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Heath & Oscar? (pg. 3)
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| |3 |_ @ Z 3 |) |
There is much controversy over this film. Very reminiscent of The Crow (1994) and the travesty surrounding Brandon Lee's death. Ultimately his death and performance on screen should compliment eachother like it did with Brandon'. Already looking at some of previews, Heath has a very macabre presence to bring to the big screen.
To the question at hand, the Oscars. The academy is an absolute joke. Those who deserve credit don't even remotely get recognition for their masterpieces whether they are dead or alive. They tend to pity certain people such as Martin Scorcese by finally honouring them with an Oscar for films that are far less worthy then their previous work (Raging Bull, Goodfellas etc)
Regardless, I think Heath will be pulling off quite an amazing performance and coming back to my inital statement, his death should compliment and add to the overall feel of his performance onscreen. Whether hes dead or not should not have anything to do with winning an oscar. |
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| Silky Johnson |
Not to mention the Killing Joke has increased in value since this movie, and Heath's death.
/morbidly selfish |
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| In The Lobby |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
Not to mention the Killing Joke has increased in value since this movie, and Heath's death.
/morbidly selfish |
true
i think they released it hard cover a while ago, yet to pick it up. i still have my first printing of it thou. |
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| infinity HiGH |
| So they should ignore his performance because he's dead and take the living into consideration first? That's some great logic there. |
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| Cosmic Fur |
| quote: | Originally posted by |3 |_ @ Z 3 |)
They tend to pity certain people such as Martin Scorcese by finally honouring them with an Oscar for films that are far less worthy then their previous work (Raging Bull, Goodfellas etc)
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Hahahhaa, I KNOW, that was SO TRANSPARENT. "Uhhh yeah, so you didn't get an oscar for Goodfellas, which became an absolutely classic movie, but we're going to give you one for that movie no one remembers now." |
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| zoogla |
they should give heath the lifetime achievement award. i mean, did you see brokeback mountain?
*tear* |
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| Shaya007 |
| quote: | Originally posted by fayraree
they should give heath the lifetime achievement award. i mean, did you see brokeback mountain?
*tear* |
LOL!
ok this was a Friday thread to get a discussion going..there was no logic, nor there was any intention of disrespecting a great actor's body of work..
I think it was a success!
GO HEATH GOOOOOO!!!!
:toothless |
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| kotsy |
Killer joker, killer movie
Dark Knight is mesmerizing, unforgettable, brilliant
by Kevin Willimason
You complete me," coos Heath Ledger's scabrous white-caked Joker.
The target of his affections? Christian Bale's Batman, of course, a born brooder who'd sooner crack skulls than quips.
The line may be a gag -- a snide appropriation of Tom Cruise's Jerry Maguire declaration -- but that doesn't make it any less illuminating in the context of Christopher Nolan's brilliant The Dark Knight, which opens in theatres starting late tonight, at 12:01 a.m.
Even after three decades of monster-budget superhero epics, this shadowy opus of morality and identity bends the genre to new dimensions -- hinging not on spectacle, but the yin-and-yang pathology of its hero and villain. It's a gripping, gratifying high-wire act and a startling departure for a category of film usually dismissed as effects-driven eye-candy.
Imagine The French Connection's Popeye Doyle or The Godfather's Michael Corleone dressing up like a giant flying mammal and you begin to grasp what Nolan is striving for.
Gone are the over-wrought sets of past Bat-entries, scaled back to a barely-augmented Chicago and scrubbed to a steely sheen. The action, too, is authentically nervy -- whether it's a bank heist that could have been lifted from Heat, or vertigo-inducing moments of Bale's costumed saint skimming skyscrapers. (It doesn't hurt that some scenes were filmed with dizzying clarity in IMAX.)
But be warned: The Dark Knight is also nightmare-bleak, a combination of suspense and savagery that's too frightening and exhausting -- as well as sophisticated -- for children. Adults and teens (whether they be fan-boys or strident non-geeks) should be enthralled.
