Ohhh! Also: Anna Paquin. My irrational hatred of “The Piano” aside, that kid robbed somebody of an oscar (I’m too lazy to look up who the other nominees were.)
I was out a while ago with a friend and we bumped into a guy he knows who is a standup comic. He told us about a bit of his that had been stolen by a TV show. It had occurred to him that although everyone was saying PSH would win the Oscar because he had “nailed” the part of Truman Capote, most of the people who said it had no idea what Capote was really like, they had never met him. He then postulated that Hoffman’s portrayal was the way he played everyone and proceeded to mimic Hoffman, as Capote, auditioning for other roles.
The highlight was his haughty Col. Jessep lisping, ‘You want answers?’
‘I think I’m entitled.’
Col. Jessep lisps, ‘You want answers?’
‘I want the truth.’
Col. Jessep mincingly, ‘I mock your truth handlimg abilities.’
Sure. But he was playing himself. Not exactly a stretch for an actor. And hardly the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. Not even close. Hoffman’s Rizzo was brilliant. Wayne’s Cogburn was just a caricature of all the cowboy parts he had played for so long.
Then that’s what the Academy should have done, given him a career award.
I’d recall her Oscar merely for the fact that she starred in that god-awful sitcom Mad About You, but if that’s somehow unfair, it’s because she’s a drip who acted a mediocre role in a mediocre film, and hasn’t done anything noteworthy since.
I’ll help you: Reindeer Games, and Gigli.
The man should not be allowed to make his own role choices. He has a friend named Matt who would be more than happy to help him make decisions.
Fiasco?
What you think of the movie is one thing, but it can hardly be called a fiasco, can it now?
See, I have never quite understood this criticism of Oscar winners. Why exactly, upon winning an Oscar, must they restrict themselves only to the most rarified and prestigious of projects? Shouldn’t they be allowed to make shitty films for paychecks like any other actor?
A good point. I read an interview with Robin Willams in (of all places) the US Airways Magazine last month where he touched on this:
Refreshingly honest, IMHO.
Perhaps it’s more of a theatre-based tradition, but acting is a job. Laurence Olivier was in The Betsy, after all.
Really? What other film released in 1997 do you think had superior art direction? Cinematography? Costume design? Sound effects editing? Visual effects? Film editing? Original score? Sound?
The Full Monty 
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
I’m gonna be sick.
I think it’s a shame she got more attention for that sidekick comedic role in Ghost. She really deserved to win for her performance in The Color Purple. For that injustice alone she can do no wrong, in my book.
I also don’t know if we can blame Whoopie for not getting better parts. It’s hard being a 50-something, dredlocked, slightly pudgie, no-eyebrow-having black actress. If you want to eat, you take what you can get.
Marion Morrison wasn’t really a cowboy.
John Wayne was definitely a character actor, but at his best, with a good script, he put on some pretty great performances; not only “True Grit,” but also “The Searchers” and “The Shootist.”
Whether that means he was better than Hoffman I don’t know, and frankly I think comparing one actor to another is impossible except in the most extreme comparisons. I doubt Dustin Hoffman could’ve done Rooster Cogburn and I’m pretty sure John Wayne could not have been Ratso Rizzo, just as I doubt the Beastie Boys could sing “La Traviata” and I wouldn’t want to hear Pavarotti attempt “No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn.” Some actors fit some roles, and some REALLY fit some roles. Wayne and Hoffman were both perfect in the roles they played. There’s no system that involves handing out one Oscar a year that’s going to be fair.
Agreed!
And agreed.
Angelina can’t act her way out of a paper bag. She just sticks her big flabby lips and her boobs out, and people think she’s just swell (pun not intended, btw). I hate hate hated her in Girl, Interrupted with every fiber of my being.
Anna Paquin has yet to prove any acting chops, IMHO. The Piano was a shitty ass movie, it just happened to be particularly wierd and violent, so people thought it was art. I’ll always regret not following my instincts and walking out of that movie.
In 1999, when Denzel Washington did not win for The Hurricane I was extremely disappointed. However, Kevin Spacey deserved that Oscar almost as much as Denzel did. The Training Day Oscar was a make-up award, he was really getting it for The Hurricane, IMHO.
I think they do that a LOT in the Oscars. They fuck up and then later they try to make up for it and fuck someone else out their deserved Oscar.
I prefer any of the nominees (LA Confidential, The Wings of the Dove, Kundun, Amistad) that year, not to mention the non-nominated The Sweet Hereafter and Eve’s Bayou.
The 5th Element or Wilde
Boogie Nights or Eve’s Bayou
Plenty of takers: The Sweet Hereafter, LA Confidential, Fast Cheap & Out of Control, Amistad, The Wings of the Dove for starters.
’della! Where you been at?
I don’t know…Titanic was pretty damned good. Celine Dion aside; the soundtrack as an album was listenable all the way through, and gave you emotions the movie wished it could have.
1997 Cinematography? Kundun was robbed, hands down. Ergoyan deserved the director’s nod, at least in my book. By far. Art Direction should have gone to Kundun or LA Confidential. Costumes to Oscar and Lucinda.
As for score? Eh. What did we have that year? The usual suspects.
Horner (who won), Williams (Amistad – which was an excellent score), Elfman (Good Will Hunting – another good score), Goldsmith (L.A. Confidential – jesus christ, the only major player missing here is… you know it… kaping! That’s right! Hans Zimmer!)
Philip Glass was the only unusual composer here with the score for Kundun. He would have been my pick because, well, I like his stuff and it was really a perfect score for the movie. But yeah, it was a dark horse.
Sound, Sound Effects… Special effects – Titanic was a groudbreaking film that year. I’ll give it that. But then, so was Men In Black and Fifth Element. Give my man Vincent D’Onofrio some credit as the Bug in MIB…
YMMV…
What? take back The Duke’s Oscar for True Grit?
Fill yer hands, you sonofabitch!
mm