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Rottenwatch: THE DARK KNIGHT

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Timbuktu said:
Because Dark Knight came along. As you said, pretty much impossible for both to be nominated and Dark Knight has far more going for it.

Obviously Wall-E has best animated film in the bag though.
 
TheHeretic said:
Animated films can't win Best Picture, its a seperate category.

Pathetic, I know.

... What?

That's fucking stupid.

While highly doubtful, TDK should definitely get a best film nom.
 
Animated films CAN get in best picture, but it's something highly unlikely and really....Wall-E didn't set the world on fire.

When it comes to blockbusters and animated features having a chance at a nominated, you need to have both high praise and set the box office on fire.
 
Timbuktu said:

:lol

I find it funny that the New Yorker tied their reviews for WALL*E and The Dark Knight together and lauded the Pixar picture while laying into the WB work of art.

WALL*E just doesn't have the legs for the Oscar race (and despite some comments in the WALL*E thread we will see other contenders this year). WB have a massive campaign behind TDK while Pixar can't muster anything of that sort (I doubt Disney will get too involved). By Christmas WALL*E will be remembered as having a very good summer showing yet TDK will still be in the news for setting box office records.

And TDK is Ledger's swan song. WALL*E has no other hook; it'll only be a player in the best picture, special effects, animated picture categories.
 
Tanned Greyface said:
:lol

I find it funny that the New Yorker tied their reviews for WALL*E and The Dark Knight together and lauded the Pixar picture while laying into the WB work of art.

WALL*E just doesn't have the legs for the Oscar race (and despite some comments in the WALL*E thread we will see other contenders this year). WB have a massive campaign behind TDK while Pixar can't muster anything of that sort (I doubt Disney will get too involved). By Christmas WALL*E will be remembered as having a very good summer showing yet TDK will still be in the news for setting box office records.

And TDK is Ledger's swan song. WALL*E has no other hook; it'll only be a player in the best picture, special effects, animated picture categories.

It certainly won't put up Atonement box office numbers, that's for sure.
 
It also comes down to oscar campaigning, a studio needs to put up a lot of money to campaign for a movies run at best picture.

BTW, Beauty and the Beast is the only animated film to be nominated for best picture (lost to Silence of the Lambs)
 
RBelong2Us said:
Animated films CAN get in best picture, but it's something highly unlikely and really....Wall-E didn't set the world on fire.

When it comes to blockbusters and animated features having a chance at a nominated, you need to have both high praise and set the box office on fire.

Animated films are nominated in the "Best Animated Feature Film" category. There was a huge controversy after The Beauty and the Beast was nominated, and the new category was created to sidestep the issue.
 
RBelong2Us said:
You sure? I remember TIME making an article not to long ago about Wall-E's chances at at best picture.

I'm honestly not 100%, but i'm pretty sure. Rattatouille should have been nominated in its year but wasn't, but that doesn't really prove anything.
 
hmm... yeah, reality check. latimes doesn't think wall-e has a chance, although others like TIME and WSJ has called for it.

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/06/news-wall-e-821.html

More interesting here though is that Wall-E also probably won't get the nom because it's sci-fi. And the same barriers are also true for TDK, adaptations for novels are fine, but graphic novels are probably a no no. As terrible as it is to think this, I don't think TDK would have a chance at the awards if not for Ledger's untimely death.
 
Timbuktu said:
hmm... yeah, reality check. latimes doesn't think wall-e has a chance, although others like TIME and WSJ has called for it.

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/06/news-wall-e-821.html

More interesting here though is that Wall-E also probably won't get the nom because it's sci-fi. And the same barriers are also true for TDK, adaptations for novels are fine, but graphic novels are probably a no no. As terrible as it is to think this, I don't think TDK would have a chance at the awards if not for Ledger's untimely death.

The Dark Knight is hands down the best movie of the year so far. What are you expecting to come out and knock it out of contention?
 
TheHeretic said:
The Dark Knight is hands down the best movie of the year so far. What are you expecting to come out and knock it out of contention?

There's always some dumb drama film that comes out where all the old farts think it's better than other, better movies.

Last year was an exception, though. No Country For Old Men was great. The Dark Knight's certainly better than, say, The Departed, though (and I liked The Departed).
 
The crop of oscar films this season looks pretty weak, Dark Knight can squeak in as the 5th nomination.

Actually the one film that looks above the rest is Benjamin Button which is coincidentally a WB film, wonder how the campaign for Dark Knight will play out if Button turns out to be amazing.
 
Where was Zodiac on last years nom then? And that wasn't even a genre film like TDK that can easily be labelled as 'superhero movie' an stuck in a corner, apart from Ledger's performance. It's messed up, but last year pretty much all the nominated films were released in the fall. I'm not sure what exactly is coming up, but it depends on how much the academy feels like it needs to connect with the mainstream. I'm thinking of Soderbergh's Che, Australia from Fox, Ridley Scott's Body of Lies; Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, Clint Eastwood's Changeling, Finchers The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ... etc. they all seem to be aiming for the awards... and oh yeah DiCaprio and Winslet is coming back together in Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road
 
seriously, zodiac got robbed big time; i thought it was one of best movies of 2008. they could've atleast nominated mark ruffalo for his acting.
 
bud said:
seriously, zodiac got robbed big time; i thought it was one of best movies of 2008. they could've atleast nominated mark ruffalo for his acting.

I agree Zodiac deserved a nomination, but the movie dragged on for a full half hour. I know it was hostorically accurate but it was painstakingly boring.
 
okay, i've been watching some of the movie (streaming) and i'm stopping and going out to the theaters now. *quick defense* i wasn't 'tasting' the movie, i really wanted to see it but everyone was being lame about getting out there. well i got a ride and i'm going to pay for it just like i planned on it, whether i saw it online first or not.

anyways, so far ledger is fucking amazing. all i can say is he deserves an award for this. this may not be the best acting of the year but he, and no one else, pulled off (pulling off?) the joker like..i don't know. he is just blowing me away (no broke back mountain joke) at every moment he is on the screen. this is his role, his character, and it should be recognized as such for a long, long time.
 
Prvt.Pegleg said:
okay, i've been watching some of the movie (streaming) and i'm stopping and going out to the theaters now. *quick defense* i wasn't 'tasting' the movie, i really wanted to see it but everyone was being lame about getting out there. well i got a ride and i'm going to pay for it just like i planned on it, whether i saw it online first or not.

anyways, so far ledger is fucking amazing. all i can say is he deserves an award for this. this may not be the best acting of the year but he, and no one else, pulled off (pulling off?) the joker like..i don't know. he is just blowing me away (no broke back mountain joke) at every moment he is on the screen. this is his role, his character, and it should be recognized as such for a long, long time.

I got banned for that in 05 with Batman Begins. :lol
IOW, that's a no-no.

Enjoy the movie though!
 
Prvt.Pegleg said:
okay, i've been watching some of the movie (streaming) and i'm stopping and going out to the theaters now. *quick defense* i wasn't 'tasting' the movie, i really wanted to see it but everyone was being lame about getting out there. well i got a ride and i'm going to pay for it just like i planned on it, whether i saw it online first or not.

anyways, so far ledger is fucking amazing. all i can say is he deserves an award for this. this may not be the best acting of the year but he, and no one else, pulled off (pulling off?) the joker like..i don't know. he is just blowing me away (no broke back mountain joke) at every moment he is on the screen. this is his role, his character, and it should be recognized as such for a long, long time.

As much as I loved Ledger's performance in this film, he isn't the best representation of "The Joker" for me. That still has to go to Mark Hamill. I think this Joker was played a little too dark at times for my liking and I would have loved a healthier mix of the light stuff
Nurse scene
than we received. I actually don't think that was Ledger's fault in the end though. That was the script and it is a shame he'll never get to play that role again.
 
bud said:
seriously, zodiac got robbed big time; i thought it was one of best movies of 2008. they could've atleast nominated mark ruffalo for his acting.

it should have been nominated for best picture. there were at least two movies that were nowhere near its level; it certainly, in my mind, stood toe-to-toe with twbb and ncfom in what it accomplished.

and yeah, you're right, ruffalo is excellent here.