The film actually opens on a hopeful note. Continuing where 2005's Batman Begins left off, this chapter finds Bruce Wayne's war on crime succeeding with the able assistance of Michael Caine's Alfred, Morgan Freeman's Q-like Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman's Lieutenant Jim Gordon.
The mob, battered and bruised, is on the run. And Gotham City has found itself a new white knight: Crime-busting prosecutor Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckart). So optimistic is the normally-dour Bruce that he even entertains the notion of retiring the cowl for a life with childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes). One hitch? Apparently no longer willing to wait for the day the city's winged vigilante is obsolete, she's now dating Dent.
But Wayne's love life is soon the least of his worries. Ledger's Joker has arrived, a depraved madman seeking only to drag the world feet-first into anarchy. He bombs hospitals, backstabs gangsters and puts public bounties on civilians -- owing less to Jack Nicholson's prancing Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 version and more to punk-rock nihilists and Osama bin Laden.
Throughout, Ledger -- who died in January of an accidental overdose of prescription medication -- is all makeup-smeared, mouth-smacking malice. He is so dominant and disquieting you wonder if Nolan should have pruned his focus down to just the two arch-foes. Case in point: Eckhart's under-valued Dent, whose transformation into the disfigured Two-Face can't help but feel extraneous given the intense psychological war waged between Bale's outlaw angel and Ledger's bipolar demon.
Locked in a struggle for Gotham's soul, this Batman and Joker are mesmerizing, unforgettable and, yes, complete.
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The Dark Knight
2 hours, 32 minutes
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman
Director: Christopher Nolan
Sun Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars |
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| kotsy |
'The Dark Knight': Superior sequel
With great acting, storytelling and special effects, Batman flick is first among sequels
Peter Howell
Movie Critic
The Dark Knight
 (out of 4)
Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. Directed by Christopher Nolan. 142 minutes. At major theatres. 14A
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There's just one thing wrong with The Dark Knight, part two of the revived Batman movie franchise: it may not get all of the credit it so richly deserves.
The tragedy of Heath Ledger's early death last January, shortly after he'd finished portraying the villainous Joker in a performance that now defines the role, has understandably overshadowed other aspects of this outstanding film, which arrives in theatres tonight via midnight screenings.
The Dark Knight is that most uncommon of movie sequels, as virtuous as The Godfather II or Aliens: it doesn't just expand a previous storyline, it immeasurably enriches it by adding shadings of character development and moral complexity that were only hinted at in Batman Begins, the 2005 series rethink by director Christopher Nolan, who rescued Bob Kane's comic book creation from camp hell. Nolan returns as helmer of The Dark Knight and he's again also the co-writer, this time with his brother Jonathan (who takes the reins from Batman Begins co-scripter David S. Goyer).
There is such confidence and verve on display here, both in front of and behind the camera, and such innovation in the storytelling, you can see why it was deemed unnecessary to have Batman 2 affixed to the title.
The movie stands on its own considerable merits, rarely flagging throughout its 2 1/2-hour running time. Tech credits are aces, especially the IMAX-ready visuals, and the grimly dynamic score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard adds a sense of foreboding.
This is a summer blockbuster that delivers all the fanboy essentials – great action scenes, incredible gadgets (including a groovy new Batpod motorbike) and genuinely special effects (there's an airborne rescue that will take your breath away) – while at the same delving into the motivational layers more common to arthouse fare.
Ledger's astounding turn as The Joker makes him first among equals in a superior cast, which adds Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal to returning stalwarts Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.
Despite his character's name, and vastly unlike previous incarnations by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero, Ledger doesn't play The Joker for cheap laughs.
His vision is of a frighteningly unfettered psycho who acts like a terrorist and yet who kills for no grander motive than his stated love of mayhem: "I'm an agent of chaos."
He certainly is a man of contradictions. His messily applied clown makeup barely disguises the hideous facial scars that are a partial explanation for his insanity, and he claims to favour random acts of violence over planned attacks.
Yet he executes his schemes with such meticulous timing and technical wizardry (including the old-school bank heist that smartly opens the film), it's hard to think of him as anything but the most diabolical and determined of schemers.
