Photos from the Pittsburgh, PA, set of The Dark Knight Rises are making their way online, and with filming possibly continuing in the city through the winter, it’s likely we’ll be seeing many more of these photos surface in the coming months.

To welcome the cast and crew of the film, the city has put out the Bat-Signal in support. Check out the photo here above [...]

Set photos from Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises have started hitting the web recently, and this week’s addition is Tom Hardy in his full Bane costume. These set photos suggest a lot of things about the upcoming movie, and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to take the time to work out some possible scenarios. (Photos are here below.)

Okay, so first up we have Hardy as Bane. The look is interesting, to say the least. If the paper in Hardy’s hands is not a copy of the script, then it can be believed that he will be reading some sort of prepared statement in which he is addressing the public, as he’s clearly standing on a camouflaged Tumbler. And unless he’s about to crush the car while juiced on venom, I have to believe that this is the case. He’s obviously not working in the shadows or behind the scenes, which is honestly what I thought he would be primarily doing since that was how Bane was working in his introductory tale from the comics with Knightfall. For a while there, it was appearing that The Dark Knight Rises was, in fact, going to be taking some cues from Knightfall, and while it still might, it’s becoming apparent, through these set photos, that Bane will be working more in the public eye. So Bane might be trying to draw Batman, played by Christian Bale, out into the light of day. We’ve seen through the teaser trailer, and based on the final scenes of The Dark Knight, that Bale’s Batman is taking time away from crime fighting to some degree, so for Hardy’s Bane, who is historically a foreigner to Gotham City, to challenge Gotham’s Dark Knight would be an excellent way to bring Batman back into the fold [...]

Amazon is currently offering a $20 credit towards future purchases after you pre-order the video game Lord of the Rings: War in the North for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Also, with the pre-order, you’ll receive the Amazon exclusive in-game Orc Champion Sword, which increases your character’s max health. A code for access to the Orc Champion Sword will be emailed to you on the day your product ships.

The game will be released on August 24, 2011; Xbox 360 is priced at $56.54, while PS3 is $59.99. There’s a pre-order price guarantee for both editions, so if you pre-order now and the price decreases between your order time and the end of the day of the release date, you’ll receive the lowest price.

Note, the promotion can end at any time, so get in on this now while it’s available [...]

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at TeeFury today is a Goonies-themed shirt called “Super Sloth” by artist Raz.

The sale began at Teefury today, Sunday, July 31, 2011, at midnight EST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore [...]

“Pockets on Shrek, Rockets on deck
Tell me what’s next, alien sex
I’ma disrobe you, than I’mma probe you
See I abducted you, so I tell ya what to do
I tell ya what to do, what to do, what to do”
-Those Kanye West “rhymes” from ET

Despite the geektastic union of James Bond and Indiana Jones sharing the same 40 feet of screen for the very first time, Cowboys & Aliens remains, after a distractedly puzzling 2 hours, a study of ‘Oh, what could/should have been’. You leave as the credits roll not necessarily dissatisfied, but with the niggling feeling that, considering the pedigree of those involved in front of and behind the camera, this movie should be a lot better than it is.

In terms of Steven Spielberg-produced alien invasion flicks, C&A is leagues better than June’s 80′s nostalgia theme restaurant Super 8. It appears that 1880s evil aliens have a lot more going for it than 1980s weepy bitch aliens.

However, if the thought of seeing Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford together is just too enticing, then by all means go. Just make sure your expectations are roped nicely in check, for though the names Spielberg, producer Ron Howard, Lost’s Damon Lindelof contributing to the screenplay, and Iron Man director Jon Favreau may lead you to expect genre transcendence, you may just have to be satisfied by the very averageness of the production.

Time for some SPOILER TALK! Below are SPOILERS for Cowboys & Aliens. Free free to add your thoughts in the Comments section [...]

