Reel Facts & Opinions

FACT: The much anticipated finale to Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy will be filmed in…(drum roll)............Pittsburgh.

OPINION: Dislike. If this holds up, this will give us three (3) different looks for Gotham City in as many films. THE DARK KNIGHT was mostly filmed in Chicago, whose unique architecture offered a nearly perfect stand-in for Gotham City. Now there have been other reports trickling about saying that further shooting will still take place in Chicago and the UK, so hopefully things won’t look inconsistent. Nolan knows what he’s doing, but one has to wonder why Pittsburgh was chosen after the success of THE DARK KNIGHT; maybe Nolan has a few surprises, or maybe Chicago had enough of explosions after playing host to Michael Bay and his TRANSFORMERS three-quel last year.

FACT: Speaking of TRANSFORMERS: in a move that has many sci-fi geeks buzzing with anticipation, Leonard Nimoy has been hired to provide voicework for TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON. The role is said to be for the voice of Optimus Prime’s predecessor and mentor.

OPINION: The character looks to be a voice of reason and logic, and there’s none better than Spock himself to bring the character to life. One can only hope that Nimoy’s distinctive voice can be recognized; the filmmakers sinfully managed to bury Hugo Weaving’s Megatron voicework in the first two films. Just lay off the vocal effects, fellas.

FACT: Keanu Reeves recently confirmed that the script for a third BILL & TED film is just weeks away from being complete.

OPINION: Ever since the first BILL & TED, Reeves has spent the last 22 years (yes, it’s been that long) trying to shed the “surfer” thing that the entire universe has related him to. He’s done okay in that fight and some would argue that he’s actually accomplished it. Now he’s repaying his loyal fans, the people who have believed in him for two-plus decades, by going right back to it? Come on (dude), the world isn’t really asking for this. Especially if it’s in (goddamn) 3D. Besides, how in the hell can you do a BILL & TED film without Rufus?

What say you?