on Heath Ledger and the Academy Awards

I went to see Batman: the Dark Knight tonight. I must admit, I haven't enjoyed a movie like that in a long time, and a large part of that is due to Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. Now, it should be noted that I was never the type to fawn over the man. I did see his performances in The Patriot, A Knight's Tale and The Order, and didn't think particularly highly or poorly of them. (Yup, I know, I really do have to get around to seeing Brokeback Mountain.)

But this one blew my mind. I mean, he put Jack Nicholson to shame. The only comparable performance for a villain in a movie that I can think of is Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, who won an Oscar for Best Actor. I thought it was that good. Yet I read that people are petitioning for a Best Supporting Actor award. I wonder where the line is between the two categories; it seemed to me that he had plenty of screen time to justify a Best Actor, but I yield to the powers that be.

OK, so if we look through the Best Supporting Actor, we see nominations were given to Pat Morita for The Karate Kid, James Cromwell for Babe and Burt Reynolds for Boogie Nights. That in itself tells me that consideration for a nomination is not excessive, and in my opinion the least this performance deserves. The rest is up to the Academy.

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