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 Supporting Actress – 1961
1961 was a good year for motion pictures. Films like 101 Dalmatians, West Side Story, The Guns of Navarone, Splendor in the Grass, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Parent Trap, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Children’s Hour, The Hustler, One, Two Three, A Raisin in the Sun, and Yojimbo will do that to a year.
West Side Story wins Best Picture in a perfectly acceptable choice. It’s a wonderful film, and deserved to win, even though I personally like The Hustler more. But even so, it’s still a great choice. Plus, the other three nominees for Best Picture were Guns of the Navarone, Judgment at Nuremberg and Fanny, so, really it was a good year all around. Robert Wise wins Best Director (with Jerome Robbins) for West Side Story, which is also a great decision. Best Actor goes to Maximilian Schell for Judgment at Nuremberg in a terrible decision. Not because he was bad, but because — Paul Newman was Fast Eddie Felson. He was so good in the role they gave him an Oscar for it when he reprised it 25 years after this. Best Actress went to Sophia Loren for Two Women, a decision I don’t agree with and will talk about pretty soon. And Best Supporting Actor went to George Charkiris for West Side Story, which I’m mostly okay with, even though I’d have gone another way. In all though, aside from some decisions I don’t like (to varying degrees), 1961 is a very good year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1961
And the nominees were…
Fay Bainter, The Children’s Hour
Judy Garland, Judgement at Nuremberg
Lotte Lenya, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Una Merkel, Summer and Smoke
Rita Moreno, West Side Story (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1995
1995, a good year, mostly because they made the best choice. Other than that, I’m not sure how great a year it was. Braveheart is a good film, but is it a Best Picture winner? In a year with better nominees, probably not. Or maybe even still. I don’t know. I only work with what I’m dealt. As it stands, the film was the best choice among the nominees. I love Apollo 13, but I don’t know if I’d give that Best Picture. And as much as I love Babe, it was never going to win.
Mel Gibson deserved to win Best Director. The reason for this is, Ron Howard, who won the DGA award for Apollo 13, wasn’t even nominated for the Oscar. Which made Mel a by default best decision there. And then Best Actress this year was Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking, a decision I do not like at all. Not even a little bit. I like that she has an Oscar, but, she beat better performances. Best Supporting Actor this year was Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects, which is such a good decision it doesn’t even matter whether he was lead or supporting. And Best Supporting Actress was Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite, which was a fucking fantastic decision. So, in all, it’s a good year for choices, but, I don’t know, I still can’t decide what I think about the year as a whole.
BEST ACTOR – 1995
And the nominees were…
Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas
Richard Dreyfuss, Mr. Holland’s Opus
Anthony Hopkins, Nixon
Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking
Massimo Troisi, Il Postino (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1977
1977. A year I try to mentally skip over whenever I see it. It conjures up bad memories. Annie Hall wins Best Picture this year, beating out Star Wars. That’s why. Now, granted, The Turning Point was the “favorite” to win, and by all accounts, Star Wars never had a chance, but, either way — come on.
Woody Allen wins Best Director and Diane Keaton wins Best Actress for Annie Hall, both of which I’ve talked about. Best Actor was Richard Dreyfuss for The Goodbye Girl, a decision I like, and Best Supporting Actress went to Vanessa Redgrave for Julia. I’d have gone another way, but that’s probably just because the category contained a type of performance that I almost always go for. Still, that’s cool, I guess.
Overall, this isn’t a terrible year, especially considering what it could have been, but it’s still not a good year, because — really, how does Star Wars not win?
BEST ACTOR – 1977
And the nominees were…
Mikhail Baryshnikov, The Turning Point
Peter Firth, Equus
Alec Guinness, Star Wars
Jason Robards, Julia
Maximilian Schell, Julia (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 Supporting Actress – 1970
Oh, 1970 — a year I don’t like, even though I know, there isn’t anything I can do about it.
