Weekly Weblinks: Bats and Bullets

Late last night, The Dark Knight Rises was finally released to theatres. Now, maybe you’re just waking up after spending a night watching Batman battling Bane, or perhaps you’re still waiting for your chance to get down there (like me). Either way, I’ve got your dose of the Weekly Weblinks to tide you over today.

On the blogging side of things, you might expect there to be a fair amount of Batman posts — and you’d be right. But there are also some classic movie reviews and an homage to great movie openings. In the news, there’s yet more rumor-mongering about superhero cinema, as well as a perhaps-unexpected Pixar sequel. So read on to see what’s happening!

Blog Posts:

Is there anything quite like a really great opening to get you excited about a film? Ian the Cool takes a look at the Ten Greatest Movie Openings.

It’s got the world’s most celebrated car chase, but what about the rest of the movie? Dan the Man reviews the Steve McQueen classic Bullitt.

Aliens is highly-regarded as a science-fiction classic, but how does it look to a horror movie fan who loved the original? Will at Silver Emulsion gives his review here.

Ruth at FlixChatter spotlights two great scenes in 2008’s The Dark Knight.

And finally, if you haven’t seen The Dark Knight Rises, but want to read some reviews without having everything spoiled for you, Andy Watches Movies and The Focused Filmographer have both got you covered with spoiler-free reviews.

News Blurbs:

Collider has a lot of Marvel movie news from Comic-Con in one convenient post. Among the highlights: Zachary Levi is confirmed as Fandral in the Thor sequel, which is now officially titled Thor: The Dark World and set for November 8, 2013. Also receiving a title is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, due out April 4, 2014. Iron Man 3 comes out next year on May 3. And perhaps the most surprising scheduled release comes August 1, 2014, with Guardians of the Galaxy, about Marvel’s space-faring heroes. Also, the long-rumored Ant-Man keeps inching its way to reality, with director Edgar Wright showing some test footage at Comic-Con; the film is expected to start production next year.

Speaking of Captain America, the sequel has a new cast member as well: Anthony Mackie is in talks to star in the film, with rumors indicating he will play the part of Sam Wilson, the Falcon, long-time partner of Captain America in the comics. Anthony Mackie struck me as a good actor with his performance in The Adjustment Bureau, so I’m hopeful that this will be a good role for him.

I mentioned this in passing the other day, but Donald J. Sobol has passed away at age 87. Sobol was the author of Two-Minute Mysteries and the famed children’s mystery series Encyclopedia Brown. Like a lot of children, the Encyclopedia Brown books were some of my first mysteries; while they definitely don’t hold up to adult scrutiny, their impact on young reading can’t be overstated. Sobol died of natural causes, but Bugs Meany has been arrested just in case.

Could Hellboy 3 be in the works? Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman both say they’re interested, so it sounds as though it’s more likely than not. Are you interested in seeing Perlman put on the horns and makeup one more time?

Andrew Stanton is back to directing animation, working on the sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo. Title, plot, and release date are all unannounced at this stage.

Just For Fun:

If you’re here, I assume you like movies. And so you probably like DVDs. And there’s just a chance you might like Easter Eggs on your DVDs. If you do, check out HiddenDVDEasterEggs.com, where they have a growing list of over 2500 DVDs and Blu-Rays with Easter Eggs to look up and reveal.