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
Directed by Rodman Flender
Starring: Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter
Release Date: June 24, 2011 (limited)
On Demand

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year and half, you’ve at least heard of The Tonight Show debacle that happened last year. Conan O’Brien‘s short-lived reign as the show’s host only lasted 7 months, but the fallout from his departure lasted significantly longer. Though it was certain O’Brien would land another show with ease, as part of his exit deal with NBC, O’Brien was prohibited from appearing on TV and radio for six months. To fill the gap, O’Brien went on his “Legally Prohibited from being Funny on Television Tour.” But even during this time, O’Brien often found himself in front of a camera, as Rodman Flender filmed a documentary about the trip. Nearly a year later, the film is now showing in a very limited amount of theaters.

The appropriately titled Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop opens with a brief summary of the events that led O’Brien to leave his post and follows the tour from conception to its aftermath. Starting with the idea of a road show, O’Brien and his team of writers and producers hastily lay out plans for a 90-minute program that is little more than an idea even after tickets have gone on sale. Pressure begins to mount quickly as, to the visible surprise of everyone, the first two shows sell out in less than 20 minutes [...]

The recent news that Netflix had decided to raise prices yet again was easily one of the most unpopular decisions ever made by a company. Even if it was a legit business move and Netflix has to make these changes to stay on top as they expand, it clearly was announced far too soon after their last hike, and anger spread the world wide.

If Netflix’s price increase was one of the worst things to happen to you recently, just remember that you’re not alone. Seinfeld star Jason Alexander and the Netflix Relief Fund are on a mission to help those of us who have been victimized by ever–rising prices, and this tragedy has not gone unnoticed.

You can see the Netflix Relief Fund video with Jason Alexander by clicking on over to the other side now. [...]

Back in April of 2009, we found out about the impressive cast being put together for a movie called Red Tails, which was being produced by George Lucas and his Lucasfilms banner. Now, over two years later, a trailer for the movie has been released, and you can see if for yourself below.

The movie tells the story of a group of African American dogfighters known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who built an incredible reputation during World War II for getting the job done, but weren’t always allowed anywhere near the action due to the racist policies of the time period.

Continue on below now to check out the first trailer for Red Tails.

The movie’s cast includes Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Method Man, Bryan Cranston, Kevin Phillips, Rick Otto, Lee Tergesen, Andre Royo, Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, Marcus T. Paulk, Michael B. Jordan, Jazmine Sullivan, and Gerald McRaney. [...]

Cowboys & Aliens
Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Clancy Brown
Release Date: July 29, 2011

The two genres of film I love the most are science-fiction and westerns. They both speak to my soul and provide fuel for my imagination. When I dream of fantastic adventures, it either involves me traveling through space to magnificent distant worlds or exploring the frontier of a new nation being forged right here on Earth. Combining the two genres into one glorious and entertaining package is like presenting me with the cinematic equivalent of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. It would definitely explain why I love Firefly and its big screen sequel Serenity so dearly. But I love it when a movie crossbreeds genres like that. Among my favorite directors of all time are John Carpenter and Walter Hill, two great filmmakers who made their careers playing around with the archetypes and stylistic flourishes of western storytelling in modern settings. Hill, unlike Carpenter, actually got to make a few honest-to-God westerns in his life. Both the science-fiction and western genres are inhabited with intriguing, larger-than-life characters populating worlds filled with mystery, chaos, and wonder, another great reason why the two distinct genres complement each other so well as long as neither side overwhelms the other over the course of the story. Jon Favreau, no stranger to making films with elements of the fantastic (Elf, Zathura, the Iron Man movies), understands this perfectly and it is that understanding that accounts for a huge part of the success of his latest feature, Cowboys & Aliens [...]

Amazon currently has some great albums on sale in MP3 format for only $5 each through the end of July. Here’s some of my suggestions from the 100 albums available in this sale.

– Van Halen: 1984
The album, released in the year 1984, was the band’s final effort with charismatic frontman, singer David Lee Roth, and also spawned chart-topping hits “Jump,” “Panama,” and “Hot For Teacher.”

