"It was punk, it was A Clockwork Orange, it was druggie. It was this kind of fantastic, anarchic look to him. This character who had absolutely no rules whatsoever," said Christian Bale, who returns as rich guy Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman. "That's not like any Joker I've ever seen before, what I saw Heath do." ...

"What I found in watching the movie myself is that you're not looking at the actor, you're not looking at the friend, you're not looking at the colleague," [said director Christopher Nolan.] "You're looking at the Joker. ... He inhabits this character, and it's an extraordinary icon, so it's easy to enjoy it on that level, just as a great piece of acting." ...

"He came out of the bloody lift like a whirlwind," [Michael] Caine recalled. "They said, `It's your line, Michael.' I said, `What is it?' Extraordinary. It will be one of the characters of next year, the Joker as played by him."

Germain notes that previous posthumously released films featuring the likes of James Dean, Spencer Tracy and both Bruce and Brandon Lee all managed wide audiences in the wake of their stars' deaths, as unfortunate a box-office boost as a film can possibly have. But other dead stars Natalie Wood and John Candy just couldn't open, and as such, the Dark Knight hype overlords are leaving nothing to chance with Bale and Co.'s inscrutable technical readings and even a rumored viral campaign of mini-hagiographies — I AM NOT OVER YOU, HEATH LEDGER — scrawled across trees, taxis and buses citywide. Keep your eyes peeled.

• Ledger's passing stokes Joker mania [AP]

In today's underwhelming episode: Sir Michael Caine; Elijah Wood; Kathy Griffin; Frankie Muniz, Tiny Majorino and Suge Knight; Jamie Lynn Spears; Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo; Billy Baldwin; David Proval; and Danny Bonaduce.

· A few weeks old but what they hey...After settling in on a British Airways flight from LA to London I was just getting ready to watch the original 1966 version of "Alfie" on demand. But, sadly, my video monitor wasn't working so no video content for me during the 10-plus hour flight. All I got to say about that is thank Gawd for the ipod and Ambien. Upon arrival, still reeling from my post-Ambien/gin and tonic-induced slumber, I notice Sir Michael Caine heading off the plane from first class (not where I was sitting, of course). So I guess, in a way, I got to see "Alfie" on the flight.

· Elijah Wood backstage at Gogol Bordello at the Mayan last night (Oct 25). Evidently dating one of the leotard-clad backup singer girls. About a head taller than he is. He's pretty cute, nonetheless. The band rocks, highly recommend them.

· Oct 23 - I know this is a lame one, but here goes. Kathy Griffin walking on Sunset near Fairfax with one of her gays (the one who thinks he can speak Spanish?). She was wearing brown cords with a nearly fluorescent pink t-shirt which clashed with her bright orange straw hair. She looked pissed.

· 10/23
three sightings on sunset tuesday night, our out of town friends were giddy with delight.
frankie muniz jaywalking and enjoying some sushi with friends, he's tiny and was copping quite an attitude for such a little fella.
tina majorino, who's brother was performing with the band creature feature at the whisky. she's tiny as well, but adorable and very nice.
suge knight, at mel's diner. the first thing we noticed was the giant escalade and sparkling diamonds in his ears. he never got out of the car, but appeared to be waiting on someone inside. I can only hope his middle-of-the-night cravings were satisfied.

· Two random pop culture sightings on Friday, Oct 19:

1st, made a quick stop at The Grove and saw Jamie Lynn Spears herself. Cute girl, good dress, no Britney in sight. Only saw her for a second - nothing terribly exciting to report.

2nd, was at LAX and saw Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo a couple of gates away catching a flight to Cincinnati. He looked fantastically hot and normal. Exactly like you'd expect, and thankfully not remotely "look at me, don't look at me" like some other celebs are. Vanessa was wearing a fairly standard LA travel uniform - Uggs and a fedora. I'm not trying to hate on the girl, but she let's just say she doesn't look the same as she does on tv and leave it at that.

· 10/25 Sitting in front of the wolfgang puck in the LAX United terminal. Billy Baldwin is pacing in circles right in the middle of the hall, talking loudly on his phone about his dinner reservations. He's even less talented in person.

· 10:30am 10/26, LAX. As I'm barely moving in the security screening line of terminal 2, cursing myself opting to save $20 by flying Northwest Air to vegas, an overweight DAVID PROVAL aka Richie 'i like to hold guns to bitches' heads as I'm screwing them a la Fred Spektor' Aprile from The Sopranos cued up behind me. His hair was disheveled and he was wearing a worn leather jacket. I was scared.

· Wednesday, October 24, 7:00-ish at Kabuki Sushi in Hollywood, my friend and I were seated just as Danny Bonaduce and his girlfriend were getting up from the booth next to ours. Being nosy, I asked our server if he was nice; he said he was. And no, I didn't see any sake on their table.