I thought the voters in the academy awards were from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

I just got back from seeing it....Holy Shucks what a great film. I know this has been said many, many time, but this is not the Batman we're used to seeing. This movie was dark and creepy, like Micheal Myers creepy.

I'm going to see it again this weekend.

This movie was absolutely awesome!!

I think I'm going to see it again sometime this week actually.

Just got back from seeing this. It was incredible! Heath Ledger is hands down THE best Joker. And the Watchmen trailer was the perfect appetizer to the main course that was The Dark Knight.

I'd like to see Heath Ledger get an Oscar for his performance. The Return of the King gives me hope. It was a fantasy picture and it won best picture. So maybe the Academy can see past a comic book movie and nominate Heath Ledger based soley on his performance.

just got back from viewing #2 and it only got better for me.

If you have a chance see this movie in IMAX, its simply breath taking

Wow....just simply amazing. I am never going to be comfortable around pencils ever again. I NEVER clap for a movie, but there were more than a few occasions where I just couldn't help it. Heath Ledger...what can I say that hasn't already been said? That's right, nothing, moving along, believe the hype there. The entire cast is amazing, the stunts are top notch, and it ends on the perfect note. Christopher Nolan and company should be proud. Bravo!

You all over hyped this movie. I don't think it has Oscar Best Picture, but it is the best picture I have seen so far this year, just don't think it is Oscar winning. Nomination sure.

Agree, Heath Ledger should get an Oscar for his performance. I just wish he was alive to make it seem more like he won from the excellent performance he done and not the Academy giving it because he past away. Honestly, years later people will say "He got it because it was his last film" Wrong! He got it because it was an excellent acting performance. Each scene with Heath in it was excellent and he made the movie worth seeing.

The whole movie was entertaining and the story(s) were excellent. Still it all boils down to a comic book hero versus the villain. I would have a tough time putting it on the shelf along side movies like Schindler's List & Amadeus... next to The Return of the King, I could see that. But I think Return of the King won it as the Academy giving all 3 movies the nod and not on the final movie alone.

Thank you Tanzien. While some of the actors (Ledger, Oldman, Caine) all give great performances. The rest of the cast kinda stunk it up. Aaron Eckhart was a decent Dent, he EPIC FAILED at Two Face. The CGI makeup was terrible, he looked like Jerimiah Hex not two face. As much as I abhor her, Katie Holmes was a better Rachael than Maggie. The movie was easily a half hour too long. Just imagine the movie without Heath, gross. By no means is this movie BAD, I just think overall I liked Begins (and Iron Man) more as a singular experience. I feel like Nolan maybe suffering from a combination of George Lucas/ Sam Rami disease, feeling self important, and having too many antagonists in a single picture.

Just to reiterate, I did LIKE this move very much, however it does suffer due to overhyping.

I think you mean Jonah Hex. ^_^ I don't think he looked like Jonah Hex at all. In fact, the makeup effect reminded me more of Harvey Dent from Batman: The Long Halloween. Hmmm...would't mind seeing that as a movie or an animated feature!

Now that I think of it, The Dark Knight had a lot of elements similar to The Long Halloween. I'm going to have to re-read this one.

ToBillBrasky wrote:

QUOTE:
Thank you Tanzien. While some of the actors (Ledger, Oldman, Caine) all give great performances. The rest of the cast kinda stunk it up. Aaron Eckhart was a decent Dent, he EPIC FAILED at Two Face. The CGI makeup was terrible, he looked like Jerimiah Hex not two face. As much as I abhor her, Katie Holmes was a better Rachael than Maggie. The movie was easily a half hour too long. Just imagine the movie without Heath, gross. By no means is this movie BAD, I just think overall I liked Begins (and Iron Man) more as a singular experience. I feel like Nolan maybe suffering from a combination of George Lucas/ Sam Rami disease, feeling self important, and having too many antagonists in a single picture.

Just to reiterate, I did LIKE this move very much, however it does suffer due to overhyping.

With Ledger's death and the overall largeness of this movie there was no way for it to avoid being over hyped.

With that said I do believe this movie delivered on most of my expectations. After a 2nd viewing in the real world it makes sense that Two Face was resolved rather quickly as there is no way Harvey Dent would have lived very long with his injuries.

The thing that makes this movie special are the decisions that have to be made for the greater good of Gotham and the consequences that follow.

