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The OSCARS Page
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We'll begin by evaluating the Oscar choices year-by-year, starting with the recent
Oscars and working backward. Occasionally we'll add commentary on the politics and
biases of the Academy but we'll offer our praise too! It's important to realize that the Oscars for the year 1997 were actually awarded in 1998 and so on down the line. We list them here by the years in which the films were released. In many cases I have not seen all of the films in question. In such a case other factors will govern my choice: the actors, the director, the music composer, the cinematographer and the past history of the production teams, etc. Also, I cannot always remember all the films in any given year so that I may miss a film that deserved consideration but did not get it. I will attempt to edit my comments as my memory allows and as I view films I've never seen before, I will revise my choices and comments. For the Top 5 categories we list the Winners and My Choices from among the Oscar nominees. Other Awards are my choices only (from among the nominees unless noted) in other categories and they differ from the actual winner. I should add here that after the Oscar telecast in 1993 I decided to write a letter to the Academy President, Arthur Hiller at that time, suggesting that, as they had done once in 1981, they pay tribute to the actors who had passed away the previous year as a way of saying "Farewell, we won't forget you!" I must say I was shocked when in March of 1994 they began "In Memoriam" which has continued every year since. I like to think that it was my idea, but it just may have been a coincidence. Finally, it should be noted that lest you think I am anti-Academy, Oscar night is a big event in my life. It is Christmas, the Super Bowl, the World Series and Wimbledon all wrapped into one night. I don't answer the phone, I don't attend any events...funerals, weddings, meetings or anything on Oscar night. I wouldn't miss it for anything! I only wish that AMPAS would listen to their critics and "clean up their act".
The Academy was formed in 1927. Louis B. Mayer suggested an annual awards ceremony to honor outstanding achievement in filmmaking. Art Director Cedric Gibbons sketched the figure which would become Oscar and sculptor George Stanley molded it. The statuette is 13-1/2 inches tall and now weighs about 8-1/2 lbs. Margaret Herrick, film librarian for whom the AMPAS Library is now named, gave Oscar its name when she commented "It looks like my Uncle Oscar!"
The Best Picture nominees are chosen by polling the entire Academy membership. In all
other regular categories only the members of each branch are allowed to select the
nominees. In the early days the nominees were announced in advance of the Awards ceremony. Honorary, Special and Technical awards are selected by the Academy's Board of Governors. In its first year, 1927-28, the Academy members chose the nominees and the Board of Governors chose the winners. This proved highly unpopular and lasted only a year. In its first six years (1927-1932) the Academy did not use a calendar year for eligible films. The eligible films were released from August 1 through July 31 of the following year. Categories and number of nominees changed through the years. Some categories would be added while others were scrapped. When color was first introduced dual categories for Black & White and Color films existed but were later dropped. In the early years there were fewer acting nominees and multiple Best Picture nominees. Supporting Roles were not awarded until 1936. The Awards for a given year were awarded on the following year from 1934 on. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2008 2008 was a pretty decent year for good movies. There were action /adventure / thrillers: Quantum of Solace, In Bruges, Valkyrie, The Dark Knight, Defiance and Cloverfield; the usual sequels: Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Saw V (Yecch!); excellent dramas: Gran Torino, Snow Angels, The Visitor, Frozen River, The Changeling, The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Milk, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, Doubt, Seven Pounds and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Wow!); some interesting documentaries: Man on Wire (Yipes!), Religulous and Young @ Heart; fantasy films: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Incredible Hulk and Twilight; films for kids and adults: Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Bolt and a few listed above in other categories; some good comedy/dramas: Definitely, Maybe, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Smart, Role Models and the musical Mama Mia. Not a bad year considering! The Oscar nominations and awards selected were quite worthy, although there are always some that fall under the radar and are ignored. Here then are the Academy's choices and mine:
Oscar Winner = Slumdog Millionaire BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Sean Penn (Milk) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Kate Winslet (The Reader) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) OTHER AWARDS
Best Adapted Screenplay = John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) These were all pretty good choices but my choice for Best Picture, Doubt was not even nominated, nor was my 2nd choice - The Dark Knight. Best Actress was a tough choice for me between Angelina Jolie (The Changeling) and Meryl Streep (Doubt). I would not have considered Benjamin Button, Milk, The Reader or Slumdog Millionaire as Best Picture nominations. Rather I'd have chosen Doubt, Wall-E, The Wrestler and The Dark Knight. The acting honors were doled out a little better. I think Clint Eastwood was really good in Gran Torino. David Thewlis and Vera Farmiga were terrific as were other cast members in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Madagascar 2 had some nice songs that were worthy of nomination. And I'm sure there were others that were overlooked or bypassed. When it all comes down to it, I guess it's in the Eye of the Beholder. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2007 Sequels dominated in 2007 with: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Live Free or Die Hard; The Bourne Ultimatum; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End; Shrek the Third; Spider-Man 3; Oceans Thirteen; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; a remake of 3:10 to Yuma and a hodge podge of other interesting films including: Ratatouille; Mr. Bean's Holiday; Knocked Up; 300; In the Land of Women; The Hoax; Fracture; Bridge to Terabithia; In the Valley of Elah; Into the Wild; The Kingdom; Michael Clayton; Enchanted; Juno; I am Legend; There Will be Blood; No Country for Old Men; a very good documentary: Sicko; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Bob Ford (winner for longest title); Across the Universe; Persepolis; Eastern Promises ; Transformers; American Gangster; and two films I get mixed up in my mind: Lars and the Real Girl and Dan in Real Life. I found all of these films enjoyable and some excellent. I think the Academy chose well this year:
Oscar Winner = No Country for Old Men BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will be Blood) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) OTHER AWARDS
Director = Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) These are, as always, my choice of the AMPAS nominated films. My favorite films were: The Bourne Ultimatum, Transformers and 300, but these and many great films like them would never be considered for Best Picture. A lot of my choices were close calls. Tilda Swinton was very good, but Amy Ryan was so believable in Gone Baby Gone. Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page were my choices for Best Actress and it should have been a tie. In the animated film category I really liked Persepolis as much as Ratatouille. The Kingdom, a terrific action film, went virtually unnoticed by the AMPAS folks, as so many films do every year. It figures, these people missed the greatest film score ever in Gettysburg, by Randy Edelman, a composer whose music they use in film clips on the Oscar telecasts, but of whom they do not know even exists! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2006 2006 was not a banner year for movies. There were the usual sequels [Ice Age 2: The Meltdown; Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest; X-Men: The Last Stand; Superman Returns; Mission: Impossible 3 and The Santa Clause 3] which, for the most part were pretty good films. There were unnecessary remakes [All the King's Men and Poseidon] which failed miserably. Every year there seems to be two of a kind movies, for instance in 1992 it was Columbus [1492: Conquest of Paradise & Christopher Columbus: The Discovery]; in 1995 it was Scottish heroes [Braveheart & Rob Roy]; in 1997 it was volcanoes [Dante's Peak & Volcano]; in 1998 it was asteroids headed towards the Earth [Deep Impact & Armageddon]; in 1999 it was Joan of Arc [The Messenger & Joan of Arc]; in 2006 it was 9/11 movies [The World Trade Center & United 93]. Some of the other notable films of 2006 were: Korea's The Host; A Prairie Home Companion; Borat; Blood Diamond; The Da Vinci Code; Eight Below; Apocalypto; Charlotte's Web; An Inconvenient Truth; Pan's Labyrinth; Hollywoodland; The Last King of Scotland; The Holiday; Factory Girl; Children of Men; Flags of Our Fathers; Letters from Iwo Jima; Happy Feet; A Night at the Museum; Babel; The Hoax; The Queen; Pursuit of Happyness; Seraphim Falls; Stranger than Fiction; Little Children; Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed. Not a bad bunch but not a great bunch either. Others that I liked were: Marie Antoinette; Lucky Number Slevin; Perfume: Story of a Murderer (strange, but fascinating); Tristan & Isolde and Half Nelson. As for Best Picture, I would agree with the choices of Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima and The Queen but I'd replace Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed with United 93 and Borat. As for the acting nominees, where was Richard Gere in The Hoax, Kevin Kline in Prairie Home Companion, Cameron Diaz and/or Kate Winslet in The Holiday, Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland, Liam Neeson and/or Pierce Brosnan in Seraphim Falls, Matt Damon and Alec Baldwin in The Departed. Well, I could go on but it's the Academy who makes the choices and they did pretty good. Their choices were:
Oscar Winner = The Departed BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Forest Whittaker (The Last King of Scotland) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Helen Mirren (The Queen) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) OTHER AWARDS
Director = Paul Greengrass (United 93)
I agree with most of the technical and artistic Awards and as for the acting, I like both Forest Whittaker and Alan Arkin a lot but I feel Ryan Gosling and Jackie Earle Haley were even better and as for Adriana Barraza in Babel, she was phenomenal and so believable as the nanny/caretaker of the kids in that great film, that she stole the picture. Babel was an amazing movie much like Crash in its message. I was glad to see Pan's Labyrinth pick up so many awards, but wish Apocalypto had been recognized in some way. I viewed most of the nominated films and plan to catch the few I missed. Should they be honorable and more deserving I will update my choices as usual. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2005 Sadly, there were no more sequels to Lord of the Rings this year and even worse, was the news that Peter Jackson was pulled as director of The Hobbit, a prequel to the series. The good news was that Jackson's King Kong remake was released in 2005 and giving us the best entertainment film of the year. Other films of note in 2005 were: Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Memoirs of a Geisha, Capote, Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, Lord of War, The Great Raid, The Constant Gardener, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, North Country, Munich, Walk the Line, Pride and Prejudice, New World, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, A History of Violence and entertaining films like March of the Penguins, Madagascar, Zathura, Hitch, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Chicken Little, The World's Fastest Indian, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Casanova, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Brothers Grimm, War of the Worlds, King of Heaven and of course King Kong. Even the 'message movies' were good this year. Of course, as usual the Academy denies the existence of entertainment films, big box-office hit or not. Their choices remain "par for the course" to uphold their snooty image. Like always, my choices below are from the Academy's nominees only. My nominees for Best Picture would be: King Kong, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, North Country and The Great Raid.
Oscar Winner = Crash BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = George Clooney (Syriana) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Paul Haggis (Crash) The Academy's choices of their nominees were OK in a year with few outstanding films or performances. Continuing my crusade for film stuntwork, it should still be considered by the Academy to honor stuntmen and the stunts themselves as well as actors utilizing the new CGI acting techniques, for instance Andy Sirkis for his performances as Golum in The Lord of the Rings and as King Kong in that film and Tom Hanks for his roles in Polar Express. They should also realize that comedy, fantasy and science-fiction are important genres and should not be considered taboo. They need to kick away their stodgy, snobby image and get with the 21st century. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2004 The films of 2004 were for the most part unremarkable. The Academy's choices pretty much reflected this fact. Among the better films of 2004 were: Collateral; The Bourne Supremacy; I, Robot; The Incredibles; Spiderman 2; Shrek 2; Kinsey; Kill Bill Vol. 2; Finding Neverland; Million Dollar Baby; Sideways; The Aviator; Polar Express; The Passion of the Christ; Ray; Hellboy; Van Helsing; Eurotrip; Hotel Rwanda; Alien vs. Predator; House of Flying Daggers; Phantom of the Opera; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Osama; Alexander; Man on Fire; Story of the Weeping Camel and Troy. As usual, the Academy opted for social commentary/independent films over entertainment to prove that they are still caring and concerned with social issues. My choice for Best Film would have been Spiderman 2, but that's an entertaining film, much like E.T., Men In Black and others. So our choices for 2004 were:
Oscar Winner = Million Dollar Baby BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jamie Foxx (Ray) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Cate Blanchette (The Aviator) OTHER AWARDS
Best Screenplay = Hotel Rwanda These were all pretty good choices but why not consider entertainment films among the contenders. The Golden Globes include comedy, musicals and entertainment films. How about Best Action Film? How about an award for those who literally risk their lives for the movies, the Stuntmen and Stuntwomen. For now we'll have to settle for the norm but maybe someday an entertainment film will win an Oscar! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2003 It seems everyone but myself was able to predict the outcome of the Oscars of 2003. Although it went pretty much as I'd hoped it would, the Academy is so unpredictable that nothing is ever "for sure." It was a fairly good year for the movies with some terrific, entertaining films, some decent independent films and other miscellaneous types/genres. Among the better films were: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Matrix Reloaded, Elf, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Bruce Almighty, Finding Nemo, X2-X-men United, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines; all of which were among the Top 10 Grossing Films of the Year. Also released that year were: Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Last Samurai, Big Fish, Mystic River, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Cold Mountain, Daredevil, Hulk, School of Rock, Seabiscuit, Freaky Friday, The Rundown, Peter Pan (best version ever), Secondhand Lions, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Holes. You also probably noticed that there were some of the longest titles ever also. It's very difficult for me to be objective here because I believe that Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy is one of the great cinematic masterpieces in the history of film. Long after the last two Best Picture winners, Chicago and A Beautiful Mind, are forgotten people will still be watching this amazing trilogy on TV, DVD and video. That said, let's look at the 2003 winners:
Oscar Winner = Lord of the Rings: Return of the King BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Sean Penn (Mystic River) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Charlize Theron (Monster) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Tim Robbins (Mystic River) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain) OTHER AWARDS Best Cinematography = Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
I guess I can't really complain about the Oscars of 2003. I would have added some of the LOTR: RotK cast to the acting nominations as they were all topnotch. I was also amazed that they weren't nominated for the excellent cinematography either. The film set some records however including a tie with Ben Hur and Titanic. It was also the first fantasy film to win as Best Picture. As for the acting honors, all were deserving of their Oscar. Bravo to the Academy...well done!
