This past weekend saw the release of The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s epic Dark Knight trilogy, and we here at To-Ag Studios couldn’t be more excited. Join as us we discuss the film and it’s conclusion to the series, done in a way only a master filmmaker and storyteller like Nolan could achieve. Snap on your cape, gas up the Tumbler, and make sure Alfred keep the doors unlocked on his way out as we get ready for an all new *spoilerific* episode of Monkey in the Cage!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04:03 — 29.3MB)
(01:11) – Robert regales us with his stories of randomness and spending too much money. – Morgan’s Tavern and The Court of Owls
(07:44) – Ramses has finally chosen podcast quality over quantity and talks about gettin’ your geek drink on! – Hollywood Babble-On, Doug Loves Movies, and The Drunken Moogle
(13:53) – Matt talks about exciting movie rumors and cybernetic hate crimes?? – Hellboy 3 and Steve Mann
(18:25) – The Avengers are coming to Phineas and Ferb, but then the week went downhill from there…
(20:19) – We have a somber discussion in regards to the terrible tragedy in Aurora, Colorado.
(23:44) – WARNING!!! THE DARK KNIGHT RISES SPOILERS AHEAD!
(24:05) – Matt’s history degree pays off and we discuss Nolan’s honoring of Heath Ledger with the absence of The Joker.
(27:22) – We discuss the treatment of Bane in Nolan’s vision and the “breaking of the Bat.” Plus, we talk Cillian Murphy aka The Scarecrow!
(37:10) – Our discussion moves on the Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Catwoman, the story of Talia al Ghul. Also, Ramses brings us random Bane facts.
(43:31) – We discuss Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s “Robin,” the many faces of Batman, and there is always a contingency plan! – Battle for the Cowl, Batman Beyond
(50:18) – Robert discusses his take on the comic / film comparison, we talk the non-superhero approach, and how it stacks up to The Avengers.
(53:16) – We weigh-in on our favorite film of the trilogy, a Game of Thrones cameo, and the visual continuity of Gotham City (with obvious exceptions). Also, we debate the real world counter-parts of Gotham and Metropolis.
(58:17) – We close our discussion with a look at the effectiveness of The Dark Knight Rises in finalizing the trilogy. Plus, Michael Caine makes us cry and Robert confuses the hell out of us!
Closing Song – Batman Meets Metal - performed by Eric Calderone
This episode is dedicated to the victims and families of the Aurora, Colorado shooting and we here at Monkey in the Cage strongly urge our listeners to donate to one of the following links below:
http://www.crowdrise.com/helpaurora
American Red Cross – Colorado Chapters
I agree about the benefit of watching all three movies in a row. They called back to Harvey Dent and Ra’s Al Ghul so much that if you weren’t fairly intimate with the first two movies you might be lost. Or at the very least you would miss out on some of the more subtle references.
I still maintain to this day that Jim Carey could pull off an amazing Nolan universe Riddler. It would probably be too close to the Joker though.
Regarding DKR, I might be the only geek in the world that didn’t catch Talia… at… all. I’m very glad I didn’t because it made for a shock that I rarely get in movies like this, but normally I pick up on stuff like that. I even thought to myself when they were saying the child who escaped was Ra’s al Ghul’s child “Huh, Bane wasn’t Ra’s’ child Talia was”. Crazyness.
Great episode guys! I’m writing up some annotations on the film if your interested later. Keep em coming!
I wish I had watched the first two movies before going in to this one, hell, I wish I had even taken the time to watch the first two back to back. I think that is one of the reasons I never really viewed it as a trilogy.
Kevin, I never caught on that she was Talia, I just had a dumb suspicion that she was going to be the one to screw over Batman. There wasn’t enough of a story to the love triangle of her, Catwoman, and Batman. And her story was pretty weak in the overall movie, so it just seemed that had to be a big reveal for her.
Thanks Gilbert, let me know when you are finished writing. I like hearing other people’s take on the movie.
@Andy I think watching the first two movies the night before watching TDKR really enhanced the movie for me. I felt really immersed in the world and the story and loved seeing the entire story play out that way.
@Kevin If I hadn’t have heard the internet chatter about Talia I probably wouldn’t have ever guessed. It probably ruined the reveal for me. There were certain parts during the movie that I kept wondering when she was going to double cross him.
@Gilbert We’d love to hear your thoughts. We are always looking for well thought out contributions if you’d like us to publish it here. Email me if you’re interested karen@monkeyinthecage.com. =)