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Aaron Eckhart's 'Dark Knight' Oscar Campaign Jump-started By Loud-Mouthed Sports Columnist
Posted by Mark Graham at 7:50 AM on July 25, 2008
While most of the punditocracy is demanding that Sid Ganis engrave Heath Ledger's name on the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor before the month of July comes to a close, the notoriously contrarian ESPN talking head Skip Bayless isn't quite convinced. During today's episode of their afternoon gabfest 1st And 10, Bayless got into a heated argument with the equally opinionated (read: full of shit) mouthpiece Stephen A. Smith about whether or not The Dark Knight was better than Tim Burton's Batman. As these conversations generally go, the topic of conversation quickly switched to Heath Ledger's universally lauded performance as The Joker. That is to say, universally lauded by everyone but Skip Bayless.
"I thought Jack Nicholson played a better Joker than Heath Ledger. I thought Aaron Eckhart deserves the Academy Award nomination because he delivered a better performance."
The hilariously bombastic clip, which also includes Screamin' A. Smith's pick for who should've replaced Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes (according to his exacting standards, she wasn't "fine" enough), after the jump.
Warning: If you have been taking a vacation from the Internets for the last 18 months or so and/or have never seen Batman Forever, there are some very mild spoilers in this clip. Buyer beware (and stuff):
- 1st And 10 [ESPN, clip via RedLasso]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Matt Sussman
Posted 9:17 AM 25/7/08
Once again, I disagree with Skip Bayless. Personally I don't think Heath Ledger can top this performance.
Matt Sussman
mikedrawcar
Posted 9:08 AM 25/7/08
joke's on SAS- Skip has no soul to be touched.
mikedrawcar
kookla
Posted 9:06 AM 25/7/08
It's like sitting at a sports bar next to a couple of drunken barstool critics.
kookla
Artie Fufkin
Posted 8:46 AM 25/7/08
This seems like For Your Consideration coming to life.
Artie Fufkin
Old No.7
Posted 8:38 AM 25/7/08
QUITE FRANKLY, NO BATMAN MOVIE IS COMPLETE WITHOUT EARTHA KITT AS CATWOMAN. AND, A LARGE BAG OF DELICIOUS CHEEZY DOODLES.
Old No.7
Mel Gibstein
Posted 8:26 AM 25/7/08
I agree about Maggie Gillenhaul.
Mel Gibstein
Windier E. Megatons
Posted 8:25 AM 25/7/08
Well, if that's not proof that Skip Bayless will say anything just so long as it doesn't agree with the "conventional wisdom," I don't know what is. On the next First and Ten: Skip Bayless insists that the sky is red!
Windier E. Megatons
micke
Posted 8:25 AM 25/7/08
Why are these tools talking about movies?
Why are they talking about sports, for that matter?
micke
ASox
Posted 8:24 AM 25/7/08
It's always funny when skip pretends to be straight.
ASox
Karlifornia
Posted 8:23 AM 25/7/08
Halle Berry in a superhero movie sounds like a like recipe for success....
Ugh....not drunk enough yet.
Karlifornia
Karlifornia
Posted 8:21 AM 25/7/08
Halle Berry in a superhero like a recipe for success. +1 SAS
Karlifornia
HockeyMountain
Posted 8:17 AM 25/7/08
It's just like Ebert and Roper, except for the extremely dumb and nearly def.
HockeyMountain
Oxycontinmoron
Posted 8:15 AM 25/7/08
Next up, the cast of the View talks this years top round draft picks.
EH: Well he seems like a fine, upstanding christian man.
SS: Girl, he may be a fine Christian, but he is NOT a fine enough nigga to be wearin' them tight pants!
EH: Why do you always have to go there?! (SOB!)
Oxycontinmoron
spikespeigel
Posted 10:24 AM 25/7/08
Tyra Banks should have been the new Rachel. Wait, before you start throwing stones at me...
SPOILER
Tyra would have had the feces blown out of her. Huh? Huh? Win win, yes?
/SPOILER
spikespeigel
WadeCounty
Posted 10:43 AM 25/7/08
I actually agree with Skip here, Eckhart had the stronger performance when I saw the movie, and I agree with Stephen A. that Maggie Gyllenhaal wasn't hot enough, these two guys aren't as crazy as they seem.
WadeCounty
jisrael1
Posted 11:52 AM 25/7/08
@ASox: He probably became gay when he learned that the conventional wisdom was for a man to have sex with a woman.
jisrael1
montecon
Posted 12:15 PM 25/7/08
Poor Bob Ley...
montecon
NeVeRMoRe666
Posted 5:02 PM 25/7/08
@WadeCounty: "Maggie Gyllenhaal wasn't hot enough"
Respectfully, I would have to disagree with you. Its all a matter of opinions of course, but me and a few of my friends thought Gyllenhaal was much "hotter" than Katie Holmes. Also, have you seen Gyllenhaal's "performance" in "Secretary"? She was "fine" to say the least ;)
/Spoken like a true horney teenager
NeVeRMoRe666
Werrick
Posted 9:11 PM 25/7/08
Meh... I think they're idiots.
Although, while I think Maggie Gyllenhall is a fine actor and certainly very attractive she's just... well, she's "not my type" so-to-speak.
She's one of those actors that I can say almost nothing negative about, and yet I just don't enjoy her work and I don't really find her all that attractive. I can't decide if she's the prettiest ugly woman I've ever seen, or the ugliest pretty woman I've ever seen.
But that's just me... she's still very talented.
Werrick
Hit Bull Win Steak
Posted 10:39 PM 25/7/08
For some reason, while watching Stranger Than Fiction, I really wanted to throttle Gyllenhaal. In The Dark Knight, not so much
Hit Bull Win Steak
dtm3
Posted 11:24 PM 25/7/08
Bayless is right on one count, Eckheart deserves a Oscar more than Ledger. He was the heart and soul of the movie.
dtm3
Since85
Posted 11:34 PM 25/7/08
Skip Bayless' thought process boils down to...
"What does everyone else think? Ok, I'll rally for the opposite."
Since85
bigredgambler
Posted 12:03 AM 26/7/08
@Karlifornia: Umm I love Halle in thigh leather but do we remember her out of nowhere accent as Storm in X-Men or the Catwoman fiasco?
bigredgambler
Citizen Kang
Posted 1:09 AM 26/7/08
@Mel Gibstein:
I agree as well. Gyllenhaal is kind of piggy looking; but then again, so is Katie Holmes. Now if they got Jennifer Connelly I wouldn't have cared about Ledger or Bale. I also think Connelly is much more talented than either Gyllenhaal or Holmes. After Ang Lee's Hulk got panned I can see why she'd shy away from superhero movies. I watched that movie just for her and, if the truth be told, I'd pay full price to see her sitting around eating a granola bar.
Citizen Kang
teh_joe
Posted 1:33 AM 26/7/08
wait'll heath hears about this
teh_joe
bigredgambler
Posted 3:44 AM 26/7/08
Screamin' A they didn't go for any of your choices because that'd be retarded. It's tough for some people to by a recast even if the person looks like the one they replaced. Going from white to black, even pro wrestling fans would have a tough time suspending their disbelief for that. Howeva, I'd like so see Gabrielle Union in the Catwoman suit.
bigredgambler
YourGoldKeith
Posted 2:07 AM 29/7/08
@micke: why are they talking AT ALL?
YourGoldKeith