Thursday, December 11, 2008

2008 Golden Globe Awards Nominations

It seems as though Hollywood is trying to make it a trend to nominate equal numbers of independant and major production films this year. My only complaint is that The Dark Knight only got one nomination (at least give it the Best Picture nomination). However, I am happy to see that both Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express are in the runnings. And it's about time Bruce Springsteen gets nominated for another Golden Globe.

http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/104

3 comments:

Big Myk said...

I've seen almost none of the nominated movies movies. But, as for one of the movies I have seen, I want to commit heresy. I didn't think that The Dark Knight was anything more than mediocre. Granted, Heath Ledger, is mesmerizing, but the rest of the movie I just didn't get.

Rarely has a review captured my own thoughts on the movie than David Denby from the New Yorker:

I can’t rate “The Dark Knight” as an outstanding piece of craftsmanship. “Batman Begins” was grim and methodical, and this movie is grim and jammed together. The narrative isn’t shaped coherently to bring out contrasts and build toward a satisfying climax. “The Dark Knight” is constant climax; it’s always in a frenzy, and it goes on forever. Nothing is prepared for, and people show up and disappear without explanation; characters are eliminated with a casual nod. There are episodes that are expensively meaningless (a Hong Kong vignette, for instance), while crucial scenes are truncated at their most interesting point—such as the moment in which the disfigured Joker confronts a newly disfigured Harvey Dent (a visual sick joke) and turns him into a vicious killer. The thunderous violence and the music jack the audience up. But all that screw-tightening tension isn’t necessarily fun. “The Dark Knight” has been made in a time of terror, but it’s not fighting terror; it’s embracing and unleashing it—while making sure, with proper calculation, to set up the next installment of the corporate franchise.

Sean Harvey said...

I'm going to agree with you, I thought that everyone except Heath Ledger and Michael Caine we're mediocre at best. I believe we had a long talk with Aunt Mary about this last visit, and I also agree with her, the film was good because of the joker and the joker is a part that any actor would give their left arm for. It is a part that is so free form that anyone could of played it, disagree if you will, I believe Heath Ledger did a awesome job with the part but I believe that others could of done it as well.

Ted said...

Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, his new album is out in January and if it is anything like Magic, we are in for a big treat. Also, evidently he wrote the Golden-Globe nominated song for The Wrestler because he is or was very good friends with Mickey Rourke. Seems like that would be an interesting friendship.

Also, I disagree in entirely with Myk's assessment of the Dark Knight, and I guess then with David Denby's review (although I will agree with Sean that Heath Ledger and to a lesser extent, Michael Caine were superb, while the rest of the cast, especially a disappointing Maggie Gyllenhall, were nothing out of the ordinary). But I thought the movie was excellent, not based solely on Heath Ledger's performance, but for the very reasons Denby seems to dismiss it. I didn't come away feeling the movie was a constant climax, as Denby argues, but rather found it to be more of progressive psychological thriller. We begin with Batman's understanding that he must stand against evil, and we follow his mental journey as he attempts to understand someone like the Joker - someone who cannot be understood. It is a thrilling, taught movie NOT because of the music or explosions, but because of Batman's transformation from someone who believes he is beginning to understand the world around him, particularly the nature of evil, only to discover that this understanding crumbles when faced with someone like the Joker. In this regard there is no beginning, middle and end, but in this sense the movie comes across more "real" than many seemingly "realistic" movies (read non-superhero movies). This was actually one of the more mentally draining movies I have watched in a long time.