Long wait anticipated for The Dark Knight sequel.

Based on conversations coming from within industry insiders as well as the apparent schedule for Inception, Christopher Nolan’s latest film, it looks almost certain that The Dark Knight sequel will be released in summer of 2012. This is because the preproduction, shooting, and postproduction from Inception which will be released in 2010 will take a total of 18 months to two years.

Firstly, let’s take a quick look at a little Nolan history.

We know now that the script for The Dark Knight was finished before the end of 2005 about a half a year after Batman Begins was in theaters. Nolan worked on The Prestige during the latter part of 2005 on into 2006, with the film ultimately being released in October 2006. In July of 2006 while the director was still working on The Prestige, Warner Bros officially announced that Chris would helm TDK, it would be released in the summer of 2008, and that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker. Once The Prestige hit theatres in Fall of ‘06, there was then a six month gap before filming began on TDK.

Right now, Inception is in preproduction. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine (internet forums, fan sites, official statements) filming will take place from mid-2009 and finish late in the year. Nolan and co. will most likely be involved with post production for most of the first half of 2010, readying the film for its mid-July release.

It looks as if there will be no way that BATMAN 3 can go through pre, filming, and post during the second half of 2010 and the first part of 2011 and be ready for a Summer ‘11 release.

Doing the math, the timeframe between The Dark Knight to Inception is nine months later than it was between Batman Begins to The Prestige so that’s nearly a year folks. Thus it appears that Batman 3 will come four years after TDK.

I know a four year gap is a bummer, but cheer up — at least we know a Nolan-directed Batman 3 is coming!

(And that’s more than we could say back in ‘97 after BATMAN AND ROBIN.)

Dimitar Berbatov has been under some serious scrutiny from critics, pundits and worst of all Manchester United fans. The Bulgarian has scored 8 premier league goals in 28 appearance and has contributed with 8 assists and has been subject to taunts as questions are being raised over his purchase. I have to say I think a lot of this criticism relates to his £30 price tag.

When Tottenham splashed out £10 million pounds on a 25 year old virtually unknown Bulgarian striker from Bayern Leverkusen, the name Serhiy Rebrov came to mind. A big money signing that went horribly wrong for the North London side back in 2000. Rebrov arrived at White Heart Lane with a big reputation mainly because he was Andriy Shevchenko’s old strike partner at Dynamo Kiev and the two shared a prolific partnership.  Spurs had spent £11 million on Rebrov and he turned out to be a total failure with 10 goals in only 60 appearances, he left in 2004 and has since returned to Dynamo Kiev.

So you could forgive me and the rest of the football world for being slightly skeptical when we collectively heard the news that Tottenham had purchased Dimitar Berbatov for what seemed like a huge amount of money for an unknown at the time (£10.9 million). In hindsight of course, it turned out to be a bloody bargain.  The classy Bulgarian did have a slow start to his career in the Premiership but it wasn’t long before he showcased his world-class talent.

I could list the qualities and traits of what separates the good players from the great players, what makes a footballer special, what separates players like Zidane, Cantona, Ronaldinho, and Maradona from your regular European class footballers and in my opinion Dimitar Berbatov possess those attributes so instead I’ll list his skills.

 The first of many great aspects of his game I noticed was his close control, he amazes me with his first touch, it is so deft, it’s magical, he can control a ball no matter its height, pace or angle, and he holds the ball up and creates space for himself. It is like time stops when the ball is at his feet and  like all great players, he has ample time on the ball, he can dribble and go past players although he isn’t particularly lightening quick. His vision, his eye for goal, he is a direct threat, a natural goal scorer yet he sets up as many as he scores. Another trait of his game that impresses me is his build up play, his passing range, He is incredibly unselfish and likes to slow the game down and play at his own pace, his body language suggest how natural it all is to him. Berbatov’s ability to strike a ball from all angles with both feet is another trait a few footballers can claim; he has already acquired a ridiculous catalogue of goals in his still very short Premiership career. (Think back to his effort against Middleborough) he can even header, he is an all-round striker and in my opinion the best in the premiership and among the best players in the world.

