A Real Life Hero.

You have to love the outpouring of compassion and attention from the cast and crew of "The Dark Knight Rises" to the victims of the Aurora Colorado shooting.

It wasn't long before Christopher Nolan responded to the tragedy with a heartfelt and eloquent message.

“Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of 'The Dark Knight Rises,' I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community,” he wrote. “I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting, but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime.”


He continued, “The movie theater is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families."

 

Joseph Gorden Levitt also reacted swiftly to the shooting in Aurora.

"My most sincere sympathies go out to the families of the victims in Aurora." 

There was also this from Anne Hathaway who plays Selina Kyle in the movie.

“My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act.  “I am at a loss for words how to express my sorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” she added.

And now this from Christian Bale.

As you can see from the topmost picture, Bale has dropped everything to visit the victims in their hospital rooms.  (You can learn more about this visit here at Eonline.)  My heart broke a little more when the wounded fan made sure his Red Sox cap was front and center.  Many thanks to all of those involved in the Dark Knight Rises for their love and concern.  Warner Bros. themselves has contributed a sizable sum of money to the relief fund.

You also can contribute at this link.

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Poster released.

 

 Warner Bros. has released the teaser poster for the last entry of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.  The tease must be that the Dark Knight is no where to be found in this poster!  What we do get is the shattered remains of Batman's cowl lying in the foreground as Bane walks away admidst a pouring rain.

So what do we learn from this stunning image?  First and foremost that Batman has been defeated by Bane and presumably he has been incapacitated such that he can't even protect his secret identity.  Otherwise the cowl wouldn't be left as it is.  We may be even looking from the perspective of the fallen Batman as watches Bane walk away from the field of battle and the pretense of Batman's integrity is as shattered as what remains just out of his reach.

There are a couple of things that we can derive from the environment of this setting.  We are dealing with two major elements here; it's raining and it's quite dark.  The rain symbolizes that figuratively a storm has arrived and swept up in its ferocity is Batman's career and possibly his life.  The fact that it is dark shows us that this battle took place at night and as legend goes, Batman owns the night.  Or, at least he used to.

"The Legend Ends" is stretched across the poster notably right over the back of Bane.  We could deduce from this as some sort of Easter egg to Batman's fate.  *Spoiler Alert*  As the story goes in the comics it is Bane that broke Batman's back  and the designers of this poster have found a clever way to insert this fate.

I think it is worthy to note that although the center of the poster reads, "The Legend Ends" if we truly are looking from the perspective of a fallen Batman the words, "The Dark Knight Rises" marks the starting point for a resurgent Batman as he brings himself to his feet and begins the fight anew.  I can almost imagine, if this poster ran like a movie, the gloved hand of Batman suddenly appearing.  It finds its grip and we are no longer looking from the angle of a sodden street but from aspect of a rejuvenated warrior. 

Perhaps Bane, in his arrogance, has forgotten one of the basic tenets of warfare and that is to never turn your back on your fallen opponent.  He just might get up.