Hollywood Yesterday » Heath Ledger

The Oscar Nominations Have Been Announced

Joi — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:51:19 +0000

Every year, when the Oscar nominations are announced, I’m left scratching my head. I swear, I don’t think the committee actually watches all of the movies. How Gran Torino could not be nominated for best movie is absolutely ridiculous. Not only was it one of the best 3 movies of the year, it’s one of the best ever.

I’m also pretty sure they didn’t even watch Eagle Eye, or Shia LaBeouf would have gotten a nod.

The biggest surprise of all, though, is the fact that Clint Eastwood wasn’t nominated for his outstanding performance in Gran Torino. This was this Hollywood legend’s best performance ever and to snub him is so pathetic I’m at a loss for words.

Below is the list of the nominees (in bold is my personal pick and in parentheses are my beefs…for what they’re worth! If there are no words in bold, it only means I don’t much care either way.):

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
(Gran Torino should have been nominated.)

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
(Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino, should have been nominated and should have won.)

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road
(Shia LaBeouf, Eagle Eye, and Bee Vang, Gran Torino, should have been nominated)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
(Ahney Her from Gran Torino should have been nominated and should have won – she was exquisite!)

DIRECTOR
David Fincher
Ron Howard
Gus Van Sant
Stephen Daldry
Danny Boyle
(Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino AND Changeling should have been nominated and should have won)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Mike Leigh – Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin – In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Andrew Stanton – WALL-E

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord – Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
David Hare – The Reader
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

ANIMATED
Bolt
Kung Fun Panda
WALL-E

The Oscars will be held on February 22nd and will be hosted by Hugh Jackman.

The picture at the top of the post are from the Berlin premiere of Benjamin Button. To see more, click HERE.

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The Dark Knight 2009 Calendar Featuring Heath Ledger and Christian Bale

Joi — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:19:45 +0000

Batman- The Dark Knight 2009 Calendar
Buy at AllPosters.com

Perfect gift idea (AFTER getting one for yourself, of course.)

FRONT VIEW:

Batman- The Dark Knight 2009 Calendar
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Hot New Dark Knight, Heath Ledger, and Christian Bale Posters

Joi — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:16:27 +0000

Why soooo serrrriousss about Dark Knight posters? Because they’re hot, for one thing. For another, Heath Ledger’s Joker will go down in movie history as one of the most mind-blowing performances ever. As if that’s not all, these are all collector’s items that no Heath Ledger or Batman fan would be caught without.

When this movie hits DVD, I’ll be in the front of the line – buying at least 2. Yeah, I have it bad. I know.

The Dark Knight Door Poster
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The Dark Knight Poster
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The Dark Knight Poster Set
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The Dark Knight Poster Set
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The Dark Knight Poster
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The Dark Knight Poster Set
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The Dark Knight is What Filmmaking is All About and Heath Ledger Redefines Acting

Joi — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:45:42 +0000

After waiting anxiously (for what seemed like years) and after reading all of the glowing, amazing reviews of The Dark Knight, a part of me was nervous about seeing it. I was afraid that it might not live up to the hype, hope, and hysteria.

I can’t recall a movie ever getting this much attention or creating this much of a stir. Everyone’s talking about it and you can’t pass by a newspaper stand without seeing the Joker or Batman staring you down.

Like so many theaters, ours was sold out – so it was a large, excited crowd we saw the movie with. Before the trailers began, the excitement was causing an endless string of talking, laughing, popcorn crunching, and looking around. But when the lights went down and the trailers began, you could only hear a precious few whispers.

As soon as the trailers ended and it was obvious that The Dark Knight was upon us, you couldn’t hear a single sound. No popcorn being fondled, no drinks being returned to their holders, no wiggling around in the seats – just perfect silence. I’m pretty sure we all held our breaths for the first few minutes. Everyone in the theater embraced the movie from beginning to end.

The Dark Knight has actually become more of an event than just a movie.

With gas prices, a war that seems (also) to be taking years, and an economy in the nastiest of moods - I think we were in as much need of Batman as Gotham has ever been. And what a glorious distraction he has proven to be!

When we left the theater, after we ran out of adjectives, adverbs, and superlatives – we just rode home in silence, soaking in what we’d seen. The movie is a masterpiece, make no mistake about it. The action, the effects, the acting, the toys (!)… everything is stunningly flawless and flawlessly stunning. Christian Bale is an incredible actor and he just became my all-time favorite Batman (just edging out Michael Keaton). Batman has always been my favorite of the Justice Leaguers, so I’m always more than a little interested in who brings him to life.

The casting was amazing in The Dark Knight. Aaron Eckhart was perfect as Harvey Dent – a great performance. Gary Oldham as Jim Gordon was also fantastic, as was the adorable Maggie Gyllenhaal. As for Michael Caine, he defines “scene stealer.” Morgan Freeman was a very pleasant surprise – he’s a favorite actor of mine, yet I didn’t even realize he was in this film.

The directing was also spectacular – this movie’s giving the word “flawless” a workout like it’s never had… but the directing was flawless.

However, the thing that leaves you grasping for words is Heath Ledger’s performance. It was something otherworldly and phenomenal. You know me – I’ve seen countless movies and performances. I could sit down for 3 days and not count all of the movies I’ve seen. From all the performances I’ve ever witnessed, I put Heath Ledger and his delectable Joker in my top favorite performances of all time – performances that left you breathless, waiting to see what the character would do next. Performances that the star disappeared before your eyes until only the character remained.

Some of my personal all-time favorite performances:

Johnny Depp in The Secret Window
Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates movies
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd
Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted
Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind
James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause
Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs
George Clooney in Michael Clayton
Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
Helena Bonham Carter
Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady
Adrien Brody in The Jacket
Tom Cruise in Rainman
Dustin Hoffman in Rainman
Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice
Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby
Denzel Washington in Malcolm X
Jack Nicholson in Batman
Robert Downey, Jr. in Ironman
Tom Hanks in Cast Away
Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line
Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line
James McAvoy in Wanted
Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life

….and now, most certainly, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Some theaters apparently are showing a tribute to Heath Ledger after the final credits roll. Unfortunately, ours didn’t. About half of us stayed and were pretty disappointed. I can’t wait to see The Dark Knight a second time. It’s the kind of larger than life movie (like Wanted, Iron Man…) that you want to see as many times as possible.

If you haven’t seen this film yet, go as soon as possible and, whatever you do, hang onto every word the Joker says and watch every move he makes. Heath Ledger has created film magic and you won’t want to blink.

The movie-loving part of me sincerely hopes that another movie will come along one day that’ll rival The Dark Knight for the excitement, anticipation, and enjoyment it has given us (before, during, and after the movie, itself), but I have as many doubts as Thomas did.

I think it’d have to be another Batman movie. This would be me crossing my fingers.

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