Well I got to say the campaign is getting a ton of press lately and you guys have done a terrific job spreading the word everywhere.  How far is it reaching?  Well apparently far enough enough to be featured in the main newspaper in Orlando.

I grew up in Orlando so to be featured in the Orlando Sentinel is a really fun moment for me.  Here’s an article from the local critic Roger Moore in which he comments on our campaign but as you’ll see he’s not as big a fan of the film:

Fans push for Dark Knight Oscar- -Warners be damned

Dec 17, 2008 - The marketing folks at Warner Brothers aren’t doing a lot, according to some, to see to it that their summer blockbuster is further validated by grabbing Oscar gold.

But the fans of the film are.  The “Dark Campaign” is pushing DK for Academy Awards consideration in what they hope are clever ways—mailing jokers from decks of cards to editors at Variety, what have you.

Plainly, they need to watch the new-to-DVD film and chew on it seriously and maybe get a grip. Good Heath Ledger, decent Christian Bale (I get why he was masking his voice) Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal, a good third act, but up until then? An under motivated, gloomy muddle. It’s good, an improvement over the first Bale-Bat, but Oscar-worthy? Do yourself a favor. Google “Dark Knight” and “overrated.”

But if grassroots online efforts elected our next president, why not our next Oscar?

See the article and the Orlando reaction here (a lot of people disagree with his comments about the film being a gloomy muddle).

MTV also has an article on the campaign here…

‘The Dark Knight’ Oscar Campaign Gets Fan-Created ‘For Your Consideration’ Ads

Published by Casey Seijas on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 5:11 pm.

What do you think of these fan made posters, and more importantly, what do you think “The Dark Knight”’s chances are for Oscar recognition?

As we enter awards season, and now that Heath Ledger has been nominated for a Golden Globe, comic fans now wait with baited breath to see if The Academy will take notice of not only Ledger’s jaw-dropping portrayal of The Joker, but if “The Dark Knight” will do the near-impossible and find itself among the “Best Picture” nominees.

We’ve already seen the “For Your Consideration” ads released by Warner Bros., but apparently that’s not enough for some fans of the film who feel that it should be considered one of the best of the year, so they’re making ads of their own — and they might be even better than the official ones released by the studio.

What do you think of these fan made posters, and more importantly, what do you think “The Dark Knight”’s chances are for Oscar recognition?

Dark Knight viral Oscar push starts here

BY Andy Lowe Dec 17th 2008

Why so serious, indeed…

With the Academy’s notorious reputation for favouring weighty chin-strokers over genre movies, fans are throwing their full internet weight behind the campaign to get The Dark Knight the gongs it deserves.

DK shrine Dark Campaign is leading the charge with a beautifully crafted ‘For Your Consideration’ video pushing the film’s case with clips and review quotes.

The fansite have shown their, umm, seriousness by setting up a Facebook group urging fans to post playing cards to trade mag Variety (”Find a deck of cards, remove the joker card, with a red pen, somewhere on the card write, ‘Why So Serious? For Your Consideration: Heath Ledger - Best Supporting Actor. The Dark Knight - Best Picture Of 2008.”

There’s also a terrific pair of spoof promo posters doing the rounds (see them in the gallery on the right).

totalfilm.com thinks Ledger is a lock for Supporting Actor, but there’s still some way to go to get Nolan the recognition he deserves.

Help out by joining the Dark Campaign.

Great work everybody!  I can now definitely say without a doubt this campaign is having an impact and reaching a lot of places.

For your consideration

Author: Kimberly Maul

Warner Bros. is one of many studios in the midst of Oscar campaigns right now, promoting The Dark Knight and its actors, hoping for an Academy Award nod. But Warner Bros. is also getting the added bonus of a grassroots campaign started by a fan, Blair Erickson. His Web site, DarkCampaign.com, has been catching the attention not only of fans who have joined the cause on Facebook and YouTube, but also the media.

“I started it because I was a passionate fan of The Dark Knight and I thought it was a pretty groundbreaking film,” Erickson told PRWeek. “I saw it as a really good example of when Hollywood studios got it right.” Erickson, who works as creative director for interactive agency Millions of Us, previously launched a similar campaign for 2006’s Children of Men.

Read the rest of the article here and thanks to Kimberly for great piece!  FYI I also did an interview yesterday with another cool media outlet that I will be sharing hopefully shortly…

A bunch of folks in our community have decided to spread the word by sending some Joker cards to one of the mainstream and widely read film media sites Variety. Help TDK get more Oscar publicity and show your fan support.  Let the movie industry know we’re out there! Today…  Dec. 17th we are sending Joker cards in the mail to Variety.

Here is the scoop from the folks in our community who came up with this plan:

It is simple;
1. find a deck of cards
2. remove the joker card
3. with a red pen, somewhere on the card write:

“Why So Serious?”
For Your Consideration
The Dark Knight
DarkCampaign.com

4. mail it to:

Variety Magazine
5900 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 3100
Los Angeles, CA 90036

***** DO THIS ON DEC 17th *****

***** DO THIS ON DEC 17th *****

It’s all part of the plan.  And if anyone wants to mail me a photo of themselves with their joker cards about to go in the mail, I will post it right here on the main page of the site.

