Return of the King
Variety on Dark Knight's Oscar possibilities
- Thread starter HaplessCrewman
- Start date
And TLR was a geek novel.
And Titanic was a schmaltzy love story.
What should the subject-matter of the movie matter?
TDK was well made and well acted (parlty minus Bale).
If the Academy is truly trying to broaden their appeal I don't see why it won't get nominated. Winning is a whole other thing, but I don't think a nomination is out of the realm of possibility.
Thespeckledkiwi
Vice Admiral
Well made but --
There is some sentiment that Return of the King was only nominated because of the other two movies as well and it was a groundbreaking movie.
There is some reluctance to nominate 'niche' movies like the Dark Knight. Very rarely do science fiction/fantasy movies get nominated, much less win a prestigious award like Best Picture.
TDK was a good movie but it had many flaws to the movie.
There is some sentiment that Return of the King was only nominated because of the other two movies as well and it was a groundbreaking movie.
There is some reluctance to nominate 'niche' movies like the Dark Knight. Very rarely do science fiction/fantasy movies get nominated, much less win a prestigious award like Best Picture.
TDK was a good movie but it had many flaws to the movie.
No. That would be the Blockbuster Video Awards and the oh-so-prestigious People's Choice Awards.
The Oscar TV broadcast is a DISTANT SECOND behind the purpose of the Academy Awards.
I don't care if it's televised or not. If pap starts getting nominated, then a Rupert Murdock type might as well just buy the Academy and give an Oscar to Adam Sandler.
The Oscars go to quality, regardless of box office success. The fact that "popular crap" has seeped in just because it's popular weakens the award, not strengthens it.
Back OT: TDK made my top 10 list of 2008, but I would not nominate it for a Best Picture Academy Award.
--Ted
Those themes seem kind of basic to the characters (of course vigilante Batman would face some backlash when people are targeted as a result of him, of course there'll be some contrast between vigilante Batman and public Dent).
I'd hope that Oscar voters would vote on what they thought was best and not consider ceremony viewership. I don't see how choosing less-grossing films expresses contempt.
I don't totally disagree. But if all they nominate are critics darlings, then they shouldn't be surprised that their ratings get worse and worse. If they want to be real, genuine award givers then they shouldn't even televise it and stop any pretense of trying to be a TV Event.
I agree that the Oscar voters should vote for those movies with the greatest merit. However, the criteria that they use in some years is so far removed from the average person's that the ceremony may as well be an untelevised event of peers recognizing each other's achievements. The public has given money to lots of bad films, but they've also given great box office success to some worthy pictures. Should popular movies like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park go unrecognized simply because entertainment is their primary goal?
I think my biggest gripe is that it often seems like the movies they nominate are ones I would like to see, but I haven't seen them because they only opened in NY and LA in December just so they could be nominated for this calendar year. I usually end up catching them on DVD long after the ceremony is over. In years past, even when "artsy" or "message" films got nominated, they were at least films that had played across the country and not just in the two big hub cities of the entertainment business.
Gladiator deserved its Best Picture win. Most Oscar picks do not.
I'm not sure about that. Given the buzz on everything hitting limited release right now, it's borderline on a nomination, really. Milk, Gran Torino and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are locks to be shortlisted, and The Wrestler is probably right on their heels. Right now, I'd put WALL-E as the better movie over The Dark Knight (which is a movie that I thoroughly love, but desperately needed another round of script drafts).
I'm guessing David Fincher already has this sewn up for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Dirty Harry on Gran Turino is another strong contender, too.
No disagreement on that, especially given that the Academy will want to not only posthumously honor Ledger but make up for the perceived Brokeback Mountain snub.
It's Best Actor that is a little bit harder to figure at this point; any "Heath had the best performance of the year" talk implodes with Mickey Rourke in the field, now. It technically exploded when Penn actually bothered to put something more than histronics behind his portrayal of Harvey Milk. It's Penn vs. Rourke, and it's an uphill climb for Penn at this point.
I'm guessing that, again, this will go to Benjamin Button. Revolutionary Road and Doubt will be strong contenders, as well. The Screenplay award is arguably one of the categories The Dark Knight deserves to win the least.
Braveheart
I love The Dark Knight and firmly believe it is the closest thing to cinematic genius a comic book movie can ever strive to become. Do I believe it deserves a Best Picture Oscar? No. Do I believe it deserves a nod? Mmm... maybe. I haven't seen all of the films with the buzz behind them this year yet. I think when it comes down to it, TDK is not artsy enough to win that coveted statue. I think that there are better films that deserve Oscar and I will certainly not be screaming foul when it doesn't win. I also don't think Ledger deserves the Best Supporting Actor statue. Why? He was good, but truth be told if he hadn't died, he'd never even be in serious consideration.
I think it really comes down to this: When I was younger, I always believed that the Star Trek movies should have been nominated for these awards. Yeah, I know. Pretty silly. Why? Looking back on them, it wasn't because they were necessarily good movies, but they were movies that I liked. But they certainly did not make any major strides in filmmaking. The truth of the matter is, a lot of people liked TDK, but how has it seriously affected filmmaking as a whole? How is it the best achievement in cinema in 2008? That's the question that should be asked... oh, and how big of a gift basket is Warner giving out for this one.
I think it really comes down to this: When I was younger, I always believed that the Star Trek movies should have been nominated for these awards. Yeah, I know. Pretty silly. Why? Looking back on them, it wasn't because they were necessarily good movies, but they were movies that I liked. But they certainly did not make any major strides in filmmaking. The truth of the matter is, a lot of people liked TDK, but how has it seriously affected filmmaking as a whole? How is it the best achievement in cinema in 2008? That's the question that should be asked... oh, and how big of a gift basket is Warner giving out for this one.
