Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple
Certificate: 12A

“A storm is coming…” The last time we heard those words, it was back in 2005 and Bruce Wayne (Bale) was putting on his Batsuit for the first time. It’s no mistake that we hear them again now, at the conclusion of The Dark Knight trilogy: Christopher Nolan’s epic finale is full of flashbacks and echoes that pick up on the smallest of details from the preceding instalments: tiny asides turned into big, loud plot points.

And when I say "big", I mean BIG. The same goes for LOUD.

One of the Batman franchise's better line readings popped up on TV last night during the football. It's a wonderful use of eyebrows and gutteral throat growling, although it's still not as good as Christian Bale's classic "WHERE IS HE?"

Long before I saw Silent House (out today in the UK), while hiding from the real world behind books and exams, I wrote an incredibly geeky thesis on the relationship between text and screen, which postulated that: given sentences on the page are the equivalent of takes on film, linguistic analysis of voice and narrative in a novel (and a script) could be related directly to the positioning of a camera in a cinema adaptation.

Because unlike literature, which can roam wherever the heck it wants, video cameras are physical and must be placed somewhere: films inherently have a perspective, which means that every shot is actively positioning the audience.

That’s why first-person POV is such an interesting choice, not to mention the more subtle decisions about the camera's proximity to the people on screen – the choice, for example, to only show scenes that contain a specific character.

But arguably the most curious technical decision a director can make is the long shot. Presenting something in a single, continuous take frees up the audience to track their own way through a scene - but it also restricts them to a set path of exploration, turning at a predetermined point, lingering on certain details.

Is it more immersive than a traditional montage sequence? When done well, it can be.

Which is what makes Silent House such an effective horror movie: ok, so like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope it’s not really all done in a single shot, but by keeping the camera rolling and staying close to Elizabeth Olsen, our knowledge is as limited as hers. We don’t ever see a person coming up from behind her: to be more exact, we can’t. And in a world where we’re used to the chronological or causational relationship between consecutive shots, not being able to see something from a reverse angle makes things more terrifying.

The ending of Chris Kentis and Laura Lau’s movie, sadly, ruins the whole effect – because of the script, I should add, not because of the visual technique.

So to celebrate the technical achievement of Silent House’s 88 (purportedly) uncut minutes, here are some of cinema’s most effective long takes...

"You don't owe them any more. You've given them everything." "Not everything… not yet."

That's the sound of The Dark Knight Rises claiming back the summer. Just as people get blown away by The Avengers and wax lyrical about the latest Prometheus trailer, Warner Bros hit back hard with this final trailer - and it looks good. More importantly, it sounds good too.

Yes, Tom Hardy's Bane can actually be understood here, while the music, chanting and general growling set the tone for a nice, moody blockbuster. Well, that and the constant talk about death, burials, "rising" and giving Gotham everything. Will Bruce be bumped off? Will Joseph Gordon Levitt save the day? Who knows? My only question is this: where's Gary Oldman?

Read on for the final Dark Knight Rises trailer and marvel at the sheer scale of the thing - and the breathtaking speed of the internet hype cycle. From superheroes to aliens back to superheroes in 72 hours. All I can tell you is I'll be booking tickets to both this and Prometheus at the IMAX very soon.

The Dark Knight Rises is out on Friday 20th July.

The new Dark Knight Rises trailer has arrived and it's officially epic (as well as ridiculously early - it's not even 2012 yet, remember, and we've already had a teaser poster, a one-sheet poster and a teaser trailer).

"There's a storm coming Mr. Wayne..." whispers Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, all sexy and arousing. Then Tom Hardy's Bane walks in and destroys a football pitch. "MUMMBLE GRUNT HMMF MUMBLE!" he says, equally sexy and arousing.

At least, that's if you believe what the folks who saw the 9-minute IMAX prologue said last week. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I understood his dialogue (all one line of it) completely.

