Win 'Dark Knight' Tickets, See the Batpod!

Here's something cool for our Big Picture readers in Phoenix: Tomorrow, you can show off your impressive collection of Batman stuff to win a pair of passes to see The Dark Knight before it officially opens in theaters. That might be a good ticket to score; advance sales have been very brisk, outpacing current record holder Spider-Man 3 eight-to-one. Now, if you don't want to bring all your Batman stuff because you've built a to-scale version of Gotham City on your dining room table, that's fine. Just bring a picture of yourself with all your Batman swag and the crack panel of judges will take that into consideration. Show up at Tempe Marketplace, just off the 202 at McClintock and Rio Salado, between 7 and 8am tomorrow for your chance to win. There will also be cool Batman-themed contests and giveaways all day...and you can take your picture with the new Batpod from The Dark Knight (the bad-ass ride pictured to the left) as well as the Tumbler from Batman Begins, which the layman would call the Batmobile from that film. Bet you don't have those in your collections... You can get a glimpse of the Bat transports and do the contests and whatnot from 7 - 2 at Tempe Marketplace. Think I'll head out there myself just to spy the Batpod.

Underappreciated 'Dark City' Heading Back to Theaters?

When people talk about distinct, vibrant depictions of the future in movies, there are a few candidates that always come up: Metropolis, Blade Runner, I guess you could throw Minority Report in the mix (I know I would).

And then there's Dark City, which is probably the least well-known flawless movie of the last ten years or so. Even though no less an authority than Roger Ebert named it his best film of 1998, there still has not been enough tribute paid to Alex Proyas' best and most unique production.

It's gothic, moody, incorporates a lot of influences from the past but doesn't ape them and instead crafts something wholly new that has gone on to influence a lot of other filmmakers in the ten years since its release.

So it's deeply gratifying to hear that Dark City may get re-released theatrically, which would only make sense if a slick new DVD launch were to follow, so let's hope that's true.

Bloody Disgusting recently caught up to David Goyer, who co-wrote the film, and he was full of information. "It's coming out fairly soon [and will] probably have limited theatrical, but Im not sure," says Goyer. "I have seen almost all of it and I took part in an over hour long making-of."

The film, which stars Rufus Sewell, Keifer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, and (if you look closely) Melissa George, was an effects feast probably half a decade ahead of its time technically and in terms of its atmospheric storytelling, I'd say that for a studio release, it's still ahead of its time.

Despite all that, Goyer told Bloody Disgusting that there were several substantive changes made, with a new score (or at least a new recording of the score) and a longer running time. I remember seeing it in the theater at the time, although I didn't give it my full attention until watching it on DVD some months later. When I did, I wished I could go back and see it again the way it was intended.

Now, maybe there's hope that we all can.