There's a 3 hour cut of it supposedly and we definitely know there's a 165 minute cut. WB pretty much forced Nolan to chop it down.

Hope you're just as ready to eat crow on Ledger as you are to proclaim that it sucks. The editing was not a problem. He's a supporting character and was in the film just enough instead of being over-exposed like Nicholson's Joker.

As for what I meant regarding "getting" it, I meant that it's a completely subjective thing. One man's trash is another man's treasure. You love some horror movies that I fucking can't stand. Some people love Batman, others don't. If you love Batman, you'll probably love this movie. If you don't really care one way or another, then it just comes down to personal taste in terms of storytelling and filmmaking.

When it comes to Batman, you either get it or you don't.

Anyone who has seen the Animated Series version of the Riddler knows that he is a kickass villain when handled properly. Unfortunately, the 2 major versions of the character on film have been total camp-fests (Batman '66 with Frank Gorshin as the Riddler and Batman Forever with Jim Carrey as the Riddler). Nolan would make him an incredible villain in my opinion. He and his brother are so fucking great at coming up with all-around smart screenplays, I really do feel the Riddler fits their style. I would love for them to come back, but I totally understand if Nolan wants to move onto different projects. But hell, if they can even get Jonah back to write the script, as long as they have a director who takes it seriously it would work out pretty well. Jonah Nolan is a bigger Batman nerd than his brother. In fact, Chris wasn't really a Batman nerd growing up whereas Jonah actually was one. Chris was a casual fan but he totally fucking gets it, whereas Burton never got it and didn't give a damn if he did or not.

Don't get me wrong, I love Burton's two movies but he had some serious fuck-ups in those movies.

1. The Joker is not the murderer of Batman's parents. The entire idea is that Batman is fighting crime against a nameless thug, not just trying to get revenge on a supervillain who coincidentally killed his parents.

2. The Joker should never be killed off in a movie or cartoon adaptation. EVER. He never was killed off in any adaptation except Burton's. Huge fucking mistake, and I think Nolan was actually making fun of Burton with the end of Joker's plot in TDK. I love how as he's falling he is laughing his ass off. Burton's Joker is screaming "ahhhhhhhh" because he's afraid to die. Nolan's Joker actually wants to die if it means that Batman has broken his one rule.

3. Penguins with rocket launchers in Batman Returns. This element was a huge WTF moment. Felt like something out of Batman & Robin actually.

I think it does help though to have that emotional connection to Bruce, Alfred, Rachel, and Gordon.

Anyway, its vote count has doubled on IMDB and the rating is STILL at a staggering 9.7. 46,000 fucking votes. That is amazing. Still #1 obviously. At this point I wonder if it might be able to stay in the top 15-20. I was thinking it would be great if it could stay in the top 50 because that would be pretty much doubling up Batman Begins, which is right outside the top 100 right now.