The Dark Knight Rises is going to be a big film, and now we know that has more than one meaning. The blockbuster is going to be setting a new standard for how much IMAX native footage is released for a Hollywood feature film.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Christopher Nolan’s Bat-Finale will include the most actual IMAX footage of any studio film before it:

When Mr. Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” opens July 20, it will contain the most IMAX footage ever for a Hollywood feature, more than one hour’s worth. There were 40 minutes of such footage in 2008′s “The Dark Knight”—which set box-office records in its opening weekend.

IMAX’s summer slate also includes potential blockbusters “The Avengers,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Men in Black 3,” Tim Burton’s gothic comedy “Dark Shadows,” and Ridley Scott’s 3-D “Prometheus.” Mr. Nolan’s film was the only one shot using IMAX cameras; the others were converted using IMAX’s technology.

Sounds exciting. These Nolan Bat-Films are paving the way for the first truly IMAX movie. Sure the cameras and tech have been around for ages, but up till know it was used for nature docs and educational programming. We want to see what true film-making legends can do with the tech. IMAX is always going to be more immersive than traditional movies, so this can only be a big win movie goers.

The Dark Knight Rises is one of the most anticipated movies of the year for many reasons, one such reason is the new score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The previous movie had one of the more subtle, complex and ultimately effective scores for any Super Hero movie ever, so of course anticipation is high for this installment’s music.

While we wait on the upcoming score to be released it can be fun to reflect back on what has come before. A recent YouTube video has popped up with some very interesting revelations about the inspiration for one of the more memorable musical moments from the last film. It appears as if the track ‘Why So Serious’ bears more than a passing resemblance to the score of an early 80′s French film.

Now most people will use this as yet another moment to stand on a pedestal and try to tear down Zimmer as a plagiarizer. Hans Zimmer has a reputation of taking music from his previous films and re-purposing them in future movies, just take a listen to some of the action music in Rango and you will hear more than a little Pirates of the Caribbean.

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Lists are fun. Lists are, at least in some cases, easy to create. In this case, the list in question for today is The Five Best Movies Adapted From Comics.

I know what you’re thinking. Why five? Well, it sorta works with the word “Flickcast” and we’re fans of alliteration around here, so that’s one reason. Of course, it also means I only need to come up with five items to fill the list, so that might have something to do with it too. I’ll never tell.

I’m also in the process of preparing a list of the worst movies adapted from comics as well because what’s a “best” list without a “worst” list, right? Right.

However, in this case, we’re talking best. And do we have a lot of great “best” ones to choose from. That’s not a question, we do.

The ones I’ve chosen are not only great examples of comic book adaptations done right, they’re also great movies too. From a clever screenplay to expert direction, exciting visuals, to compelling characters and performances, these five films deliver on many levels and also manage to demonstrate a real love for their source material.

Okay, enough setup. On with the listing of the things.

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Presented without much in the way of comment (well, just a little) is the first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s third, and presumably final, installment in the Batman franchise. This time around the new film is called The Dark Knight Rises and based on this new trailer it looks, in a word, awesome.

We know people use that word often and sometimes it tends to lose its meaning. However, in this case, it fits completely.

The movie looks awesome and like any good trailer you get a lot of info about the movie but don’t really know what’s going to happen in it. If only other trailers could do this, and be as good as this, and not give everything away.

Of course, you can be sure the folks responsible for this film know what they’ve got and know, with absolute certainty, the movie will do huge box office and people will flock to see it over and over again. So, they don’t really have to do that much to promote it. The movie pretty much sells itself.

July 20, 2012 can’t get here fast enough. Check out the trailer after the break.

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Perhaps you didn’t realize it but there’s a fine tradition in Hollywood of having actors say the title of the film they are in during the film itself. Sometimes, like in Hot Tub Time Machine, it’s done with a nod to the audience.

Other times, as in Terminator, it’s done in a more off=hand manner and makes sense given the situation in the story. Whetever the reasons or circumstances, this has been happening for along time and will probably go on for a long time to come.

Of course, someone has taken the time to put all these instances together in one video (two, actually). That person is YouTube’s own Honsco and we’ve got the new video, and his first one, to share with you today.

They contain a lot of our favorite movies and after seeing this repeated over 150 times it never really gets old. Check out both videos after the jump.

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There’s been some pics of The Dark Knight Rises circulating around the web of Batman and thugs fighting on the steps of what may be Gotham City Hall. We’ll assume you’ve seen them because you’re rabid fans of the franchise.

Now Warner Bros has released something pretty much every rabid fan of the franchise may have wanted to see even more than Batman and Bane: the first official photo of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. The photo, which appeared on the official website, TheDarkKnightRises.com, is sadly not all that sexy.

It is, however, a pretty good look at what Nolan is going for with his Catwoman and keeps pretty much in line with his vision for the films. Of course, what did you expect? According to sources, Nolan’s vision for the Catwoman costume is more “tactical, like the comic book,” “less sexy than Halle Berry and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman costumes”, and would feature goggles.

That seems to describe what we’re seeing here completely. Maybe there’s some other version of her outfit that appears later in the film? It would be a shame to have a woman as attractive as Hathaway and not utilize all her talents to the fullest.

