Tiny Lister! OK, I was about to ask which role he played, but Sean confirmed it was the one I thought and he was AWESOME! More than anything else, him throwing the trigger out the window (after saying he'd do what the cops should have done ten minutes ago) floored me with surprise in the most positive sense.

I was so worried that the asshat who said he'd pull the trigger on the other boat was going to, since Nolan had been playing decidedly not fair all movie.

Oh yeah, and Armond White is my go-to guy for most off-the-rails end-of-movie-culture-as-we-know-it guy. Who also worships the ground that Stephen Spielberg walks on, which makes it even weirder.

They're showing TDK at two different drive-ins here, and I would love to see it that way. It's been about a million years since I went to a drive-in. I thought they were all second-run now!

Every single Imax show for the weekend is already sold out out around here. That's just incredible. This thing is going to make SO much money.

I'm VERY curious what Nolan decides to do next.

There's a first-run drive-in near where my office is, but it's a totally sketchy neighborhood and I wouldn't go there by myself.

When I looked at tickets this afternoon, all the shows until after 11pm were sold. I didn't check again, as I'm totally jealous because I won't be able to go see it until Sunday.

Seattle IMAX sold out. Hoping to catch it Wednesday. Am trying to work out how to see sooner.

Just saw it, so of course I turn to the internets.

I was SURE that with the ferry mindfuck detonator thing, what would end up happening was that each ferry had their OWN detonator. The Joker would totally do that shit.

Heath Ledger was good, absolutely. And disturbing. I may never be able to watch Brokeback Mountain again. But I certainly don't think his performance was Oscar-worthy, as lots have been suggesting.

Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon still rocks my socks. He's so fucking good. (Also? I *totally* thought that Harvey really was going to kill Gordon's son. I mean, I thought the movie would go there. And I'm really glad it didn't.

I thought Aaron Eckhart was fanfuckingtastic. I mean, REALLY. There was some backstory I would have liked -- for instance, everyone who knows the comics knows that Dent was going to become Two-Face, so it wouldn't have given too much away if, earlier on in the movie, Gordon or another cop had actually revealed Harvey's nickname. It just felt really clunky and avilly when it did happen.

I'm so taken by the Harvey-needs-Batman/Batman-needs-Harvey storyline, and I plan to write more about it later.

Part of me has never been all that thrilled by the Joker, which is why I'm going to say this: I got the sense that this was supposed to feel like a Batman vs. the Joker movie, yet it didn't, to me. It felt mostly like a movie about Harvey Dent. (Or at least, to the extent the Batman Begins felt like a movie about Jim Gordon, this one felt like a movie about Harvey Dent. Yes, Batman was there, and Bruce Wayne's journey, etc. is significant, and definitely took a HUGE leap closer to the scary-ass dark twisted weirdo that's in the comics these days. But past Batman and the toys -- all Harvey Dent.)

And I certainly didn't expect to come out of the movie thinking THAT.

(Also, I lamented Katie Holmes being replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, since Rachel got killed anyway. It would have been SO much more satisfying to see Katie Holmes blow up.

Steph, massive snerk on your last whitefont. As to your main point about Harvey - I pretty much agree with you. In fact, I'd call the movie a battle between Batman and the Joker for Harvey's soul. The fact that they decided to not let the Joker win in the end, in terms of the public, was, I have to say, cheating on their part, and the Joker's going to know it. Sadly, as Jess (I think) said, I never want another actor to play the Joker, at least as long as this series is going on.

And I have to disagree in that I think Heath Ledger's Joker is a completely Oscar worthy performance. I really didn't think he had it in him, and there was stuff there that I'm not sure where it came from.

Okay.

I have now seen The Dark Knight. And I must say...AWESOME!

Many people bring up some very good points. I will whitefont a lot here.

Re: Joker (begin whitefont) Ledger made some *brilliant* choices. His choice to be so low-key (Loki? Mwahahahaha!) made the rare (like, three) moments in the film when he went full on (please to forgive pun) bat-shit maniacal with the laugh ULTRA SPOOKY. I wasn't the world's biggest Ledger fan before this movie (having never seen Brokeback Mountain), but now...now I truly mourn his passing as it means no more of that iteration of the Joker. I completely disagree with the above linked review regarding Ledger v. Nicholson. I never really liked the Nicholson Joker and seeing what *could* be done with the character I am now sated as far as filmic visions of the Clown Prince of Crime go. THAT was the Joker I knew could be put on the silver screen; scary on such a deep, primal level that you question your definitions of safe and unsafe.

I can see where Mr. White could get Nicholson's Joker was "multi-leveled" (though "sophisticated" in that context still eludes me); Nicholson's Joker was all about "I got hurt and that made me nutso". And that's a valid path to explore; it elicits audience sympathy for the character which is an easy path to horror when he does atrocious things. Unfortunately, it was Jack "I left subtle behind at the Cuckoo's Nest" Nicholson playing him, so the depth of that was never fully plumbed.

Ledger's Joker, in contrast, was the deepest of all human fears. He was the walking, talking embodiment of "sometimes really bad things happen to people for no discernible reason", which reaches way deep into our primal fears of the dark, the unknown and the capricious whims of Chance. He simply appeared and picked on...you, the common man (or woman) because he felt like it. He picked on Batman because Batman was there and visible...as he picked on Dent and Gordon. "The raised nail must be hammered down...in the most frightening way possible." Dent, Gordon and Batman were the most visible targets...only Batman was remotely physically equipped to deal with him.

THAT is what the Joker is...lightning striking you dead out of the blue, the tornado choosing YOUR HOUSE for no reason, an eagle dropping a turtle on your head as you meander your way to the agora...

Nicholson's Joker was "This could be you", which is pretty horrific and speaks to our deepest insecurities. Ledger's Joker was "This could be anything" and speaks to our deepest fears of the dark and the things we cannot control.

Eckhart was brilliant as Dent. Even before he became Two-Face, he was excellent. Once he became Two-Face...well, that deserves a movie of its own. I like Aims' thinking, which is: They never said Dent was *dead*. They said "the public cannot know what he did". It's entirely possible that they faked his funeral and Two-Face is languishing in some deep, dark, forgotten cell in Arkham. I hope so...he's the next logical villain.

The Dark Knigt is, in my opinion, the Empire Strikes Back of the new Batman franchise. They ended it in a way that begs for a third...not with obvious cliff-hangers, but with Batman on the run, the city in confusion...and Batman himself in confusion as to the worthiness of his path, his place as a hero and his role in Gotham. Right now he is the "Dark Knight", the violence of the night that must be hunted and chased and brought to light or killed that society may breathe easier. But we all know that that is not his finality; he must grow further to fill out his role as Gotham's protector, not as a symbol of violent retribution, not the harsh vengeance that lies beyond the circle of the campfire, but as the symbol of the responsibility of all citizens to do right...do right by themselves and do right by each other. He isn't there yet, with this movie, but I hope that a future installment will get him there.

And then his never-ending battle can truly begin.

I just saw The Dark Knight. That movie is fucking hardcore. Holy fucking shit.

Like Debet, I totally thought they'd just killed Jim Gordon and was so fucking confused and wondering how they would pull off future movies. And I remembered scenes from the trailer with him and the Joker that hadn't happened yet, but I thought maybe they'd been cut or something! Like Steph, I totally thought Dent would kill Jim Gordon's son. After all the death and carnage of the movie before (including blowing up Rachel), I, too, believed this to be the do-that franchise. Hell, I expected either one of the boats or both to blow up. I would not have been surprised. That is how fucking hardcore this movie was.

Incidentally, our audience actually cheered when the prisoner threw the detonator away. And then they cheered again when the asshole decided not to press the button. Apparently, our theatre likes positive resolutions to moral dilemmas. Also: we like when the BatPod runs up walls and flips around holy shit that was awesome. Oh, and flipping trucks. These are things we like.

Heath Ledger as the Joker was fucking terrifying, and Miracleman has done an excellent job of explaining why. Nolan helped too, the way he shot and edited his scenes.

I am confused about one plot point: the Joker lied about who was where, right? Because Batman goes to save Rachel and ends up with Dent, and Gordon shouts the address that the Joker gave for Dent and ends up with Rachel. It's an awesome move and totally the Joker's style, but I was confused because it never came up later on. I mean, for God's sake, tell Dent that it wasn't supposed to go down that way!

I thought Aaron Eckhart was awesome as well (and I agree with Steph on her thoughts on Harvey), but I was a little disappointed that Two-Face wasn't as split-personality as I'd expected, especially given that article on the way Nolan filmed two performances. I didn't really get that impression from what I saw; it seemed like he was just growly old Two-Face throughout.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is pretty.

Another quibble: why the fuck would you name two characters Ramirez? That was confusing.

I didn't recognize Keith Szarabajka without his beard. It finally hit me in his scene in the cell with the Joker.

In conclusion, I am really really glad I re-read The Killing Joke yesterday. It made me appreciate the movie a whole lot more.