comment #1

Indeed says ...

Thats stupid, seeing as (at least so far this year) he is one of the best.

Then again I also think the same about Colin Farrell for his performance in In Bruges.

comment #2

EOTW says ...

Such a shame that people, like myself and others can't appreciate the performance for what it is, without all the real life stuff kicking in. If I had a dollar for every time someone has told me that they didn't even think of his actually being dead until well after the film was over, I'd be loaded right now.

comment #3

JaySmire says ...

I don't get that at all. The work speaks for itself. I guess James Dean shouldn't have been nominated for an Oscar because he liked to drive fast.

The only injustice would be if people nominated him because he died. Nominate him if you thought the performance was great. It's that simple really.

comment #4

Chase Kahn says ...

how about getting nominated for a great performance?

comment #5

Indeed says ...

Speaking of Oscars, apparently Justin Timberlake is in the running for hosting duties.

Dear God.

comment #6

The Hoyk says ...

I noticed that the writer is based in Seattle, and he takes a huge potshot at Paul Allen's Jimi Hendrix museum.

Sounds to me the Ledger issue is a red herring to allow him to complain what really irks him, which is that some deep-pocketed fan of another "unworthy" artist decided to spend large sums of money on commemorating his work.

The simple question in all this overdone hype is simply, would Ledger's performance have been good enough to get him Oscar buzz had he lived? And the answer is yes. Johnny Depp got a nod for Jack Sparrow, as did Sigourney Weaver for Ripley. If an action movie is that good, which THE DARK KNIGHT is, and the performance is that great, as Ledger's is, then being alive or dead, or dying in noble sacrifice or ignoble intoxication is of no bearing on whether the work should be nominated.

comment #7

BurmaShave says ...

yeah Hoyk brings up what should be a constant refrain, which is that Johnny Depp got a Best Actor nod for a film that was just okay, whereas THE DARK KNIGHT will undoubtedly shake out as one of the best films of the year.

comment #8

Glenn Kenny says ...

Wow, this Lucas guy sounds funsy, as well as a great reasoner. I'd like to buy him a drink or twelve some time.

Given the tenor of the piece and the fact that the author is described as "a writer in Seattle," I thought for a minute that the Eric P. Lucas byline was a pseudonym for the delightful N.P. Thompson. On further consideration I realized I was being unfair to Thompson.

comment #9

Terry McCarty says ...

I guess I'll throw decorum away and say Eric Lucas is a pedantic purveyor of psuedo-moralistic horseshit.

And I'm sure, given the LOS ANGELES TIMES' past and present preferences for writers (especially in CALENDAR) who can dish out "provocative" copy i.e. Roy Rivenburg, Eric ("STAR WARS is racist") Harris, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Mark Olsen etc. etc. (not forgetting Patrick Goldstein and former video critic Dennis "Rock and Roll is truth and Hollywood is filled with lies" Hunt), Lucas will likely be brought back for more encores.

comment #10

Rod32303 says ...

He's fucking bent.

What about all of the actors ALIVE whose lives are fucked up, but also are amazing artists? He assumes that the only reason Ledger would be nominated is because he is deceased? I think I remember a little ditty called "BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN" where a certain deceased actor was NOMINATED, and, upon recollect, should have won (no offense, Philip Seymour Hoffman).

I will respect Ledger's father's opinion - that it was a tragic accident - was this dick in the room that night with Ledger. So easy to judge from what, a Coroner's report? Whatever, to each his own and of course your own opinion is valid to you.

He's still fucking bent. The performance is genius.

comment #11

Hallick says ...

"...and he shouldn't get an Academy Award to memorialize his death."

I agree completely on this point. I hate that kind of thinking and it doesn't actually honor the deceased anyway. He should get an Academy Award (nomination at least, we'll see who else is in the running later) because he delivered a brilliant performance.

The rest of the piece is bollocky, misguided whining about Jimi Hendrix's legacy (yeah, that effing NO TALENT druggie!) and a meaningless anecdote about an old woman in Wales who served to reinforce Lucas' notion that all addicts are "just" addicts. Sorry asshole, the world doesn't work like that. Maybe your daddy or mommy fit that bill (maybe write about them next time); but in real life, people can be fucked up louses AND be good at their profession at the same time. Surprise surprise, life's actually complicated and perplexing and a drunk can write poetry. Somebody stop the presses.

