Why so serious????

oh god, that was HORRID....

I like Adam West's acting much better as Mayor of Quahog

The Batman is not exactly a "superhero." He has no super powers to speak of. Christopher Nolan's main contribution is delivering Batman as he was always meant to be in the comic books. Tim Burton's take on the myth was too stagy for my liking, and its only saving grace was how Michelle Peiffer was able to bring Catwoman to life; not the campy TV show version but her true self. For all the (deserved) praise heaped on Heath Ledger's performance, what he has done is succeed where Jack Nicholson wouldn't or couldn't: he has remained faithful to the Clown Prince Of Crime's true persona.

That's what I said, in two posts: $155.34 million. Ah see what you were saying now. I filtered out that lame Mamma Mia crap.

no bellyfull, The Dark Knight's earnings over the weekend were $155.34 million. Mama Mia, the very "white" looking ABBA soundtrack movie, came in second at $27.6 million. I was surprised by the gap between those two figures. Also, and it really applies to this movie in particular, you guys shouldn't trash it until you see it. It's much more than some crappy "superhero movie."

yes, i've heard that oz.. it is not a "superhero" movie exactly.. i love that about this series - the more human the drama, the more possible the action seems as opposed to fantastic four, which was almost unwatchable

I didn't miss Katie much....she was good in "Begins" and probably had more screen time than Maggie Gyllenhaal(sp), but Miss G played her part well....in fact, all the actors did....great performances throughtout, The plot, storyline and character development was all excellent, and, Ledger's performance was simply awesome.....I never saw or thought of Ledger playing the Joker.....the character grabs you from his first appearance and keeps you riveted and believing all through the movie.

It didn't feel the least bit like a "super hero' or "comic book" movie....more like a high quality mix of classic crime drama and psychological thriller.

i will love the movie as much as i loved "batman begins", if not more. ledger, i'm sure, is riveting. but if i'm tomkat, i insist that holmes reprise her role - just to be part of history and this phenomenal franchise.

Save your judgement until you guys see the movie and Ledger's performance!

Agreed, Sundin, pretty mediocre. I can't think of anything I've seen that he was in that I was blown away by his performance. Haven't seen Brokeback and that's supposedly his best.

Ledger was a mediocre actor at best. Unless this role is MILES beyond anything he's done... Dark Knight will make its profit and we'll be able to buy the DVD in about 8 months..... and that will be all. Thank you.

i know a makeup artist who is not going to be very happy when i tell her what you said, bellyful ;P

That's technical, not performances.

dick tracy won for best makeup :)

Name one superhero movie that's ever been nominated or won an Oscar for performances. Maybe for technical stuff. If he gets nominated or wins it'll simply be--like most things at the Oscar's--a political thing because he'd dead. Everyone, stop shining his shoes (or his casket more accurately).

I'm betting Ledger does get an Oscar.....and his performance deserves it

$27.6 million? Yahoo! said it was $155.34 million.

damn it, another missing comment. Well, here goes again: Dark Knight did set a new record, and Mama Mia (uhg) came in 2nd with..... 27.6 million. Hahaha! As for the Joker's appearance, in this movie it was makeup. With something this cool you don't need to pay attention to old crappy Batman folklore. Actually, in one scene, the Joker removes his makeup to blend in with the crowd (leaving only his scars on his face.) He explains how he got his scars about 3 different ways in the movie, too, so you can never really tell how it happened.

Batman could have vetoed Robins choice of outfit and never did.... because HE LIKED IT!

On another tangent.... on the greater spectrum of heroes... good 'ol Batboy ranks at the bottom of the barrel.... rich dude with a black belt. I suppose it was the writing that made it take off. A lot of people loved Frank Miller

I thought it was Robin who had it for Batman.

Batman is gay

'Dark Knight' set the biggest weekend record ever at $155.34M

In the Michael Keaton version, a plastic surgeon made the permanent smile saying- "it was all he could do!"

Bellyfull, thanks! you're right about Keaton, I made a mistake: shame on me! :s

Yeah, Repub, I was thinking that the acid thing was why he looks like this now.

I saw this movie last night. It was pretty good, and Heath Ledger came out very well. He has a great insane laugh. Vis45 is right, you don't get an academy award for parts like this.

FIB, you seem to be a fan of fantasy, and science fiction. Is that info from the greater world of batman folklore? I didn't see that in the movie. Although in the Michael Keaton version, wasn't he dropped in a vat of acid?

