The Dark Knight gets no Best Picture Nomination

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Dark Knight gets no Best Picture Nomination

The Dark Knight gets no Best Picture Nomination
Credit: Dark Horizons

The 81st Annual Academy Award nominations have been announced with a few surprises and some glaring omissions.

'Best Film' played it safe - though four (Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog) were pretty much locked, that fifth slot many were hoping the Academy would go for something acclaimed but more risky or mainstream than they usually go for like "The Wrestler" "Revolutionary Road" or "The Dark Knight". Instead they opted for the little seen but very Academy-friendly Weinstein-produced vehicle "The Reader".

In fact that trio of films (Wrestler, Road, Knight) were awkwardly missing in some other key areas like director and screenplay, though all got acting noms and 'Knight' in particular scored a lot of technical nods.

In sheer number of nominations "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" lead the way with thirteen; followed by "Slumdog Millionaire" with ten; "The Dark Knight" and "Milk" with eight; "Wall-E" with six; "Frost/Nixon", "Doubt" and "The Reader" with five.

Notable omissions and strangeness - "Gran Torino" "Che" "I've Loved You So Long" not getting any major nominations. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" only scoring a nom for Cruz, "Happy-Go-Lucky" scoring a best script but not a best actress nomination, "In Bruges" only getting a screenplay nom, and "Gomorra" missing out on Best Foreign Language Film.

One very welcome surprise was Michael Shannon, the actor who has essentially been ignored by most of the other critics and guilds getting a nomination for his brilliant supporting turn in "Revolutionary Road" (as I said in the first part of my Best Films of 2008 list).

Here's the complete list:

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor")
Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon")
Sean Penn ("Milk")
Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler")

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married")
Angelina Jolie ("Changeling")
Melissa Leo ("Frozen River")
Meryl Streep ("Doubt")
Kate Winslet ("The Reader")

DIRECTING
David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon")
Gus Van Sant ("Milk")
Stephen Daldry ("The Reader")
Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin ("Milk")
Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder")
Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt")
Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight")
Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road")

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams ("Doubt")
Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona")
Viola Davis ("Doubt")
Taraji P. Henson ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler")

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhoff Complex
Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"Wall-E"

SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Doubt"
"Frost/Nixon"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire""

SCREENPLAY (Original)
"Frozen River"
"Happy-Go-Lucky"
"In Bruges"
"Milk"
"Wall-E"

ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia"
''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
''The Duchess"
''Milk"
''Revolutionary Road"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
''Encounters at the End of the World"
''The Garden"
''Man on Wire"
''Trouble the Water"

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
''The Final Inch"
''Smile Pinki
''The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306"

FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort"
"The Counterfeiters"
"Katyn"
"Mongol"
"12"

MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
''The Dark Knight"
''Hellboy II: The Golden Army"

MUSIC (SCORE)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" James Newton Howard
"Milk" Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" Thomas Newman"

MUSIC (SONG)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
''Lavatory — Lovestory"
''Oktapodi"
''Presto"
''This Way Up"

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
''Manon on the Asphalt"
''New Boy"
''The Pig"
''Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"

SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"'WALL-E"
"Wanted"

VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"

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The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight
Main article: The Dark Knight (film)
Christopher Nolan reprised his duties as director, and brought his brother, Jonathan, to co-write the script. The Dark Knight featured Heath Ledger as The Joker and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent / Two-Face. Principal photography began in April 2007 in Chicago. Other locations included Pinewood Studios and Hong Kong. On January 22 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died of a sleeping pill overdose, leading to intense attention from the press and more people showing interest in the film. Warner Bros. had created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screen shots of Ledger as the Joker, but after Ledger's death, the studio refocused its promotional campaign.[77][78] The film was released on July 16 2008; prior to its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advance tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. It was greeted with extremely positive reviews upon release, and became the second film ever to earn more than $500 million at the United States box office, setting numerous other records in the process

Batman Begins

Batman Begins
Main article: Batman Begins
Director/writer Christopher Nolan and co-writer David S. Goyer began work on Batman Begins in early 2003[67][68] and aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film.[69] The film, which was primarily shot in England and Chicago,[70][71] relied on traditional stunts and scale models — computer-generated imagery was used minimally. A new Batmobile (called the Tumbler) and a more mobile Batsuit were both created specifically for the film.[72][73] Batman Begins was critically and commercially successful. The film opened on June 15, 2005 in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. It grossed US$48 million in its opening weekend, eventually earning $370 million worldwide. The film received an 84% overall approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.[74][75] Critics noted that fear was a common theme throughout the film, and remarked that it had a darker tone compared to previous Batman films.[75] Batman Begins has also popularized the notion of reboots in Hollywood.[76]

Batman 3 Rumors

Future
Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov hopes a third film will be released in 2011.[81] Nolan is not committed to another sequel, explaining that he does not normally line up projects after completing a film, noting "Is there a story that's going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That’s the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name?"[82] He added the only reason he would return would be if he found a necessary way to continue the story, but he feared midway through filming another installment he would find it redundant.[83] Nolan had written a rough story outline and made some notes by December 2008, despite his uncertainty in returning for the sequel.[84] Later in December, Alan F. Horn confirmed that while discussions with Nolan about a third film were ongoing, no casting had been done, and Horn categorically denied all such rumors.[85]
Gary Oldman is confident Nolan will return,[86] and Bale said he would return if Nolan did.[87] Oldman hinted in the third film Gordon would have to "hunt down Batman".[88] He has also speculated that the villain of the upcoming film might be the Riddler.[89] Nolan explained that as long as he is directing, he is not including Robin in the franchise because Bale is still portraying a "young Batman", which meant "Robin's not for a few films".[90] In addition, Nolan considers the Penguin difficult to portray on film, explaining, "There are certain characters that are easier to mesh with the more real take on Batman we're doing. The Penguin would be tricky."[91]
Kate Beckinsale has expressed interest in playing Catwoman,[92] while rumors are spreading that Angelina Jolie is reported to be Catwoman. Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the Batman series from 1966 to 1967, said "Angelina would own the part."[93] David Tennant and Brian Austin Green wish to portray the Riddler.[94][95] Aaron Eckhart had expressed his enthusiasm that he would reprise his role for a sequel if asked, although he later confirmed that, in talks with Nolan before Heath Ledger's death, the director considers Two-Face to be dead.[96] Michael Caine commented that a studio executive was interested in casting Johnny Depp as the Riddler, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin.[97] Hoffman later denied the rumor.[98]

Check out B.I.G. Sergio's Tribute to Jason Voorhees!

Thursday, January 22, 2009