THE DARK KNIGHT RISES TO THE TOP OF MY LIST: TALES OF AN OSCAR-LESS WONDER...
Christopher Nolan's neither picture, nor director, nor script, nor supporting actor nominated The Dark Knight Rises is the official McPic of the year.
Were I an Academy or a Nazi dentist, I would be melting and molding gold this very instant to crown Nolan with both director and picture in precisely the way Peter Jackson was lauded for the third installment of what may be a Lucas-long Rings saga. Sadly, Nolan will ride through the majesty and brilliance of his Batman Trilogy -- a true, self-contained trilogy not a "franchise" that petered out after three "installments." Lucas did with Star Wars. Spielberg did with Indiana Jones.
There's gonna be a little recent Oscar history here... feel free to skip ahead...
Jackson, amazingly is the lone beneficiary of the logic that "they'll give it to him for the final one." This, in 2003 (yes, Nookers, I go by Picture Year not "when the ceremony was held) was believed to be some sort of logic that had a foundation in Oscar history.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Godfather and Godfather Part II both won -- notice how the first installment was a victor -- the second installment is the only direct sequel to win. Return of the King is an absolute anomaly. There's no other case of people holding out to the end of a series to hand out a picture trophy. It's just Jackson. If anyone were being honest it's because the 2001 awards were a debacle. Chicago was a Weinstein fueled juggernaut... and so Return of the King was the only opportunity to admit how incredible Jackson was.
Ironically, it was unequivocally the failure of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight to earn a best picture nomination that was used as a rally cry to expand the picture field to include ten films.
Though not nominated for picture, The Dark Knight's Heath Ledger took home a supporting actor Oscar -- a victory which had nothing to do with his untimely death -- for playing The Joker. In my opinion, that same award for the same role should have gone to Jack Nicholson in 1989, though Irish wasn't even nominated. Which, of course, was bull. Nicholson was the clear best supporting actor that year, comic books were simply not going to get statues. No offense to Denzel Washington -- then again, when he was campaigning in 2001 (ahem) for Training Day the buzz was that people couldn't believe Denzel didn't have an Oscar. Well... he did. Supporting Actor for '89's Glory. The party line then became "Yeah, well... that was just for supporting." The nerve.
In the wake of Knight, the picture field expanded. Nolan, deservedly slid into the picture and screenplay positions for Inception -- also a Film Nook Picture Winner. This year, he's complete locked out. There's absolutely no reason for that to be the case. We'll simply have to wait for Christopher to get the Oscar he should have gotten fro Memento, Dark Knight, Inception, and Dark Knight Rises until the Academy broadens its perspective not just its field so that everyone can feel falsely included. Either that, of C-Nolz needs to find a Schindler's List all his own.
This year, there will be no gold for Nolan. He'll have to rest comfortably knowing that he has written his own ticket with this brilliant trilogy and hopefully be comforted by the fact that TDKR's boxoffice make it the number 7 film in U.S. history and number 8 worldwide. That should feel good enough.
Matt and the Bat...
I don't read reviews. I don't read press. I barely read buzz. Yes, I read the trades. But as much as I'm actually finding my way into this industry, I don't want movies spoiled. Thus, like most Americans, I walked into The Dark Knight Rises with a limited perspective of thoughts...
- I trust Nolan and know this will rule.
- I love Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon Levitt
- There was a horrible shooting in Aurora and I'm actually a tad nervous about seeing this film despite the fact that I knew nothing would happen and that American panic needs to get itself under control.
So get to the damn film already, McQ...
The Dark Knight Rises was the absolute perfect closing chapter to a mature movie trilogy experience that transcended the commonly held notions of comic books and superheroes. That's all Nolan (and a bit of Goyer). Starting with The Scarecrow in Batman Begins was a curveball. Try as you might, that guy was a zero as a villain in the cadre of Gothamites. Why, many of us wondered, didn't Nolan start with The Joker -- like Burton (whose original installment outgrossed Nolan's) -- The Penguin -- The Riddler?
Well, of course, that's all due to the fact that the Scarecrow wasn't the actual head villain in Batman Begins, it was Ra's Al Ghul, head of the League of Shadows. How brilliant of Nolan to close his films by reconnecting them with their beginning. If Kevin Williamson has taught us anything, that's the rule. Luke went back to Tatooine. Michael went back to Sicily. Bruce went back to his roots.
As well he should. After two films where Christian Bale -- and I say this as a person who occasionally screams "Cadillac of the skies!!!" -- was virtually inconsequential, Nolan allowed his title character to have a significant hero's journey. We're so busy watching Bruce rediscover his roots, pull himself from the depths of his Howard Hughesian isolation, bandage himself, and re-don the suit -- that none of us were paying attention to the mastery of Dark Knight Rises' villains.
