With Dark Knight due on home video next Tuesday, Oscar buzz is once again heating up for the film and its creators.
Not surprisingly, some of that tub-thumping is coming from the film's stars.
Speaking at a cocktail party last night for the filmmakers and critics, star Christian Bale said, "Far be it for me to try and predict...what people are going to vote for. But certainly, for me, I think that the serious contenders in this movie in my mind are Heath (Ledger), Chris (Nolan) for director because he's done an extraordinary job, and I do believe best picture, as well."
Who would disagree with Batman himself? Certainly not Aaron Eckhart, who costars as Harvey Dent.
"It is a genre movie, but I think it goes beyond it with the themes in this movie," he said. "It's an important movie sociologically. I feel like in this day and age, with terrorism and with the cancers of the city and people trying to find a voice within their own city, this is an important film."