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The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1932-1933

Going old school today. Haven’t done one of these in a while. I like when we do these. Because I know almost no one has seen these films and I can seem like an authority on them. And because, I know there are less people who will complain about my decision because of that.  Life is better when the possibility for encountering stupid assholes is lower.

Anyway, 1932-1933 is the last year of the double years. After this is just 1934. This is also the last year I consider a “foundation” year for the Academy. That is, after this, you can start complaining about their decisions. Here, they’re still developing their identity. It’s like a kid. The 1927-1933 years are the pre-18 years. If the kid sucks, it’s bad parenting. After 18, though, if the kid’s an asshole, the kid’s an asshole.

Best Picture went to Cavalcade, which is historically considered one of the weakest Best Picture decisions. I personally don’t get it myself. Frank Lloyd also wins Best Director for the film (which I talked about here), which, by default, has to be a good decision. Then Best Actress was Katharine Hepburn for Morning Glory (which I talked about here), which is also one of those by-default good decisions, because there were only three nominees, and she was the only one that was gonna win. And, since there were no Supporting categories this year, that’s it. Isn’t that nice and simple? I should also state, before we get into it, I don’t like this category. The category itself and the decision. Let me explain:

BEST ACTOR – 1932-1933

And the nominees were…

Leslie Howard, Berkeley Square

Charles Laughton, The Private Life of Henry VIII

Paul Muni, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  September 19, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pic of the Day: “Poor cat! Poor slob! Poor slob without a name! The way I see it I haven’t got the right to give him one. We don’t belong to each other. We just took up one day by the river. I don’t want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together.”

Posted by  |  September 19, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1966

I like 1966 a lot. Best part about it? The recap takes about fifteen seconds.

A Man for all Seasons and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? win five of the six major awards. Both are amazing films, and really, either one winning all the awards would have been acceptable. A Man for All Seasons won Best Picture, Best Actor for Paul Scofield (talked about here), and, this category. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won Best Actress for Elizabeth Taylor (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actress for Sandy Dennis. The only award those films didn’t win was Best Supporting Actor, which went to Walter Matthau for The Fortune Cookie (talked about here). See? Real quick. Love it.

And then, there’s this category, which is just all sorts of fucked up. I don’t quite know what to do here, because there are so many minefields to deal with. So I guess we’ll find out what I’m going to do together.

BEST DIRECTOR – 1966

And the nominees were…

Michelangelo Antonioni, Blowup

Richard Brooks, The Professionals

Claude Lelouch, A Man and a Woman

Mike Nichols, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Fred Zinnemann, A Man for All Seasons Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  September 18, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pic of the Day: “Be careful, Doctor Reeves. In the whole universe, nothing is stronger than the law.” “Yes, Mr. Farlan, nothing is stronger than the law in the universe, but on Earth nothing is stronger than love.”

Posted by  |  September 18, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1983

I got a request for this one. I was so excited to get a request for this category that I bumped it up from its original December date to now. (Also, yeah, I totally have all the categories scheduled. I do it in the interest of not having to do any work later. Now I can just look at the list and see when things go up and don’t have to think about it and can just start typing.)

1983 is a weak year in Academy history, mostly because Terms of Endearment is a weak Best Picture winner. It’s a great film, but a weak Best Picture choice. And the other options weren’t really all that good this year. I, personally, would have gone with The Right Stuff. I also love the Big Chill, but that’s not a Best Picture winner. Also, James L. Brooks winning Best Director for Terms of Endearment was fine because Phillip Kaufman wasn’t nominated for The Right Stuff. So at least there you can be like, “Well, they couldn’t make the right decision because they didn’t nominate the best effort.” So, the Picture/Director link-up works in this case. And Shirley MacLaine winning Best Actress for Terms is a perfect choice because she was 23 years overdue by this point. Robert Duvall winning Best Actor for Tender Mercies is a great macro decision, since the dude deserved an Oscar. I didn’t love the performance, but given the overall category, it works as a decision. And then Linda Hunt winning Best Supporting Actress for The Year of Living Dangerously, for playing a man (!). I talked about it here. Seriously, she plays a man. And nobody notices. That’s so awesome.

