Heath Ledger's Oscar Win

[Rudy]

Was it just because of his death, or did he really deserve it? Discuss.

[Synamon]

He was great in the film, but no one wins an Oscar for their performance alone.

[Brittle]

I can't say I've ever been a huge fan, but I did think he did a great job in Dark Knight. That said, however, would he have won had he still been alive... not sure - I have no idea who his competition was, so I have no point of comparison.

[HackerX]

Yeah, Ledger's performance made that movie.

[une fille]

Did he perform well? Yes, but I think he was ultimately awarded the Oscar because he had a promising career that was cut horribly short. If Ledger were alive tonight, I think Hoffman would have won.

[Harmony]

Everyone I heard that saw the movie said he played a damn good Joker... However, I'm not totally sure he won because he was that great... I really think they keep giving him awards because he died... He was an amazing actor, but so are some others... :)

[Superunknown]

His performance.

[INTJoe]

He probably would have won anyway, but the Oscars aren't the end-all. They get it wrong very often.

I think there should be like a 3-5 year delay in awards. These movies just don't have enough time to marinate before award time.

[Synamon]

I think there should be like a 3-5 year delay in awards. These movies just don't have enough time to marinate before award time.
That's a good point. Some of the movies are released right at the end of December to qualify for Oscar contention. I always wonder if it makes it hard for movies released earlier in the year to compete with the immediacy and hype of the late releases in the voters minds. Attention spans in the entertainment industry are short.

[Rudy]

I think there should be like a 3-5 year delay in awards. These movies just don't have enough time to marinate before award time.
That would make sense if their primary concern was getting the awards to the most deserving candidate. I rather suspect, however, that they are more interested in the Hollywood hype generated by such events.

[Storm]

I think there should be like a 3-5 year delay in awards. These movies just don't have enough time to marinate before award time.

3-5 years! That's like 100 years in politics, 300 years in Hollywood, and 600 years in the journalist industry.

Oh, and that shirt you're wearing, that's so 5 minutes ago.

[INTJoe]

Skip ceremony in 2010, claim "We'd rather donate the cost of the awards to charity this year blah blah blah"

2011: Awards for 2009 films.
Skip ceremony in 2012
2013: Awards for 2010 films.
Skip 2014
2015: Awards for 2011 films.
Each subsequent year would have awards from here on out.

That's probably good enough. That allows, on average, 3.5 years marination time.

[TheLastMohican]

If he hadn't died, I still would have given him about a 60% chance of winning. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a strong contender, but he already won for Capote, and the Academy likes to spread around the Oscars. Robert Downey Jr. might have deserved it more (tough call in my opinion), but the Academy is unlikely to give it to a comedic role.

[Samoan Corleone]

I initially thought he was going to be nominated for Lead Actor, like the villain in Amadeus. I think he deserved the award though, it was a strong performance.

[Adarasnow]

His Death. He was good, but so were the other actors that were nominated.

[Rudy]

His Death. He was good, but so were the other actors that were nominated.
If you think it was his death, who do you think deserved the award more?

Josh Brolin - MILK
Robert Downey Jr. - TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman - DOUBT
Michael Shannon - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

[LaoTzu]

I would have gone with R. Downey. Seriously.

That movie was lame...but his performance was pretty frikkin amazing. I mean... it was probably easy, since he was caricaturing himself (or his brethren)...but still... I didn't even know it was him until partway through the movie...

Ledger def. won for his death. I liked his portrayal , and he really fleshed it out well...but... meh :/

[Adarasnow]

I do not know. I haven't seen any of them but Tropic Thunder. I was telling someone at work that Leonardo DiCrapreo should have an oscar about now. That's who should have been nominated.

[Henry]

If you think it was his death, who do you think deserved the award more?

Josh Brolin - MILK
Robert Downey Jr. - TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman - DOUBT
Michael Shannon - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Precisely. Hoffman and Shannon gave very strong performances, and Brolin was respectable, but Ledger was downright gripping from start to finish. Downey did not deserve the nomination.

[qwerty123]

if the words: "Why so serious?" Can stir something deep within so many people, he deserved the award.

.... I don't watch barely any TV, certainly didn't watch the awards, and didn't see the other movies.

[Claptonian]

Dead actors very rarely win Oscars. I think that if anything, his death hurt his chances. He's only the second actor to win an Academy Award posthumously, and the first to do so in over thirty years.

[quin]

yes he deserved it, but his death certainly didn't hurt his chances of winning it. his portrayal gave the film such a beautifully psychotic edginess it was hard to look away

[Ender]

Well, we can't exactly go back in time and find out if his death was what caused him to win in the end. That being said, I thought his performance as the Joker was amazing, but we can only speculate as to what the real reason for his winning was.

[Rudy]

Well, we can't exactly go back in time and find out if his death was what caused him to win in the end. That being said, I thought his performance as the Joker was amazing, but we can only speculate as to what the real reason for his winning was.
Well, yes. That's what this thread is: speculation. :)

[zibber]

There are so much politics and interests involved with a big awards thing like this, it seems silly actually seriously to discuss this. Not to burst any bubble.

(^That was a serious point, the following isn't.)

Downey did not deserve the nomination.

What, a black man can't get nominated without anyone complaining?

[Zombicide]

So far I see no reason he should have even been considered. Seems that it is just another pretentious posthumous recognition like that received by so many dead artists but we'll see as I am currently in the middle of watching that. . .pg13 (ew *vomits* I feel sick, kids movie) Batman film. Seems the noirish one with The Penguin and Cat Woman will forever remain king of Batman films.





Zombicide added to this post, 238 minutes and 10 seconds later...

I don't know what his competition was but he gave an adequate performance




PS: I had a reply to the following messages but I couldn't word it properly at the moment, so I gave up.

[Rudy]

I don't know what his competition was but he gave an adequate performance

Phew! Tough crowd...

[TheLastMohican]

I don't know what his competition was but he gave an adequate performance

Adequate for an Oscar nod or win, or adequate in that you didn't feel like throwing rotten tomatoes at the screen?

[Claptonian]

Seems that it is just another pretentious posthumous recognition like that received by so many dead artists...

Except, as I said before, the Oscars very rarely indulge in that practice.

[altoid]

He did a phenomenal job of playing "psychotic." The other actors in the running were great too, but Ledger should have gotten it posthumously or not. I would guess the particular role he landed helped him quite a bit more than his death. I think a lot of people tend to have a more lasting, visceral reaction to psychologically dark characters. He was more memorable nailing the mind of the Joker than he would have been had he nailed a particular part in Tropic Thunder.

[Apocynum]

Some of the movies are released right at the end of December to qualify for Oscar contention. I always wonder if it makes it hard for movies released earlier in the year to compete with the immediacy and hype of the late releases in the voters minds. Attention spans in the entertainment industry are short.

Wonder no more...I've read and heard it enough that they do, indeed, release in December specifically because of the proximity to the award season. The movies and the buzz are fresher in the minds of the various judging bodies (Oscar and others).

[qwerty123]

Well, yes. That's what this thread is: speculation.



exactly, hence my prior: if the words: "Why so serious?" Can stir something deep within so many people, he deserved the award.

.... I don't watch barely any TV, certainly didn't watch the awards, and didn't see the other movies.


Remember we're dealing with tinseltown after all. How many INTJ's would be happy living there...?

[MacGuffin]

He made me forget he was dead after the first few minutes onscreen.

Uber may disagree, but he's usually wrong about these things.

[Ermisenda]

I believe that he deserved the award. I was absolutely shocked by his amazing performance as The Joker. I am also very proud that an Australian received that award.

[jcb]

his performance was outstanding as far as i am concerned. it kept people totally off balance, one minute empathising with him, the next thinking he was a jerk, the next being utterly shit-scared of him, all the while finding him pretty funny with his mannerisms and personality. such a perfectly fleshed out performance of that character it's ridiculous.

amazingly charismatic; he made jack nicholsons joker look a dullard in comparison (i realise the context of the two actors in their respective roles was different).

as for bizarre choices at the oscars - how the hell did halle berry win an oscar? in fact, how the hell did denzel washington win his oscar for training day? a better performance than russell crowes in a beautiful mind? not even close.

[darynthe]

I find that the Oscars are a round of circular wanking for the same old faces. They just take turns lavishing adulation on one another as if they cured cancer or saved lives. The ceremony was filled with cheap thrills this year. Saw like half and hour before I was to ashamed for them to continue.

"We honor you Marisa Tomei."

Right.

I think that the Ledger general heartbreakness in the media and the hollywood industry was totally ridiculous. This guy killed himself with an overdose of a cocktail of pills. Seriously dumb. I would also say irresponsible too, but I don't think these famous people owes society anything.

Maybe he deserved to win, but the real question is, is winning this crap worth anything at all?

[thiagofralves]

He was the movie. That was one of the greatest performances ever... outshined everyone in the movie. And put Jack Nicholson's Joker to shame.

But then, I still have Robert Downey Jr. to amaze me.