EDITORIAL: A Dark ‘Night at the Oscars
By Krystal Clark
It’s that time again. The major studios are scrambling to send out promotional materials in support of their films and actors for 2009 Oscar contention. It’s no secret that Warner Brothers’ The Dark Knight was one of the best reviewed films of the year. It also holds the spot for the number 2 biggest grossing domestic film of all time behind Titanic. Knight had rich characters, great direction, and stunning cinematography, all the things you could hope for in a film! These are all elements that add up to an obvious Oscar contender right? Unfortunately, we don’t know. TDK has one flaw that could count against it in terms of it earning itself a spot on the voting ballots, its a comic book movie (gasp)!
More on the Oscars and The Dark Knight after the jump.
I personally am a HUGE comic book fan, and Batman is at the top of my list in terms of characters. Christopher Nolan’s version of him is a lot closer to the darkness that creator Bob Kane had envisioned. By having a layered story, performed by talented actors, The Dark Knight‘s a shoe in for best picture. Yet, coincidentally, the issue isn’t the movie, its the Oscars. They typically favor indie films, or low-grossing dramas as opposed to big budget action movies. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with those films, I just believe there should be balance on the ballots.
There has been a constant decrease in viewership for the annual telecast of the Academy Awards, and a lot of it has to do with the films that are nominated. If an indie drama, that’s had limited release is nominated for 11 Oscars, why would you care if you live in Nebraska, and it was never promoted there? If only industry folks in New York and L.A. can view it, how are you supposed to know anything about it? I’m not saying that only the biggest movies of the year should be nominated, but financial success shouldn’t translate to Oscar kryptonite.
An article on EWonline, stated an interesting fact after the low ratings from the Oscars earlier this year.
Shocking as it sounds, Oscar used to reward massive hits. It wasn’t even so long ago. Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Rain Man, and Forrest Gump were all the highest-grossing films of their years. Reaching further back, The Godfather, The Graduate, Annie Hall, and Rocky were not just hits but cultural phenomena. Lately, though, it feels like the Academy and America wouldn’t be good Netflix friends. For the past two years, only one best-pic nominee each year has grossed more than $100 million domestically. In 2005, none did. Davis thinks this is the primary reason fewer people are watching the Oscar telecast. ”Some of these movies are just too difficult for a mass audience, frankly,” he says. ”I think that trend of the studios making big action pictures and the specialty houses making small prestige movies is catching up to us.” Which means the Academy has to…
As for The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers knows that they have opposition against them, but they are still pulling out all the stops. In the above photo, they’re promoting Heath Ledgers jaw-dropping performance as the Joker for Best Supporting Actor. If Ledger is nominated and wins the award, he’d be only the second actor after Peter Finch (Network), to win the trophy posthumously. The voting ballots for the Academy Awards go out on December 26, and the Oscar telecast airs February 22, 2009.
Monday, November 24, 2008 12:15PM
There is absolutely no way that Heath Ledger’s performance can be ignored and he is a shoe in for best supporting actor. Furthermore The Dark Knight should win for Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 8:07AM
I think that although Ledger’s performance was spectacular, as far as Oscar’s go, it is nearly impossible to say that it was the best performance of the year by an actor. While he may be nominated, I don’t think that he deserves to win when he portrayed a character with an extensive history and background. Because, while it took effort to understand and create his own portrayal of the Joker, I think that it is much more difficult and takes more talent to understand and play the role of a completely original character.
And I basically have the same opinion and maybe even more of a stronger one when I say that this film should not even be nominated for its screenplay or it’s director. Although decently written and well directed, there was no creative vision from Christopher Nolan when writing or directing other than to tell a safe and good comic book story in the action film genre. I really do like this movie for its entertainment value, but as a creative outlet it lacks any introspective vision.
And as far as I am concerned, the ratings and viewer count of the Oscar’s dropping does make sense but is also a good thing because the people of AMPAS who make the nominations and ultimately choose the winner know the industry and make their decisions based on their deep understanding of film. If you are going to complain about the movies, actors, directors, etc. who are chosen then move somewhere that you can see Indie films, educate yourself on the creative process of making a film, and make sure you understand why certain people or films are nominated in first place. Otherwise, be quiet and let the Oscar’s be an award show which leaves the awarding in the hands of the people who actually know what they are talking about.
Sunday, December 7, 2008 4:33PM
‘Move somewhere that you can see indie films”?? I did not know it was just that easy.
Derek love, seems to me your a bit out of touch with reality.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:17PM
I like “Indie,” niche, or “art,” films but the Darknight is an achievement in every aspect of filmmaking and a far better film then so-called indie tripe like Little Miss Sunshine. Last year I thought Zodiac was the most interesting film followed by There will be blood and No country, but it’s been years, probably since I saw Kurasawa’s ‘Ran’, that I was left punch-to-the-gut awestruck by a film. And as sadistic a tone as TDK has I don’t recall Nolan ever having to resort to the use of a single drop of blood. No he relied on staging, performance, camera and music. It was a deftly crafted film and fully deserving of all the acclaim it’s receiving. To say that there was no introspective vision (insert any marvel film in the past 3 years) is very short-sided and a comment I’d expect from a frustrated novice, or dare I say film snob.