– KISS: You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best!!
Best of album of KISS tunes from the original “make-up” line-up. Twelve songs, all good — “Rock And Roll All Nite,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Beth,” “I Stole Your Love” — I could go on and just name all 12 songs basically. Also includes live version of “Take Me,” as well as a 17-minute audio interview with the band conducted by Jay Leno.

– Yes: Highlights – The Very Best Of Yes
A collection of awesome songs by prog rock band Yes, including the insanely big hit “Owner Of A Lonely Heart,” which I always felt did not represent the sound and immense talent of this band. Instead, take a listen to “Starship Trooper,” “Roundabout,” “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Wonderous Stories,” and “Long Distance Runaround” from this Best Of album. All masterpieces, I promise.

– Blondie: Best Of Blondie
When I was around 8 years old, I taped a penny to one of those BMG order forms and picked Best Of Blondie as one of my four albums to get for only one cent. Til this day, this is one of my favorite best-of albums to listen to. This collection contains 12 songs from the band Blondie, fronted by Debbie Harry, and chances are, you know most of these tunes: “Call Me,” “Rapture,” “Heart Of Glass,” “Dreaming,” “The Tide Is High,” “One Way Or Another,” and a bunch more [...]

ComiXology is running a sale all this weekend on Superman-related digital comics for only 99 cents each.

Note, the sale is only for this weekend — Saturday, July 30, 2011 and Sunday, July 31, 2011.

You can download the digital versions for the Android, iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch of select issues of titles like Action Comics, Superman, All-Star Superman, The Adventures of Superman, and much more for only $.99 each at the ComiXology App. You can also purchase and read these items online at ComiXology’s website [...]

There’s no greater Lord of the Rings fan than Stephen Colbert, host of the most awesomest television show, The Colbert Report. So, it’s almost as if Congress was begging for a segment on his show when they recently referenced Lord of the Rings in comparison to the current debit crisis.

Watch the 4-minute segment here below from The Colbert Report, where the host tries to straighten out the Lord of the Rings analogies.

This latest incident was sparked by Sen. John McCain, who read from a Wall Street Journal editorial that referred the Tea Party members as “hobbits,” stating that “…the Tea Party hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor,” in regards to the Republicans refusal to raise the debt ceiling [...]

The t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is a mash-up of Ghostbusters and School House Rock called “Zuul House Rock” by artist Hillary White.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Saturday, July 30, 2011, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore [...]

The first season of the HBO series Game Of Thrones was a great success. Now that the debut season is over, fans are wondering what HBO has planned for the hit series. Will each season be based on one book of George R.R. Martin‘s Song Of Ice and Fire novel series? Will HBO adapt all of Martin’s current and future novels in the series? And more importantly, will HBO cancel the series before its time?

HBO Co-President Richard Plepler and HBO Programming President Michael Lombardo fielded these types of questions this week at a press conference with the Television Critics Association. According to HitFix, Lombardo said at the conference, “I can promise you that we won’t stop it before it’s ready to stop” with Plepler stating, “We told George [R.R. Martin] we’d go as long as he kept writing.”

Maybe Plepler thinks they show will go as long as Martin writes, but Lombardo is clearly more guarded about the situation. You can read a lot into his words — who decides when it’s “ready to stop”? [...]

Marvel revealed last week a new line of hardcover graphic novels that will introduce new readers to Marvel’s biggest characters while still offering new stories for long-time readers.

The line is called Season One and is spearheaded by Marvel editor Tom Brevoort. The line will launch next year, starting in February, with the following four books:

Fantastic Four: Season One
Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, art by David Marquez

X-men: Season One
Written by Dennis Hopeless, art by Jamie McKelvie

Daredevil: Season One
Written by Antony Johnston, art by Wellinton Alves

Spider-Man: Season One
Written by Cullen Bunn, art by Neil Edwards [...]