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River Wanted To Watch The Rain Fall After Dark - We Let Him

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I just read a story about this years Oscar nominees being told to expect a “big surprise” this year. It seems that the Academy is concerned about the low ratings it received in 2008. I seriously think that the low ratings were due to Read the rest of this entry »

I will not pretend that I have seen all the movies up for Oscar consideration. Going to the movies is a rare treat and  camcorded theatrical films are horrible quality (not to mention illegal) so I do not download them. Anyway, it is fun to pick winners based on my knowledge of movies and past winners.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

I am going to go with Mickey Rourke. Sean Penn would have been my pick, but he won the last time he was nominated in this catagory (for Mystic River). Rourke is finally going to get his due after some turbulent years. They are two of the finest actors of our times, but this shall be Rourke’s year.

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

All the hype is centering on Heath Ledger, but I am going to go with Josh Brolin for his role in Milk. I loved Heath Ledger and felt his performance in Brokeback Mountain was Oscar Worthy. I even mentioned the possibility in a previous blog of an Oscar for Ledger helping The Dark Knight surpass Titanic as the #1 box-office film ever. but a posthumous Oscar only pays respect to a great artist. This prestigious award could make Brolin’s career.

I am sure the Academy considered Brolin’s star turning role as George Bush in Oliver Stone’s W, but instead of nominating him for a best actor award, they chose to give him accolades for his performance in a movie that they want to pay respect to without disrespecting many great performances in other films.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

I believe Kate Winslet will win this category.  Winslet has been nominated several times in the past, but has never won an Oscar. This year she took home the Golden Globe for best actress and I am hoping she will get her first Academy Award as well. Winslet is one of the best actresses of our generation and certainly deserves it.

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

My prediction is that Amy Adams will win this award for her role in Doubt. In this movie, she plays a nun who accuses a priest of abusing a black student. The Academy loves these types of roles, and Adams has been on a role in recent years with both commercial (Enchanted) and critical (Junebug) successes.

Best Animated Feature Film

Wall-E is considered by many critics to be one of the best animated films ever. I thought it was great, and it is also the first film I ever took my toddler to see in a theater. I consider this to be a no-brainer.

2B Continued with Many More Oscar Predictions!!

First of all, I will admit that I am one of the seven people in the continental U.S. who have not yet seen/experienced The Dark Knight (I heard 14 people in Alaska still haven’t seen it, and being one out of 21, is much less impressive/exclusive than one out of 7, hence continental U.S.). Having said that, I also feel it is my duty to inform you that I realize many kids bought tickets to see PG-13 rated Dark Knight, in order to sneak in to see R rated films Step Brothers (last week), and Pineapple Express (this week).

Regardless of all this, a $442 million dollar box office take, in four weeks is pretty impressive. If the Oscar committee decides to nominate the film for some Oscars, Dark Knight may be rereleased, allowing it to overtake Titanic as the #1 box-office blockbuster of all time.

Much has been said about how ticket prices have increased since Titanic’s release. After taking inflation into account, The Dark Knight may barely be in the top 5 most successful movies of all time. Although nobody will argue against the new Batman’s success, there seems to be controversy involving how successful this movie actually is.

More actual tickets may have been sold, but I bet more people have actually seen The Dark Knight. I say this, because the internet was much less popular in 1997 (the year Titanic was released) than it is now. Furthermore, dial-up connections were the norm, and sharing/stealing movies was rare.

Nowadays, a search of Pirate Bay reveals thousands of copies of The Dark Knight available for download from various users. Please note, that this only includes people who are currently sharing the movie. Many more people have downloaded the film and no longer have it on their computer. Also, there are hundreds, if not thousands of other torrent sites with the title available.

After considering this, I feel that the Dark Knight is a bigger phenomenon than Titanic. That is to say, The Dark Knight is the biggest movie phenomenon in history. I think some of the hype is due to Heath Ledger’s death, but there is much more to it. I remember when I was in high school, and Tim Burton’s Batman was released. There was hype, and I went to the theater and loved it. Batman is cool when he is done right (without Robin or nipples).

Anyway, Christian Bale portrayed an excellent Batman in Batman Begins, so it is good to have him back. Christopher Nolan proved himself a great director in films such as Memento. Heath Ledger was an amazing actor who could pull off any role, as proven in films such as Brokeback Mountain and Lords of Dogtown. I am sure The Dark Knight is as good as everyone says, but I still haven’t gone.

I rarely go to the movies, but recently, my wife’s parents watched our son and we went to Showplace theater. It was Dark Knight’s second week in theaters, but we chose to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. I already admitted that Batman is cool, but digital 3D movies are cooler. We had a great time, and I do not regret my choice. When JttCoTE is released on Blu-ray, it will not be in 3D. When Batman is released, I can watch it on my friend’s plasma screen, and maybe knock back a couple cold ones.

The Dark Knight and Titanic were both events. They were both phenomenons. They were also just movies, meant to be enjoyed however we choose to enjoy them.

I am glad, that in this age of piracy, a film can still break all the box-office records. It is even possible to sink something as collosal as Titanic.