Patton wins Best Picture, Best Director for Franklin J. Schaffner, and Best Actor for George C. Scott. Now, Best Actor I have no problem with. George C. Scott gives one of the best male acting performances of all time here. I completely understand that. And even Best Director I get. But Best Picture? I don’t know. I mean, it’s a perfect fitting Best Picture, but, the other film that was up this year was Love Story, and I’m extremely partial to that. That, to me, is a perfect film. Patton is kind of a long mess. Not really a mess, but, the only real reason I think it won is because it was “supposed to.” Looking at it you think, “There’s a film that’s a Best Picture,” but, really, is it? It’s kind of boring. It’s a good film, but — I don’t know. I don’t think it needed to win. (And just so we’re clear on this bias, I did see Patton before I saw Love Story, so I’m not just saying Patton should have lost because I really want a film I love to win at all costs. I don’t do that. I so stay as objective as I can. I respect Patton, but I’m not sure I can say I accept that it should have won. Plus, Love Story beat Patton in the Globes. I notice how, when one gets it wrong, the other usually gets it right. And I felt the Oscars got it wrong this year.)
1970 is also notorious for featuring the worst Best Actress decision of all time. Glenda Jackson won Best Actress for Women in Love, beating Ali MacGraw for Love Story. Now, everyone here says here that Glenda Jackson should not have won. This isn’t a sentimental thing. This is literally, she should not have won. The film is terrible, and she’s not even really a lead. Plus Ali MacGraw gave the performance of a lifetime. It’s a terrible decision all around, made worse by the fact that they gave her a second one three years later for A Touch of Class, which is a glorified romantic comedy (with some drama at the end), which would have been okay if they just gave her that one. I don’t know what the fuck the Academy was thinking there, and here. Don’t worry, I’ll have a lot to rail on when I get to that category. As for the rest of this year, though, Best Supporting Actor went to John Mills, for Ryan’s Daughter, because — well, I don’t fucking know. It’s decisions like that which are the reason I don’t like this year at all. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1959
This is the one category for 1959 where I can really say — what a fucking terrible decision.
Ben-Hur wins Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Charlton Heston and Best Supporting Actor for Hugh Griffith. All of those are pretty okay. I talked about the Best Director and Best Actor already. The other category this year was Best Supporting Actress (which I’ve also talked about), which went to Shelley Winters for The Diary of Anne Frank. I’m less okay with that one, but I do understand that one. Which leaves this category. Seriously, what the fuck were they thinking here?
BEST ACTRESS – 1959
And the nominees were…
Doris Day, Pillow Talk
Audrey Hepburn, The Nun’s Story
Katharine Hepburn, Suddenly, Last Summer
Simone Signoret, Room at the Top
Elizabeth Taylor, Suddenly, Last Summer (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1991
1991 is a near perfect year, Oscar-wise. Were it not for one tiny shitty decision (and one upsetting one), the entire year would be flawless.
The Silence of the Lambs became only the third picture (after Cuckoo’s Nest and It Happened One Night, in not that order) to win the Big Five, i.e. Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director (Jonathan Demme), and Best Screenplay (Ted Tally, in case you were interested). Rightfully so, too. It’s a perfect film. No one seemed to see it coming, since Bugsy was winning most of the awards that season, but, now, twenty years later, it seems like a no-brainer, right? Best Supporting Actress this year went to Mercedes Ruehl in one of those “best choice in a weak category” kind of deals. And Best Supporting Actor went to Jack Palance, which I talked about, in a decision that’s upsetting, but cool, since it’s Jack Palance. That’s the decision that’s upsetting, but the one I can live with.
The shitty decision I mentioned earlier was The Prince of Tides being the fifth Best Picture nominee. It’s clearly a terrible film, and the only reason it got on the list seems to be the fact that it’s a Barbra Streisand movie, and the Academy loves Babs about as much as the Hollywood Foreign Press loves Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp. If the Academy had picked a better film as the fifth Best Picture nominee, like, say, Barton Fink, The Fisher King, Boyz N the Hood, or the most obvious choice (since it was nominated for Best Director in the Babs spot), Thelma and Louise, we’d have had that film, along with The Silence of the Lambs, Bugsy, JFK and Beauty and the Beast as the five nominees. How fucking great would that lineup have been? (Ooh, I kind of want to rank the Best Picture years now, based on how strong I think their nominees are. That’s getting done at the end of this Quest. Write that shit down.) So, in all a perfect year, since, they made all good decisions. But it’s like the little pockmark at the end of it that’s annoying because, one little fix and it would be perfect. (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 Supporting Actor – 1966
The thing I remember best about 1966 is that it’s one of, if not the only — double checking on this right now. Yes it is — it’s the only year in the history of the Academy (with five Best Picture nominees) where the Best Actor category matched up exactly with the Best Picture category. That is — all the Best Actor nominees were all the male leads of the five Best Picture nominees. No other category can boast that. There are a couple of fours, and 1964 has four matches and one repeat, but, the other nominee didn’t really have a male lead, so, 1966 will always be the only year (unless they go back to five nominees) where Best Actor matched Best Picture.
It also was a pretty good year overall, with A Man For All Seasons winning Best Picture, Paul Scofield winning Best Actor for it and Fred Zinnemann winning Best Director for it, and then every other award going to the other film that was just as great that year, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, with Elizabeth Taylor winning Best Actress and Sandy Dennis winning Best Supporting Actress. The only other category that wasn’t won by either of those two films (but not for lack of trying), was this category, which is a pleasant little change up. Because who doesn’t love Walter Matthau?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1966
And the nominees were…
Mako, The Sand Pebbles
James Mason, Georgy Girl
Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie
George Segal, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Robert Shaw, A Man for All Seasons (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1982
Oh, 1982. A good year capped off by a boring Best Picture winner. Gandhi is many things — a great film, a terrific biopic on one of the most important men of the 20th century — but an interesting film it is not. It didn’t need to win Best Picture. It’s just too on-the-nose. Which, kind of what the 80s were for the Oscars — a boring decade. Think about it. How many interesting decisions did the Academy make in the 80s? Amadeus? Platoon? Rain Man? Terms of Endearment? Even the ones that won weren’t great decisions. At best they’d be strong films in other decades. So, I just count this as one in a long line of boring 80s choices.
Richard Attenborough winning Best Director this year was — well, I talked about it already. Recently too. Meryl Streep winning Best Actress was — well, I talked about that too. Jessica Lange winning Best Supporting Actress was a fine decision, and Lou Gossett Jr. winning Best Supporting Actor was — well, it was. Which leaves this category. The most interesting of all the categories this year. It’s tough talking about it. Because on the one hand, he played Gandhi. But on the other hand — well, is the other hand. It’s kind of a lose-lose.
BEST ACTOR – 1982
And the nominees were…
Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie
Ben Kingsley, Gandhi
Jack Lemmon, Missing
Paul Newman, The Verdict
Peter O’Toole, My Favorite Year (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1983
Still don’t know what to do with 1983. Or rather, how do you solve a problem like 1983? For the most part, 1983 is a boring year. Two of the five Best Picture nominees are pretty meh — The Dresser and Tender Mercies — one of them is amazing but was never going to win — The Big Chill — and then the other two…which do you pick? — Terms of Endearment and The Right Stuff. I love The Right Stuff, but, I don’t love it enough to call it a slam dunk Best Picture winner. And I love Terms of Endearment, but it’s also not quite a Best Picture winner even though it is. James L. Brooks also winning Best Director is kind of okay, and yet at the same time — I don’t know. I just don’t know what to do with this year.
