Mike’s Top Ten of 1990
I call 1990 a “spottily strong” year. It’s got high points, but they’re here and there. And some of the highs aren’t as high as other years, but it’s definitely got a lot to like in there. You just have to sift through some standard stuff before you find it, is all. Most of the time you can tell a strong year based on how strong the Oscars are. And this is one of the notoriously boring Oscar years (overall).
My one caution for this year is to pay attention among the “yeah, sure” stuff. There are a couple of nice gems in there if you care to look at them.
Otherwise, we do get one of the all-time classics this year, so 1990 is always gonna have that going for it. (I’m talking about Kindergarten Cop, of course.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1990
The 90s to me, Oscar-wise, are the opposite of the 80s. The 80s had two legitimately great Best Picture decisions, and the rest were either okay based on the categories, acceptable because they’re big epics, or just outright terrible. The 90s, however, really only have two out and out bad decisions. Most of the choices they made in the 90s are either great, acceptable, or we just disagree with the choice, even though we agree they were good films. This, to me, is one of the two terrible decisions (the other being The English Patient).
Dances with Wolves simply should not have beaten Goodfellas. Kevin Costner should not have won Best Director over Martin Scorsese (talked about here). It’s a universally accepted fact. Outside of that, the rest of the year is also pretty weak. Jeremy Irons wins Best Actor for Reversal of Fortune (talked about here). It was one of the weakest Best Actor categories of all time, and most acknowledge he won for a performance he gave two years earlier (in Dead Ringers, which he wasn’t nominated for). Best Actress was Kathy Bates for Misery (talked about here), which was a good decision based on the category. Not particularly strong historically, though. Best Supporting Actor was Joe Pesci for Goodfellas (talked about here), which, as we all know, is perfect. And Best Supporting Actress was Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (talked about here), in which she played a literal magical negro. The fact that she won for this and not The Color Purple is laughable.
So that’s 1990 — terrible, ain’t it?
BEST PICTURE – 1990
And the nominees were…
Awakenings (Columbia)
Dances with Wolves (Orion)
Ghost (Paramount)
The Godfather Part III (Paramount)
Goodfellas (Warner Bros.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1990
Quite possibly the weakest Best Actor category of all time. This is just awful.
In fact, 1990 as a year is just awful, Oscar wise. Dances with Wolves. Yeah. One of the worst Best Picture choices of all time. Because it’s not a very good film. And I could have accepted it winning Best Picture if Kevin Costner, an actor, didn’t win Best Director for the film (which I talked about here), over Martin Scorsese, for Goodfellas. I think that about says it all, doesn’t it? Then Best Actress was Kathy Bates for Misery (which I talked about here), which is a good decision, albeit one that’s not very memorable historically. Best Supporting Actor was Joe Pesci for Goodfellas (which I talked about here), which is one of the best decisions of all time in that category. And Best Supporting Actress was Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (which I talked about here), which I hate as a decision, but respect (you can find out why in the article).
So, in all, I really only love one decision from this year. One I like, one I respect but don’t like, one is fine but the product of a weak year (this one), and two are just god awful. So, I just hate 1990. What a sore spot for the Academy.
BEST ACTOR – 1990
And the nominees were…
Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves
Robert De Niro, Awakenings
Gerard Depardieu, Cyrano de Bergerac
Richard Harris, The Field
Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1990
Hate me some 1990 real good. Dances with Wolves is one of the worst films to ever win Best Picture. It’s seriously just not a very good film at all. Goodfellas should have destroyed this year. Kevin Costner beating Martin Scorsese for Best Director (as I talked about here), is just laughable.
Then, the rest of the year isn’t that great either. Jeremy Irons wins Best Actor for Reversal of Fortune in one of the weakest Best Actor categories of all time. It was really bad. Then Kathy Bates won Best Actress for Misery, which I like as a decision (as I said here), especially considering the category. Then Whoopi Goldberg wins Best Supporting Actress for Ghost (which I talked about here), which is kind of a backhanded Oscar, since she really should have won for The Color Purple in 1985, and that fact is the only reason she got this Oscar. (It’s backhanded because she plays a (literal) magical negro in the film. The Academy are such dicks sometimes.)
Then, there’s this category, which for me is cut and dry and taken care of pretty easily. And I like that I can say that about one category in this god forsaken year. This is like the Desert of the Real in The Matrix — you look around like, “What happened?” And this category is that awesome red chair Morpheus sits in. That was a great chair.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1990
And the nominees were…
Bruce Davison, Longtime Companion
Andy Garcia, The Godfather Part III
Graham Greene, Dances with Wolves
Al Pacino, Dick Tracy
Joe Pesci, Goodfellas (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1990
Oh boy, 1990. Just what I need. A year that lives in infamy. Dances with Wolves beats Goodfellas for Best Picture, and there, the Academy cemented their retarded selection process yet again. Kevin Costner beats Martin Scorsese for Best Director (which I talked about here), and that right there about tells you what the Academy thinks. Don’t dwell upon it too much, you might get brain damage.
Jeremy Irons wins Best Actor this year for Reversal of Fortune. This is mainly considered a makeup Oscar for a performance he wasn’t even nominated for. I’ll talk about that eventually. Best Supporting Actor goes to Joe Pesci for Goodfellas and Best Supporting Actress goes to Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost, which I talked about here. So, of the six categories this year, I can say, pretty definitively, the Academy made about — two good decisions. They made one that’s okay, one bad one, and two really bad ones. Which basically makes this a bad year for me almost all around. I hate 1990. It upsets me every time I see it.
BEST ACTRESS – 1990
And the nominees were…
Kathy Bates, Misery
Anjelica Huston, The Grifters
Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman
Meryl Streep, Postcards from the Edge
Joanne Woodward, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (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 Director – 1990
Oh, you knew this day would come. The day where we talk about how Dances With Wolves beat Goodfellas. Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll be brief about it. I think it’s all pretty understood by now. Plus, we’re gonna have to do it again once Best Picture rolls around. Let’s save it all until then.
So, to recap the rest of the year that isn’t the big two abominations, Best Actor went to Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune. It’s widely regarded as a makeup Oscar for a film he wasn’t even nominated for. (I’ll tell you what that is when we get to Best Actor for this year. I’ll give you a hint. He mentions it in his acceptance speech.) Best Actress was Kathy Bates for Misery. She’s crazy as fuck in that movie. Best Supporting Actor was Joe Pesci for Goodfellas. That pretty much speaks for itself. And Best Supporting Actress was Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost, because, well, I guess they really like the magical negro. I don’t know. So that’s 1990. Let’s get into the film bashing…
BEST DIRECTOR – 1990
And the nominees were…
Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part III
Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves
Stephen Frears, The Grifters
Barbet Schroeder, Reversal of Fortune
Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas (more…)
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