Most Recent Piece of Cinematic Art

Why so serious?

Heath Ledger's scratchy voice still haunts me. In the best way possible, of course.

I've been a Batman kid for as long as I can remember. I had my own personal copy of the 1989 version starring Michael Keaton at the tender age of three, and my love has not wavered since. That being said, I think this gives me the right to admit that Val Kilmer's Batman was the lamest of all. And don't even get me started on Batman and Robin. The only thing I can say there is: There were nipples on the Batsuit. Really? Really?!

My heart remained broken for the near decade that my Caped Crusader was too ashamed to show his face on the big screen. It took a genius named Christopher Nolan to put Batman right back where he belongs.

I've got to give Nolan props: Batman Begins was something I felt the movies had been lacking since Tim Burton had his grubby little paws in the mix: that almost Gothic feeling that makes Batman really scary. What I think most fans forget is that Batman as a comic character was never the funny, goofy character that nearly murdered him in the George Clooney rendition. Nolan opens us back up to the Dark Knight as that person everyone should fear, not just for the costume, but the fact that he's just a regular guy (plus millions) with a huge chip on his shoulder. And that voice that Christian Bale uses? CHILLS!

Even for as awesome as Batman Begins turned out to be, it paled in comparison to The Dark Knight. I'll admit, I was moderately upset when I found out that Heath Ledger was attempting to take on Jack Nicholson's character. The entire time, I couldn't help wonder, "Does this kid really think he can do that role justice?" Damn, someone should have smacked me in the face. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow has nothing on the Ledger's revamped Joker.

Bale and Ledger were absolutely brilliant together. They played off of the negative energy projected by each character flawlessly. At the end of the film, the audience is left with the perfect feeling of, "Who am I really rooting for: the anarchist (Ledger) or the physical manifestation of the omnipresent policing gaze (Bale)?"

Action packed (without the overload of CGI), amazing actors (thank GOD Maggie took the place of Katie Holmes), dialogue to die for and a great director who couldn't have portrayed my comic-book crush in a better light. Or should I say, lack-of-light?