When Madonna decided to dress up as a schoolgirl for a fancy dress party in New York, she didn’t have to look far for inspiration. The 50-year-old simply let herself loose in her teenage daughter Lourdes’ wardrobe. She borrowed a waistcoat and tie, striped hosiery, a smiley face ring and pair of Converse sneakers from the 13-year-old, who has been seen wearing the items on separate occasions in recent times. The singer completed the look with a black wig, racy fishnet tights and a short skirt to mark the Jewish celebration of Purim at the Kabbalah Centre. Her boyfriend Jesus Luz, 22, joined in the festivities wearing a Joker costume, complete with full face make-up and a striking purple pinstripe suit and green waistcoat. He was seen emerging from the venue with Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The 37-year-old was dressed as a Persian princess and entered the Kabbalah centre hand-in-hand with Luz as the pair apparently pretended to be a couple. Madonna was celebrating Purim, which commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people of the ancient Persian Empire from nobleman Haman’s plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.

See, I would rather see Madonna’s costume choice NOT as the first signs of a burgeoning mid-life crisis but rather as a cheeky nod to her daughter’s bold fashion sense. I think it’s a really cute idea. And BOY what a difference a year makes … around this time 12 months ago we were fairly sure that things were still on the up and up in Maddy and Guy’s marriage. While I may still have no idea exactly what the Jewish Festival of Purim is all about (and trust me, my Jewish boyfriend is NO help at all) I have to admit that it looks like a good time. In my limited experience with Jewish celebration, I’ve come to discover that Jewish religious celebrations tend to be less formal and more jovial … very unlike the staunch Christian “celebrations” that I endured in my youth. The Jews know how to have fun, which is why they are ace in my book. Happy Purim, y’all!!

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Hot Toys is releasing a 1/6th scale figure of The Joker in “Bank Robber” mode. The figure stands 12-inches tall, features 32-points of articulation, and comes with a choice of two removable heads, one with a huge grin, the other with the slicked back hair. Accessories include a removable clown mask, handgun, a bigger gun, duffle bag, smoke and fragmentation grenades, playing cards, gotham city money and more.

Click HERE to see more photos of this action figure, it’s really very remarkably made. I have a pretty good feeling that Heath would’ve gotten a real kick out of this action figure had he been able to see while he still lived. I think it’s a pretty cool tribute to the chilling character that he portrayed in The Dark Knight. Well done.

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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 …

Apparently this photo originated in the forums at SuperHeroHype.com but ended up on THIS site, which claims that Heath had a part in the creation of The Joker’s make-up for the film:

[I]t was Heath who actually designed the make-up (NOT the make-up appliances which were designed by Conor). On the day of the make-up test he showed up with a very basic make-up kit consisting of store bought mascara, white grease paint and lipstick and and basically designed the make-up there on the spot — everyone loved it and it was the duty of the ‘Pro’ make-up artist to replicate it every day for the duration of the shoot

THIS site provides a bit more exposition explaining that altho Heath Ledger may have deigned the make-up look of The Joker, he was not responsible for the creation of the prosthetics that make up the Joker’s facial scars. Heath’s death is still such a tragedy, one that many of us will relive again and again over the coming weeks with the release of Batman: The Dark Knight, but we can still appreciate what an amazing actor … what an amazing man he was. I am not at all surprised to learn that he may have had a hand in the creation of the look of The Joker — I am confident he will deliver a stunning performance in the movie. From what I have surmised thus far from the little I’ve seen, Heath’s version of The Joker is by far the most psychotic portrayal of the character that has ever been seen in movies or on TV (a psychoticness more akin to the way The Joker exists in the darker Batman comic book titles). I hope all this talk of Oscar buzz isn’t off the mark … I would love to see the man be honored for his work, even if it has to be posthumously.

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