A Brighter Night for THE DARK NIGHT

THE DARK KNIGHT has reached a billion dollars in international box office; and it's won two Oscars so far -- including the crucial above-the-line Best Supporting Actor award for Heath Ledger. It is losing a lot of the technical Oscars to Academy darlings like BENJAMIN BUTTON, but that's still a bit of respect for the 70-year-old Caped Crusader.

Heath Ledger, R.I.P.

In the mid-90's, the film adaptation of James O'Barr's comics series THE CROW became a footnote in movie history when the film's star, Brandon Lee -- son of Bruce Lee -- died during filming, victim of an on-set accident.

Now another comics adaptation will likely mark the final performance (in white greasepaint) of a young actor -- albeit one who is a bigger star. Heath Ledger, who will play The Joker in this summer's Batman sequel THE DARK KNIGHT, was found dead in his apartment this afternoon.

It's still not clear how or why this talented Australian actor died, possibly of an overdose of sleeping pills. But when watching THE DARK KNIGHT, I'm sure I'll have that slight feeling of horror mingled with sadness in the pit of my stomach that I had watching Brandon Lee mowing down thugs in THE CROW -- watching the onscreen images of someone who never got to watch the movie himself.