It looks like The Academy is trying to atone for their sins, especially after last years debacle when both The Dark Knight and Wall-E, two audience and critical favorites, failed to be nominated for best picture. It has just been announced that starting this coming Oscars there will be 10 nominees in the Best Picture category. Yep you read that right, 10! Basically what this comes down to is that the Academy is desperately trying to appeal to the current generation of film goers and I'm guessing it hopes that by having ten best pic nominees, we will end up with more box office hits in the mix. So does this mean that something like Star Trek could make it into the mix? Or better yet could Pixar finally receive a best picture nomination for their deserving Up? The answer is... well maybe. I can see that this decision by the Academy could go one of two ways. We could end up with more films that people genuinely like and actually go see... or we could end up with more "prestige" pictures that Academy voters already like, but aren't quite good enough in their eyes to merit Best Pic consideration. That means last year films like Doubt and possibly even Australia could have made it in for a Best Pic nomination. That is a very scary thought. I don't think this will do anything for the independent market as if the film is really well loved it will make it in the final five. I don't think The Wrestler or Rachel Getting Married had nearly enough votes last year to get any where near the final five, let alone the final 10. And as for Blockbuster, I'm assuming this may only really help one or two a year. I think possibly The Dark Knight would have made it in last year had we had this 10 nominees rule in place then... but even that seems iffy. The Academy simply can't be trusted to nominate the films that deserve recognition because they go for the same types of movies over and over again. And god forbid a Foreign film end up in the final 10, all hell may just break loose. It will be interesting to see how this plays out come years end. I think we will either end up with what will equate to a very interesting top 10 list, or a glorified prestige picture list that no one will really care about. If the Academy truly uses this opportunity to shake things up and make the race more interesting than I am all for it. But part of me is very scared of what the outcome will be.
So now I'm going to make a prediction and we shall see how close I am come years end. I'm going to be optimistic about it for now and my predictions shall reflect that. THIS YEARS BEST PICTURE NOMINEES WILL BE -
AVATAR
BRIGHT STAR
INVICTUS
THE HURT LOCKER
THE LOVELY BONES
NINE
PRECIOUS
SHUTTER ISLAND
STAR TREK
UP
Keep in mind nobody knows anything and this is both an optimistic and safe set of predictions. We shall just have to see how the year pans out. Click Here to read the press release. One thing is for sure - The Oscar race just got really interesting.
In July I posted the Joker Interrogation scene video from The Dark Knight, but it got pulled from youtube hours later. I've been searching all over the net to find the scene as it is my favorite in the film. And today, I FOUND IT! So, since I'm sure we are all celebrating The Dark Knight becoming the second highest grossing film of all time today I will post the video. Enjoy. Hopefully it doesn't get pulled again.
It's official. The Dark Knight has surpassed Star Wars to become the 2nd highest grossing domestic film of all time. The question now remains how much more money can The Dark Knight make? Can it break Titanic's box office all time dominance, or come in just below? Right now I'm thinking it's going to come in just below Titanic, but don't count The Dark Knight out. It has already broken almost every other record set before it. After four straight weeks atop the Box Office it has finally fallen to the number two spot with Tropic Thunder reigning supreme this weekend. What's really ironic is that the same weekend that The Dark Knight outgrosses Star Wars to become the second highest grossing film, it also comes out on top of the new Star Wars animated film at the box office. Oh, how Lucas must be hating Christopher Nolan at the moment. Bravo! Dark Knight. And keep on truckin'.
This has been bugging me for a long time. But before I really get into this let me preface by saying that I believe the MPAA is a bullshit organization that has no business deciding what is or is not suitable for audiences of different ages. Ratings are essentially meaningless because there is so much contradictory info out there about what exactly earns a film a PG rating or and R. And in a time where we now have to worn parents that a PG-13 film may contain alcohol consumption or cigarette smoking, it's obvious things are getting ridiculous. Can consumption of alcohol really push a film up to a higher rating... possibly an R? According to the MPAA the answer is most definitely yes. I could could create a whole list of films that got R ratings because they were supposedly "unsuitable for minors" that were quite tame when compared to some of the action and horror films that get passed off for a PG-13. Recent examples: The Fountain, Almost Famous, There Will Be Blood (granted there is violence, but much of it happens off screen and there is almost no cussing or sex or nudity) among many many others. Now I'm not saying those films weren't intense or didn't have a few crude moments, but they were far and away more wholesome than a lot of crap that gets passed off as "suitable" entertainment for minors especially during the summer.
