Honestly, if you don’t read this as willful ignorance of the film, and don’t understand that something is wrong with that, I dunno…not sure what to tell you. One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. The highest grossing film of the year. Ignored because it’s a comic film.
Nothing’s wrong with that? No one should call foul?
Oh whine and cry. Get the hell over it already. The Dark Knight did not deserve Best Picture. It just wasn’t. that. good. Heath got his deserved nomination and that’s all that matters. It also got lots of other technical awards which it may or may not deserve. But it did. not. deserve. Best. Picture. Deal with it!
When they snubbed Winslet for Marisa Tomei, I got my hopes up. What happened afterwards was horrific.
In a year when the mainstream offers two extremely viable nominees – TDK and Wall-E – you pass over BOTH. For Stephen fucking Daldry and The fucking READER of all the fucking films? I seriously wouldn’t be 10% as annoyed if the film was soemthing even vaguely deserving. But nope, it’s The fucking READER.
I hope you choke, Academy. And Harvey Weinstein… let’s not even go there.
Jon
Fans of TDK have a right to be upset no matter how you felt about the film. Had the BO, had the reviews, had the guild support. Personally, it wouldn’t be in my top 5, but it’s certainly a worthy representative of 2008, and not giving it a BP or BD nomination is cringe-worthy.
@ Matt:
Maybe so, but when a film earns both box office success AND near-unanimous critical praise, it should be a natural selection for Best Picture. AMPAS is really shooting itself in the foot. I get the feeling now that even FEWER people will watch the telecast this year than last year.
I doubt any words of mine could sum up my feelings better than this picture.
Eric
It’s a sorry state of affairs when the leading Oscar journalists start crying because things didn’t go their way.
Mr. Harmonica
Come on.
Pointing out the immaturity of going on a web tantrum because a film you liked was snubbed doesn’t make anybody a ‘hater’. (The most mindless word to enter the English lexicon this decade? I think so.)
Matt: Clearly you don’t get it. I point to the money IN CONJUNCTION with the critical reception for a reason. Popularity and critical acclaim dovetailed with this film, and the Academy missed the boat.
I’m fully prepared to weather the snarky comments of the anti-Bat crowd, but come smarter, please.
Harmonica: It was hardly a web tantrum. It was a level-headed dismissal of a group’s reaction to the film year and it was full of facts, my friend. People are mistaking passion for blind passion. But, like I said, please come smarter if it’s gonna be this way kids.
Kris is right. The Academy simply ignored THE film of the year. Wether you love it or hate it, TDK is that film. I don’t know how you could possibly explain The Reader being considered one of the best of ’08. It’s not. We all know it. That’s what makes it so ridiculous. At what point do we stop taking the Academy seriously? The top 5 are supposed to represent the absolute best that filmmaking had to offer that year. If someone were to open the ’08 time capsule in 50 years, they wouldn’t see The Reader as one of the 5 best films. Plain and simple. It is a sham. The Weisnsteins clearly paid for this nomination. What a joke.
Eric
And for the record, I do think it’s a horrible snub for all the wrong reasons. But AMPAS has done worse and we all know it.
“We’re gonna make The Dark Knight disappear… TADA! It’s gone… Oh, and Weinstein’s nomination for The Reader, it wasn’t cheap. He aughta know; he bought it.”
-Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
red_wine
All of you obviously know I’m either dumb or wrong or not really serious when I say TDK wasn’t worthy of a Best pic nomination. But still, cheers to the Academy for having balls of solid gold.
Mr. Harmonica
If I misread the tone of your post, then I apologize, but you should know that calling people who have differing opinions on Oscar buzz “kids” is incredibly unbecoming of you.
You misread the tone. I’m much more light-hearted this morning than many of the readers seem to think. Understandable, given my words, but hey, I’m smiling.
Paul8148
I would not have a problem of Wall-e or The Wrestler bump DK, but The Reader is not in the same league of work.
Paul8148
I’m more ashem of the Directors branch to tell you the truth.
Whether or not The Dark Knight was deserving a nomination, there was absolutely nothing ballsy about nominating “The Reader” instead. I thought the Academy was past Weinstein’s shenanigans.
Honestly, to echo Kris’ sentiments, this isn’t blind passion. Anything but “The Reader” – hell, even “Gran Torino” – and my response wouldn’t be nearly as strong.
And Mr. Harmonica, to be fair, you did accuse Kris of having an “immature” “tantrum,” so you can’t be too offended when he gives a condescending response in turn.
red_wine
John K, you misinterpret me, I’m not celebrating The Reader nomination, I’m celebrating the TDK snub.
red_wine, I understand that you’re celebrating the TDK snub, which, of course, is fine. However, I’m just questioning the part where you attribute it to “balls,” because I remain convinced the Academy has none.
