‘Dark Knight’ emerges as Oscar contender

‘Dark Knight’ emerges as Oscar contender

LOS ANGELES — As the box-office bankroll climbed for “The Dark Knight” last summer, the Hollywood consensus was that a posthumous nomination for Heath Ledger was the Batman blockbuster’s best Academy Awards hope.

Now that critics have gotten a peek at all the last-minute Oscar contenders, “The Dark Knight” has emerged as a solid contender for best picture and best director for Christopher Nolan.

Web sites such as TheEnvelope.com and Awardsdaily.com rank Nolan and Ledger among key Oscar contenders and list “The Dark Knight” alongside best-picture possibilities such as Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon,” Gus Van Sant’s “Milk” and David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

It’s unusual for an action flick to climb into the company of Hollywood’s year-end prestige pictures, with Oscar voters tending toward highbrow literary works rather than comic-book adaptations. Among the action films that made the best-picture cut at the Oscars were the three “Lord of the Rings” movies and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Famed strip club burns

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — A fire Thursday burned through the roof of The Body Shop, a landmark West Hollywood strip club mentioned in a Motley Crue hit.

The blaze was reported about 6:46 a.m. Thursday at the one-story club on Sunset Boulevard, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. Firefighters don’t believe anyone was in the building at the time of the fire and were investigating its cause. It took about an hour to douse the fire, which was mainly confined to the attic, fire inspector Frank Garrido said. One firefighter suffered a minor injury.

The Body Shop, which has been in operation since the 1960s and bills itself as the longest-running strip club in Los Angeles, is one of several clubs mentioned in the 1980s Motley Crue anthem to the strip clubs of America, “Girls, Girls, Girls.”

Oprah in Washington

CHICAGO — Ms. Winfrey is going to Washington.

Harpo Productions says Winfrey will host a live episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” from the Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 19, the day before Barack Obama takes the presidential oath of office.

Winfrey has been a prominent Obama supporter, appearing with him at campaign rallies, donating money and cheering him at the Democratic National Convention.

A Harpo spokesman says at least two shows are planned in Washington that week, the second on Jan. 21. Information about ticketing for the show will be available next week on Oprah.com.

Empire State stuntman convicted, faces prison

NEW YORK — A former television host who tried to parachute off the Empire State Building has been convicted of reckless endangerment.

Jeb Corliss was convicted Wednesday in Manhattan State Supreme Court. He faces up to a year in prison for trying to jump off the 102-story building in 2006.

The 32-year-old had said he studied traffic patterns around the landmark before the attempt. Prosecutors say he could have caused injuries if he had jumped.

Corliss was the host of a Discovery Channel show called “Stunt Junkies” that features extreme athletes performing stunts. He had testified that he had jumped from more than 1,000 buildings and cliffs around the world.

Today’s birthdays

Singer Little Richard is 76. Opera singer Jose Carreras is 62. Singer Jim Messina (Loggins and Messina, Poco) is 61. Actress Morgan Brittany (“Dallas”) is 57. Singer-guitarist Johnny Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls is 43. Country singer Gary Allan is 41. Comedian Margaret Cho is 40. Actress Alex Kapp Horner (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is 39. Actor Frankie Muniz (“Malcolm in the Middle”) is 23.