THE DARK KNIGHT'S HEATH LEDGER NOMINATED FOR THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD SAG AWARD

The Bat-Blog could not be more proud but Heath Ledger has been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for playing The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT 2008 Batman movie. Here's a list of who he is up against:

• JOSH BROLIN / Dan White - "MILK" (Focus Features)

• ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. / Kirk Lazarus - "TROPIC THUNDER" (Paramount Pictures)

• PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN / Father Brendan Flynn - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)

• HEATH LEDGER / Joker - "THE DARK KNIGHT" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

• DEV PATEL / Older Jamal - "SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Video - Interview with GEORGE BARRIS, Creator of the 1966 BATMAN TV Show BATMOBILE

Here's a very recent interview with George Barris who we all know designed and created the Custom 1966 Batmobile Car for the Classic 60's BATMAN TV series.

VIDEO: Hot Toys BATMAN DX 02 FIGURE The Dark Knight Movie Version

Here are some very cool videos showing some of the functions of the BATMAN DX 02 Figure by HOT TOYS. Of course it's the Christian Bale version from THE DARK KNIGHT movie. The doll has a lot of new technologies that are very clever. The 1st video is a demonstration of the Hot Toys-invented PERS ( Parallel Eyeball Rolling System ) function. Basically, the eyeballs move around in his head in a more realistic fashion. It's kinda creepy, but it also makes the figure look really awesome!





The next video shows off what I call the "Change-a-Face" feature. He has Interchangeable "Face Parts" that have different mouths. I guess you can make him happy or angry, ha ha!





Then, there's the "Sonar Eye Light-Up" feature...very cool! You replace an item inside his head that replicates the special "Sonar Cowl" he wore in one part of the movie. The eyes light-up & everything!





OK, whew! here's the final video & it shows how the "Transformable Gun" works. It's just like the movie where it was all compact & then it would transform into that weapon that shot "sticky bomb" charges on that building in Hong Kong. I think they went a little too far with this, ha ha, but it is great that HOT TOYS cares about ALL the small details. They make some really amazing collectible figures!!

Video - Rubik's Cube Mosaic Art of THE JOKER

WOW! Watch this artist create an image of The JOKER ( Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight, Batman movie ) using only Rubik's Cubes...it's pretty cool!

Zack's BATMAN TOY COLLECTION On Display!

Our Buddy Zack was kind enough to send us some photos of his cool Batman Toy Collection. Well, part of it anyway. He explained that this is about 1/4th of his total collection & he plans to take more pics when he gets the time. But for right now all this stuff is pretty neat to see! The 1st photo is an over-all shot of 2 shelves on one wall & the other 2 pictures are close-ups of each shelf. Most of the collection looks like newer stuff from "The Dark Knight" movie and I also see some vintage items from the Tim Burton 1989 Bat-movie too! There are even a few items from the "Batman: The Animated Series" era...very cool! I imagine that one day he will have to move to another location because his collection has got too big, ha ha! That seems to be a major problem with ALL Batman Collectors. There is so much stuff that you practically need a HUGE warehouse to store it all. But for me that's what makes it such a great challenge. It can, literally, take an entire lifetime to acquire everything...it never ends & that's great! Most toy collectors end up finding every item in their category they collect & it's over. Not with Batman stuff!! Thanks for sending us these photos Zack. You have an awesome collection & I really like how things are displayed! As always I want to invite all Bat-Blog Fans to send us their photos of anything Batman-related!

FUNNY HUMOR with THE JOKER From The Dark Knight Movie ( Heath Ledger Version )

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, whew, Ha Ha!


( Thanks to everybody who sent these funny pics! )

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM Limited Release Movie Soundtrack CD Coming Soon From La-La Land Records!

