Let’s talk Oscar mistakes! And by “mistakes,” I mean “times the Academy didn’t agree with me personally, so what the heck were they smoking?”
What brought this to mind was my re-viewing this week of The Verdict (Paul Newman, James Mason, a smokin’ hot Charlotte Rampling, script by David Mamet, directed by Sidney Lumet). As a young, wide-eyed acting student fresh off the farm, unsullied by cynicism, Newman absolutely blew me away. That was one of the finest acting performances ever, not just of 1982. So I was confident his peers would recognize this feat with the Best Actor Oscar. Ben Kingsley? Pffft. All he had to do was shave his head and not eat for a month.
Needless to say, I was disappointed with the outcome (although I have come to recognize Kingsley’s fine Gandhi acting job on its own merits, his win is still an unjust robbery of Newman).
Another “mistake” in my book was the selection of Titanic over *LA Confidential *for 1997 Best Picture. That spurred my very first comments on any Internet message board ever. I have come so far … sniff. I mean, Cameron ain’t one for nuance, is he? What any of Cameron’s villains need is a handlebar mustache to twirl while they cackle. Admit it … such a mustache would have fit Billy Zane to a “T” in Titanic. Similarly Michael Biehn in The Abyss, or the Marine sergeant in Avatar … pretty much any Cameron bad guy is waaay over the top. LA Confidential, in my mind, was superior in every way except special effects. And gross receipts. Like that makes a difference in the Oscar vote. :rolleyes:
Anyway. Knowing this is going to be an opinion-heavy thread. let’s be gentle with each other, while we rail against the Academy’s injustices. What past Oscar choices do you disagree with?
Forrest Gump was a good movie. It was pleasant and entertaining. But it was no Pulp Fiction. And even if you just go by popularity, The Shawshank Redemption has it beat.
I’ve never seen The Verdict, but I saw Gandhi when I was 13 or 14 and I was absolutely enthralled. If you can get a teenage boy interested in a movie about a political activist, you’re doing something right.
Completely disagree with LA Confidential over Titanic. The award is for best picture not best screenplay - that’s another award.
I was also outraged by Forrest Gump beating the much cooler Pulp Fiction, but I’m not as outraged by it any more as FG has grown in my estimation over the years.
Probably the worst example of a popular movie winning B. Picture over more literary films is 1976, when Rocky beat Network, All the Presidents Men, Bound for Glory, and Taxi Driver.
With Brokeback Mountain and Good Night and Good Luck among the nominees? You and I have very different ideas of what constitutes a week year for Best Picture.
Marisa Tomei used to be my touchstone for Oscar Outrage, but Crash winning Best Picture took it to a whole new level.
I’ll be honest, I never saw Good Night and Good Luck all the way through. And Brokeback Mountain was just another story of forbidden love.
How about Christian Bale not even getting a nomination for American Psycho in 2000? That was another weak year with Russel Crowe winning for Gladiator over Tom Hanks in Castaway.
I think the whole problem with Oscar voting is that if you get a couple strong contenders that split the vote it leaves things open for a weaker nominee to take the lead.
Cher won her Best Actress Oscar for Moonstruck but in my opinion she was infinitely better in Mask, which she was not nominated for. As I mentioned in the current Oscar thread, her song from Burlesque should have been nominated for Best Original Song this year but it wasn’t, which leads me to…
Dolly Parton losing the Oscar in 2006 for ‘Travelin’ Thru’ from Transamerica. There is no other song from a film that I love more. Ugh, that was so disappointing. There were only three nominees that year and everything!
Actually, as soon as I saw Crash, I picked it as the best movie I’d seen that year, and was gratified that this was one of the few times the Academy agreed with me. Frankly, I’ve yet to see a coherent argument as to why it wasn’t a great film, just a lot of sour grapes by people who liked Brokeback Mountain more.
Worst snub was Three Kings. Here was the definitive Gulf War film, with great performances, a smart script and top-notch direction. It didn’t get a single nomination. That just boggles the mind.
Steve Martin in All of Me. Ebert & Siskel agree with me. The first time I saw it, I wondered how the hell they got Lilly Tomlin into Steve Martin (does that sound dirtier than I meant it?).
2001: Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich winning over Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream.
1983: While agreeing with the previous doper that Paul Newman was terrific in The Verdict and should have won over Ben Kingsley, as a general illustration of the Academy’s almost pathological refusal to give the Best Actor Oscar for a primarily comedic role, I will say Peter O’Toole should have won for My Favorite Year.
1941: John Qualen not even getting a nomination for Best Supporting Actor, in The Grapes of Wrath. True, the character of Muley was on screen for only a short time, but in two short scenes Qualen gave one of the most heartbreaking performances in American cinematic history.
1938: You Can’t Take It With You beats out The Adventures of Robin Hood for Best Picture.
My Pa-Pa was bitter to his dying days.
Seriously though, did anyone else just love WTBS on Saturday mornings when they’d show the Flynn Robin Hood. Perfect movie watching experience for a young man.
Crash winning Best Picture, let alone even being nominated. It would have been socially important or edgy in 1965 as a Dragnet episode, but it was an unimaginative retread of better films and more appropriate as an also-ran on the Lifetime Channel. I’m surprised Valerie Bertinelli and Meredith Baxter weren’t cast in it.