Still, disagreements and whatnot. I’m just glad you didn’t start yelling at me about being a “fanboy.” :)
red_wine
Balls due to the fact that the Academy knows very few people will watch their show now but they still didn’t cave in to the fanaticism of all the TDK fanboys and very coolly showed a big middle finger to the entire movie going public of America. “the film you guys think is better than Citizen Kane, we at the Academy do not even find it worth including in out top 5”
Thats ballsy. They don’t have the best of taste.(I have yet to see the Reader but apart from Milk I’ll replace the other 3), still they sometimes have such small acts of courage which are worth applauding.
I guess what you’re interpreting as balls, I’m interpreting it as contrarianism for the sake of contrarianism. I hope the “film you think is better than Citizen Kane” comment wasn’t directed at me, because I don’t even think “The Dark Knight” was the best film of 2008. (It probably isn’t even in my top three.)
If the Academy is going to reject TDK as some kind of middle finger to mainstream America – which, I don’t see why that’s necessarily a virtue – then they should have rejected “Jerry Maguire” in 1996 or “Titanic” in 1997 or “Gladiator” in 2000, all blockbusters with significantly more flaws than “The Dark Knight.”
Yet indeed, the only reason the Academy rejected “The Dark Knight” was because it appealed to a significantly younger demographic. The movie was too far outside the Academy’s comfort zone – “comic movies can’t be prestigious!” – and they balked accordingly.
That’s not balls; that’s cowardice. It’s “swinging my dick around to show you young people who’s boss” posturing. But in real life, the person who insists on swinging his dick around is also the one who’s most insecure about his dick, to overextend the metaphor.
If they rejected “The Dark Knight” because they legitimately felt another film was better, like “The Wrestler” or “Wall-E” or a number of other films, then fine. But that they chose the Weinstein-approved”The Reader” indicates otherwise.
red_wine
“they should have rejected “Jerry Maguire†in 1996 or “Titanic†in 1997 or “Gladiator†in 2000”
Couldn’t agree more with you.
But you are going the fanboy route. The level of fanaticism about TDK was disgusting. If it had been half-merited I wouldn’t have a problem. Its a nice film, yes. But can you conceive the Academy just did not think it worthy enough, say like Bolt or something, they simply loved the 5 movies they have nominated.
The entire dynamic of purposefully snubbing the film enters in to the picture solely at the fanboy’s insistence that it was in the running in the first place. It was they who literally held the Academy hostage with all the talk about boycotting the Oscars if it was snubbed and all and you have read the comments on this site, even from the editor, you know what fans of the film are like. Its like they are all infected with some incurable disease, a sort of paranoia thats hard to overcome. They can literally see visions of the film waking up. And no, none of this is exaggerated.
The Academy simply side-stepped them all and refused to share their enthusiasm(delusion if you ask me).
But why take it so hard, only 1 film I like is nominated for Best Film and I’m still pumped. Nobody really believes the Academy represents quality.
Spoonbill
When petulant fanboys stop bawling when adults prefer other films, Oscar season will be more bearable. And dont’ believe for a minute KT is smiling through of any of this – he’s as cranky as they come. You’ll have to come smarter yourself if you expect any better.
Spoonbill
And if this is going to be “Crash” stole “Brokeback’s” Oscar redux, someone smother this in its crib!!
Spoonbill: I’m grinning ear to ear. Fanboy this, fanboy that. It cracks me up. If that’s the criticism, it betrays a lack of education. But I like the attempt to usher it to the kiddie table. You’re right. There’s nothing adult about “The Dark Knight” at all.
Scott Ward
Knew it, couldn’t have a defense of TDK without a fanboy accusation. It never fails.
Red-wine, it should already have been long apparent to you that the Academy cares little to nothing about who watches their. As far as I know, Kris you probably know, but the members don’t have any, or at least very little financial stake in the ceremony itself. So why should they care to much about the ratings. So that’s not at all a ballsy pick. Picking a Holocaust drama over a superhero movie will never be a ballsy pick. I don’t see how you can call it that way no matter how you look at it.
If you want to know something that was “ballsy” you should check out Synecdoche, New York. After that, if you see it for what it is and what it attempts, then I think your definition of “ballsy” will change.
red_wine
Scott Ward, my reaction isn’t specific to a Holocaust movie, I would have been equally gleeful for absolutely any line-up that did not include TDK, good film though it is.
And I know Synecdoche will be the ballsiest of them all, cant wait to see it. I love Charlie Kaufman’s movies and I’ve been excited about Synecdoche right from Cannes. Hope I can see it soon.
Comments
36 responses to “Yeah”
puhlease.
All right, now you guys are starting to look pathetic.
The Dark Knight is my #4 film of the year, but come on now. It still got a hefty 8 nominations and will probably win a few. Chillax.
Get over it, haters. Seriously.
Honestly, if you don’t read this as willful ignorance of the film, and don’t understand that something is wrong with that, I dunno…not sure what to tell you. One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. The highest grossing film of the year. Ignored because it’s a comic film.
Nothing’s wrong with that? No one should call foul?
Whatever.
Oh whine and cry. Get the hell over it already. The Dark Knight did not deserve Best Picture. It just wasn’t. that. good. Heath got his deserved nomination and that’s all that matters. It also got lots of other technical awards which it may or may not deserve. But it did. not. deserve. Best. Picture. Deal with it!
Also, the fact that you point to its money says a lot. No film should win for money. Titanic should not have won for money, neither should TDK.
Fuck. This. Noise.
When they snubbed Winslet for Marisa Tomei, I got my hopes up. What happened afterwards was horrific.
In a year when the mainstream offers two extremely viable nominees – TDK and Wall-E – you pass over BOTH. For Stephen fucking Daldry and The fucking READER of all the fucking films? I seriously wouldn’t be 10% as annoyed if the film was soemthing even vaguely deserving. But nope, it’s The fucking READER.
I hope you choke, Academy. And Harvey Weinstein… let’s not even go there.
Fans of TDK have a right to be upset no matter how you felt about the film. Had the BO, had the reviews, had the guild support. Personally, it wouldn’t be in my top 5, but it’s certainly a worthy representative of 2008, and not giving it a BP or BD nomination is cringe-worthy.
@ Matt:
Maybe so, but when a film earns both box office success AND near-unanimous critical praise, it should be a natural selection for Best Picture. AMPAS is really shooting itself in the foot. I get the feeling now that even FEWER people will watch the telecast this year than last year.
I doubt any words of mine could sum up my feelings better than this picture.
It’s a sorry state of affairs when the leading Oscar journalists start crying because things didn’t go their way.
Come on.
Pointing out the immaturity of going on a web tantrum because a film you liked was snubbed doesn’t make anybody a ‘hater’. (The most mindless word to enter the English lexicon this decade? I think so.)
/liked The Dark Knight
Matt: Clearly you don’t get it. I point to the money IN CONJUNCTION with the critical reception for a reason. Popularity and critical acclaim dovetailed with this film, and the Academy missed the boat.
I’m fully prepared to weather the snarky comments of the anti-Bat crowd, but come smarter, please.
Harmonica: It was hardly a web tantrum. It was a level-headed dismissal of a group’s reaction to the film year and it was full of facts, my friend. People are mistaking passion for blind passion. But, like I said, please come smarter if it’s gonna be this way kids.
Matt,
Kris is right. The Academy simply ignored THE film of the year. Wether you love it or hate it, TDK is that film. I don’t know how you could possibly explain The Reader being considered one of the best of ’08. It’s not. We all know it. That’s what makes it so ridiculous. At what point do we stop taking the Academy seriously? The top 5 are supposed to represent the absolute best that filmmaking had to offer that year. If someone were to open the ’08 time capsule in 50 years, they wouldn’t see The Reader as one of the 5 best films. Plain and simple. It is a sham. The Weisnsteins clearly paid for this nomination. What a joke.
And for the record, I do think it’s a horrible snub for all the wrong reasons. But AMPAS has done worse and we all know it.
“We’re gonna make The Dark Knight disappear… TADA! It’s gone… Oh, and Weinstein’s nomination for The Reader, it wasn’t cheap. He aughta know; he bought it.”
-Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
All of you obviously know I’m either dumb or wrong or not really serious when I say TDK wasn’t worthy of a Best pic nomination. But still, cheers to the Academy for having balls of solid gold.
If I misread the tone of your post, then I apologize, but you should know that calling people who have differing opinions on Oscar buzz “kids” is incredibly unbecoming of you.
You misread the tone. I’m much more light-hearted this morning than many of the readers seem to think. Understandable, given my words, but hey, I’m smiling.
I would not have a problem of Wall-e or The Wrestler bump DK, but The Reader is not in the same league of work.
I’m more ashem of the Directors branch to tell you the truth.
The Wrestler. Sigh.
good god, I just figure out they snub The Wrestler for Best Song…..
you are so emo tappy
red_wine:
Whether or not The Dark Knight was deserving a nomination, there was absolutely nothing ballsy about nominating “The Reader” instead. I thought the Academy was past Weinstein’s shenanigans.
Honestly, to echo Kris’ sentiments, this isn’t blind passion. Anything but “The Reader” – hell, even “Gran Torino” – and my response wouldn’t be nearly as strong.
And Mr. Harmonica, to be fair, you did accuse Kris of having an “immature” “tantrum,” so you can’t be too offended when he gives a condescending response in turn.
John K, you misinterpret me, I’m not celebrating The Reader nomination, I’m celebrating the TDK snub.
red_wine, I understand that you’re celebrating the TDK snub, which, of course, is fine. However, I’m just questioning the part where you attribute it to “balls,” because I remain convinced the Academy has none.
Still, disagreements and whatnot. I’m just glad you didn’t start yelling at me about being a “fanboy.” :)
Balls due to the fact that the Academy knows very few people will watch their show now but they still didn’t cave in to the fanaticism of all the TDK fanboys and very coolly showed a big middle finger to the entire movie going public of America. “the film you guys think is better than Citizen Kane, we at the Academy do not even find it worth including in out top 5”
Thats ballsy. They don’t have the best of taste.(I have yet to see the Reader but apart from Milk I’ll replace the other 3), still they sometimes have such small acts of courage which are worth applauding.
I guess what you’re interpreting as balls, I’m interpreting it as contrarianism for the sake of contrarianism. I hope the “film you think is better than Citizen Kane” comment wasn’t directed at me, because I don’t even think “The Dark Knight” was the best film of 2008. (It probably isn’t even in my top three.)
If the Academy is going to reject TDK as some kind of middle finger to mainstream America – which, I don’t see why that’s necessarily a virtue – then they should have rejected “Jerry Maguire” in 1996 or “Titanic” in 1997 or “Gladiator” in 2000, all blockbusters with significantly more flaws than “The Dark Knight.”
Yet indeed, the only reason the Academy rejected “The Dark Knight” was because it appealed to a significantly younger demographic. The movie was too far outside the Academy’s comfort zone – “comic movies can’t be prestigious!” – and they balked accordingly.
That’s not balls; that’s cowardice. It’s “swinging my dick around to show you young people who’s boss” posturing. But in real life, the person who insists on swinging his dick around is also the one who’s most insecure about his dick, to overextend the metaphor.
If they rejected “The Dark Knight” because they legitimately felt another film was better, like “The Wrestler” or “Wall-E” or a number of other films, then fine. But that they chose the Weinstein-approved”The Reader” indicates otherwise.
“they should have rejected “Jerry Maguire†in 1996 or “Titanic†in 1997 or “Gladiator†in 2000”
Couldn’t agree more with you.
But you are going the fanboy route. The level of fanaticism about TDK was disgusting. If it had been half-merited I wouldn’t have a problem. Its a nice film, yes. But can you conceive the Academy just did not think it worthy enough, say like Bolt or something, they simply loved the 5 movies they have nominated.
The entire dynamic of purposefully snubbing the film enters in to the picture solely at the fanboy’s insistence that it was in the running in the first place. It was they who literally held the Academy hostage with all the talk about boycotting the Oscars if it was snubbed and all and you have read the comments on this site, even from the editor, you know what fans of the film are like. Its like they are all infected with some incurable disease, a sort of paranoia thats hard to overcome. They can literally see visions of the film waking up. And no, none of this is exaggerated.
The Academy simply side-stepped them all and refused to share their enthusiasm(delusion if you ask me).
But why take it so hard, only 1 film I like is nominated for Best Film and I’m still pumped. Nobody really believes the Academy represents quality.
When petulant fanboys stop bawling when adults prefer other films, Oscar season will be more bearable. And dont’ believe for a minute KT is smiling through of any of this – he’s as cranky as they come. You’ll have to come smarter yourself if you expect any better.
And if this is going to be “Crash” stole “Brokeback’s” Oscar redux, someone smother this in its crib!!
Spoonbill: I’m grinning ear to ear. Fanboy this, fanboy that. It cracks me up. If that’s the criticism, it betrays a lack of education. But I like the attempt to usher it to the kiddie table. You’re right. There’s nothing adult about “The Dark Knight” at all.
Knew it, couldn’t have a defense of TDK without a fanboy accusation. It never fails.
Red-wine, it should already have been long apparent to you that the Academy cares little to nothing about who watches their. As far as I know, Kris you probably know, but the members don’t have any, or at least very little financial stake in the ceremony itself. So why should they care to much about the ratings. So that’s not at all a ballsy pick. Picking a Holocaust drama over a superhero movie will never be a ballsy pick. I don’t see how you can call it that way no matter how you look at it.
If you want to know something that was “ballsy” you should check out Synecdoche, New York. After that, if you see it for what it is and what it attempts, then I think your definition of “ballsy” will change.
Scott Ward, my reaction isn’t specific to a Holocaust movie, I would have been equally gleeful for absolutely any line-up that did not include TDK, good film though it is.
And I know Synecdoche will be the ballsiest of them all, cant wait to see it. I love Charlie Kaufman’s movies and I’ve been excited about Synecdoche right from Cannes. Hope I can see it soon.