Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Heath Ledger Remembrance Forum
The Dark Knight: News, Reviews, your Views. "SPOILERS" welcome!
Aloysius J. Gleek:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-ledger.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
From The New York Times:
Oscar Buzz Mounts For Late Heath Ledger
By REUTERS
Published: July 11, 2008
Filed at 1:29 p.m. ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Actor Heath Ledger won rave reviews from Australian critics on Friday for his final performance as the Joker in the new Batman movie, fuelling speculation of a rare posthumous Oscar.
Australian film critics said the late actor was "manically mesmerizing" and overshadowed everyone else in "The Dark Knight" that was previewed in Sydney on Thursday ahead of the movie's world premiere in New York on July 14.
"Hypnotic farewell from the Joker," wrote Sydney Morning Herald critic Garry Maddox, saying the film was a reminder of the brilliance of the 28-year-old actor who died in his Manhattan apartment in January of an accidental prescription drug overdose.
"And who knows? The campaign for a posthumous Oscar nomination that has started overseas might just gather momentum when 'The Dark Knight' opens next week."
The Australian newspaper's critic David Stratton said Ledger's performance of "an unforgettable, genuinely creepy, villain" was a cross between Marlon Brando and James Cagney with a touch of Edward G. Robinson thrown in.
The Daily Telegraph's film editor Vicky Roach said there was a morbid intensity to the interest in Ledger's final performance but his "triumph in creating one of the most memorable villains in recent cinematic history should be celebrated."
Ledger's eerie performance as the Joker has already won him plaudits from international critics and co-stars, making him an unlikely forerunner to posthumously win the Academy Award for best supporting actor next February.
Ledger was nominated in 2006 for an Oscar for best actor for his role as a brooding gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain."
"If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous (acting) Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's "Network," sign me up," wrote Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers.
Finch, who was born in England but raised in Australia, died of a heart attack aged 60 during the voting period for the Oscars and remains the only actor to win the award posthumously although Oscars have been awarded posthumously to several non-actors.
Co-star Christian Bale, who plays Batman, was quoted by Contactmusic as saying: "I do think that Heath has created an iconic villain that will stand for the ages, and of course, I would love to see him get an award."
But history is not on Ledger's side. Five other actors nominated posthumously for Oscars were not successful.
James Dean was nominated twice after his death for a best actor Oscar and Spencer Tracy, Massimo Troisi, Ralph Richardson and Jeanne Eagels also missed out on posthumous awards.
Residents of Ledger's home town of Perth in Western Australian have found their own way to ensure his legacy lives on, naming a theatre in his honor for his commitment to acting.
At a naming ceremony last week, state premier for Western Australia Alan Carpenter said the $87 million, 575-seat theatre was a fitting tribute as Ledger was always supportive of other young actors.
"Heath Ledger was totally dedicated to the craft of being an actor and that's what made him successful," Carpenter told local reporters. "I think what we're doing is continuing that support for young people who want to make a career in the arts and acting, stage and in film, whatever it happens to be."
(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)
Aloysius J. Gleek:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/movies/09dark.html?ref=movies
Many Movie Theaters Decide to Leave the Bat Signal on Till Dawn
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: July 9, 2008
LOS ANGELES — “The Dark Knight” just spilled over into early morning.
In a frenzy, fans have bought so many late-night tickets for the July 18 opening of the next Batman movie that theaters in places like San Diego, Chicago, and even Eagan, Minn., are scheduling 6 a.m. screenings for those who can’t get in at midnight or 3 in the morning.
Movie theaters have sometimes opened their doors at odd hours for their most highly anticipated films, say, an entry in the “Star Wars” series, and midnight shows have become part of the summer blockbuster ritual.
But all-night sellouts far in advance of an opening have come only with the near ubiquity of online ticket sales. Fandango.com, for instance, reports well over 1,500 wee-hour showings for “The Dark Knight” in theaters that typically do not open their doors before about 10 a.m.
“The Dark Knight,” which stars Christian Bale as Batman, is directed by Christopher Nolan. It builds on his “Batman Begins,” which took in more than $200 million at the domestic box office for Warner Brothers after opening to a solid, but not spectacular, $49 million in domestic ticket sales in June 2005. The film also had strong sales on DVD.
This time much of the fan interest has been driven by word of a career-topping performance by Heath Ledger, the Australian actor who died in January. His louche interpretation of the Joker has already inspired Oscar talk.
“In the public mind, opening weekends have been eventized,” said Thomas Tull, the chairman of Legendary Pictures and an executive producer of “The Dark Knight.”
Increasingly, fans have paid certain movie openings — most recently that of “Sex and the City” — the attention once reserved for rock concerts, basketball games or the introduction of a hot product like the iPhone.
About 38 percent of ticket buyers polled by Fandango said in a recent survey that they intended to take some or all of July 18 off to see “The Dark Knight.".
While Sony Pictures opened “Hancock,” Will Smith’s somewhat arch take on superheroes, to a respectable $66 million last weekend (it has made more than $100 million to date), much of the audience had jumped ahead.
According to Movietickets.com, about one in four of the respondents to a survey of moviegoers under 25 polled between June 24 and June 28 said “The Dark Knight” was the next movie he or she expected to see in theaters.
Viewers seeking Imax screenings may have to wait. All of the first week’s showings at Lincoln Square are sold out, except for some 6 a.m. screenings, Whit Clay, an Imax spokesman, said.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
So, I went to see it--and yes, it's big all right.
(Taken from the traffic island on Houston between Bowery and Elizabeth, New York, Saturday, July 12, 2008):
It's so strange--it is within five or six city blocks from Heath's Broome Street apartment. If he would have seen it, I think he would have laughed--
Strange.
BelAir:
--- Quote from: jmmgallagher on July 12, 2008, 09:21:19 pm ---So, I went to see it--and yes, it's big all right.
It's so strange--it is within five or six city blocks from Heath's Broome Street apartment. If he would have seen it, I think he would have laughed--
Strange.
--- End quote ---
:) and :(.
Well, hopefully he is having a little chuckle wherever he is now...
optom3:
--- Quote from: BelAir on July 12, 2008, 11:45:25 pm --- :) and :(.
Well, hopefully he is having a little chuckle wherever he is now...
--- End quote ---
He hated all the posters of AKT, with the he will rock you tag line. I suspect he would not have been overkeen on the enormous posters of him again.
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