‘The Dark Knight’ descends

Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to draw record crowd at final Miller Movie of the semester

By Kelly M O’Keefe
Western Herald

“Why so serious?”

(Photo courtesy of MCT) Heath Ledger stars as the Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

It’s the last Miller Movie of the semester.
The Campus Activity Board is hosting “The Dark Knight” as the final Miller Movie of the semester at 9 p.m. in Miller Auditorium on Wednesday.

“We had hoped to get ‘The Dark Knight’ a couple movies ago, but due to restrictions from the studio it hasn’t been available until now,” Miller Movie Coordinator Joe Stando said. “My committee and I agreed earlier this semester that we wanted to show ‘The Dark Knight’ as soon as it became available.”

The movie has an all-star cast combining the talent of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman.

“I thought The Dark Knight was the best Batman made. I absolutely will watch it again at Miller this Wednesday.” said Ryan Smith, a junior at Western Michigan University.

Warner Brothers describes “The Dark Knight” as the follow up to Batman Begins, it reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime.

With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker.

“‘The Dark Knight’ like its immediate predecessor has brought an element of dramatic respectability to a franchise that had deteriorated to comedic and childish exaggerations,” said WMU senior Stephen Krupitzer. “It is one of the best films this year and maybe even the decade.”

It is no doubt that “The Dark Knight” was the winning vote of most of the Campus Activity Board members considering it grossed $155.34 million in its July 18 release weekend. The movie had much speculation and hype over the academy-award nominated actor Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker. CAB is expecting approximately 3,100 people at Miller on Wednesday night for the movie which will be the biggest turnout in Miller Movie history.

Also a lot of speculation was focused on Heath Ledger’s death. The actor died from an accidental overdose on Jan. 22 in a Manhattan apartment that he had been renting.

He died at the age of 28 after just finishing “The Dark Knight,” which is the latest installment of the Batman series.  According to MSNBC, the New York medical examiner announced that the actor died from the effects of taking six types of painkillers and sedatives.

“Heath Ledger was an awesome joker and I think it [the movie] still would have been as popular if he hadn’t died,” said WMU student Ben Tribb student. “The pencil trick is one of my favorite parts!”

The next Miller Movie has not been voted on yet, but it is scheduled for Jan. 28.  The next CAB performance will be by the stand-up comedienne Alexandra McHale who was brought onto The Bernie’s Comedy Event Series.

“The Dark Knight” will play at Miller Auditorium at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Tickets will be sold for $1 with student I.D. and $2 without. For more information visit www.cab.wmich.edu or  www.thedarkknight.warnerbros.com

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2717

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 2 2008. Filed under A & E. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com