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2002 2002 was not a year for great films! Oh there were a few like Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Chicago, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Signs, Spider-Man, Ice Age, Dragonfly and a few more but most were good to mediocre. Many will question my choices above but I prefer entertainment films to heavy message, offbeat, depressing films and Independent films although there are good films in these categories. Films like Straight Story of 1999 and A Walk to Remember of this year. Other films of note of 2002 were: Behind Enemy Lines, We Were Soldiers, Rabbit Proof Fence, Minority Report, Men in Black II (not as good as its first of the series), The Rookie, Road to Perdition, Gangs of New York, Austin Powers: Goldmember, The Bourne Identity, Collateral Damage, Far from Heaven, The Count of Monte Cristo, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Bowling for Columbine, Whale Rider, Adaptation and The Quiet American. Many of these are in my DVD collection and are worth the purchase. The Academy did honor the best of the bunch but they picked the wrong Best Picture for the second year in a row. As for acting and technical honors, I'm in agreement with most of the Academy's choices, but why was LOTR: The Two Towers not nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Music Score, Best Makeup and Best Costume Design? It certainly should have won in each of those categories as should its Director, Peter Jackson. Did the Academy see this film as a frivolous fantasy film? It surely was not! Here are the Academy's choices:
Oscar Winner = Chicago BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Adrien Brody (The Pianist) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Nicole Kidman (The Hours) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Chris Cooper (Adaptation) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago) OTHER AWARDS
Best Sound = Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
As mentioned above, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was aced in nominations in many categories: Director; Cinematography; Costume Design; Makeup and Original Music Score and should have swept the Oscars of 2002 over all the other lesser films it competed with but the Academy sees things differently than the general public. It almost seems a sort of jealousy or envy, but be that as it may, it's their party and they run it. Chicago was a very good film but is nowhere near the masterpiece status of LOTR: Two Towers and its predecessor and its concluding sequel. Adrien Brody was a deserving winner over all the superstar competition he faced. Nicole Kidman was lucky. She got an award for looking different. Chris Cooper has never had a less than excellent performance in his entire career. Catherine Zeta-Jones was very good as was Queen Latifah and Renee Zellwegger. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2001 In 2001 there were very slim pickings at the movies. I can't remember a recent year that had so few four star **** movies. It wasn't a banner year for films. Among the better films were: Shrek; Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; Black Hawk Down; A Beautiful Mind; Behind Enemy Lines; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; Jurassic Park III; Enemy at the Gates; Gosford Park; Monster's Ball; Life as a House; A Knight's Tale and I am Sam. There were some odd films also: A Waking Life; Moulin Rouge (can't say I hated it, but can't say I loved it either) and The Royal Tenebaums. The Academy selected:
Oscar Winner = A Beautiful Mind BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Denzel Washington (Training Day) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jim Broadbent (Iris) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) OTHER AWARDS
Director = Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
I know I am not alone in feeling that Moulin Rouge was not an Oscar calibre film and that Shrek is. I'd have replaced Moulin Rouge with Shrek and Shrek would have been my Oscar Winning pick. It was the best film of the year, but then it is a comedy, it is frivolous and much too enjoyable to win an Oscar. Did Nicole Kidman deserve a nomination? I'm just asking. I could have accepted a win from Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) or Sean Penn (I am Sam) but Denzel Washington would have been my fourth choice. I guess the Academy wanted an historic night, but then it was definitely not the first time the Best Actor didn't win. I also await the time when the entertaining film (science fiction, comedy, animation, action-adventure or fantasy) has a chance at an Oscar. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2000 Among the best films of 2000 were: Gladiator; The Contender; Hollow Man; Pay It Forward; Traffic; Dinosaur; Chocolat; Cast Away; The Perfect Storm; The Family Man; a little film called Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); Erin Brockovich; Finding Forrester; Wonder Boys and Best in Show. There were the usual animated films: The Road to El Dorado and The Emperor's New Groove; also rans like Quills, Finding Forrester, Almost Famous, Shadow of the Vampire and Pollock; the dual movies this year were about expeditions to Mars: Red Planet and Mission to Mars; and of course there were Dude Where's My Car and The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas. Although it wasn't a great year for films the Academy had a good mix to choose from. After the nominations are announced there's always some who lose out and in this case it was Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger) and Sean Connery and Rob Brown (Finding Forrester) who got gypped. One might also include the cast of Pay It Forward and the film itself to the list. My favorite film of the year was Dinosaur, but I really liked Gladiator, Cast Away, Erin Brockovich and Crouching Tiger. The Academy selected:
Oscar Winner = Gladiator BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Russell Crowe (Gladiator) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock) OTHER AWARDS
Director = Ridley Scott (Gladiator)
I certainly can't argue with any of the Academy's choices this year. All were most deserving. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won a handful of well-deserved awards. It was an enchanting film. I though Michelle Yeoh was the "heart" of Hidden Dragon and wished she would have at least been nominated as a Best Actress candidate. I also must mention the great Tom Hanks' role in Cast Away. The more I see of that film, the more I realize it was he who made it work. Had he won I could have accepted his victory. Gladiator was a terrific film and I'm glad it was recognized as such. I enjoyed both of Steven Soderbergh's films (Traffic and Erin Brockovich) and he was a deserving Best Director winner. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1999 It certainly was not a banner year for films in 1999 but there were some very good films. As usual, the best film, Toy Story 2, was not even considered for a Best Picture nomination as it was most likely considered too frivolous for the Academy's snobby tastes. Other excellent films were also disregarded as Best Picture nominees: Mystery, Alaska; October Sky; Straight Story; Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace; Matrix and Galaxy Quest, some for the same reasons. Among other notable films in 1999 were: American Beauty; Cider House Rules; The Green Mile; The Sixth Sense; A Stir of Echoes; The Insider and Man on the Moon. The dual/duel films this year were two "meteor falling towards earth" films and two "Joan of Arc" films. There seemed to be a trend toward gross comedies: American Pie; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and the animating of Yul Brynner films: Anastasia; Prince of Egypt (The Ten Commandments) and The King and I. Jim Carrey was ignored as Best Actor in Man on the Moon, as was Chris Cooper for two excellent Best Supporting Actor roles in American Beauty and October Sky. Laura Dern in October Sky was also deserving. The Academy chose to honor:
Oscar Winner = American Beauty BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Angelina Jolie (Girl Interrupted) OTHER AWARDS
Director = M. Knight Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense)
I don't quite see what impelled the choice of American Beauty for even a nomination. It was well crafted, but a depressing, negative film. If this suits the Academy's image then it is a sad commentary on our society. [Those were my initial thoughts on the selection of American Beauty. Although I'm often wrong on my first impression of many a film, this film does strike me, personally, as negative with its depiction of a terribly dysfunctional family. My choice would be for a more positive image of American life, although I realize films of a social or "black comic" nature do appeal to many film fans.] Of the nominees, The Green Mile was a far more impressive film. The Matrix took the bulk of the awards; albeit technical awards. The late Richard Farnsworth was magnificent in Straight Story; Kevin Spacey was good as usual. There might be debate also about the Academy's choice for Best Song. Of late they seem to enjoy honoring rock stars for "crossing over" to film, however I did like Phil Collin's song You'll Be In My Heart. Randy Newman's When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2 was a beautiful and very appropriate song for its film too. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1998
It wasn't a great year for films but there were a few that were exceptional.
