EXIT LINES

That's Heath Ledger there, proving all jokes are indeed not funny.

David Denby has written a moving review in the new New Yorker (despite the tasteless cover!!) about Heath in the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight:

"Christian Bale. . .is upstaged by the great Ledger, who shambles and slides into a room, bending his knees and twisting his neck and suddenly surging into someone’s face like a deep-sea creature coming up for air. Ledger has a fright wig of ragged hair; thick, running gobs of white makeup; scarlet lips; and dark-shadowed eyes. He’s part freaky clown, part Alice Cooper the morning after, and all actor. He’s mesmerizing in every scene. . .At times, I was reminded of Marlon Brando at his most feline and insinuating. When Ledger wields a knife, he is thoroughly terrifying (do not, despite the PG-13 rating, bring the children), and, as you’re watching him, you can’t help wondering—in a response that admittedly lies outside film criticism—how badly he messed himself up in order to play the role this way. His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss."

Gosh. This is sad. I'm hardly moved by anything anymore, being a freaky clown shut-in myself, but Heath! We only had a taste. This is Kurt Cobain-kind of sad. I'm so attracted to his seeming craziness and pain. I never knew how much I loved him till he was dead. True of most things actually.

photo courtesy: Reuters