The Oscars

OK, it's that time of year again. Yesterday they announced the nominees for this year's Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars. Not too many surprises actually, although many are disappointed that The Dark Knight wasn't nominated in more categories. Heath Ledger got a nod for Best Supporting Actor, no surprise there, and he was already awarded the Golden Globe in that category. (Incidentally, yesterday was the one year anniversary of Ledger's death. What a huge loss that is still felt in Hollywood.)

The entire list of nominees can be found at http://www.oscar.com/. I will print a few of the major categories here:

BEST PICTURE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Stephen Daldry, The Reader

Gus Van Sant, Milk

BEST ACTOR

Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn, Milk

Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie, Changeling

Melissa Leo, Frozen River

Meryl Streep, Doubt

Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin, Milk

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, Doubt

Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis, Doubt

Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

WALL-E

I love both Josh Brolin and Robert Downey, Jr., but I have to admit that I would really like to see Heath Ledger win, and not just because it would be a sentimental thing. His performance in The Dark Knight was absolutely amazing. He deserved the Oscar for Brokeback Mountain (still can't believe he didn't get it) and he deserves it for this as well.

I haven't seen the movie Bolt yet, but out of the three animated nominees, I'd like to see WALL-E win. That was a great movie.

And the host for this year's awards is Hugh Jackman. YUMMY!!

THE DARK KNIGHT

OK, let's set aside all the Heath Ledger talk for a moment and concentrate on the film in general.

This movie rocks, and considering it clocks in at two and a half hours, it has to in order to keep your attention. Not once did I feel like getting up out of my seat and walking around. Not once did I wonder out of boredom when it was going to end. Not once did I feel like it was too much already. This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. There are scenes that seem as if the ending is near, as if they are starting to come up to the ultimate climax of the movie. Then you're suddenly pulled back from that edge and pushed off toward another. It's like a roller coaster ride that never ends, and you never want it to.

Now for the inevitable discussion about Heath's portrayal of The Joker. Many people are saying that the only reason he is receiving such raves is because he's dead and this is one of his last performances. I don't know about some people, but that's not why I'm raving about it. He was wonderful. So very creepy and odd and insane. The psyche of The Joker has always been something to cringe away from and study all at the same time, and Heath brings you to the edge of the insanity and very nearly pushes you over. I think he will get an Oscar nod for this but am not sure about a win. This type of movie is not known for that kind of accolade. (If he does win, I'm thinking it will be more of a nod toward his performance in Brokeback Mountain, which he should have won for in the first place.)

Now let me say that I am a big Tommy Lee Jones fan, but he just wasn't the right person to play Harvey "Two-Face" Dent. Aaron Eckhart on the other hand was perfect. He has the wonderful good looks that Dent is supposed to have, and comes across well as the absolutely honest D.A. he is supposed to be. And when he becomes Two-Face, watch out. The makeup alone will creep you out. (I'm not posting a photo showing the full makeup because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen the movie yet. If there is anyone out there who hasn't.) Even my husband, the comic book movie perfectionist, wasn't disappointed with this character. (As a matter of fact, the only thing remotely disappointing was what they did to Batman's voice. Bale does a slightly deeper voice when he's "playing" Batman instead of Bruce Wayne, which makes sense. Wayne would want to disguise his voice, and making it deeper also serves to make him more ominous. But in this movie, they also digitally altered it on top of that, going a bit overboard in the process. At times, he's a bit hard to understand.)

Christian Bale was great as Batman, as he was in Batman Begins. Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman work well in what are really pretty small but very essential parts. They both act a bit as Batman/Bruce Wayne's conscience. Gary Oldman surprised me in the first movie as Jim Gordon, the ultimate honest cop, and he again handles the role as if it was written for him in the first place.

If you've already seen this movie, then you know it would be worth it to spend the money to see it yet again on the big screen. If you haven't seen it, what the heck are you waiting for?