Mike’s Blockbuster Movie Posters

Thanks to the Dark Knight you might actually care about the Oscars this year. Even though summer blockbusters are usually Oscar material and don’t make it into the big academy awards race, the Dark Knight has received such glowing reviews that It could be a contender for the Best Picture, Director, and Screen Play categories. Probably the most earnest hope that viewers will have though for this film will be for Heath Ledger, who will likely become the seventh posthumous acting nominee for his spectacular performance as The Joker. However, what all the millions of Dark Knight Fans will be sitting on the edge of the seats will be whether Heath will become the second such winner. The first being Peter Finch for Network in 1977.

Don’t get carried away though with all of the Oscar buzz for Heath Ledger because you have to keep in mind that the Oscars almost never spotlight characters like The Joker. This isn’t saying Ledger doesn’t deserve the Oscar. It is just more likely that the Academy will nominate him but he won’t win. Not even because he is dead but because of the role he played. The Academy is on such a snobby run that they don’t even connect with audiences anymore.

Outside of Juno did very many people even go off and see the best picture nominees? I had never even heard of “There Will Be Blood” until the nominations were announced. Atonement? What was that? Sure, Independent Film buffs might know about them, but it’s unlikely anyone outside of that niche will. Since when was it about making sure popularity couldn’t stand a chance? What happened to nominating good films for categories? If movies outside of the Independent Niche could be nominated years ago, why do they have such a hard time now? Think about it. Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Fugitive, and Star Wars were all nominated for Best Picture and they deserved a nod. They were fine films. If these movies came out now would they be ignored too either being too popular or making too much money?

One thing is sure. The Academy Awards could use the boost. In the last ceremony all four of the acting winners were foreigners and the show attracted an all-time- low audience of 32 million.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 11:50 am and is filed under Action Movies. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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