Though director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy came to a close last year with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, it appears that we’ll still be seeing material from the franchise for some time to come.  Hot Toys has posted a few curious images that tease the unboxing of a rather massive 1/6 scale model of “The Bat” from The Dark Knight Rises, revealing that Batman’s aerial vehicle could soon be yours.  No price is given, but one imagines this won’t exactly be cheap.  Pre-orders are expected to begin in the near future, so keep an eye out.

Hit the jump to take a look at some images of the “Bat” model.

For proof that 2012 was a nutty year for awards contenders, look no further than the Best Director category.  Over the past few days, we’ve been looking back how the ebbs and flows of the past 12 months have shaped the awards race in a number of categories, and one of the most dynamic shifts came with Best Director.  After the jump, we run down how the race for Oscar glory progressed over the past few months to give us the five nominees who will be vying for the gold on Oscar Sunday.  Hit the jump to read on.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director Jill Soloway’s Afternoon Delight.  Starring Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor and Jane Lynch, the film’s about a L.A. housewife that “puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny.”  Featuring great performances from the entire cast, the film was well received by audiences and critics and Soloway won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award during the closing night festivities.

The day after the premiere, I landed an extended interview with Juno Temple.  We talked about how she got involved in Afternoon Delight, how much changed during production, how 2012 was an extraordinary year as she played a normal girl from the 70s, a schizophrenic, a stripper/prostitute, and a fairy, and more.  In addition, we also talked about making Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Alexandre Aja’s Horns (which stars Daniel Radcliffe), and Robert Rodriguez’ Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director Jill Soloway’s Afternoon Delight.  Starring Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor and Jane Lynch, the film’s about a L.A. housewife that “puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny.”  Featuring great performances from the entire cast, the film was well received by audiences and critics and Soloway won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award during the closing night festivities.

The day after the premiere, I landed an extended interview with Juno Temple.  While I’ll be posting the full conversation soon, today I’m posting what she had to say about making Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Alexandre Aja’s Horns (which stars Daniel Radcliffe), and Robert Rodriguez’ Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Hit the jump for more.

After a tongue-in-cheek tacky movie, a clever casting twist with Michael Keaton, and a slow, nipple-suited downfall further plagued by the crack of Catwoman’s whip, Christopher Nolan reinvigorated Batman.  Fantastical absurdity was replaced with practical reality and the comic edges were smoothed until a bat hero almost seemed like a real-world possibility.  Now the final installation of the trilogy has hit shelves, and you can check out a review of The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray after the jump.

It’s January 1, 2013, which means that 2012 is now officially in the rear-view mirror.  Quality-wise, it was a stellar year in film, and with over a month to go before the Oscars there’s still an exciting air of unpredictability surrounding the awards contenders.  2012 wasn’t so shabby box office-wise either, and we thought today would be a nice time to take a look back at the year’s highest grossing films, lowest grossing films, and everything in between.  This year saw a few comedy surprises, the highest grossing Steven Spielberg drama in a long time, a couple of superhero megahits, and the glorious disaster that was Oogieloves.  Hit the jump to take a look at 2012’s Box Office in Review.

To try something new with our top 10 lists this year, we opened up a readers poll where you could vote for your 10 favorite movies of 2012.  The tallies are in: 3,760 of you from over 100 different countries racked up 28,375 total votes.  Your top ten of the year are The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Skyfall, Looper, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Django Unchained, Argo, The Cabin in the Woods, Moonrise Kingdom, and Prometheus.

The two superhero giants were always a lock for the top spots, but I was surprised to find that a true majority of our readers voted for The Dark Knight Rises (59.9%) and The Avengers (55.4%).  It’s nice to see that not everything on the list is a blockbuster, as so many of you found room for the likes of The Cabin in the Woods (25.7%) and Moonrise Kingdom (21.9%).  Hit the jump for the full breakdown of the votes, including a comparison of American votes and international votes.

While I stuck to my genre-loving guns in my Top 10 Films of 2012 and Top 10 Trailers of 2012, I’m happy to branch out a bit more with respect to the year’s ten best movie posters.  Here’s where I get pretentious.  Posters have the difficult task of attracting attention, holding it long enough to convey a message and getting that message across without the use of sound or motion (normally).  I prefer posters that are minimalist in nature and leave you with an iconic image that you’ll forever associate with the film.  Bonus points are given to those posters that offer layered meanings tied into the movie in question and which inspire curiosity in the picture.  What follows are the year’s ten best posters from a mix of big budget and lesser known movies.  Hit the jump to check them out.

