"The Dark Knight"

Performance: The film is already a classic, and it's not even out of theaters yet. At more than $490 million, it has passed " Star Wars" as the No. 2 film in U.S. box-office history. Keep in mind, it's only in its sixth week of release.

Assessment: To say that Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker put the film over the top would be an understatement. A great script, nuanced acting by Christian Bale, Michael Caine and others, plus Ledger's death converged to make this film more of an event than a release.

Grade: A+

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