And now I’d like to cover a topic that’s very dear to my heart, the Dark Knight. Every year a movie receives a chance to be spotlighted with an award that has come to mean so much to so many that it has the preservative effect of dipping your toddler’s first shoes in bronze. The Academy Awards shine such a light on particular films that future generations will always know to look to that beacon as a symbol of how to make a good movie. Even being a nominee is coveted. That’s why I’m calling for a worldwide boycott of the 81st Academy Awards. The system has become corrupted and tainted so that instead of honoring pioneering work we see movies being awarded for the simple and trite prowess of being overly dramatic. To me the honor should go to movies that are so great they break the stereotype of their own genre and transcend their own heritages. The best examples of this occuring in 2008 are not Doubt and Milk. These movies have already been made countless times. For what is Benjamin Button but a sexy Forrest Gump? No, the real success stories of 2008 were wall•e and the Dark Knight. Two movies that have harnessed all that is amazing in their respective genres and used those tools to create such powerful experiences that make you forget that you’re watching a cartoon or a Batman film. Shame on you, the Academy, for Doubt is exactly what you thought it was when you paid too much to see it at the local Googoplex.
Thanks for listening, chiiiiildren.
Noah
The problem here is that technically stunning films count for little, which is as it should be. While The Dark Knight is stunning to look at, has one perfect performance (Ledger’s) and is highly entertaining, it does not edify or move. It teaches us nothing, it illuminates nothing about what it is to be human, or what our past can teach us. Wall – E does not even live up to TDK’s heights (do not misunderstand, TDK is a great film, judged as what it is). On the other hand, Milk and Slumdog millionaire say something important, they instruct, move, edify. The real shame is that the best film of the year, Gran Torino, was snubbed. And WTF with The Reader? I mean really, I saw The English Patient and don’t need a crappy version of it.
I disagree, Nate. TDK has a lot to say about escalation, sacrifice, and consequence. Batman and the Joker both illuminate quite a bit about what it means to be human and inhumane.
I haven’t seen either Milk or Slumdog (and likely won’t, as I tire of Penn’s pretentiousness and Slumdog doesn’t interest me). I can, however, tell you what happened in real life concerning Harvey Milk. Just because the tragedy of Harvey Milk is moving doesn’t mean a movie about it automatically gets a pass.
I haven’t had a chance to see Gran Torino yet, but badly want to. Eastwood is the fucking balls.
Is this all regurgitation from 7SoupCans? Sorry for plagerizing David’s rant, I honestly didn’t realize he’d already spewed the contents of our hive-minded, shared consciousness.
Eastwood IS the fucking balls.
indeed.