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The film is "Joker," and while it comes in the form of a comic-book movie, it is the opposite of light. The movie focuses on the pre-Joker Arthur Fleck, circa early 1980s Gotham - a sad-sack clown slowly unraveling u At the Venice premiere, a moviegoer approached Phillips and said he thought Paris would burn as a result of the movie. Stephanie Zacharek wrote that Phoenix's character "could easily be adopted as the patron saint of incels," referring to the "involuntary celibates" group of frustrated males whose beliefs have come up in several mass killings. "In America, there's a mass...

An emotional Christian Bale visibly fought back tears at the MTV Movie Awards last night after a video was shown of the first two Dark Knight movies with scenes that featured the late Heath Ledger. Bale and Ledger became good friends during the making of Dark Knight, the first of three Christopher Nolan directed Batman movies starring Bale in the title role and ledger as The Joker. The Golden Globe winner broke down while he, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman introduced the montage, which included scenes of Ledger in the 2008 film, the second in the Dark Knight trilogy.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., will reduce its newsroom staff by nearly half through voluntary buyouts as New Jersey's largest newspaper seeks to return to profitability. Jim Willse, the Star-Ledger's editor, said Friday that the newspaper accepted 151 buyout offers from its news staff, or about 45 percent of its 334 editorial employees. He said 17 buyout applications were rejected. Some staffers already have left, and others are leaving by year's end, many after the elections. "We've got from now to the end of the year to figure out what adjustments we have to make," Willse...

Best known for his haunting, Oscar-nominated performance as Ennis Del Mar, one of the gay cowboys in 2005 ' s "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger was a massive young talent on the cusp of greatness when he died last week in New York. The native Australian, who is survived by his 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, had recently finished work on this summer's "Batman" sequel, "The Dark Knight," in which he plays a villain, the Joker. Christopher Nolan, the film's director, shared these memories:One night, as I'm standing on LaSalle Street in Chicago, trying to line up a shot for "The Dark Knight," a...

Mel Gibson has called Heath Ledger's death this week a "tragic loss." But in recent years, Gibson had distanced himself from the risk-taking actor, it's been claimed. Gibson turned cold toward Ledger after the Aussie star ignored his advice not to play a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," according to private investigator Paul Barresi. Ledger and Gibson had grown close while filming "The Patriot," in which Ledger played Gibson's son. "Ledger asked Gibson whether he should take the role of Ennis Del Mar in 'Brokeback,'" Barresi says a "major Hollywood producer" told him. "Gibson strongly counseled against it. The role...

January 24, 2008 -- The masseuse who discovered Heath Ledger's body made two frantic calls to his latest squeeze, actress Mary-Kate Olsen, before dialing 911 for help, police revealed yesterday. MORE: Star's Tragic Timeline "Heath is unconscious. I don't know what to do!" Diane Lee Wolozin screamed in her first call to Olsen on Tuesday. "I'm sending my private security there," the actress replied. Moments later - after finding the body of the "Brokeback Mountain" star cold to the touch - Wolozin, 40, made another panicked call. "I think he may be dead. I'm calling 911!" she said. "I...

Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka said that she and other members will picket Ledger’s United States memorial services, not those held in his native Australia. “You cannot live in defiance of God,” she said. “He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it’s OK to be gay.” A press release circulated by the church references Leviticus 18:22 in the Bible, which states that “thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead in his New York apartment, according to police. He was 28. More to follow...

December 11, 2005Last modified December 11, 2005 - 1:06 pm Brokeback Mountain shows in Jackson Associated PressJACKSON - Movie director Ang Lee was in town Saturday for the showing of his latest film, "Brokeback Mountain," and he attended a question-and-answer session and party after the showing. The movie tells a story about two Wyoming cowboys who fall in love but lead heterosexual lives and keep their love secret. It is an adaptation from a short story by Centennial-based writer Annie Proulx. While based on characters in Wyoming, the movie was filmed in Canada. A forum about the movie's subject matter...

'Goals Gone Wild' Headline, Photo Draw FirePOSTED: 11:13 pm EST November 29, 2005 UPDATED: 6:26 am EST November 30, 2005 OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- The editor of a community college newspaper is being criticized because of a front-page photo and headline, Kansas City, Mo., television station KMBC reported. The Nov. 16 issue of the Johnson County (Kan.) Community College newspaper featured two female soccer players showing their sports bras. The headline read, "Goals Gone Wild," and a photo caption said there were four good reasons to support the team. Carl Heinrich, the school's athletic director, said he was shocked when...