His great strike partnership with Robbie Keane kept players such as Jermaine Defoe and Darren Bent out of the Tottenham side, their understanding of each others games made it a joy to watch Tottenham sometimes bar their awful defense. Now he’s arrived at the big stage, challenging four trophies a season, playing alongside world class players and playing in front of 76,000 fans.

It was often printed in the papers that Manchester United were interested in Berbatov in 2006 previous to him joining Tottenham but never made a bid, and rumors circulating at the time suggested that United may make an offer in the summer 2008. They did and now almost a season later he is under pressure to play to perform to the standard of a £30 million player and I do believe he has at times, he hasn’t been prolific for the red devils but he has made a valuable contribution and I do believe he is worth the money, worth the hype and even importantly he is worth the wait. In my opinion, Dimitar Berbatov will have a major say in the business end of the season and will make the difference in those attacking positions.     

If there is a negative thing to say about Dimitar Berbatov is perhaps his body language isn’t great, he has a slight attitude problem when things don’t go his way and he is sometimes quick to demand a free-kick. Like most European players, he does not attempt to track the ball especially when he has lost possession himself, he exudes a silent arrogance that only truly great players can get away with, in that sense he reminds me of the great Eric Cantona, tall, sophisticated, mute and abnormally calm in any high-pressure frenzied footballing situations. 

Another credit to his class is his record on the international stage; Berbatov has scored 41 times in 67 games for Bulgaria which is a phenomenal record for a player who is not an out and out striker.  There is no doubt that Dimitar Berbatov is a world class player, a special player who deserves to play in great competitions such as UEFA Champions League alongside great players and win trophies, no disrespect to Tottenham but he was never going to win anything other than the Carling Cup with Spurs and at the age of 27, he needed to move to a big European team in order to truly fulfill his potential. 

 I’m a huge admirer of the Bulgarian forward and think he has made the premier league so much more exciting, I love to watch him play; his technical ability is of such a high standard, there is nothing he can’t do with a ball. He’s effortless and a real pleasure to watch.  It’s quite well known that Berbatov’s childhood hero was Alan Shearer who ironically turned down a move to Manchester United back in 1996; luckily Berbatov wasn’t stupid enough to make the same mistake as his childhood hero.  And I think the United faithful needs to back Fergie’s decision and give the Bulgarian their full support.

After tonight’s results in the Premier League, the title race is set to be a two horse race as Chelsea drew 0-0 in a stalemate at Stamford Bridge with Everton whilst Manchester United’s comfortable 2-0 win against Portsmouth saw them reclaim top spot. The tantalizing game at Anfield on Tuesday saw Liverpool drop two points against Arsenal and concede four goals which won’t do much for their goal difference if the title race does run to the wire.

The fiery Scot

It does seem like Chelsea’s titles hopes are over as they travel to the Nou Camp to face the mighty Barcelona and Gus Hiddink’s team appears to be focusing on the Champions League now.

Liverpool and Manchester United’s life long rivalry with have some title-chasing substance to it after the Merseyside’s team 19 year drought.  The advantage lies with United as after tonight’s fixture are 3 points clear with a game in hand, its not over yet but games are running out for Rafa Benetiz’s side who can now may end the season trophy less much to my delight.

And on a night where Paul Scholes join the 600+ club, it was Ryan Giggs who dominated play, they both seem to be getting better with age and after watching the feature length highlights, it was United best premier league performance of the season. 

After Rafa’s rants and Fergie’s criticism of his contempt for Sam Allardyce last week condemning the Spaniard’s of his arrogant nature, tempers have flared and Liverpool have been resilient competition but it looks the old master will win his 11^th Premiership title.

Paul Scholes is a perfect player, a professional on and off the pitch; he embodies the traits of players such as Bobby Charlton, Roy Keane and is a credit to English football.

The United veteran is fantastic ambassador of football and I am an intense admirer of the man.  Why you may ask? Because he is a world class English player… yes ladies and gentleman an ENGLISH player whose technique, vision and natural ability rivals the greatest players to ever have graced a football pitch. Because much similar to issues in real life… it’s the small unnoticeable things that matter, the small things which are not noticeable to the “human” eye. Or should I say Sven Goran Ericson’s so called footballing eye. Don’t get me started on that idiot.

