ANO On Assignment Part 2: Meet Natalie

I say thee awesome!  Photo by Ryan Shewchuk Photography

In my endeavors to find the nerdy corners of Sin City it became clear I would need some help; a guide of sorts to direct me to the local flavors a humble tourist might overlook.  This led me to contact a local expert; in the year or so I’ve been writing and telling you about all occurrences of nerdiness I have been lucky to run across some of the best events and people I’ve ever known.  When I tracked down a local expert I wasn’t fully aware of what I was getting into; it has been more than an honor to sit down and chat with one of the most truly righteous people I’ve ever met.  She is a mom, an entrepeneur, a nerd, a writer, a costume maker, and a very nice lady.  I’m talking about Natalie Midkiff; keep that name in your head this woman is going places.

The Dark Knight Rises: More Catwoman, and a first look at Bane!

Pittsburgh is proving to be the absolute lowest-security place to film a highly anticipated sequel to one of the most successful comic book film franchises of all time.  Leaked images from The Dark Knight Rises are hitting the Internet like bathroom self-portraits on Facebook.  Here we have a less-dolled up angle from the scene I wrote about last week.  Nothing too exciting, but it does reveal more of Catwoman’s not-really-a-costume.  There have been alleged stuntwoman-with-a-mask sightings, but I guess it’s just a small domino mask?  I don’t know if I need ears or a tail or anything, but a cowl would be nice.  I’m just not sure it’s a good idea to have all that hair hanging out if you’re going to be a high-end cat burglar…

Batman's services will not be required on this case.

Next up, we’ve got a sneak peek at what looks to be Bane’s entire costume, rather than the shadowy over the shoulder shot we’re getting in the trailers.  I’m putting a break here in case you are extra sensitive to spoilers, but there’s no story given away here or anything.

FIRST LOOK: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman (I guess)

So we’ve finally got a production image of one of the new characters from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, and um…it’s pretty underwhelming, I guess? It’s Anne Hathaway on a terrible bike, not much more to see here. I know Nolan strives for realism in his Batman films, but this seems fairly unspectacular to me.

I want to give Christopher Nolan the benefit of the doubt here. He’s already made the only two good films featuring major DC comic book characters. But so far we’ve got underwhelming and unidentifiable Catwoman costume, more Batpod (so probably more Tumbler, which is the worst thing ever), AND they’re bringing back Ra’s al Ghul. Don’t get me wrong, Ra’s is one of the greatest Batman villains of all time, but this means I have to hear them repeatedly mispronounce his name in yet another movie. Roz the bailiff from Night Court al Ghoul.

I guess all I’m saying is that the next thing I find out about The Dark Knight Rises better be awesome, or I will continue to register my nerd rage across the internet.