The Inquisitr » dark knight

20,000 hours and $1 million equals one Batmobile

Steven Hodson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Dark Knight was one of this year’s best movies bar none and as with all cool movies like this the toys and gadgets were a big part of the show. The biggest of them had to be the famous Batmobile that had us wishing we all could have one to make it through rush hour traffic with.

Well it seems that on industrious Swede with a whole pile of cash decided not to wait for one to come on the market and went about building one of his own. Using a 1973 Lincoln Continental chassis the Batman fan loaded it up with all kinds of gadgetry, including machine guns, rear facing video camera, height-adjustable bodywork and supposedly there’s even a plasma TV in there.

It took three and a half years and over $1 million to build this 700 horsepower dream car. Here’s some pic of it for you as well as a video.

hat tip to DVICE

An Open Letter to the Movie Industry

Kyle Brady — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:10:49 +0000

Dear Movie Industry,

We love you – just to clarify, “we” is most of America and large portions of the world-at-large. But you’re quickly becoming prey to your own scheming and need to be saved before you collapse from the weight of your own self-indulgence.

We’re here for you.

Over your history, you’ve produced alot of good, quality movies of all types, genres, and styles. Recently, however, you’ve become more interested in print-to-film adaptations, sequels, and reboots than true originality or creativity – just look at the recent list of sequels announced: Boondock Saints II, Spider-Man 4, Transformers 3, and Indiana Jones 5. This may ultimately be your downfall.

Don’t get us wrong, we love some of your sequels. And we love the movies you’re making sequels of – Transformers 2 may not have had the approval of the critics, but us fans seemed to love it. The problem is when you assume that the financial success of certain types of movies (like action, scifi, or thrillers) means there not only should be a sequel, but that we somehow demand one and will support it through the end.

This inevitably results in disasters like Spider-Man 3, where the series concept takes a turn for the worse and throws dirt on its own good name. The “they just don’t live up to their predecessors or expectations” label can applied to many sequels, like The Matrix movies – although they were still pretty awesome.

Between your sequel-happy trigger-fingers and the fact that only a few months can go by before yet another comicbook is announced as being adapted into a film, it would seem that you have lost your stride. Yes, District 9 came out recently, but guess what? You didn’t support the script, and Peter Jackson had to step in to help raise independent financing – good move. Gamer was an original script, sure, but it also wasn’t the best movie you’ve ever produced. Going down the release roster for the last few years doesn’t produce too many original or creative gems of genius either.

It’s time for you to bring back the creativity. The Matrix, Star Wars, The Boondock Saints, and the rest of your biggest successes (both financially and those with cult status) have typically been original works of creation, not adaptations – The Dark Knight is an outlier, as The Watchmen so deftly proved. Choosing a screenplay for production, or even an idea, should be based on its actual strengths and weaknesses, rather than whether it’s associated with previously successful movies, toy franchises, or highly successful graphic novels.

Don’t stop the sequels and adaptations, though – just make sure they’re warranted.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Dark Knight Big Winner at People’s Choice Awards 2009

Duncan Riley — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:52:56 +0000

The Dark Knight was the big winner at this year’s People’s Choice Awards, winning five gongs including favorite movie and on-screen pairing for stars Christian Bale and Heath Ledger.

Carrie Underwood took three People’s Choice Awards for favorite female singer, country song “Last Name,” and star under 35 years-old.

Adam Sandler was named funniest male star, Reese Witherspoon favorite female movie star, and Kate Hudson top leading lady.

Other winners included Dancing With the Stars as favorite reality show, House as favorite TV drama, Brad Pitt as favorite leading man, Angelina Jolie as favorite female action star and Ellen DeGeneres as favorite talk show host.