So in light of the MPAA apparently being there to shield our poor young children away from "inappropriate material", I bring the following question to the floor - How in the holy hell did the Dark Knight manage a PG-13 rating? The Dark Knight is probably one of the most intense, violent and sadistic films that I have seen in quite a while. I'll be fair here, yes there is no blood and there is little in the way of sex (though there is a scene that makes it quite awkwardly clear sex has just taken place), and there isn't much language besides a couple shits, damns and aw shucks. But the film is one of the most violent pieces of pop entertainment I have ever seen. Some of this violence happens directly on the screen and some of it off, but it's all there. And to be honest our imagination is a much more horrible thing, so the violence that does take place off screen during the Dark Knight is often times far more disturbing. Let's take a look at what we are dealing with here. This is a quick list of the reasons why it baffles me that the film ever managed a PG-13
1. The opening Bank Heist - several men are shot point blank with little or no consequence, hostages are given grenades to hold and the bank manager has a grenade placed in his mouth.
2. The "magic trick" which involves a pencil getting slammed through a man's head... onscreen.
3. The video the joker makes before he butchers and kills his victim who dresses up like the batman.
4. Harvey Dent threatening to blow a man's head off if he doesn't give him info on the joker.
5. Batman beating the shit out of several criminals over and over again throughout the film.
6. The major action set piece involving several car crashes, civilians shot and possibly killed.
7. The interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker where Batman beats the Joker senseless.
8. The Joker's breakout which involves a bomb planted in another man's stomach which is depicted onscreen.
9. Rachel getting blown sky high.
10. Harvey Dent having half of his body burned, which also occurs on screen.
11. Harvey's face...
12. The Joker burning a man alive on top of a pile of money (off screen).
13. The Joker apparantely feeding a mob boss to his own dogs (off screen).
14. Dent's killing spree.
15. The Joker's final act.
16. Harvey Dent's downfall is disturbing and his last scene is especially so.
17. and last but not least, the Joker himself is probably one of the most terrifying and sickening things I have ever seen put on screen.
After the film was over I was completely shocked by the level of violence. Yes, it was entirely appropriate for the film and I'm not criticizing the film for it. I'm criticizing that oh so great organization known as the MPAA. If no other film in recent history has proven how full of shit they really are then this film is surly it. The only possible excuse for this film getting the PG-13 is the fact that it is a "comic book movie", or at least that's how it was perceived prior to its release. Now people have wised up and figured out that it transcends its genre and becomes something quite special. But the MPAA gave this film a pass because Batman was in it and who doesn't like batman? He's good old fashioned wholesome family fun. Well I hate to tell you MPAA, but this is not the 1960's TV show or the crap fast directed by Joel Schumacker. No, this is an entirely different beast and its is quite grown up and sophisticated... AND VIOLENT. Look, I hate the rating system and I think its complete bullshit. Parents should take responsibility for what their children see or don't see and not depend on some mysterious organization to make their choices for them. If anything the MPAA should abolish the ratings system and simply list off what kind of content the film contains... even if we feel we must include alcohol and cigarettes...jesus. But since we are stuck with this corrupt and faulty system can we at least call out an R rating when we really see one? Probably not.
Again this was not a criticism against the Dark Knight. It's violence is fully justified and young audiences above the age of 12 or so can probably handle it depending on what kind of film goer they are. But the thought of six year old kids in their watching this film kind of disturbs me and trust me I have seen plenty of them there the two times I saw The Dark Knight. Again parents need to learn how to take responsibility. Below I'm including a review of the film by the Reel Geezers which is hilarious for the fact that they clearly didn't understand the picture at all... yet do feel the need to preface their rotten review with proclamation that Heath Ledger gives a performance "for the ages!". Really? No shit? I hadn't heard that yet. Thanks for keeping up.