DoctorWho said:
As much as I loved Ledger's performance in this film, he isn't the best representation of "The Joker" for me. That still has to go to Mark Hamill. I think this Joker was played a little too dark at times for my liking and I would have loved a healthier mix of the light stuff
Nurse scene
than we received. I actually don't think that was Ledger's fault in the end though. That was the script and it is a shame he'll never get to play that role again.

i like the joker from t.a.s., but he never had any of the bite of the joker in tdk. t.a.s. was always hampered by the fact that it was, good as it was, a show which was designed to be safe for kids. for me, at least, the joker in tdk was the right mix of sadistic and humorous
 
Costanza said:
nice. i spent like 10 minutes deciding between this one and the "why so serious" fog one.

I posted earlier that I got it,plus it framed from allposters.com :D Awesome poster and by mistake allposters sent me an extra framed one :lol

jokerposter.jpg
 
TheHeretic said:
Animated films are nominated in the "Best Animated Feature Film" category. There was a huge controversy after The Beauty and the Beast was nominated, and the new category was created to sidestep the issue.
Animated films CAN get nominated as best picture. Same with foreign films.
 
I don't get how this Joker was too dark for some.

I had a smile on my face every time he came on screen. It was about as perfect a rendition of Joker without going campy as it can get.
 
Solo said:
Did you decide what you're doing with the extra one yet, Matrix? Did your bro take it?

Haven't had the the chance to speak to my brother yet,but I cant see why he wouldn't want it,but if he does pass I'll think of someway to give it to someone here for free most likely,of course shipping wouldn't be free.
 
beelzebozo said:
it should have been nominated for best picture. there were at least two movies that were nowhere near its level; it certainly, in my mind, stood toe-to-toe with twbb and ncfom in what it accomplished.

and yeah, you're right, ruffalo is excellent here.



i like the joker from t.a.s., but he never had any of the bite of the joker in tdk. t.a.s. was always hampered by the fact that it was, good as it was, a show which was designed to be safe for kids. for me, at least, the joker in tdk was the right mix of sadistic and humorous

I can agree that the T.A.S. Joker was played too safe, which is understandable for kids. Maybe, I ned a little more humorous mixed in with my sadistic.
 
i feel that i guess. but i thought tdk's joker was pretty damn funny. or, rather, the humor came from his mannerisms, and the way he so obviously enjoyed running roughshod over everything; never have i seen a character so convincingly take so much joy in causing complete chaos.

and a lot of the time, i was laughing, too.
 
Why is this movie called the dark knight? It should be named "Joker featuring batman". What an awesome performance by Heath Ledger, seriously, he did an incredible job. He portrayed the Joker the way i've always envisioned him and the fact that Ledger is dead kind of added to the creepiness.
 
If you're gonna play that game, Id float the opinion that its more Dent's or Gordon's film that Batman's or Joker's.
 
beelzebozo said:
i feel that i guess. but i thought tdk's joker was pretty damn funny. or, rather, the humor came from his mannerisms, and the way he so obviously enjoyed running roughshod over everything; never have i seen a character so convincingly take so much joy in causing complete chaos.

and a lot of the time, i was laughing, too.

I agree completely with one review that stated something like the joker will make your laughter die in your throat. He was funny in a lot of the scenes, but when at the same time he was also even more menacing and horrifying, you can't make yourself to laugh out loud.


koam said:
Why is this movie called the dark knight? It should be named "Joker featuring batman". What an awesome performance by Heath Ledger, seriously, he did an incredible job. He portrayed the Joker the way i've always envisioned him and the fact that Ledger is dead kind of added to the creepiness.

Because it's simple and it suits the title of an awesome movie like this. That's my explanation. :lol
 
Solo said:
If you're gonna play that game, Id float the opinion that its more Dent's or Gordon's film that Batman's or Joker's.

IMO, this is Dent's film. His arc is the most fascinating and the rest of the film is built around it.
Batman/Wayne sees the future of Gotham in him, same with Gordon. The Joker wants to destroy everything that Dent stands for and he succeeds, to an extent, in the end. Batman is The Joker's dancing partner in this film.
 
I also really dug Eckhart's performance. He went a bit into moustache-twirling territory as Two-Face, but his Dent performance was my favorite in the film.
 
beelzebozo said:
i feel that i guess. but i thought tdk's joker was pretty damn funny. or, rather, the humor came from his mannerisms, and the way he so obviously enjoyed running roughshod over everything; never have i seen a character so convincingly take so much joy in causing complete chaos.

and a lot of the time, i was laughing, too.

