The Dark Knight got snubbed for Best Picture

I do not doubt that there are people who will say some stupid shit in this thread about fanboys and about slumdog millionaires but let's face it. The Reader was awful. Milk was sub-par.

The Wrestler was also snubbed. I generally agree with the Academy Awards nominations over the years (except for shit like Crash and Titanic). I didn't see Frost/Nixon, and Slumdog Millionaire should be up there, while Benjamin Button is borderline. Most of the Oscar bait movies this year were disappointing, the Reader being a clear example.

And yet the Dark Knight was fantastic. Great performances, great plot, great everything. You don't have to like Batman to enjoy the movie. It didn't make you feel bored and mediocre when you walked out of the theater like a couple of the nominated movies did. I mean really.

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Originally Posted by jack burden

It didn't make you feel bored and mediocre when you walked out of the theater like a couple of the nominated movies did. I mean really.

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I beg to differ.

I thought The Dark Knight was completely ruined by the assload of people who told me how amazing a film it was before it was even fucking finished.

When I finally I felt two things. Firstly, I felt empty inside and completely unfulfilled after spending like 2 and a half hours of my life staring at a screen. Secondly, I felt sorry for all the twats who'd now have to go back on their word and pretend they weren't jerking off at the thought of awarding Heath Ledger's cold dead corpse a tiny golden statue for being good at a job he's paid millions of dollars to do.

Still, most movies this year sucked pretty hard. Just give 'Best Picture' to Meet The Spartans and then outlaw the Oscars forever.

What knocks down The Dark Knight is the fact that it's an action movie. For the most part your Best Picture nods will go to dramas or epics...and The Dark Knight is neither.

I agree though. The Dark Knight was done so superbly that it should have been a shoe-in.

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Originally Posted by djwolford

I beg to differ.

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When I say mediocre, I mean completely unmoved and drab.

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Originally Posted by simonj

I thought The Dark Knight was completely ruined by the assload of people who told me how amazing a film it was before it was even fucking finished.

When I finally I felt two things. Firstly, I felt empty inside and completely unfulfilled after spending like 2 and a half hours of my life staring at a screen. Secondly, I felt sorry for all the twats who'd now have to go back on their word and pretend they weren't jerking off at the thought of awarding Heath Ledger's cold dead corpse a tiny golden statue for being good at a job he's paid millions of dollars to do.

Still, most movies this year sucked pretty hard. Just give 'Best Picture' to Meet The Spartans and then outlaw the Oscars forever.

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I disagree. There was a number of decent movies. I'm too lazy to list them right now, but there was a decent few.

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Originally Posted by Pepsi

I disagree. There was a number of decent movies. I'm too lazy to list them right now, but there was a decent few.

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I'm sure there were, I still think we should give it to Meet The Spartans to reflect how retarded movie audiences and movie makers are.

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Originally Posted by simonj

I'm sure there were, I still think we should give it to Meet The Spartans to reflect how retarded movie audiences and movie makers are.

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What the hell are you rambling about? That's the dumbest idea I've heard. EVER.

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Originally Posted by jack burden

When I say mediocre, I mean completely unmoved and drab.

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I can't say that it was a complete failure of a film, but it was good at best. There were several times during the movie that I felt bored and wondered what all the fuss was about, and sever times during the movie that I was really in to it. I don't see it as being Best Picture material though. Ledger's performance was good, but then I've seen him do much better(Brokeback Mountain(no homo)). Aside from that I wasn't impressed with the acting much either, I personally thought that Bale was a terrible Batman, and Aaron Eckhard provided the second closest thing to a respectable acting job in the film.

To me it was just another typical big budget action film, only this time someone died irl at the right time to get it tons of publicity, and half of the world became fanboys.

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Originally Posted by djwolford

I can't say that it was a complete failure of a film, but it was good at best. There were several times during the movie that I felt bored and wondered what all the fuss was about, and sever times during the movie that I was really in to it. I don't see it as being Best Picture material though. Ledger's performance was good, but then I've seen him do much better(Brokeback Mountain(no homo)). Aside from that I wasn't impressed with the acting much either, I personally thought that Bale was a terrible Batman, and Aaron Eckhard provided the second closest thing to a respectable acting job in the film.

To me it was just another typical big budget action film, only this time someone died irl at the right time to get it tons of publicity, and half of the world became fanboys.

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I thought Gary Oldman did a really good job, but I like Oldman to begin with. Eckhart was great, and I thought Bale was a really good Batman.

Looking back on it, Oldman did a fine job as well. Bale was just terrible imo though.

My vote for Best Picture goes to either Iron Man or The Wrestler btw.

I was about to say that the Dark Knight, while a pretty darn good movie, doesn't really deserve "Best Picture".

But then I realised that I can't think of anything else that was better (although admittedly I didn't see *that* many movies last year).

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Originally Posted by MrShrike

I was about to say that the Dark Knight, while a pretty darn good movie, doesn't really deserve "Best Picture".

But then I realised that I can't think of anything else that was better (although admittedly I didn't see *that* many movies last year).

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I'm not saying it should win, I'm saying it should be considered, at least among the top five of 2008.

It's certainly top 5 material. Although given the movies that were released last year that's not a huge accomplishment.

Here's a shocking revelation: the Oscars are rigged.

The entertainment industry is so fucked up.

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Originally Posted by djwolford

It's certainly top 5 material. Although given the movies that were released last year that's not a huge accomplishment.

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People say this

literally

every

year.

the movie industry is dying! hurray! no, seriously. TV is where it's at.

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Originally Posted by gwahir

People say this

literally

every

year.

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Yeah. People are always saying how TV sucks right now, but I don't remember there being better shows on tv. There will always be crap but theres still a lot of smart, funny television.

I was dissapointed not to see it nominated. 8 nominations is still good but I was hoping to see it get a best picture nod and maybe a nod for best director. I haven't seen many movies this year, so I cannot complain too much, but sometimes you feel that the academy can be snooty to certain genres. Action movies aren't always known for their pure awesomeness and are usually meant for adrenaline rushes.

Dark Knight was different in my opinion. It broke the mould for the superhero/action genre, the very fact it has an oscar buzz is credit to just how good a movie it was. And let us not forget, it still got 8 nominations.

I am annoyed at the tendancy for the academy to go for drama's. By all accounts Slumdog Millionaire is a superb film but the rest of the movies I have seen very mixed reviews. There were some mixed reviews of the Dark Knight but they were largely positive, it is in the top 10 on IMDB, Empire had a top 100 movies list, it was in the top 20 if I remember right, it is either the 2nd or 3rd highest grossing film of all time, whilst this isn't really a measure of quality, I mention it to highlight the point that this movie generated alot of buzz and for that I'd have liked to seen it get nominated.

That isn't to say the academy didn't just disregard it because it was a Batman movie, but sometimes you wonder. I wonder what a superhero would need to do to win a best picture Oscar. With the fantasy genre, it took the LOTR, which in my opinion was one of the best movie trilogies ever made. The fantasy genre does have alot of crap movies, and it took something LOTR special to get a move from that genre noticed. It was benchmark epic. Even then the first 2 movies lost out on best picture which annoyed me. Whilst ROTK was awesome, I actually thought the first 2 were better movies. Some people said ROTK did so well at the oscars because the first 2 had been ignored to an extent. My point being, these films probably weren't treated with the respect and fairness other movies would have got and I think a large part of that is down to genre and snootiness/favouritism towards certain genres.

The Dark Knight was probably one of the best films of the year. I don't know if this is a reflection on the general declining quality of movies.

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Originally Posted by gwahir

People say this

literally

every

year.

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It's

because

most

films

released

now

are

shit.

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Originally Posted by djwolford

It's

because

most

films

released

now

are

shit.

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Not

nece

ssarily

did

you

see

Iron

Man

that

shit

was

awesome

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Originally Posted by jack burden

did

you

see

Iron

Man

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Originally Posted by djwolford

My vote for Best Picture goes to either Iron Man or The Wrestler btw.

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I finally saw The Dark Knight when it was released on DVD. Watched it twice, and kept it a day longer, but it still did not impress me near as much as I expected it to after reading all the posts on this site and other sources. Decent movie, but Batman Begins sticks in my head better.

The Dark Knight didn't get nearly as screwed as Defiance did.

