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The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1971

Love 1971. Here’s a real 70s year. Best Picture was The French Connection, and William Friedkin won Best Director for it (talked about here), and Gene Hackman won Best Actor for it (talked about here). All perfect decisions.

Then Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman won Best Supporting Actor (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actress (talked about here), respectively, for The Last Picture Show.

Whether I like the decisions or not (and I largely like them), this is a very 70s year. And that’s awesome.

And this category is no different. Great 70s decision, and a great award for a great actress.

BEST ACTRESS – 1971

And the nominees were…

Julie Christie, McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Jane Fonda, Klute

Glenda Jackson, Sunday Bloody Sunday

Vanessa Redgrave, Mary, Queen of Scots

Janet Suzman, Nicholas and Alexandra Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  April 1, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pic of the Day: “All right, everyone! This… is a stick-up. Don’t anybody move! Now empty that safe! … Ooh hoo hoo! Money, money, money!”

Posted by  |  April 1, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1942

I call 1942 an “of course” year. Because of course a film like Mrs. Miniver would win Best Picture in a year like this. Middle of the war — film about a family dealing with war — of course it would win.

William Wyler won Best Director for the film (talked about here), Greer Garson won Best Actress for it (talked about here), and Teresa Wright won Best Supporting Actress for it (talked about here). And James Cagney won Best Actor for Yankee Doodle Dandy (talked about here). All decisions ranging from good to great.

But this category — holy shit is it bad. One of the single weakest — if not the weakest — Best Supporting Actor categories of all time. It’s really, really awful. And it’s so bad, that — honestly it didn’t matter who won. It’s that bad. I skip over this one constantly. It’s like that one family member everyone forgets to invite to stuff. You know — what’s his name. Who sucks.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1942

And the nominees were…

William Bendix, Wake Island

Van Heflin, Johnny Eager

Walter Huston, Yankee Doodle Dandy

Frank Morgan, Tortilla Flat

Henry Travers, Mrs. Miniver Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 31, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pic of the Day: “Do you have any vacancies?” “Oh, we have 12 vacancies. 12 cabins, 12 vacancies.”

Posted by  |  March 31, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | 1 Comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1980

God, I hate 1980. And that hate can be summed up in two words: Ordinary People. Or, more appropriately, “Fucking Academy…”

Ordinary People wins Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Redford (talked about here) over Raging Bull. Yeah…

Timothy Hutton also won Best Supporting Actor for the film (talked about here), which is actually a good decision, all thing’s considered. Sissy Spacek wins Best Actress for Coal Miner’s Daughter (talked about here), which I’m all for. And Mary Steenburgen wins Best Supporting Actress for Melvin and Howard (talked about here), which I guess is acceptable, even though I have my reservations.

And then there’s this category. Do I even need to say anything?

BEST ACTOR – 1980

And the nominees were…

Robert De Niro, Raging Bull

Robert Duvall, The Great Santini

John Hurt, The Elephant Man

Jack Lemmon, Tribute

Peter O’Toole, The Stunt Man Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 30, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pic of the Day: “Hey Stu, your rent’s due, motherfucker! Now don’t be pulling that falling down the stairs shit on me again, you hear! Are you conscious?! Shit!”

Posted by  |  March 30, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1955

1955 is a year that seems to get lost in the shuffle among Oscar years. It’s wedged between the behemoth that is On the Waterfront, and the disaster (sort of) that is Around the World in 80 Days. Not to mentionFrom Here to Eternity and The Bridge on the River Kwai being on either side of those movies. So it makes sense that a small film about a lonely butcher finding love would get overlooked.

Marty wins Best Picture, Best Director for Delbert Mann (talked about here), and Best Actor for Ernest Borgnine (talked about here). I love the film. I think it’s perfect, and I think it was the best choice among the nominees. Sure, the set of nominees was weak, but best choice is the best choice. Anna Magnani wins Best Actress for The Rose Tattoo (talked about here). I don’t like it. I think Susan Hayward should have won for I’ll Cry Tomorrow, leaving the Hayward 1958 win open for one of several actresses who could have won (some of whom never won an Oscar). And Best Supporting Actor was Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts, which I like very much, because Jack Lemmon is awesome (and the category really sucked).

And that brings us to this category, which is tough for me. Well, not really. It’s tough because I know I’m not gonna do the logical thing.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1955

And the nominees were…

Betsy Blair, Marty

Peggy Lee, Pete Kelly’s Blues

Marisa Pavan, The Rose Tattoo

Jo Van Fleet, East of Eden

Natalie Wood, Rebel Without a Cause Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 29, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pic of the Day: “You’re a wizard, Harry!” “I’m a what?”

Posted by  |  March 29, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1945

The last of the 1945. We’ll dispense with all the bells and whistles and just recap.

The Lost Weekend wins Best Picture, Best Actor for Ray Milland (talked about here), and this category. Joan Crawford wins Best Actress for Mildred Pierce (talked about here). Best Supporting Actor was James Dunn for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (talked about here), and Best Supporting Actress was Anne Revere for National Velvet (talked about here). All of them were great decisions.

And then this category is self-explanatory. Wilder should have won the year before this, and directed the Best Picture winner this year, so this is cut and dry.

BEST DIRECTOR – 1945

And the nominees were…

Clarence Brown, National Velvet

Alfred Hitchcock, Spellbound

Leo McCarey, The Bells of St. Mary’s

Jean Renoir, The Southerner

Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  March 28, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pic of the Day: “Mr. Grady, You WERE the caretaker here.” “I’m sorry to defer with you, sir, but YOU are the caretaker. You’ve always been the caretaker. I should know, sir. I’ve always been here.”

Posted by  |  March 28, 2012 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment