I saw the Dark Knight today, and it is very, very cool. The action sequences are simply phenomenal, and the actors are across the board excellent. The star of the movie is definitely Heath Ledger as the Joker. He's pretty much unrecognizable with the strange mannerisms, heavy make up and nasally voice covering up his good looks and Aussie accent. Compare this performance with the quiet cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, or the tortured soul in Monster's Ball, and you realize how great an actor he truly was.

Christian Bale is the best Batman to come down the pike in a very long time. It took me many years and many movies to get past thinking of him as the American Psycho, but now I think he's sexy as all hell as both Batman and Bruce Wayne. I loved Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eric Roberts, Anthony Michael Hall, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

The movie is 2 1/2 hours long, but I never checked my watch once. The plot is more or less irrelevant, since all that matters is the the hunt for the Joker, and the Joker's hunt for the Batman. I also liked that the violence is kept to a PG13 level, but look for the disappearing pencil trick.

Oh, and the previews for the new James Bond look off the charts!