Archive for July, 2008

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) Documentary. Narrated by Edward Norton. Featuring Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards. Directed by Jeremy Gosch. (Not rated. 92 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) Surfing is possibly the most-documented recent...

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) Documentary. Directed by Andrea Kreuzhage. (Not rated. 88 minutes. At the Roxie.) As profiled in the Datebook section Tuesday ("Chronicling the journeys of 1,000 wayward journals"), Andrea Kreuzhage has made a documentary about a San...

RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE)American Teen: Documentary. With Hannah Bailey, Megan Krizmanich, Jake Tusing, Colin Clemens and Mitch Reinholt. Directed by Nanette Burstein. (PG-13. 95 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) The loveliest and most affecting character in a...

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE)Baghead: Comedy-drama. Starring Ross Partridge, Steve Zissis, Greta Gerwig and Elise Muller. Directed by Jay and Mark Duplass. (R. 82 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) The beauty of the Duplass brothers ("The Puffy Chair") is that, on...

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) Drama. Starring Jacques Nolot. Written and directed by Nolot. (In French with English subtitles. Not rated. 108 minutes. At the Sundance Kabuki.) "Before I Forget (Avant Que J'oublie)" is not a film to everyone's taste. Well, of...

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) Kabluey: Comedy. Written and directed by Scott Prendergast. With Lisa Kudrow, Scott Prendergast, Cameron Wofford, Landon Henninger, Conchata Ferrell, Christine Taylor and Teri Garr. (PG-13. 86 minutes. At the Opera Plaza.) The first...

RATING: (SNOOZING VIEWER)The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: Action. Starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li and Maria Bello. Directed by Rob Cohen. (PG-13. 112 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for...

There is talk of offering Heath Ledger an Oscar for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. By now you’ve probably read all of the buzz, and while I was absolutely stunned (and a little bit haunted) by Ledger’s performance, I don’t know if he should win an Oscar for it.

Yes, the role was intense. Yes, he played it to perfection, making Jack Nicholson’s Joker look, well, about as credible as…let’s not even go there. Obviously, Ledger had to go to a very dark place to be able to play the part (as evidenced by the sheer number of sleeping aids his psychiatrist and doctors prescribed to him after he finished filming). But for me, giving him a posthumous Oscar would be akin to awarding Johnny Depp an Oscar for his role in Pirates of the Caribbean…and Depp is one of my all time favorite actors.

I know that the Oscars are political and there are a lot of people who are pounding a “Heath was awesome!” pulpit, but to me Oscars aren’t for over the top roles, no matter how perfectly they were played. I’d say that he was robbed in 2006—when he had to play a real person going through a real struggle. To me, Oscars should be awarded to people whose performances go so deep that you forget there is an actor playing a role on the screen in front of you. Maybe that happened for you with The Dark Knight.

Heath Ledger was an amazing actor—something I would not have guessed after my first viewing of 10 Things I Hate About You. After watching The Dark Knight I felt a deep sadness at not being able to see what else he can pull off, but I do not know if The Joker is an Oscar worthy role.

What do you think?

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RATING: (SNOOZING VIEWER)The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: Action. Starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li and Maria Bello. Directed by Rob Cohen. (PG-13. 112 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for...

DreamWorks Animation SKG said that second-quarter profit fell sharply, but still topped expectations, helped by its hit “Kung Fu Panda” film.