Looking back four years ago at Euro 2004, when the entire country had jumped on the “Lampard & Gerrard” bandwagon (courtesy of most of my peers of course) even I had disregarded the Manchester United soon to-be-legend. But I now see the quality the man possesses.  His first touch is damn near perfect, his vision, passing range, movement and not to mention he’s got a rocket of a shot and a catalogue of goals which prove it.

My argument is this; how rare is it to see a world class footballer who is not tempted by the flares and glares of modern day football, a player who stays loyal to one club throughout his career, a player who consistently performs week in week out for years on end. Few come but so many go; Diego Maradona, Paul Gascoigne and more recently Ronaldinho have all self-destructed.  Just look at Ronaldinho a man so talented it could actually make you cry yet he lacks the passion and mental strength to deal with the pressure of top-flight football to the point where he is looking to play in the ever deteriorating Italian league!  

Paul Scholes has been an established first team player sine 1997; he has won 13 major trophies for Manchester United including eight Premiership titles and now it looks as though he will win 9. He is a player with such endless talent and yet such modesty, respect and possess natural passion for the game, he shuns the media spotlight; he does not have an agent and lives a humble life off the pitch.  A player so underrated by the Media but true football fans, ex-players and pundits agree he is the most gifted England player since Paul Gascoigne; however he has achieved so much more and in my opinion is a much greater player. He retired from the international stage at the age of 29, which broke my heart but I could understand why, Scholes is a huge family man and knew that England were going nowhere with Sven. What manager would sacrifice getting the best out of Paul Scholes in order to play Frank Lampard? Scholesy was fished out on the left of midfield even though he isn’t left footed or a particularly quick, the words “retard” come to mind when I think of Sven Goran Eriksson.  I remember Sven’s final press conference after the 2006 World Cup where he said sorry a thousand times. If only he could apologised for inadvertently shortening the international career of Paul Scholes.   He will go down in history as a Manchester United and England legend but perhaps in the future, he will receive the true recognition he deserves.   What a player, what a man.

Let’s hope he marks the occasion with a cracking goal.

The controverisal American comic

Unadulterated, politically incorrect, blunt and downright hilarious, Chris Rock rocked the stage at Hammersmith Apollo and made no apologies.  The American comic kicked off his first UK tour in Hammersmith, which was unbelievably his first “official” visit to the UK and something that many of his fans across the Atlantic have been waiting to happen for a long time. After the controversy of his most recent visit to the Capital, at the Live Earth event which was broadcast live on the BBC. Before introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock called the crowd “motherfuckers“. Due to the broadcast being at 5:45pm, Chris was immediately cut off and the BBC were forced to make several apologies in direct response to the complaints made by a minority of viewers. However I doubt that those who complained about the use of his language would have been present at the show.

For nearly two hours, he ripped into celebrities, politicians, and generally ranted about his usual subject matters such as women, inter-rational couples, relationships, racism and politics. Some of his victims were Britney Spears, Hillary Clinton and George Bush. He particularly raved about the strength of the pound in comparison to the U.S dollar. “In America, I’m a millionaire, I come to the U.K and I’m just another broke-ass nigga”. Considering he was performing his stand-up routine in the London for the very first time, he was extremely confident his jokes would translate to the audience.

Unlike most comedians there were no erratic showbiz piss-take, as he employed his dual trademarks of racial and social observations into one 90 minute long narrative, he suggested that white children are protected quicker than black ones in the U.S. “just look at Whitney Houston’s kids, he says, or O.J’s”   

 The controversial comedian had everyone in stitches, raised issues that everyone else was too afraid to address. Most ironically, he spoke the truth. Perhaps what separates Rock from his peers is not the content of his jokes, or comedic his style, or even his notorious delivery, it is his alarmingly accurate analysis of American society and the world in general. 

In a set full of topical material, Rock began with the Democrat presidential primaries and found rich pickings. The upcoming U.S election was a subject matter he spoke of greatly; the potential face-off between a black man and a white woman, says Rock, is like a “suffering contest”. Which oppressed group most deserves a crack at the presidency?  

