If Heath Ledger were alive...

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by Variable

you'rte right to disagree. they're considered fluff because no superhero movie like TDK has ever come out before.

none that I can think of, anyway, with an actual impressive and important performance like ledger's.

As Richard Roeper said, rather dismissively, about Nicholson's performance compared to Ledger's: "It [Nicholson's performance] was a clown performance." Ledger did in fact blow Nicholson's performance out of the water. You have to have either a lot of bias or a lot of nostalgia to side with Nicholson's performance when comparing the two.

Go to the 1:58 mark of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRKHi6HnxeM

[nycomet]

Yes, Heath would have still won the Golden Globe Award. I also firmly believe that if were still alive he would do a sequel to Broken Mountain.

[JurassicMass88]

Originally Posted by TTUBatfan2008

It won't. The Oscars have become so much about awarding career achievement it's not even funny. Hoffman beat Ledger in 2005 primarily because Ledger was young and Hoffman had been snubbed his whole career despite a bunch of really good performances. Pacino only got his Oscar because they felt bad about robbing him during his prime. Same goes for Scorsese, and on and on. Well, now Heath is going to be part of that, not just because of his achievement in Brokeback and TDK, but the potential for other great performances that he would have given if he lived.

Ledger is locked and loaded to win. You'll see what I'm talking about when the SAG Award is given to him. Like I said, the Critics Choice gave it to him as well and he's won pretty much all of the critics awards across the country. Honestly, I thought the Globes were less likely than the Oscars, simply because they are obsessed with their event being an upbeat "party" and I was expecting them to give it to Cruise or RDJ just to keep the feeling of sadness out of the room. Also, they are obsessed with sucking up to superstars. Last night was surprising in that regard. I was surprised that Slumdog was so successful. I expected Button to win the major awards due to its star power. And like I said, I expected RDJ or Cruise to get the Globe due to their star power and the Globes' insistence on making their event a happy go lucky party. But hey, even blind squirrels find an acorn every once in a while, right?

So what is your opinion regarding why James Dean didn't win an oscar?

Also, I thought RDJ would win the Globe just because everybody went crazy when Tropic Thunder came out. Instead, Heath won and it allowed Christopher Nolan to give a nice heartfelt speech. So it wasn't as sad as I thought it would be.

I agree with you though, that Heath will win the Oscar, it will make up for the Brokeback Mountain snub. He was superb in that film.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by JurassicMass88

So what is your opinion regarding why James Dean didn't win an oscar?

Also, I thought RDJ would win the Globe just because everybody went crazy when Tropic Thunder came out. Instead, Heath won and it allowed Christopher Nolan to give a nice heartfelt speech. So it wasn't as sad as I thought it would be.

I agree with you though, that Heath will win the Oscar, it will make up for the Brokeback Mountain snub. He was superb in that film.

My opinion regarding James Dean is that the Academy wasn't into the whole "give 'em the award as a career achievement" type of thing back then as much as they are now. That's why I wrote that paragraph talking about what the Academy has become over the last 5 decades since Dean's death.

[Mrtmcfly]

Never been interested in seeing Brokeback Mountain but if ever he deserved it before now it was for Lords of Dogtown!!! (incredible performance)
Whether or not his death has brought a darker feel to the Joker role it is Oscar worthy (heck it's only a trophy people) and if he set out to make you feel like he was one twisted f**k...he accomplished it.

For the record though RDJ also made an Australian method actor playing a black man convincing as hell LOL.

[MarkJ801]

When I heard he was going to be Joker, I thought that was kinda lame. Then I saw the trailer and was blown away just by watching the trailer. And that was before he died. So I don't think it would have changed anything. I definitely think he would have been nominated, but his death is probably helping take it over the edge to the win.

[Batman00]

Originally Posted by mnx12

When I heard he was going to be Joker, I thought that was kinda lame. Then I saw the trailer and was blown away just by watching the trailer. And that was before he died. So I don't think it would have changed anything. I definitely think he would have been nominated, but his death is probably helping take it over the edge to the win.

