent’s vow to take back Gotham. We’ve expanded our reach, opening branches in neighborhoods that haven’t seen political campaigns take them seriously for decades. And we’ve harnessed the incredible grassroots support by sending volunteers to knock on doors throughout the city. Amazingly, we will achieve our two millionth door knock sometime in between now and Election Day. Harvey Dent has committed himself to lead the charge to take back our city, face down the criminal and corrupt and restore hope for our future. Now, we need your help. We need to get out the vote!. And we need you to vote yourself. If you can’t make it to the polls, go to www.gothamelectionboard.com and find out how you can vote online. Working together, we will take back Gotham! Allan Cypes Media Manager

Once you register on the site, you'll get an e-mail confirmation with a voter registration number to vote in Gotham's election.


According to SuperHeroHype.com, those in possession of the Joker's Verizon phones got the following text messages yesterday, as well:

Quote: 1) Clowns, are you ready for some laughs? (y/n) 2) You put a smile on my face. Hope you're not superstitious.

So they're expecting something on Friday, which is going to be Friday the 13^th.

The Gotham Cable News ("a Comcast Network") site is up and running now, as well, with an article about Citizens for Batman, a video about Dent's grassroots campaign, and ads for Gotham Tonight with Mike Engel, Anthony Michael Hall's character in the film. It says an "all-new episode" of the show will premiere on Comcast On Demand Friday night. The cable provider already has this site online, and the partnership is an interesting choice, considering Time Warner (the parent company of Warner Bros. and DC Comics) owns controlling interest in Time Warner Cable, the country's second-larget provider. Of course, Comcast is the largest, so that means potential to reach more people, and Time Warner is splitting from the cable company later this year, so it's really not much of a conflict (there's even a "Comcast Gotham" banner on the site).

There's also an article about Bruce Wayne's new penthouse, and depending on which section of the site you visit, the weather report will give you a different current temperature. The team behind the marketing campaign must be having a lot of fun.

I Voted! (for Harvey Dent)

Gotham Girls Animated Shorts Coming To DVD

Buried in Warner Home Video's press release announcing the first (and only) season of Birds Of Prey will finally be released on DVD was this:

Quote: In addition to the entire series, complete with 13 full episodes, Birds of Prey: The Complete Series includes never-before-seen special features such as: Gotham Girls S1-3 – An animated series of shorts starring the Birds of Prey characters.

Well, obviously seasons 1-3 of Gotham Girls have been seen, but only on the internet (season three begins here). It's a part of the DC Animated Universe that fans have wanted for a long time, and even though it's not getting a DVD release proper, it will still be a welcome addition to every DCAU collection.


That just leaves The Zeta Project and Static Shock missing from DVD shelves everywhere. What gives? In an e-mail marketing campaign on April 5, 2007, Warner Bros. conducted a survey of animation fans to gauge interest in several of their properties. Included on that list was The Zeta Project, so they are perfectly aware that fans are out there and willing to part with their money. And Static Shock? The show's ratings and popularity say all that needs to be said.

So how 'bout it, Warner Bros.? When can we get full sets of Zeta and Static to complete the DCAU?