Jerry Robinson's Joker as seen in Batman #1.

Credit: DC Comics

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It was with great sadness yesterday that I read the news of comic book artist Jerry Robinson passing. Robinson is widely known as the creator of the Joker in the Batman comic books (though that was naturally disputed by Batman creator Bob Kane in his time). It's an iconic gift to the world of graphic literature, no matter how you slice it, and Robinson's imprint on the industry was a considerable one. For "The Dark Knight," filmmaker Christopher Nolan went back to the pages of Batman #1, the Joker's first appearance, so it's fair to say we owe Heath Ledger's interpretation of the character to Robinson. Speaking of which, the prologue of "The Dark Knight Rises" was screened for select press last night. It will be attached to IMAX versions "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." [New York Times]

Marc Lee ponders the Academy playing it safe across the pond. [Telegraph]

Alternate history Spielberg: Who ALMOST starred in his movies? [Entertainment Weekly]

Sasha Stone previews the weekend's AFI announcement. [Awards Daily]

Brooks Barnes wonders if Scott Rudin feels burned for peaking too early last year. No, they really just weren't done with "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" until Monday. [New York Times]

Gary Oldman talks "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and shooting "The Dark Knight Rises" on IMAX. [Collider]

John le Carré calls the former "the films of a lifetime." [Salon]

James Cameron gets slapped with a lawsuit over the "Avatar" story. [The Wrap]

Leonard Maltin gives a very level-headed take on awards season backlash. [Movie Crazy]

Uh-oh. Adam Waldowski reports that defective screeners of "Rampart" were sent out to Academy members. [Gold Derby]

Kristopher Tapley
Editor-at-Large

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Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.