The Dark Knight Rises Prologue Screening

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the screening of the prologue at the Bob Bullock IMAX Theater here in Austin, as a part of the newly initiated viral marketing campaign for TDKR.

The screening was at 10:00, and a representative from Warner arrived at around 9:15 to address any questions we had about our tickets or the actual screening. Before heading into the theater to be seated, shirts were handed out. As far as I know there were only two shirts, one with a bat symbol with the word "LEGEND" and another with 8 lines representing Bane's mask that had the work "END". I received the former, and was kind of confused as to why the bat symbol looks so different from the standard Nolan bat symbol... hmmm.

Retailers "pressured" to open at midnight on Black Friday

Many retail stores have decided to open at midnight for Black Friday this year, much to the chagrin of employees and even shoppers. While many stores have previously opened their doors to rabid holiday shoppers at the likes of 3 and 4 a.m. in the past, many retailers are feeling the pressure to open even earlier. This decision not only affects shoppers, but also the part-time and full-time employees who have to arrive to work even earlier than the midnight opening.

Qwikster?

Netflix announced early this morning that they are dividing their DVD-by-mail and instant streaming services into two entirely separate sites and services, with the DVD-by-mail service now going by the name of "Qwikster". The have also decided to add video games to their DVD-by-mail service, to compete with the likes of Gamefly. The pricing structure that was put in place back in July ($7.99 for DVD-by-mail and $7.99 for instant streaming) is to stay in place, and according to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, there will be no price change for the foreseeable future. Hastings also claims that were will be a significant increase in the content that is available for streaming.

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer

The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer was finally shown before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 this past week. Just like the teaser trailers for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, not a whole lot was shown in this trailer. It begins with a voice over from Ra's Al Ghul, talking about Mr. Wayne can become a "legend". Then the trailer cuts to Commissioner Gordon laying on a hospital bed speaking to Bruce/Batman. The gist of his speech to Bruce is that the "evil is rising" and that "Batman HAS to come back". After this we are shown footage from TDK of Batman on the bat cycle going up a ramp, and also  quick shots of Bane's face. The very last shot is EXTREMELY eery, with Batman standing alone in a room, then turns around and none other than Bane enters.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

So that's it. Another favorite franchise of mine coming to a close.

I was lucky enough to attend the midnight screening of the final Harry Potter film at the Bob Bullock IMAX theater in Austin, Texas. My group arrived to the theater to get in line around 8:30, but upon arrival we were given a wristband with a number that signified our place in line, and that the line wouldn't form until 10:30... we come back at this time to get in line, where we waited until 12:20 just to be seated. They seriously need to rethink they're procedures for midnight releases because I've attended many in my 20 years of existence and this was by far the worst. We make our way to our seats and are treated to three trailers: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Real Steel, and the Dark Knight Rises (which I will go in depth about in a later post).