January 22nd, 2008
Sad, shocking news: Actor Heath Ledger, who was nominated for “Brokeback Mountain” two years ago, was found dead in a New York apartment this afternoon. Apparently, he was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived, and early reports (from the not-always-reliable Fox News) said pills were found at the scene. Not many other details yet, but this link at Cinematical should be updated with information as it comes in.
Ledger had starred in some big movies — “Brokeback,” “The Patriot” and “10 Things I Hate About You” — but this summer he was going to star in his biggest yet, the sequel to “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight.” And, as the Joker, Ledger was going to have a major, major role. No word on what this means for the movie, but I’d guess most (if not all) of his scenes are filmed and in the can. The question then, isn’t how they make the movie without Ledger, it’s how they promote it. The death of a young actor is a tragic thing, and doesn’t exactly fit into the marketing plans for a big-budget super-hero summer blockbuster.
Ledger leaves behind a daughter, Matilda, he had with his former fiancee (and “Brokeback” co-star), Michelle Williams.
January 22nd, 2008
Javier Bardem nabbed a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of cold-blooded killer Anton Chigurh in “No Country for Old Men.”
The blog is up and running (obviously) and the nominations are out. Let’s see who’s going to be fighting for one of those coveted naked gold guys. (Want to see more? There’s a complete list of nominees and categories at the official Oscar site, Oscar.com.)
BEST PICTURE: “Atonement,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will be Blood.”
BEST ACTOR: George Clooney (”Michael Clayton”), Daniel Day Lewis (”There Will Be Blood”), Johnny Depp (”Sweeney Todd”), Tommy Lee Jones (”In the Valley of Elah”) and Viggo Mortensen (”Eastern Promises”)
BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (”Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Julie Christie (”Away From Her”), Marion Cotillard (”La Vie en Rose”), Laura Linney (”The Savages”) and Ellen Page (”Juno”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Casey Affleck (”The Assassination of Jesse James Yada Yada Yada”), Javier Bardem (”No Country for Old Men”), Philip Seymour Hoffman (”Charlie Wilson’s War”), Hal Holbrook (”Into the Wild”) and Tom Wilkinson (”Michael Clayton”)
BEST DIRECTOR: Julian Schnabel (”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Jason Reitman (”Juno), Tony Gilroy (”Michael Clayton”), Joel and Ethan Coen (”No Country for Old Men”) and Paul Thomas Anderson (”There Will Be Blood”)
Definitely a few surprises in there. I didn’t hear anyone predicting Viggo Mortensen for “Eastern Promises,” but I guess you can never underestimate the power of a nude fight scene. (Wonder if that’s the clip they’ll show during the ceremony?) Nice to see “No Country” and “There Will Be Blood” get nods for both Best Picture and Best Director. The Coens are definitely due for an Oscar after making some of the best movies of the past 20 years, but it’d be pretty exciting to see Paul Thomas Anderson, a young director who seems to embody that crazy energy of ’70s filmmkaing, get the gold. And by most accounts, “There Will Be Blood” is a singular achievement, one of those movies we’ll be talking about 50 years from now. I’ve liked all Anderson’s previous movies, from “Hard Eight” to “Punch Drunk Love,” and I’m dying to see “Blood.” Maybe now that it’s nominated, it’ll finally come to Rockford.
Any thoughts? The annual Beat the Movie Man contest kicks off Sunday, so start planning your picks now.
