First review confirms 'The Dark Knight' is an 'absolute stunner', Mini-me stars in sex tape

Herald online

27 Jun, 2008 01:44 AM8 mins to read

Heath Ledger at The Joker in 'The Dark Knight'.

KEY POINTS:

The first review of director Christopher Nolan's feverishly-anticipated Batman sequel,

The Dark Knight

, is in - and it's a scorcher.

Weeks ahead of the film's July 24 release here in New Zealand,

Rolling Stone

magazine's resident film guru Peter Travers effuses in his review that "a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies."

Why so delirious?

For once, it looks as though a film is about to live up to its hype.

In his glowing review, Travers positively oozes with praise for Nolan's stylish direction, and describes Heath Ledger as "mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker".

It's a consensus that's held by many who have already seen the film. There are already

calls for Ledger to be honoured

with a posthumous Oscar for his stellar turn as the villainous Joker.

Read the review

here

Meanwhile, according to the latest reports, early buzz about the movie has already set the box office tills ringing in the US.

Word has it that demand for tickets is phenomenal, with cinemas having to schedule extra screenings to meet public demand.

Undoubtedly,

The Dark Knight

looks set to be a fitting tribute to Ledger's life and work.

Yes, my cape's all a flap with anticipation, and I can't wait for this film to hit the big screen. Does it show?

In other Ledger news...

Michelle Williams has responded to reports that she will be boycotting the premier of

Dark Knight

, due to a rumoured rift between her and Ledger's family.

Williams says through her mouthpiece: "The presumption that Michelle ever intended to attend

'The Dark Knight'

premiere is unfounded, but to say she is 'boycotting' due to a rift with Heath's family is absurd."

"It is time to allow this family to go about their lives without this continued scrutiny and speculation."

What a guy...

Chivalry is not dead.

Country music singer Tim McGraw is all man.

McGraw was performing onstage in Washington this week, and spotted a rowdy concert-goer seemingly smacking the proverbial out of a woman in the audience.

The singer drew the concert to a halt and yelled: "Get rid of this guy! Security!"

Blokey is then subsequently dragged up on stage and suitably humiliated. Fabulous.

Paper cover Stone

British tabloid

the Mirror

is reporting that soul singer Joss Stone is experiencing financial woes.

The tab says Stone paid herself an eye-popping 2.2 million pound salary last year, and that her lavish lifestyle in Hollywood is draining her rapidly dwindling finances.

Stone, who hasn't had a Top 10 hit since 2004, is about to feel the wrath of her record company over her spending, says a source.

The source adds: "Joss bought a house last year, so a large chunk of money went on that. But she needs to rein in her spending before she gets in trouble."

Finally...

It looks as though something positive is

coming out of the acrimony

between Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen.

Richards

tells In Touch Magazine

that the former couple's children, Sam, 4, and Lola, 3, are getting some mental aid. "My kids are in therapy," Richards reveals.

"It's very sad that they need to be there, but they do for now. On the other hand, it's good they have an outlet to deal with their feelings and someone who is just their advocate."

Blind items

Guess the celebidiots...

* What two hunky actors are refraining from any public displays of affection now that spies on their set are suggesting they're more than friends?

* Who's the Hollywood heart-throb who refuses sex with gorgeous women, but still dates them so he can pretend he's straight?

Sources: nydailynews.com, mirror.co.uk

Quote of the day

"I know I'm a grown woman, but it's like he's touching an old car. He used to change my diaper!"

Dum-dum Brooke Hogan lamely tries to defend

those pervy photos

of her papa slapping sun lotion on her butt.

Liv don't love here

Lord of The Rings

star Liv Tyler has laughed off rumors she is dating her

Incredible Hulk

co-star Edward Norton.

Despite rumours generated by a certain trash talk tabloid (yes, I'm talking about you,

Star

magazine), Tyler insists her relationship with Norton is "strictly platonic".

The Hoff's hump

David Hasselhoff has spat the dummy because he hasn't been invited to make a cameo in the new

Knight Rider

TV series.

The Hoff now insists the new re-imagining of the 80s series is doomed to fail, because his star name isn't attached to the project.

He says: "It's going to miss the target a little bit... It's like [having]

Indiana Jones

without Indiana Jones."

Hasselhoff says he'll have nothing to do with the series, because producers reportedly ignored all of his genius ideas.

The grump adds: "They asked me to come in and do a cameo and promote it and I said I would. But it was not what I had in mind. I didn't get a chance to see the show until the final product and it was clearly not what it could've been. It was someone else's vision."

Source.

U-turn

I spotted

this little gem

Page Six

this week:

John Mayer might have broken Minka Kelly's heart when he left her for Jennifer Aniston - but he had the decency to call her before the news about them hit the press. A Kelly pal said, "Minka [above] received a call from John prior to the story breaking about his relationship with Jennifer. He apologized to Minka, 'Sorry, but I'm really in love.' "She found that interesting as, "during his relationship with her, John mentioned, 'I don't really get this Jennifer Aniston thing.'" Mayer's rep declined to comment.

Funny that.

Mini-Me's sex tape

Diminutive actor Verne Troyer, aka Mini-Me of

Austin Powers

fame, reportedly has a sex tape.

Yes, you read that right.

The saucy tape allegedly features Troyer and his ex-girlfriend getting their groove on in their apartment.

Someone has got their sticky fingers on the said tape and is touting it about Hollywood to the highest bidder, by all accounts.

Eugh! And eugh!

Dirty girl

Charlize Theron has revealed that she can go for a week without showering.

Theron made the revelation while interviewed on the

David Letterman

show this week.

She said: "When I do have a little time off I like to get down and dirty like camping or travelling to countries that don't have the luxuries."

"I'm a tough girl and I can not shower for a week - I'm fine with that."

She'll regret this...

Poor Anne Hathaway.

The Devil Wears Prada

actress gave an interview for an upcoming issue of

InStyle

magazine, and positively gushes about her romance with

now ex

, Raffaello Follieri.

She says: "I enjoy living with him so much, but we're in his apartment - and we've decided that it's time to find where our home is going to be.

"If we get a house as opposed to an apartment, the first two floors will be a bit more traditional for him to be able to receive people, and the top two floors will be whatever I want."

She also hinted at possible marriage plans.

"We're quite happy . . . I'm [not] sweating out a proposal."

Ouch.

Not pregnant

Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is not pregnant, just ask her hubby.

Longoria's man, Tony, has just blabbed to

Ok! Magazine

He said, "She's not pregnant now if that's your question. I'm not thinking like that right now."

Well, when you're in the mood, make sure you let us know. We want the exclusive.

Not in splitsville

Jessica Simpson has hit out at rumours that she and boyf Tony Romo are dunzo.

The actress-cum-singer insists their seven-month romance is very much alive, and is bemused by escalating rumours that she's split from the American football star.

She says: "We have been together for seven months now. I don't know about wedding bells, but I still love him and I'm still with him."

And it's bad news for Romo's fans. Simpson adds that she plans to go back to the stands to root for her man when the American football season starts in September.

She adds, "When the season comes around, I'm definitely going to be at the games."

Source: showbizspy.com

Retro Friday

Just because...

Now that's refreshment.

See you Monday. BBB

Fast gossip

Get it while it's hot...

* Jake Gyllenhaal moves in with her. No, not my Jake!

HMG

* Oh,

Croc off