The Dark Knight: Oscar Bound?

[Orintho]

A slim shot, but one none the less. Plus consider motives for the Academy. Picking a popular film like TDK would be a good way to increase public interest.

[Harvey]

FleetLord wrote:

---

The big question is what other films will contend with TDK? Last year No Country For Old Men won and alot of people attributed that to the fact that there was no really stand out film of 2007.

Sure there was. It was called No Country for Old Men.

Any year that produces Michael Clayton, There Will be Blood, and No Country For Old Men... and nominates them... that's a good year for the Academy.

[Thrall]

The Dark Knight was a good movie but it was not a perfect film. The dialogue was still mediocre just like the first one. Christian Bale's Batman-voice annoyed alot of people(I didn't think it was that bad). Harvey Dent's demise was unnecisarry. The Hong Kong subplot was unnecisarry fat that could have been trimmed. The action ranged from "enjoyable but disconjointed" to "confusing and difficult to follow". Because I still have no idea what was going on in that construction site scene. The pacing is too rush-rush and doesn't give you time to relax and take a breather so by the end you're just exhausted and worn out rather then elated. So watching it becomes a great undertaking. It's not a movie you can just pop in and watch like the first one was. And yes I'm a purist who hated the make-up thing.

But mostly, it's just not a very fun movie. And that's not really a bad thing, neccissarily. Because the film is a powerful film due to it's unwavering maturity, complexity, and realism. I just think that in his strive for credibility for the genre, Nolan sacrificed the number one rule of pop-corn movies and superherodom: He forgot to make it fun. This is Batman, not King Lear. He runs around in tights beating up cartoony criminals. This is not something that requires a lot of intellectual insight here. I'm not saying I want Adam West or anything. I'm just saying he could have toned the realism down a couple notches and still made a great film, but not nearly as overbearingly mature and complex. Because, to be honest, I had more fun in 5 minutes of Iron Man then pretty much all three hours of the non-stop intellectual overbearingness of The Dark Knight.

So if it doesn't get an Oscar nom, then I won't be surprised because there might be members of The Academy who agree with me.

[Caligula]

Sure. The Dark Knight COULD win Best Picture (and on that basis I voted "yes").... but it won't.

[Lapis Exilis]

Hirogen Alpha wrote:

---

Were any actors billed before the title on The Dark Knight? Since the film doesn't have a traditional opening credits sequence, how is this determined (or does it say The Dark Knight right off the bat at the beginning of the end credits--I can't remember)?

"Before the title" is actually a little bit of an outdated way to describe it because so many films don't have traditional title sequences any more. Billing has to do with actor's contracts which determine the order they are listed in and pay rate. Very occasionally more than one actor or actress may have "top billing" (for instance both James Dean and Rock Hudson were nominated for Best Actor for the movie Giant), but usually it's simply whichever male and female are billed first who qualify for the Best Actor/ Best Actress nomination and everyone else on the bill would go to Best Supporting categories. Ledger was listed behind both Bale and Caine, so there's no way he can qualify for Best Actor for TDK.

[N-121973]

When are the Oscar nominations announced? I heard somewhere that the Golden Globe nominations are announced later this week and they're supposed to be a good indicator for the Oscars.

[IJD GAF]

Not 'til January I think.

[Aragorn]

Best Actor and Best Supporting actor nominations are based on what you're submitted as.

George Clooney as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana? It was an ensemble with Clooney as 1A, Damon as 1B and Wright as 2, but it was mostly Clooney's movie. Nicole Kidman wasn't on the screen that much in The Hours for her Best Actress. Hell, Jamie Foxx was a Supporting Actor nominee for Collateral, and he was the driving character and in it for like 99% of the run time. Ethan Hawke getting a Best Supporting nomination for Training Day? Judi Dench won Best Supporting for five minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love.

The actors get submitted based on what they think they're more likely to win.

[MicahBrack]

Siwilliams wrote:

---

I voted yes, but don't think it will

Same here. Yes, it could win best picture. But it is highly unlikely that it will.

[Lapis Exilis]

Aragorn wrote:

---

Best Actor and Best Supporting actor nominations are based on what you're submitted as.

George Clooney as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana? It was an ensemble with Clooney as 1A, Damon as 1B and Wright as 2, but it was mostly Clooney's movie. Nicole Kidman wasn't on the screen that much in The Hours for her Best Actress. Hell, Jamie Foxx was a Supporting Actor nominee for Collateral, and he was the driving character and in it for like 99% of the run time. Ethan Hawke getting a Best Supporting nomination for Training Day? Judi Dench won Best Supporting for five minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love.

The actors get submitted based on what they think they're more likely to win.

Looks like we're both wrong.

From 80th Acadmey Awards Rules

1. A performance by an actor or actress in any role shall be eligible for nomination either for the leading role or supporting role categories. The determination as to whether a role is a leading or supporting role shall be made individually by members of the branch at the time of balloting.
2. The leading role and supporting role categories will be tabulated simultaneously. If any performance should receive votes in both categories, the achievement shall only be placed on the ballot in that category in which, during the tabulation process, it first receives the required number of votes to be nominated. In the event that the performance receives the numbers of votes required to be nominated in both categories simultaneously, the achievement shall only be placed on the ballot in that category in which it receives the greater percentage of the total votes.

Huh. So I guess Ledger could be nominated for Best Actor if enough Academy members nominate him for that award as opposed to Best Supporting. Assuming enough people nominate him to get him into either category.

Shows what I know...

[MeanJoePhaser]

Eric Roberts deserves a best supporting actor nod for his part...in CYCLOPS, the made-for-cable movie.

[Aragorn]

Lapis Exilis wrote:

---

Looks like we're both wrong.

Oh well. Still doesn't change the fact that Jamie Foxx in Collateral and Ethan Hawke in Training Day are not supporting roles.

[FalTorPan]

If The Dark Knight wins Best Picture, then Hollywood movies as a whole must suck worse than even I thought.

[JacksonArcher]

FalTorPan wrote:

---

If The Dark Knight wins Best Picture, then Hollywood movies as a whole must suck worse than even I thought.

Yeah, they do mostly suck. Hooray for The Dark Knight for being better than most of the dreck out there.