The Oscar Quest: My Oscar Nominations — Best Director (1990-2011)
This is part of a series of articles where I’m putting forth my opinions about what I’d nominate in all of the Oscar Quest categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress). Normally I take the categories as they are, but I thought it would be fun to figure out what I’d vote for if I had a ballot each year. Keep in mind, this is only for NOMINATIONS and nothing else.
My only problem with this is that I knew if I did it, too many people, were they doing the same thing, would put on movies that just didn’t belong on an Oscar ballot. (I would too, in some cases. We just like what we like.) My problem was that people would take this exercise as an opportunity to really just go off the rails with stuff (which, if you read through all these articles, you’ll see me call people out for it, since I know exactly which films and which performances people would put on). So my way around this was by creating what I call a “Compromise List” — after I tell you what was actually nominated and what I’d put on my ballot, I’m making a list whereby I try to make everyone happy and keep it mostly close to what would be there, Academy-wise. You’ll see. My lists usually end up being better and not crazy.
The things to take into account with the performance categories — I can only nominate what I’ve seen. So me not seeing something will be a big reason why some stuff doesn’t appear. And, as always, I tell people not to bother me with one random person in one random category, since I have everything to think about. If you want to say something, wait until you’ve seen all the films/tried this yourself before you do it. And I don’t care about foreign performances, for the most part. There’s a long and complicated answer there, but — I don’t. And the big rule for anyone doing this — if someone won a category, YOU CAN’T LEAVE THEM OFF THE COMPROMISE LIST. Can’t do it.
Otherwise — here’s the next set of categories. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: My Oscar Nominations — Best Supporting Actress (1990-2011)
This is part of a series of articles where I’m putting forth my opinions about what I’d nominate in all of the Oscar Quest categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress). Normally I take the categories as they are, but I thought it would be fun to figure out what I’d vote for if I had a ballot each year. Keep in mind, this is only for NOMINATIONS and nothing else.
My only problem with this is that I knew if I did it, too many people, were they doing the same thing, would put on movies that just didn’t belong on an Oscar ballot. (I would too, in some cases. We just like what we like.) My problem was that people would take this exercise as an opportunity to really just go off the rails with stuff (which, if you read through all these articles, you’ll see me call people out for it, since I know exactly which films and which performances people would put on). So my way around this was by creating what I call a “Compromise List” — after I tell you what was actually nominated and what I’d put on my ballot, I’m making a list whereby I try to make everyone happy and keep it mostly close to what would be there, Academy-wise. You’ll see. My lists usually end up being better and not crazy.
The things to take into account with the performance categories — I can only nominate what I’ve seen. So me not seeing something will be a big reason why some stuff doesn’t appear. And, as always, I tell people not to bother me with one random person in one random category, since I have everything to think about. If you want to say something, wait until you’ve seen all the films/tried this yourself before you do it. And I don’t care about foreign performances, for the most part. There’s a long and complicated answer there, but — I don’t. And the big rule for anyone doing this — if someone won a category, YOU CAN’T LEAVE THEM OFF THE COMPROMISE LIST. Can’t do it.
Otherwise — here’s the next set of categories. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: My Oscar Nominations — Best Supporting Actor (1990-2011)
This is part of a series of articles where I’m putting forth my opinions about what I’d nominate in all of the Oscar Quest categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress). Normally I take the categories as they are, but I thought it would be fun to figure out what I’d vote for if I had a ballot each year. Keep in mind, this is only for NOMINATIONS and nothing else.
My only problem with this is that I knew if I did it, too many people, were they doing the same thing, would put on movies that just didn’t belong on an Oscar ballot. (I would too, in some cases. We just like what we like.) My problem was that people would take this exercise as an opportunity to really just go off the rails with stuff (which, if you read through all these articles, you’ll see me call people out for it, since I know exactly which films and which performances people would put on). So my way around this was by creating what I call a “Compromise List” — after I tell you what was actually nominated and what I’d put on my ballot, I’m making a list whereby I try to make everyone happy and keep it mostly close to what would be there, Academy-wise. You’ll see. My lists usually end up being better and not crazy.
The things to take into account with the performance categories — I can only nominate what I’ve seen. So me not seeing something will be a big reason why some stuff doesn’t appear. And, as always, I tell people not to bother me with one random person in one random category, since I have everything to think about. If you want to say something, wait until you’ve seen all the films/tried this yourself before you do it. And I don’t care about foreign performances, for the most part. There’s a long and complicated answer there, but — I don’t. And the big rule for anyone doing this — if someone won a category, YOU CAN’T LEAVE THEM OFF THE COMPROMISE LIST. Can’t do it.
Otherwise — here’s the next set of categories. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: My Oscar Nominations — Best Actress (1990-2011)
This is part of a series of articles where I’m putting forth my opinions about what I’d nominate in all of the Oscar Quest categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress). Normally I take the categories as they are, but I thought it would be fun to figure out what I’d vote for if I had a ballot each year. Keep in mind, this is only for NOMINATIONS and nothing else.
My only problem with this is that I knew if I did it, too many people, were they doing the same thing, would put on movies that just didn’t belong on an Oscar ballot. (I would too, in some cases. We just like what we like.) My problem was that people would take this exercise as an opportunity to really just go off the rails with stuff (which, if you read through all these articles, you’ll see me call people out for it, since I know exactly which films and which performances people would put on). So my way around this was by creating what I call a “Compromise List” — after I tell you what was actually nominated and what I’d put on my ballot, I’m making a list whereby I try to make everyone happy and keep it mostly close to what would be there, Academy-wise. You’ll see. My lists usually end up being better and not crazy.
The things to take into account with the performance categories — I can only nominate what I’ve seen. So me not seeing something will be a big reason why some stuff doesn’t appear. And, as always, I tell people not to bother me with one random person in one random category, since I have everything to think about. If you want to say something, wait until you’ve seen all the films/tried this yourself before you do it. And I don’t care about foreign performances, for the most part. There’s a long and complicated answer there, but — I don’t. And the big rule for anyone doing this — if someone won a category, YOU CAN’T LEAVE THEM OFF THE COMPROMISE LIST. Can’t do it.
Otherwise — here’s the next set of categories. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: My Oscar Nominations — Best Actor (1990-2011)
These performance articles are going to be tougher than the Best Picture ones. But before we get into that, let me explain:
I’m doing a series of articles where I sort of mediate my opinions about what should have been nominated in all of the Oscar Quest categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress), all time (1927-1928 to present), next to what the actual nominees were. I’ve never actually gone on record about what I think should have been nominated, mostly because I treat the Oscars as something that’s just a thing. I have opinions each year about what should or shouldn’t be nominated, but once a category is in place I (unlike many other people), have respect for the category as an entity. I don’t fuck with them, and treat everything as, “Okay, it’s there. Now how do I vote?”
But I figured I could accomplish two things by actually telling people what I’d nominate. First, I figured I could use my opinions to create what I’m calling a Compromise List, which is basically a mixture of what actually happened and what I think should have happened, which, to most rational people who like movies (and respect the Oscars), actually ends up being something that perfectly mediates the two. I feel like these Compromise Lists give everyone the best of both worlds — we get to nominate shit that was ignored, and the films that the Academy clearly liked get to stay. And (hopefully) everyone’s happy. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: My Oscar Nominations — Best Picture (1990-2011)
This seemed like an obvious next step after I did the Oscar Quest. I try not to deal in ‘what-ifs,’ so pulling that bullshit of simply saying, “Oh, this is what I would have nominated,” felt like a dick move to me. Because people do that all the time, and they’re always too subjective to take seriously. It’s like, “I would totally have voted for Blade Runner over Missing,” meanwhile they haven’t seen Missing and there’s no fucking way in any world that Blade Runner would have been nominated for Best Picture. And I refused to get involved with that without being able to tell people — “Look, don’t be stupid.”
But I found a way around that. I decided, that if I was going to say, “Here’s what I would have voted for if I had a ballot,” I would also point out that some of the shit I’d vote for would never happen. And that gave me the idea for the “Compromise List.” The Compromise List is basically — I have films I think shouldn’t have been nominated. I have films I’d nominate that other people (more importantly, the Academy) don’t think should be nominated. So, the idea of the Compromise List is — we swap out shit I don’t like with shit we all can get behind (since most of it has been established as stuff that’s great).
I, personally, found myself unable to be totally subjective here. Because I, unlike most people, have respect for the Academy as an institution, and the history they have. Sure, I think they make asinine decisions all the time, but I refuse to pull that bullshit of “Star Trek on Best Picture list!” No. I don’t care if it was a better movie than The Blind Side – I won’t do it. And to even think it would have happened is to belittle what the Oscars are. I know a good movie is a good movie, but we have 85 years of precedent before us. You can’t tell me certain movies should be nominated. Hence the compromise list. (more…)
Best Original Song: A Categorical History (1991-1995)
There are no words for this one. Just listen:
1991: ”BEAUTY AND THE BEAST,” FROM BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1995
1995 is one of the strangest years in recent Academy history. Because seemingly, Apollo 13 was the film this year. It won all the major precursors — the PGA, the DGA (this is one of the only 6 times in history where the DGA and Oscar winner differed), SAG — and yet was almost completely shut out here. Must have been a real interesting race, that’s for sure.
Aside from this category, Braveheart also wins Best Director for Mel Gibson (talked about here), which is a good decision by virtue of the fact that Ron Howard wasn’t even nominated in the category. Then Best Actor was Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas (talked about here), a decision I love. (It was him or Anthony Hopkins, and Hopkins had one already.) Best Actress was Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking (talked about here). I don’t like this decision, I felt Elisabeth Shue was much better in Leaving Las Vegas, but Sarandon was going to win one anyway, so this was as good a time as any. Best Supporting Actor was Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects (talked about here). I can’t be objective on this category, so I just say good for him. And Best Supporting Actress was Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite (talked about here), which was a perfect decision. She was amazing in that movie.
But this category — I wonder what it is that led to such a drastic change in voting. Was it that Braveheart was more emotional for the voters? Actually, what I bet it was is that people saw Apollo 13 as more of a populist film without any heart, whereas the Academy can never turn down an actor-director. (By the way, I also see this category as directly responsible for what happened in 2001.)
BEST PICTURE – 1995
And the nominees were…
Apollo 13 (Universal, Imagine Entertainment)
Babe (Universal)
Braveheart (Paramount, Icon)
Il Postino (Miramax)
Sense and Sensibility (Columbia) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1995
I like 1995. Because it’s overall solid. It’s one where I don’t disagree with the choices. I’d just simply, have gone another way. You know. It’s like passing away as opposed to dying. One just feels better. Then again, one also doesn’t involve going down in a hail of gunfire at the Vatican. So there are pros and cons.
Braveheart wins Best Picture. I like Braveheart. I just like Apollo 13 more. Mel Gibson wins Best Director for the film (talked about here), which works, since Ron Howard wasn’t nominated. So Mel dominated that category. Best Actor was Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas (talked about here). Perfect choice, despite the stacked category. Best Actress was Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking (talked about here), which had been coming to her for a long time. I personally would have gone with Elisabeth Shue, but the decision was still good. And Best Supporting Actress was Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aprhodite (talked about here), which I love very much.
So there’s no real decision this year where I’m vehemently against it. I like that. And then there’s this category, and, aside from some questions about legitimacy (it’s kind of a lead performance), no one can really argue with this one. It’s pretty awesome, in fact.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1995
And the nominees were…
James Cromwell, Babe
Ed Harris, Apollo 13
Brad Pitt, Twelve Monkeys
Tim Roth, Rob Roy
Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1995
I get in a lot of trouble with 1995. It’s one of those things where — whenever I disagree with the majority, and don’t like something everyone loves, I keep my mouth shut. It’s a no-win situation. If they find out you don’t like something, they start attacking you, because why don’t you like it? And why do you like that other piece of shit instead? And it get malicious. And who needs that? So I just keep quiet. But here is kind of where a few of those things I don’t like come to light. There are two films in particular here that people seem to love that I just don’t.
Braveheart wins Best Picture, which, I don’t really think was a great decision. Braveheart is a great film, but, I think Apollo 13 was a better film (based on the nominees). Just because, each has its problems, and I find Apollo 13 to be the more watchable film and the one that holds up better. Braveheart‘s a little too romanticized for me. And people love that film, which is why I hate to speak ill of it. But, it really shouldn’t have won. And Mel shouldn’t really have won Best Director for it. But since Ron Howard wasn’t nominated (which I talked about here), it was a good decision. Then, Best Actor was Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas, which I think was a great (albeit tough) decision (which I talked about here). Best Supporting Actor was Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects, which speaks for itself. And Best Supporting Actress was Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite, which I’m over the moon about (as I said here). So that’s 1995. In all, a very good year.
Now, my main dissension that shows with this year is in thinking Braveheart shouldn’t have won Best Picture, and here. I just don’t like Dead Man Walking. People just love saying that Sean Penn should have won Best Actor for it, and think Sarandon winning was a great decision. And I just don’t get it. I mean, the film was fine, but, I don’t think it should have won anything it won. And that’s where most people get upset. But, I’m gonna be honest with you, I just don’t see what the appeal with the film and that performance is.
BEST ACTRESS – 1995
And the nominees were…
Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas
Sharon Stone, Casino
Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County
Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings — Best Director
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Actor. Just in case the one big article is too much for you and you just want one specific category.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for. Anything in RED means I haven’t seen the film yet.)
Best Director
2011 – 1. Martin Scorsese, Hugo *
2. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
3. Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
4. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
5. Alexander Payne, The Descendants (more…)
The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide — Best Director
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide, specifically for Best Director.
A reminder about the color code:
Films in RED are films that are essential. These are films you need to see, whether you like them or not. Though you’ll probably like most of them. A few of these may be part of a personal bias, but this is my list. Just think of the films in red as films you need to see if you want to be film literate (in the most basic sense). At least 70% of these are films that, if you haven’t seen them, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are the prerequisites you need to get into the class. (5-star films.)
Films in ORANGE are films that are my personal favorites (that aren’t already marked red). While not “essential” per say, these are films that I love dearly. They’re essential to me. They’re films that I will tell you that you need to see. I’d say that 80% of the time, these are going to be films that most people would enjoy. A few of them might be subjective to me, but on the whole, these are all very good films. I tried to limit the orange ones to only the best of the best, my absolute favorites. But either way, I love them, and you should definitely see at least 80% of them. (My 5-star films. At worst, most people’s 3-star films. Generally 4′s for everybody.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings — Best Supporting Actress
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Supporting Actress. Just in case the one big article is too much for you and you just want one specific category.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for.)
Best Supporting Actress
2011 – 1. Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
2. Jessica Chastain, The Help *
3. Octavia Spencer, The Help
4. Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
5. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids (more…)
The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide — Best Supporting Actress
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide, specifically for Best Supporting Actress.
A reminder about the color code:
Films in RED are films that are essential. These are films you need to see, whether you like them or not. Though you’ll probably like most of them. A few of these may be part of a personal bias, but this is my list. Just think of the films in red as films you need to see if you want to be film literate (in the most basic sense). At least 70% of these are films that, if you haven’t seen them, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are the prerequisites you need to get into the class. (5-star films.)
Films in ORANGE are films that are my personal favorites (that aren’t already marked red). While not “essential” per say, these are films that I love dearly. They’re essential to me. They’re films that I will tell you that you need to see. I’d say that 80% of the time, these are going to be films that most people would enjoy. A few of them might be subjective to me, but on the whole, these are all very good films. I tried to limit the orange ones to only the best of the best, my absolute favorites. But either way, I love them, and you should definitely see at least 80% of them. (My 5-star films. At worst, most people’s 3-star films. Generally 4′s for everybody.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings – Best Supporting Actor
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Supporting Actor. Just in case the one big article is too much for you and you just want one specific category.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for. Anything in RED means I haven’t seen the film yet.)
Best Supporting Actor
2011 – 1. Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close *
2. Christopher Plummer, Beginners
3. Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
4. Nick Nolte, Warrior
5. Jonah Hill, Moneyball (more…)
The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide — Best Supporting Actor
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide, specifically for Best Supporting Actor.
A reminder about the color code:
Films in RED are films that are essential. These are films you need to see, whether you like them or not. Though you’ll probably like most of them. A few of these may be part of a personal bias, but this is my list. Just think of the films in red as films you need to see if you want to be film literate (in the most basic sense). At least 70% of these are films that, if you haven’t seen them, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are the prerequisites you need to get into the class. (5-star films.)
Films in ORANGE are films that are my personal favorites (that aren’t already marked red). While not “essential” per say, these are films that I love dearly. They’re essential to me. They’re films that I will tell you that you need to see. I’d say that 80% of the time, these are going to be films that most people would enjoy. A few of them might be subjective to me, but on the whole, these are all very good films. I tried to limit the orange ones to only the best of the best, my absolute favorites. But either way, I love them, and you should definitely see at least 80% of them. (My 5-star films. At worst, most people’s 3-star films. Generally 4′s for everybody.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings – Best Actress
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Actress.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for. Anything in RED means I haven’t seen the film yet.)
Best Actress
2011 – 1. Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo *
2. Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
3. Viola Davis, The Help
4. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
5. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs (more…)
The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide – Best Actress
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide, specifically for Best Actress.
A reminder about the color code:
Films in RED are films that are essential. These are films you need to see, whether you like them or not. Though you’ll probably like most of them. A few of these may be part of a personal bias, but this is my list. Just think of the films in red as films you need to see if you want to be film literate (in the most basic sense). At least 70% of these are films that, if you haven’t seen them, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are the prerequisites you need to get into the class. (5-star films.)
Films in ORANGE are films that are my personal favorites (that aren’t already marked red). While not “essential” per say, these are films that I love dearly. They’re essential to me. They’re films that I will tell you that you need to see. I’d say that 80% of the time, these are going to be films that most people would enjoy. A few of them might be subjective to me, but on the whole, these are all very good films. I tried to limit the orange ones to only the best of the best, my absolute favorites. But either way, I love them, and you should definitely see at least 80% of them. (My 5-star films. At worst, most people’s 3-star films. Generally 4′s for everybody.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings – Best Actor
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Actor. Just in case the one big article is too much for you and you just want one specific category.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for. Anything in RED means I haven’t seen the film yet.)
Best Actor
2011 – 1. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy *
2. Jean Dujardin, The Artist
3. George Clooney, The Descendants
4. Brad Pitt, Moneyball
5. Demián Bichir, A Better Life (more…)
The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide – Best Actor
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide, specifically for Best Actor.
A reminder about the color code:
Films in RED are films that are essential. These are films you need to see, whether you like them or not. Though you’ll probably like most of them. A few of these may be part of a personal bias, but this is my list. Just think of the films in red as films you need to see if you want to be film literate (in the most basic sense). At least 70% of these are films that, if you haven’t seen them, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are the prerequisites you need to get into the class. (5-star films.)
Films in ORANGE are films that are my personal favorites (that aren’t already marked red). While not “essential” per say, these are films that I love dearly. They’re essential to me. They’re films that I will tell you that you need to see. I’d say that 80% of the time, these are going to be films that most people would enjoy. A few of them might be subjective to me, but on the whole, these are all very good films. I tried to limit the orange ones to only the best of the best, my absolute favorites. But either way, I love them, and you should definitely see at least 80% of them. (My 5-star films. At worst, most people’s 3-star films. Generally 4′s for everybody.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings – Best Picture
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Picture.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for. Anything in RED means I haven’t seen the film yet.)
Best Picture
2011 – 1. The Artist (The Weinstein Company) *
2. Hugo (Paramount)
3. Moneyball (Columbia)
4. War Horse (Touchstone, DreamWorks)
5. The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight)
6. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight)
7. Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
8. The Help (Touchstone, DreamWorks)
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide – Best Picture
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Picture.
A reminder about the color code:
Films in RED are films that are essential. These are films you need to see, whether you like them or not. Though you’ll probably like most of them. A few of these may be part of a personal bias, but this is my list. Just think of the films in red as films you need to see if you want to be film literate (in the most basic sense). At least 70% of these are films that, if you haven’t seen them, you should be ashamed of yourself. These are the prerequisites you need to get into the class. (5-star films.)
Films in ORANGE are films that are my personal favorites (that aren’t already marked red). While not “essential” per say, these are films that I love dearly. They’re essential to me. They’re films that I will tell you that you need to see. I’d say that 80% of the time, these are going to be films that most people would enjoy. A few of them might be subjective to me, but on the whole, these are all very good films. I tried to limit the orange ones to only the best of the best, my absolute favorites. But either way, I love them, and you should definitely see at least 80% of them. (My 5-star films. At worst, most people’s 3-star films. Generally 4′s for everybody.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Rankings
At the bottom of all my Oscar Quest articles, after talking about the films and performances and how I ranked them in that specific category, I ranked all the nominees. This article is a collection of those rankings. (Any changes from what I originally wrote we’ll mediate as they pop up.)
There’s no real set criteria to explain how I ranked everything. I’m sure there’s some overly complicated formula I have in my head, but let’s not try to explain what goes on in my head. The general rules for the rankings are: almost always do my favorite films and performances take precedent. They’ll usually go first. Sometimes the order will be solely how I like the films, and sometimes they’ll be solely how I rate the performances. Most times, it’s a bit of both. Usually there’s a clear #1 (or lack thereof) that dictates how the rest of the list proceeds. There’s really no definitive explanation, so I’ll leave it at: I’ve Santa Claus’d this list multiple times, and I stand by every one of these rankings.
The goal of all of this was always to recommend films for you to see (being able to put forth my opinion on it was a bonus). Use this alongside The Oscar Quest: A Viewer’s Guide article as a way of finding films to see. With these, you can very quickly find out which films I love and think you should see, no reading required. And any reading you care to do is just a click away. Plus, by reading the articles and seeing the films (even if it’s just simply the small handful of ones I say you need to see), you’ll have more knowledge of the Oscars and their history than the av-er-age person, making you that much more qualified to say, “What? That? Fuck no, that shouldn’t have won!” Who doesn’t want that? (more…)
