Ledger's Joker comes up aces in “Dark Knight.”

If you’re excited about “The Dark Knight,” which arrives in theaters Friday, you should check out an earlier Batman movie that not only features The Joker, but also makes room for The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and Robin The Boy Wonder.

She’s the star of her own TV show, had a No. 1 movie at the box office, has been the subject of a pregnancy hoax and had revealing pictures leaked all before the age of 16. Of course I’m talking about Miley Cyrus, the Disney sensation who is releasing her new album, “Breakout,” Tuesday.

Cracker has been described as many things over their lengthy career, everything from “roots-rock” to “traditional-rock,” but as frontman and guitarist David Lowery said, “I really sort of just considered ourselves a rock band.”

Jean is on point. Producer 9th Wonder is, too, bringing a little soul to the proceedings. But while there are some great moments, both lyrically and musically, it doesn't all work together as well as it could.

Frank Caliendo, who shot to fame on Fox’s "Mad TV" and then last fall in hilarious commercial promos for his TBS series, "Frank TV,''  takes his greatest impressions to another, uncanny level of vocal and physical impersonation. Check them out on his web site.

"WALL-E” has one of the cutest robots on record and enough animated magic to light up the galaxy but, like the machines it makes into heroes, the movie has no soul.

At the midway mark of 2008 movies, animated robots and pandas, a titanium-clad superhero, a massive monster and cannibalistic punks with Mohawks find themselves the year’s top 5 so far.

As the lead singer of Skid Row, Sebastian Bach was one of the most charismatic and sometimes controversial frontmen in rock ‘n’ roll. He will be the special guest of Poison on July 19 at the MetroCentre in Rockford.

When Christian Bale dons the cape and cowl again in “The Dark Knight,” things are quite a bit different from “Batman Begins” — for the character and the actor.

If somebody would have told me last year that Jessica Simpson was going to make country music history, I would have laughed and said, “Yeah, and Chicken of the Sea really is chicken.”

These DVD titles are slated for release Tuesday.

  Whenever the rock band Rush comes to the area,  Quincy’s Donna Halper has a backstage pass waiting for her.  That’s because she discovered the band in 1974 while working  at a Cleveland radio station.

WALL-E – A Walt Disney Pictures release. Directed by Andrew Stanton. With Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, and Sigourney Weaver. Rated G.