Check out the full version of the photo after the jump. And, a couple others we found from around the Internets.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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It’s Comic-Con! Hurray!

In honor of this geek-stravaganza, today’s Film Score Friday is taking a break from the standard review and instead going through the top ten comic book scores of all time. So without further adieu, I present to you the top ten comic book scores of all time:

10. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim is a melting pot of geekdom. Mixing together video games, movies, TV, comics, music and many more into a singular generational experience. The movie has so much going on in it that the references and structure starts to bleed in on itself, making a seamless cinematic experience. A huge part of that is the music, which flows between songs and score better than almost any film before. The score bit in particular is what makes this list, making use of some great digital sounds that fit the movie like a glove.

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Judging from the box office success of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, quite a few of you have already had the chance to see this brand new teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. However, for those of you who haven’t, or want to watch it again and again, we’ve got it for you right here now.

In it we get our first glimpses of the upcoming final, epic battle between Bruce Wayne’s Batman and Tom Hardy’s Bane. Plus, the teaser sets this up clearly as the third and final chapter of a trilogy that will set Batman on his eventual course to become the true Caped Crusader and Dark Knight.

I don’t have to tell you we’re all pretty excited around here for this movie to come out. Of course, as with endings of this type, it will be bittersweet. Still, can’t wait.

Check out the trailer after the jump. The Dark Knight Rises is directed by Christopher Nolan and features Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It hits theaters on July 20th, 2012.

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For those of you anxiously awaiting the return of Batman to the big screen with Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, this may just help you get through the months, weeks, days and hours until that happens. Over at MTV’s Splashpage, they’ve got a trailer for the upcoming animated feature Batman: Year One, the next installment in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.

In case you’re not familiar with the story, Batman: Year One the movie is based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and focuses mostly on Bruce Wayne’s emergence as Batman. However, it also included many other great characters as well such as eventual commissioner Jim Gordon, his partner Sarah Essen, and the mysterious Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman).

Batman: Year One features Benjamin McKenzie as Bruce Wayne, Bryan Cranston as Jim Gordon, Eliza Dushku as Catwoman and Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Essen. It will be available October 18 on Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and via download. Also, if you happen to be going to Comic-Con in two weeks, the film will have its world premiere on Friday, July 22 at 8PM in Ballroom 20, followed by a panel discussion with cast and crew.

Click though to check out the trailer after the break.

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This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by Joseph Dilworth of Pop Culture Zoo and, of course, hilarity and informative discussion ensues. During the show all manner of new and recurring topics are discussed, dissected and otherwise examined.

Some of those topics include Emerald City Comic Con, Tron Legacy and potential sequels, Star Trek old and new, the Wolverine sequel without Darren Aronofsky, the renewal of Community and Fringe‘s rating slump, casting for various films including Kevin Costner as Pa Kent in Superman, X-Men First Class, Martin Scorsese’s The Dark Night and a whole lot more. And again this week, no Charlie Sheen. You’re welcome.

Of course, your hosts and guest also made some picks this week including Joseph’s dual picks of the movie Sourcecode and the new comic Vampirella, Matt’s pick of the movie Rubber and Chris’ pick of the new movie Limitless, featuring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

Today, in what can be considered a pretty groundbreaking move, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution announced it is the first to launch “App Editions” of movies for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Starting with the popular Christopher Nolan films Inception and The Dark Knight, the special edition movies and bonus content are now available for free in the U.S. app store in and more than 30 other countries.

According to the studios, these “App Editions” provide “a fully-loaded, connected viewing experience that gives consumers the first five minutes of a feature film and a portion of bonus content that can include games, trivia, soundtracks and soundboards. The entire feature film can be unlocked via an in-app purchase, which enables downloading and unlimited streaming, as well as access to the entire array of bonus content available within the App.”

With the apps arriving in the iTunes store today, this is something we’re going to have to check out for sure. On the surface it seems like a great way to expose these films to an even larger audience, especially where they may not have been available previously.

Still, for more mainstream audiences who’ve already seen and enjoyed these films, it will probably come down to what new and unique content these apps bring and what they will cost. For even more on these new apps, check out the full press release after the jump. We’ve also included some screens of these apps for you to check out as well. So, check ‘em out and let us know what you think.

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Somehow with all the news that comes out every day we missed this interesting bit of casting. Okay, the truth is we were a bit hungover after one of Managing Editor Matt Raub’s trivia parties last night and we just forgot to put this up. Sorry folks, you deserve better.

Anyway, what news am I talking about? Why it’s the news that Anne Hathaway has been confirmed as Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) in the upcoming Batman Threequel The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. have announced that the Oscar-nominated actress is joining the film and according to the report they could not be happier about it.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story,” Nolan said in an official statement.

But wait, there’s more. Nolan also revealed that longtime cast member Tom Hardy will be playing the role of Bane: “I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

So basically Nolan is both thrilled and delighted. That’s a good way to start a project as massive as this one undoubtedly is. I think I’m thrilled and delighted as well. Hardy is awesome and will make a great Bane. Anne Hathaway should do well as Catwoman too and should have no trouble sexing things up for the Caped Crusader.

What about you guys? Do you like these casting choices or who would you have preferred to see as Catwoman and Bane?