I gotta second the love for Colin Farrell's performance in In Bruges. I love him in that movie. But I heard he drinks and whores around a lot, so don't tell Mr. Lucas and bend his politically correct bluenose all out of shape.

comment #12

sumo-pop says ...

He's correct. He should only be nominated if it's one of the 5 best performances of the year. And if it's not I will eat my fucking hat.

comment #13

Fien Print says ...

I get confused when people retroactively decide to imaginarily write morals clauses into things where they never existed before. Like where writers get on their high horses and claim that the Baseball Hall of Fame should be set aside for people of high character, as if Ty Cobb weren't a high-spiking bigot and Enos "Country" Slaughter didn't once shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die. The latter comment is entirely libel, incidentally. What I'm saying, though, is that the rules for the Baseball Hall of Fame deal entirely with contributions to the game. And that's a lifetime honor, a cumulative thing. Oscars are and should be only for the performance in question and the year in question.

We all know that's bunk, of course, and that, say, Al Pacino no more deserved an Oscar for "Scent of a Woman" than Arafat deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, but sometimes weird things happen. Either way, the Oscars aren't about recognizing and celebrating a performer's lifestyle. Giving an Oscar to Shirley MacLaine isn't a validation of past lives, giving an Oscar to Marion Cotillard wasn't an example of America's new-found love of the French and Denzel Washington winning for "Training Day" wasn't a sign that actors in Hollywood admire the LAPD.

The stupidest thing about the article, of course, is "Eric P. Lucas" declaring himself the arbiter of value and meaning as it relates to Ledger's death, determining that his death (overdose on entirely legal medications) was no different than those of River Phoenix (overdose on illegal drugs) and James Dean (car crash) and Kurt Cobain (murdered by Courtney Love... err.. suicide). A writer incapable of understanding context and situation is probably a man dumb enough to accost a senile Welsh woman in her home and interpret her irrational comments as both wisdom and astute literary criticism.

Thanks, LA Times!

comment #14

D.Z. says ...

Well, if they can let a child rapist win an award, why not a junky, I guess, right?

comment #15

DarthCorleone says ...

Like the rest of you, I of course think the performance should speak for itself and all the other factors shouldn't make a bit of difference.

But just playing devil's advocate for a moment, let's suppose this guy has a point. Would a posthumous Oscar given only because Heath passed away really "glamorize" what took place? I would think it would be a sobering reminder of all the potential great performances we missed out on in his future, not to mention of course the sad fact that he left his family behind. It really depends on how you look at it.

comment #16

Filmsnob says ...

Mr. Lucas is nothing but a attention seeking douche. He's a nobody, check this piece out, its sums up the way I feel.

http://www.cinematical.com/2008/08/01/fan-rant-ledgers-drug-use-has-no-place-in-oscar-talk/

comment #17

filmsofdust says ...

Indeed,

I am sure Timberlake's name is being bounced around based on his performance as host of the Espy Awards. It was quite funny and for 10 seconds made me forget I hate Justin Timberlake. But, only for 10 seconds and then I realized I should be applauding the writers for the jokes and not Timberlake and the universe corrected itself once again.

comment #18

NivekJ says ...

Ledger's terrible accident, and that's what it was - an accident, should have no bearing on the performance he gave in "Dark Knight".

You can watch that film and see something great, not the last outburst of talent from someone with nothing left to give. We should have been wondering how he was going to top himself, not mourning his passing.

This guy wanted to live, and wanted so much so to do good work. It was an accident. Nothing more. It doesn't make less horrible, though. And, it shouldn't detract from how great a performance it was.

comment #19

BurmaShave says ...

D.Z. in a career of horrible things you've said, that was really horrible.

comment #20

D.Z. says ...

Burma: You're right. I meant a guy who raped a child.

comment #21

Filmsnob says ...

This guy is a loser and a bad writer.
Wouldn't a piece like this be more helpful if it was directed at the living. Where was he when Amy Winehouse won her Grammy? Going by his standards she doesn't deserve it and should give it back. But no, he's a typical coward picking on the dead. Him and the LA Times can go fuck themselves.

comment #22

Mjs says ...

DZ

I'd wager that in your real life you're a timid little boy that rarely leaves his apartment. This forum allows you to lash out, which only shows your insecurities and lack of formal education.

