Today only, Amazon is offering 22 movies you can download to own for $5 each in HD, and $4 each in SD.  Per Amazon, “Purchased videos will be stored in Your Video Library where you can access them whenever you want; watch on your PC, Kindle Fire, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or more than 300 HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top devices.”  Hit the jump for the list of films (which includes titles such as The Dark Knight, Casablanca, The Goonies, 300, The Town, The Departed, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Matrix) or click here for the full list on Amazon.

Now playing in theaters is director Olivier Megaton‘s Taken 2.  In the sequel, Liam Neeson’s character unwisely takes his family on a European vacation, only to find himself and his wife (Famke Janssen) taken hostage by the family members of the henchmen that Neeson brutally murdered in the first film.  The film also stars Maggie Grace and Rade Serbedzija. For more on the film, here’s four clips and all our previous coverage.

Last week in New York City I participated in two interviews with Neeson.  One was an exclusive video interview (which you can watch here), and the other was a roundtable interview with a number of other journalists.  During the group interview Neeson talked about how the sequel came together, what it was like filming in Istanbul, the car stunts, how much of a backstory he has created for the character, what it’s like being considered an action star, what props he’s taken home from set, his thoughts on a Taken 3, and more.  In addition, Neeson talked about working with Ricky Gervais on Life’s Too Short, told a great behind the scenes story about making Batman Begins, and revealed that Christopher Nolan wouldn’t tell him anything about The Dark Knight Rises.  Hit the jump for more.

Though it was already pretty much expected, we now have confirmation from Warner Bros. that an extended edition of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on home video sometime during the fourth quarter of 2013.  The idea of extended editions for Jackson’s The Hobbit films is somewhat intriguing, though, given that the adaptation was initially expected to be two films in length before Jackson was granted permission to extend it to a full trilogy.

Hit the jump for more, including details on an “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Now that Christopher Nolan has concluded his trilogy of Batman films with The Dark Knight Rises, a complete collector’s set of the director’s Bat-opus is coming to stores.  Some artwork for the UK release of The Dark Knight Trilogy has landed online, giving us our first look at the complete collection box set.  Details on the set are scarce, but the artwork on this UK release is pretty great, weaving in different themes from each film in the trilogy.  It’s important to note that the US release could look completely different, but for now hit the jump to take a look at the UK box set.

The Dark Knight Rises hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 3rd.

If you don’t know what Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s full name is for his character in The Dark Knight Rises, don’t fret; I’ll save that tidbit until after the jump.  But since director David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis) decided to chime with his opinion on Christopher Nolan and his Batman trilogy, we thought we’d let Gordon-Levitt have his say.  In a recent appearnce on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Gordon-Levitt talked about the final scene from The Dark Knight Rises and whether or not that sets anything up for a future film.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

As you’re likely aware, the 2012 Summer Olympics kicked off in London yesterday. In other words, it’s time for me to care about competitive swimming and gymnastics for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. To all of our readers, especially those internationally-based, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the Summer Olympics. Is it an event that evokes your inner-patriotism and love of otherwise obscure athletic feats? Do you take great joy in defeating the ol’ U.S. of A. in something other than Math and Science scores? Sound off in the comments.

This Saturday brings us the Man of Steel teaser trailer set to John Williams‘ original Superman score, coverage from our visit to the set of Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis‘ The Campaign, an extended trailer and first official images from Cloud Atlas, interviews with the fellas of The Watch, and Brendan’s latest By the Numbers installment covering The Caped Crusader from Batman: The Movie to The Dark Knight Rises. Unless you’re a Top 5 noob (in which case, welcome aboard!), you know that a brief recap and link to each can be found after the jump.

Whether you’re a fan of his take on the character or not, director Christopher Nolan changed the face of superhero movies forever with his Dark Knight trilogy.  It seems like nearly every other comic book property since the release of Batman Begins has taken a “gritty” approach to the story, with Begins acting as the benchmark for grounded superhero adaptations.  Nolan’s story has now come to a close with the third and final chapter, The Dark Knight Rises, and he’s written a sort of “farewell letter” to the series and the character.

It’s a touching, revealing look at Nolan’s journey to Rises and how his ambitious Batman reboot spawned one of the best—and most successful—trilogies of all time.  Whatever your thoughts on how the final film unfolded may be, Nolan’s mark on the genre is undeniable and he’s set a new standard for what the term “upping your game” means.  Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

I can’t say who is the biggest superhero in comics, but when it comes to their big screen counterparts, the debate is short: It’s Batman. With the release of The Dark Knight Rises, the collection of nine Batman feature films over the last six decades is on its way to $3 billion in worldwide gross. To celebrate I present Batman by the Numbers, a feature that provides a numbers-based snapshot of each movie and its place in the filmography by looking at the box office, critical reception, and miscellaneous facts.