To Rock, as to countless comedians before him, men and women are diametrically opposed. Women are motivated by money and security, men by sex. “Fellas”, he says, “if you lose your job, you gonna lose your woman.”

 It is well known that Rock’s influences range from the likes of Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and Woody Allen to name a few. Nevertheless, I do not think it is an overstatement to suggest that Rock may soon be remembered amongst Comedy’s all-time greats alongside those who inspired him from the beginning.  A man of many talents, the former Academy Awards host has also written a book, “Rock This”, and released two comedy albums and he was recently voted by “Comedy Central” as the fifth greatest stand-up comedian of all time. He also produces, writes, narrates and occasionally directs the TV comedy “Everybody Hates Chris” and was once voted the funniest person in America by Entertainment Weekly. 

Prior to the show, I anticipated a profanity-filled outburst on current affairs, “black” jokes, which are the stock in trade of many African-American comedians. Rock instead covered various topics such as politics, current affairs, celebrity-showbiz-news; he spoke of his past experience of being a young black boy from a working class family going to an all white School in “white-ass” suburbs in Brooklyn, New York.

After the show I was delighted that Rock shared his unique humor with us Brits. I knew of Rock’s talent previous to seeing the show at Hammersmith but I did not anticipate the substance of his content and the brilliance of his execution.

In the end, I felt privileged to watch a great comedian in his prime.

A great night out. 

Dimitar Berbatov: Under pressure and under performing.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team selection on Sunday cost us a date with Chelsea in the FA cup final.  Would Fergie chosen the same team had we played Arsenal or Liverpool? I thought sending out a team of inexperience clueless youths alongside Carlos Tevez who is not the most prolific striker in the premiership gave Everton a boost and subsequently ruined any hopes of a quadruple of cups. 

It was a sign of disrespect to Everton, a strong defensive side under the second best manager in the league who are still fighting for fourth place amid an injury-ravaged season. How could he assume Macheda and Welbeck would have scored or even created enough chances as our first choice players.

Where were Rooney, Ronaldo, Carrick, Giggs, Scholes, Evra, and Berbatov?Our team was fresh from a convincing mid week win at Porto, morale was high and form was creeping back into the side. It was a senseless decision by the Scott whose excuse about the Wembley pitch being a major factor for his decision as a poor attempt at hiding his disregard for David Moyes team. 

 Why start with inexperienced youngsters in a FA cup semi final  in order to avoid defeat and fatigue with Portsmouth mid week, Portsmouth aren’t no Barcelona, we still could have won three points at  Old Trafford this Wednesday having fielded a stronger side on Sunday. As a die hard United fan, I’m furious and really concerned about our teams attacking threat as goal scoring chances are looking hard to come by, excluding Rooney’s creativity and Ronaldo’s greed for glory, the odd set piece…where are our goals going to come from? I really can’t see us winning a game without the margin of one goal as for all our dominant possession, we simply don’t thrash teams anymore.  Dimitar Berbatov who has come under a lot of slack from United fans for his labored demeanor and causal playing style but for also his pathetic penalty kick against Tim Howard 

I am a huge fan of Berbatov and I have been defending him all season however his timing is not acceptable, he plays the game too much at his own pace, he’s slows the team down. He has to apply more urgency and at least some work ethic into his approach, especially in attacking situations. I believe he is a world class player and had a reasonably good season and I prefer him to Carlos Tevez because he is more affective, what Tevez achieves with three or four touches, the Bulgarian can execute with one touch.  He has scored some important goals for United and perhaps a little criticism will provide a much needed kick up the backside for who I feel is without a doubt one of the most gifted players the Premiership has ever seen. The United fans should hang onto that thought and back their striker.

I was reading the papers this morning and it was nice to the Sir Alex defend Berbatov and I do agree with the manager that perhaps his £30 million price tag has something to do with the fans fury, I’m sure that in due time that Berbatov will grant a moment of magic in an important game and win back the support of fans

Hopefully he’ll have a huge say in our business end of the season and add some silverware to his name

 A Day at the BBC…

I recently had the pleasure of shadowing  BBC radio sports newscaster Syerramia Willoughby who works on a show called “Fastrack”at World Service headquarters in Bush House, Aldwych. 