Same here, i thought it was gonna be stupid, but once that Picture came out, i was like "hmmm, this could be great", then the trailer came out and then i was like YEA

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Crim122

This is absurd his death has nothing to do with his performance and how great it was

But in all honesty, I think he would have still got the Globe, but the Oscar is going to be a tough one to grasp.

I agree with Crimm122..... for once.

I honestly think that he was deserving, and would be if he were still alive, of many awards for his portrayal of the Joker in 'The Dark Knight.' However, as much as he deserves all of the awards, that Oscar will be a tougher crowd to please. The Academy will still only view his performance as a comic book based superhero villain type of role. And those types of performances tend to be quickly shifted to the bottom of the consideration list... unfortunately.

[toef]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

I feel that his untimely death may indeed have something to do with the accolades...... and I also have no problem with that whatsoever!

He was an amazing actor and it is too late to go back and give him the recognition that he richly deserved in so many other films.. so why not give him accolades for the film we can? That performance was yet another stellar performance.

I agree. I think people saying his death has nothing to do with it are in denial. I have no problems with all the awards though, because I see this as the last chance to recognize his acting career, including what it could have been.

With a somewhat weak supporting actor field (read: two of the nominees were from Trophic Thunder), it's no surprise that Heath won. However, had this been last year -- and had he not died -- I don't think Ledger would've beaten Javier Bardem.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by Mrtmcfly

For the record though RDJ also made an Australian method actor playing a black man convincing as hell LOL.

Yes he did. That scene where he starts crying and Ben Stiller's character can't pull off the tears is hilarious. Stiller's character starts whining that RDJ's character is too good of an actor.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

I agree with Crimm122..... for once.

I honestly think that he was deserving, and would be if he were still alive, of many awards for his portrayal of the Joker in 'The Dark Knight.' However, as much as he deserves all of the awards, that Oscar will be a tougher crowd to please. The Academy will still only view his performance as a comic book based superhero villain type of role. And those types of performances tend to be quickly shifted to the bottom of the consideration list... unfortunately.

What's interesting about that is Bardem's role in No Country was considered unbeatable. It's pretty much the same frickin' type of character. Over the top sinister psychopath. Yet because one is in a Oscar bait movie and the other is in a blockbuster, somehow that is their justification for discriminating against the blockbuster performance. I do think that since Depp was nominated for Pirates, Ledger would have been nominated for TDK even if he lived. His performance was every bit as good as Depp's in Pirates, possibly even better.

Originally Posted by toefer

With a somewhat weak supporting actor field (read: two of the nominees were from Trophic Thunder), it's no surprise that Heath won. However, had this been last year -- and had he not died -- I don't think Ledger would've beaten Javier Bardem.

Yes, he probably wouldn't have beaten Bardem. But it would've been just further proof of the snobbiness that goes on at the Oscars. As I said, same quality of performance, same type of role, yet one is "unbeatable" and the other isn't even taken seriously. That is a big steaming pile of hypocrisy. Either you treat all over the top psycho villains the same and don't respect any of them or you respect them all equally based on the merit of the performance regardless of the source material. Ledger was every bit as good as Bardem. Scratch that, he was better than Bardem. And I loved Bardem's performance.

[nick1091]

It seems to me like the question the OP posted and some of the responses are dealing with two different matters.

I don't think the OP was saying that Ledger's performance was not deserving of a nomination. The question was whether it would've gotten that recognition had he not passed away. I think this year he likely would've been nominated for an award, due to the relatively "light" crop of best supporting actors this year, but winning so many as he did is not such a clear cut answer.

My gut reaction is that he probably would not have. There has been a stigma against comic book films for quite a while, and while the performances in TDK did a lot to break the proverbial barriers, actually winning as opposed to being nominated is still quite a mountain to climb.