In a great year it's a difficult choice to select a favorite in each category
but 1998 was not such a year. The best films of 1998 included: Saving Private Ryan; The Horse Whisperer; A Bug's Life; Antz; Six Days Seven Nights; Dangerous Beauty; A Simple Plan; Waking Ned Devine; The Thin Red Line; The Truman Show; A Civil Action; Babe: A Pig in the City; Rhapsody in Bloom and Shakespeare in Love. Shakespeare seemed to be enjoying a revival as there were various versions of his plays being filmed. Other popular themes were meteors on collision course with Earth, computer animated insects, gross-out comedies and costume dramas. Other films of note were: Cousin Bette; American History X; Ever After; Man in the Iron Mask; Godzilla; There's Something About Mary; Pleasantville and What Dreams May Come. One of the year's best films The Horse
Whisperer was not even nominated for Best Picture, instead the foreign film Life is Beautiful took its place. The Academy awarded:
Oscar Winner = Shakespeare in Love BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = James Coburn (Affliction) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) OTHER AWARDS
Music Score (Drama) = John Williams (Saving Private Ryan) How the Academy could ignore The Horse Whisperer is beyond me. Its Music Score was superior to all the nominees. Mighty Joe Young winning the special effects Oscar would have been satisfying but who could argue with What Dreams May Come. I also could have lived with a Best Actor Oscar for Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters as he was terrific. Shakespeare in Love is a good picture with all the accoutrements but it is in no way the Best Film of 1998 and while Life is Beautiful is a charming film, Roberto Benigni did not turn in the Best Performance by an Actor in 1998. Again the Academy slipped up here and there. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1997 My favorite films of 1997 were (in order): Men in Black; Fairy Tale: A True Story; Amistad; The Rainmaker; As Good as It Gets; Good Will Hunting; Breakdown; Lost World Jurassic Park; The Fifth Element; Mrs. Brown; L.A. Confidential; Titanic; Waiting For Guffman; Starship Troopers; The Assignment; Air Force One; Conspiracy Theory; Copland; Mimic; Contact and Gattaca. Others will be added as I see them. The Academy chose to honor Titanic but others also received deserved recognition. The Oscars went to:
Oscar Winner = Titanic BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) OTHER AWARDS
Music Score (Musical or Comedy) = Danny Elfman (Men in Black) While Titanic is a good film and tied Ben Hur for a record 11 Oscars; it is not in the same league as Ben Hur. There are new categories at present, which were not around in 1959. Surely Ben Hur would have nabbed the Makeup Award had it existed in 1959 as well as sound editing and others, yet Titanic deserved the Oscars it got. Competition was also very strong in the Best Music categories. Amistad; Kundun; L.A. Confidential and Titanic were all worthy of the Oscar. Since writing this entry I had to revise my opinions of the film As Good as It Gets. Initially, I felt it was highly overrated and now I cannot believe I actually felt that way as it has become one of my favorite films ever. This is why I strongly advocate viewing a film more than once. So many details are often missed. One's mood at the time can affect feelings and opinions. I also felt that Djimon Hounsou deserved a Best Actor nomination, as he was the "heart" of Amistad. Men in Black was most deserving of recognition but, according to the Academy's way of thinking, a frivolous comedy. When will comedy be recognized as worthy competition? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1996 I can actually say that I have viewed every one of the top nominated Best Films for 1996-97. Among my favorite films of 1996 were: White Squall; Beautiful Girls; Sling Blade; Primal Fear; Independence Day; Kingpin; A Very Brady Sequel; Fly Away Home; That Thing You Do; The Ghost and the Darkness; The Mirror Has Two Faces; The Crucible; Fargo; Star Trek: First Contact; Jerry Maguire; Mars Attacks!; The Glimmer Man; Executive Decision; Evita; The Arrival; My Fellow Americans; Secrets and Lies; Microcosmos; Jane Eyre and Anne Frank Remembered. This was one of many years where the Academy really blew it! I could have accepted any of the other nominated Best Films more than the winner. Here's my choice for:
Oscar Winner = The English Patient BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Geoffrey Rush (Shine) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Frances McDormand (Fargo) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Cuba Gooding (Jerry Maguire) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Juliet Binoche (The English Patient) OTHER AWARDS
Director = Joel Coen (Fargo) Fargo was a masterpiece of filmmaking and black comedy. Every aspect of the film is topnotch. The haunting music score was not even nominated. This was one time when Siskel & Ebert and I agreed! The English Patient was a much overrated film and would be my last choice of this year's five nominated films. Evita should have received Best Picture and Best Actress nominations among others. The Academy's choice is "mind boggling"! Geoffrey Rush, however, was a deserving winner. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1995 1995 was one of those rare years with so many terrific movies that it's impossible to list them all. Among my favorite films of 1995 were: Rob Roy; Braveheart; Jefferson in Paris; Stuart Saves His family; The Brady Bunch Movie; The Cure; the fascinating documentary Crumb; Crimson Tide; Apollo 13; Sense and Sensibility; First Knight; Species; Clueless; Indian in the Cupboard; The Net; Seven; Mighty Aphrodite; Powder; The American President; Grumpier Old Men; Toy Story; Jumanji; Mr. Holland's Opus; Babe; Outbreak; Farinelli and The Bridges of Madison County. This was one tough year to choose a winner but, in my opinion, the Academy made the right choices for the most part. Each of the nominated Best Films was a winner...4 star films all! I cannot say the same for the Acting choices. Only one major film have I not yet seen...Il Postino. My choices are:
Oscar Winner = Braveheart BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Nicholas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) OTHER AWARDS
Music Score Drama = Carter Burwell (Rob Roy) In most cases I am in agreement with the winners I do not change. My first and second choices for Best Actor were not even nominated: Mel Gibson (Braveheart) and Liam Neeson (Rob Roy). Any of the supporting casts of each of these films also deserved nominations. All in all it was a good year for Oscar. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1994 My personal nominees for Best Picture in 1994 would have been: The Shawshank Redemption; Ed Wood; Black Beauty; Immortal Beloved and The Madness of King George...what a terrific slate! Among the other films I liked in 1994 were: Iron Will; Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult; No Escape; When A Man Loves A Woman; Speed; The Lion King; Little Big League; The Shadow; Angels in the Outfield; True Lies; The Mask; Corrina, Corrina; Quiz Show; Blue Sky; The River Wild; Pulp Fiction; Dumb and Dumber; Legends of the Fall; Nobody's Fool; and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Another dubious distinction of 1994 was that it brought one of the worst, garbage films ever: Natural Born Killers. In 1994 I rooted for Pulp Fiction to win the Oscar. I hadn't yet seen all of the nominated films. I was very anti-Forest Gump because I felt the film was much overrated...I still feel that way. After viewing all the films the choices were crystal clear:
Oscar Winner = Forest Gump BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Tom Hanks (Forest Gump) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jessica Lange (Blue Sky) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Martin Landau (Ed Wood) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway) OTHER AWARDS
Director = Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
