'QUANTUM OF SOLACE' TEASER

We love this new teaser for the upcoming Bond adventure "Quantum of Solace." It's filled with typical Bond trappings like kick-butt action, hot women, fast cars and exotic locales. You can also watch the trailer in High Definition on Moviefone. "Quantum of Solace" hits theaters on November 7th 2008.

Here's the official plot synopsis:

Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (JUDI DENCH) interrogate Mr White (JESPER CHRISTENSEN) who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.

Forensic intelligence links an Mi6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (OLGA KURYLENKO), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (MATHIEU AMALRIC), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organization.

On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano (JOAQUIN COSIO). Using his associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.

In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organisation.

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BATTLE OF THE BATMANS (COOL VIDEO)

In Gotham City, there are four rogue Batmen running amok. This brilliant short film culls footage from all of the contemporary Batman films to produce this faux trailer about the Battle of the Batmen. Which one will reign supreme?

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PETER TRAVERS' ROLLING STONE REVIEW FOR 'THE DARK KNIGHT'

***1/2 out of ****

Heads up: a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies. The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie. Feverish action? Check. Dazzling spectacle? Check. Devilish fun? Check. But Nolan is just warming up. There's something raw and elemental at work in this artfully imagined universe. Striking out from his Batman origin story, Nolan cuts through to a deeper dimension. Huh? Wha? How can a conflicted guy in a bat suit and a villain with a cracked, painted-on clown smile speak to the essentials of the human condition? Just hang on for a shock to the system. The Dark Knight creates a place where good and evil — expected to do battle — decide instead to get it on and dance. "I don't want to kill you," Heath Ledger's psycho Joker tells Christian Bale's stalwart Batman. "You complete me." Don't buy the tease. He means it.

Click HERE to read the rest of the story.

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HERE IT IS... FIRST 'DARK KNIGHT' REVIEW

Comes courtesy of Ain't it Cool News...

Scooper Tim Bisley compares the flick to "The Godfather, Part 2" and hints that the Joker's performance (via Heath Ledger) might be worthy of the best supporting Oscar. Perhaps... But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Says Bisley:

“The film feels more like a crime drama in a grand city scape than a typical comic book movie. It feels like Heat except Batman is Al Pacino and The Joker is Robert De Niro and just like in that film we have a great scene between Heath Ledger and Christian Bale across a table. There is also an element of a Greek Tragedy.. There is a vast sense of morality at play within the film.”

“The Joker is almost more of a terrorist than criminal. He is not motivated by money. He wants to see people suffer.”

“The run time is two and a half hours. It doesn’t feel that long as there is so much going on within the film.”

You can read the full review HERE.

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JASON BOURNE TO RETURN!

IESB reports that producer Frank Marshall recently revealed that he weill begin shooting a fourth Jason Bourne movie next Summer, for release in 2010.

Back in February, Universal announced the project, with director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon set to return. Marshall also confirmed that they'll probably be creating an original story for the fourth film, since author/creator Robert Ludlum wasn’t involved in the later books in the series.

Just where will this new adventure bring us? Marshall predicts that Bourne will journey to South America.

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'GOTHAM TONIGHT' SPOTLIGHTS BRUCE WAYNE

You gotta admire Warner Bros. for their new viral campaign. Given the demise of the earlier Joker campaign, they sort of switched gears after the death of Heath Ledger opting to center on Gotham politico Harvey Dent with these extended "Gotham Tonight" news segments. This episode centers on the tragic life of billionaire Bruce Wayne.

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WALK OF FAME INDUCTEES

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cartoon character Tinkerbell, singer Shakira and "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. and actress Cameron Diaz were among a diverse group of 25 stars named on Thursday to join the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said the celebrities will each get their star on its Walk of Fame next year, but the dates have not been announced.

The Walk of Fame is a stretch of sidewalk lining either side of Hollywood Boulevard on which celebrities in music, movies, television and other entertainment arenas have their names emblazoned in brass set into large, pink terrazzo stars.

To see who else will be honored, click HERE.

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GUESS THE ACTRESS

Thanks to Just Jared for posting... Who is this famous, sorta A-list actress. Anyone know?


Click HERE to find out.

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HERE WE GO AGAIN! ACTORS TO STRIKE!

To have one trade union paralyze Hollywood was strange; two doing it in quick succession feels like carelessness. A threatened walkout by actors, which could begin as early as next week, is throwing major film and television studios into chaos.

The contract dispute, this time between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and their white-collar bosses, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), is causing what industry experts have called a "virtual strike".

Production deadlines for dozens of major projects have been scrapped amid growing signs that the SAG, which has 120,000 members, will fail to resolve its dispute before a deadline for industrial action on Tuesday next week.

Most major film shoots are now either being put on hold, or wrapping-up early to avoid disruption.

"No one is doing anything that finishes after 30 June, and nobody's starting anything now," one lawyer representing actors told The Hollywood Reporter. "This is the impact of a strike already."

To read the rest of the piece, click HERE.

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WHY GEORGE LUCAS SUCKS

How screwed is this??? The Lounge is VERY aware that there's an error message below. It's a prime example of how greedy George Lucas is. Yesterday, I was going to post the entry below. It hawked a fun little site that allowed you to replicate the opening CRAWL scene from the "Star Wars" flicks. I geared it towards a Hemingway novel and embeded it into the blog. It looked way cool.

Not two hours later, did George Lucas' stormtroopers shut down the site. Isn't it bad enough that as "Star Wars" fans we had to but the films like 30 times because of the way Lucasfilm manipulates his fans.

Instead of leaving the site up to perhaps promote his upcoming CGI "Clone Wars" film, the sith himself alienated the exact demographic for whom he has to thank for putting him in the position he's in today.

Thanks again, Lord Lucas... Lookin' forward to dropping a bundle on those remastered BLU-RAY "Star Wars" discs!!

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We love this. Star Wars Crawl.com allows fans to create their own custom Star Wars opening crawl. It’s simple, fun and awesome. How long before George Lucas wants to change an arm and a leg for this?? Create your own HERE.

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TOO TOO FUNNY...

Many thanks to The Sun for first posting this... Childish, yes. Crude? Absolutely. Hilarious? Without a doubt. For those not-in-the-know, it's a defaced billboard for the upcoming Will Smith actioner "Hancock."

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IS GOOGLE MAKING US STUPID?

On my ride into work this morning, writer Nicholas Carr was on the radio, hyping his new article for The Atlantic. He concludes that in this ever-expanding online world, Google is, indeed, making us all stupid.

He writes in the piece:

I’m not the only one. When I mention my troubles with reading to friends and acquaintances—literary types, most of them—many say they’re having similar experiences. The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing. Some of the bloggers I follow have also begun mentioning the phenomenon. Scott Karp, who writes a blog about online media, recently confessed that he has stopped reading books altogether. “I was a lit major in college, and used to be [a] voracious book reader,” he wrote. “What happened?” He speculates on the answer: “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?”

To read the entire article, click HERE.

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BALE INTERVIEWED IN DETAILS

Enjoy this telling excerpt from a great Q&A with "Dark Knight" actor Christian Bale from this months Details magazine. It's a great read since Bale is perhaps one of the most easygoing and laid back actors in Hollywood.

When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else?

BALE: Yesterday afternoon I was sitting somewhere and somebody started chatting. They said they were an agent, and they asked what I do, and I said, "I'm an actor." And they said, "Oh, how's that going for you?" I said, "I think it's all right." And they said, do I have an agent?

"Yes, I have an agent."

"Well, if you ever need any help getting work, give me a call."

So I said, "Thanks very much." I think the best one ever was when a casting director saw me in a hotel lobby and practically ran at me, holding a script: "Thank god I've finally found you! We have this movie that you're perfect for, and this is an amazing coincidence. The director and producer are not going to believe it, that I just bumped into you! We've been talking about how perfect you are for this role for so long! Finally, I met Christian Slater."