Hit the jump for a comprehensive review of Batman at the movies, featuring Batman: The Movie, Batman, Batman Returns, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.

People toss around the word “epic” far too much in describing the things they like and the failures of noobs. But the films of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy are epic, in every sense of the word. Which makes the trailer we’re about to show you really freaking epic. Imagine, if you will, that Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises were actually one big blockbuster. Now imagine they made a trailer for that blockbuster…and it was really, really, really great.

Weaving together footage from all three chapters, what lies on the other side of the jump is not just another appetizer for The Dark Knight Rises, but an illustration of the remarkable ambition and scope of this whole series. This is the first big screen comic franchise that works as one (pristinely executed) arc, with a clear beginning, middle and end. We should all look forward to the day when we can pop them in the Blu-ray one after the other and, with the final credits rolling, utter the word “Epic” as we’ve never meant it before. For now, hit jump to be blown the hell away.

One of the coolest things at Comic-Con 2012 we’ve seen so far is the collection of Batmobiles spanning from Adam West’s 1955 Lincoln Futura all the way up to The Dark Knight Rises’ camouflage version of the Tumbler.  It’s an impressive collection, one that billionaire Bruce Wayne was kind enough to lend for the festivities this week.  The Batmobile display is part of the Warner Bros. Extra Stage, which also features guest appearances from their television properties as well as videogame franchises like Lego’s The Lord of the Rings. Hit the jump to check out a ton of images from the Batmobile display and be sure to keep up with all of our continuing coverage here at Comic-Con.

For the past six days, Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man has held the top spot at the daily box office. It should surprise no one, therefore, that the reboot easily netted the weekend prize as well; earning an estimated $65 million from 4,318 locations. That gives the film a new domestic total of $140 million, a number that’s higher than early projections but lower than past entries in the Spider-Man series. Worldwide, the film has now earned a reported $341 million, which is not too bad for reboot…

Now that it’s officially July, The Dark Knight Rises will be here before you know it!  In the meantime, you can check out these new Movie Masters figures.  Batman (Christian Bale), Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), Bane (Tom Hardy) and Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) were previously released and a fifth figure features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Gotham City Police Officer, John Blake.  A sixth figure has been teased and we’ve got reports on who it will be, but we’ll save that spoilery info for after the jump.  There are also some new vehicles in toy form, including a Hoverjet and a Jetcruiser.  Whether these will show up in The Dark Knight Rises film or just the toybox remains to be seen.

Also starring Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Marion Cotillard, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises opens in IMAX on July 20th.  Hit the jump to check out the toy images.

Advance tickets for what’s likely the most anticipated film of the year went on sale yesterday, and it’s a safe bet that a great deal of The Dark Knight Rises midnight tickets are for IMAX screenings.  Director Christopher Nolan has made his preference for the format abundantly clear, and he filmed nearly an hour of The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX.  Select AMC theaters will be playing the first two entries in Nolan’s trilogy, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight back-to-back leading up to the midnight release of Rises, and now comes word that all three will be shown in the IMAX format.  Hit the jump for more.

Update: We reached out to IMAX and they confirmed that while Batman Begins was released previously in IMAX, this is the first time the film is being converted to digital IMAX in order for it to screen in IMAX theaters with digital projectors for the marathon.

AMC announced that they’ll host a Dark Knight Marathon on the evening of July 19 leading up to the July 20 midnight release of The Dark Knight Rises.  The announcement doesn’t specify whether the marathon starts with Batman Begins or The Dark Knight, but since AMC devoted an entire day to the six-movie Avengers marathon, you have to figure they’ll go for the whole trilogy, right?  Tickets for the marathon will go on sale June 11 at 12pm EST.  One thing to keep in mind: AMC lists The Dark Knight Rises at an epic 2 hours, 45 minutes.  You may be looking at eight hours of Batman that ends around 3am.  That sounds as exhausting as it does heavenly.

Hit the jump for the official synopsis and our recent coverage.

Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister is set to make his directorial debut. Having recently wrapped on The Dark Knight Rises with Nolan, the Oscar-winning cinematographer will next direct an untitled screenplay from newcomer Jack Paglen. The film will be financed and produced through Alcon Entertainment, who is keeping the logline under wraps for the moment. Pre-production is expected to start immediately while principal photography will begin early this fall. Pfister is best known for his collaborations with Nolan since the pair has worked together on seven films since 1999. His track record includes four Oscar nominations and one win for Best Achievement in Cinematography for Inception. Although this film marks Pfister’s feature directorial debut, he has been directing commercials for a number of years. Hit the jump for a look at his work throughout the years.