Sep 072016
 

killingjoke_ani_byphaWell, well, well…either enticing the fans or teasing of things to come, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill announced that they are not done voicing Batman and Joker respectively for the Animated Universe of DC.  Here is the report by Evan Saathoff for birthmoviesdeath.com:

As everyone here likely knows, Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy have been voicing the Joker and Batman since forever, most famously during the Batman: The Animated Series run, but they probably do it a lot in their spare time as well. Recently they teamed up again for that ill-advised animated The Killing Joke movie.

And it doesn’t sound like they’re done yet. The two were on a panel together at Canada’s Fan Expo and when asked if they were ready to hang up their Batman and Joker voices, both answered with a resounding “no”, after which Conroy joked that next they might do Hush, after which Hamill suggested A Death in the Family.

While these titles were obviously lobbed around as jokes to get the audience excited, it does seem like something is brewing between these two. If it is another animated movie, neither Hush nor A Death in the Family seem outside the realm of reason. What do you think? Are there other Batman stories you’d prefer an adaptation of next? Please feel free to shout your suggestions at the first person you see!

And I have to say that thou the news are interesting, after the disappointment with the Killing Joke and his prologue plus some technical aspects of the movie makes me very cautious  of another DCAU adaptation.  If they are going to adapt a masterpiece of comic art and writing, they should have a better sense on what would work best to IMPROVE the story, not sink it. Still the idea of an animated version of DEATH IN THE FAMILY  (and who knows, maybe DEATH OF THE FAMILY…hint, hint) could be very interesting to see…

Jul 072016
 

killingjoke_ani_byphaFathom Events has booked 1,075 U.S. cinemas — its widest rollout of all time — for the big-screen debut of the animated film “Batman: The Killing Joke” on July 25, Variety has learned exclusively. 

The graphic novel-turned-movie will be shown for a single night at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. This event reunites “Batman: The Animated Series” executive producer Bruce Timm with actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, who are reprising their roles as Batman and the Joker, respectively.

The showings will also include a special introduction from Hamill, a never-before-seen documentary about the actor and his passion for this project, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the Joker’s song and dance number was recreated for this feature.

Fathom specializes in presenting live events for theatrical chains and is co-owned by AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings and Regal Entertainment Group. It’s screened “The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary,” “Finding Noah: An Adventure of Faith” and “Ed Sheeran: Jumpers for Goalposts.”

“Killing Joke” will play on 215 more screens than the previous record-holder, the June 8 presentation of the original “Ghostbusters” at 860 locations.

Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein noted that the movie is based on DC Comics’ 1988 graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore, which provided the origin story for the Joker as a supervillain.

“It’s been a bestseller for 28 years,” he added.

Tom Lucas, VP of studio relations at Fathom, said the level of interest among exhibitors exceeded expectations since the screenings were announced on June 17. “There’s a level of excitement that’s been generated because of the iconic nature of the film,” he added.

It will also be released digitally on July 26 and via DVD and Blu-ray on Aug. 2.

(Original article written by Dave McNary for Variety.  See article HERE)

Go to Fathom Events and get yours before they are gone…

Jun 182016
 

killingjoke_ani_byphaYou can get to see the KILLING JOKE on the big screen before it hits the stores

FATHOM EVENTS, along DC COMICS  have organized a one night event where they will show the KILLING JOKE animated film in  theaters world wide.

The special event is to occur on JULY 25 and many theaters offer two showing times.  You can visit Fathom Events site HERE to see a list of the theaters who are going to show the movie and purchase your tickets ($13.31 + service fee).

I already have purchased mine and can’t wait to hear Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy through the speaker system and watch the movie in digital…Hurry fast to get yours before they are gone…

May 302016
 

..and we fans love him for that.

And that is because Mark Hamill, is the best known voice of the Joker in animation and video games.

He started voicing the Clown Prince of Crime in BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS) in 1992 after the original voice actor for the role, Tim Curry, was deemed too scary for the role.  Once Hamill took the helm of the role he made him his and came to be portrayed on subsequent animated series like SUPERMAN ADVENTURES, STATIC SHOCK, and the JUSTICE LEAGUE. His haunting, maniacal, and crazed laugh is likely forever stuck in the heads and became the trademark of the character.

He even voiced the Joker in several animated movies like BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER  and the BATMAN SUPERMAN MOVIE.

Not satisfied with the animated media, Hamill made the jump to the video game industry when he was cast as the voice of the Joker first for the game BATMAN: VENGEANCE based on his BTAS character and lately for the ARKHAM ASYLUM/ ARKHAM CITY/ARKHAM KNIGHT video games series.  He also went on to voice the Clown for other animated games like DC Universe Online.

Hamill then retired but was open to return for voicing Joker in an animated adaptation of THE KILLING JOKE

getthelastlaughwithMarkHamill

…that has finally been completed and ready to hit the stores in August 2, 2016.  But that has not stopped Hamill who is supposed to return to his character once more for the Cartoon Network TV show, JUSTICE LEAGUE ACTION, which will likely premiere sometime in the next year.

As Hamill has played the Joker longer than any other actor, it’s no surprise that he’s spent more than a bit of time trying to get inside the Clown Prince of Crime’s warped head. In the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, he had this to offer about arguably the most intriguing super villain of all time:

Opening quote

Joker is always frustrated because he doesn’t think of himself as a villain…He thinks of himself as an under-appreciated genius. The citizens of Gotham City don’t accord him the reverence and the acclaim he feels he deserves. I give him that theatrical impresario voice, like the Jose Ferrer character in Enter Laughing. The Joker has a flamboyance that appeals to me. He enjoys what he does so much. I just can’t quit him.

Closing quote

Of course, the most exciting bit out of this is that it would seem Hamill has no intentions of giving up the role anytime soon, which will no doubt make a lot of fans very, very happy. However, the glimpse into the Joker’s mind that he also offered fans with this quote is also quite intriguing as well.

Anyone who’s watched Hamill’s version of the Joker knows that this description fits him perfectly. He does have more of a classic criminal attitude about him than some other iterations (such as Ledger’s anarchist), but the reason he ultimately does all of the crazy things that he does is to show off his comedic, criminal genius.

(Based on original article by Zain Charkawi for OUTER PLACES which you can read HERE)
May 192016
 

SuicideSquadJKRandHQfeaturepic3On May 19, IGN reported that in in an interview, Jared Leto revealed that playing the Joker for Suicide Squad had been the most fun he had in film.  Here is an excerpt of the report by NICOLE CARPENTER:

Suicide Squad actor Jared Leto had a “blast” playing the Joker, despite having to shave his eyebrows off for the second film in a row.

Getting the call to play the Joker was “terrifying and exciting” for Leto. “It was a real honor to get asked to play the part,” he added. “These characters are so special to people and I have a lot of respect to that.”

During an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show, the actor told Degeneres filming Suicide Squad was “the most fun [he’s] ever had on a film.” And it sure sounds like he did; back in April, it was reported Leto sent a bunch of disturbing gifts to his co-stars.

Leto also became “part detective, part writer,” and met with actual killers and psychopaths when preparing for the role.

He’s not the only one who did weird things to get into character. Enchantress actress Cara Delevingne said she got naked in the woods and walked around howling.

Following is Leto’s interview with Ellen Degeneres :


(Original article HERE)

Apr 232016
 

SuicideSquadJKRandHQfeaturepic2COMINGSOON.COM, Silas Lesnick released an interested bit of an interview with Jared Leto and Margot Robbie talking about what it was playing the Joker and Harley Quinn.  Here is an excerpt of that article:

“I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about that so much,” Leto smiles, “But we walked in a completely new direction. I think we knew that we had to do that. It was important to do that. When the Joker has been done and done so well, it gives you a bit of an indication of where you shouldn’t go. There’s a bit of a map there. That’s the good part about it.”

As a fan of the character himself, Leto is thrilled at the chance to offer a brand-new take on a role that has become something much bigger than the sum of its parts. 

“It’s quite an honor,” Leto continues. “Joker has been written about in pop culture for 75 years. I’m just the latest in the long list of people who have redefined and reinvented this character. The actors, the voice actors, the television series, the writers, the artists and the fans. People have taken the Joker and reinvented and redefined for 75 years. It is really special to be asked to do that.”