He killed a guy in a gruesome way and made the theater LAUGH...really, I never though they would make the Joker THAT good.

But I disagree that this is only Joker´s movie... he was the best, but everyone was just too fucking perfect.
 
I saw it on Friday. I was actually thinking about not seeing it because ever since I saw Spider-man 1 in the theatre, every single movie I've watched has been interupted by a crying child. It didn't matter what movie I went to see. For example, I saw a late night showing of Saw 2 and a woman brought her 5 children, all less than 7-8 years of age. Its been a streak of like 10 movies that have been ruined. Once, the crying even led to fist fight. I hadn't been to the movies in over a year prior to TDK. Spider-man 3 was the last movie I saw and in addition to the movie being terrible it was once again ruined by someone's crying children. I was really looking forward to seeing TDK but I didn't want it to be ruined either. Before the movie started I was looking through the audience for small children hoping not to see any. I didn't, and all was quiet during the previews (which there were several). About 2 minutes into the movie, it happened....a toddler started crying. You could not imagine how I was feeling at that moment. And then the unthinkable happened....the father actually picked the child up and carried it out of the theatre AND NEVER RETURNED!! I was then able to watch the movie in peace. Ladies and gentlemen, Batman broke the Spider-man curse!!!! I was so happy. Finally someone was considerate!

About the movie...Ledger was terrific. At first I wasn't sure if his performance would live up to the hype but as the movie went on his Joker got better and better. I thought Eckhart did a really good job as Dent and Two-Face. I loved how Two-Face looked. I thought it was spot on. The movie ended the exact opposite way I would have expected
(I had assumed Joker would die and Two-Face would live for the sequel)
. Man it really sucks about Ledger, I would have loved
to see him come back to reprise the role. I wonder if they will even bother bringing the Joker back now, played by a different actor. It doesn't seem likely that anyone could fill Ledger's shoes in the role.

The two things I didn't like about the movie were Batman's voice (almost laughably bad) and the re-casting of Rachael. I hate it when that happens anyway but I really think re-casting was a mistake here because
I felt it took away from what happens to the character later in the film. Had it been the same actress, i.e. someone more familiar, I feel it would have had an even greater impact.
 
Add in 3 more unplanned ticket sales this afternoon, a couple friends just had to see it and I said why not. We actually waited an extra hour too for the next round of showings due to the shows selling out (these were the 3-4 pm slots).

Liked this one much better than the first of the Nolan/Bales. Impressively dark, great performances all around (Aaron Eckhart deserves more notice), more visceral action sequences. Also, lots of surprise moments since my interest in the film was low and I managed to avoid spoilers for lack of looking.

The Burton/Keatons still have their place on the lighter side, but TDK hits a home run on the truly dark and serious side.
 
Solo said:
I also really dug Eckhart's performance. He went a bit into moustache-twirling territory as Two-Face, but his Dent performance was my favorite in the film.

All the characters really sold themselves in my opinion. In many movies at least a few actors seem disinterested and bored (Samuel L Jackson in just about anything recent really), but everyone in TDK seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

Oldman and Eckhart had more subtle roles throughout most of the movie, and with any other director/actor combination would have been boring as all hell to watch (especially Gordon).
 
RBelong2Us said:
When it comes to blockbusters and animated features having a chance at a nominated, you need to have both high praise and set the box office on fire.
Which is Wall-E's problem. Kung Fu Panda is going to outgross it. Wall-E had weak legs for a animated movie.
 
This movie could've made a shitload more money this weekend too. Just tonight, six of us went to go see it (some of us for the first time, some for the second). We got there at about 9:40, and the last two showings -- 9:45 and 10:15 -- were sold out. Every screen of ever theater should've just been The Dark Knight 24/7 this weekend.
 
DoctorWho said:
I can agree that the T.A.S. Joker was played too safe, which is understandable for kids. Maybe, I ned a little more humorous mixed in with my sadistic.

Somebody's never seen Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker's PG-13 version...watch that. You'll see some humorous and sadistic. ;)
 
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