The Best Picture of 1994 was definitely The Shawshank Redemption. Some of its cast should also have been nominated. The Madness of King George was deserving of a Best Picture nomination more so than Forest Gump; Quiz Show or Four Weddings and a Funeral. Nigel Hawthorne's portrayal of King George was so superior to Tom Hanks' as Forest Gump that it's ludicrous! Anyone could play Forest Gump...it was an easy role. And, how was Immortal Beloved overlooked? The film was a masterpiece and had all the elements of an Oscar caliber film. The Academy and the general public "blew it!" in 1994. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1993 This was a very difficult year to make choices; for me it was entertainment vs. art, and while I appreciate both, I most often choose entertainment over art. Also tough in 1993 were acting choices. While I really like Tom Hanks, I feel he is much overrated as an actor. Also, a film that was not even considered at all by the Academy was actually one of the Best Pictures of the year and loaded with career topping performances by veteran actors. The film that was completely overlooked was Gettysburg, a Ted Turner Production...here is where politics enter into the picture. Among other excellent films of 1993 were: Alive; Untamed Heart; Fire in the Sky; The Sandlot; Indecent Proposal; Dave; This Boy's Life; Jurassic Park; Cliffhanger; In the Line of Fire; The Fugitive; King of the Hill; A Bronx Tale; Judgment Night; the engrossing documentary The War Room; Grumpy Old Men; Schindler's List; What's Eating Gilbert Grape?; Remains of the Day; Shadowlands; The Saint of Fort Washington and In the Name of the Father. Oscar's and My choices were:
Oscar Winner = Schindler's List BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Holly Hunter (The Piano) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Anna Paquin (The Piano) OTHER AWARDS
Music Score = Randy Edelman (Gettysburg)
The Academy, by omitting Gettysburg from consideration, lost some credibility. Jeff Daniels' performance was top-notch as was most of the cast of Gettysburg. Seldom has a more moving score been composed for a film than Randy Edelman's for Gettysburg. It was not a technically perfect film, but the acting, script and music were excellent! Anthony Hopkins delivered two brilliant, top-notch performances. Again, Harrison Ford, one of the finest actors working today, was aced! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1992 This was one of those "weak" years in which a mediocre film had a great chance for a Best Picture Oscar and the same with the acting honors...and that's just what happened. Among the better known films of 1992 that I liked were: The Body Guard; Scent of a Woman; Chaplin; Unforgiven; The Crying Game; Wayne's World; Basic Instinct; Patriot Games; Sister Act; The Player and Last of the Mohicans. Of the lesser known films I liked were: Alan and Naomi; Memoirs of an Invisible Man; Gladiator; The Power of One; Thunderheart; A Midnight Clear; Night on Earth; One False Move; Unlawful Entry; School Ties; the ultra-violent Reservoir Dogs; Passion Fish; City of Joy; Forever Young and the tense K-2. Here are the Oscar choices:
Oscar Winner = Unforgiven BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Emma Thompson (Howard's End) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Gene Hackman (Unforgiven) OTHER AWARDS Screenplay (Adapt.) = Michael Tolkin (The Player)
Comparing this year (1992-93) to 1995-96 illustrates how some films are victims of rigid competition (1995) while others (1992) can squeak by and win a not-so-deserved Oscar. I am not saying Unforgiven was not a good film, in fact it is on my list of 700 Great Films, but with all due respect to Clint Eastwood and Unforgiven, in another year he may not have even been nominated! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1991 1991 was another weak year for films. Among the better films of '91 were: White Fang; Thelma and Louise; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; Naked Gun 2 1/2; Terminator 2: Judgment Day; King Ralph; Boyz in the Hood; Hot Shots; Cape Fear; Beauty and the Beast; JFK; The Addams Family; My Girl; Bugsy; Grand Canyon; Fried Green Tomatoes and Silence of the Lambs. Other fine lesser known films of '91 were: Not Without My Daughter; Toy Soldiers; Regarding Henry; My Own Private Idaho; The Man in the Moon; Run; Europa, Europa; Black Robe and Reunion. In my opinion, the best film was not even nominated and that would be Grand Canyon. I think, of the 5 nominated films, the Academy picked the right one. It's unusual to honor such a violent film with this type of subject matter; still, it was a well-crafted film. I was pretty satisfied with the results of 1991's Oscars:
Oscar Winner = Silence of the Lambs BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jodie Foster (Silence of the Lambs) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jack Palance (City Slickers) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King) OTHER AWARDS
Screenplay (Orig.) = Lawrence & Meg Kasdan (Grand Canyon)
How such great films escape the Academy is a strange mystery. Grand Canyon is a masterpiece dealing with urban life in the 1990s. Europa, Europa is easily the Best Foreign film I have ever seen. After viewing it one is stunned to realize that it is in the German language...you're so engrossed in this true story that you don't realize you are reading subtitles. Both films have excellent production values...as does Silence of the Lambs. Go figure! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1990 Sequels were quite popular in 1990, among them: The Godfather Part III; Back to the Future III; Die Hard 2: Die Harder; Predator 2; The Gods Must Be Crazy II and The Rescuers Down Under all excellent films. My other favorite films of '90 included: Men Don't Leave; Pretty Woman; Mountains of the Moon; The Hunt for Red October; Dick Tracy; Ghost; Total Recall; Avalon; Reversal of Fortune; Misery; Memphis Bell; Edward Scissorhands; Mermaids; Torrents of Spring and my co-No. 1 film: Dances With Wolves. I've been watching the Oscar telecast, from start to finish, since as long as I can remember and have taped them since 1978. None had I anticipated as much as the 1990 Awards. Dances With Wolves was one of those rare films that after I'd seen it I raced home to tell everyone how great it was. So I was eagerly hoping for a huge win for this great film. Unfortunately, unthinking, I'd booked a plane flight to Los Angeles for March 25, 1991 right during the ceremonies. I brought a tiny 1" TV along but the stewardess wouldn't let me watch it lest it interfere with the plane's communications systems. When we got to LAX, I turned it on in time to see Kathy Bates win her well-deserved Oscar. Things looked good. It was one Oscar night that I would be quite happy with the results. The Academy did great in 1990!
Oscar Winner = Dances With Wolves BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Kathy Bates (Misery) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Joe Pesci (Goodfellas) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost) OTHER AWARDS Screenplay (Original) = Barry Levinson (Avalon) I certainly can't gripe about the results of this year as Dances With Wolves swept most awards and deservedly so. With the exception of the two supporting acting awards, I was quite thrilled for Kevin Costner's masterpiece. Graham Greene was the "heart" of Dances With Wolves so I'd rather he won than Joe Pesci as the psychotic killer of Goodfellas. At the time I wanted Costner to win Best Actor but upon seeing Jeremy Irons' performance in Reversal of Fortune, I knew he was indeed the Best. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1989 In my opinion, 1989 was only a fairly good year for films. The Best Picture nominees bear that out. They are *** star films mostly. In another year they might not have been considered. Among my favorites of 1989 were: 84 Charlie Mopic; Crusoe; The Dream Team; Major League; Chaplin; Chances Are; Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; The Dead Poets Society; Batman; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; Lethal Weapon 2; Parenthood; Uncle Buck; The Abyss; Casualties of War; An Innocent Man; The Fabulous Baker Boys; Immediate Family; Steel Magnolias (yes, I can enjoy a "Chick Flick"); The Little Mermaid; Roger and Me; National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation; Music Box; Valmont; Driving Miss Daisy; Glory; Back to the Future II (I liked this one!) and Triumph of the Spirit. Glory comes to mind as better than all Best Picture nominees. This year continued the Best Documentary film controversy. Roger and Me, easily the best documentary in ages, was completely snubbed for Oscar consideration, which began a series of protests against the Academy's system of nominating documentary films.