Yeah, FIB, this movie is a bunch of Bushit.

Unless I'm misunderstanding some of the comments made here, the Joker doesn't wear makeup. His skin is chalk-white, the result of his "brilliant" idea to escape from the chemical company he robbed by swimming through the pipe used to drain waste chemicals into the river. That's also why his hair is green, and his lips are red.

I loved Gangs of NY!!!! I want teleport to grow his facial hair like the butcher... it would be awesome.

All the goth kids are going to start painting their faces like this now.

And Moua, Michael Keaton didn't play the joker in Batman, he played Batman. Jack Nicholson played the joker.

And I can tell you right now that there's no way he's going to even be nominated for an AA.

"Why So Serious?" is one of the Joker's creepy catchphrases in the film. Also, his makeup looks a little rougher here, but it looks like that because he's not some junky comic book villain. The Joker's in the adult World now, and his makeup matches Heath Ledger's incredible performance and the character he created. He definitely deserves an award for this role.

To visitor45 again: Playing the Joker isn't the main reason I said Heath Ledger deserved an AA, not only for this role but for his impressive INTERPRETATION OF the Joker & the way & the force he played it. To my mind, an AA for his whole career will be as legitimate as that role precisely. But, you're right, playing only the Joker isn't worth an AA, otherwise Micheal Keaton would have had to recieve an AA for his own interpretation of Joker in 1985 in Tim Burton's Batman. If Heath Ledger got the AA for this film, even if he didn't know it anyway, that would be great!

To the others: Martin Scorcese is a "man appart", a sort of Genius of crime movies, a specialist of dark movies with "tortured" characters (in both ways I mean) & an AA worthy director!

Btw: If there's a chance for Jar-Jar Binks to get an AA, I'm the Pope!! lol :D Because as far as I remember, the character of Jar-Jar was awful!! ;D

It's Dark Knight, HWR, the new Batman film.

Candygirl, Is "Why so serious????" the name of the movie?

I'm not a big Scorcese fan, but I really liked The Departed. I bought it the first week it was out. Something about those Boston Crime\Cop dramas. I really liked Gone Baby Gone.

Ledger's other nomination for the Academy Award was for Brokeback Mountain. A good role, but not Oscar worthy. I think that this thing is hyped up, even if the Dark Knight is a good movie, and Ledger delivers.

I agree about the Academy Awards being politics and that they only give them to old people. One of the best examples of this is Martin Scorcese. In my opinion he should have won best director for at least one of these: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, or maybe Gangs of New York. It took something like 30 films for him to finally win one for The Departed, which I've heard is really good. But still, he should have won one for either Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, or Casino. I haven't seen one of his movies that's not good. He's been ripped off for years.

...being dead has that effect, zom... ;)

And I don't think any of us can say if Heath should get an award for the Joker or not until we have seen the film. I hope it's a great film :)

Vis, jar-jar binks deserves an award. Preferably used to inflict trauma to his his skull... :D

even if he did get an academy award, posthumously, Heath wouldn't know about it anyways..

moua, you do not get academy awards for playing the joker. you do not get them for playing R2-D2 or jar-jar binks or for playing a chimp from planet of the apes. HAL did not get one, nor did E.T., nor jaws and there is something wrong with your brain, methinks! :)

To visitor45: tsss! Don't be silly please! It's obviously an Academy Award for playing the Joker I meant!

To Republifacist: what you're saying is also true! It's kinda pity!! :( But, I won't change my mind, he should have one!

If he deserves an academy award. Most of that is just politics anyway. I don't watch the award shows, but I've noticed that they give them out to old actors that have been screwed out of awards for really impressive performances in the past.

an academy award for playing the joker and then dying at mary kate olsen's house?? uh?? are you wrong?? uhhhhh....

Don't know about the movie yet, but just one thing: R.I.P. Heath Ledger!! I'm truly sure that the movie will be a great success thanks to all actors' talent, especially the Australian Heath Ledger who deserves posthumously an Academy Award!! Who doesn't agree?? I'm sure that I'm not the only one to think about it... Am I wrong?? Uh???

it's not makeup, bellyfull, stop ruining the image!!!! :D

I can only imagine how much it sucked to fight the crowds at the midnight showing. Was there anyone dressed up in costume?

I heard it was good, but is there a reason the makeup looks like it was done by a five year old?

I saw this movie at the midnight showing about 12 hours ago now..... INCREDIBLE! It's also got impressive ratings, everyone should go see it!