The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1959
1959 was Ben-Hur. Game over, man. But that’s just Best Picture and Best Director. The acting categories are fair game. Just because it won two acting awards does not necessarily mean it should have. That’s this category’s major issue. It’s like with Lawrence of Arabia. How much does just simply carrying a film of this scale count toward voting?
I like this. We have a theme. It only really counts for one performance, but fuck it, let’s run with it. As for the rest of the year, as I said, Ben-Hur swept Picture, Director and also Supporting Actor, which went to Hugh Griffith. Best Actress was Simone Signoret for Room at the Top, which I am so not happy about and will get to at some point. And Best Supporting Actress was Shelley Winters for The Diary of Anne Frank. This is a deceptively okay year. It seems like the decisions were fine because of the obvious choice in Ben-Hur, but, in actuality, I really don’t agree with any of the acting choices. I’m okay with one, maybe two of them, but, really, I think they could have picked better.
BEST ACTOR – 1959
And the nominees were…
Laurence Harvey, Room at the Top
Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur
Jack Lemmon, Some Like It Hot
Paul Muni, The Last Angry Man
Jimmy Stewart, Anatomy of a Murder (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1990
Ah, 1990 again. The year Goodfellas lost to Dances with Wolves. I think that about covers how well this year went.
Best Actor was Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune, Best Actress was Kathy Bates for Misery, Best Supporting Actor was Joe Pesci for Goodfellas, and Best Director was Kevin Costner, for Wolves.
I like this category though. It’s filled with a lot of interesting performances that I liked a lot. It’ll be a fun one to go through, since, either Best Supporting Actress is a great category, or it’s fucking insufferable. They’re all veteran nominations, or they got in based on support for the film. It’s terrible. But here — oh man, this is gonna be fun.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1990
And the nominees were…
Annette Bening, The Grifters
Lorraine Bracco, Goodfellas
Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost
Diane Ladd, Wild at Heart
Mary McDonnell, Dances with Wolves (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1977
Ah, 1977. Star Wars loses to Annie Hall. Or rather, Star Wars had no shot at winning Best Picture and Annie Hall upsets the presumed favorite, The Turning Point, a melodrama about aging ballerinas. Yeah, everybody makes mistakes.
What’s most interesting about this category in particular, is that the winner won for the wrong film. It’s not that Annie Hall was a bad film, it’s just, Diane Keaton wasn’t really acting in it. The other film she did this year, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, is, however, a fucking phenomenal performance and one that would have won this category hands down. But, in typical Academy fashion, they went with the “lighter” of the two performances because, well, I guess they can’t take depressing films.
The other winners this year were Richard Dreyfuss as Best Actor for The Goodbye Girl, Jason Robards and Vanessa Redgrave as Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor for Julia (Robards won this category two years running on this one), and Woody Allen winning Best Director for Annie Hall. I know. But we’ll try not to talk about it.
BEST ACTRESS – 1977
And the nominees are…
Anne Bancroft, The Turning Point
Jane Fonda, Julia
Diane Keaton, Annie Hall
Shirley MacLaine, The Turning Point
Marsha Mason, The Goodbye Girl (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1934
Everybody has one year they’re the most biased about. 1934 is mine.
Most years, you can at least have some sort of objectivity when you go, “Yeah, I guess it’s okay.” But, here, my favorite film of all time is contained amongst the nominees, and no matter what it’s up against, I’m always going to feel as if it should have won. So this one’s gonna be brief on the voting and everything. I will talk about how great all three of these movies and performances are, though. So you do get that. Because this category is fucking amazing. All three are great. It’s just — my favorite is my favorite.
Oh, yeah, basically what you need to know is — It Happened One Night swept everything. Beat the hell out of everything. Except my spirit.
BEST ACTOR – 1934
And the nominees are…
Clark Gable, It Happened One Night
Frank Morgan, The Affairs of Cellini
William Powell, The Thin Man (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1997
We just talked about 1997 a week ago. Titanic. Remember? Yeah, nuff said. Fortunately, though, Titanic doesn’t factor into this category, so we really get to have some fun here. This was a great year for Supporting Actor. All five are really good movies, and three of them didn’t get enough love past this category, so it’s nice to be able to talk about them.
Just to recap, Best Actor and Best Actress this year were Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt for As Good As It Gets (and just because it’s a great piece of trivia, I’ll point it out each time this comes up — all three times Jack Nicholson has won an Oscar (twice for lead once for supporting), the lady he was playing opposite won Best Actress for the same film. How incredible is that?), Best Supporting Actress was Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential, and Best Director was James Cameron for Titanic. You know, despite the sweep this year, they did spread the wealth surprisingly well, considering. Sweep films so rarely get acting nominations.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1997
And the nominees were…
Robert Forster, Jackie Brown
Anthony Hopkins, Amistad
Greg Kinnear, As Good As It Gets
Burt Reynolds, Boogie Nights
Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1978
1978 was the year of The Deer Hunter. I think we’ve established that it was a good year. Won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken, one of the best decisions the Academy has ever made. Perhaps top three in Vietnam war films. A great year. Best Actor and Best Actress this year were Jon Voight and Jane Fonda for Coming Home, another Vietnam film.