Oscar Winner = Driving Miss Daisy BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Daniel Day Lewis (My Left Foot) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Denzel Washington (Glory) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Brenda Frickert (My Left Foot) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Edward Zwick (Glory)
The latter three choices were not even nominated for Oscars. Not an exciting year for films and in a year like this a fairly mediocre film can take home a bundle of Oscars. The Abyss rightly took home the Special Effects Oscar for its innovative computer imagery. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1988 One certainly can't argue 1988's choices for the Oscars. The winners were deserving but the field was again mediocre. Some of '88's best films were: Missing Link; For Keeps; Shoot to Kill; Midnight Run; Frantic; Beetlejuice; Colors; Big; Who Framed Roger Rabbit?; The Great Outdoors; Arthur 2: On the Rocks; Gorillas in the Mist; Alien Nation; Twins; The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad; Rain Man; Working Girl; Mississippi Burning and the bizarre, gory Killer Klowns From Outer Space. I would have added Who Framed Roger Rabbit? to the Best Picture category at the expense of The Accidental Tourist. As for Best Actress, I can't argue with Jodie Foster's first win but Melanie Griffith's role in Working Girl was much more memorable for me. The beginning of the Best Documentary controversy started with the snubbing of The Thin Blue Line, which irritated many film critics. Sherman's March was another terrific documentary that was avoided. But the Academy did pretty good in 1988 all in all.
Oscar Winner = Rain Man BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jodie Foster (The Accused) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist) OTHER AWARDS Documentary (Feature) = The Thin Blue Line
It's really nit-picking to knock the choices of the Academy in 1988. They did a pretty good job of awarding quality work. They do it right more often than not. Still, Missing Link, an obscure little pseudo-documentary film of 1988, escaped not only audiences but also the perusal of the Academy. It was a brilliant, moving film and poor promotion probably cost it not only box office recognition but critical acclaim and awards. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1987 I remember watching the 1987 Oscars and thinking, wow, The Last Emperor looks like an awesome movie as it won Oscar after Oscar. I went to see it and it was a real "snooze"! Overlong and pretty much boring. Looking back, there were some much better films than the Best Picture nominees: Radio Days; Full Metal Jacket; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Black Widow; Hamburger Hill; Some Kind of Wonderful; No Way Out; Can't Buy Me Love; Au Revoir, Les Enfants; Wall Street; Fatal Attraction and entertainment films like: Robocop; Lethal Weapon; Predator; Batteries Not Included; Nowhere to Hide and The Hidden. To maintain its stuffy image, the Academy chooses to ignore entertaining films and goes for the overlong, boring, and staid films. Of the nominees they chose here are my choices:
Oscar Winner = The Last Emperor BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Michael Douglas (Wall Street) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Cher (Moonstruck) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Sean Connery (The Untouchables) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck) OTHER AWARDS
Foreign Language Film = Au Revoir, Les Enfants
My favorite/Best Picture of 1987 was Planes, Trains and Automobiles but the Academy cannot allow a frivolous film to mar their snobby image. I liked Michael Douglas better in Fatal Attraction but if voting for only the Academy's choices I'd pick him for Wall Street. Sean Connery is one my all time favorite actors but his role in The Untouchables was not all that memorable. Wake up AMPAS, start changing your image and choose the deserving films and nominees for a change! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1986 Short Shrift was the keyword for 1986! Very few quality films were produced in that year. Some of my favorite films of 1986 were: Echo Park; Down And Out In Beverly Hills; Labyrinth; Desert Bloom; Aliens; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (best of that series); Lady Jane; The Flight of the Navigator; Quiet Cool; The Golden Child; Critters and The Mission. The Academy sees things from a different perspective than the audience. Their list of Best Films includes more mediocre films. Most of the performers in my above list of films deserved consideration also. It was another mediocre year in film. The choices were:
Oscar Winner = Platoon BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Paul Newman (The Color of Money) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Michael Caine (Hannah and her Sisters) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Dianne Wiest (Hannah and her Sisters) OTHER AWARDS
Best Original Screenplay = Oliver Stone, Richard Boyle (Salvador)
One really tough category in 1986 was Best Song. Three of the nominees were deserving of a win and songs from Labyrinth and Under the Cherry Moon should have received nominations. My actual choice for Best Picture would have been Lady Jane. Most of its cast were deserving of Oscar nods also. The Academy chose to honor a film about the Vietnam War and I would guess the reasons were more or less political. They tend to award films and actors for the wrong reasons; and do so quite often. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1985 This year continued the Academy's constant snubbing of upstart Steven Spielberg. This time it was The Color Purple. What's even worse is, the winner chosen was another overlong and boring film. Actually, I was not excited about The Color Purple or any of the other nominated films which were: Prizzi's Honor; Out of Africa; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Trip to Bountiful; Brazil and The Purple Rose of Cairo. The one exception was Witness which was quite entertaining as were these favorites of mine: The Breakfast Club; Heaven Help Us; Mask; Return of the Jedi; Eleni; Cocoon; Back to the Future; Pee Wee's Big Adventure; Enemy Mine; Runaway Train; Twice in a Lifetime; Gotcha!; Fletch; Summer Rental; Weird Science; The Emerald Forest; the bizarre Re-Animator (not for everyone); A View to a Kill (one of the best of the Bond films) and To Live and Die in L.A. The decade of the 1980s was not an exciting one for films. This year's choices, again, bear that out:
Oscar Winner = Out of Africa BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Geraldine Page (Trip to Bountiful) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Don Ameche (Cocoon) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Peter Weir (Witness)
Of the Academy's choices and winners, only Witness is a memorable film. I don't think Out of Africa will be remembered years from now. I would put any of my favorites, mentioned above, against the nominees and winners and let's see which films will be remembered 25 years from now. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1984 This was a very good year for movies and who could complain about the results of the Academy Awards for 1984. This, along with 1988, was a rare year in the decade of the 80s. Among the very good films of 1984 were: The Terminator; Purple Rain; Starman; The Natural; Racing With the Moon; The Last Starfighter; Romancing the Stone; The Gods Must Be Crazy; El Norte; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; Top Secret; Amadeus; Once Upon a Time in America; The Last Starfighter; Beverly Hills Cop; All of Me; Falling in Love; Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; Lassiter; The Bounty; The Killing Fields; Swing Shift; The Karate Kid; A Passage to India; The Neverending Story; Gremlins and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. The Academy picked the Best Film of 1984 correctly. The Best Actor category was tough, especially with the choices of the co-stars of Amadeus and Starman. They did a pretty good job:
Oscar Winner = Amadeus
Oscar Winner = F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Sally Field (Places in the Heart) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Haing S. Ngor (The Killing Fields) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India) OTHER AWARDS
