The first reviews of "The Dark Knight" are beginning to trickle in, and all I have read so far are glowing. Most of the praise is going to the late Heath Ledger's performance as Batman's nemesis Joker. 

When the young Australian actor passed away earlier this year, rumors of a push for a posthumous Oscar began to circulate. Now that the film has actually been screened, the push seems like less of a rumor and more like an actual plan. Actor Christian Bale praised the actor this past weekend at a press junket for the film, and fellow cast member Gary Oldman spoke in support of Ledger's style and turn as Joker.

"Heath had this frequency none of us could hear," Oldman told E! Online. "The Academy tends to overlook movies like this, but this acting is so good it's going to be very hard for them to avoid it." 

Also praised was Ledger's attention to detail in preparing for the role. According to members of "The Dark Knight"'s cast and crew, Ledger pulled influences from "A Clockwork Orange" to Charlie Chaplin's work to how ventriloquist dummies talk. Gone is the cartoonish Joker played by Nicholson in Tim Burton's 1989 film. 

If Ledger does win an Oscar for his performance as the psychotic and unpredictable Gotham villain, it would be the second posthumous Oscar ever granted. The first went to Peter Finch for "Network" in 1976.