In other noteworthy news, Christopher Nolan and Bruce Wayne have created a Bat-Copter. And it looks awesome.

Read on to watch the full Dark Knight Rises trailer - or if you still can't get enough Batman hype, see our Super Mega Exclusive On-Set London Dark Knight Rises Photos(including the shocking reveal of Gotham's cheapest pork sausages).

You've all seen the official Dark Knight Rises one sheet already, but tough - I wanted to spend all afternoon drooling over it too.

"The Batman has to come back." "What if he doesn't exist anymore?"

Yes, the Dark Knight Rises official trailer has turned up online. And it's officially brilliant.

Ok, it amounts to little more than a compilation of Christopher Nolan's previous Batman films followed by 20 seconds of Gary Oldman in bed, but it's still pretty exciting.

The only sad part is that it's got generic title cards like "Every hero has a journey". You know what that means? That flipping Dark Knight Rises trailer description WAS RIGHT. Dammit.

Oh well, there's always that quick glimpse of Tom Hardy as Bane to put in me in a good mood. 

The Dark Knight Rises on Friday 20th July 2012. Read on for the full video.

Do you remember when all those sites started posting a leaked trailer for Fincher's Dragon Tattoo remake? Well, now film blogs have found another way to talk about an upcoming film at the earliest possible opportunity before the trailer's even been leaked. Imagine my surprise when I saw people posting descriptions of The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer.

Actually, you don't have to imagine my surprise. You can read a description of it:

I was not surprised. 

 

Here's how the description of The Dark Knight Rises trailer starts (spoiler alert if you think it might actually be real):

And in case that description isn't enough for you, here's a description of the description of the trailer:

The description is in a red font. It opens with a mention of the studio logo. A film trailer starting with a studio logo? This can only be described as newsworthy.

Then there are some words that don't quite form a sentence, before BIG LETTERS spell out something that doesn't quite form a word. (What is this mysterious "JOURNAY"? If only someone could provide us with a handy description.)

All of this (probably fake) description is written in something that can't really be described as English, mainly because the person doing the describing didn't read a description of what a full stop is. 

And in case THAT description of the description wasn't enough for you, here's a description of the description of the description of the trailer:

Fecking pointless.

And here's a description of the t-shirt I was wearing while writing that description:

It's got a fish on it. 

I understand the excitement about The Dark Knight Rises. I'm looking forward to seeing the trailer when it does arrive, but I can wait to see it. I enjoyed the teaser poster for The Dark Knight Rises without needing a description a few days beforehand. (What would the description be? "It's a poster with a Batman logo on it.")

Are we really at the point now where websites are so desperate for Batman headlines that we need descriptions of everything, even a 93 second preview of a film that's not out for another 12 months? That's not impatient; it's silly. And the blogs I saw the trailer description on (SlashFilm and Collider)? I'd describe them as capable of much better work.

The first poster for The Dark Knight Rises has turned up online. And yes, it looks like this:

It arrives in the week that the first Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer is expected to accompany Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in US cinemas. If those 93 seconds of video are half as good as this, I'll be happy.

It's even better than our exclusive on-set Dark Knight Rises photos, which included a picture of Gotham's discounted pork sausages. I'll be honest: I didn't think any photo could top that.

All this, and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane? Oh yes, my Dark Knight is rising...

The internet went all crazy this week when it turned out that BATMAN WAS IN LONDON.

As word spread that The Dark Knight Rises was shooting in Farringdon (classy), folks on Twitter started staking out the Farmiloe Building, which is used as the double for Gotham City police headquarters.

So naturally, I jaunted down there to get some hyper-exclusive SUPER-OMG on-set photos for myself.

I was not disappointed.

Strolling down St John Street, I could literally smell the sweat of the excited fanboys in Batman t-shirts running around with their phones. Getting closer, all the signs were there that this was a major Hollywood production.

Oh yes, there was no doubt about it. I was on my way to Tinseltown: