Thanks to The Dark Knight, you might actually care about the Oscars next year. Though summer blockbusters don’t usually show up in the big races at the Academy Awards, the film’s glowing reviews make it a possible contender in the Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay categories, and it will surely be considered a front-runner for technical prizes. But its greatest Oscar hope has to be Heath Ledger, who’ll likely become the seventh-ever posthumous acting nominee for his mesmerizing performance as the Joker. And it’s safe to say that several million Dark Knight fans would tune in to the telecast to see if he can become the second such winner (after Network‘s Peter Finch in 1977).
The Academy Awards could use the boost. For the last several years, the gala has been filled with lesser-known nominees and seen its ratings plummet. This past ceremony, all four acting winners were foreigners, only one major-category victor (Juno) grossed more than $75 million—and the show attracted an all-time-low audience of 32 million.
Next year’s telecast could end up being quite the A-list affair. Possible contenders include Brad Pitt, who ages in reverse for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Angelina Jolie, playing the mother of a missing child in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling; Will Smith, reteaming with Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino, in the character study Seven Pounds; Nicole Kidman, once more under the tutelage of Moulin Rouge maestro Baz Luhrmann in the epic Australia; and the Titanic duo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who’ll reunite for the first time in the suburban drama Revolutionary Road.
Of course, not all of next year’s nomination slots will be filled by blockbusters. But the presence of hits like The Dark Knight could go a long way toward keeping Oscar viewers from changing the Bat-channel. What say you, PopWatchers? Does Ledger deserve to be in the running for an Oscar nod? If the Academy starts paying more attention to well-crafted popcorn flicks, would it raise your overall interest in the Oscar telecast? (And if you can’t wait for this week’s EW cover story on The Dark Knight, by all means click here and read it online!)
yea he deserves a nomination but if there are 5 better supporting actor performances between now and december- id gladly remove his name off my list… i dont see whats the hate with “genre” performances- alec guiness and ian mckellan were nominated for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings… and Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor (for clearly a supporting role) for a horror film!
He will probably get the nomination unless someone comes out in the last five months or so of eligibility to knock him out. While I do think he wa
He will probably get the nomination unless someone comes out in the last five months or so of eligibility to knock him out. While I do think he was incredible. I am not sure if he deserves to win. But I’ll see whether he’ll be nominated, and against the others who are in the category. He’ll probably be in the Supporting Actor category right? Time will tell. But I am not convinced he’ll win. He’ll be dead over a year by the time the awards come up. And unless he’s the best person of the crop, he shouldn’t win just because he died. And people may tune in to see if he wins; if he’s nominated.
When Iron Man came out everyone was talking nomination for RDJ… is that over now?
Definitely deserves a nomination as of now. On another note, words cannot begin to describe my excitement over Kate and Leo’s new movie, which I’ve been eagerly anticipating since it was announced. Even though it’s a downer, I will probs go see it.
I think if RDJ gets nominated for Iron Man as I think he should (he was unbelievable, and the movie was better than Batman), it will be in Best Actor as he is the lead. Heath was supporting in Batman. Christian is lead in that movie. Different categories. That is if they nominated either since usually they don’t look fondly at comic book heroes or villians.
Weren’t we saying the same thing about Robert Downy Jr in Iron Man just a couple of months ago? As usual, once the hype dies down, people will have forgotten about it come November. A superhero movie nominated for an Acting Oscar? If only the Academy would be so cool…
While I wholeheartedly agree that Heath deserves a nomination, I am even more excited that a summer blockbuster is being considered in the running for best picture. What will get me excited about the Oscars isn’t necessarily big star wattage as much as it’s an acknowledgment that you don’t have to be in a big, foreign, arty epic to turn in a good performance or write a great script or create fantastic costumes. What will get me excited about the Oscars is diversity in the nominees, not just in ethnicity, but in genre and scope as well.
Of course he deserves a nomination; he was able to take an iconic character and make it his own. I found myself wishing he were on the screen more.
And as of now he deserves to win. I know there are still alot of “award caliber” movie to be released between now and the end of the year, but I doubt a supporting actor will light up the screen the way this dearly departed actor did.
Also, what happened to the practice of nominating BOTH indie dramas and high grossing action/thillers (like with Tommy Lee Jones and the Fugitive)
The film is a masterpiece its so real and raw it deserves to be in the run for best pic along with a nod for Heath. Its just an amazing movie if only the academy would notice it and maybe they will! Yes its a comic movie but the story line is just amazing and so real.
I can’t think of a finer tribute to the mans memory than a final nomination for what may be his defining role.
If the Academy wants more people to watch, films with broader appeal will HAVE to be nominated.
I haven’t seen the Dark Knight so I don’t know if Heath deserves a nom or not. I will let you know after I watch it on DVD, later this year. But I agree that if the Academy would nominate some more movies that are loved by fans than the critics, they could raise their viewership. Almost every top award goes to some movie that no one sees in the theater. I didn’t see a single movie that won last year until it came out on DVD. In the rare years that “blockbuster” movies are nominated, more people tune in. Oh yeah, also bring back Billy Crystal as host. No one else has proved over the past years that they can hold a candle to his hosting duties. Especially the opening song montage, always my fav!
I also want The Dark Knight nominated so I can see Christian Bale at the Oscars.
Um, while Ledger deserves nomination, clearly….why not the whole film? The Dark Knight was one of the most intense, thrilling experiences I’ve had at the movies in a LONG time….
By my count, The Dark Knight deserves nominations for Supporting Actor (Ledger), Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Visual Effects, Art Direction, Makeup, and Original Score. Now, do I think a summer blockbuster comic book movie will get 12 Oscar nominations? Of course not. But if it could somehow get nods for Heath Ledger’s brilliant performance, Christopher Nolan’s inspired direction, and, ultimately, Best Picture, that would truly make me one happy fan.