For people who have been reading the Bat-Blog for awhile you might remember a few months ago we introduced a new Batman product from La-La Land Records that was a special 2-CD set featuring the music soundtrack from the BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES TV Show. Well, that CD was a total success ( I think it totally sold out! ) & now La-La Land Records plans on releasing another Batman-related CD titled BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. This, of course, was the animated film featuring the characters from the TV series. Back when this movie came out it was a complete smash hit & has now become a cult classic among fans of both Batman & animation. It was a really great film! Well, next Tuesday, at 12pm PST, La-La Land Records will start taking orders on the La-La Land website for this brand-new Limited Edition CD... Shirley Walker's complete score to the feature film BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. Completely remastered and more than 27 minutes longer than the original CD release, this is the definitive version of Shirley's complete, amazing orchestral score. It will also contain a twenty page CD booklet that features in-depth liner notes! It will also be a Limited Edition of only 3000 units which means it will probably sell out like the others have. Please remember that you can only buy this product directly from the publisher & it will probably not be on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or other websites like that. Now, this is advance news from the Bat-Blog & the item is not featured on their website yet but you'll be able to see it there in a few days.( The release date is around March 24th, 2009 ). Here's a link to their website:

Jerry's Photos: CUSTOM BATMAN 12" HOT TOYS FIGURES

Our good friend Jerry, who lives in Taiwan, sent us some amazing photos the other day. He recently went to a store at some shopping mall in Taipei City called "Taiwan Figure Union". He said he saw a lot of awesome stuff, such as these 12" Batman Movie Custom Figures that some Bat-Fans got to display in the front store windows. I have to say that they are all very impressive with really great head sculpts. I mean, some of them look just like the original actors! The main focus for most of the dolls appear to be the 2005 BATMAN BEGINS movie, but in photo #2 we get to see a version from an earlier Batman movie, maybe 1992 BATMAN RETURNS-inspired. They made one of the "R'as al Ghul" character & it looks exactly like Liam Neeson, ha! They also made a more Modern Day "Comic Book JOKER" but used the body from THE DARK KNIGHT Heath Ledger figure by HOT TOYS ( in fact, I think all these customs were made using HOT TOYS bodies and it was just the heads & clothing that were customized ). The one of Police Sergeant Jim Gordon is one of my personal favorites as they did an amazing job on Gary Oldman's face. They did a few variations on Bruce Wayne's character which are pretty interesting. Overall, I would have to say that I'm very very impressed with all of these. As a side-note: I'm not really sure if they were all done by one artist or many different ones, but either way, very great work! Also, I wanna thank Jerry for taking the time to shoot these pics & sharing his love of the Batman Character with us. It's really neat seeing what goes on in Taiwan & it's so cool that there are serious Bat-Fans there too!!

Cracked BATMAN PARODY Video: Is It Time For Batman To Tone It Down?

OK, From the Cracked Magazine website we get this totally funny Batman Parody video titled, "IS IT TIME FOR BATMAN TO TONE IT DOWN?". It's deals with the way that the Dark Knight totally abuses all the villains & bad guys that he catches, it's hilarious!

Is it Time For Batman to Tone it Down? -- powered by Cracked.com

R.I.P. Michael Gough 1917 - 2011 ( Alfred, Batman Movies )

I have some very sad news to share. The Actor Michael Gough has passed away at the age of 94. Of course as Batman Fans we all know & love him as Alfred Pennyworth, the Butler to both Bruce Wayne & Batman. He appeared in 4 Batman films: 1989 Batman, 1992 Batman Returns, 1995 Batman Forever, and 1997's Batman & Robin. He played the character with Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. He is best known for this role but he also had a very long career, appearing in over 150 films. On a personal level, I have always had a lot of respect for this Actor. He played the "Alfred" role perfectly. He was very dignified, proper, and had a great sense of humor. I always enjoyed how he played the character in a "loving, caring" way.

As sort of a tribute to Michael Gough I have posted a few videos. One is a short documentary that covered his Alfred character in the "Batman Returns" movie. The 2nd clip is an appearance he made in one of his many Batman/OnStar TV Commercials. He was a great Actor & will be missed.

THE DARK KNIGHT Papa John's Pizza DVD Offer & Batman Gift Card

The other day I was talking to a friend & he said, "Oh yeah, I thought of you last night because I saw a TV Commercial featuring The Dark Knight Batman movie". I asked about it further & he said it was for some kind of pizza deal but he didn't see the whole thing. I just assumed that Domino's Pizza brought back their "Gotham City Special". Well, I was wrong. I went to Papa John's Pizza last night to pick up our order & they had these special BATMAN GIFT CARDS on sale. It seems that Warner Bros teamed-up with them to promote the release of The Dark Knight to DVD & Blu-Ray Disc. If you buy one of these Gift Cards you can use them yourself ( like if you're gonna get a pizza anyway ) or just ask the manager if you can have one. I did & they just gave me one. They also make great Christmas gift ideas too, ha ha. Oh yeah, on the box they have a coupon for $3.00 off your Dark Knight DVD movie purchase, not too shabby.

