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The late Heath Ledger in his much-anticipated role as the Joker in The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger will make his Australian debut as the Joker in The Dark Knight in Sydney this week, with close colleagues and friends in the audience.

Actress Cate Blanchett and director Neil Armfield are expected to attend the first Sydney preview in Moore Park on Thursday night, four days ahead of the film’s official premiere overseas.

Although Ledger’s family will attend the film’s world premiere in New York, Australian distributor Roadshow Films will stage a series of invitation-only screenings ahead of the July 16 general release, including a wide-screen version at the IMAX cinema in Darling Harbour on Monday night.

Invited guests will not be able to take mobile phones or any hand-held devices into the cinema, such is the fear surrounding piracy.

Australian film fans will also use the internet to vie for a chance to see the first public of screening of The Dark Knight next Monday night - two days ahead of its general Australian release.

Web giant MySpace is staging a major competition encouraging people to find a secret code online then text an entry to win the chance to see the film early.

“We’re expecting thousands of fans to take part in this because there is so much interest,” a MySpace spokesman said.

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I want to talk about Heath,” Bale told PARADE. “When you miss somebody, you want to speak about him. He was a good man, and I was glad to have spent time with him.”

Ledger died in a Manhattan apartment in January at the age of 28.

“He was somebody who I’d been seeing on a daily basis for months,” Bale says. “It takes a long time to accept that someone’s gone, when all body and mind are telling you that this is somebody you will know for a great deal of time. He was something of a kindred spirit to myself.”

Bale and Ledger bonded over their daughters. Matilda, Ledger’s daughter with Michelle Williams, turns 3 this fall. Bale’s own daughter is 3 now.

“Much of it has to do with my respect for his daughter, whom he loved so dearly and whom he would talk about so often,” Bale says of his closeness with Ledger. “For me, that is of incredible importance.”

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Heath Ledger’s performance in the upcoming Batman film is winning him rave reviews, with many critics pushing for the late Australian actor to be awarded a posthumous Oscar.

Five months after his death, the first critics to see The Dark Knight - due in Australian cinemas in two weeks - are giving the actor plenty of praise.

Rolling Stone magazine critic Peter Travers says Heath’s portrayal as the Joker was brilliant.

“It’s typical of Ledger’s total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I’m Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked,” he wrote.

“I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker.

“If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous [acting] Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976’s Network, sign me up.”

Sam Rubin, a respected entertainment correspondent for Los Angeles KTLA network, said Ledger would “absolutely be nominated for an Oscar, and at this point in the year is a hands-down favourite to win it posthumously”.

“Ledger offers perfect pitch, perfect tone, his Joker hits all the right notes,” he added.

Meanwhile an Associated Press review described the Joker as possibly Ledger’s finest performance - even better than his Brokeback Mountain role for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

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Perth, Australia, the hometown of the late actor Heath Ledger, named a theatre in his honour yesterday: the $87 million, 575-seat Heath Ledger Theatre. Ledger died in January at 28 of an accidental prescription drug overdose.

Boy George has officially cancelled his summer tour after U.S. authorities denied him a visa to enter the country. The Culture Club singer, 47, had planned to kick off his 25-city tour in Aspen, Colo., next Thursday. He plans to reschedule the tour for next winter.

Booker T. and the MGs, the Memphis Horns and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, producers Al Kooper and Billy Sherrill, and Buddy Holly’s band the Crickets will become the newest members of the Musicians Hall of Fame this year.

Jazz vocalist Ernestine Anderson’s home has been saved from foreclosure thanks in part to music legend Quincy Jones and jazz artist Diane Schuur, who contributed to $43,000 in donations on news of the Seattle jazz legend’s financial woes.

Source: Star wire services

There’s a shadow hanging over The Dark Knight, and it is because of the dearly departed Heath Ledger. He died a few months after completing his demanding role as the demonic Joker in the follow up to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. The association will be forever.

That’s why Nolan and the film’s cast were solemn when they discussed Ledger at a Beverly Hills hotel Sunday. But they also celebrated his prowess in the film which opens on July 18.

“I felt a great responsibility to put the performance on screen,” said director Nolan. And based on reaction from the preview crowds, he believes he was successful. “I think the people are responding to his performance the way he [Ledger] intended.”

In the movie, Ledger’s Joker is dangerously deviant compared to Jack Nicholson’s borderline camp portrayal in the 1989 Tim Burton picture. But then The Dark Knight, co-written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan, is a great deal more threatening than any previous Batman concoction as the demented Joker challenges the unsettled Batman like never before.

Even Christian Bale’s Caped Crusader seems to be struggling mightily with his irresistible urge for Joker revenge at the expense of justice even as alter ego billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne can’t find his way home. Physical and emotional turmoil reign.

And then there is Aaron Eckhart who portrays District Attorney Harvey Dent on the verge of transforming into the villain Two-Face. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes in the role of Bruce Wayne’s friend and do-gooder assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes, completing a volatile love triangle between Batman/Wayne, Dawes and Dent/Two-Face.

Back are some familiar faces, besides Bale. Again Michael Caine plays Alfred the Butler, Morgan Freeman is arms expert Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman defines Lieutenant Jim Gordon.

Meanwhile, fanatics can compare the new Batsuit to the old one. There’s a Batcycle re-imagined as a Batpod. And check this out: Nolan used an IMAX camera to shoot four pivotal sequences, including the first appearance of Ledger’s scary version of the Joker.

But back to Ledger and his tribute.Eckhart said he was amazed by Ledger’s creativity and willingness to push the boundaries. “He thrilled me as an actor,” he said. And he marvelled at Ledger’s “energy.”

Bale noted that Ledger was always casual but intense when it was time act. “I cannot help but be impressed beyond belief.” He described Ledger’s take on Joker as “a punk Clockwork Orange anarchist.”

And, contrary to reports, Bale said that he didn’t find Ledger consumed by his Joker portrayal but just the opposite. Nolan agreed that the actor was “a joy to work with and nice to be around.” during the shoot in Chicago and London last year.

Oldman, who had a reputation for getting immersed in his roles, said Ledger was a rare actor who went beyond just doing his job. He called the Ledger’s work “a landmark performance.”

“There is no vanity in that role,” said Oldman. “It’s tragic that we can’t see more from him.”

Source— Bob Thompson, National Post