Can Batman & The Joker Set Aside Their Differences To Keep Their Eyes On The Oscar?
It's only November, meaning we still have about three and a half months until The 81st Academy Awards. There are still countless films awaiting release over the course of the next few months. But one film already had us talking Oscar nominations earlier in the summer: The Dark Knight.
Probably one of the most hyped films in cinema history, The Dark Knight shattered several box office records domestically and internationally. This was one of the few films that was able to live up to the hype behind it. The movie recieved almost universal critical acclaim, and earned respect from both fans and critics alike. Heath Ledger's anarchic Joker was also quickly thrown out for a possible "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" nomination, while others quickly wanted to throw Christopher Nolan in the "Best Director" category. At the time, all of this seemed a little far-fetched. A comic-book movie, in the Academy Awards?
Well months have passed, and countless films have contended for critical praise. However, very few have gotten critical acclaim like The Dark Knight did. (I'll use "Rotten Tomatoes" percentage ratings to give you an idea of how films are being recieved, a lot of these ratings coincide with Spill's ratings in a way). These ratings show a percentage of how many critics gave the film a positive review:
The Dark Knight - 94%
Wall-E - 97%
Burn After Reading - 79%
Son of Rambow - 75%
Slumdog Millionaire - 90%
The Changeling - 56%
In Bruges - 81%
Films such as Defiance are getting mixed reception, while the film Milk has gotten early priase but also some mixed reception as well. There are also films awaiting release such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, The Wrestler and The Road. But this year we've witnessed a lot of films that we thought would have Oscar potential turn to duds or recieve mixed reviews.
John Campea of The Movie Blog had a very similar post giving his reasons as to why The Dark Knight could possibly recieve a "Best Picture" nomination. I completeley agree with his statement that "if this was last year, The Dark Knight would have no business being mentioned in the “Best Picture” category. But this year may be different. With a number of these unseen early oscar favorites starting to get mixed responses it’s starting to look like a “very good” movie...The Dark Knight may just be good enough to be considered for Best Picture."
The Dark Kight wouldn't really have been able to live up to films like "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" last year in the eyes of critics. (I still think 'There Will Be Blood' should have been chosen as Best Picture, but that's beyond my point). But this year is different, countless blockbuster films were well recieved. Films such as Iron Man, Wall-E, The Dark Knight etc. got better reviews than people expected.
The Academy Awards aren't until February, but Warner Bros. is ready to shove The Dark Knight in our faces once again by re-releasing the film in IMAX cinemas January 2009. Why not before December 9th, 2008, which is the release of The Dark Knight on DVD and Blu-Ray? Well it's a simple anwer, January 2009 is the Oscar nomination season. If these 'early Oscar favorites' continue to bomb or get mixed responses from critics, The Dark Knight has a strong chance of being considered as a nomination.
We can also look forward to Heath Ledger being nominated for "Best Supporting Actor", and maybe Christopher Nolan being put in the "Best Director" category...who knows! The film's score has been rejected for nomination due to a debate over who wrote how much of it etc.
So can The Dark Knight pull off at least a Best Picture nomination, or maybe some others as well? Only time will tell, but if this trend continues I think it can pull it off. Maybe Batman and The Joker can run off with the Oscar, and show it off to all the films who couldn't beat a comic-book movie.