Batman: The Dark Knight held it’s first premiere, a black carpet event, at the AMC Loews Lincoln Center in NYC last night. All of the principal stars of the movie were in attendance (many of them matched up with their partners) including members of the late Heath Ledger‘s family (who opted out of talking to any press as they walked the carpet). Here are a few pics from the black carpet arrivals at last night’s premiere:

There were lots of jubilant smiles and happy faces … it’s nice that the stars of The Dark Knight can celebrate their new movie (reportedly a tour de force for Heath Ledger) without having to cast any mournful sadness on the event over the loss of Heath Ledger. After the jump, check out more pics from the black carpet arrivals at the movie premiere and a few photos of some of the attendees at the movie’s afterparty at the Mandarin Oriental …

Batman: The Dark Knight star Christian Bale is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issues of British GQ magazine and Mexican Rolling Stone magazine. With all the hype surrounding the release of The Dark Knight reaching a fever pitch, these are but the latest magazines to feature the actor on their covers. Here is Christian‘s full GQ photospread:

It’s a sexy yet dapper shoot. I don’t ever understand the shiny face thing that some photoshoots call for but I guess it does add a bit of harshness to the photos. Christian looks damn good in his suit but I must confess that I think I prefer him out of the suit even more.

Here is the cover of the new issue of the Mexican version of Rolling Stone magazine:

The cover is simple yet striking. The dichotomy play works really well, especially when you consider that The Joker isn’t the only bad guy we’ll get to see in The Dark Knight. The emergence of Two Face is bound to add to the awesomeness.

After the jump, check out a few photos of Christian lookin’ moody as hell at a press conference photoshoot for the movie which took place here in SoCal recently …

Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, in their roles as Batman and The Joker, are featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly … here is the magazine cover and an excerpt from the coverstory that contains no spoilers but gives you a good understanding of what the article is all about:

With The Dark Knight, Nolan and Bale return to Gotham City for a second, even moodier and more savage installment of the superhero franchise they revamped in 2005 with Batman Begins. The movie delivers on its promise, pitting Batman against the freaky new fiend in psychotic cosmetics who robs banks and blows up hospitals for the sheer anarchic kick of it. Most of the familiar faces (and one new Two-Face) are on board, including wry butler Alfred (Michael Caine), stalwart police detective Gordon (Gary Oldman), and lawyer-slash-love interest Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over the role from Katie Holmes), as well as a new crusading district attorney named Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). The Dark Knight has everything fans expect from the series: gizmos like a sleek new ”Bat Pod” motorcycle, eye-popping stunts (most performed the old-fashioned way, with real stuntmen and real explosions), and, of course, the brooding Bale, arguably the best, certainly the most serious actor ever to growl under the cowl. Still, when the film opens July 18, Ledger will be Topic A. His turn in The Dark Knight would have been widely talked about this summer even if the 28-year-old actor hadn’t died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose last January. It might have even earned him another Oscar nomination (it still could, posthumously). Now the performance is shrouded in tragedy, though, and may well be Ledger’s last cinematic testament (it’s unclear what Terry Gilliam will, or can, do with the actor’s unfinished footage from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). And that loads The Dark Knight with a poignancy its creators never anticipated. Certainly one they never desired. Along with the grief it caused friends and family, Ledger’s death cast a shadow of uncertainty over the film. It had Warner Bros. reexamining its entire marketing plans for the movie, conducting taste tests on the appropriateness of Ledger’s clown face on publicity stills and in trailers. Hardly the way the studio had hoped it would be launching its biggest summer thrill ride.

To be honest, I haven’t even read the entire coverstory for fear of reading too much about the movie that is still over a week away from release. If you are so inclined, you can read the article online HERE and risk the spoilers for yourself (a new trailer for The Dark Knight ran in front of Hancock last night and I tried to cover my eyes … there’s just so much TDK stuff out there that I don’t want to see any more until the movie comes out on the 18th). Even still … there is a lot of cool stuff that I think we can see safely, without fear of spoiling the movie. After the jump, check out a photo of Heath Ledger wearing The Joker prosthetics on his face but without make-up … it’s kind of an eerie thing to see …

Christian Bale, the star of the new Batman sequel The Dark Knight, is featured on the cover and in the pages of the newspaper supplement Parade magazine. In his coverstory, Christian talks about his role as a superhero, the infamously tight and uncomfortable Batsuit, his role in the latest Terminator movie and more. Here is Christian‘s coverphoto and a few (I feel incumbent to add odd-looking and seemingly totally out of place) outtakes from Parade.com:

In this week’s issue of PARADE, Christian Bale talks to Jeanne Wolf about parenting, privacy and “kindred spirit” Heath Ledger … Christian Bale has had the talent and the luck to play a wide range of characters, both lovable and unfathomably despicable. The Dark Knight, the follow-up to the hugely successful Batman Begins, is his first sequel, and he surprised himself when he felt such enthusiasm to reprise his role as Gotham’s protector …

Christian Bale, star of the new Batman sequel The Dark Knight and all around hawt piece, is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of the Singapore edition of Arena magazine … check it out:

While I generally love my Christian Bale all dressed up in his rubber Batman suit (well, actually, I prefer him all dressed down in his birthday suit … but I’m getting off topic), I think he looks pretty damn good when he’s wearing a nice designer suit. Christian is all kinds of hawt and I love posting pics of him … so enjoy!!