It was about this time a year ago today that I learned of Heath Ledger’s death. Like the rest of the world, I was stunned.

Unlike the rest of the world, however — and I’m only guessing here — I still find myself affected by it, welling up whenever I try to watch his E! True Hollywood Story or see him being granted yet another award for his final full performance as The Dark Knight’s Joker. (How sad the cosmic timing of his Academy Award nomination announced today, bumped from the usual Tuesday unveiling because of the inauguration.)

Mostly, though, I think of him when I can’t sleep. While Ledger was filming The Dark Knight, he sat for an interview in which he seemed tweaked, exhausted, and uncomfortable. He talked about how sleepless nights plague him, how a couple of Ambien were only good for a couple hours’ rest: “I couldn’t stop thinking,” he told the New York Times. “My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.”

Read More “Heath Ledger, a Year Later” »

Just a little. And not because my fellow Americans (and Canadians) think 27 Dresses was 2008’s best comedy.

I was wearily zipping through the DVR’d show last night, stopping to catch only the movie-related awards or whenever something particularly ridiculous seemed to be going on.

(Most amusing were the “shout-outs” that appeared in the corner of the screen while anointed ones were walking to the stage, such as this comment about Reese Witherspoon from one Eve from Philadelphia: “She’s an amazing actor and she’s really smart!”)
Read More “The People’s Choice Awards Made Me Cry” »

The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association today announced its pick of Fox Searchlight’s Slumdog Millionaire as Best Film of 2008, additionally awarding it Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Breakthrough Performance (Dev Patel), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy).

Other notable nods include a posthumous Best Supporting Actor win for Heath Ledger, whose creepy, mesmerizing Joker in The Dark Knight more than compensated for Two-Face’s limp storyline and Batman’s phlegmy growl, and Best Actor going to Mickey Rourke as The Wrestler’s charming titular fuck-up.

The rest:

Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Animated: WALL-E
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Foreign Film: Let the Right One In
Best Ensemble: Doubt
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button