While 2012 was a great year for superhero movies, fans continue to fiercely debate which one was “the best.”  Those in Christopher Nolan’s camp squarely defend The Dark Knight Rises as the year’s best, while fans of Joss Whedon hold to the superhero assembly flick, The Avengers.  Few comic book fans may rally to support The Amazing Spider-Man for the top spot, but Marc Webb followers certainly liked his stamp on the property.  General consensus would suggest that none of these movies were perfect.  A new batch of micro-reviews from Cinema Sins point out the flaws in each movie and tally them up.  If you’re a fan of Honest Trailers or just want some more ammunition to tear apart your friends’ shitty opinions, you’ll like these.  Hit the jump to check them out.

Though many have likely already pored over all the extras on the multiple Blu-ray and DVD releases of The Dark Knight Rises, some might not have made it to the “concept art” section just yet.  For those of you that haven’t, a massive collection of images from said bonus feature has now landed online.  The result is a interesting look at the development and design process of a number of costumes and props from the film, including Bane’s mask, Catwoman’s goggles and costume, the Batpod, weapons, and even “Howard Hughes Bruce Wayne.”

Hit the jump to take a look at all the images.  The Dark Knight Rises is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download now.

Looking back on 2012, a ridiculous amount of highly anticipated films came out this year and with them came a comparable barrage of quality trailers. Since this year was heavy on the comic book-derived features, you can expect that to be appropriately reflected in this top ten list. Along with those juggernauts you’ve come to know and love over the last year, we’ve also included some trailers that got the blood pumping and the synapses firing in anticipation for 2013. Fair warning: there were so many fan-favorite movies this year that our top ten list is guaranteed to include AND exclude some of your favorites. Hit the jump to check out our top ten movie trailers of 2012.

As we wind down to the final days of the year, the internet is flooded with countless “Top 10” lists consisting of pretty much everything that ever existed in the past 12 months.  YouTube is getting in on the fun, but their list is unique in that it’s a Top 10 list compiled using statistics instead of subjective opinion.  The site has unveiled the “Top Trailers on YouTube for 2012,” which they compiled based on view count, view rate (how much of a given trailer people chose to watch), and organic views.

The resulting list may surprise you, as a whopping four spots belong to the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II alone.  There’s also one television show and five films that rank among 2012’s highest grossing films, though a major 2012 release is notably absent.  Hit the jump to take a look at the Top 10 Trailers on YouTube for the year.

A rumor surfaced late last month that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in serious negotiations with Warner Bros. to take on the role of Batman starting with Justice League—maybe even earlier, with the hint of a Batman cameo in Man of Steel this summer.  Gordon-Levitt’s representation was quick to deny the rumor, and “no” will be the official word for the near future regardless of the truth behind the rumor.  Movieline decided to ask Christopher Nolan—caretaker of the Batman franchise and producer on Man of Steel—directly if Gordon-Levitt or any actor might appear as Batman in Man of Steel.  Nolan smiled and responded:

“I can’t talk about that.  You know that.”

Nolan didn’t flat out say no like Gordon-Levitt’s reps.  Make of that what you will.

In the meantime, if you’re in the mood for something more tangible from the greater Batman universe, watch a fan recreation of the Dark Knight Risestrailer in Lego after the jump.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has narrowed down the Best Original Score race…to 104 entries.  The Academy has shortlisted over 100 scores from 2012 that are eligible to compete for the gold on Oscar night, including three from Alexandre Desplat alone (Argo, Rise of the Guardians, and Zero Dark Thirty).  Every year there are a few scores that are ruled ineligible for one reason or another, and this year those ineligible films include The Bourne Legacy, Moonrise Kingdom, and Rust and Bone.

For my money, the standouts of 2012 were Beasts of the Southern Wild, Looper, and The Dark Knight Rises.  I have a feeling Howard Shore’s work on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will end up being a favorite of mine as well.  Hit the jump to check out the full list of 104 eligible scores, and leave thoughts on your personal favorites from 2012 in the comments section.  The nominations for the 85th Academy Awards will be announced on January 10th, followed by the ceremony on February 24th.

The American Film Institute has announced its annual Top 10 lists.  In the film category, this awards season’s usual suspects popped up as Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Argo, Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook made the cut alongside Django Unchained and Moonrise Kingdom.  AFI is notable for also including a few popular titles on their lists (last year Bridesmaids and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo landed in the Top 10), and this year is no exception as fan-favorite The Dark Knight Rises nabbed a spot.  Notably absent, though, is Paul Thomas Anderson’s polarizing drama The Master.

On the TV side of things, Emmy-winner Homeland made the cut as well as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Louie, The Walking Dead, and FX’s American Horror Story.  AMC’s Mad Men landed on the list for a fifth time, making it the most recognized AFI Awards TV honoree in history.  Hit the jump to check out the full Top 10’s for both TV and Film.