"Christian Bale."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'Christian Bale.'"

And she went, "Oh, I'm sorry," took the script, and walked away.

To read the entire interview, click HERE.

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WHAT IF...

... the kick booty actioner "300" was made with lightsabers?? Gotta love digital filmmaking and the advent of YouTube. Enjoy.

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FERRIS BUELLER - THE THRILLER!

Big props to Slashfilm for posting this utterly hilarious video that proves that creative editing coupled with spooky music can generate an entirely different mood. Enjoy!

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TOO GOOD NOT TO HAPPEN

AN UPDATE:

Film School Rejects just received word personally from actor Tom Jane regarding the origins of the artwork below and his involvement (or lack therof) in the DC Comics adaptation Jonah Hex.

"Yeah, the pic is real all right – my pal [writer/producer] Akiva Goldsman told me about the project and I fell in love with the idea right away. Being a huge fan of all things Hex – I just couldn’t help myself. I called up my buddy Chris Nelson and we spent a Saturday afternoon working up some make-up for this impromptu shoot and I fired a few pics off to Warners. How do people get a hold of this shit? It’s a little embarrassing seeing my fanboy enthusiasm spilled all over the web, but great scripts don’t come around too often, especially for characters I love."

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FilmSchoolRejects posted a concept pic of actor Thomas Jane as comic book hero Jonah Hex in Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s announced adaptation of the famed DC book of the same name.

Granted, this photo and Jane’s casting have not been officially (or even unofficially) confirmed, it still seems right on the money. For those who have seen Jane in "The Punisher," it's obvious he has the tough guy chops.

Created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga, Jonah Hex is a former Confederate officer turned gun-slinging bounty hunter anti-hero whose face was horrifically scarred on his right side. The comic book, which was introduced in the 1970’s, and Neveldine/Taylor have said that they don’t plan on “making a straight-ahead Western but plan to develop the character with some of the supernatural overtones in the hopes of creating a franchise.”

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THIS DOG HAS BALLS...

...Either that or a clear head. We'd like to think that if Papa H ever owned a pooch, he'd be something like this little crackerjack. 'Lil bastard ain't afraid of anything it seems. Watch and enjoy.


Dog Nearly Gets Struck By Lightning - Watch more free videos

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TWO FACE VIDEO CLIP

LOTS of viral action online action today (which also started this weekend) in regards to the "The Dark Knight." The new material includes most importantly some new viral video which technically is the first new offical "clip" from the film. That said, it actually isn't new at all - it first aired at Wizard World in Chicago last year. However, it DOES give our first glimpse at the villain Two-Face (albeit, from behind. Check it out below or at either here in flash or click here for an HD version.

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WHAT IF THE HULK WAS A LOUNGE SINGER?

Big effin' props to my arteeest buddy Adam Gustavson and blogger Adam Rex who actually posted this. Me being the casino junkie, I just had to duplicate. Hemingway's Lounge poses the question: Just what if Marvel's big green fightin' machine chucked it all and headed for the Queen of Resorts to take up lounge singing? Just what if...

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OUR NEW BLOG: BUKOWSKI'S BASEMENT

Check out our new blog, Bukowski's Basement (which has been under construction for about a week or so).

Think of our new subterranean dwelling as the red headed stepchild of Hemingway's Lounge. Over there, we'll showcase some of our grittier creative writing posts that seemed a little out of place on Papa H's blog. We'll also be exploring the writings of some of our skid row luminaries. There will also be musings, videos, amazing podcasts (on the right rail), book reviews and the like.

So pour yourself some cheap hooch and settle in because we're here to celebrate all things wondrous in the gin-soaked literary landscape of Chuck Buk, Jack Kerouac, Tom Waits and Raymond Carver.

Click HERE to check it out.

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