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Originally Posted by Atmosfear

The Dark Knight didn't get nearly as screwed as Defiance did.

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There can only be one Nazi-related movie nominated for Best Picture at a time, apparently.

the dark knight WAS an amazing movie.
that said it's also the most overrated movie in HISTORY, CLEARLY beating the titanic of that title.

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Originally Posted by jack burden

There can only be one Nazi-related movie nominated for Best Picture at a time, apparently.

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Yeah and the other one sucked

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Originally Posted by Sion

the dark knight WAS an amazing movie.
that said it's also the most overrated movie in HISTORY, CLEARLY beating the titanic of that title.

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No. You're wrong. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.

Nothing will beat the Titanic. EVER.

It was okay but it could have been better.

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Originally Posted by Atomic

It was okay but it could have been better.

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How?

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Originally Posted by jack burden

How?

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If it was never made. :shifty:

Best Picture nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

The Dark Knight is up for Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor (duh); Best Picture it does not deserve, way too many subplots.

I don't think there are enough people coming into this thread to criticize the film with barely one sentence and not giving any supporting reasoning.

The thing is that usually when they release the Best Picture nominees there is a film or two that you feel got snubbed but at the end of the day there are still 3 or 4 great movies that got nominated. This year there is one great movie (Benjamin Button), one average movie (Slumdog Millionaire), one awful movie (The Reader), and two shit movie political nods (Nixon-hating and faggot-loving.)

Remember how much the critics loved that shitfuckfest Bobby?

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Originally Posted by Atmosfear

The thing is that usually when they release the Best Picture nominees there is a film or two that you feel got snubbed but at the end of the day there are still 3 or 4 great movies that got nominated. This year there is one great movie (Benjamin Button), one average movie (Slumdog Millionaire), one awful movie (The Reader), and two shit movie political nods (Nixon-hating and faggot-loving.)

Remember how much the critics loved that shitfuckfest Bobby?

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The critics loved the Dark Knight and hated the Reader though.

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Originally Posted by Atmosfear

one average movie (Slumdog Millionaire)

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Also TOGS is going to accidentally spill his semen all over the carpet when he reads this.

Benjamin Button and Slumdog are both on an equal playing field as far as I'm concerned as great great movies. I haven't seen The Reader let alone heard of it to pass judgment.

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Originally Posted by jack burden

How?

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Honestly, when I see a movie and LOVE it, I want to love everything about it. The one big thing about Dark Knight that I hate is the god damn car chase scene. If you asked me how I think it could have been better, all I can think of is the car chase.

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Originally Posted by Infernus

Yeah. People are always saying how TV sucks right now, but I don't remember there being better shows on tv. There will always be crap but theres still a lot of smart, funny television.

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The 21st century has seen the best and the worst television there's ever been.

All of the arts suffer from this "classicist" syndrome. Theatre (especially musicals -- god how people long for the day of Rogers and Hammerstein), TV, movies, literature and art art. Everyone goes around saying how nothing good is made in any of these fields any more.

The only one of those about which that statement is even vaguely true is literature (books), I think, and it's only got some truth to it.

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Originally Posted by gwahir

Honestly, when I see a movie and LOVE it, I want to love everything about it. The one big thing about Dark Knight that I hate is the god damn car chase scene. If you asked me how I think it could have been better, all I can think of is the car chase.

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You're free to criticize it, I just think it gets old when a bunch of people criticize it without giving their reasoning behind it. Unless it's V for Vendetta. Fucking awful movie.

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Originally Posted by jack burden

You're free to criticize it, I just think it gets old when a bunch of people criticize it without giving their reasoning behind it. Unless it's V for Vendetta. Fucking awful movie.

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Yeah, I know, I was just giving my only suggestion for how it could be better.

(I didn't explicitly suggest how it could be better, though; I meant if the car chase were filmed more clearly so that it was clear what was going on at every stage, where people were, what direction they were facing, who was in which vehicle etc, then it would have much more dramatic weight.)

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Originally Posted by gwahir

Yeah, I know, I was just giving my only suggestion for how it could be better.

(I didn't explicitly suggest how it could be better, though; I meant if the car chase were filmed more clearly so that it was clear what was going on at every stage, where people were, what direction they were facing, who was in which vehicle etc, then it would have much more dramatic weight.)

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Whilst I liked the chase scene, felt it was a big improvement on Begins, I agree that it was hard to follow at times. In a good chase scene you need to be kept aware of the players and where they are. The thing with Batman on the batpod and the route he took to get to the Joker, I found myself thinking why couldn't he have just followed him instead of going through buildings etc.

I also did not like the end where he uses the sonar, they tried so hard to keep things within the realms of possibility and I think this was too much. That said, I felt the film had enough in it to compensate and it didn't sour the experience too much. I also loved how it ended, the speech by Batman and then by Gordon, how they will chase him, but he can take it. For me it tied things up nicely, it gives some idea as tot he direction to any sequel, but at the same time I felt like the franchise could just end there. It felt finished.

Some movies don't feel finished, either because they are part of a series and aren't supposed to, others because of a bad ending, that leaves you unsatisfied and with a shitload of questions. At the end, things were the way they were supposed to be with Batman transcending the vigilante image to become something more, as Gordon puts it a Dark Knight, on the fringes, silent and always watching whilst the cops chase him down. The hero Gotham deserves but not the one it needs, as it was nicely put.

I wonder about a sequel. Imo this is the greatest superhero movie ever made, they really raised the bar with this one. I fear for a sequel simply because I cannot see how it could live up to the expectation. Of course, that is why I don't make movies, people with far greater imagination do that. But what purpose would a sequel serve? Begins sought to re invent the franchise, showing us his origins and the start of his fight against crime. Dark Knight continued this, showing how far he has come and then added the chaos that is the Joker, forcing Batman to confront what he really is, with Begins we see how there is a fine line between hero and mere vigilante, so it was logical that Dark Knight took this further and really put Batman to the test, which he in the end passes. I am sure they will think of something but...part of me doesn't want one to get made.

Fun fact, apparently they got really close to making the batpod launch out of the batmobile. In the end they had to settle for CGI, but they got close. And flipping a truck in the middle of a city street is pretty awesome.

Yeah you're right about the sonar. It didn't annoy me at the time, but as soon as I was walking out of the theatre it bugged me.

dont forget the indestructible fingerprint he lifted off a shattered bullet

that is totally within the realm of possibility

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Originally Posted by coqauvin

dont forget the indestructible fingerprint he lifted off a shattered bullet

that is totally within the realm of possibility

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It's Batman. He'll do whatever the fuck he wants. Geez.

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Originally Posted by jack burden

It's Batman. He'll do whatever the fuck he wants. Geez.

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This.

I mean, it's a movie...just like the Neverending Story. Will someone complain that that's not in the realm of possibility?

i will sign a petition supporting that, yes

I probably would not have used Neverending Story as an example.

It's the first movie I thought of. :(

Well it wasn't a good one.

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Originally Posted by TheOriginalGrumpySpy

Well it wasn't a good one.

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Fine...let's go with Carebears.

I don't think you understand.

FINE! Spiderman.

Much better.

Tidus stop ruining this thread you have missed on every attempted joke and I'm not talking you worked the pitcher to a full count and then got screwed on a checked swing call I'm talking full-on Andruw Jones chasing a curve ball in the dirt $20 million contract just turned into league minimum type misses.

Shut. the. fuck. up.

Also, suspension of disbelief still requires consistency.

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Originally Posted by Atmosfear

Tidus stop ruining this thread you have missed on every attempted joke and I'm not talking you worked the pitcher to a full count and then got screwed on a checked swing call I'm talking full-on Andruw Jones chasing a curve ball in the dirt $20 million contract just turned into league minimum type misses.

Shut. the. fuck. up.

Also, suspension of disbelief still requires consistency.

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You wouldn't be saying that if he was still on the Braves.

He's going back to the Braves for the league minimum fuckwit because he's still getting Dodger money.

He's not going to sign there.

And there's no need to be a prick to me.

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Originally Posted by Pepsi

He's not going to sign there.

And there's no need to be a prick to me.

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You are so gay, like GAY gay.

I don't even remember if I've watched TDK all the way through, because if I have, everything about it has slipped from the grasp of my memory like a wet noodle that everyone really cares about, but nobody should.