'On behalf of Heath, his family and his family on The Dark Knight, I thank you.'
The awards season of 2009 continues, with every sign that Heath's name will be read out at the Academy Awards this February - bittersweet pride to follow by the shedload. Time to remember SAGs 2006, when the biggest controversy surrounding Jake and Heath's appearance on the stage was the meaning behind the posture and stance of a young man who was uncomfortable at such events but deserved in abundance the awards they offered.
Many congratulations are also due to Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep for their awards last night.
Includes pictures from LA Times and IHJ.
16 comments:
Nice post, WDW. I am so proud of Heath, he deserves every award he gets (and those he should have gotten in 2006!).
I hoped watching him receiving all these awards would somehow get easier eventualy, but for me, it just doesn't and I find myself crying every time he gets one. I can't wait till the award season is over but I dread it at the same time cause it will be the last one for him.
Last week has been very emotional, with the anniversary of his death, the Oscar nomination and the SAG win. It was also my third year Brokeback anniversary and I watched Brokeback saturday night (like you did, I think). I tought I would be devastated after it like almost every time I watched it but even if I cried during, I felt quite at peace after. It was nice. Like you said the other day, watching it is like visiting a dear long time friend.
I will be forever grateful to Heath for giving us Ennis (and to Jake for Jack of course!)
Olympia
Lovely comment,thank you, Olympia :) That's such a thought, that these will be the last awards. I know they meant little to Heath but I want him to win every one of them and I want everyone to see him win them.
My third anniversary is almost here so it's been on my mind too. It's good to hear that you felt so similarly to me on seeing BBM on Saturday night - I like to think I wasn't watching it alone! We have a lot to be grateful for :) Hard days, with the excitement of PoP and Jake being out and about again, set against rememberance for Heath.
Thanks for that, Olympia :)
You know Gary Oldman's Lt. Gordon is my 2nd favourite character in TDK, it's great that he's the one to do the honour for Heath.
I am quite baffled at why Kate Winslet would be competing in Lead Actress in the Oscars for The Reader, while all other awards she's in supporting role category... I mean, they don't really have the Jack Twist/Ennis Del Mar dilemma, right?
In any case, even though I hope Anne wins but I think it's Kate Winslet's year.
Ok Gary Oldman, I'm a mess after watching that! That was absolutely lovely! You did Heath and his family proud!
WAY TO GO HEATH! Next stop: THE BAFTAS! (WDW! Your mission-- A Full report from you! lol!)
I think I am going to invest in some Kleenex stocks.... I am thinking I am going to be rich once this award season ends!
I'm so happy that Heath is getting all these awards for such a fantastic performance but it is so sad that he is not here to receive them himself. The irony of it is that all these accolades and fame were the things that Heath wanted to distance himself from.
The last few weeks have been really emotional with the anniversary, the Golden Globes and the Oscar noms. I watched BBM the other night and I agree that it is like visiting a dear long time friend.
His Joker was such a fantastic performance and it still wows me everytime I look at it. It will definitely go down as a one of the best movie performances of all time.
It was great that Meryl and Kate got awards too. Really looking forward to seeing Meryl in Doubt.
Wow! Heath, I'm so proud! You deserve every award you win and then some!
Morning everyone! Cold, foggy and icy out there - yuck :(
Morning Winterbird :D I never got this How to decide between Best and Supporting Actor thing. Was it so that Kate wouldn't be competing against herself here? I agree with you about Gary Oldman - I thought he was fantastic in TDK.
Hey there Amy! The Baftas really brings it all home to me, that is one red carpet I would have loved to have done, to see Heath. I'll really miss him there.
Morning Carol! It's hard going, isn't it? Coinciding as everything does with the anniversary. I'm really pleased for Kate and Meryl - I do want Fincher to get an award or too :)
Hi there Bandgeek!
I, too, thought it would get easier, but it hasn't. Heath not being here is just...wrong. It isn't something I can yet "get used to."
When Parnassus comes out this year, that will be it. I was looking thru my videos yesterday. Realizing with great sadness, that soon, I will have collected Heath's entire body of work.
Thank you, WDW. I SO wish he would have won his BAFTA for BBM. But getting a SAG is awfully important. It means he is honered and respected by his peers.
Naomi Watts said, in an article some months after Heath died, that he was finally getting comfortable with his abilities, finally starting to own them. So it is my belief that this time, he would have been having great fun with his Joker.