Video - BATMAN UNDER THE RED HOOD Movie Clip - The BATWING!

Here's one of the best video clips I have seen so far from the brand-new BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD Movie. It features Batman flying THE BATWING while in a car chase! ( Those Criminals don't have a chance, ha! ) The animation is looking very well done & I'm getting more excited about this new DC Universe animated film every single day! Remember, the DVD comes out on July 27th, 2010. Plus, I'm really liking the soundtrack's background music & sound effects...nice!

THE DARK KNIGHT Kubrick BEARBRICKS Batman Movie Pepsi-Cola Promo in Japan

Right now, in Japan, the Pepsi-Cola Company & Kubrick Toys have teamed-up to do a give-away premium promotion that a lot of Batman Fans should be excited about. You can get a free BEARBRICK figure, each with a different "movie theme". There are 12 to collect & two of them are related to The Dark Knight Batman movie! One of them looks like Christian Bale's Batman & the other one is the Joker ( Heath Ledger )! Oh man, they're actually really cool!! Be sure to click on the graphic up above for a larger, more detailed, photo. The whole promo is tied in to the release of a new cola beverage called Pepsi NEX ( Zero Calorie ). If any Bat-Blog Readers live in Japan please let me know more about these because I can't read Japanese, ha ha!

Batman Parody Video: THE DARK KNIGHT IS CONFUSED by Key of Awesome

From the "Key of Awesome" Comedy Team we get this hilarious Batman parody video that tries to make sense of THE DARK KNIGHT movie...it's pretty funny! ( Thanks Dan! )

Photo: CATWOMAN TATTOO ART By Artist Josh Reynolds

Here's a recent Batman-Style Tattoo done by the Famous Tattoo Artist Josh Reynolds. It's a very detailed piece of art! ( Be sure to click on it for a larger, more detailed, photo ). Of course, it's CATWOMAN from the 1992 Batman Returns movie. The thing that's co cool about it is that it looks EXACTLY like Michelle Pfeiffer! Josh is really good at the "Photo-Realistic" tattoos. In fact, if you're interested in seeing more of his artwork ( both tattoo art & paintings ) then just click right HERE!

Salma Hayek at Batman And Robin Movie Premiere

Here's a celebrity photo I came across on the Internet the other night, at random, totally by accident. I was researching some old Batman movie stuff & when I saw this photo I thought, "Hey, it's Batman-related, I can post it!", ha ha! This is a picture of Salma Hayek at the 1997 Batman And Robin Movie Premiere. Oh My God! She is probably, easily, the most beautiful woman in the entire world! Now, just enjoy... you're welcome.

News Break: Two-Face & Poison Ivy Terrorize Oklahoma City!

Last Halloween 2 friends of mine dressed-up as Batman Villains. Their costumes were really well done & here's the photos to prove it! Josh was Two-Face & Jenna was Poison Ivy. I have to admit that both costumes are extremely impressive! Good Job guys & thanks for the cool pics.

INTERVIEW WITH BATMAN: William Baldwin, Voice Actor

William Baldwin is the new Batman! Well, he will be in the next animated DC Universe film, JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS. The new movie has a release date of February 23rd, 2010. Baldwin recently had a very interesting conversation about his new role over at the COMICVINE website. You can read the interview by clicking HERE! Also, Look down below to see the JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON EARTH TWO Teaser Trailer!

Vintage Ads: 1989 BATMAN MOVIE Newspaper Advertisements

Hey, This movie looks pretty good!!

Jim's BATMAN THE MOVIE ART PRINT of CATWOMAN - Lee Merriwether

Here is a nice set of pictures sent in by Jim, a major Batman Fan. It's a Fine Art Print he received as a gift from a friend. It's a pencil drawing of CATWOMAN as she appeared in BATMAN THE MOVIE. Yes, the artwork is extremely beautiful, the face is a great likeness, but the neat thing is that it is signed by both Ms. Lee Merriwether and the artist, Greg Land. It's also #32 out of 100. I wanna thank Jim for allowing me to post these pics of this wonderful piece of art. I really love it, it's very very cool!