The Dark Knight
News (Page 4)

The praise for Heath Ledger's perfomance in The Dark Knight continues to flow.

One of the late actor's co-stars in the latest Batman movie has gone on record saying he thinks Ledger should be nominated for an Academy Award. 

"I think Heath will surely get a posthumous nomination for an Academy Award," Michael Caine said late last week at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. "He was incredible [and] he was amazing, And I think he will get it. It's an incredible performance, just wonderful."

Will The Joker lead to an Oscar for Heath Ledger?

As if you needed another reason to go see The Dark Knight:

IMAX.com has confirmed that there will be a 15-second trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince attached to the forthcoming The Dark Knight in IMAX. The latter, of course, will be released in theaters on July 18.

Professor Dumbledore and everyone else from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be featured in an upcoming IMAX preview.

Aaron Eckhart recently held court on the character of Harvey Dent and his role in The Dark Knight.

Check out the interview below:

The Dark Knight may not premiere for another week, but Fandango reports that many of its pre-opening Thursday midnight shows on July 17 are already sold out. As a result, get this:

Theaters continue to add 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. showtimes to keep up with the ticketing demand.

"The Dark Knight may be responsible for a lot of bleary eyes at work next Friday morning," said Rick Butler, Chief Operating Officer for Fandango. "We're seeing a record number of late-night showtimes selling out in advance, while theaters are adding new performances every day."

An online survey of more than 3,000 The Dark Knight fans on Fandango.com last week resulted in the following information on the late-night popularity:

• 37% of respondents plan to see the film at least once during one of the late night performances on Thursday night.
• 38% say that they intend to take off a few hours or the entire day from work on Friday as a result of seeing the movie the night before.
• 60% of these moviegoers are male.
• 71% are under the age of 35.
• 39% plan to see the film in IMAX.
• 92% expect that the Academy will recognize Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker with a posthumous Oscar nomination next year.

Regardless of reviews, we'd be giddy to see The Dark Knight.

Considering the incomparable reviews the film, and Heath Ledger in particular, is enjoying, however, our enthusiasm for the Batman follow-up couldn't be higher. Here's a look at what various critics are saying:

- Daring and uncompromisingly different from previous incarnations of Batman, Nolan hasn't redefined the superhero genre as much as created an unforgettable piece of crime fiction within the context of that realm... -- ComingSoon.net

- A dark, ambitious, mature and gritty crime saga the likes of which Michael Mann or Martin Scorsese would be proud to call their own... -- Dark Horizons

- An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some... -- Variety

- The haunting and visionary Dark Knight soars on the wings of untamed imagination... -- Rolling Stone

Don't get us wrong: We'd go see The Dark Knight even if the only previews preceding it were for The Love Guru and Superhero Movie.

Still, it's encouragng to discover that when The Dark Knight premieres on July 18, viewers can look forward to a few exciting trailers before the main attraction. They're currently scheduled to include:

• Terminator Salvation (due out on May 22, 2009)
• Watchmen (March 6, 2009)
• Body of Lies (Octover 10)?

Which of these films are you most excited for?

Director Christopher Nolan spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Heath Ledger for this week's issue .

Here are highlights of what Nolan had to say about the man who plays The Joker in the The Dark Knight:

On Heath's commitment to his character: "The guy had serious nuts. What I needed was someone who wouldn't be afraid of the comparison with Jack Nicholson. And then I saw Heath's incredible performance in Brokeback Mountain. Such a lack of vanity. This was an actor who wasn't afraid to bury himself in his character â€" to a massive extent."

On Heath spending months working with a voice coach fine-tuning the Joker's cackling cadence: "He tried to articulate to me what he was doing with his voice, but it was sometimes hard to understand. He talked about ventriloquist dummies, the way their mouths moved, the way their voices wouldn't appear to come out of them. He said he wanted the voice to have a mocking quality, a sort of disconnectedness."

The viral marketing for The Dark Knight revealed this new poster today for the movie this week.

In the past week, movie critics and directors have absolutely gushed about the film. It opens on July 18.

Movie critics have already raved about The Dark Knight.

Director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats) just saw the film and he raved about it on his blog.

"Courtesy of Peter Sciretta over at SlashFilm.com, I caught an early screening of "The Dark Knight" yesterday evening.Without giving anything away, this is an epic film (and trust me: based on the sheer size and scope of the visuals and storytelling, that's not an overstatement).

It might not be humanly possible to look forward to a movie more than we're looking forward to The Dark Knight.

It's the "Godfather II" of comic book films and three times more earnest than "Batman Begins" (and f-ck, was that an earnest film). Easily the most adult comic book film ever made. Heath Ledger didn't so much give a performance as he disappeared completely into the role; I know I'm not the first to suggest this, but he'll likely get at least an Oscar nod (if not the win) for Best Supporting Actor.

F-cking flick's nearly three hours long and only leaves you wanting more (in a great way). I can't imagine anyone being disappointed by it. Nolan and crew have created something close to a masterpiece."

Warning: The Dark Knight spoilers ahead!

In a recent interview with MovieWeb, Gary Oldman - who plays Police Commissioner Gordon in the latest Batman franchise - praised the performance of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, while also giving away the ending of the movie to an extent.

"It's hard to scare kids these days. Heath does. He scares everybody," Oldman said. "This is one of the most frightening performances I have ever seen put on film."

When asked if he thought they should recast Ledger for the third film - giving away the fact the The Joker survives in The Dark Knight - or just not include the character, Oldman leaned toward the former.

"I don't see why not. I mean, they did it with Katie Holmes' character. I understand that this is a different circumstance, but I think another actor could do the job. I think Heath would want another actor to do the job."