I think he hated the pomp and the phoniness of people, in your face, trying to "be friends," pretending that special status is conferred with awards. But I truly think Heath would have enjoyed the acknowledgement. Especially from his peers. He was very excited to talk about his Joker.
Hi Anon - that's a great comment, thanks :D That's a point well worth noting about the SAGS, being avote by one's peers. I also agree that Heath got a great deal out of playing the Joker - a performance to last. Thank you for that comment :)
We went through this a few years ago with Heath's performance in "Brokeback Mountain." Everyone *except* the people who voted on "Best actor" for the Oscars agreed that Heath's performance was the best of that year. We're going through it again with his work in "The Dark Knight." He so towers above his rivals that it seems inconceivable that he would be denied his just reward this time. Think positively, folks! No other nominee for best supporting actor did half as much as Heath did. Philip Seymour Hoffman? His performance was not exactly a tour de force. Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road?" Josh Brolin in "Milk?" Robert Downey in "Tropic Thunder?" Every movie that premiers between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day is presumed to be an Oscar contender, even if better performances were given in earlier movies. Shannon, Brolin, and Hoffman benefited from this. They were good, but were they good enough to really deserve Oscar nominations? It's a serious question....
Thank you so much for the post, WDW!!!
It's my birthday today and I can't think of a better way to celebrate it than reading about Heath here. My two boys together again =*O(
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The thing about the Oscars is that a person can't be nominated for two roles in the same category (at least not in the acting categories, I'm not sure about the technical ones), meaning that even if Kate (in this case) has 2 good leading performances, the studios that own those movies will choose if they want to "promote" (the -in-famous "for your consideration" ads and all that) her performances as leading roles or supporting roles. What I have seen is that they usually promote a leading actor as a "supporting" when:
1) that actor has another role with better possibilities to win in the lead category or
2) the leading category is too tough and chances to win are better in the Supporting Role one
So in Kate's case, probably the companies that own "Revolutionary Road" and "The Reader" chose to promote her for the Leading Role Oscar so she ended up with only one nomination.
I apologize for the long explanation but this explain also why Heath was nominated in the Leading Role category for BBM and Jake in the Supporting Role one. Although you can have 2 actors from the same movie nominated in the same category, the studios usually try not to do so, sending them to different categories and therefore maximizing their chances to win.
Thank you again for the post.
(((((((((((WDW))))))))))))
See you around!!
I read somewhere James Franco didn't want his name offered for BSA for Milk. He's a huge Heath fan. Heath was going to win, no worries, but Franco just wanted to step back and savor it. He told one interviewer that this year "belongs to Heath." Then he stopped saying it.
Milk had outstanding perfromances from Diego Luna and Emile Hirsh as well, but Brolin's was the weakest of the bunch. Hoffman did a very good job, and in a different time, he may have been adequate. But not this time.
Unfortunately, not everyone who deserves a nomination gets one, and not everyone who wins deserves to. While there's definitely some subjectivity involved,there's usually a pretty clear consensus on who is up to the task and who isn't.
I think once Heath did Monster's Ball, he was launched. In his own mind, I think he finally felt he'd met some kind of test and began to grow.
Hi there! I just got back home from having to work late. I was at a lecture about the history of broadcasting - very interesting.
Hi Paul! Thanks so much for that and we must definitely think positively. I haven't seen Hoffman's performance, just a few clips, but when I remember Heath's Joker I can't imagine anyone else winning anything. Despite my bias, I don't think anyone can come close.
Sara - what can I say! Thank you for that comment and thank you so much for the hug *) I hadn't thought so much about the best/supporting actor prize so thank you very much for your thoughts on it.
Hey Anon! Thanks for that - I hadn't heard that about James Franco and it's great to know. What a thing for him to say! Milk isn't showing at too many places by me so I must pull my finger out and make an effort to see it this week.
Thanks for the comments, everyone, and thanks for reading :)
I love that clip of Jake and Heath from the 2006 SAG awards. They were absolutely delicious together.
I hope Heath gets everything he's nominated for this year. I'm just so sad that he's not going to be here to receive them. :'(
Only sad for us. I feel Heath will be here, just out of our reach.
"I haven't seen Hoffman's performance, just a few clips"
I saw the whole movie. Hoffman did a good job, as he usually does, but I don't think he towered over any of the hundreds of other actors who put in good performances during 2008. I respect actors a lot, because they put their faces up on the screen for all to see.
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