The Dark Knight was nominated for a Golden Globe last week

Batman film The Dark Knight has been named as one of the Top 10 movies of 2008 by the American Film Institute.

Others include political biopic Milk, animated fantasy Wall-E and Brad Pitt’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino and comic book blockbuster Iron Man also feature alongside the independent dramas Frozen River and Wendy and Lucy.

Frost/Nixon and The Wrestler complete the list, compiled by a panel of filmmakers, reviewers and academics.

Unlike other awards bodies, the institute does not rank films or pick one as the year’s best.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7783111.stm

A new TDK oscar fan poster on Digg! This comes from Christopher…  Check it out and digg it:

http://digg.com/movies/Dark_Knight_Oscar_All_it_needs_is_a_little_push

Thanks to Christopher for creating that and to Cleo for the heads up!

These cards have already gone out today according to one of our supporters, Phillip who emailed me.  But the BIG push is planned for Dec. 17th.

Here’s the plan Dave Knetter in our Facebook group has come up with:

Dark Knight fans!! Listen up. TDK needs your help.

“Dark Campaign - Support the Dark Knight for 2008 Oscars”, here on Facebook, is campaigning to get Heath and TDK an Oscar. The first thing is to help TDK get nominated.

It is simple;
1. find a deck of cards
2. remove the joker card
3. with a red pen, somewhere on the card write:

“Why So Serious?”
For Your Consideration
Heath Ledger - Best Supporting Actor
The Dark Knight - Best Picture of 2008
http://DarkCampaign.com

4. mail it to:

Variety Magazine
5900 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 3100
Los Angeles, CA 90036

***** DO THIS ON DEC 17th *****

I think this is a terrific idea.  Anyone else out there want to try this? Sure it’s a bit weird…  Why so serious?

Unbelieveable snub from the Globes this morning:

Golden Globes Deny ‘The Dark Knight,’ Heath Ledger Nominated

Published by Rick Marshall on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 10:38 am.

Nominations for the Golden Globes were announced this morning, and while Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker earned him a nod in the Best Supporting Actor category, “The Dark Knight” itself was conspicuously absent from the list of projects nominated for awards. Over at MTV’s Movies Blog, you can read the full list of Golden Globe nominations.

So what does this mean for “The Dark Knight” and its award campaign? The absence of Christopher Nolan’s record-breaking blockbuster is certainly a surprise, given that the only film to do better at the box office, “Titanic,” cleaned up in Golden Globe nominations back in 1997.

Not only did “Titanic” receive a nomination for Best Film in 1997 (a category it later won), it received nominations in seven other categories — including Best Original Score, where “The Dark Knight” has had its share of obstacles. “The Dark Knight” is currently ranked just behind “Titanic” as the top-grossing film of all time, and the gap between the two films is expected to narrow significantly when the film is re-released to theaters next month.

Interestingly enough, Ledger’s nomination for “The Dark Knight” pits him against another actor celebrated for his role in a comics-inspired blockbuster this year. Robert Downey Jr., who owned the role of Tony Stark in “Iron Man,” also received a nod for his supporting role in “Tropic Thunder.”

However, while many have celebrated the success of the “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” this year as a sign that films based on comics have finally found mainstream acceptance, one has to wonder whether the Golden Globe nominations indicate that the accolades both films have received thus far are just the first step of many toward critical approval of comics as source material — or if the rumors of “The Dark Knight’s” demise have been greatly exaggerated, and the Academy Awards will correct the Golden Globes’ mistakes in February.

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/12/11/golden-globes-deny-the-dark-knight-heath-ledger-nominated/

Great article today from the game industry news site GameTechWorld who found out about us through “word of mouth” according to the writer.

Movie News - This Bat Soars…
Wednesday, 10 December 2008 17:02

…but is it Oscar-worthy?

So believe the folks over at the Dark Campaign, a fan-created support page looking to help push Academy consideration for Nolan’s take on the “Batman” franchise. Best Supporting Actor nominations and Best Score considerations seem absolutely definite at this point, but the journey to the coveted Best Picture nomination may be a difficult road.

The fans over at the Dark Campaign, as well as those worldwide, may be the fuel that Warner Bros. needed to keep their hopes of a nomination alive.

Nicely done guys. More of that article here.

College on the record has this horrific and funny collection…

See the rest here.

Great sign for the Oscars. The 2008 Critics Choice awards show 6 nominations in major categories for Dark Knight. It’s in 3rd place behind “Benjamin Button” and “Milk” with 8 each.

The 14th Critics’ Choice Awards will be given on 8 January 2009 to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking.
Thanks to our poster WillyJoel here who tipped us off. Here’s the categories “The Dark Knight” has been nominated in:

BEST PICTURE

Nominees:
• Changeling
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Wall-E
• The Wrestler

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Nominees:
• Josh Brolin - Milk
• Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
• Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
• Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
• James Franco - Milk

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Nominees:
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Milk
• Rachel Getting Married

BEST DIRECTOR

Nominees:
• Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
• David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
• Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
• Gus Van Sant - Milk

BEST ACTION MOVIE

Nominees:
• The Dark Knight
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Iron Man
• Quantum of Solace
• Wanted

BEST COMPOSER

Nominees:
• Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Clint Eastwood - Changeling
• Danny Elfman - Milk
• Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
• A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire