Oscar dims Dark Knight, pushes the Button, can’t put down Reader
January 22, 2009 at 9:57 am by Curt Holman in A&E, News
This is no joy in Gotham City this morning following the Academy Award nominations. Heath Ledger earned the expected, posthumous Best Supporting Actor nod for The Dark Knight, but that’s the only major award garnered by the downbeat Batman film, which happens to be the second-highest grossing film ever made. The Producers, Directors and Writers Guilds all nominated The Dark Knight, but the Academy, never one to eagerly embrace genre films, shut it out of the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay categories while giving it eight nominations overall.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire all earned major nominations, including Best Picture, as expected. Button got the most total nods, at 13, with Slumdog the runner-up, with 10.
So what took the Dark Knight’s “slot?” Apparently The Reader, the post-Holocaust drama starring Kate Winslet (pictured). Not only did Oscar give it nominations for Best Picture, Best Director for Stephen Daldry and Best Adapted Screenplay, Kate Winslet triumphed over herself in Revolutionary Road. The studios had campaigned for Winslet as Supporting Actress in The Reader and lead in Revolutionary Road, but Academy instead gave her lead nomination and snubbed Revolutionary Road in the rest of the major categories, except Michael Shannon as supporting actor.
Other notable omissions include Clint Eastwood as Best Actor for Gran Torino, despite rumors that it would be his last screen appearance; Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky as Best Actress; Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire for Best Supporting Actor; and Bruce Springsteen for Best Song for The Wrestler. On the other hand, surprise nominations included character actor Richard Jenkins for Best Actor for The Visitor, Melissa Leo and Angelina Jolie for Best Actress for Frozen River and Changeling, respectively. The Academy was apparently untroubled by the thought of controversy and nominated Robert Downey Jr. for Best Actor for his hilarious “blackface” performance in Tropic Thunder.
What will the likely winners be next month? So far I don’t think there’s a favorite for Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire seems to have most enthusiastic support, Milk has the strongest real-world political cause behind it and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the biggest, most “sweeping” of the films (and has the most total nominations). Any one of those could strike a chord or get momentum, and even The Reader could catch on if the Academy gives it a second look. A big push for Milk, for instance, could cause it to sweep Picture, Director and Sean Penn for Best Actor. This morning, though, I’m going to say Button for Picture, Slumdog for Director, Mickey Rourke for Actor, Winslet for Actress, Penelope Cruz for Supporting Actress and Ledger for Supporting Actor. So Gotham should have some cause for celebration when the winners are announced Feb. 22.
Incidentally, we’re planning to liveblog the Oscars on Feb. 22, so be sure to stop by and weigh in.
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