Best Original Screenplay = Gregory Nava & Anna Thomas (El Norte)
I have to admit that I was pretty happy with the Academy's picks in 1984. The big exception would be Best Score. Can anyone remember the winning score from A Passage to India? Now, can you remember the majestic score from The Natural? Randy Newman was robbed! Sally Field was the one 'acting' exception as I thought Jessica Lange was better. I was surprised that El Norte was not even nominated for Best Foreign Film but maybe it didn't qualify under the rules. It is one of the best foreign language films I've ever seen, but it is partially in English. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1983 Among my favorite films of 1983 were: the comedies A Christmas Story; Trading Places; The Man With Two Brains; National Lampoon's Vacation and the offbeat King of Comedy plus entertaining films like: Risky Business; Brainstorm; Bad Boys; Return of the Jedi; Twilight Zone: the Movie; The Big Chill; All the Right Moves; Never Cry Wolf; Purple Haze and the Oscar winner, Terms of Endearment. Another film that was hard to watch but very moving was Testament. I wish they had nominated some of my favorites for Oscars as they certainly have stood the test of time. The choices were slim in 1983 but the Academy did a fairly good job of awarding the deserving:
Oscar Winner = Terms of Endearment BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jack Nicholson (Terms of Endearment) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously) OTHER AWARDS
Best Original (Music) Score = Michael Gore (Terms of Endearment) One of the few years I am almost in complete agreement with the Academy. Best Actress was a tough category and Jane Alexander, Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger were all deserving. Best Actor was a very weak category, but Duvall is an accomplished actor and is never bad. I thought Jerry Lewis deserved a Best Supporting Actor nomination for King of Comedy. This was also the year that Streisand was snubbed for Yentl but it was not among her best work. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1982
This was a year of "highway robbery" by the Academy! 1982 was a pretty good year for films as besides the Oscar nominees, E.T.: the Extra Terrestrial; Gandhi; Tootsie; The Verdict and Missing, were: Das Boot; Diner; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Poltergeist; Blade Runner; The World According to Garp; An Officer and a Gentleman; John Carpenter's gory version of "The Thing"; Conan the Barbarian which made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star and box-office draw; The Last American Virgin; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; The Road Warrior; Quest for Fire; Creepshow; The Dark Crystal; 48 Hours; the fine documentary Wasn't That A Time! and others. The Academy continued their snub of Steven Spielberg by ignoring the Best Film of the year and of the decade. Even the acting honors were somewhat suspect. The awards went to Gandhi, not the film, the person. The Academy consistently doles out awards to the wrong recipients for the wrong reasons. Awards have gone for careers rather than single performances, political reasons rather than quality, and to heavy messages and somber material over entertainment. Such was the case in 1982:
Oscar Winner = Gandhi BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jessica Lange (Tootsie) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Steven Spielberg (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)
Few years have had such blatant bad choices as 1982. I sincerely believe the Academy was honoring Mahatma Gandhi himself rather than the film. After these 15 plus years the question is, which film is the most memorable? The overlong, mostly boring Gandhi or the charming, warm E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial? Gandhi might have been a better film had an hour or so of extraneous footage been edited out. Time will honor the better film! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1981 No year illustrates as well as 1981 the Academy's bias towards comedy and adventure films. The best films of the year were comedies and adventure films like: Arthur; The Four Seasons; Time Bandits; Clash of the Titans; Dragonslayer; Eye of the Needle; Nighthawks; Superman II; Excalibur and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Instead they chose, arguably, one of the most boring films ever to win an Oscar. Their choices for actors were sentimental favorites awarded more for their careers then the roles for which they were nominated:
Oscar Winner = Chariots of Fire BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = John Gielgud (Arthur) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Maureen Stapleton (Reds) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Steven Spielberg (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Again it was not a year of great movies so an average film had a great shot at an Oscar but instead a real "snoozer" won as Best Picture. Why does the Academy maintain such a pompous, ostentatious profile by choosing such boring drivel? I think they feel it gives them a "high-class" image while on the contrary it makes them seem stodgy and old-fashioned. They do need to work heavily on their image! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1980 The decade of the 80s began with a mediocre slate of films in an uneventful year for the movies and that was to reflect almost the entire decade. Among my favorite films of 1980 were: The Blue Lagoon; Somewhere in Time; The Empire Strikes Back; Tom Horn and The Hunter (two of Steve McQueen's last films); Hopscotch; Airplane; Flash Gordon and The Island as well as the Oscar nominated Elephant Man and Tess. This year's winners were quite disappointing to me:
Oscar Winner = Ordinary People BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Robert DeNiro (Raging Bull) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Roman Polanski (Tess)
This was definitely a preview of things to come for the 1980s...a very mediocre time for motion pictures. The Academy joined the critics in handing out accolades to Raging Bull, a film voted by some the best film of the decade. I, personally, found it uncomfortable to watch and mean spirited although I would admit it was technically a well-crafted film but not any more so than "Elephant Man". "Elephant Man" was a remarkable story and an extremely poignant experience; a much better film. "Raging Bull" was just not my 'cup-o-tea'! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1979 1979 was a year of a few decent comedies and not much else. Among some of my favorites were: Alien; Yanks; Escape From Alcatraz; Breaking Away; Heartland; The Onion Field; Time After Time and the comedies The Inlaws; The Villain; Ten and La Cage Aux Folles. One look at the Best Picture nominees bears out another mediocre year for films. The choices were:
Oscar Winner = Kramer Vs. Kramer BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Dustin Hoffman (Kramer Vs. Kramer) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Sally Field (Norma Rae) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Melvyn Douglas (Being There) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Meryl Streep (Kramer Vs. Kramer) OTHER AWARDS
Best Art Direction = Alien
One question I would ask is why La Cage Aux Folles was not nominated as Best Foreign Language Film? It deserved to be nominated as Best Picture as it is one of the best foreign films I have ever seen. Again this touches on the Academy's bias towards comedic films. I would put Alien up against any of the Best Picture nominees as a film that will be remembered as a classic long after the they have disappeared from memory. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1978 It was another lackluster year for films in which mediocre films prevailed at the Academy Awards. Among my favorite films of 1978 were: Coma; The End; Damien: Omen II; Days of Heaven; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Superman; King of the Gypsies; The Duellists and The Boys From Brazil. Years like this one allow us to really appreciate a year like 1995 when all the nominees are rife with quality and deserving of the Oscar.
