The Dark Knight

Finally, after 5 long months, I watched The Dark Knight. Is it TEH BEST MOVIE EVAAHHH!! ? No. Is it the most surprisingly good movie of the year? HECK YES. The last thing you think would be breathing down the Academy's neck is this movie. While Heath Ledger's unfortunate death DID bring some good publicity, there was a viral campaign in place long before that, banking on his amazing performance. And it is amazing. Not even an amazing supporting cast of Aaron Eckhart (who was also very good, let me tell you) Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Channeling-the-spirit-of-comic-book-Gordon Oldman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal (so much better than Katie Holmes) could eclipse him. Christian Bale was looking more and more like the secondary character whenever he shared the screen with The Joker.
As a superhero sequel, it shares many plot points with, say, Spider Man 2. Batman runs into a new, crazier (to say the least), more powerful villain. But on his side is Harvey Deny, District Attorney extraordinare. Between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dent, half the city's criminals are behind bars. Also between them is made-up love interest Rachel Dawes, Bruce's childhood friend, and the only person besides Alfred and Fox that knows his identity. He struggles over wanting to be with her but her refusal of him so long as he is the Batman. Then people are killed because he won't reveal his identity, and he considers giving it up and letting Dent clean the streets.
You're missing on a cultural phenomenon if you don't see The Dark Knight. "I can make a pencil disappear" and "Let's put a smile on that face" are going to be the new "I'm king of the world!" since TDK has the highest gross since Titanic.
It didn't the nom for the Golden Globes, but can it pull it off with the Academy? It's got no chance of winning, not next to Slumdog, but to be one of the top 5, it could put up a good fight. I would see it again over Benjamin Button, but not over WALL-E, (my pick for best movie of the year) and I'd see Slumdog Millionaire a first time before rewatching TDK.
Great movie, amazing cast on the whole, the best supporting acting since Anton Chigur--oh wait, that was just last year, wasn't it? Go see it. Right now.