Heath Ledger Oscar Buzz Starts… Yesterday!

The buzz on the streets has been that Heath Ledger would deserve a posthumous Oscar for his work as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s latest Batman flick, The Dark Knight, but it’s only been recently that critics and assorted media have actually seen the film – and now the buzz is even stronger.

In particular Peter Travers’ Rolling Stone review, which is pretty much the biggest rave I’ve ever read (and Travers isn’t usually prone to hyperbole); on top of that, industry notables like Kevin Smith are also starting to join the call.

Travers said Ledger “is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker”.

“If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976’s Network, sign me up.

“Miles from Jack Nicholson’s broadly funny take on the role in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Ledger takes the role to the shadows, where even what’s comic is hardly a relief.”

Peter Finch (also AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE! – and, for those of you who have FOR SHAME not seen Network, is the shouting/pointing dude Defamer Australia uses in our television ‘industry’ stories) has so far been the only posthumous Oscar winner (others have been nominated) and beat Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver), Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties), William Holden (Network) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) for the gong.