off-topic: The Dark Knight
Posted by: Rich Watson on January 22, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Eight Oscar nominations, including one for you-know-who.
But shut out for Best Picture and Best Director.
I’m not like those die-hards who have been pushing for TDK to get Best Picture for months. I thought the movie was good, not great. However, the more I saw and read about the so-called “contender” films, the better it held up. And then it appeared on many year-end best-of lists. And then it got love from the Producers and Directors Guilds. I had reached the point where I believed a Best Picture nomination was a foregone conclusion. After all, how can you ignore a film that made over $500 million dollars (second only to Titanic), was popular with audiences and critics, and became a cultural phenomenon?
Quite easily, as it turns out.
I’m not gonna go into a big long rant against the injustice of the snub; besides, there are other things about the nominations for me to be happy about (for readers of this blog: Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson both up for Supporting Actress!) Besides, we all know the impact TDK has had and will no doubt continue to have in the years to come.
What I do wish, however, is that Hollywood will now understand that making a big-budget, action-adventure blockbuster does not have to mean playing to the lowest common denominator every time. I hope that TDK’s success – which does not need validation by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – will inspire the Michael Bays and Roland Emmerichs of the industry to at least consider putting more thought into their popcorn films than how big to make their explosions and how elaborate should their car chases be and how big the breasts of their female leads should be. Because Christopher Nolan proved one can make an action film that can make you think as well.
And for those that will say that this is a step backwards for comics in general and comic book films in particular, I say, get a grip. Hollywood will continue to make films out of comics for as long as it’s profitable, and TDK’s place in film history is secure.
No one can deny that.
Fred January 23rd, 2009
Rich,
Frankly, TDK not getting Best Movie nod will be much more damaging to the 2009 Oscar Awards. My views are perfectly summed up in this commentary, “And the Oscar goes to – who cares?”:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/01/22/and-the-oscar-goes-to-who-cares/
With the Oscars increasingly out of touch, can you really blame Chris Rock for skewering the show as he hosted it?
Rich Watson January 23rd, 2009
Well, I don’t disagree – the Academy did used to have less of a problem nominating more commercial fare, like ET, TOOTSIE, RAIDERS and STAR WARS – but at the same time one can’t help but grudgingly respect the Academy for not letting public opinion sway them in their decision. Although there are those who are accusing Harvey Weinstein of buying support for THE READER, no one’s offered any proof as of yet. And bottom line, some people simply did not think TDK was that good. I didn’t think it was that good. How would you feel if they nominated WALL-E instead of THE READER?
lisa January 26th, 2009
Frankly, I’d be psyched if WALL-E was nominated in place of The Reader. WALL-E was better crafted, more insightful and less offensive than the Nazi porn they created from Bernhard Schlink’s haunting source material. Hollywood has the same problem with animated films it does with genre films. Both Kung Fu Panda and WALL-E were better than that snooze fest Benjamin Button and while I appreciate any black actress getting a nod and will be rooting for Viola Davis, Tarajii Henson’s just-off-the-plantation aping in Button was not cute. Shameful considering Henson’s immense talent.
