June 30, 2008

The Dark Knight for Best Picture?


I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but early buzz for the Dark Knight is exceptional so far. From the reviews (see below), the movie seems to transcend the superhero genre, and take it to another place altogether. Given the recent trend of the Academy to recognize darker, edgier flicks (No Country, the Departed, There Will Be Blood, Munich, etc.); I feel like the Dark Knight can very possibly (and ultimately will) get a nomination for best picture. Also, if you factor in how AMPAS probably need to nominate a more recognizible movie for ratings, nominating the Dark Knight starts to make sense. Or, perhaps my excitement is getting the best of me.

What do you think are the chances of the Dark Knight getting a nod?

19 comments:

  1. Ugh.......I really don't want to get my hopes up THAT high. But man: how awesome would that be if it happened?

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  2. I also think my expectation and hopes aren't THAT high... Unleast Best Sound, Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor and maybe Make up and sound editing. Maybe mentions to critics groups a la Bourne Ultimatum's last year

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  3. I believe that Batmana Begins should have won best picture and several other awards...just like Die Hard should have in 88...just because a movie is a comic book mvoie that should not effect its awards if tis a great movie its a great movie...I think it has some chance at a best pic nod I feel that Ledger, and techs are for sure and my gut tells me because of how overdue he is Nolan will be nominated for director I pray he is as he is the best director working today along with Paul Thomas Anderson

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  4. If it is that good I hope it is, and it would be awesome it would help make the Oscars more believable if they nominated the best films not just the best "oscar" films.

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  5. I think that might be a somewhat unreachable goal. But I will keep a glimmer of hope in the back-burner. I think If I was to be reasonable, the best we could hope for is Heath Ledger being nominated and winning, as well as a possible Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. I personally think that if Heath doesn't get nominated, the academy will have proven once and for all that they have their heads completely up their snooty asses. I will hold out on a slight hope of TDK getting a best pic nom, but I won't get too excited about that possibility. Only time will tell. Summer blockbusters have done it before, Gladiator proved that.

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  6. It's a good point summer blockbusters sucessful at Oscars are:

    1. Gladiator (WINNER)
    2. The Fugitive
    3. Mary Poppins: Yes, it's not necessary an action movie, but a Disney film in august 1962 who was sucessful by critics and audiences...

    Unleast supporting categories are more "liberal" instead leading ones... I remember when anyone could think that Ben Kingsley could get an Oscar Nomination for "Sexy Beast" in 2001, because it wasn't an Oscarish role and the release in june or what's happened to Al Pacino for "dick tracy"; so I have hope that Heath Ledger could get unleast an oscar Nomination

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  7. I read an article at some point that made it sound like some of the independent production companies are in limbo and that certain smaller movies such as "Che" and "Synedoche, New York" have had trouble being picked up in time to be released for contention, which would mean that bigger budget films would have a better chance in the major categories.

    That being said, if its true, I believe its going to help a film like "Wall-e" more than it would "The Dark Knight". I think TDK has too many things working against it; i.e. release date, being a sequel, being a comic book film, among others. I think Pixar has made their masterpiece in Wall-e and I think its time for an animated film to not only be nominated for best picture, but to possibly even take home the big prize in a year that has yet to really produce a frontrunner yet.

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  8. Yeah, in terms of fall releases, as far as I can tell, there hasn't been any real word on any of the touted front-runners. Plus, the academy looks like it is finally pulling away from cookie-cutter "oscar-y" films and finally acknowledging everything that isn't exactly your typical oscar winning film. No Country for Old Men, The Departed, Babel, Munich, There Will Be Blood, etc. The more I read reviews, the more I see the chances not being so far left field. If teh oscars are ready to start acknowledging bigger budget films, The Dark Knight should be the one they finally recognize.

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  9. I'm probably dreaming a bit, but its pretty clear that the Academy is going through a paradigmatic shift when it comes to what "counts" as an Oscar movie (as neo pointing to). I'm sure ten years ago, no one expected movies like No Country and There Will Be Blood to dominate, but that's what we got last year.

    Also, it's not completely foreign for the Academy to nominate something outside of the traditional (and hopefully outdated) "oscar movie" paradigm (i.e. Star Wars, Rocky, Raiders of the Lost Ark,E.T., Beauty and the Beast, Babe, Crouching Tiger, Lord of the Rings, Juno). It's rare of course, but it takes a special movie to warrant such recognition, and maybe the Dark Knight is that movie.

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  10. Another interesting point, in last decade only two years the Oscars ratings were higher that any program in those Sundays- Those were when Titanic and TLOTR 3 won the Oscar. So if the AMPAS wants many promotions and actions which go to money, it's possible that nominated many blockbusters films

    Sounds horrible, but a nomination to Heath Ledger is good for ineresting from public to Oscar Ceremony, beside the talent and the performance

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  11. I hate to see this having not seen the film, but based on reviews and my personal opinions of footage seen, I feel like come Oscar time, The Dark Knight will be near the top of my yearly list. The academy looses a lot of credibility when it doesn't award films because of the "type" of film. It'll be a damn shame if it's overlooked.

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  12. The Academy have, since the 90s, given the Best Picture Oscar to both a horror film (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS), a fantasy film (ROTK) and, as mentioned, back to back given the top award to two very bleak thrillers (THE DEPARTED and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN). Not to mention noms for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, THE FUGITIVE, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (the first and to date only animated film to get in), CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (until 2000 would any of you have put a bet that a martial arts movie would be nominated for the top award, albeit an untypical one?).

    If 2008 is as weak as 1991 (the year that SILENCE and BATB got in) I wouldn't be surprised if either WALL-E or THE DARK KNIGHT got in.

    I've a feeling that the Academy's period of being open-minded in the last two years is here to stay as the controversy over CRASH winning Best Pic over BROKENACK MOUNTAIN possibly made them reassess their prejudices when it comes to an Oscar movie permanently.

    Let's hope so.

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  13. I believe that the dark knight should be recognized as it does look like an amazing film and is on such an epic scale, and by epic I mean lord of the rings type epic. However, I thought that american gangster was an incredible movie also and that was completely overlooked by the oscars so it is completely unpredictable.

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  14. Roeper seems to think it should be nominated. I have no doubt it wil be on Ebert's top ten of the year, which for some reason always seems to help. Go figure. lol

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  15. It WILL win the Best Picture award, and Ledger will get at least a nomination for Best Actor. Ignoring a movie at the Oscars just beacause it is actually entertaining and a success commercially, is unfair. I think the academy will recognize the fact that The Dark Knight is a fantastic movie.

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  16. I just got home from seeig this movie, and I am having trouble settling myself down. Chris Nolan is a story-telling genius! I have never been this entertained and this impressed by the sheer quality of a film at the same time. Brilliant! Not too sure if the Academy is open minded enough to give it the nomination it deserves, but it sure has a shot. As expected Ledger was brilliant. But to my delight, Aaron Eckhart was astonishing as Harvey Dent. There could be two supporting actor nominations coming from this film, a director, picture, screenplay, plus numerous other nominations. It truly is a benchmark in film.

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  17. "Ignoring a movie at the Oscars just beacause it is actually entertaining and a success commercially, is unfair."


    wtf are you on about

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  18. kudos to the makers Dark Knight for their record breaking opening weekend... it's no wonder there's talk of another one coming out ASAP

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  19. i think it would be a big saver for the oscars. they have been declining in popularity because they pick movies that the general public are not fond of (that's not to say that the films they choose aren't they best, they are).

    i think the dark knight is good enough to win this award (based on the fact that 2008 has been a terrible year for films).

    The oscars could be saved by this incredible film

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