You put The Joker on screen, the film's about him. Same goes for The Penguin, The Riddler. You can't close out that way. So the choice was BANE.
After the terroristic rancor of Ledger's Joker that left folks like me wishing those two ferries in the harbor exploded and the purple suited man escaped... how was Nolan going to top it?
BANE...
Tom Hardy is remarkable. Even if you were to put aside what Hardy did to bring his physical body up from RockNRolla size and Inception swagger... the evil he embodies is the perfect villain for our time.
Here we sit in American during a time where gluttonous wealth has proven to be one of the most destructive forces. And yet we have done nothing to bring about a "class settling" justice for the financial crisis. We've been pitted 99% against 1. At the same time, Nolan's operating within the constricts of a hero saga where one of the only justifications for the existence of the protagonist is that he's a billionaire.
Enter Bane... the man who plans to topple the system. He's not the Joker -- just out to cause a little mayhem. This is a villain with a specific mission based in deep philosophical conviction. Imagine if Lenin or Napoleon actually had any physical might, were willing to put their lives at endless risk, and weren't just selling a line in the hopes of becoming wealthy himself. The end result is a terrorist who can only be killed -- he can never be beaten down, treated, or incarcerated.
And he's not even the boss. It's not even his plan. A superb twist that testifies to Nolan's brilliance as both a writer and director.
In true to form fashion, Bane is a second tier man and consequently far more dangerous than you ever imagined. It's one thing to come up with a twisted philosophy and sell it to your loyal followers. It's another to be a psychopath who happily and willingly embraces it. Don't believe me? Consider the work of any high ranking Nazi: far sicker than what Hitler personally dirtied his hands with.
Hardy has us all in his meaty palm -- hook, line, and sinker -- being pulverized into silt. He's a vicious murderer who had my deepest sympathy the moment he shed a tear. And with a few killer lines...
"Perhaps he's wondering why you would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane."
"Do you feel in charge?"
"That's a lovely, lovely voice."
"We come here not as conquerors, but as liberators." (Ever hear that before?)
... Hardy's Bane had me dropping my at-home Daniel Plainview impressions for a whole new voice.
Ms. Kyle...
What other film could introduce Anne Hathaway with the unforgettable line, "Shrimp balls?"
Anne Hathaway's showing the world what it's like if you dodged a No Strings Attached (which I enjoy) or Norbit. In addition to being a stellar Catwoman who was all claw and no paw -- the kitten who kicks Wayne's cane -- Hathaway's got supporting actress all locked up for Les Miz. The Dark Knight Rises is just the icing on the cake.
She's the perfect counterpoint to Christian Bale: a solid female anti-heroine who's willing to do what it takes to survive. She has some of the best lines in the film and Nolan allows Hathaway to do something she hasn't done since the back-seat of a car in Brokeback -- be sexy! Take note, earth: we don't just want to watch her smirk, struggle, suffer, and/or die. The woman's absolutely gorgeous and sexy as hell. Let her be!
Wrapping it up...
I could (surprise, surprise) go on forever.
-How Michael Caine would have been a perfectly acceptable supporting actor nominee.
-How the remarkable Gary Oldman not only rolled through the last decade as Harry Potter's Sirius Black but as Commissioner Gordon!
-How JGL was a wise man to take this role -- and how he'd be a fool to go forward with any Robin or Nightwing related efforts.
-How hilarious calling JGL's character a hot-head half a dozen times proved to be.
-How the bridge to my apartment was the lone survivor in Bane's master plan -- thanks, Bane!
-How even atop a mound of desks handing out death sentences, Cillian Murphy is still hot.
-How the brilliance of Hans Zimmer never ceases.
But I must wrap up by speaking about Christopher Nolan.
What Nolan did so remarkably was dig into the mythos of Batmania and emerge with fragments that are accurate. Ra's al Ghul had a daughter. Ra's al Ghul had a connection to the Lazarus Pit Prison -- accurately named for one would have as good a chance of returning from the dead than from that cavernous jail. Nolan wove these together into a life-lesson that allowed Bruce Wayne to rediscover himself.
Simplistic as it may seem, Nolan's Wayne toppled into a well on the manor land and was swarmed by bats. His loving father - Linus Roache - descends to rescue him asking a simple question: "Why do we fall?"
In this unrelenting, adult, mature, sophisticated masterpiece, Nolan answers: so we can RISE.
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