So that’s 1983. Weak (overall) Best Picture choice, and also one I wouldn’t really choose (just because it’s so — not a Best Picture choice), great decisions for the majority of the acting categories, mostly based on the actors themselves more so than the performances. And Best Director was fine because the person who should have won wasn’t nominated (and The Dresser was. What the fuck?). And then there’s this category — which makes no sense whatsoever.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1983

And the nominees were…

Charles Durning, To Be or Not to Be

John Lithgow, Terms of Endearment

Jack Nicholson, Terms of Endearment

Sam Shepard, The Right Stuff

Rip Torn, Cross Creek Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  September 17, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pic of the Day: “Heavy. What is it?” “The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.”

Posted by  |  September 17, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

Pic of the Day: “Injun will chase a thing till he thinks he’s chased it enough. Then he quits. Same way when he runs. Seems like he never learns there’s such a thing as a critter that’ll just keep comin’ on. So we’ll find ’em in the end, I promise you. We’ll find ’em. Just as sure as the turnin’ of the earth.”

Posted by  |  September 16, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1993

I love how quickly you can get through 1993. Schindler’s List wins Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg (talked about here). Anyone want to argue? Exactly.

Tom Hanks wins Best Actor for Philadelphia (talked about here), which I’m very open about hating as a decision. Liam Neeson really should have won this. (Let’s not also forget that Daniel Day-Lewis was great in both In the Name of the Father and The Age of Innocence this year.) Then Best Actress was Holly Hunter for The Piano, which I’m cool with, since I love Holly Hunter and she was the best decision in the category. And then Best Supporting Actor this year was Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive (talked about here), which, despite my love for Tommy Lee Jones, was a terrible decision. It really was. Ralph Fiennes, Leonardo DiCaprio and Pete Postlethwaite gave better, and more vote-worthy performances (especially Fiennes). But, in all, in terms of who and what won, this is a strong year, and one I like.

Which brings us to this category. What happened here? I love Anna Paquin, and I love the precocious child role (as I’ve said many times in the past), but what did the Academy see that warranted a win here? (I also think her winning this caused the Academy to shy away from voting for these types of performances in the future, which can explain how Abigail Breslin didn’t win such a terrible category in 2006 and how Saoirsie Ronan didn’t win for her brilliant work in Atonement in 2007.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1993

And the nominees were…

Holly Hunter, The Firm

Anna Paquin, The Piano

Rosie Perez, Fearless

Winona Ryder, The Age of Innocence

Emma Thompson, In the Name of the Father Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  September 15, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pic of the Day: “A person doesn’t change just because you find out more.”

Posted by  |  September 15, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Pic of the Day | Tags: | Leave a comment

The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1986

I love this category. Why? Because it’s strong enough to not suck and weak enough to where what had to happen could happen and not seem like it upset anything. Because Paul Newman had to win this year. There was no other option. And, because the category is the way it is, not only is it a great decision, nothing was upset by it.

As for the rest of 1986, the Academy surprisingly made almost all great decisions. It remains one of the few bright spots of the black hole that is the 80s. (I fucking hate the 80s when it comes to Oscars. And movies too. I think it was a really shitty decade for movies.) Platoon wins Best Picture and Best Director for Oliver Stone, both of which were by far the best decisions they could have made in those categories (with all due respect to David Lynch). Then Best Actress was Marlee Matlin for Children of a Lesser God, which I like a lot as a decision (mostly because, were they actually gonna vote for Sigourney Weaver for Aliens? Really?). Then Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were Michael Caine (talked about here) and Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters. I respect both actors, but I don’t particularly like either decision. But, really, the Supporting categories don’t make a year, so overall I consider this year a success.

Now, let me take a brief second to point out how badly the Academy needed to make this one up. Paul Newman was nominated for seven Oscars before he won here (and they gave him a career achievement Oscar the year before this, because they realized they’d fucked up), for these films: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Rachel, Rachel (though that one was for Best Picture), Absence of Malice and The Verdict. He should have won, probably three times out of those. Him not winning here would have been like Martin Scorsese not winning for The Departed. Throats would have been cut. (Or, torn out — Swayze style.)

BEST ACTOR – 1986

And the nominees were…

Dexter Gordon, Round Midnight

Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa

William Hurt, Children of a Lesser God

Paul Newman, The Color of Money

James Woods, Salvador Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  September 14, 2011 | Categories: Movies, Oscars, The Oscar Quest | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments