Close up: The Dark Knight of the right?

The big story As anticipation mounted, it was last week's big story; now it's here it's this week's too; and more than likely it'll be next week's as the dust settles. The Dark Knight Rises is the third and last of Christopher Nolan's Batman films: whatever the verdict from our critics , the level of interest it's sparking is astonishing. Today – 19 July – we had a Beatles 64 moment : the five most popular stories on guardian.co.uk/film were DKR related. But fanaticism is one thing, abuse is another, as aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes has discovered. It was forced to ban a prankster's negative review , and then shut down the DKR comments thread entirely . Some of this might have been anticipated: perhaps what hasn't is the unlikely scent of political controversy surrounding the film. Our writer Catherine Shoard suggested that the Caped Crusader may be serving a pro-capitalist ideology – something perhaps anticipated when Frank Miller made that anti-Occupy rant last year – and while Rush Limbaugh made a fool of himself by claiming DKR was a liberal conspiracy against Mitt Romney , it at least meant comic-book writers Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan – who invented supervillain Bane - outed themselves as "lifelong conservatives." Don't say we didn't warn you. In the news Johnny Depp to star in new Wes Anderson film David Hasselhoff to make cameo in Baywatch movie Peter Jackson in talks for third Hobbit film Peter Morgan in talks to develop Hugh Hefner biopic Celeste Holm dies at 95 after a career in films and Broadway musicals Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood's first superstar, dies aged 69 Retailer's decision to drop The Blind Side upsets Christian faithful Twickenham studios saved for film production On the blog Why Bruce Lee and kung fu films hit home with black audiences Tails of stardom: how dogs are making it big in film Can Lindsay Lohan finally bring Bret Easton Ellis's LA vision to life? Clip joint: Timepieces Cine-files: Duke of York's Picturehouse, Brighton Ice Age 4 drifts into UK box office to a very warm welcome Which films are better than the books they are based on? Watch and listen The Guardian Film Show: The Dark Knight Rises reviewed Alex Cross: this trailer could seriously make you angry Dr Seuss' The Lorax: watch the trailer Ping Pong: watch the table tennis documentary on demand Further reading Reel history: Chariots of Fire: history gets the runaround Sixto Rodriguez: 'It's a typical rags-to-riches story' Swandown: two men in a pedalo Morgan Freeman: Obama, Mandela, Batman and me In the paper In this Friday's G2 Film & Music there are interviews with Shannon Lee (daughter of Bruce), Susan Sarandon and Sylvia Syms, while Peter Bradshaw reviews The Dark Knight Rises. On Saturday the Guide considers what other high profile directors might have done if they'd been put in charge of the Olympics opening ceremony instead of Danny Boyle, and there's a look at Michelangelo Antonioni ahead of the reissue of Red Desert. The Observer New Review on Sunday carries an extract from a new Marilyn Monroe biography, Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox by Lois Banner. And finally Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook