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 (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1929-1930
One of these things is not like the other…
Seriously, look at this category. It doesn’t even require anything more than a simple glance. One nominee is so superior to the rest that they shouldn’t have even had voting this year.
All Quiet on the Western Front is so far and away the best film on on this list, it’s like, if, in the mid-90s, you had a bunch of regular PC computers — the big ass towers, with the floppy disks and the dial up internet, and then put a 2011 Macbook in the middle of them. It’s not even close how much better this is than the rest of the nominees.
It of course wins Best Picture this year, in one of the best decisions of all time. Best Actor for this year was George Arliss in Disraeli, which is a pretty good decision, from what I’ve seen (it’s one of the few categories I haven’t finished yet). And Best Actress was Norma Shearer for The Divorcée, which, I also like based on what I’ve seen (or simply just because of her as an actress. I’ve also not finished the category). But, outside of the acting categories — which, before 1934 are mostly whatever, regardless of who won — they really, really got this year right. Because All Quiet on the Western Front is just ten years ahead of its time.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1929-1930
And the nominees were…
Clarence Brown, Anna Christie and Romance
Robert Z. Leonard, The Divorcée
Ernst Lubitsch, The Love Parade
Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front
King Vidor, Hallelujah (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1956
I love 1956. The year, not the Oscar year. The Oscar year is pretty forgettable. Mostly because the Best Picture choice is kind of throwaway. Around the World in 80 Days is not a bad film by any means — it’s big, expansive, lot of cameos, lots of fun, escapist entertainment — but it’s not a very good Best Picture choice. It is in scope, but not in quality.
Best Actor this year was Yul Brynner for The King and I, and I always maintain the decision was a bad choice because Brynner is essentially a supporting role (for the most part) in the film. But, he’s Yul Brynner, so I don’t really have a problem with it. But, I still would have gone another way in that one. Then Best Actress was Ingrid Bergman for Anastasia, a decision (as I said here) I consider one of the worst decisions of all time in the Best Actress category. All of the other choices were better in that category (especially Carroll Baker in Baby Doll). Then Best Supporting Actor was Anthony Quinn for Lust for Life, a decision I don’t like, but am okay with, because Anthony Quinn is awesome. Then Best Supporting Actress was Dorothy Malone for Written on the Wind (talked about here), which is the one decision for this year, aside from this category, that I like.
So, with only 2 out of 6 good decisions (2 more are acceptable, though both are pretty weak), and a really weak Best Picture choice, 1956 is kind of a “bleh” year for me. I like this category though. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1956
And the nominees were…
Michael Anderson, Around the World in 80 Days
Walter Lang, The King and I
George Stevens, Giant
King Vidor, War and Peace
William Wyler, Friendly Persuasion (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1979
I am so disappointed in 1979. And a lot of it has to do with this category. Kramer vs. Kramer is a film I love dearly, but it should not have won Best Picture this year. Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz were far superior films. However, I could have lived with Kramer winning Best Picture had it not also won this category, which is the last Oscar it should have won. Just watching the films, you can see how far and away better Coppola’s and Fosse’s efforts were. Had the Academy recognized that, I could have lived with them thinking Kramer vs. Kramer was the better film. But they didn’t. Which is why 1979 will always be a sore spot for me. (Among another category…)
As for the rest of the year, Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep win Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, for Kramer vs. Kramer, and Sally Field wins Best Actress for Norma Rae (which I talked about here). These decisions I agree with wholeheartedly. They were incredible, and the best decisions in their respective categories. Best Supporting Actor, however, is a decision I consider to be the worst of all time in its category, and possibly even the second worst single Oscar decision of all time. Melvyn Douglas wins for Being There, beating Robert Duvall, for Apocalypse Now. Which performance do you remember? I rest my case. That decision is really the nail in the coffin for me, and it’s why, no matter how hard I try, 1979 upsets me. Half the decisions are great, and the other half are bad beyond words (or questionable at best). It pains me.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1979
And the nominees were…
Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer
Francis Ford Coppola, Apocalypse Now
Bob Fosse, All That Jazz
Edouard Molinaro, La Cage aux Folles
Peter Yates, Breaking Away (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1948
How the fuck were Powell and Pressburger not nominated here? We won’t dwell on that, because that’s now what this Quest is about. But the question bears repeating — seriously, how?
As for the rest of 1948, I love most of it, and despise their Best Picture choice. Hamlet a good film, but a boring choice for Best Picture, beats The Snake Pit, a great film about mental illness, Johnny Belinda, a wonderful film I love dearly about a mute girl, The Red Shoes, which is one of the most beautiful films ever made, and, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. ’nuff said. Fortunately, though, aside from that category, they went mostly right everywhere else.
Best Actor was Laurence Olivier for Hamlet, which was well-deserved. Based on who was nominated, he was by far the best choice. Best Actress was Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda, which I talked about here, which is seriously one of the top five best decisions in that category of all time. Best Supporting Actor was Walter Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which was a well-deserved Oscar that he earned three times over by that point. And Best Supporting Actress was Claire Trevor, for Key Largo, which is the only other poor decision from this year, in my opinion. 4 out of 6 decisions were great though, this year, especially this one. This decision is just glorious.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1948
And the nominees were…
John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Anatole Litvak, The Snake Pit
Jean Negulesco, Johnny Belinda
Laurence Olivier, Hamlet
Fred Zinnemann, The Search (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1962
1962 is just one of those years. One of those years where, they did make the perfect decision, and yet — you just want them to have gone with something else. Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture, and who can blame them? The film is perfect. It’s a quintessential Best Picture film. It’s just — To Kill a Mockingbird was also up this year. And sentimentally — I love that film and I root for it. So while it wasn’t a bad decision (historically it’s an amazing decision) — I still do love To Kill a Mockingbird.
Best Actor this year was Gregory Peck for Mockingbird, and honestly, who can fault that one? It’s Atticus Fucking Finch. Best Actress this year was Anne Bancroft for The Miracle Worker, and Best Supporting Actress was Patty Duke, also for The Miracle Worker. Both were fantastic decisions. If you’ve seen the film — and you should — you’ll understand why both won. Especially Duke. And that’s coming from someone who really wanted to vote for Mary Badham as Scout Finch. The only decision this year I really disagree with is Best Supporting Actor, which Ed Begley (senior, not junior) won for Sweet Bird of Youth. I personally would have given it to Omar Sharif or Telly Savalas. But, with 5 out of 6 great decisions, it’s fine. The year is just incredible. I wish years could be even mostly as good as this one was, Oscar-wise. That’s without even mentioning how stacked this individual category is.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1962
And the nominees were…
Pietro Germi, Divorce, Italian Style
David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia
Robert Mulligan, To Kill a Mockingbird
Arthur Penn, The Miracle Worker
Frank Perry, David and Lisa (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1950
This one hurts. A lot. On the surface, you could look at this category and be like, “Oh, of course, All About Eve.” But if you look closer, you see it beat Sunset Boulevard and The Third Man. How could All About Eve have been a better directorial effort than those two? Especially the latter, which is considered one of the top ten or twenty (top five for me) best directorial efforts of all time? As you can see, I won’t even hide my contempt for this decision.
The rest of this year was — well, not very good. I don’t really like it all that much. All About Eve wins Best Picture, which I guess is okay. I prefer Sunset Boulevard, but, meh. Not gonna quibble that much. Best Actor was José Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac, a rather forgettable decision. Especially when you had William Holden in Sunset Boulevard and Jimmy Stewart in Harvey as the other choices. Best Actress was Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday, which, I liked as a performance, but am not totally sure about as a decision. After all, she beat Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard (not to mention Bette Davis and Anne Baxter — more so Anne Baxter — for All About Eve). Best Supporting Actor was George Sanders for All About Eve, which is a pretty good decision (it was between him and Erich von Stroheim — a much more historical decision). And Best Supporting Actress was Josephine Hull for Harvey, which I think is pretty good.
So, in all, I find this to be a bad year. Even the okay decisions are very questionable, and it’s all topped by this horrendous cherry on top.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1950
And the nominees were…
George Cukor, Born Yesterday
John Huston, The Asphalt Jungle
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve
Carol Reed, The Third Man
Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1960
I do not want to talk about this category. I want to skip over it and leave it as is. I can’t win no matter what I do here. On one hand, Billy Wilder wins this category for a film that, along with Some Like It Hot, defines his career. On the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock directed Psycho. Wilder had an Oscar (three, in fact) already. He won for directing The Lost Weekend and producing it (it won Best Picture). Then he won Best Screenplay for Sunset Boulevard. He also won Best Screenplay this year as well. So in all he won 6 Oscars. Hitchcock won zero. And yet, The Apartment is probably one of my top ten or twenty favorite films of all time. So I can’t win no matter what I do. I hate that.
As for the rest of 1960, The Apartment wins Best Picture, which, I feel is one of the best decisions of all time (but, I’m biased. Still, I think most people can agree that it’s a very good decision). Best Actor was Burt Lancaster, for his fantastic turn in Elmer Gantry. Shirley Jones also won Best Supporting Actress for the film. Best Actress was Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8, which is one of the more — controversial Best Actress decisions of all time. Most people acknowledge that Liz won because they thought she was dying and that Shirley MacLaine really should have won. Best Supporting Actor this year was Peter Ustinov for Spartacus.
So, overall, I think this is a pretty good year. I personally would have went another way on Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress — and then there’s the matter of this category — but overall, I think this is a very successful year. This feels like a strong 4/5 movie. And I like that.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1960
And the nominees were…
Jack Cardiff, Sons and Lovers
Jules Dassin, Never on Sunday
Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho
Billy Wilder, The Apartment
Fred Zinnemann, The Sundowners (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1949
1949. Good year, but not a great one. I like it, but don’t love it. All the King’s Men. A good film, but not really a great one. In another year, it probably wouldn’t win Best Picture. But this isn’t another year. Broderick Crawford wins Best Actor for the film, which I think is a great decision (as I’ve talked about here), and Mercedes McCambridge wins Best Supporting Actress for it as well. She was really the only choice. After that, Best Actress was Olivia de Havilland for The Heiress, which, even though it was her second one, was richly deserved. She was by far the best in the category. And Best Supporting Actor was Dean Jagger for Twelve O’Clock High, a decision I haven’t fully formulated an opinion on yet.
That’s it, really. Good decisions, but nothing outstanding. This category, however — introduces a real catch-22 in the history of the Best Director category. I’ll tell you what it is right now. Joseph L. Mankiewicz wins this. I don’t think he should have. I didn’t think his effort was that great. However, he also wins Best Director the year after this, for All About Eve. Which, is a good effort. Problem is, that year, he beat two films generally considered to be two of the the best directorial efforts of all time, Billy Wilder for Sunset Bouelvard and Carol Reed for The Third Man. And therein lies the catch-22. If Mankiewicz doesn’t win here, he definitely wins there, where he really shouldn’t have won. But he wins here, and he shouldn’t have. So what do you do? He should probably have a statue, but, I can’t (or won’t) vote for him in either of these years. So what do you do? See what I mean? How do you win? (You don’t. And that, ladies and gentleman, is the Academy Awards.)
BEST DIRECTOR – 1949
And the nominees were…
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, A Letter to Three Wives
Carol Reed, The Fallen Idol
Robert Rossen, All the King’s Men
William A. Wellman, Battleground
William Wyler, The Heiress (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1953
I love 1953. I say it every time, but I really do. If you want to see just how much I love 1953, read my articles where I talk about Best Actor for this year, William Holden for Stalag 17, Best Actress for this year, Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday, and Best Supporting Actor for this year, Frank Sinatra for From Here to Eternity. See that? I recapped without having to do all the rigamarole I did in those other articles. Also, Best Picture this year was From Here to Eternity and Donna Reed won Best Supporting Actress for it. It was a great year for movies, and an understandable Best Picture choice. While it wouldn’t have been my first choice (I love Roman Holiday and Shane), it’s still a good one, and a classy one. It’s a great film.
And this category — it works out about as well as one could hope for. The year before this, Fred Zinnemann should have been a shoo-in Best Director for High Noon. Everyone acknowledges he should have won (ditto the film for Best Picture). The reason it didn’t was because it was a thinly-veiled allegory against blacklisting. And the Academy doesn’t like controversy. So they played it safe, and chose The Greatest Show on Earth as Best Picture, which is a good film, but not a Best Picture. And since that film isn’t really the right choice, they went with John Ford for Best Director, for The Quiet Man. Which, is a gorgeous example of great directing, and he might well have won anyway, but, he had three Oscars by that point. Most people acknowledge he won because they didn’t want to vote for Zinnemann. Which is why it worked out that Zinnemann won this year. He won for the year’s Best Picture winner and for a film he directed a year earlier. Win-win. (P.S. This category is fucking stacked!)
BEST DIRECTOR – 1953
And the nominees were…
George Stevens, Shane
Charles Walters, Lili
Billy Wilder, Stalag 17
William Wyler, Roman Holiday
Fred Zinnemann, From Here to Eternity (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1973
I must have said this already, but fuck it, I’ll say it again. It bears repeating. 1973 is a year that I really like, but I’m never sure just how much everyone else likes it, so I always temper my volume when talking about it. I think The Sting is a perfect film and was the perfect choice to win Best Picture this year. But I’m never sure if everyone else feels that way. They might think The Exorcist was a better choice. Which, to each his own, but I’m still taking The Sting. Some people might also think American Graffiti should have won, in which case — I say you’re wrong. Good film, but — no. Either way, I love this year. The Sting was a wonderful choice.
Also this year, Jack Lemmon finally wins Best Actor for Save the Tiger, a decision I like a lot. Glenda Jackson wins Best Actress (again), for A Touch of Class, which I talked about (vehemently, I hope) here. John Houseman wins Best Supporting Actress for The Paper Chase, which I lament, but am kind of okay with, here. And Tatum O’Neal wins Best Supporting Actress, a decision that I’m over the Paper Moon about. See what I did there? I know, I’m clever.
Anyway, regardless of what you think of the Best Picture decision this year, I think this is a category that everyone can get behind. Because even though William Friedkin directed the shit out of The Exorcist, George Roy Hill also directed the shit out of The Sting, and he also directed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Friedkin had already won an Oscar for directing The French Connection. So all around, I think we can agree that giving George Roy Hill this one was a superb decision. Right? Right? Right. Okay.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1973
And the nominees were…
Ingmar Bergman, Cries and Whispers
Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris
William Friedkin, The Exorcist
George Roy Hill, The Sting
George Lucas, American Graffiti (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1954
Oh, I love 1954 very much. Not necessarily as a year in and of itself (though I’m sure I can produce a nice list of great films that came out this year if I went to the trouble to do so), but in terms of the Oscars. How can you not like a year that includes On the Waterfront winning Best Picture, Best Director for Elia Kazan (his second), Best Actor for Marlon Brando, and Best Supporting Actress for Eva Marie Saint. Right there, you have what amounts to a near perfect year.
Also this year, you have the added bonus of Grace Kelly vs. Judy Garland for Best Actress, with Grace winning for The Country Girl. I haven’t yet decided who I’d vote for there. But it’s such a highly contested race, I might actually have it be the last category I do (maybe…we’ll see). And Best Supporting Actor this year was Edmond O’Brien for The Barefoot Contessa, mostly as a result of a vote split between the three Waterfront nominees (much like Supporting Actor 1972). Not one bad decision in the bunch. And the one that kind of was, was totally understandable because of the situation. Plus Edmond O’Brien is awesome. Just watch this. So, 1954 is a great year all around. We should be lucky to have a year like this.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1954
And the nominees were…
Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window
Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront
George Seaton, The Country Girl
William A. Wellman, The High and the Mighty
Billy Wilder, Sabrina (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1991
What a stacked year for Best Director this is. Seriously. Just, wow. There was not one bad choice to make here. I mean, there would have been a weak one compared to the category, but still, all these nominees were really fucking strong.
Just to recap, before we get into it, The Silence of the Lambs sweeps the Big Five, which means, along with Best Screenplay (Adapted), it wins Best Picture, Best Director for Jonathan Demme (talked about here. No link. I mean here, here, where we are now), Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins (talked about here) and Best Actress for Jodie Foster. All great decisions. Also this year, Jack Palance wins Best Supporting Actor for City Slickers (which I talked about here), and Mercedes Ruehl wins Best Supporting Actress for The Fisher King. So, in all, 1991 is a great fucking year, aside from that one category I don’t really agree with so much.
But still, how about these fucking directors, right? How great is this list?
BEST DIRECTOR – 1991
And the nominees were…
Jonathan Demme, The Silence of the Lambs
Barry Levinson, Bugsy
Ridley Scott, Thelma and Louise
John Singleton, Boyz n the Hood
Oliver Stone, JFK (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1934
I love 1934. That will never change, because my favorite film of all time was made in 1934. And also It Happened One Night was this year too. Which, coincidentally, those are the two films I’ll pretty much be talking about in this article. So, that’s cool.
1934 is the first year of the single digit Oscar years, the first year they really figured out how to start doing things. They got up on their feet this year. It would take them another two years to get the Supporting categories in, but, they’re working at it. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to recap here, since It Happened One Night literally won everything. Best Picture, Best Actor for Clark Gable, Best Actress for Claudette Colbert, and yes, even Best Director.
I’m not even going to hide my opinion. I’m voting The Thin Man all the way here. It’s my favorite film, and nothing’s gonna change. So I’m gonna make this one as quick as possible, since, we all knew, before I walked in the goddamn door, which film I was gonna vote for.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1934
And the nominees were…
Frank Capra, It Happened One Night
Victor Schertzinger, One Night of Love
W.S. Van Dyke, The Thin Man
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1974
I like years like 1974. Because all you need to say is something like — The Godfather Part II — and everything takes care of itself. Everyone’s like, “Oh, yeah, I get it.”
The Godfather Part II swept Best Picture, Best Director for Coppola (which is what we’re talking about here. Sorry to ruin the surprise) and Best Supporting Actor for De Niro. I talked about Best Supporting Actor already. Ellen Burstyn won Best Actress this year for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which I’m very okay with, and I’ll explain why when I get to the category. Best Supporting Actress went to Ingrid Bergman for Murder on the Orient Express, which I’ve discussed in detail here. And Best Actor went to Art Carney for Harry and Tonto in what I consider one of the worst, if not the worst Best Actor decision of all time (I forget what the final prognosis was, but you can read all about it here).
Wow, I’m almost done with this year. Just Best Actress left to talk about. Which makes sense. This is a year where most people tend to see all the films very easily, even if they aren’t on an Oscar Quest.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1974
And the nominees were…
John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence
Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II
Bob Fosse, Lenny
Roman Polanski, Chinatown
François Truffaut, Day for Night (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1955
1955 is usually a “skip” year for most people. That is, when you’re reading through a list, looking at all the high and low points, like, “On the Waterfront, all right!”, or, “Around the World in 80 Days? Really?”, when you see 1955 and see Marty, most people, either not recognizing it or viewing it as a kind of blank, just mentally skip past it without a word. Usually they’ll be say the title, but mostly as a mental pause, as they skip ahead to the next film.
The reason for this is that Marty, while a fantastic film utterly deserving of Best Picture this year, isn’t a big film. In any other year, it probably wouldn’t come close to winning. But, it wasn’t in the strongest of categories. And since it doesn’t have too much of a lasting reputation like the films around it do, most people skip it. Which is a shame. It is a great film. Ernest Borgnine won Best Actor for it, and I’ve talked about how, while I wouldn’t have voted for him, it’s great that he won. Also this year, Anna Magnani won Best Actress for The Rose Tattoo, in what was mostly a weak year. I’m somewhat undecided on my feelings on that. Best Supporting Actor went to Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts, and Best Supporting Actress went to Jo Van Fleet for East of Eden. See? Nothing here particularly stands out, which is why this year, understandably, yet somewhat unfairly, keeps getting skipped over and overlooked.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1955
And the nominees were…
Elia Kazan, East of Eden
David Lean, Summertime
Joshua Logan, Picnic
Delbert Mann, Marty
John Sturges, Bad Day at Black Rock (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1972
Let’s not waste time here. The Godfather won Best Picture, it was a great decision. A top three decision of all time. Coppola lost Best Director to Bob Fosse and Cabaret. Unacceptable for this year, acceptable for all time. No need to waste space on something we can all agree on. (We can agree, can’t we?)
Marlon Brando won Best Actor. Nuff said. Best Actress went to Liza Minnelli for Cabaret. Nuff said. Great decision. Best Supporting Actor — which I talked about very recently — was Joel Grey, also for Cabaret. To echo my sentiments in the article, unacceptable, but understandable how it happened. And Best Supporting Actress went to Eileen Heckart for Butterflies are Free. That was a very weak category, and is what it is. So, now, this one.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1972
And the nominees were…
John Boorman, Deliverance
Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather
Bob Fosse, Cabaret
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Sleuth
Jan Troell, The Emigrants (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1982
We’re back at 1982. A boring year, for my money. I mean, Gandhi is Gandhi, but, also nominated this year were The Verdict, Tootsie and E.T. (and Missing, which — whatever). Those would have been way more interesting choices. Ben Kingsley for Best Actor for Gandhi was also good, but — Paul Newman was up for The Verdict. He hadn’t won one yet. But, whatever. This isn’t Best Actor. Best Actress, however, was Meryl Streep for Sophie’s Choice, which is one of the best choices they’ve ever made. I mean, come on. (I talked about that one here.) And then Best Supporting Actor was Lou Gossett Jr., for An Officer and a Gentleman, a category I haven’t decided how I feel about yet, and Best Supporting Actress was Jessica Lange for Tootsie, which, I also haven’t full decided upon yet. But I’ll probably get to it soon.
And that’s 1982, really. Mostly good decisions punctuated by a boring choice for Best Picture. Which then makes me feel pretty “meh” about this year as a whole, since, a year is summed up by its Best Picture winner in Oscar Town.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1982
And the nominees were…
Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
Sidney Lumet, The Verdict
Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Sydney Pollack, Tootsie
Steven Spielberg, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1999
Ah, Best Director ’99. I was originally going to end Best Director month with this one (since I’d already done 2000-2010, and this would have been the most recent category left and the most fitting to end with), but I decided to wait because I knew this would be a nice break for me in a month like this. Talking about this category is like when, on a test, after three long essays on the Boer wars, you get a question like, “So tell us why Nixon fucked up in the 70s.” And you’re like, “I know that! I can write twice what they want me to without pausing for thought!”
1999 was a good year. I think I explained it once as being a bit, on the nose. Don’t get me wrong, I love American Beauty — I fucking love that movie. I’d have voted for it all the way — but, it’s kind of, I don’t know, it feels too easy. It’s because the film is kind of stagy. Which doesn’t so much affect Best Picture as much as it affects this category. But we’ll get to that in a second. First let’s recap:
Best Actor this year was Kevin Spacey for American Beauty. Best Actress was Hilary Swank for Boys Don’t Cry (don’t get me started on this one), Best Supporting Actor was Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules (or this one), and Best Supporting Actress was Angelina Jolie for Girl, Interrupted (I talked about this one already).
So now, we come to the big conundrum — do I vote for the director of the movie I’d have voted for Best Picture, or do I vote for the director who directed the hell out of his movie and was much more “flashy” in his effort? What do you do? Pop quiz, hotshot. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1944
1944. I consider this year a missed opportunity. The Academy could have really went out on a limb and gave a great film Best Picture. But instead they went with the safe choice. Going My Way, which is a very good film, but really didn’t need to win Best Picture, Best Director Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Best Actor is cool, because who dosen’t like Bing Crosby? I can’t remember who he was up against offhand, but let’s assume it’s okay. (Note: Looked it up. Totally cool with it.) Oh, also, Barry Fitzgerald, who won Best Supporting Actor, was also nominated for Best Actor for the exact same role. Only time that’s happened in Academy history. After this they just settled into the standard category fraud that we’re used to.
Anywho, the other two awards we haven’t covered yet were Ingrid Bergman for Gaslight, a makeup Oscar if I’ve ever seen one — she was nominated for For Whom the Bell Tolls and not for Casablanca the year before this, plus she did a great job here, so there was really no way she wasn’t winning — and Ethel Barrymore for None But the Lonely Heart. I’m really not all that upset with most of the decisions this year — or at least, I don’t object too much, past Best Picture and this category, because those just weren’t necessary at all.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1944
And the nominees were…
Alfred Hitchcock, Lifeboat
Henry King, Wilson
Leo McCarey, Going My Way
Otto Preminger, Laura
Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity (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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