Heath Ledger was just AWESOME!!!!
Two funniest scenes w/ the joker have to be making the pencil "disappear" and where he blows up the hospital wearing that nurse outfit. (LOL)

I have seen this movie 4 times already i just cannot get enough of this movie Heath Ledger is simply amazing and this movie is the best movie this year. Simply breath taking

I just saw it for the second time and I am ready to see it again. In fact I think i will go see it a couple more times tomorrow. This is my favorite movie of all time.

In order to argue as to why it should get Best Picture, there are spoilers below. If you have not seen the movie, don't read the spoiler section.

Why do I think this movie is in the "Best Picture" category?

Spoilers: First, the acting is superb. While Ledger's performance will get most of the publicity, other performances are excellent as well. Ledger's Joker is deviant mind that cannot be trusted. He preaches chaos but has intricate plans. Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman embodies Rachel's assessment - "There may come a time when Gotham does not need Batman, but there will not come a time when you don't need Batman."

Maggie does a wonderful job with Rachael, the woman who loves Bruce was and cannot live with the fact that Batman is the real personality that Bruce has become. Katie Holmes could not have pulled this role off. Perhaps the most difficult of roles was Aaron Eckhart's. At the start he is believable as the man who makes his own future, but he must become the true agent of chaos. Joker leaves nothing to chance, really, but Two-Face is chance incarnate - life or death decided by the flip of a coin.

But all of that implies that there is a story within which these characters can tell their stories. At two and a half hours, one might expect material that could be dropped. Not here. If you think the movie is too long, I'd be interested in knowing what you think could be removed.

The scenes with the Wayne Corp accountant are a setup. Even the conversation with Lucius where Lucius asks if he's trying to blackmail a masked vigilante who beats people up is not the payoff. The payoff is Bruce/Batman saving the accountant after he's about to reveal who Batman is. The look between the two after the accident is better than any dialog could have been.

Another scene that doesn't seem to have a payoff is Batman telling Alfred that he knows now what he has to become to defeat men like the Joker. The immediate implication was that he would have to kill him, but that is the one rule Joker wanted him to break. What Batman has to become is the ultimate peeping Tom. The thing that Lucius would leave him over. But after beating the Joker, he destroys the capability.

One final set of scenes that show the care with which the story was put together. Joker first explains that he got his scars from his father. At the time this seems plausible, and we are meant, I think, to believe the tale and sympathize a bit with him. Later, he tells a different story, one in which he inflicts the wounds on himself to show solidarity with his wife. By this time we are to realize that he cannot be trusted even in the smallest detail. He truly cannot be analyzed and is one of those people who just want to watch the world burn. When he attempts to tell a third story to Batman, we don't need to hear it to know that it will be different. But Batman doesn't need to hear it either. In that scene we learn that Batman has come to see that Alfred is right. There is no rationale behind the Joker. He cannot be analyzed or reason with, only beaten.

This is not to say that I believe The Dark Knight is going to please everyone. In many ways it is too complex for the normal summer fare. There is less spectacle than one might expect, though what is spectacular. It is also dark, not merely visually but thematically.

There are a couple of further caveats to my argument. The first is this is a should not a will argument. To me, what (or who) should win an Academy Award is not a indicator of the typical winner. I have been surprised in the past (Unforgiven) and the deserving picture gets it, but I would not bet on it in any given year. Second, not everything has come out yet this year. There still may be a picture come out this year that even I feel is more deserving. What I'm really arguing is that this film is as good as many of the past winners.

The Dark Knight has broken opening day Records with $66.4 Million (including Midnight shows) And has broken the Record for BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND EVER!!!!! WITH $155.34 MILLION

This is pretty long and it does include spoilers so reader beware.





Yesterday, I attended a screening at a full IMAX theater and I have to say, this is just one of those films where I went in knowing it would be good and left blown away. Heath Ledger quite simply WAS the Joker. First, the fact that Christopher Nolan wrote a version of the Joker who was as insane as his character is implied to be is amazing. You don’t just hear about how he’s crazy, you see it. To begin, the fact that he switched the story about how he got the scars goes to prove that Nolan understands just how insane this man is and when he tells these stories, you believe him. The fact that he wants nothing more than to just see this city join in insanity goes to show how deep this character was made.

Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker was just as good as how he was written. Ledger gets the subtle nuances of the character and delivers a performance that is truly epic. Everything from the tone of his voice (calm, cool and utterly insane) to the very way he moves across the screen tells me that no matter how they continue the series, they should never bring the Joker back for the simple reason that the character would be completely wrong. One scene in particular, when he confronts Harvey Dent in his hospital room and unleashes the character of Two-Face, is an utterly brilliant piece of cinema.

On that note, the true break-out character to me wa