Clown Travel Agency

It’s been a while since there has been something worth noting about The Dark Knight viral marketing campaign. Of course it’s only fitting that the Joker do something on April Fools Day. Apparently the Joker is doing a bit of traveling these days. He’s even set up his own Travel Agency. Click on the link and you will see the image below.Click on the envelope with today’s date on it and it gives you this message.After reading the note click on it and it gives you a list of locations.Unfortunately I don’t live anywhere near these places. I believe that once the items have been found a passport stamp is placed by the location. It appears that two have already been found. I am curious as to what the Joker has left for his participants, so if anyone finds out, leave it in the comments. Very exciting stuff.

The Dark Knight Prologue

Watch it while you can kids. Big thanks to my friend Jack who knows how much I would love this!

****Update****

So yeah as predicted the prologue was taken down by YouTube per Warner Bros. There’s a shocker. For those of you that want the low down we can discus what it was all about in the comments. Chris Nolan said he was inspired by the movie Heat when making this. You can tell BIG TIME. This, however doesn’t take away from the very compelling 7 minute episode that gives you a tid-bit of Ledger’s Joker. I could talk for days how well done this little prologue was executed. It really sets the table for The Dark Knight.

****Update****

The prologue is still up here. Watch it while you can. Special thanks to Cadmus labs.

“Let’s Put a Smile On That Face Of Yours”

Just saw the Batman Dark Knight Trailer. There are no words…

You can see it too, if you go see I AM LEGEND this weekend.

The Joker….FINALLY!

So there you have it. The Clown Prince of Crime in all his glory. The Dark Knight is shaping up to be a master piece. I can actually say I am glad there has been a slow burn with revealing the new Joker. I have to admit I was very skeptical and honestly disappointed when I heard that Broke back…I mean Heath Ledger was going to be the new Joker. However the slow reveal of his appearances made me appreciate him more over time. I really think this is a great approach to the character, but it’s success weighs heavily on Ledger’s performance. Can he make us believe he is the right man clown for the job? We’ll see. So now that it is finally out, what do you guys think of the new Joker?

h/t: Starkville’s House Of El

The Joker Is Coming

FINALLY, a good picture is coming of the Joker. Empireonline is slowly revealing an official picture of Heath Ledger as The Joker from the upcoming Batman Film, The Dark Knight. It looks as though it will be revealed in a few days. Yesterday there were only three cards turned over, so it looks like they may be removing two a day.

From what I can tell by this little teaser, he is going to look awesome. It seems he has a more organic look to him. No real uniform as the comics portrayed as well as Jack Nicholson, in the Tim Burton take. This is definitely a new approach to the character. It seems as though this period in the Joker’s career is when he is just getting started as an organized criminal. In fact some of the plot in this film has to do with how the Joker gets his street credit as well as creates his reputation as being a murdering mad man that is not to be messed with.

Also don’t forget about the viral site started on Halloween. The Joker promises to send some goodies to all the kids who dressed up like him and sent in their pictures. You can view all the pictures here. Don’t forget to check back here in a day or two. I’ll be posting the picture again once it’s completely revealed.

****UPDATE****

The Photo has been revealed. I’m a little disappointed because the image is a little obscure. I thought that they would show more of his face. This is a little better lighting than the Empire magazine cover but you still don’t get a straight on look at his face. I guess we’ll have to hold out till the new trailer that should be showing this December with I AM LEGEND.

Mud & Steel: On Strike

The WGA strike continues to effect all areas of entertainment, and as a result the Mud & Steel show has shut down production until the strike has ended. We tossed around the idea of writing our own material, but in the end we decided not to cross the picket line. If Steve Carell can stand up for what’s right, then so can we.

With that, we hope you enjoy the re-runs. We’re starting at the beginning. You never know how long these things might last.

Sign the online petition

Writers Guild Of America

As some of you may or may not know the WGA is on strike. There have been a lot of headlines on this issue as well as a few casualties, and so I have decided to weigh in on the situation. First off, the reason for a strike. Basically writers who are not as rich and powerful as you would think are losing out on residuals from new media. One being iTunes and internet episodes. To add to the mess, their residuals on DVD sales are literally pennies per unit sold. Talks to resolve this problem now that these media types, such as iTunes and internet episodes seem to be the wave of the future have gone way south. Hence the strike. I completely agree with the writers stand on the issue and the big money media networks need to cough up the cash. Writers don’t make a ton of money and the way the business works there is no steady future for most. So if the networks want to keep making a butt-load of money on well written programs they need to share it with the people that make that happen.

So how does this effect us as viewers/fans of network television and movies? Basically, everything that has been written as of last Thursday, will air or be made into a movie. Everything else…dead in the water. A few examples are a few of my favorite TV shows. Smallville has enough episodes written to get them to Feb. If the writers don’t settle before then, the show will end on a cliff hanger until next season. In terms of episodes it looks like about 15 or so. You can find more about that here . The Office has already shut down and there are two episodes left on that show. Once those episodes air, the season is done! Heroes, will end in December. Lost is dead in the water unless the strike is settled before the seasons premier in January. The same holds true with 24 I believe. Also I should note that late night TV is done. Jay Leno, David Letterman, and all the others are on reruns.

As far as movies go, the JLA movie is written I believe, as well as Batman: The Dark Knight. However Superman may be tabled until after the strike because my buddy Derek has only written a treatment so far and that has yet to be picked up.

So here’s to hoping this thing get resolved within the next few weeks. This is such a bummer.