Starring opposite Leto is Margot Robbie in the first ever big-screen depiction of psychiatrist turned psychopath, Harley Quinn. While the Suicide Squad Joker may be aiming for a brand-new take, Robbie suggests that what we’ll be seeing from her character is classic Harley.

“I did a lot of research on mental illness and codependency,” she says. “I was trying to access a way in to understanding why she’s so in love with the Joker. I kind of decided that she’s codependent on him. Now that I’ve done the research, I realize that that’s more of an addiction than an illness… You see many sides of her. Sometimes she’s really funny. Sometimes she’s really mean. She just enjoys everything she does. Whether she’s doing something good or bad, she’ll have an equal amount of enjoyment out of it. She’s not always the most likable character.”

(For complete article, please visit COMINGSOON.COM HERE)

Apr 162016
 

joker-is-front-center-in-new-suicide-squad-trailer-820751B. Alan Orange met with actor Jared Leto go get an interesting interview about the research he underwent when developing the personality of the Joker for the upcoming film SUICIDE SQUAD.  The article was published in the MOVIEWEB site and you can read it HERE.

Let me bring up some interesting excerpts:

Jared Leto’s acting methods on the set of Suicide Squad have become legend. We know that he stayed in character for most of the shoot. And that he sent his cast mates some very disgusting gifts, which included used condoms, dead animals, and sticky porno magazines. What we haven’t heard about yet is the extensive research he did before climbing into the pale white skin of this madman. And this consisted of meeting with real-life murderers, psychos and psychotherapists.

About crafting a new Joker, director David Ayer had this to say.

“The Joker has a lot of different looks, sort of built from the looks throughout the history of DC Comics but with a new sort of flair and flavor on him so he does feel like a modern-day gangster, because… he’s always been a gangster.”

 …

Until now, Jared Leto hasn’t publicly spoken out too much on his role. He wants to leave an air of mystery lingering around the performance. About making the character new for audiences again, he says this.

“We knew we had to strike new ground. There had been such great work that we knew we had to go in a different direction. So you had a kind of direction from the very beginning, knowing that you can’t go that way, so you have to head this way. That was really helpful. But the Joker is fantastic because there are no rules. The Joker operates from instinct. David and I had conversations and I think he trusted that I was going to go out and experiment and explore and come back with something for him to continue the collaboration with. And it was nice to have that trust from him. He really let me lose and encouraged me. That was a priceless thing when you’re working with a director to have that faith and trust.”

Jared Leto goes onto describe the kinds of research that went into finding who this version of the Joker is. This is no longer a comic book character in the hands of this Oscar winning actor. No, he insists that this is one of the most realistic versions of the villain ever seen in any medium.

“He became a real person. I don’t know if person is the right word. I think the Joker lives in between reality and another plane. Kind of a shaman in a way. It’s a very intoxicating role to take on. You have permission to break rules and to challenge yourself and anyone around you in a really unique way. I first started at the beginning, educating myself, researching, reading as much as I could, going back to the source material. And then at a certain point, I knew I had to stop doing that. Because the Joker has been redefined, reinvented many times before. I think the fun thing about it is when people have done it in the past, there is some spirit of the Joker essence that they keep, but they either build upon something or tear something down and start again at the beginning.

For me, I knew once I had gone through the process of educating myself, I had to throw everything away and start from the beginning and really build this from the ground up. It was a transformative process. There was a physical transformation. There was a physical conditioning. There are a lot of things [I did].

It’s probably better to not get into it but to the Joker, violence is a symphony. This is someone who gets an extreme reward from the act of violence and manipulation. Those are the songs he sings and he is very in tune with what makes people tick (love this quote). I did meet with people that were experts, doctors, psychiatrists that dealt with psychopaths and people who had committed horrendous crimes, and then I spent some time with those people themselves, people who have been institutionalized for great periods of time. I guess when you take on a role, any role, you become part detective, part writer, and for me that’s my favorite time of the entire process, the discovering, the uncovering, and the building of a character. Yeah, it’s really fun.”

Jared Leto goes onto talk about the character as though he is a person removed from the actor himself. He insists that he wasn’t present for the shoot. But that, depending on who you ask, The Joker did have a great sense of humor. The actor then went onto talk about the video he made, which was shown to the rest of the cast right before a big dead hog was dropped in the middle of the table at the script reading.

