Direct quotes from "Ebert & Roeper" during the "The Dark Knight" review on the show:
Richard Roeper:
"Christopher Nolan's Gotham City Epic is one of the best movies of the year, and SHOULD MERIT consideration for a Best Picture Nomination. This is a rich, complex, visually thrilling peice of pop entertainment. As strong as any Super Hero Epic I've EVER seen."
"It'll be an upset if Ledger, ISN'T, nominated for best supporting actor... And it won't be a sympothy vote Either... He creates a Joker that is one of the most memorable screen characters of the decade."
"Writer/Director Nolan has fashioned a near Masterpiece here. Maybe the best Superhero movie ever made... Even with the lead in a Bat-Suit, 'The Dark Knight' has the authentic feel of a crime Epic like 'Heat' or 'The Departed'. It's a Great Film, I say see it. In fact, SEE IT TWICE"
Michael Phillips:
"I would see it twice, and I'm looking forward to it. This film really is one of the great achievements of the year"
"And the wonderful thing about this screenplay, and the way Christopher Nolan has directed this picture, is you don't over exploit a terrific villian. He's in the film just the right amount. And all the scenes really land. And they're kinda creepily funny. And alot of it is really truly menacing. And the balance is perfect.
And it's so hard to get the kinda creepy/funny balance right in a comic book picture. Look at Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's 'Batman'. Which to me was over exploit... Ya know, ya know, fun..."
Roeper:
"He was a Clown... It was a clown performance."
Phillips:
"But it's NOTHING compared to what Ledger's into."
Roeper:
"And you're right also about this being really an ensemble peice. Even Christain Bale, he has about the same amount of screen time as Batman/Bruce Wayne as Aaron Echart does as Harvey Dent. Each character, Gary Oldman gets his moment. Everyone has their moment"
Phillips:
"And not flashy too... Ya know. There's one extremely flashy performance, and it's the right one. Everybody esle seems very invested. Even people very familiar to ALL of us. Ya know Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, they're actually, all the work is just a little better. A little more, Ya know, a little more perfect."
Roeper:
"But that's it. As I mentioned, that's why it reminded me of movies like 'Heat' or 'The Departed'. Obviously we're dealing in Super Hero Genre here, BUT played authentically by everybody else. This is the world they live in, Gotham City..."
Roeper:
"You know you mentioned the running time of 2 and a half hours. I'm telling you it's the fastest 2 and a half hours I've spent at the movies in years. There's never a moment where I was going 'Aw jeez. They coulda cut 15 minutes out of this film'. It zips right along."
