# Seeking nominees for the first annual John Cazale Memorial Oscar **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147 "2018-03-25T01:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147/1 "2018-03-25T01:57:11Z")
John Cazale famously acted in only five films, all of which were nominated for Best Picture. True, Cazale got a fairly late start in movies and then died young. Had he had a longer career, I’m sure he would have picked some stinkers. But, he didn’t, and so today he stands out for having a perfect record for choosing great movies to act in. So, I propose The John Cazale Memorial Oscar given annually as a sort of lifetime achievement award for the actor/actress who most consistently picked good movies to act in. This isn’t necessarily an _acting_ award: the recipient isn’t getting it for always turning in good performances, but for having the ability to read a script and say, “that’s going to be an _awesome_ movie! I’ll do it!” Nominations are now open. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147/2 "2018-03-25T02:08:22Z")
Jeremy Renner hasn’t been perfect, but he has a pretty good track record. > **[Jeremy Renner](https://www.metacritic.com/person/jeremy-renner)** > > Reviews and scores for Movies involving Jeremy Renner. Daniel Day Lewis has picked better, though many fewer films over a longer career. > **[Daniel Day-Lewis](https://www.metacritic.com/person/daniel-day-lewis)** > > Reviews and scores for Movies involving Daniel Day-Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147/3 "2018-03-25T02:18:11Z")
Alan Arkin, Christian Bale, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joseph Gordin-Levitt and Ryan Gosling have pretty good records of picking movies. Tom Cruise has a good record not of picking great movies per se but of picking great movies for his career according to whatever maniac ideas lie behind those crazy eyes. Might also have mentioned Robert Deniro and Al Pacino but they seem to have decided to cash in their good reputation for easy cheques. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147/4 "2018-03-25T02:56:01Z")
Ooooh, Daniel Day Lewis is going to be hard to beat for the first annual award. I never saw _The Crucible_ or \*Nine \*, but I gather they were met with middling reviews. Still, he seems to have managed to avoid absolute crap, and even _The Last of the Mohicans_ was, if not great, a very exciting and beautiful movie. Now that he’s re-retired, a lifetime achievement award would be merited. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147/5 "2018-03-25T03:17:31Z")
I’d say Meryl Streep has a great track record. Yes’ there have been some bad films, but her track record overall is outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-nominees-for-the-first-annual-john-cazale-memorial-oscar/811147/6 "2018-03-25T05:00:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I’d say Meryl Streep has a great track record. Yes’ there have been some bad films, but her track record overall is outstanding. Oddly appropriate considering her personal connection to Cazale.