THE DARK KNIGHT - Academy Award Update!

Nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Makeup, Sound, Sound Editing, and Visual Effects.


Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman


Click here to read my original review for The Dark Knight.




So I watched the Dark Knight this week for the third time and it remains for me the Best Film of the Year. It transcends the Superhero Movie label and is really a superb crime drama, then transcends that genre by focusing on the morality of the entire city of Gotham.


The Good:
The Dark Knight has a dream cast, Oscar winners in every frame, and even the the minor supporting characters are given choices that effect the plot. The film excels in all aspect that it received nominations, but to not reward the dense yet never confusing script and the visionary direction of Christopher Nolan is a crime.



The Bad:

Bale seriously overdoes the growl thing he adds to Batman's voice. It gets hard to understand, seems cumbersome as he delivers the more complex lines, and is just silly at times. How did Nolan allow the growl to make the final cut? There went your direction nomination, Chris!






The Ugly:

While she's definantly not ugly, Maggie Gyllenhaal is not beautiful, as is said a few times in the film. She may be an acting upgrade over Katie Holmes, but it's a hotness downgrade.







Movie Cheetah's Grade: A

Oscar Forecast:
Heath Ledger should have a little Oscar engraved in his headstone by now. He's about as much a lock to win as we have this year. He owns every second he's on screen, so powerful that I found myself holding my breath, waiting for his lines. Hands down the performance of the year in any acting category.
I haven't seen enough of the other films nominated for cinematography, editing or art direction yet to make a statement about The Dark Knights chances in those categories.
As for best makeup, Ledger's Joker face is inspired, but the creature overload of Guillermo del Toro's imagination in Hellboy 2 may be more impressive.
I love the Sound mix of this film. There are moments of weight that are accented by the background noise just fading out, and two great moments that will make you jump that owe their effectiveness to the sound. Give it the Oscar!
And I think Dark Knight loses to Iron Man in Sound editing and VizFx.


This is Heath Ledger's second Oscar nod. He was previously nominated in 2005 for Brokeback Mountain.

Wally Pfister is director Christopher Nolan's personal cinematographer. He was also nominated for Batman Begins (2005) and The Prestige (2006).

This is editor Lee Smith's second nomination, his first being for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003).

Art Director Nathan Crowley was also nominated for The Prestige (2006), but this is the first nomination for Set Decorator Peter Lando.

The Best Achievement in Makeup nominees are John Caglione Jr., Oscar winner for Dick Tracy (1990) and Conor O'Sullivan, previously nominated for Saving Private Ryan (1998).

The Sound Team is Ed Novick, nominated for Spider-Man (2002), Gary Rizzo, nominated for The Incredibles (2004), and first time nominee Lora Hirschberg.

Richard King is the Sound Editor, a winner for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and nominated for War of the Worlds (2005).

The Visual Effects team is comprised of four first-time nominees Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, and Paul J. Franklin.