I think we can all agree Chariots of Fire is probably the single worst Best Picture-winning film of all time. (I think it’s between that, The Broadway Melody and Cavalcade. Though those two have an excuse, being within the first six years of the Oscars. This one has no excuse.) There are many reasons why it won, but even so — it was a terrible choice. The film only won one major Oscar, showing that it won only because the Academy didn’t want to vote for the alternatives.

Best Actor this year went to Henry Fonda for On Golden Pond (talked about here), an Oscar that was 41 years overdue. Even though Dudley Moore was in Arthur this year, Fonda was a great choice. And Katherine Hepburn winning Best Actress for the film (talked about here) is a nice sentimental choice. It wouldn’t have been my choice (that would have been Marsha Mason in Only When I Laugh), but it works, and it doesn’t interrupt anything. So it’s a nice pair with Fonda. Best Supporting Actor this year was John Gielgud for Arthur (talked about here), which is just terrific. He’s awesome, and he’s awesome in the film. A perfect decision. Best Supporting Actress was Maureen Stapleton for Reds (talked about here). Another veteran Oscar (even though pretty much everyone else in the category was better than her, specifically Jane Fonda and Elizabeth McGovern). Warren Beatty also won Best Director for the film (talked about here), which was a good choice. He did do a good job, and it did get him an Oscar (plus Spielberg would later win two anyway).

So, really — 1981 is a terrific year… outside the Best Picture choice. Again, another example of how a bad Best Picture choice can screw up an entire year.

BEST PICTURE – 1981

And the nominees were…

Atlantic City (Paramount)

Chariots of Fire (The Ladd Company, Warner Bros.)

On Golden Pond (IFC Films)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Paramount)

Reds (Paramount) Read the rest of this page »

1982 is one of those “Academy being the Academy” years. In a way, it makes our job here easier. In another way — it is kind of on-the-nose. Especially in the wake of such good stuff.

Gandhi is an obvious choice Best Picture winner. Not a bad film, but — obvious. Richard Attenborough won Best Director for it (talked about here), which makes sense. He’s awesome. (Even though I’d definitely have given it to Wolfgang Petersen for Das Boot.) It makes me feel slightly better about Sidney Lumet never having won. Ben Kingsley also won Best Actor for the film (talked about here), which — he played Gandhi. It’s hard to argue against it, even though Paul Newman, Peter O’Toole and Dustin Hoffman were so good this year (specifically the first two). Best Actress this year was Meryl Streep for Sophie’s Choice (talked about here), which — yeah. You know. Best Supporting Actor was Lou Gossett Jr. for An Officer and a Gentleman (talked about here), which is a decent decision. Not ideal, but good (and also positive from a race standpoint). And Best Supporting Actress was Jessica Lange for Tootsie (talked about here), which — not ideal. She was nominated twice, so it makes sense that she won, but — Glenn Close really should have won here.

Overall, 1982 is decent bordering on good. It’s just — the Best Picture choice is really obvious. But it was definitely gonna win, which makes us (kind of like 1987) able to pick whatever we want to win without repercussion. So that’s nice.

BEST PICTURE – 1982

And the nominees were…

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Universal)

Gandhi (Columbia)

Missing (Universal)

Tootsie (Columbia)

The Verdict (20^th Century Fox) Read the rest of this page »

1983 is another one of those weak 80s decisions. It’s not horrible, it’s just — not ideal. But considering the pile of shit we got in the 80s, this year’s not as bad as some of those other ones.

Terms of Endearment is probably not a film that should win Best Picture. But it did. It also won Best Director for James L. Brooks (talked about here), mostly because the person who should have won Best Director (Philip Kaufman) wasn’t nominated. It also won Shirley MacLaine her long overdue Best Actress Oscar (talked about here), and won Jack Nicholson a somewhat unfair Best Supporting Actor Oscar (talked about here). MacLaine needed to win, Jack didn’t. Putting him in Supporting is like putting Meryl in Supporting — it’s just not fair to everyone else. Best Actor this year was Robert Duvall for Tender Mercies (talked about here). Not the best performance, but he was so due by this point it didn’t matter. And Best Supporting Actress was Linda Hunt for The Year of Living Dangerously (talked about here). She plays a man in the film. And nobody notices. I rest my case.