Best Actor this year went to Robert Duvall, which — thank fucking god. The man was part of the biggest upset ever recorded in the Best Supporting Actor category in 1979 when he lost for Apocalypse Now. Interesting bit of fact about that whenever I get to it. But for now, even though the performance isn’t incredible (I actually compare it to Jeff Bridges’s Crazy Heart performance), the man deserved to win, so, we live with it. Best Actress this year went to Shirley MacLaine, which, also, fucking finally. That woman should have won 23 years before this. And I think she said that in her acceptance speech as well. Best Supporting Actor this year was Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment, because, why not? I think that was their reasoning. Why the fuck not? He was the big name in pretty weak category.
But, this year is very much a dead year for me because, the winners are clear cut, they’re not very interesting past — it’s about time — and the Best Picture choice is weak in terms of Best Picture choices, but, probably not a bad choice in terms of the nominees for this year. I’m pretty sure when the time comes it’ll be my vote, then again maybe not. I don’t know. It’s just — what do you do with a year like this? (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1958
1958 is a year — I think this is my first time talking about it since I’ve been writing these articles. I never really decided my feelings on the year as a whole. I agree with a lot of the decisions, but, for some reason this year just kind of feels like a blank to me.
Gigi won Best Picture, which is why it feels like a blank to most people. It wasn’t a terrible decision, mostly because the year itself didn’t really have a standout nominee. The Defiant Ones was also nominated, and that’s really the film that people can point to the best out of the other nominees and say it should have won, but both that and Gigi feel like films that, in most years, would be solid #2s. You know? I like them but, I just don’t see either of them as being winners. The other three nominees this year were Auntie Mame, which is a good film but kind of a bloated entry in the Best Picture nominees, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which is a great film but is very stagy and feels more like an “actors'” film more than a Best Picture winner, and Separate Tables, which is a solid film and a classy film, but not a Best Picture winner. So, this year is kind of a year of all fours without a solid five. That’s why I think it this year doesn’t really stand out among the really good ones.
As for the rest of the year, Best Actor went to David Niven for Separate Tables, which is more of a career achievement than anything. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier probably split the vote for The Defiant Ones, Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — I don’t know, maybe he was too new to the industry to win over a veteran — and Spencer Tracy for The Old Man and the Sea, which is a Spencer Tracy nomination. So I guess that makes sense. Best Supporting Actor went to Burl Ives for The Big Country, which makes perfect sense, as he was great in that and great also in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof this year (kind of strange he didn’t win for that, but, hey, a win’s a win). Best Supporting Actress went to Wendy Hiller for Separate Tables, which was a great opportunity to give a veteran an Oscar in a relatively weak category. And Best Director was Vincente Minnelli for Gigi, which was a perfect decision, since Minnelli deserved an Oscar and didn’t get one the other time he was nominated in 1951. So, that’s 1958. A good year but not a great year. One that might be unfairly swept under the rug because of an unflashy Best Picture decision. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1972
1972 was The Godfather. So I think we all know just how good a year this was. (Note: Totally a coincidence with the Pic of the Day today.) Best Actor went to Brando. Simple and easy choice. Best Director went to Bob Fosse, which, is strange, yet, acceptable. The reason being, Coppola won for Part II, and, since the Academy really fucked up and awarded neither in 1979 (for whatever reason), they ended up both having one. So, even though Coppola lost for directing what many consider one of the top five or ten greatest movies ever made, it’s kind of acceptable if you don’t think about it too much.
Best Actress this year was Liza Minnelli for Cabaret, which is awesome, because she’s awesome and did a great job in the film (plus she was the only good choice. The others were way less interesting. Which leaves us with two categories — this one, which, well, I’ll get to that in a second, and Best Supporting Actress, which went to Eileen Heckart for Butterflies are Free. Personally, I think that category sucked, and there wasn’t really a clear cut winner, so, I count that as a blank. But, this category is a strange one, because, there are clearly three better choices, yet, they were all from the same film, which lead to a vote split. So, even if it’s upsetting that someone from The Godfather didn’t win, I do kind of get it. Because, look who the three were.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1972
And the nominees were…
Eddie Albert, The Heartbreak Kid
James Caan, The Godfather
Robert Duvall, The Godfather
Joel Grey, Cabaret
Al Pacino, The Godfather (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1996
1996 is one of the few dark spots of the 90s. After the terrible decision that was Dances With Wolves, we got a somewhat poor decision with Forrest Gump (based on the competition. I love the film, but, there were better choices), The English Patient here, and then the Shakespeare in Love choice (which is also kind of a competition choice). The two insanely glaring errors to me are Patient and Wolves, because, not only should they not have won, they aren’t even good films. Maybe it’s okay that Anthony Minghella won Best Director for The English Patient as well, but, it was still up against Fargo.
I guess what sort of saves 1996 from completely going under were the rest of the major categories. Or it might have made it worse, depending on where you fall. Frances McDormand as Best Actress is a good decision, since I’m glad they gave Fargo something, though there might have been (and probably were) better choices in the category. Juliette Binoche as Best Supporting Actress for The English Patient is a decision I haven’t fully made up my mind on, but I’m okay with it as far as, I like Juliette Binoche. Cuba Gooding Jr. as Best Supporting Actor for Jerry Maguire is a decision I like a lot, mostly because I liked the character, but William H. Macy was also nominated for Fargo, so, there is a bit of complication there.
Oh, and to get it out of the way, I consider this category one of the worst decisions the Academy has made in the Best Actor category, ever. The reason for this is not because of who won, it’s what he won for and whether or not that performance was worthy of winning. And just to tell you — dude’s only on screen for like, fifteen minutes, so, he totally didn’t deserve it. And what makes it worse is the caliber of performances he did beat. That’s why, no matter how much I like Geoffrey Rush, this was a terrible decision. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1956
I love 1956. This is a great year for Oscar films disguised under a bad cloud of what actually won. Around the World in 80 Days is considered (somewhat unfairly) as one of the worst Best Picture choices of all time. It’s a bad choice, but not that terrible. Yul Brynner as Best Actor for The King and I is a really bad choice, mostly because he’s nothing more than a supporting actor in the film. Ingrid Bergman as Best Actress for Anastasia (as I’ve talked about here) was a terrible decision. Anthony Quinn as Best Actor for Lust for Life was a mostly poor decision, but I haven’t yet fully decided my feelings on that one. And George Stevens as Best Director for Giant was the lone good decision this year. That’s about it. I love 1956. Back up in that other article, I listed all the great films that came out that year. That list about covers it.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1956
And the nominees were…
Mildred Dunnock, Baby Doll
Eileen Heckart, The Bad Seed
Dorothy Malone, Written on the Wind
Mercedes McCambridge, Giant
Patty McCormack, The Bad Seed (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 Actor – 1999
1999. This is the last category from this year, right? I feel like I’ve done them all. Supporting Actress, yes — that was Angelina Jolie for Girl, Interrupted. Director, yes — that was Sam Mendes for American Beauty. American Beauty also won Best Picture. Actor is here. Which leaves, Best Actress. I haven’t covered that yet. That was Hilary Swank for Boys Don’t Cry. And then Best Supporting Actor, which, I haven’t covered either. Really? It feels like this year is always coming up. Well, Supporting Actor was Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules.
What else do we need to cover here? Can we just get into it? Actually, let’s break this category down. I like how it’s structured. First, we have the veteran nomination. That’s Richard Farnsworth. Never really was one for the Academy, but is old and gives a fairly poignant performance. That’s all they need to nominate you. Then we have “actor’s” performance. Which is Sean Penn. That’s one where, he’s a dude who they know is completely dedicated to his work, and they saw what he could do in Dead Man Walking, and now have him on the radar. I feel like it’s, they makes them bridesmaids a few times until it’s their turn to be a bride. I really think that’s what it is. The Academy Awards are like marriage. Then the second time they win is either a marriage after a nasty divorce (the comeback) or the renewal of the vows. Oh, plus the Sean Penn one was a Woody Allen film. They’re just looking to nominate an actor in a Woody Allen film. Anyway, so there’s the veteran and then the actor who they’re sort of gearing up to win one one of these days. Then we have the other three. Here’s where I find it gets really interesting. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1953
And now for one of my personal favorite years and individual categories of the entire Oscar Quest — Best Actress 1953. I posted a list the last time I covered 1953, of all the great films that came out this year. That list is why it’s one of my favorite years for movies. As for this category, there are three films on this list that I love dearly, two extremely so, with the other two being particularly strong as well, leading to a category that, while easy to separate in terms of how I’d rank them, is still one of the strongest I’ve personally seen.
As for the rest of the year, From Here to Eternity pretty much swept everything. While it might not have been my personal choice as Best Picture of the year, it’s still a very good film, and it’s understandable why it won. Fred Zinnemann also winning Best Director HAD TO happen. The reason for that is, one, he directed the hell out of the picture. Two, he didn’t win the year before this for High Noon, which is kind of a shame. Though, John Ford won for The Quiet Man instead, which was a good decision, but everyone acknowledges that High Noon lost all its awards (except the Gary Cooper one, because who’s gonna dispute Gary Cooper?) because it’s clearly an anti-HUAC film and it was a weird time in their lives. So him winning this year was virtually assured. Frank Sinatra won Best Supporting Actor for the film, which I’ve talked about, and Donna Reed won Best Supporting Actress for it as well. Which only leaves two categories: Best Actor, which was William Holden for Stalag 17 (most likely due to a vote split from dueling From Here to Eternity nominations), and this one, which I’ll get into forthwith.
BEST ACTRESS – 1953
And the nominees were…
Leslie Caron, Lili
Ava Gardner, Mogambo
Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday
Deborah Kerr, From Here to Eternity
Maggie McNamara, The Moon is Blue (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1991
1991. This year makes me smile. It’s so fucking good. First, here’s a list of the films that came out in 1991: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, Backdraft, Barton Fink, Beauty and the Beast, Boyz N the Hood, Bugsy, Cape Fear, The Doors, The Fisher King, Hook, JFK, Necessary Roughness (a personal favorite of mine. A great football movie that is largely unknown), Point Break, The Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Thelma & Louise, and of course, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze. It was a very good year, 1991.
What makes me even happier is that, 4 out of the 5 Best Picture nominees are incredible films. Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, and The Silence of the Lambs. The Prince of Tides? Ehh, not so good. But te other four? Wow. There was almost no bad choice this year (though Bugsy would have been kinda weak, considering they ignored Goodfellas the year before). And then the acting choices. Anthony Hopkins as Best Actor for Hannibal Lecter? Genius. Jodie Foster as Best Actress for Clarice Starling? Awesome. Mercedes Ruehl as Best Supporting Actress for The Fisher King? Best choice of the category. Jonathan Demme as Best Director for Lambs? Good choice (considering Stone had two Oscars already for directing, and one for writing). Jack Palance gets a Best Supporting Actor Oscar? Well, let’s talk…
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1991
And the nominees were…
Tommy Lee Jones, JFK
Harvey Keitel, Bugsy
Ben Kingsley, Bugsy
Michael Lerner, Barton Fink
Jack Palance, City Slickers (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1959
I’ve covered 1959 a few times in recent weeks. Ben-Hur, sweeps all the big awards, Best Picture, Best Director for William Wyler, Best Actor for Charlton Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Hugh Griffith. So all the male awards went to one movie. (Because, in such a male-dominated industry, Best Picture and Best Director are, essentially, male awards.) Which only leaves two. Best Actress, and this one. Best Actress went to Simone Signoret for Room at the Top, which, as you can guess from reading the two categories from this year that I’ve already covered, I’m not okay with. It’s not subtle. So what we have is, outside of Best Picture and Best Director, a year I don’t really like. And yet there were such great films this year.
Wow. I covered it all in one paragraph. That might be a first. I really don’t have anything else to say about this one. Remember this, folks, this doesn’t happen often.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1959
And the nominees were…
Hermione Baddeley, Room at the Top
Susan Kohner, Imitation of Life
Juanita Moore, Imitation of Life
Thelma Ritter, Pillow Talk
Shelley Winters, The Diary of Anne Frank
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1974
I know myself so well. I seem to schedule these things on purpose so things come up at just the right time. I generally set out an entire month’s worth of categories in advance, just so I don’t have to sit and pick from the lot. Everything gets nice and balanced that way, and when the day comes up, it’s, “Oh, hey, I’m talking about this category today.” And, somehow, I manage to always have things scheduled for the right mood. For instance, if I’m on a really productive streak, it seems like all the categories I really want to talk about come up, so that way I end up writing a lot and really recommending the films I want to recommend. Or if I’ve been out binge drinking the night before, it seems like the category for that day is always a quick one. Things always seem to work out that way. Today I get to vent my frustrations on what I consider to be one of the worst single choices (in the acting categories) in the Academy’s history. Worst. Of all time.
My criteria for judging how bad a category is consists of several factors. First, who won, and how does that performance rate on its own? Second, who, specifically did they beat? As in, what was the main competition for it. Example: How Green Was My Valley beat Citizen Kane. That is, for all intensive purposes, the main competition. Next, how strong was the rest of the category? Is it a simple case of voting one over another, or did they pass on multiple good and/or better choices in favor of the bad one? And the last two — these are to a much lesser extent, but still factor in — how badly did this mess up history (ie, did this require that a makeup Oscar be given to someone at some point in the future, which would then possibly deprive someone else of an Oscar in that case and perpetuate the makeup Oscar cycle) and did someone not get an Oscar because of this? That means, was this someone’s only/best chance to win an Oscar, and did they not ever end up getting one, possibly due to this bad decision. Think people like Richard Burton or Peter O’Toole, who never won Oscars. A bad decision is made worse if because of it, someone like Peter O’Toole was deprived of an Oscar. These last two categories definitely get intertwined at a certain point, but, largely, can remain separate. Now, if a decision fits firmly in the sweet spott of the Venn Diagram, then it deserves to be counted among the worst decisions of all time. This, my friends, is in that sweet spot. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1969
1969 is a year I’m undecided on as a whole. Parts of it I’m very okay with, but parts of it I’m just not sure. For example — Best Picture this year went to Midnight Cowboy, as did Best Director. Now, personally, I’d have voted for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid here. And my big question is how acceptable Midnight Cowboy is, having won. I’ve yet to fully make up my mind. I mean, it’s kind of okay, but is it really? That’s my question. Fortunately I don’t have to decide this just yet, so I can go on living on the fence.
Best Actor this year was John Wayne for True Grit, the career Oscar to end all career Oscars. I’m cool with it, since he deserved one, and Hoffman and Voight eventually got Oscars. Peter O’Toole was also nominated here, and he never got one, but, you know, he was never winning for for being in a remake of the same film that won another dude an Oscar 30 years earlier (Goodbye, Mr. Chips). And Richard Burton? Yeah he deserved an Oscar, and he was brilliant in Anne of the Thousand Days, but you know, there were two years earlier in the 60s where he could have gotten an Oscar and they didn’t give it to him. So I blame that on the Academy. So that’s cool, I feel.
Then Best Supporting Actor was Gig Young for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? That was cool, considering the category wasn’t terribly interesting. And Best Supporting Actress went to Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower, which is cool, since she was hysterical in the film.
This category though, was fucking stacked. Great actresses and great parts. All great parts. Everyone in this category was really good in their role, and fittingly enough, 3 of the 5 went on to win Oscars (that’s even if we exclude the winner here). But really, any of these actresses could have won and it would have been okay. That’s how great this category was. Definitely one of the better Best Actress races I’ve seen. (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…)
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