I know you'll give your typical flippant, non soul searching response. That's all your type is capable of giving. You'll never surprise anybody with a thoughful, intelligent post, and that is sad, and I bet it makes you sad.

comment #23

D.Z. says ...

Burma: Fine. Ledger should be honored for tackling projects which weren't entirely mainstream and thus diversifying the marketplace. Daniel Pearl's loss helped to make us aware of Pakistan's internal problems. And that guy who was a friend of someone I knew who died in a car accident, because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt, was probably a nice individual who otherwise respected other people and drivers on the road. I'm just bitter, because I never got that kind of respect and adulation when I was alive and did the right things. But sometimes it's not about who's right or who's wrong, but about how much good will you create along the way. So my comments were unmerited, and I apologize. I'm still not going to let Polanski go, though.

comment #24

D.Z. says ...

Mj: No, I do leave; I just don't get anywhere. And I have a Bachelor's Degree in Poli Sci.

comment #25

iamwhoiam says ...

While i do think that Ledger's performance by itself is worthy of a nomination (at least at this point of the year), i could not agree more with the writer about the over hype, the fact that Ledger's death is a big factor in the movie's unprecedented success, and definitely that Heath should not be nominated just because he's dead.

comment #26

Josh Massey says ...

"Speaking of Oscars, apparently Justin Timberlake is in the running for hosting duties.

Dear God."

Timberlake should host EVERY awards show for the next 10 years. Seriously. His ESPYs job was the single-best hosting job I've ever seen, including Billy Crystal's Oscar stints. I thought the guy was talented before, but I had no idea how funny he was.

I'm sure they're rerunning it; you should check it out.

comment #27

corey3rd says ...

did I miss the memo that Ledger died after scoring all the Black Tar Heroin that had been floating on the market since Robert Downey Jr went clean? The guy mixed his pills for an unknown reason - perhaps he was pretty worn out and sick from the conditions on Terry Gilliam's set. But to somehow put his death on par with a celeb that "over partied" is sick and pathetic.

How many people have been fired by the L.A. Times over the last few years and this "writer from Seattle" is getting to cash a paycheck? This merely reminds me why I refuse to pay for a newspaper.

Nobody complained when the late Geraldine Page won her Oscar even though rumors swirled that she was involved in a shoot out at a Tijuana cockfight pit. Far as best Supporting Actor goes: Who the hell saw Jim Broadbent in Iris? And how could Forrest Whitaker win after making Battlefield Earth? That film is worse than any suicide.

comment #28

K. Bowen says ...

Remind me, was there any evidence beyond rumor that Ledger did anything but have a bad reaction to or took too many sleeping pills? I remember it ending up fairly ambiguous on that point.

Of all the pop singers from around the turn of the century, Timberlake was one of the best singers and definitely been the best (and the only satisfactory) actor. If they want to shake things up, he would be an interesting choice to host, and they could do a lot worse. As long as his co-host isn't Janet Jackson.

comment #29

Jay T. says ...

I hate people like this. That's all I have to say.

comment #30

George Prager says ...

I just googled this clown to see what other "writings" he has out there. This is what I came up with:

"I'm being coated like a savory entree. My skin tingles under a cleansing gel leavened with crushed olive pits. The gel melds lemon oil, thyme oil, and numerous other emollients and combines with the earthy aroma of the olive pits. I am at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, undergoing a body treatment designed for men. One of the best and best-known spas in the world, Canyon Ranch has judiciously named this the “Plain Old Body Treatment.” Perhaps the thinking is that most men won’t sign up for the “Herbal Mist Soothing Treasure Skin Embrace.” I don’t care what it’s called, because I learned long ago to love spas and hie myself to them frequently. Lavender-sandalwood body wraps; Mendocino coast salt scrubs; chakra readings and mud baths and aromatherapy massages: Dedicated connoisseurship has taught me that these and many more treatments like them not only feel good, they contribute mightily to one’s general health and well-being."

http://www.virtuosolife.com/Features/Article/?ArticleID=e2b8b0e8-105c-408e-8d48-b8bcf7e49de5

Sort of makes sense now, doesn't it?

comment #31

Josh says ...

hes going to get an oscar because his performance is the best. not because he died like a junkie

comment #32

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