Tragic yet metal story alert: A 20-year-old man wearing Joker makeup broke into a Belgian nursery and went on a BABY STABBING SPREE.  Two infants and a caretaker are dead, with two still in critical condition.

There were 21 infants in the creche and six supervisors. All of the victims were stabbed in the throat or head. Parents gathered in the Dendermonde town hall and, with psychologists in support, identified the victims using photographs. Nine children escaped unharmed. Three of the creche’s child care workers were injured as they tried to fend off the attacker.

“There was blood everywhere, it was unbelievable, real carnage. He went straight for the babies and attacked them. The smallest ones were in their beds, they were probably asleep.”

After the attack, the man calmly left on his bicycle. Police sealed off all local schools as panic spread throughout the town.

The knifeman was pursued by a police helicopter and arrested in a nearby supermarket still in possession of the weapon used in the attack.

“You can’t imagine what we saw at that time. The babies were hurt not in the arms, not in the legs, not in the stomach, always the head or the neck. It is something you don’t forget.” [Telegraph]

The man has since been identified as Kim de Gelder, who some say may have been inspired by the anniversary of Heath Ledger’s death.

The Australian actor died of a drug overdose on Jan 22, 2008, a year and a day before the suspect is accused of carrying out the attack after painting his face white, blackening his eyes and either colouring his hair red or wearing a red wig. Mr De Gelder has been variously described by former workmates as a “film freak” and “movie addict”.

The young man, who lived his whole life within three miles of the family home has emerged as a troubled loner.

“His nickname was Satan,” said one former schoolmate.

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^{Why so serious?  Oh right, because I’m dead.  Carry on, then.}

Heath Ledger won the Australian Film Institute’s Best Actor Award for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight.  His family accepted the award on his behalf.  And of course, it just wouldn’t be a film awards ceremony without someone using the phrases “legacy” and “psychopathic clown” in the same sentence.

“It was this swaggering, psychopathic clown that turned his career into a legacy and the name Heath Ledger into an ongoing inspiration to actors everywhere,” the Australia Film Institute said at the awards ceremony Saturday night in Melbourne. [Yahoo]

He was great, and he probably deserves the Oscar, no one’s going to argue that.  But keep in mind the Australian Film Institute is run by Chopper Reid, the director of Turkey Shoot, and the feral child from Mad Max.  I hear he’s a Scientologist now!

Poor Spencer Taylor.  Like any normal 20-year-old, all he wanted to do was dress up all fruity and steal some Batman crap from the local cinema in Three Rivers, Michigan.  But then the no-fun police had to step in with their usual cockblockery.

[Taylor] was arrested early yesterday morning for allegedly trying to steal Batman posters and other collectibles from a theater showing "The Dark Knight."

The Associated Press said Mr Taylor was wearing a purple suit, a green wig and face paint in the style of Batman’s nemesis in The Dark Knight.

Detective Mike Mohney said he expected Mr Taylor to be charged with larceny and malicious destruction of property and appear in court on August 5.

I guess that last part answers the obvious "Why So Serious?" question.  Anyway, it’s times like these when I’m thankful stealing hearts is not a crime.   

[via News.com.au and thesmokinggun - Thanks to Burnsy for the tip]

In honor of this weekend’s opening of The Dark Knight, here’s a PSA starring Batman and the Joker, who remind you to wear sunscreen.  The best part is the montage and theme song at the beginning.  A montage and theme song makes everything better, even domestic violence.  Video after the jump.

[Thanks to Burnsy, who’s both a gentleman and a scholar, for the tip]

So the big news yesterday was that Peter Travers of Rolling Stone had reviewed The Dark Knight.  I would’ve covered that if Travers hadn’t lost all credibility in the last year by giving Atonement and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days four stars each.  I saw both of those and let me tell you, I’d rather get ass raped by a rhinoceros with my head in a clogged toilet than watch either of them again.  Okay, that was a bit of an overstatement.  But in all seriousness, I’d rather… eat… a strawberry… that wasn’t ripe yet! Ew, it’s tart!  That’s the opposite of what I was expecting! The horror!

Anyway, today IESB has a big batch of new pictures from the movie (only 22 days away!!!11!), a few of which I’ve included here.  They also have an entire page of "production notes" that include stuff like this:

THEN WHAT ABOUT THE BATCAVE?
Crowley notes that as long as his home was in the city, Batman needed a new headquarters. “He can’t go to his Batcave, so we came up with the idea of a bunker that ties back to the architectural theme of the penthouse in that it’s vast but very plain. It is essentially a large concrete box where everything comes out of the walls and then goes back. But it still had to be visually interesting. It was all about proportion and perspective, which was actually great fun to do.”

…Yeeeaaahh….  I think I’ll wait for the actual movie, thanks.  Reading this shit’s like going to a strip club with a guy who spends the whole time yammering about what the stripper’s g-string’s are made out of and where they get the fabric.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that I just want Christian Bale to show me his vagina already.