A week ago, director Christopher Nolan dropped some fairly big story information on The Dark Knight Rises, along with a crop of images that we saw as pretty low-quality scans, but today we've got some bigger, cleaner, cooler versions of the aforementioned images.  So now you can get a better look at Christian Bale once again rocking the bat-armor on his batpod and in chilly-looking Gotham City.  The big show here, though, is definitely Tom Hardy's Bane, who is striking a pose, standing atop a Tumbler besmirching Harvey Dent's good name, and seemingly shouting "Come at me, bro!" at an exhausted-looking Dark Knight.  Oh, and there's even a new behind the scenes picture of Nolan (C-Note, as he's known on the streets of Gotham) with one of those bulky, loud, and expensive IMAX cameras of which he is so fond.

On Monday, the internet was thrown into a royal tizzy when it was revealed (spoilers, I guess) that The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Bat-saga, will take place a full eight years after the second film, The Dark Knight.  The unexpected tends to cause a whole lot of nervousness amongst eager fans, but it's an interesting choice.  Batman Begins showed Bruce Wayne taking up his Bat-mantle, The Dark Knight had him accepting that it isn't a short-term kind of gig, and now The Dark Knight Rises will take him somewhere entirely new and different.  Though he doesn't go into specifics, Christian Bale has briefly discussed Bruce, Batman, and his three-film journey.

For months and months, the principal source of news relating to The Dark Knight Rises had to be blurry set photos from any of the cities doubling for Gotham in the last Bat-sequel, but now production is all over, the release date is about seven months away, and Warner Bros is ready to start properly spoonfeeding already-frenzied fans.  The latest print issue of Empire magazine contains the most extensive official information on The Dark Knight Rises, dropping a gaggle of non-set photo stills and heretofore unknown story details from Christopher Nolan, costume designer Lindy Hemming, and Tom Hardy, whose villainous Bane faces off against Christian Bale's Batman.  If you're spoiler-phobic, skip over the text that follows, but if not, feel free to get some salient story points, including the film's unexpected timeframe.

In the wake of Eddie Murphy's departure from his previously announced gig as the host of 84th Academy Awards Ceremony yesterday, the one idea for a replacement host that seemed to make a whole lot of people happy was the notion that The Muppets could do it.  That was, in all likelihood, never a viable option for a multitude of reasons, mostly practical, but now the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided on a willing replacement.  If Murphy was an interesting, potentially bold, choice, and The Muppets were unfeasibly bold, then the actual host for 2012 is a few notches in the other direction, since it's not Billy Crystal's first time as the clown at the Oscar rodeo.

A little movie desperately trying to garner some attention, The Dark Knight Rises is filming on location in New York for just one more week, after which production will wrap and months of blurry metropolitan set photos will finally come to an end.  As it happens, though, what could very well be the last crop of unofficial images from the production have arrived online, and the goings-on in Gotham are pretty huge.  These images from the set of Christopher Nolan's finale to his much-loved Batman saga are, however, quite packed with SPOILERS, so avert your eyes right about now if you're at all wary of being spoiled.  If, on the other hand, you never miss a spoiler from The Dark Knight Rises, venture onward.

Principal photography on The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled to end when the production finishes up its last leg of shooting in New York City on November 14th.  When that happens, it will see the end of six months wherein unofficial set photos provided by far the best look at the very secretive filming, and we all mourn in whatever manner is most appropriate.  Until then, though, Christopher Nolan and company are shooting in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and we can enjoy more photos from the set of The Dark Knight Rises.

On Friday of last week, we saw some images from the first day of filming in New York, with Christian Bale and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in and around Trump Tower.  Today, a gaggle of new unofficial pictures show more action being filmed downtown.  There's some motorcycle stuff and plenty of Gotham police cars, but more importantly, there are newer, clearer images of something we've seen before, something that could be considered a spoiler.

Today, production on The Dark Knight Rises began the final leg of its extensive location filming in New York under its code name Magnus Rex.  We've known for awhile that the two-week New York shoot would begin today in Manhattan, and though a previous rumor suggested that director Christopher Nolan might add the Occupy Wall Street protests to Gotham City turned out to be unfounded, the production was indeed out in full force today.  In fact, the location was quite the opposite of Occupy Wall Street, as Christian Bale and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were on hand to film scenes in and around a monument capitalism, self-glorification, and terrible hair: Trump Tower.

As this latest round of pretty much spoiler-free set photos shows, Donald Trump's edifice to himself is doubling as the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises, which explains why Bruce Wayne is present in one of his many sharp suits.  Gordon-Levitt, meanwhile, is suited up himself, wearing the Gotham City Police uniform of John Blake, a character created specifically for the film.

The Dark Knight Rises has finished up the penultimate leg of a long shooting schedule, as the production has wrapped up in Los Angeles, where its been filming since the start of September.  This week, the Christopher Nolan-directed franchise finale heads to New York, where scenes will be filmed in Manhattan, and last week, a rumor hit the interwebs postulating that Nolan and Co. might be adding the Occupy Wall Street protesters camped out in Zucotti Park to the texture of Gotham City.  It turns out that Occupy Wall Street won't be utilizing Occupy Wall Street during the production's two-week stay in the city so nice they named it twice.  Not only that, but some new, spoiler-filled details have emerged about story points being covered while The Dark Knight Rises hits Manhattan.

The Dark Knight Rises is nearing the end of its principal photography, and yesterday we heard that Christopher Nolan might film scenes that utilize the Occupy Wall Street protests when production heads to Manhattan next week.  Just because the conclusion of Nolan's Bat-saga hasn't even finished yet doesn't mean anticipation can't already be at ridiculous levels.  A new rumor asserts that Warner Bros will continue riling up audiences everywhere by attaching an six-minute IMAX The Dark Knight Rises prologue to this December's IMAX release of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. 

A month ago, Occupy Wall Street began in Manhattan as a protestation of the ever-expanding economic disparity in America and the institutions responsible for the current financial shamblefest.  It subsequently bloomed into a full-bellied global movement.  Now, participants in the New York protests might (maybe) be used as background scenery in a hugely-budget franchise sequel funded by one of the biggest multimedia conglomerates on Earth.  The Dark Knight Rises, currently nearing the end of its stay in Los Angeles, is heading to New York for the final leg of production, and apparently Christopher Nolan might incorporate protesters into his pastiche Gotham City.