Much has been said about the late Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight. Many have cited it as being extraordinary and "one for the ages". Others have claimed that it is the performance that "claimed" Ledger's life. And some have dismissed it outright (though very few) saying that it is all the result of an excessive hype machine. I am in the camp who believes that Ledger's performance is indeed "one for the ages" as it is a totally unique and savage portrayal of pure evil. There is no rhyme or reason behind the Jokers madness other than to bring the city of Gotham to its knees. His purpose is to bring about chaos, as is defined in a brilliant monologue that the Joker delivers to a scarred Harvey Dent in the hospital -
"upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I am an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos, Harvey? It's fair."
Ledger is charismatic and simultaneously terrifying in the role. In a way it reminded me very much of the first time I saw Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector. He was instantly likable and human, yet undeniably scary. The Joker is a very different kind of villain than Lector, but we like him for many of the same reasons; the biggest one of all being that we really don't know a whole hell of a lot about him. This makes him intriguing and we as the audience spend the course of the film watching intently attempting to figure him out and yet never getting there. Ledger's best scene in the film is now the infamous interrogation room scene. And I'm not talking about the section where he gets rammed into a plate glass window. No, I'm referring to when he is just sitting and talking to Batman. The way Ledger delivers his lines is uncannily insane and yet at the same time the Joker represents a sort of dark truth throughout the course of the Dark Knight. That truth is, that good and evil are essentially one in the same. It's a theme that has been explored in other films, but in our post 9/11 world the Joker's sinister monologue is even more haunting and thought provoking -
"To them you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now. And when they don't, they'll cast you out like a leper. you see Their morals, their code... it's a bad joke. And dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you when the chips are down. These civilized people? They'll eat each other. See I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."
This hits home on several counts. What does it mean to be a terrorist? A freedom fighter? A villain? A hero? What does it cost to save a life? To save a city? To save yourself? The Joker's point is that perhaps none of us can be saved and he spends the entire films attempting to illustrate this point. In our post 9/11 world this is a discomforting thought. In the end the Joker's point is only partly realized by the downfall of Harvey Dent, but its powerful nonetheless. If a man so good can eventually become a villain that we turn on, who's to say that it couldn't happen to any one of us? The reason why the interrogation scene is the Ledger's best in the film is because its the one scene where there are no tricks up his sleeve (well sorta, there is a big payoff at the end of this scene). He's not goofing off or propelled by some large action sequence where he gets to have some "wow" moments. Instead here he is calm and collected and stating what Batman and few of us would ever really want to hear and that makes the scene powerful. It's the way that Ledger delivers this dialogue with absolutely no hidden agenda, it's blunt and to the point, and its one of the few times we realize how human the Joker really is as a villain. He is undeniably evil, but at the same time you can't help but admire him. And that is the scary part about real evil. It's a part of all of us. That's what makes Ledger's portrayal of the Joker just so damn watchable. It's honest.
Some have claimed that the reason behind the Dark Knight's success is due to Ledger's untimely death. I would hope that we as a society would not be this sick and sad, but we are. It's true. We have a fascination with death. I will admit that due to Ledger's death it made me anticipate The Dark Knight even more, but it was not THE reason for me to see the film. But I guarantee you that there were several people who came out of the woodwork to simply see what the fuss was about and see the late Heath Ledger deliver his swan song. These are people who care nothing about Batman or the fact that Ledger's performance has been getting some of the best reviews of the year. No, these are people who look at this as a sort of freak show. People who squeaked with glee when they saw the Joker slam a man's head into a pencil, or mow down rows of innocent civilians in cars just so he could get close to the batman. The Dark knight is a dark and sadistic film, but it's also a brilliant one. And while many people I'm sure saw the film just because Ledger died, there are also thousands upon thousands who were eagerly awaiting this picture like me and who paid good money to see one of the greatest blockbusters in years. People should go see the film because of how good it is and how great Ledger's performance is. But don't join the bandwagon just because the guy died. It's an insult to him and his craft. He was a great actor and he could have been one of the all time greats. I have a feeling he was just getting warmed up, but that's part of the problem. We have a tendency to dismiss young performers because we always anticipate they will do something better. Well folks this is it. Ledger will never do anything better than this because he will never have the chance. The academy made one mistake when they didn't award him the Oscar for playing Ennis Delmarre in Brokeback Mountain (one of the greatest performances ever committed to film). Let's hope that they don't make another and that they remember this performance come years end. It really is one for the ages and we will never see anything like it again.
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