Aaron Eckhart

Attending the premiere of Warner Brothers’ Batman: The Dark Knight at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, July 14: the film’s stars Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal (wearing charcoal Dries Van Noten splashed with flowers and accompanied by husband Peter Sarsgaard), Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart; actors Ethan Hawke, Edie Falco, Josh Hartnett, Seth Green and Emile Hirsch; plus Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively, Penn Badgley and Ed Westwick.

So whom did we nab? Screenwriter David Goyer! “This film is intense intense,” he said. “It’s about escalation, both good and bad.” What’s new about this Batman? “He’s the most realistic.  read more »

THE DARK KNIGHT
RUNNING TIME 152 minutes
WRITTEN BY Christopher and Jonathan Nolan
DIRECTED BY Christopher Nolan
STARRING Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Some folks take metaphysical pleasure from the New Batman Philosophy According to Christopher Nolan: that good and evil lurk side by side in everyone, including Batman. But in my opinion, every Batman movie is about only one thing: action hero (the caped crusader with wings) vs. bad guys (everyone else). Writer-director Nolan’s Batman Begins, with its surreal and mystical mumbo jumbo about playboy Bruce Wayne’s beginnings, remains the worst Batman movie I’ve ever seen, although the comic-book addicts disagree.  read more »

THE DARK KNIGHT
RUNNING TIME 152 minutes
WRITTEN BY Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
DIRECTED BY Christopher Nolan
STARRING Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, from a screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, based on a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, is, of course, ultimately from a series of comic books published by DC Comics, with the creation of the Batman character attributed to Bob Kane. In the world of comic-book superheroes, the Batman franchise has specialized in the most eccentrically colorful villains. I still remember Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman character looking out of the corner of his eye at Jack Nicholson’s clownish antics as the Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, the second such cinematic transfer after Laslia Martinson’s 1966 Batman, with Adam West reprising in a campy fashion his hit television role.  read more »

It didn’t take Aaron Eckhart, a guest at last night’s The Moth event in Union Square, long to place his most memorable New York moment.

Ten years ago, when Mr. Eckhart, now 39, was a “struggling New York actor,” he was out for an evening stroll in the midst of the winter holiday season. “Snow on the street, lights in the trees of Gramercy Park—beautiful, the night, gorgeous, holding hands with my then-girlfriend,” he said, pausing to look at his now-girlfriend, a tall dirty-blonde with chiseled features. “You’ll have to excuse me,” he told her sheepishly, wearing a leather jacket over a blue sweater and denim shirt. Looking back at the Daily Transom, he went on, “A car comes around a corner, honks his horn at another car, I said, ‘Shut up!’ and he said, ‘Fuck you!’ and then drove off into the night. And that’s when I realized that I was in New York City!”

As for his view of Halloween here, a more city-wise Mr. Eckhart simply views it as “a normal day in New York City,” he offered with a chuckle. “I like when people dress up as boxes of things, like Milk Duds. I always think that’s a clever disguise, because I just like being boxes of things. I’ve never done it myself, but I admire those who have the guts to do it. It takes courage.”

He just finished shooting Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the newest installment in the Batman franchise, in which he plays Gotham’s district attorney Harvey Dent alongside fellow actors Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gary Oldman. Next up: Traveling—a romantic comedy co-starring Jennifer Aniston.  read more »

Forget the bad food metaphors: The most remarkable thing about the romantic comedy No Reservations is actor Aaron Eckhart’s hair, which even manages to upstage the long, flowing dark locks of his gorgeous co-star, Catherine Zeta-Jones. “It was a mop,” said Mr. Eckhart of the multitoned and layered coif, at a lunch in honor of the movie at Le Cirque on Thursday, July 26 (Ms.  read more »

No Reservations is an unnecessary but somewhat charming remake of Mostly Martha, the delicious 2001 German film about food, love and family values.  read more »