Eric Roberts

Video: Trailer for ‘The Expendables’ With Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke

BrianTT — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:47:04 -0600

CHICAGO – Since its was announced, Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” has promised to be one of the more over-the-top, ridiculous action movies in years. The film unites some of the most high-profile action stars in the business including Sly, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and more. Don’t miss this preview and mark your calendars for Aug. 20, 2010.

Editor’s note: We have been contacted by Lionsgate with a request to remove this trailer. Per the request, we took this trailer down at 11:16 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2009. It leaked from the Venice Film Festival. We will post the Lionsgate-authorized trailer for “The Expendables” when it is released.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘The Dark Knight’ Slideshow: 10-Image Gallery of New DVD, Blu-Ray Collector’s Sets

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:57:49 -0700

CHICAGO – In anticipation of the DVD and Blu-ray release of “The Dark Knight” on Dec. 9, 2008, we now have high-quality collector’s set images for your viewing pleasure and details about where to get them.

“The Dark Knight” from director Chris Nolan stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Chin Han, Eric Roberts and Anthony Michael Hall.

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All image credits for this “The Dark Knight” slideshow are from here and here.

thedarkknight1: Best Buy will have a collector’s set in DVD and Blu-ray with a scaled-down version of the mask Heath Ledger wore as the Joker in the opening bank-robbery scene.
thedarkknight2: Best Buy will have a collector’s set in DVD and Blu-ray with a scaled-down version of the mask Heath Ledger wore as the Joker in the opening bank-robbery scene.
thedarkknight3: Best Buy will have a collector’s set in DVD and Blu-ray with a scaled-down version of the mask Heath Ledger wore as the Joker in the opening bank-robbery scene.
thedarkknight4: The steelbook version of the DVD and Blu-ray case, which will be available from Futureshop in Canada and FYE in the U.S.
thedarkknight5: The steelbook version of the DVD and Blu-ray case, which will be available from Futureshop in Canada and FYE in the U.S.
thedarkknight6: Walmart will sell a gift set for Harvey Dent believers. The two-disc DVD has his luck coin and a comic book.
thedarkknight7: A Blu-ray release for “The Dark Knight” with a scale model of the batpod.
thedarkknight8: “The Dark Knight” Blu-ray.
thedarkknight9: “The Dark Knight” Blu-ray.
thedarkknight10: “The Dark Knight” DVD.

Read our comprehensive film review of “The Dark Knight”.

See our 35-image “The Dark Knight” red-carpet slideshow.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Three Months Early, First Review For ‘The Dark Knight’ Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:05:10 -0600

CHICAGO – With today being April 9, 2008 and with “The Dark Knight” scheduled to open on July 18, 2008, the difference between the two dates, of course, is more than three months. Even so, the first review for the monolithically anticipated film has just hit the Web in Portuguese.

Contributor Alexandre Winck for the respected Batman site Batman-on-Film.com reports that the review comes from a “well-known blog in Brazil” that’s part of the “largest media corporation” there, which is known as Globo. Winck says the author is a “respected journalist”. While the translation into English is a bit rough, you’ll get the gist. The following information may contain spoilers.

Director Chris Nolan on the set of “The Dark Knight”.
Photo credit: Released by the New York Times on March 9, 2008

My secret agent between the Armani suits saw a super private session for “The Dark Knight” and came out drooling. It will be a great success, he guarantees.

The gadgets – especially the [Batpod], [which is] responsible for an acclaimed action sequence – are crazy and Heath Ledger might receive a deserved [award?] for his Joker. [He is] a mixture of a fool/clown, schizophrenic, sadistic and crazy.

The guy delivered, got himself into the role and it’s unrecognizable. There will be no other Joker after him.

Many great scenes. Impeccable effects. Music and sounds pretty loud, but helping the story. They have a heartbeat they use in a sensational way [that helps to anticipate] the next scene [as] a psychological trigger [like in “Jaws”].

The cast is awesome. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman [steal] scenes in which all are present. Maggie Gyllenhaal [is] fantastic replacing Katie Holmes and Aaron Eckhart [is] a great surprise as the politician with a heart of gold whose personality changes after a horrible accident.

Another surprise is Eric Roberts as the mobster he knows so well how to do. Christian Bale [is] solid as ever [and] cool since Bruce Wayne is a rich playboy and Batman is the opposite. The film plays a lot with this duality. All the characters are complex, [have] ambiguities [and are] very interesting and delicate.

The humor … is totally dark. The movie is very dark and, in this version, a little too long. [It] will blow [everyone] away.

Due to its sensitivity, part of the next sentence is whited out in case you don’t want to read it. If you do, select it with your mouse.

Another scene … with Ledger [as] the Joker playing dead inside a body bag caused adverse reactions in the audience for obvious reasons. It will possibly be cut.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Details Surface on July 1, 2007 ‘The Dark Knight’ Shoot in Daley Center Courtroom

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:46:00 -0600

CHICAGO – The same anonymous reader who shot the Navy Pier boat pictures has submitted to me thorough details about “The Dark Knight” shoot on July 1, 2007.

The filming location was the Daley Center at 50 W. Washington in Chicago. This was a scene shot in a small courtroom on the 15th floor. Warning: This can be perceived as spoiler information.

The many different scenes were shot in a courtroom on Sunday. The premise was a montage of all the scum being cleaned up from Gotham City.

In one scene, all the gangsters (the Maroni gang, the Rasta gang, the Humble gang, the scarecrow and miscellaneous gangsters) were on the right side of the courthouse with their defense attorneys seated next to them.

There were regular pedestrians on the left.

In the center aisle, Gotham City Department of Correction officers seperated the gangsters from the pedestrians. Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni was with his attorneys at the front of the room at the right side of the table.

On the left, there was Aaron Eckhart as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent. The assistant directors (Nilo Otero and Brandon Lambdin) gave all the direction with Chris Nolan supervising from the judge’s bench.

They cramed all the gangsters into this small courtroom to give the shot. They said it was a “comical” look with so many gangsters being arraigned at one time. The gangsters would stand up staggered by a number they were assigned by Otero.

The female judge would then begin reading the outrageous charges to all the gangsters. She asked: “How do you plea?” Then the prisioners and their defense attorneys would all scream different dialogue.

There were numerous takes done with the gangsters at different angles.

10:15 p.m. update: I received this follow-up e-mail from the same scooper:

By the way, Eric Roberts was very cordial and friendly to everyone he was near on Sunday in the courtroom. He was saying “hello” and “how ya doing?” to the extras who were close to him.

He had a smile on his face the whole time. At least on this day, this was totally different than the image of a hothead that is portrayed in the media.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com