Arts & Entertainment August 5, 2008 Chloe Bach aeditor@ gmail.com the closing performance of. I’m sure everyone was thinking the same thing during their long trip home the next day. My Top Five Performances: 1. Nine Inch Nails: I might be a little biased, but Trent Reznor and co. performed with amazing intensity for over an hour and half. Backed by an incredible light show with custom effects for each song, and rocking through the entire history of the band, from “Head Like a Whole” to “Discipline”. I'd glady do it all again just to see this show. 2. Jay-Z: This seemed to be the performance that most people were talking about the day after the festival. There’s no one else I could consider for #1 besides the Jiggaman and NIN. Jay-Z had great engagement with the crowd and did killer hit after killer hit. Even if you didn’t think Jay-Z was the shit, if you saw him you were convinced. 3. The Tragically Hip: They easily could have headlined a night by themselves. The band proved once again that they’re a national treasure. 4. Coldplay: No one else could bring the festival to a close as well as them. Their show was less focused than I’ve seen them in the past, but it’s good to see the reserved Brits get a little crazy. 5. Wolfmother: If you like killer guitar solos, you have to see this band live. Honourable Mention: Wintersleep. This band definitely has the potential to one day become just as big as the acts listed above. If you see one movie this year, make it The Dark Knight By Garth McLennan Pe biggest blockbuster of the summer, and quite possibly of all time is the latest installment of the Batman franchise, director Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight had a lot to live up to following Nolan’s first Batman film, Batman Begins, which until now, was the best superhero movie of all time: The Dark Knight stars Christian Bale as Batman, Gary Oldman as commissioner Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Batman’s supplier Lucius Fox, Michael Caine as Batman’s butler Alfred, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Batman’s love interest Rachel Dawes, Aaron Eckhart as district attorney Harvey Dent, and of course, the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, the film’s primary villain and Batman’s greatest foe. While it is a little long, The Dark Knight is truly phenomenal. The fight scenes are fantastic to watch, and are much improved over the first movie. While they weren’t bad in the first movie, the filming was done so tightly to Batman that it was difficult to see what was going on all the time. That problem is completely fixed this time. Another improvement is Batman’s actual suit. It’s less bulky this time, and Batman can turn his head, which wasn’t a possibility the first time around. The Dark Knight became the highest grossing movie of all time in its opening weekend, beating out Spiderman 3, with over $153,000,000. One of the main reasons for such an immensely successful opening is the tragic death of Heath Ledger. Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose on January 22nd earlier this year shortly after completing filming. Due to Ledger’s well-known status, seeing his final movie has become something of a priority for plenty of people. Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker is absolutely stunning. Needless to say, it’s more than a little different from his role in A Knight’s Tale. Nobody could have played the Joker as well as Ledger. He makes one of the best comic book villains of all time somehow appealing; he almost jumps out of the screen with his strange and life-like creepiness. Never before has there been a comic book villain like Ledger’s Joker. His performance ranks right up there with such legendary movie villains as Darth Vader. Ledger isn’t the only one who turns out an excellent showing. Christian Bale is terrific as well. He’s done for Batman what Daniel Craig has done for the James Bond franchise. Without a doubt, Bale is the best Batman ever. He’s so good that he makes the viewer forget the terrible George Clooney experience (almost). Never before in the Batman series has anyone played both Batman and Bruce Wayne completely to perfection. Bale pulls off the dark ruggedness of Batman without a hitch and also plays the party/playboy role of Bruce Wayne brilliantly. None of the previous Batmen have been able to succeed at this. Michael Keaton wasn’t very good at either, Val Kilmer was good as Batman, but not as Bruce Wayne, and Clooney, well, I guess he was okay as Wayne. If you see one movie this year, make it The Dark Knight. As good as they were, it blows Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk out of the water. The Dark Knight is one of the best movies you'll ever see, no question about it. 1]