“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

So, let’s get down to business: The Dark Knight RULED. And to get it out of the way, yes, Heath Ledger was phenomenal as The Joker. It’s unfortunate that he won’t be able to reprise his role in the future. I don’t think anybody could deliver a performance as spectacular as Ledger’s. Speaking of great performances, Aaron Eckhart was surprisingly effective as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Don’t get me wrong, I always thought he was a pretty good actor (Thank You for Smoking), but he was just awesome in this role. I really loved how Nolan developed Batman and Dent’s characters, giving them depth and complexity, while choosing to leave the Joker as this absolute force of destruction and mayhem whom nobody truly understands.

A few weeks ago I started reading a book called Batman and Philosophy by Mark D. White, Robert Arp, and William Irwin which covers several themes present in Nolan’s film (for example, doing what’s morally right versus doing what will ensure the best outcome for everyone, even if it’s technically wrong).

Anyway, this weekend was way fun. Thursday night we all went out to dinner for Caroline’s birthday, followed by the midnight showing of The Dark Knight. Friday night a couple of us went over to Franco’s house to smoke hookah and play some cards. We played poker and I bought in with $2 (as opposed to the usual $5 buy-in, since I only had $2 on me) and ended up walking with $16. At one point I was up to $21. Saturday night I watched The Dark Knight again with Bobby and Josh; while we waited in line, the two guys behind us struck up a conversation with us about films and comic books.

Oh, speaking of comic books, I’m super excited about Watchmen being made into a film! If you haven’t seen the trailer, you can watch it here: <a href=”http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/”>Watchmen Trailer</a>. The twelve-issue comic book is the only comic book to make it onto Time Magazine’s 2005 list of “the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. Definitely worth checking out. I got my new passport in the mail today! Finally! I look like a douche. I am so ready to go to Japan.

I believe in Harvey Dent,

Betty