So, 1983 could be worse than it is. I think of it as more effective than anything. It got Shirley MacLaine her Oscar. It got Robert Duvall his Oscar. And Best Picture — meh. I guess it’s okay. I still say The Right Stuff was a far better film, though.

BEST PICTURE – 1983

And the nominees were…

The Big Chill (Columbia)

The Dresser (Columbia)

The Right Stuff (Warner Bros., The Ladd Company)

Tender Mercies (Universal, AFD)

Terms of Endearment (Paramount) Read the rest of this page »

1984 is the other bright spot of the 80s. As you can tell from all the films that won in the 80s, the decade was a complete rejection of the 70s by the Academy (and Hollywood). Everything became standard and mainstream again. Fortunately, though, sometimes standard and mainstream does yield amazing films. Like Amadeus.

Outside of Best Picture, Amadeus also wins Best Director for Milos Forman (talked about here), which makes sense, and Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham (talked about here), which was terrific. Best Actress this year was Sally Field for Places in the Heart (talked about here).  She didn’t give the best performance in the category, but she was probably the best choice, since — the category was so bad. Best Supporting Actor  was Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields (talked about here), which I don’t like purely because he wasn’t an actor. It felt like awarding a dude an Oscar for what he had to live through. Which I can’t fault, it’s just — I’d rather have it be about the performance. And Best Supporting Actress was Peggy Ashcroft for A Passage to India (talked about here). Yawn… veteran Oscar. Terrible category, too.

The 80s are by far the weakest Academy decade in terms of nominees and winners, and this year might be the overall weakest of the bunch. But fortunately, as we learned with 1986, good decisions can really help save a year. And alongside 1986, this is really one of the sole good years the Academy had.

BEST PICTURE – 1984

And the nominees were…

Amadeus (Orion)

The Killing Fields (Warner Bros.)

A Passage to India (Columbia)

Places in the Heart (TriStar)

A Soldier’s Story (Columbia) Read the rest of this page »

If there ever was a year that epitomizes the entire history of the Academy Awards in a nutshell — this is that year. You could use 1985 as a singular example for everything that has come before and after it. Let me explain:

Out of Africa wins Best Picture. A classical Oscar film if there ever was one. Big, sweeping, epic, a romance. And it epitomizes the Academy because they vote for this things blindly. Out of Africa is not a good film. It’s just a compiling of things the Academy loves. I bet if there’s one film Harvey Weinstein has learned from the most, it’s this one. Not to mention the added bonus of racism, since the vastly superior The Color Purple was deliberately shut out this year. It also wins Best Director for Sydney Pollack (talked about here). This marks one of the six times the DGA winner (Steven Spielberg) did not win the Oscar (hell, he wasn’t even nominated). Best Actor this year was William Hurt for Kiss of the Spider Woman (talked about here). Not a particularly strong performance, but he played gay (and in a very weak category). They love that. Best Actress was Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful (talked about here). One of the single worst Best Actress decisions ever. Whoopi Goldberg was better in every way, and the Academy went with a veteran just because she was old. Okay. Best Supporting Actor was Don Ameche for Cocoon (talked about here), which — veteran Oscar, but also a terribly weak category (kinda like 2011). And Best Supporting Actress was Anjelica Huston for Prizzi’s Honor (talked about here). She was good in the movie, but how she beat Oprah Winfrey for The Color Purple or Meg Tilly for Agnes of God is beyond me.

But, when you boil down all of these decisions, you get what the Academy likes in each one — Best Actor, man playing gay. Best Actress — a white woman (either a star whose “time” it is, or in this case, a veteran they want to reward). Best Supporting Actor — a veteran. Best Supporting Actress — an up-and-comer. And Best Picture — just watch Out of Africa, you’ll see what I mean. I truly think this might be the lowest point of the 80s, this year. It’s so bad.

BEST PICTURE – 1985

And the nominees were…

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Kiss of the Spider Woman (Island Alive)

Out of Africa (Universal)

Prizzi’s Honor (20^th Century Fox, ABC Motion Pictures)

Witness (Paramount) Read the rest of this page »