‘Dark Knight’ wins, the next Batman film and flying cars all in Everyday Hero headlines

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Welcome to Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked headlines from across the fanboy universe...

PEOPLE CHOOSE DARK KNIGHT: ‘The Dark Knight’ has been doing well in the Hollywood guild awards and, no surprise, the second-highest-grossing film of all time also turned out to be quite popular at the People’s Choice Awards, which honors only the most commercially successful projects. Here’s the painfully cliched story from the Associated Press: ‘Holy People’s Choice Awards, Batman! ‘The Dark Knight’ soared away with every trophy it was nominated for Wednesday at the 35th annual fan-favorite CBS ceremony. The caped crusader flick won five awards, including favorite cast, superhero, action movie and on-screen matchup for Christian Bale’s Batman and the late Heath Ledger’s Joker. ‘On behalf of all of the cast from the movie, thank you very much to the fans,’ said Bale. ‘Here’s to Heath.’ ‘ (If you want to see other journalists who still think that references to the 1960s Adam West version of Batman is the height of cleverness, read this.)

GIVE ME ONE MORE ‘KNIGHT’: Meanwhile, MTV talked to ‘The Dark Knight’ producer Chuck Roven, who said Christopher Nolan is talking to writing collaborator David S. Goyer about that third Batman movie, which, of course, is still not a 100% sure thing ... in the same way that it’s not a 100% sure thing that the Earth continues spinning when you close your eyes.

IT’S 2008, WHERE’S MY FLYING CAR?: Every New Year’s Eve as I look at the calendar and realize that, despite the promises made to me as a child, we are well into the 21st century now and I’m still driving around on tires and asphalt. I watched ‘The Jetsons’ and I fully expected that I would have zippy flying bubble car by now and, well, I’m bitter. So I read this story from England with great interest: ‘It’s been a pipe dream for 30 years but now the world’s first fully available flying car is set to hit the roads next year. Ever since the ‘Back to the Future’ movies lit up our screens in the ‘80s, designers have dreamt of an automobile that could take to the skies at the push of a button. And now qualified pilots can order their very own Terrafugia Transition ‘roadable’ plane for just £127,000, with delivery planned for late next year. The ‘light-sport airplane’ promises to bring more ‘flexibility and convenience to your flying.’ The plane, which has fold-out wings that span 27.5 feet when extended, has an airborne range of 460 miles and can cruise at 115 mph. Back on terra firma, it is capable of traveling at ‘highway speeds’ in car mode. Fuelling the 19-foot long plane couldn’t be simpler -- you just drive it into a petrol station and fill it up with unleaded. It is powered by a 100 hp, Rotax 912S, four-stroke engine.’ [Daily Mail] (There’s lots of photos of the plane-car right here.)

GEEK PRODUCT OF THE DAY: OK, anyody know where I can get one of these? This particular online merchant is out of stock, but a stromtrooper hoodie is clearly something I need to own to remind the world that I am an unrepetant fanboy.

TODAY’S WATCHMEN VIDEO: So cool! Check this out ...

ON THIS DATE: The late, great Peter Arno, the cartoonist whose sly satire of Manhattan cafe society contributed mightily to the sophisticated tone of The New Yorker, was born on this day in 1904. It’s been a big week for Illustrators of acclaim from that venerable publication (which is, pound for pound, easily my all-time favorite magazine, by the way); Jan. 7 happened to be the birthday of the devlishly clever Charles Addams (1912-88), best known for creating the madcap macabre of ‘The Addams Family,’ which led to the television show, the films and the cartoons of the same name. (You can buy cartoons by Arno right here on The New Yorker website, while Addams and slices of his spooky genius can be found at the website of his foundation.) To celebrate the memory of these smirking geniuses, let’s skip the serious pages today and just look for the funny parts. NOTE: You can see video from different ‘Addams Family’ at the bottom of this post...

A political season snippet...

The 1973 cartoon...

The 1991 film...

The trailer for ‘Addams Family Values,’ the 1993 sequel...

-- Geoff Boucher