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AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire early Friday at a suburban Denver theater at the opening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 14 people and injuring at least 50 others, authorities said. The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora. "Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates...

Tennessee Muslims who won a court battle to occupy their new mosque learned Thursday they won’t be able to begin worshipping there for the start of Ramadan because it needs about two weeks more of construction work.

Fox News front page: BREAKING NEWS: Shooting at Colorado Movie Theater, AP Reports

AURORA, Colo. - Police say there has been a shooting at a movie theatre near Denver, and a hospital spokeswoman says there may be several victims. Aurora, Colo. police say they are responding to a shooting at a movie theatre at a local mall. Police spokeswoman Cassidee Carlson says "the scene is still very active and we have little information for release at this time."

20 Hurt in Colo. Shooting at Dark Knight Movie BOMB SQUAD ON THE SCENE IN AURORA By Mary Papenfuss, Newser Staff A least 20 people were injured early this morning in a shooting and a possible explosion at a movie theater in Colorado, NBC is reporting. The violence occurred at a Century 16 theater in an Aurora mall following a midnight showing of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. One suspect is in custody, and a police bomb squad is on the scene. Three local hospitals were alerted to prepare for a "mass casualty" incident involving at least...

The first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises is now online. It premiered this weekend before Harry Potter. You can watch it at the link. Looks awesome! Doesn't show much, but it is a teaser...we don't get to see Anne Hathaway as Catwoman but it does show Tom Hardy as Bane. Only one year to go!

Here’s an analogy that President “Bracket” Obama can understand: Imposing a no-fly zone at this stage is a little like keeping LeBron James and Dwayne Wade on the bench almost the entire game and then, down 20 points and with a minute left, putting them on the floor. They might change the score — but not the final outcome.

The riddle is over -- sort of. Christopher Nolan has revealed that his third Batman installment will be titled "The Dark Knight Rises" and that its villain will not be who everyone is expecting. "It won't be the Riddler," the director told Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex. Nolan also confirmed that the film will be in high-definition and use IMAX cameras as opposed to 3D. The fan boy section of the L.A. Times suggested Harvey Dent could return from the dead -- "The Dark Knight’s" title reportedly referred to his fall from grace. "Rises" may suggest Harvey will re-emerge from...

The Twilight Saga: New Moon grossed $72.7 million on Friday, according to estimates from Summit Entertainment, shattering The Dark Knight’s previous opening-day record of $62.2 million. (The figure includes the $26.3 million New Moon banked from midnight screenings, also a box office record.) The astronomic figure puts Bella, Edward, and Jacob on a clear path to the biggest opening weekend ever, all the more impressive considering New Moon is opening in 342 fewer theaters than The Dark Knight did last year.

What is the difference between art and entertainment? There is, obviously, some overlap: Not all art entertains (though some does); not all entertainment is art (though some is). At bottom, it seems, the difference is one of intent - the artist seeks to connect us with larger meanings, larger truths about the world, about ourselves. The primary focus of art is therefore to illuminate, with any entertainment had in the process merely a bonus. The goal of the entertainer, on the other hand, is perhaps less sublime, though no less worthy - to distract, to tickle, to stimulate the fancy....

HOLLYWOOD: Heath Ledger's posthumous Oscar underscored the tragedy of the actor's death, which in the words of director Christopher Nolan "ripped a hole in the future of cinema." By the time of his death in 2008 at the age of 28 after accidentally taking a lethal combination of prescription drugs, Ledger had already earned comparisons with Marlon Brando following his heart-wrenching Oscar-nominated performance in Ang Lee's gay cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain." Yet it was as Batman's cackling arch-enemy the Joker in "The Dark Knight," his final film role, that Ledger received an Academy Award, becoming the first actor to win...

Again and again we see Mr. Ledger's Joker pulling off the most fantastically conceived acts of evil which, in real life, would require a virtual army of assistants, many of whom would have to be almost as clever as he is. Yet the movie shows us not even one. We do see the Joker lording it over some fellow criminals on a couple of occasions -- not the best way to gain their cooperation, one might have thought. And, in the bank robbery with which the film opens, he casually murders all his assistants, which is even less likely to...

I wasn’t going to comment on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, which I saw over the weekend, but the level of cooing and gushing among reviewers has been so extraordinary a note of dissent seems in order. Having been led to expect a work of profound genius and “one of the year’s most haunting cinematic experiences,” I was puzzled to find a serviceable popcorn movie, albeit one with pretensions and a serious lack of focus. There are, of course, some great set pieces, most notably one involving cables, improbable physics and a somersaulting truck. And the scene with Heath Ledger’s...

The most striking thing about the new Batman movie, now smashing the all-time box office records, is its emphasis on sado-masochism as the animating element in American culture these days. It must appeal to the many angry people in our land who want to hurt others, even while they themselves feel deserving of the grossest punishments. In other words, the picture reflects the extreme depravity of the current American sensibility. Seeing it all laid out there must be very validating to the emotionally confused audience, and hence pleasurable, in all its painfulness. The rich symbolism in this spectacle represents the...

Can you imagine if The Dark Knight was the last Batman film for actor Christian Bale? Clearly no person plays more into the monumental equation of a trilogy starring him than director Christopher Nolan. Bale recently spoke with EW about a second sequel to Batman Begins, or as the odd interviewer incorrectly called it, Batman “film number six”(I counted seven, Peter counted eight with the Adam West film)… Interviewer: So do you think there will be a part 3 of Batman? Christian Bale: Um, look, let’s wait and see… Interviewer: Or, I guess it’d be part 6. Christian Bale: No,...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here is Brian in Battle Creek, Michigan. Brian, thank you for waiting and welcome to the EIB Network. CALLER: Yeah, thank you. RUSH: Go right ahead, sir. CALLER: Megadittos. RUSH: Thank you very much. CALLER: I've got two here. First, I had to go to your website to find a phone number and now I finally understand when you say the Messi-uh, what you actually are getting at with the uhs that he says. RUSH: Right. The Messi-uh. CALLER: Very clever. The other thing is I was wondering if you had a chance to see the new...

At least one reviewer has noticed the symbolism that compares Batman to President Bush in the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight". As one who has greatly admired the understanding and foresight that President Bush has shown in comprehending the threat to free societies everywhere presented by Islamofascism and its record of murderous terrorism, and also admired the courage he has shown in the face of unbelievable threats, obstruction and vitriolics from the left-wing cowards and ostriches who can't and won't understand this threat, I am greatly encouraged that President Bush's great character and steadfastness is being recognized in a...

A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . . Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W." There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the...

The Dark Knight has no use for FISA By Sharon McGovern This is not a review, though I submit The Dark Knight kicks a** so very hard. Instead, this will be a brief look at themes employed in TDK; a sequel to Batman is a NeoCon. If you haven’t already contributed to the movie’s astonishing opening weekend take, you might want to decide right now if you want to read something that gives away a number of its plot points. The Dark Knight begins with “the bat man” having become a fixture in Gotham. He inspires resentment for the toll...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- He may be known to many children as a comic book friend, but a Purdue University professor warns the new "Dark Knight" Batman is a much more violent reincarnation of the classic character. Glenn Sparks, a professor of communication, studies the effects of scary movies, particularly on children. "The danger with a film like this is its history in the Batman comic book series and cartoons. People think of this hero as fun and entertaining, so parents may even take very young children to see what they believe is a family film. Instead, they may be...