The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1984
Amadeus, Amadeus … Amadeus, Amadeus … Amadeus, Amadeus … oh, Amadeus.
Guess what won Best Picture this year, Falco? And Best Director for Milos Forman (talked about here)? This year, to me, was the best year of the 80s, Oscar-wise. As an Oscar decade, I despise the 80s. The only decisions from it I love are this one and Platoon. And I like Rain Man and Terms of Endearment, even though I think both were kind of weak choices for Best Picture (more so the latter, since The Right Stuff so should have beaten it), and respect The Last Emperor. But, for me, there are only three decisions I really like. Out of a decade. And of that decade, there are four decisions I outright loathe. Contrast that to the 90s, where there are only two decisions I outright loathe, and the rest I love, respect or understand. So this year to me is the diamond in the rough that is the shitty 80s.
Best Actress this year was Sally Field for Places in the Heart (talked about here). I don’t love it, but I understand it, because it was seriously the weakest Best Actress category of all time. It was really bad. Best Supporting Actor was Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields (talked about here), which I sort of understand, but don’t like as a decision at all. And Best Supporting Actress was Peggy Ashcroft for A Passage to India, which, despite the film sucking, is understandable as a decision because the category is one of the weakest of all time and she’s a veteran.
Which brings us to this category, which is just wonderful.
BEST ACTOR – 1984
And the nominees were…
F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus
Jeff Bridges, Starman
Albert Finney, Under the Volcano
Tom Hulce, Amadeus
Sam Waterston, The Killing Fields (more…)
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