Marissa Tomei. My Cousin Vinny was funny, I enjoyed it, but Marissa was actually the thing I liked the least. She was annoying, and, IMO, not that good at all.
Has anyone actually counted the minutes Kim Basinger was in “LA Confidential”, and how many lines she had? My wife and I were shocked when she won. I had forgotten she was in the movie.
The least deserved Oscar ever: Marisa Tomei, Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for My Cousin Vinny.
The only reason she won is that she was competing against four accomplished British actresses:
Joan Plowright, Enchanted April
Miranda Richardson, Fatale
Vanessa Redgrave, Howards End
Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives
and the Academy wanted to buy American.
Vinny, while an enjoyable little comedy, can’t hold a candle to the other films, and Tomei, in only her fourth major film role, brings nothing to her unremarkable role that a dozen other actresses couldn’t have done.
Whereas each of the other four actresses, with far more experience, gave subtle, interesting performances in their respective films.
Tomei’s Oscar is a travesty, pure and simple.
[I see on preview that **bouv** has beat me to the punch. But it’s such a well deserved punch, I’m seconding it.]
The least deserved Oscar ever: Marisa Tomei, Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for My Cousin Vinny.
The only reason she won is that she was competing against four accomplished British actresses:
Joan Plowright, Enchanted April
Miranda Richardson, Fatale
Vanessa Redgrave, Howards End
Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives
and the Academy wanted to buy American.
Vinny, while an enjoyable little comedy, can’t hold a candle to the other films, and Tomei, in only her fourth major film role, brings nothing to her unremarkable role that a dozen other actresses couldn’t have done.
Whereas each of the other four actresses, with far more experience, gave subtle, interesting performances in their respective films.
Tomei’s Oscar is a travesty, pure and simple.
[I see on preview that **bouv** has beaten me to the punch. But it’s such a well deserved punch, I’m seconding it.]
The least deserved Oscar ever: Marisa Tomei, Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for My Cousin Vinny.
The only reason she won is that she was competing against four accomplished British actresses:
Joan Plowright, Enchanted April
Miranda Richardson, Fatale
Vanessa Redgrave, Howards End
Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives
and the Academy wanted to buy American.
Vinny, while an enjoyable little comedy, can’t hold a candle to the other films, and Tomei, in only her fourth major film role, brings nothing to her unremarkable role that a dozen other actresses couldn’t have done.
Whereas each of the other four actresses, with far more experience, gave a subtle, interesting performance in her respective film.
Tomei’s Oscar is a travesty, pure and simple.
[I see on preview that **bouv** has beaten me to the punch. But it’s such a well deserved punch, I’m seconding it.]
I’ve always held that supporting acting Oscars are won or lost on the power of a single pivotal scene, so if you’re nominated for an overall solid performance that never contained a moment that made the audience say “oooooooooooh” then you’re not gonna win the Oscar.
Marisa Tomei won her Oscar for the foot-stamping on the porch scene. (“My biological clock is Ticking!Like!This!”) Kim Basinger won her Oscar for the slapped-in-the-face on the porch (in the rain) scene.
Hmm, on second thought, maybe the key is being really emotional on a porch.
Well, I didn’t see Fatale but I did see as much of the other three as I could stand before being driven from the TV in utter boredom, so maybe Marisa Tomei won because voters were able to make it through the entire movie to see the entire performance.
Biggest travesty in the Best Actress category is Judy Holliday’s win for Born Yesterday. She was up against Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in All About Eve, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Eleanor Parker in Caged. Not saying Judy Holliday wasn’t good in the role…OK, yes I am saying she wasn’t good in the role. Definitely fifth out of five, a dull, one-note performance.
And, since the song category probably won’t get a lot of discussion, I’ll bring up a few. “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun winning over “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space” from Little Shop of Horrors? Please!
Good Will Hunting = Best Original Screenplay? C’mon, it was not a bad movie, but it was a cliche and sophomoric story. It made for a good human interest piece about the “young struggling artists who beat the odds” and that was good enough for the Academy.
Well, I’m an “American Beauty” detractor. I thought it was a simply awful film with some good performances in it. On the whole I found “Magnolia” a much better statement of alienation and desperation, plus the performances were better.
Why does everybody trash Tomei’s performance in that movie?!? I thought she played a great role. Yeah, it’s comedic, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy than some boring, understated British chick in a movie I’ll probably never see in my life, does it???
I think people are just bitter sometimes.
As for truly undeserved Oscars, I nominate Russell Crowe for The Gladiator. (As well as Best Picture, Director, and everything else it won…but especially Actor.) Especially because it cost Crowe the Oscar for a truly deserved performance in A Beautiful Mind, but nobody in the Academy wanted to award him two consecutive Oscars, because let’s face it, he’s sort of a dick. And…did nobody in the Academy watch Cast Away?? Tom Hanks totally deserved a 3rd Oscar for that role. I could have watched him on that island for another six hours.
I completely agree! Gladiator was such a disappointment to me. And I think Tom Hanks’ role in Cast Away was even more Oscar-worthy than the roles for which he’s actually won.
First of all, I thought Marissa Tomei was GREAT in “My Cousin Vinny”. She delivered those lines with a great New York accent “It’s called disclosure you dickhead !!!”
I thought Joel Grey’s performance in “Cabaret” was NOT Oscarworthy (Best Supporting Actor 1972). Perhaps because the other nominees were Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan from the “Godfather”, the votes may have been split between those 3 so much so that Joel Grey just barely slid into winning.
How about Judy Dench for what, 7 lines in 'Shakespeare in Love" Speaking of SiL, Gwenyth Paltrow??? Cate Blanchette was much more deserving in “Elizabeth”. Joseph Finnes completely overlooked in both movies!!(whines NOT FAIR)