I contacted Mia via face book after my university lecturer recommended I get into contact with her, not only did she accept my friends request, she responded to my message and after a few scheduling conflicts, we agreed to meet and organise a trip over to the studio.  I watched Mia look out for sports results, multi-task with numerous headlines, write her bulletins and then watched in the studio as she recorded live. Probably the most eye-opening aspect was listening to feedback from the main boss as she evaluated the team’s show, which was interesting as it’s something all journalists will have to cope with, criticism both good and bad

The radio show she works on is called “Fastrack” and focuses on predominantly African sports news. There are many radio stations out there, but I loved the variety and unique show, covering cricket to football to skiing, it was an interactive set as the presenter read out texts from listeners and I saw how much effort goes into getting a quote, result or a report from a source, it was the real deal, captivating and professional. One of the things that impressed me was the time management aspect, right down to the last second, the timing was immaculate and everyone needed to be aware and alert of time. In the end we had a little Q&A session in which she gave me some tips on how to survive as a woman in a male dominated arena. Of course I was delighted to be given this opportunity and the chance to observe the action behind the scenes at the BBC. I always thought I’d delve into print and internet Journalism only but after having so much fun studying it at university and seeing for myself how the station functions. Radio is something I’m very interested in.  I usually listen to Five Live and BBC sports but I shall definitely listen in on “Fasttrack”. I found myself a little shy and tired as I was awake with a stomach bug night before however I hope I made a good impression and would love to experience something similar to that again.  It was a busy Friday afternoon for the crew but they worked extremely hard. I found the experience incredibly insightful and would like to give a very public thank you to Syerramia Willoughby and her collogues who were all very friendly and welcoming to me. Here is a link to the website and if you’re interested…listen in

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sport/2009/03/000000_fast_track.shtml

WARNING!!! THIS MAY CONTAIN CONTENT OF A DRAMATIC NATURE 

I’m not much of a food critic, I may be fussy when it comes to the minute details such as how much sauce is in a dish or how much oil lurks in a plate of chips or indeed how MANY chips are on a plate but I’m pretty laid back, little did I know a quiet evening out with old friends at Nandos would descend into utter chaos reminiscent of scenes of anarchy at the recent protests at the G20 summit in London.
I kid you not.
If I had a pound coin for every profane word which was yelled across between customer’s and staff alike, you’d think I was illustrating a scene from a south park episode entitled “Madness in Nandos - Kenny’s final death”

Before we embarked on what would be an embarrassingly eventful meal at the Portuguese joint. We walked into the cinema and had a quick browse of showing times for any movie, it was apparent that the hundreds of school kids were among us and seemingly had no interest in either eating out, watching a movie or playing pool or even playing any arcade games.  They were just there.

And with the benefit of hindsight, I realized perhaps they did have a purpose, it was to ruin as much peoples evening they could, and this is my account of my “Good Friday”…

I am self-confessed sauce addict and cannot tolerate lack of lettuce and salad in a burger or a meal, so when I recently went to Nandos with a few secondary school buddies in Park Royal, my jaw dropped when I received my plate.

It took me five seconds to count how many chips I’d been served and as a slowly lifted the lid of my burger (the suspense was immense) to my horror I was given two anorexic strings and strips of lettuce, a huge tomato which I specifically ordered against, an onion the size of my burger and no sign of peri peri. I was irritated as this was not the first time I’ve encountered stingy service at Nandos, I paid £7.90 for a meal which I could have compiled from the bins from the back.
Now I’m a reasonable person, I realize times are hard and that the economic crisis is affecting our lifestyles and I wasn’t too bothered when this “reunion” turned into a evening at Nandos, a couple games of pool in an arcade swarming with teenage hoodies and chavs who set out on intimidating anyone over the age of 21.

What irritates me is depriving customers of an extra handful of chips isn’t going to cut costs majorly nor is it going to break the bank. What it is going to do is put off customers or in my case force the customer to complain and request a bigger portion, which is going to affect costs as chefs often feel they have to over-compensate by super-sizing you.  I do sincerely suspect that the chefs are under strict instructions to go “easy” on side orders in order to skimp and save, particularly the ones that hail from the potato family.