The only real downside to 1978 is that it kept Apocalypse Now from winning Best Picture in 1979. At least, I assume that’s what it was. If not, they fucked up without reason. And that’s not good. Though — typical.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1978
And the nominees were…
Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
Penelope Milford, Coming Home
Maggie Smith, California Suite
Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1981
We’ve discussed this before. I’ll dispense with any editorial past, 1981 sucked. Chariots of Fire. I think we all understand.
The big thing about 1981, aside from — that — was that it was the year Henry Fonda finally got his Oscar. And Kate Hepburn got her fourth. Meryl’s got the nominations, but Kate’s got the wins. All Best, too. Meryl’s only got one of each. (So you know they’re gonna give her another one soon.) So, both of them won for On Golden Pond, while John Gielgud won Best Supporting Actor for Arthur, and Maureen Stapleton won Best Supporting Actress and Warren Beatty won Best Director, both for Reds. So it was a pretty contained year, aside from — that.
BEST ACTOR – 1981
And the nominees were…
Warren Beatty, Reds
Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond
Burt Lancaster, Atlantic City
Dudley Moore, Arthur
Paul Newman, Absence of Malice (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1953
1953 is one of my personal favorite years for films. There’s such great stuff that came out this year. From Here to Eternity won Best Picture, and while that wouldn’t be my choice for Best Picture, it is without a doubt a great film and a classic.
Just to show you how great a year 1953 was — here’s a list of films that came out this year (Note: You may not know them all, but, I promise, by the end of this Oscar Quest, you will): Roman Holiday, Shane, The Robe, Peter Pan, The Band Wagon, How to Marry a Millionaire, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Mogambo, The Moon is Blue, Julius Caesar, House of Wax, Stalag 17, The Glenn Miller Story, The Big Heat, The Naked Spur, The Earrings of Madame de…, Hondo, Trouble Along the Way, Lili, I Vitelloni, Beat the Devil, M. Hulot’s Holiday, Pickup on South Street, Tokyo Story, Ugetsu, The Wages of Fear, and some little film called War of the Worlds. Pretty fucking strong, wouldn’t you say? This ranks right up there with 1939 for me as tops for film.
To recap the Oscar year, which, as you can imagine was so insanely strong it really becomes a matter of personal preference and no bad decisions — Best Actor was William Holden for Stalag 17, Best Actress was Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday, Best Supporting Actress was Donna Reed and Best Director was Fred Zinnemann, both for From Here to Eternity. I am in awe of this year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1953
And the nominees were…
Eddie Albert, Roman Holiday
Brandon de Wilde, Shane
Jack Palance, Shane
Frank Sinatra, From Here to Eternity
Robert Strauss, Stalag 17 (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1988
Best Director month is over. Back to the potpourri. It’s all gonna be jumbled again. Random category every day. This is where most of the work gets done on this. Hopefully, by the time the summer is over, I’ll have knocked out many of the categories. I’m trying to save the Best Pictures for last — or at least, at the point where there are only unavailables left and no more finished categories to do. Until then, let’s go back to the well. I’ve got lots of categories finished.
1988. We talked about this a little while ago. Rain Man won Best Picture and Best Director. Good film, product of a weak year. (Probably.) Solid choice, though, based on the category. Best Actor was Dustin Hoffman. Didn’t go full retard. Best Supporting Actor was Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda and Best Supporting Actress was Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist. It feels like a solid, low-key year. Nothing overtly spectacular, but on the whole, good. Like a Best Picture nominee film, but one that clearly was never going to win.
BEST ACTRESS – 1988
And the nominees were…
Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons
Jodie Foster, The Accused
Melanie Griffith, Working Girl
Meryl Streep, A Cry in the Dark
Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas in the Mist (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1998
Oh, 1998. The year that lives in infamy. I think I can sum it all up with three words: Shakespeare in Love.
Personally, I don’t know why people hate on the decision so much. I mean, sure Saving Private Ryan is a film most people prefer, but as films, I think they rate about even. Private Ryan has that amazing opening sequence, but the film peters out by the end. That last battle is kind of meh. Shakespeare, however, is a great film. It’s funny, entertaining, and really well made. The problem is though it’s a bit too — I don’t know, on the nose, maybe. There’s something that keeps it from being a “perfect” film. Plus, even though Private Ryan didn’t win Best Picture, it won the award that really mattered for it — Best Director. The split is really what makes this year okay for me. I will say though, that the fact that this one was (aliteration) the way it was, was one of the reasons that 2010 was not okay for any reason. Fool me twice — fuck you two. It would have been a lot more palatable if there was a Picture/Director split. But there wasn’t. And that’s why 2010 will — probably — I hope — go down as a greater offense in Academy history than 1998 did.
Oh yeah, also, Best Actor was Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful (not gonna say a word), Best Actress and Supporting Actress were Gwyneth Paltrow and Judi Dench for Shake-a-spere, and Best Supporting Actor was James Coburn for Affliction.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1998
And the nominees are…
Roberto Benigni, Life is Beautiful
John Madden, Shakespeare in Love
Terrence Malick, The Thin Red Line
Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan
Peter Weir, The Truman Show (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1997
1997. Titanic. I think that about covers it.
Sure it’s not a perfect film, but, this isn’t Best Picture. This is Best Director. I don’t think many people would argue that Cameron didn’t direct the hell out of the movie. The only real issue with Cameron is his weak and/or contrived scripts. But he wasn’t nominated for that, was he?
Also in 1997, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt won Best Actor and Best Actress for As Good As It Gets, Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor for Good Will Hunting, and Kim Basinger won Best Supporting Actress for L.A. Confidential. All around good films there. And yet, Titanic. It sucks when such good films are up against a film that can’t lose. (Gee, how many times has that happened?)
BEST DIRECTOR – 1997
And the nominees were…
James Cameron, Titanic
Peter Cattaneo, The Full Monty
Atom Egoyan, The Sweet Hereafter
Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential
Gus Van Sant, Good Will Hunting (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1996
1996 was a good year punctuated by shitty decisions. So many good films came out, and yet — does anyone even think The English Patient is a great movie? Good? Fine. The minimum allowable to be considered good. But better than Fargo, it is not. Hell, better than Jerry Maguire it is not. These are the kind of years that really upset me. Because it’s like the Academy is striving to meet the standard of what they think their reputation is, and yet, they’re perpetuating this reputation by picking such shitty films.
And don’t think this poor decision-making ends at Best Picture. Best Actor went to Geoffrey Rush for Shine, a performance that lasts for about, oh, fifteen minutes. The rest of the time the character is played by two different actors. This wouldn’t be a big deal except, here’s who he beat: Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt) and Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade). Every single one of them would have been a better choice. I mean, have they seen Sling Blade?
Best Actress went to Frances McDormand for Fargo. They threw at least one bone. Best Supporting Actor was Cuba Gooding Jr. for Jerry Maguire, an okay decision, though some people would probably prefer William H. Macy for Fargo. Best Supporting Actress was Juliette Binoche for The English Patient. Most people, including herself, were not expecting her to win. That’s 1996 in a nutshell. Even the good decisions are questionable, and the bad ones are terrible.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1996
And the nominees are…
Joel & Ethan Coen, Fargo
Miloš Forman, The People vs. Larry Flynt
Scott Hicks, Shine
Mike Leigh, Secrets & Lies
Anthony Minghella, The English Patient (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1995
At first glance, you’d think maybe they fucked up 1995. After all, this is one of six years where the DGA Best Director award and the Oscar for Best Director didn’t coincide. In fact, this is the second time in (exactly) a decade where the DGA winner wasn’t even nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. 1985 Steven Spielberg (rightfully) won the DGA for The Color Purple, and wasn’t even nominated for the Oscar. This year, Ron Howard won the DGA for Apollo 13 and wasn’t nominated for the Oscar.
Now — notice how I said “at first glance” — I really don’t think this is that big a deal. I think we’ve all established (see: 2001) that the Academy just fucking loves Ron Howard. However, I didn’t love the direction of Apollo 13. I mean, yeah, it’s a great movie, I watch it all the time, but, aside from having awesomely shot space sequences, the movie is about as generic as a Michael Bay movie in terms of character development. It’s so superficial it’s crazy. So, I’m kinda glad he wasn’t on this list of nominees, just so I wouldn’t have to worry about where I’d put him in my rankings.
Oh, yeah, recap. Best Picture went to Braveheart, a film I still can’t get a bead on. I like it, I like watching it, but is it really a Best Picture worthy film? I think the answer is yes and no. Yes, because this year was weak as fuck and it was the best choice, and no because, just, no. I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like a Best Picture film to me. So, there’s that. Best Actor went to Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas. This year was stacked in terms of Best Actor and there were several good choices that could have been made. Best Actress went to Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking. I’ll speak my piece on that when the time comes. Best Supporting Actor was Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects. Kind of a lead, but, I think we’ll all take that one. That movie is boss. And Best Supporting Actress was Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite, a Woody Allen film I actually like. Gasp. I know. I was surprised too. (more…)
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