Oscar Winner = The Deer Hunter BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jon Voight (Coming Home) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jane Fonda (Coming Home) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Maggie Smith (California Suite) OTHER AWARDS
Best Song = Hopelessly Devoted to You (Grease)
The Academy did a fair job of awarding the Oscar to mediocre films of a mediocre year. This was a year of very little quality work. The most competitive category, in which every nominee was deserving, was Best Original (Music) Score. The Award was won by Giorgio Moroder for Midnight Express but virtually every score nominated in 1978 has become a classic. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1977 Two of the best motion pictures ever made were released in 1977, but not much more. It was another stark year for quality films. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were produced and directed by the two wunderkind directors Lucas & Spielberg but only one was nominated as Best Picture. Acting categories, too, were nothing special. One film that deserved some consideration but got none was A Bridge Too Far. The winners were:
Oscar Winner = Annie Hall BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Diane Keaton (Annie Hall) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jason Robards (Julia) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Vanessa Redgrave (Julia) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = George Lucas (Star Wars)
It was nice to see the Academy heap so many awards on Star Wars & Close Encounters..., but most were technical and these were the best two films of the year, perhaps the decade. Thus the Academy's bias or envy of Spielberg & Lucas continued...for shame! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1976 1976 was a good year for movies, especially comedies with films like: Bad News Bears; Murder By Death; Silver Streak and the Big Bus as well as Hitchcock's last film Family Plot; All the President's Men; The Omen; Marathon Man and The Shootist. To me, these films are more memorable than the Oscar nominees save All the President's Men, which was nominated.
Oscar Winner = Rocky BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Peter Finch (Network) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Faye Dunaway (Network) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jason Robards (All the President's Men) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Beatrice Straight (Network) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men) I pretty much agree with most of the minor awards and really couldn't fault the acting award winners but the Best Picture winner had to be an upset even though my choice was probably not the front runner. Rocky was a frivolous film not the type the Academy usually chooses to honor. It almost reflects the film itself, as it became an unlikely victor. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1975 In a year loaded with good films, the competition was quite stiff at the Academy Awards. My favorite films of 1975 were: The Wind and the Lion; Jaws; Farewell My Lovely; Dog Day Afternoon; Barry Lyndon; Three Days of the Condor and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as well as the comedies: Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Sunshine Boys. Acting categories were tough also. Some years it has to be difficult to choose!
Oscar Winner = One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = George Burns (The Sunshine Boys) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Lee Grant (Shampoo) OTHER AWARDS Best Director = Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon)
The lushly filmed Barry Lyndon won most of the technical awards and to be beat by Cuckoo's Nest was an honorable defeat, but I still say Barry Lyndon was the better film. A rare occurrence was the awarding of an Oscar to George Burns for an actual comedy role; usually unheard of by the Academy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1974 1974 was another year of slim pickings for quality movies. The Parallax View; Chinatown; The Taking of Pelham One Two Three; The Towering Inferno; The Godfather Part II; The Spikes Gang and The Odessa File were among the better films of the year. Still, the choices were quite difficult among the Oscar nominees. Quality, ensemble acting and some excellently crafted films made for tough decisions by the Academy. They fared well however.
Oscar Winner = The Godfather Part II BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Art Carney (Harry and Tonto) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Robert DeNiro (The Godfather Part II) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Ingrid Bergman (Murder on the Orient Express) OTHER AWARDS None
I guess I'm pretty much in agreement with the Academy's choices for 1974. I felt Jon Voight deserved a nomination for The Odessa File and John Huston in Chinatown was most deserving. The technical awards were for the most part perfect...no complaints from me. Every year quality performances are missed but that's bound to occur. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1973 Obviously I have not seen all the films in any given year so these choices and comments are based on those I have. 1973 was a good year for films. Lots of *** (three star) or Good films. Some were low budget "sleepers" but deserve recognition. Among those: Walking Tall; Breezy; Class of 44; Serpico and Soylent Green. Among the **** (four star) or excellent films were: The Exorcist; Papillon; Day of the Jackal and Sleeper (probably the best Woody Allen film ever). The Academy chose to honor:
Oscar Winner = The Sting BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Jack Lemmon (Save the Tiger) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = John Houseman (The Paper Chase) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon) OTHER AWARDS
Best Director = William Friedkin (The Exorcist)
From the looks of my choices it sounds like The Exorcist was the best film I'd ever seen. This is not necessarily true; it was a great film but of the 1973 nominees it was superior. To exclude a masterpiece like The Day of the Jackal and even Papillon definitely detracts from the Academy's credibility. I found The Sting to be a bore...but that's just my opinion. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1972 The 1970s started out with some topnotch films and 1972 was no exception. It was the year of the "realistic" Western with films like: The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid; The Culpepper Cattle Company and Jeremiah Johnson to name just a few. Also among top films of 1972 were: Deliverance; The Candidate; 1776; Frenzy; Cabaret; The Godfather; The Emigrants and its sequel The New Land. It was one of those rare years where the choices are difficult to make.
Oscar Winner = The Godfather BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Marlon Brando (The Godfather) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Liza Minnelli (Cabaret) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Joel Grey (Cabaret) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free)
OTHER AWARDS It was an unusual situation to have one film, The Emigrants, nominated as Best Film and its sequel, The New Land, nominated as Best Foreign Film. Both films are masterpieces of filmmaking. In another year they may have won but The Godfather is also a masterpiece and most deserving of its Oscar. What is difficult to understand is how a film can win Best Picture and its director loses to another. In this case, Coppola was the creator of the masterpiece. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1971 With such diverse fare as: The French Connection; The Andromeda Strain; Summer of 42; A New Leaf; Fiddler on the Roof; A Clockwork Orange; Diamonds are Forever (one of the best of the Bond films); Billy Jack and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory one can pretty much determine what kind of a year 1971 was for movies. The latter two were actually hits. The Academy Chose:
Oscar Winner = The French Connection BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Gene Hackman (The French Connection) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Jane Fonda (Klute) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show) OTHER AWARDS
Screenplay (Other Media) = Mulligan & Roth (Summer of 42)
I'm quite puzzled by the nomination of The Emigrants as Best Foreign Film as it was also nominated in 1972 for Best Picture. The choices this year were tough but the awards were split evenly among some very good films. I even liked the Best Song winner, Shaft, so I can't really argue much at all about the choices in 1971. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1970 1970 was a very good year for movies. Beside the Oscar nominated films were such hits as: A Man Called Horse; The Out of Towners; Little Big Man; Scrooge; The Hawaiians and other quality films. Good competition made for an interesting Oscar race. The choices were:
Oscar Winner = Patton BEST ACTOR
Oscar Winner = George C. Scott (Patton) BEST ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Glenda Jackson (Women in Love) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Winner = John Mills (Ryan's Daughter) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Oscar Winner = Helen Hayes (Airport) OTHER AWARDS
Best Screenplay (Other Media) = George Seaton (Airport)
To be honest, I was rooting for Airport in which I appeared as an extra and actually helped in second unit direction. I felt that Little Big Man should have received a nod for Best Picture; surely it was better than Love Story; Five Easy Pieces and M*A*S*H. George C. Scott most certainly deserved his Oscar as I felt his was one of the very best performances of all time.
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