I looked at the waitress and she came over without me having to signal, she looked embarrassed, I felt for her as she had not prepared the meal, I politely explained my fury at the mediocre quality and quantity of my food.  While the waitress whisked away my plate, I saw an emerging gang of youths enter the restaurant, the place was busy enough and looked low on staff. The teenagers didn’t appear to be searching for trouble but when they were refused entry, the atmosphere quickly turned nasty.

Soon there were shuffles, swearing and shoving between the youths who can’t have been too shocked at the snub by managers and staff, I could hear verbal threats being made galore. Then out of nowhere, the manager locked the door which left the four thugs in the restaurant refusing to leave and attempting to force the door open so there friends could join them for dinner. How thoughtful!
At this point, customers were restless and according to the manager and staff the police were on their way….

Fast forward 30 minutes later shall we.

Not only have I not received my plate of food back, but my mate’s orders were wrong, not to mention the fact people weren’t being allowed to leave the restaurant until the “authorities” arrived. It was tense, customers were fuming, and our table in particular was badly treated by staff whom ignored our requests over and over.

To the climax….

About 10 minutes of madness ensued when a middle aged man with a group of friends shouted at the boys who were wreaking havoc by eating olives, messing around with the ice-cream machine and helping themselves to drinks, staff intervened and things got physical between the youths and the staff who seemed to abandon every other customer in the restaurant. 

One particular staff member challenged one of the boys to the ground as he headed for the toilets and he was then attacked by the boys, who then waved a knife in the air and threatened to use it if his friends weren’t allowed to leave the restaurant
Meanwhile a crowd was growing outside as friends of the hoodies who witnessed the scuffle banged on the door and screamed coarse language at the staff, some of it racist as words like “paki” and “terrorist” were exchanged.

The manager obliged, unlocked the door and received a punch in the face for his troubles, as the teens fled the scene, the manager then locked the door again which caused rage amongst customers who wanted to leave. Some staff claimed desserts weren’t paid for but they didn’t seem to be able to account for which table owed money. That same middle aged man was shouting again, this time he was menacing as the youths who’d started the whole drama. “Were late for our fucking movie mate, open the fucking door!”

The police then arrived.  (Typical) even though almost 45 minutes late, they assessed the area, couldn’t find the hoodies and took descriptions of the offenders, took statements etc.

ALL the while, I’m starving my ass off, I find myself demanding a refund as does the rest of my table, luckily for the waiter, he complied and apologised for the hassle.
God forbid if I was refused a refund, might have found myself kipping in the slammer because that had to be the worst customer service I’ve ever encountered.
Hungry, impatient, tired and pissed off, our meal out was ruined, in the end we settled for some pizza from Pizza Hut where no hoodies where to be seen.

It was an unpredictable scenario, quite a scary evening at times and luckily no-one was hurt but I would definitely avoid leisure park complexes like those on a school holiday, which unfortunately attracts a youthful and troublesome crowd, I suppose it depends on your area.

Back to Nandos…I am a huge fan, love the food but I do feel more often than not their portions are a tad miniature especially with side dishes and its something that ruins the Nandos experience.

To my fellow Nando-lovers…Bon Preveito!

 

Can’t wait!

On the front cover the Kings don cowboy gear which automatically reminds me of their great song “King of the Rodeo”

“Cowgirl King at the Rodeo, let the good times roll, let the good times roll”

The good times certainly roll when your on the cover of rolling stone, congratulations to the Followills for what has truly been a stellar year, they finally break the US, win a Grammy, two brit awards, fastest selling single in British charts history, number one album, sell out world tour, headlining all major festivals including Glastonbury.
The list goes on, a hard working brotherhood which has seen four albums in six years, amazing and they deserve all the plaudit in the world.

The exclusive features, pictures and interviews as well a ten page spread, family photos and funny facts are all on the rolling stone site.
Any KOL fans…check it out now

http://www.rollingstone.com/issue107 7