Unlike most super villains, The Joker harbours no deep desire to blow up the world, although he'd lick his lips with glee if that happened.
He's content to rule the roost in Gotham City, which means stealing the money and exploiting the thug brutality of the many criminal gangs that billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, in his alter ego as caped crusader Batman (both roles again delivered with authority by Bale), has been striving to eliminate from Gotham's greasy streets.
Batman has his usual secret allies in faithful butler Alfred (Caine), gadget builder Lucius Fox (Freeman) and police ally Lt. Jim Gordon (Oldman), all of whom can be counted upon to deliver technical support, sage wisdom and the occasional wry quip as the situation requires.
Love interest Rachel Dawes, Gotham's assistant district attorney and the film's sole major female character, is ably played by Gyllenhaal, who takes over from Katie Holmes, a lesser actor whose presence in Batman Begins was that film's major flaw.
There's a second crusader in Gotham this time. He's District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart, impeccably cast), a man idealistic enough to dream of a crime-free city and yet cockily pragmatic enough to bend rules to achieve it. Small wonder his nickname is "Two-Face," a moniker enhanced by his habit of flipping coins to dramatize his belief that so-called random events in life often have significant human involvement.
Later developments in the movie add a much more dramatic meaning to Dent's nickname, bringing stark visuals to the theme of duality that runs throughout The Dark Knight, one that would be hard to miss even by those who just come for the popcorn.
The movie is almost Shakespearean in its fascination with the good and evil that resides within all of us. It suggests that the greatest challenge of life is not to reject dark impulses outright, but to learn how to control them so they don't overwhelm our loftier goals.
Bale deserves applause not only for skilfully demonstrating the interior guilt of a principled vigilante (his Batman is almost as controversial as Will Smith's anti-hero in Hancock), but also for his willingness to share the spotlight with Ledger, whose incandescent performance would have attracted serious Oscar talk even without the actor's untimely passing.
No one is completely the star in The Dark Knight, just as no one is completely the hero, which is why it would be a shame if the movie were to be viewed merely as a summer diversion or the stellar swan song of Ledger.
This film is not only one of the year's best; it may well end up as the finest of 2008. At the very least, it deserves consideration for Best Picture and Best Director, along with the expected Oscar kudos for Ledger, a man whose star burned briefly, yet oh so brightly.
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Oscar distaste for film could deny Ledger nomination
An Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight is no sure thing, say Oscar watchers.
The Batman sequel is the type of comic-book action adventure that Oscar voters generally do not favour and there are many movies still to be seen this year, they say.
"All this Oscar talk is a phenomenon of the Internet age that I like to call `a wish-fulfillment rumour,'" says Leonard Maltin, film critic for TV's Entertainment Tonight. "If people say it often enough, they think it will happen." It might, he added, citing Ledger's great performance, "but I assure you that the people who are spreading all this are neither Oscar voters nor (Hollywood) movers and shakers."
Tom O'Neil, a columnist for The Envelope.com, said "it really looks good" for a nomination, but Ledger was "a long shot" to win.
Only one actor has won an Oscar after death, Peter Finch for 1976's Network.
O'Neil said that when Finch died, Hollywood was in the middle of Oscar season and also in shock.
Veteran Oscar watcher O'Neil also sees parallels between the truncated careers of Ledger and James Dean.
"Like Heath, James Dean was a heartthrob star who was considered a serious actor, who died tragically young," O'Neil said. "He was nominated twice posthumously, for East of Eden and Giant, and he lost both times."
Even the legendary Spencer Tracy was ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after he died in 1967 just as Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? was coming out. Star staff,
Reuters |
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| In The Lobby |
| tim burton must be pissed off |
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| eRRaTiK |
| quote: | Originally posted by In The Lobby
tim burton must be pissed off |
Or pleased that somebody has finally restored the Gotham legacy and presented a vision equal to or surpassing his own. |
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| jon jon |
| quote: | Originally posted by eRRaTiK
Or pleased that somebody has finally restored the Gotham legacy and presented a vision equal to or surpassing his own. |
haha zing! |
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