A Knife Through the Heart of Geeks Everywhere
After all the hype surrounding The Dark Knight leading in to the Oscar announcements yesterday, there was a strong desire by all those fanboy geeks out there to see this superheroic franchise sequel get a nom for Best Picture. We all knew Heath Ledger was going to get the Best Supporting Actor nod, that's a given. Premature death has a way of clouding judgment like that. Still, there was hope that validation would finally come. It didn't.
I was glad to see Downey, Jr. up there for Tropic Thunder. That was a ballsy performance, regardless of genre. And it was the only consistently funny thing about the movie. Were it not for him, the whole shebang would have fallen in on itself with a crashing boom. That right there deserves something. But Ledger in Dark Knight was not a revelation. Sure, I believed the character. Yes, it was a solid performance. But it was a one-note showboat performance. Actors getting rewarded for the scene-chewing roles always irritates me. It isn't acting so much as upstaging. So while I haven't seen the other nominees, I can still say without a doubt that Heath Ledger will win this one without truly deserving it.
Okay, said my peace there.
As for all those drooling, Comicon attending, Ain't-It-Cool Talkbackers out there: Dark Knight did not deserve a Best Picture nom. Sure, it was a smart, above-par comic book adventure movie. It was enjoyable escapism. But it was still just enjoyable escapism. All the 'duality of man' bullshit got tiring. All the 'you must sacrifice everything for the good of all' bit is not a new concept here. Tack on that whole philosophical/ethical conundrum at the end and it just sort of wore out its welcome a tad. Really, it was just a darker, more spruced up version of Die Hard With a Vengeance if you come right down to it. One with that grating, deep, hoarse-voiced monotone that Christian Bale uses to signal that Batman is here. Ugh.
Once again, I have seen a small percentage of the Oscar contenders. Again, I don't care. Oscar bait is Oscar bait, and the losers will always be rendered footnotes. When Dances With Wolves beats out Goodfellas, you know the truly good stuff will get no love.
Maybe Watchmen will fare better. I doubt it, but whatever.
I was glad to see Downey, Jr. up there for Tropic Thunder. That was a ballsy performance, regardless of genre. And it was the only consistently funny thing about the movie. Were it not for him, the whole shebang would have fallen in on itself with a crashing boom. That right there deserves something. But Ledger in Dark Knight was not a revelation. Sure, I believed the character. Yes, it was a solid performance. But it was a one-note showboat performance. Actors getting rewarded for the scene-chewing roles always irritates me. It isn't acting so much as upstaging. So while I haven't seen the other nominees, I can still say without a doubt that Heath Ledger will win this one without truly deserving it.
Okay, said my peace there.
As for all those drooling, Comicon attending, Ain't-It-Cool Talkbackers out there: Dark Knight did not deserve a Best Picture nom. Sure, it was a smart, above-par comic book adventure movie. It was enjoyable escapism. But it was still just enjoyable escapism. All the 'duality of man' bullshit got tiring. All the 'you must sacrifice everything for the good of all' bit is not a new concept here. Tack on that whole philosophical/ethical conundrum at the end and it just sort of wore out its welcome a tad. Really, it was just a darker, more spruced up version of Die Hard With a Vengeance if you come right down to it. One with that grating, deep, hoarse-voiced monotone that Christian Bale uses to signal that Batman is here. Ugh.
Once again, I have seen a small percentage of the Oscar contenders. Again, I don't care. Oscar bait is Oscar bait, and the losers will always be rendered footnotes. When Dances With Wolves beats out Goodfellas, you know the truly good stuff will get no love.
Maybe Watchmen will fare better. I doubt it, but whatever.