Christopher Nolan had this to say to Variety about his new Batman film:

“This time around, it’s about the genesis of Batman: How billionaire Bruce Wayne makes a series of decisions that turn him into the Caped Crusader. Batman will be more realistic and less cartoonish. There are no campy villains. Wayne — younger, more vulnerable, more human — will be getting as much attention as his masked alter-ego. ‘felt like doing the origins story of the character, which is a story that’s never been told before,’ says Chris Nolan (“Insomnia,” “Memento”), who takes the reins of “Batman” from Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher … ‘The world of Batman is that of grounded reality,’ he says. Burton’s and Schumacher’s visions were idiosyncratic and unreal. Nolan says, ‘Ours will be a recognizable, contemporary reality against which an extraordinary heroic figure arises.’ Nolan, a self-confessed James Bond fan as a child, is keen on reinventing Wayne as more of a modern-day Bond than hapless playboy — an action-adventure hero who has mythic qualities and battles the odds to save the world … ‘If we’re successful, the thing that will be talked about a lot and on what we worked on the hardest is that the audience will really care about Bruce Wayne and not just Batman,’ [scripter David] Goyer says. ‘It doesn’t matter how much you spend on special effects — if it feels hollow, no one gives a damn.'”

Sounds pretty damn good to me. From Comic Book Resources. Liam Neeson’s name is now also being mentioned in casting for the film, possibly as Captain Jim Gordon. Update: Neeson has confirmed for Batman: Intimidation, but will be playing a villain. Baddies rumoured to be in the film are Ra’s Al-Ghul, The Scarecrow and mob boss Carmine Falcone. Also on the topic of the Caped Crusader on celluloid – There’s a new animated series coming called The Batman. I do love the definite article. There are a couple teaser pictures from the new series here. And as a bonus? Adam West will be voicing the mayor of Gotham City. Hope he’s as nutty as the mayor of Quahog!

And some sad comic book news – former DC head honcho Julius Schwartz has died. Schwartz was largely responsible for the ‘Silver Age’ of DC comics in the fifties, revitalizing many of their flagship characters in the incarnations that they’re best known as now. Rest easy.

Sample tracks from all the performers at SXSW this year, in .ogg format. Yeah, .ogg. Don’t worry – Winamp plays em. What’s that, you don’t use Winamp? Tough noogies. Now those who will be attending SXSW can get a sneak preview of the many many many artists playing, and those who aren’t can turn up the .ogg files real loud, light four dozen cigarettes and turn up the TV so loud that you’re straining to hear the music… Just like being there. Bonus – they have a track from the new American Music Club album on offer – “Ladis And Gentlemen, It’s Time”. Yes, it really is. Give us the new record, already. Link from LHB.

As part of their 2003 year in review, Magnet has officially declared Toronto the next big ‘scene’ town, citing the successes and potential of the local heroes The Constantines, Stars, Royal City, Metric, Hidden Cameras and Broken Social Scene. I don’t know if we’re going to be the next Brooklyn or Seattle, but at least the sounds of all these bands is certainly different enough that no one’s going to pretend there’s such a thing as “the Toronto sound”. But if we are going to be the next Seattle, then goddamn we have to finish recording our album soon so we can get in on the inevitable major label feeding frenzy… I want to be the next Candlebox!

np – Elf Power / A Dream In Sound

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