In the long-awaited return of Angry Puppy, Marc and Lee take their title literally in an episode filled with puppies. The guys introduce their new mascot, and run down a list of the greatest sci-fi dogs.

But that's not all! Jumping species, the fellas get a little bat-crazy in reviewing The Dark Knight and a host of other bat-related titles. Plus, Dr. Horrible, Dr. Who, a new Mystery Geek Challenge, and much more!

Check it out after the break!

Happy birthday to out musician Rufus Wainwright (seen here playing in England earlier this month)!

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• EW's Michael Ausiello (how weird is it to say that after all these years?!) nabbed Ugly Betty's Michael Urie and Becki Newton at the TCA for some video scoopage: Cliff will be back, there will be drama, and ... Wilhelmina wields a sledgehammer in the first ep?

• John Barrowman and hubby Scott Gill may be looking to adopt an Asian baby, and on the other hand they may be opting for a surrogate. Or, you know, they may wait to see if they just stumble across one in the cabbage patch. (We now return you to your regularly scheduled slow news day.)

• Composer Danny Elfman discusses his in-the-works score for Gus Van Sant's Milk, noting that "the performances from Sean Penn and the cast are great. I'm really enjoying myself so far." Elfman also scored Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, and earned an Oscar nod for his work.

• Homophobicadvertisingpaloozagate! Ad Age's Bob Garfield writes an open letter to Omnicom's head calling out his company's track record for homophobic spots, while Nike draws ire for ads that use the fear straight men apparently have of other men jamming their crotches into their faces to sell basketball shoes. 

• So Christian Bale allegedly assaulted his sister and mother at a hotel the night before The Dark Knight premiered in London. Meanwhile, Bale says, "Eh ... not so much." I'll believe the accusations when witnesses report hearing "Hip to Be Square" blaring from his hotel room at the time of the incident.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

Gay-faves Cristian de la Fuente (The Class) and Eva Longoria Parker announced the noms for the 2008 ALMA Awards today live from Wisteria Lane

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• The big movie news today was of course The Dark Knight's record-smashing opening midnight/day/weekend/three-day total. But did you hear that gay-friendly Mamma Mia! also managed to scare up the biggest opening weekend in history for a movie musical, during that same Bat weekend? That's pretty incredible.

• According to Miss Kathy Griffin, oodles of fun stuff hasn't made it to the airwaves this season, including some interesting musings from "billionaire bear" Steve Wozniak, whom she claims commented in San Francisco, "You know, if I fall in love with a man, I fall in love with a man. There's nothing wrong with that." I didn't know it was possible, but The Woz just got even cooler.

• Pierce Brosnan won the top spot in a British poll of "Gay Icons" (over 50 category). I have no problem with that, as long as he doesn't sing his acceptance speech.

• Any excuse to post a pic of Chris Diamantopoulos (who plays Debra Messing's gay BFF on The Starter Wife and in real life is married to Ugly Betty's Becki Newton) is a good one.

• And finally, Outfest (the Los Angeles LGBT film fest) wrapped up this weekend, with the top prize going to Were the World Mine. For the full list of prizewinners, head on over here.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

We don't often review movies over here at the kids' table. But while the eagerly-anticipated Batman sequel The Dark Knight isn't really gay enough to cover over on our main page, over here on the blog things are just loosey-goosey enough to allow for this kind of thing. Being as how I know many of us hold a special place in our hearts for Heath Ledger, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the movie ... I won't get spoilery until the end and will give ample warning, so consider this a pretty safe read for those of you who don't want your Knight to be kept in the dark until showtime.

Here's the long and short of it: The Dark Knight is perhaps the greatest superhero movie ever made.

It is an epic, complicated, and relentlessly disturbing meditation on terror, fear, honor, and responsibility that grabs you in the opening scene and drags you by the throat through 150 minutes of intrigue, drama, and jaw-dropping action. From its grim palette to its wonderfully eerie minimalist score, everything about the film is a departure from what Hollywood has always told us a superhero film should be. This is something altogether more complex, more unsettling, and more rewarding.

The main reason that the film works is the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker. It's simply riveting. After the carefully-crafted origin story of Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan wisely shifts the focus off of the Pointy-Eared One and onto the villain who would make him fully realize his potential as Gotham's savior: the mysterious and horrifying Joker, whose refusal to compromise plays foil to Bruce Wayne's own internal conflict. And I cannot imagine that any other actor could have realized this part with the nuance, the bravado, and the sheer balls that Ledger brought to the role.

This is Ledger's film, start-to-finish. Which is interesting, considering that at no point do we actually learn anything whatsoever about the character that he plays beyond his simple philosophy: Chaos reigns. As he himself points out in an early scene, he's not crazy ... he simply has a singular desire: to see everything fall apart. And if that's crazy, then Batman must be crazy, too, because they are two sides of the same coin: Control ... and chaos.

Fittingly, the coin-flipping villain Two Face (nee Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart) enjoys the most satisfying character arc the film has to offer. We actually see the new District Attorney (Gotham's "White Knight") transform from the city's greatest hope to the city's greatest threat, a journey that further amplifies Batman's yin-yang relationship with The Joker.

What's really most impressive about The Dark Knight is its scope and scale, which makes even Batman Begins, which itself felt impossibly thorough and wonderfully grand in its exploration of the hero's origins, look like child's play by comparison. Batman Begins was literally the setup, and The Dark Knight is where the bat hits the fan. At the heart of the story is Gotham, in all its corrupt, overpopulated, mismanaged, crime-ridden glory. And Gotham is its focus through and through, as public servants fall prey to The Joker's plans, innocent civilians are transformed into gun-toting clowns, and, in the film's most harrowing sequence, two ferries loaded with citizens are asked to play jury, judge, and mass executioner.

I know that I called this the greatest superhero movie ever made, but it's almost inappropriate to call it a superhero movie at all. Sure, the most ambitious superhero movies (Spiderman, Iron Man, Superman) have wrestled with "big themes" like responsibility, family, and greed ... but not nearly to this extent. This is the anatomy of a society hobbled by corruption and driven by fear whose parallels to our own world are alarmingly tight. It's not about the suit, and it's not about the gadgets (although they're amazing), and it's not about the clown makeup (which is never explained, or even addressed): it's about the clash of good and evil and the sacrifices that those who protect the greater good make in order to keep order.

And it's wonderfully, exhaustingly thrilling. 

Okay, enough of that. On to the fun stuff! (More details after the break, but don't worry, nothing spoilery until a ways down...)

Folks who braved the multiplexes this weekend (with Iron Man raking in over $200 million in just four days, it must have been like a mini Comic Con at every concession stand across America) had the chance to catch the brand new trailer for The Dark Knight in all its creepy, explosion-happy glory.

The trailer is now online, and it's both reassuring to see that the Warners haven't tried to bury the performance of late, great Heath Ledger and undeniably disturbing to see the apparently troubled actor playing it convincingly unhinged in his final (and biggest) role.

How do folks feel about this one?