“I think in the beginning it was important to set up and define our relationship, so to speak. [laughs] There were a lot of things. It was fun. You’ve got to remember doing these things isn’t just about the result, it’s the process. It’s working with Mr. Frost, who is the Joker’s henchman. It’s making the choice and the decision of how am I going to introduce the Joker to the very first people who will meet him. So it becomes an exercise as much for me as it is for anyone else. And it’s as much about the process as it is about the results. How do you go about these sorts of things? How do you work with the people around you? It was a lot of fun. The attention to detail and the process that we went through helped to bring a life to the character for me. Those actions and those gestures-the joker loves a grand gesture. Those were really important. And they were fun. The Joker is someone who doesn’t take things too seriously.”

and from the site COSMIC BOOKNEWS (please read more HERE)…

…  As far as the look of the Joker, it was a collaborative process. There were things I brought to the table and things David brought to the table and it was a mashup of both of our sick and twisted minds. There were specific things that he liked and wanted and I was there to help bring them to life in the best way I could.

I think the most important thing I brought was probably not to do with the outside but with the internal. But you know David was specific with tattoos. They were his idea but there was a lot to play with. Who knows what will end up in the final film?

Apr 102016
 

SuicideSquaddatePerry Carpenter for the INQUISITR reported the following:

With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice currently out in theaters, fans are already starting to look forward to DC’s next biggest offering, Suicide Squad. Although Suicide Squad won’t be out until later this summer, Ben Affleck recently opened up about his part in the movie and discussed Jared Leto’s performance as the new Joker.

…While the topic of conversation varied throughout the interview, Conan O’Brien eventually asked Affleck point blank about his time on the set of Suicide Squad.

“I’ve got to ask Ben, because Ben shot scenes for Suicide Squad, highly anticipated. You’ve seen several people play The Joker. Any comments on his performance?” Conan asked Affleck.

Of course, Affleck left out any major details because of contractual obligations, but he did comment on Leto’s performance.

“I think Jared Leto was a genius but I’m bound by more confidentiality agreements than you can shake a stick at. I’m just going about my business… He’s brilliant. Masterful. Brilliant, brilliant guy.

(Please read the whole article at the INQUISITR HERE)

Apr 032016
 

killingjoke_ani_byphaMy favorite Joker story of all time, and I can’t just way to see it…so to tease the fans DC Has released a preview of the animated film…full 10 minutes of insights of what promises to be one of the best Batman animated films in a long time.   Please sit back and enjoy this nice preview with me…

 

I can’t wait for this film to come out….

 

Apr 022016
 

NRjrbjtEIb05_18aIl_VuimGKN7nG32FfLA04oKWOCsLucas Siegel wrote a  very interesting article for COMICBOOK.COM about Jared Leto’s approach to his characterization of the Joker for the SUICIDE SQUAD MOVIE.  Here is  what he had to say:

Jared Leto looks at The Joker as a Shakespearean level character. That’s the core of how he approached the Clown Prince of Crime for Suicide Squad, something he found important because of what’s come before at the talents of folks like Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Mark Hamill, and others.

“The work that’s been done on this character by so many people before me has been so impactful,” Leto told EW, “so incredible, so much fun, so profound, so risky, that it’s a very special thing to be asked to take on that responsibility.”

He looks at playing The Joker the same way someone might approach a role in a Shakespeare play that’s been so well-defined by many actors before him.

“Whether you’re a composer working on a piece of music that was written a century ago, or you’re an actor on stage, reinterpreting a play, it’s very common these days. Directors take on great works of cinema, actors reinterpret roles, that’s been going on for a great deal of time. From Scarface to Hamlet. In some ways it’s really interesting to reinterpret, redefine. It a weighty thing to do. But it’s exciting. The Joker is one of those roles,” Leto said. “He was written brilliantly when he was first shared with the world 75 years ago.”

He said that he “had to make it [his] own,” and ultimately, he’s “just really grateful [he] had the opportunity.”

(Lucas Spiegle’s article originally published in COMICBOOK.COM on March 31, 2016. HERE)