With Bane, we're looking to give Batman a challenge he hasn't had before. With our choice of villain and with our choice of story we're testing Batman both physically as well as mentally. ~ Christopher Nolan

It's really all about finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne's story. We left him in a very precarious place. Perhaps surprisingly for some people, our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after The Dark Knight. So he's an older Bruce Wayne; he's not in a great state. ~ Christopher Nolan

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/6-famous-movie-locations-making-cameos-in-other-movies-dbell.php

Hollywood is good at recycling things. After all, you build a giant house or an elaborate prop and you wouldn’t just use it once and toss it, right? This is why they have backlots at studios; they can hoard all their favorite stuff for later use (like the iconic building in the image above) or, failing that, at least use it for the studio tours. Same kind of goes for on-location sets – some places are just too dynamic to use only once, especially when the owner is more than willing to pimp out their place for cash…

http://filmmakeriq.com/2011/11/simpsons-movie-references-side-by-side-comparison/

Here is a galley stills complied by Actualidad Simpson from The Simpsons with the corresponding movie stills they reference.

http://www.criterion.com/explore/167-alec-baldwins-top-10

We met award-winning actor Alec Baldwin on Twitter (@AlecBaldwin) and asked him to contribute a Criterion Top 10. His response was immediate and enthusiastic. Baldwin’s film credits include Beetlejuice, Miami Blues, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Cooler (for which he was nominated for an Oscar), and The Departed. He has won two Emmys for his role as Jack Donaghy on NBC’s 30 Rock. In October 2011, he debuted a WNYC podcast, Here’s the Thing, on which he interviews artists, writers, actors, and other public figures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/nov/10/super-mario-bros-movie-nintendo

In 1993 Super Mario was bigger than Mickey Mouse, and so Hollywood decided it would be a good idea to make a Mario Bros film. It wasn’t.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/nov/10/mgm-musicals-judy-garland-fred-astaire

MGM meant musicals for more than a decade after the second world war. David Thomson looks at a time when a little cheer at the movies was appreciated – and wonders if the same couldn’t be said now.