Comments on: Sci-Fi Saturday: Dark Knight, Watchmen, Iron Man, Doctor Who, Caprica, Lost, Fringe + more

By: Tchessi

Tchessi — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:06:55 +0000

#70,

In Batman Returns, Batman has not qualms about killing quite a few of the circus gang, blowing one up with his own bomb, setting another on fire with the Batmobile exhaust… Have to agree with Jett of Batman On Film.com that he’s quite content to kill. Not the Batman I read in the comics. That’s what made the character special (a la TDK), his conviction to not kill which the Joker exploits.

And Batman Returns was quirky, yeah. But a narrative mess even compared to Batman (1989) which had its own problems. TDK for my money, while complex and sprawling had a great plot with many interesting items tying together.

By: Spock

Spock — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:50:21 +0000

“Well, Battlestar has set a very high bar.”

Hahaha,
it’s great when people believe their own press.

By: Dark_Lord_Prime

Dark_Lord_Prime — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:36:47 +0000

@54: All awards shows are meaningless and, ultimately, pointless.

@60: Right on.

By: De Baisch

De Baisch — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:33:54 +0000

#60 “Where’s the cry of support for them [the little guys]?”

Check Google News for “SAG Strike”

By: sean

sean — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:53:32 +0000

#62

“Star Wars lost to Annie Hall
Raiders lost to Chariets of Fire
ET lost to Ghandi
Beauty and the Beast (disney) lost to Silence of the Lambs”

I find those examples outright bizarre. You really think Raiders should have won over Chariots of Fire?? Or ET over Ghandi? Maybe you could argue Star Wars vs Annie Hall, though I think Annie Hall is the more meaningful picture. And please, a cartoon over SIlence of the Lambs?!? And really, how can you have an award without elitism? We act like it’s a dirty word, but it really means ‘the best’, and that’s what award ceremonies are for.

By: Dom

Dom — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:06:04 +0000

etsjedi: ‘The “OSCARS” are a elitist club who have gone so far over the line the line is a dot to them-thanks Joey- Here are examples of what on over what was a better film-but it was a genre BO hit: Star Wars lost to Annie Hall’

Annie Hall is a brilliant film and deserved its accolades. Star Wars was a great piece of technical filmmaking but utterly cold and souless with some of the most quotably bad dialogue in cinema history! Annie Hall has some of the quotably best. I think it’s still Woody’s greatest film!

‘Raiders lost to Chariets of Fire’: Chariots was overhyped and shouldn’t have won, but was Raiders the best as far as everyone was concerned? (I think it was, although I like On Golden Pond!)

‘ET lost to Ghandi’: Gandhi was an excellent film though, even if it was full of the usual Empire bashing (of which some was certainly deserved!)

‘Beauty and the Beast (disney) lost to Silence of the Lambs’: In fairness, Silence was very good, even if I still prefer Manhunter!

66. Nuallain ‘I can’t even get my head around how anyone would think TDK was a right wing film anyway. It’s about a billionaire who puts ethics and support of local community above profitability and stock prices.’

And all right wingers do nothing for the community and are soley obsessed with stock prices right? Give me a break! That’s just some naff liberal, left wing stereotype of what right wingers are! Maybe rather than hijacking a movie to use to promote your own beliefs and hammer us with left-wing propaganda, you can try accepting that the film appeals to people from across the spectrum as all good movies should! It’ll do wonders for your blood pressure! ;)

67. Steve From NY: ‘To the person saying Burton’s Batman Returns was a better film is definatly smoking crack or something. Burton made batman a comic hero, without adhering to his very code. Killing off all the villians with each movie is not only wrong, but definately NOT Batman.’

Batman Returns is an astonishing, quirky movie. FYI, Batman doesn’t kill the villains. He tries to save The Joker. He doesn’t bath The Penguin in toxic waste and he doesn’t electrocute Max Shreck!

BR and TDK are very different interpretations of the Batman concept. Each is as valid as the other, but which one is ‘better’ is down to whether you like your Batman in a fantasy world or a realistic one! Many people still like the Adam West version, remember! And Bob Kane himself liked Batman Forever!

By: Shatner_Fan_Prime

Shatner_Fan_Prime — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:31:47 +0000

Count me in as another Dark Knight supporter. I’ve seen most of the nominated films, and TDK was as good as any of them! Who cares if it’s a Batman/comic book film? It was intelligent, thrilling storytelling that was masterfully executed. Every level of that production was “A.”

Just as Return of the King broke the genre bias a few years back, so too should TDK have. It’s going to be a long time before we see a comic book movie that great again.

By: T.U.M.

T.U.M. — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:12:52 +0000

Genre films are seldom nominated, and seldom win awards. It’s just a fact of life. It doesn’t diminish them in any way.

By: Steve From NY

Steve From NY — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:16:59 +0000

While I agree with those of you who feel that The Dark Knight should be nominated for best picture, etc., I am not sure it deserves to win. The movie in my opinion was very good, with Ledgers performance being the best, and believe it or not, Christian Bale’s being the worst ( only in context of this movie).
To the person saying Burton’s Batman Returns was a better film is definatly smoking crack or something. Burton made batman a comic hero, without adhering to his very code. Killing off all the villians with each movie is not only wrong, but definately NOT Batman. Nolan’s Batman, inhabits a world much like our own, there is no mysticism in his Gotham. There are no mutants, or crazy villians with super powers. Nolan’s Batman is also very different from the later comics, but very true to the original Detective Comics, and to the darker reemergence of Batman in the 80’s and 90’s.
Batman has always been my favorite comic book character, because even as a little kid, I always felt that if I had billions of $$$ I’d be Batman too..lol. It was more realistic for me (comics, not the TV series). My only complaint as to TDK, is the filming of Gotham. Where was the monorail?Where were the Narrows? Wayne Tower looked like just an ordinary building, and there was way too much filming of Chicago, instead of mixing it up with shots of NY. If you look at the visuals from Batman Begins, to TDK, you can see there is no consistancy ( other than the tunnel shots and the bridges)
Again, This movie was great and in my opinion, deserves most of the accolades it’s recieved. It was the best action movie of the summer (with Ironman a close second) I just think in the critical eye, the film could have been better.

By: Nuallain

Nuallain — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:29:08 +0000

I’m just flummoxed by the idea it’s *political bias* behind the nominations. Because the Academy is so much inherently left wing than the WGA, PGA or DGA? Why would they be? The membership overlaps hugely.

And I can’t even get my head around how anyone would think TDK was a right wing film anyway. It’s about a billionaire who puts ethics and support of local community above profitability and stock prices. A vigilante who (perversely enough) thinks vigilantism is wrong and is pro-gun control and anti-death penalty, while passionately believing government should be doing more to promote social welfare and economic mobility. A DA who places the rule of law and justice about easy answers and the subversion of criminals’ rights (and whose long fall from that lofty ideal is depicted as a scandal and a tragedy). A city that refuses to give in to terrorism — either by giving the terrorist what he wants OR by casting aside the principles of their society in order to deal with him.

And, fundamentally, it’s about a terrorist who believes that people are inherently selfish and self-serving and is proven WRONG – and disgusted to find that, at heart, when push comes to shove, people place their obligations to society and common humanity as a higher imperative than their own lives.

It’s an astonishingly left wing movie, at the end of the day.