This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst in Money 2008 feature.

Well, 2008 has come and gone. If you were looking to be entertained over the past 12 months, you had a lot of choices. From Batman's battle with the maniacal Joker to Hannah Montana singing her little heart out in 3-D, there was something for everyone. Let's look at five of the hottest properties that made their way into the heart of the cultural mindshare in '08.

Up first is The Dark Knight, the second iteration of director Christopher Nolan's new vision of the Caped Crusader. That movie killed at the box office, and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) could not have been happier. Knight scored almost $1 billion at the global box office. More than half that number was captured in the domestic marketplace. There's no question that the movie mesmerized the collective intellect of the audience. There's also no question that Heath Ledger, who tragically passed away earlier in the year, impressed everyone with his portrayal of the chaotic and cruel Joker villain. I, however, do have a question. Is it just me, or was Knight not as awesome a film as the hype makes it out to be? I saw it, thought it was okay. I don't know, I'm just not sure that this new entry in the cinematic Batman mythos would have brought in as many bucks if the notoriety of Ledger's death wasn't attached to these particular reels of celluloid. To be honest, I didn't think Ledger did that unique of a job. And I thought The Joker's voice was annoying, almost sounding like Sam Raimi -- did anyone else happen to think that? Maybe it's just me. Nevertheless, I salute the success of Knight and respect the project for the impact it had on theaters 'round the world.

There will be five superheroes competing for the attention of weekend moviegoers come Friday. There's Marvel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: MVL)'s duo Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE)'s Hancock, General Electric Corporation (NYSE: GE)'s Hellboy (distributed by GE's Universal), and Time Warner, Inc (NYSE: TWX)'s Dark Knight. So, who's going to be the ultimate crime fighter?

I'll tell you which one prevails: Time Warner and its new Batman film, The Dark Knight, has the weekend all locked up. This is set in stone. The Hulk and Iron Man are pretty much done, Hellboy isn't a powerful enough brand name, and Hancock didn't deliver the big numbers I thought it was capable of during its debut weekend (since then, however, the movie has held up well, I have to admit). But you can bet that Dark Knight hits $100 million this weekend. Can you feel the buzz surrounding this blockbuster in the wings? I can. Several reviews I've read were full of cinematic worship for this new entry in the franchise, with special praise reserved for the late Heath Ledger and his portrayal of the fiendish nightmare known as The Joker. There's a decent marketing campaign behind the project, including promotion of the availability of IMAX (NASDAQ: IMAX) screenings. If there ever seemed a movie fit for Imax, this is it. Yeah, Dark Knight can't lose, it can only win big.

Of course, what about Time Warner's stock? It could certainly use a superhero right now, as it has been hovering in recent times not above Gotham City (although that would probably be treacherous enough) but above 52-week-low City. I can't say that a big opening weekend definitely won't move the stock a little just due to the excitement factor, but I wouldn't buy the company ahead of the film (I also wouldn't gamble with IMAX either). Time Warner simply is too large to be affected significantly by one movie. If you consider Time Warner at all, it would be for fundamentals and valuation (I think the company is cheap here, although with this market, I'd rather get it cheaper). Enjoy the movie first, think about the stock later...

Disclosure: I own GE and Marvel; positions can change at any time.

Arnold may not be back, but that doesn't mean a franchise can't move forward on its own.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) stand to see some nice revenue generation for their studio segments in 2009 via a new sequel in the Terminator franchise, to be called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Sony will take international distribution chores, while Time Warner will handle the domestic side of things.

As a fan of the Terminator series, I can tell you that it will be great to see another entry. And it will also be exciting to see if the brand can be carried by someone else other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, Christian Bale is set to play John Connor, the future rebel who battles Skynet and its evil cyborg army.

Yesterday afternoon, the world was shocked to learn of the untimely passing of Heath Ledger. Remembered for roles as varied as Patrick Verona in the teen-comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain (for which Ledger earned a Lead-Actor Oscar nomination), the 28-year old was a talented and beloved thespian who possibly struggled with staggering demons.

His final bow will be taken in the iconic role of Batman villain The Joker, in The Dark Knight. The movie, a production of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)'s Warner Brothers, still carries a release date of June 18.

A Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) location in San Diego reportedly responded to this bulletin by seizing the marketing opportunities. A black-and-white sign, propped in front of a display of Ledger films such as Brokeback and Lords of Dogtown, asks shoppers to "Remember a great actor through his great performances." While it is a nice sentiment to honor Ledger at the prime of his career, VH1's Best Week Ever asks (and I have to agree with them) -- is this sort of tribute "too soon?"

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. Entertainment division revealed the look of actor Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the upcoming sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, last week on one of three new websites designed to promote the film: www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com. The image has since been removed from the site and a disclaimer reads "Page not found" but if you highlight the page you can read several hundred "ha ha's," with displaced letters throughout the text reading "see you in December."

The sequel planned for release in the United States in July 2008, follows the $372 million blockbuster Batman Begins, which showed a young Bruce Wayne struggling to deal with his parents murder and vowing to clean-up Gotham City as Batman. In The Dark Knight, Batman will purportedly continue his fight to clean-up Gotham while the Joker, his comic book arch-nemesis, comes into the picture and causes more chaos. If this image and its grotesque indications are any sign, the new film is going to follow the first nicely and add more to the realistic tones set down by director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer. Fans and summer blockbuster viewers will have to wait another fourteen months to see though.

Time Warner, which closed at $21.56 yesterday, will have a hard road in those months to sell this new Joker to kids and families like it has sold products for every Batman film since 1989, which featured Jack Nicholson as the Joker. While this new incarnation is showing no sign of being connected to Nicholson's portrayal, it seems hard to determine how or if Time Warner will even attempt to market the character. Certainly a Heath Ledger Joker action figure will be produced, but who will purchase it? Kids (the parents for the kids), or the fans and collectors that jump on the dark nature of the acting, character, and ultimately film.