DARK CAMPAIGN

Article round-ups: Can The Dark Knight Really be Nominated?

by Blair on Nov.24, 2008, under NEWS

Here’s some articles, past and present discussing the unlikely and yet tantalizing prospect of a Dark Knight Best Picture nod.

Sasha Stone at Awards Daily when Dark Knight hit #2 highest grossing film of all time on August 11th…

This week, The Dark Knight has officially become too big to ignore.  To not nominate it for Best Picture at this rate would undermine the process of having a Best Picture race in the first place; if you don’t honor a film this big you really do a dishonor to those who drive the entire business: the ticket buyers.

….

The industry and the Oscars need films like The Dark Knight - big, beautiful, artful, political - to redefine the blockbuster genre itself, to take it back from the tired, lazy sequels that have been served up as overpriced crap for the last two decades.  An Oscar nomination for The Dark Knight would bring much-needed attention to the Academy, and its telecast would ultimately bridge the ever-widening gap between the general public and the kinds of films that enter the Oscar race.

The LA Times weighs in:

However, while Brevet is correct that the movie has raked in the cash and gotten generally great reviews, he forgets that as of late, Oscar voters tend toward rewarding more serious fare. That snob factor propelled “No Country for Old Men” and “Crash” into the winner’s circle. Sasha Stone of Awards Daily argues that the academy simply cannot ignore this film now that it is so big at the box office.

More over at the LA Times.

6 comments for this entry:
  1. urfling
    November 25th, 2008 on 3:59 pm

    Short answer is: YES. But it’s got long odds. Voters just have to be convinced to stop supporting the usual boring costume drama stuff and take a chance on a groundbreaking film for once.

  2. Phillip
    December 2nd, 2008 on 10:03 pm

    Wait a tick… did The LA Times really say that “Crash” and “NCFOM” are “more serious” than TDK???

  3. CJ
    December 2nd, 2008 on 10:49 pm

    Philip, why so serious? I’m sorry, couldn’t resist. All three movies are quite serious though.

    No Country is an excellent thriller with a few darkly comedic undertones but you surely can’t consider it “light” in anyway.

    Crash is a good movie (even if it is arguable to whether it deserved “Best Picture”) with a little humor sprinkled into the examination of racism and prejudice.

  4. Orlando Vega
    December 3rd, 2008 on 7:18 am

    Look up “Why So Serious” - Vince P on youtube. This is the best Bat Man related video that I have ever seen.

  5. Cisco01
    December 3rd, 2008 on 12:32 pm

    I’m going to say this right now.

    There are a number of valid reasons on why we should push hard for TDK to be nominated for at least the two major categories with Best Picture and Best Director.

    This is a just cause and it would push the negative biased opinions about comic based genre films away. If films like Gladiator, The Departed, and Lord of the Rings can be nominated and recognized, then TDK certainly deserves the same recognition.

    TDK is easily the best comic genre film off all time and it is DEFINITELY one of the top 5 overall films of 2008. This masterpiece of Chris Nolans is much more than just a comic genre based film….without a doubt. It had it all!

    The quality of the movie, its’ direction, the production, the acting, along with it’s critical and of course huge box office success speak for themselves! If TDK does not get nominated in the Best Picture and Best Director categories, then the Academy will prove that it has a serious problem.

  6. Big Braveheart
    December 4th, 2008 on 2:19 pm

    Forget nominations, The Dark Knight should WIN!!!
    At the very least, Best Picture, Best Director, Heath for Best Supportin Actor,
    Best Cinematography, Best adapted screenplay and Best visual effects.
    Hats off to Chris Nolan and whole cast and crew for a truly brilliant film!
    We CAN do it!!!!!

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