# Which Academy Awards should be revoked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726 "2004-12-27T01:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/101 "2004-12-31T06:40:04Z")
> [@rockle](#): > > I second whoever said Ben Affleck should give his Oscar back. Immediately. Take it back by force, if necessary. If _he_ has one, then Kevin Smith should have at least been nominated for _something_ (except the steaming pile of crap that is _Jersey Girl_.) Even though his Oscar has nothing whatever to do with acting? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/102 "2004-12-31T11:42:45Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Since it’s been mentioned so much in this thread, I thought I’d ask here instead of starting a new thread: Is _Shakespeare in Love_ in contemporary english? I have it on my Netflix queue and am curious as to whether or not I’m going to need Cliff’s Notes or something. The language, although period, is completely accessible - remember, Shakespeare’s plays were mostly written in verse and elevated prose: real people didn’t actually talk like Hamlet. The film itself is beautifully layered: you can watch it not knowing much more about about Shakespeare than having seen DiCaprio in Romeo and Juliet, or you can come to it knowing about Jacobean drama and why the in-jokes about John Webster’s gore-hungry urchin {“I like the bit where she stabbed herself. That were alright.”} are so funny, but you’re guaranteed to get something out of it. I even didn’t mind Gwyneth Poultry in it, which is saying something. Definitely deserved the win over SPR, which would have had its plot rejected by the editors of Commando comic as being ridiculously far-fetched. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/103 "2004-12-31T18:46:15Z")
(slight hijack) Someone brought this up earlier, but I was wondering, do they have Academy Awards for casting cirectors, like the technical awards, art direction, film editing etc? Or do casting directors have their own association awards? Marisa Tomei and Mira Sovino always come to mind when these discussions pop up. Neither performance to me was nomination-worthy so when they actually won it was a jaw dropper. And I think their needs to be some award-swapping among actors. For example, Denzel should trade his “Training Day” Oscar with Russel Crowe’s “Gladiator” award. Denzel’s Oscar should have been for “The Hurricane”, and Crowe’s for “Beautiful Mind” (great performance, so-so movie). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/104 "2004-12-31T18:57:45Z")
Thanks, \*\*Yooker \*\*and **Case Sensitive**. I’m not an expert on Shakespeare by any means but I’ve retained a good bit of what I learned in high school so I should do well enough. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/105 "2004-12-31T20:09:00Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Even though his Oscar has nothing whatever to do with acting? Actually, yeah. Because I believe that Damon did most of the writing for that movie, and Affleck just wrote his own lines (which he didn’t even manage to deliver convincingly). I’ve read and watched interviews with both guys, and I don’t believe that Ben Affleck can even write a complete _sentence_ in English, let alone (half) an entire screenplay. However, in retrospect, I am willing to add Matt Damon to the Oscar Revocation Watch List® for the travesty and waste of talent that was _Stuck on You_. ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/106 "2004-12-31T23:17:56Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Last year’s Best Pic should have been **Master and Commander** –not that I have a problem with LOTR, but the first one might have been more deserving than the third. I agree wholeheartedly on both counts. It grieves me that a choice had to be made between _RotK_ and _Master and Commander_, though. It’s not fair that two amazingly well realized adaptations of full-bodied fictional universes had to vie for the same trophy. _Rings_ would have unquestionably been Best Picture another year, and it was to _M&C_’s misfortune that Jackson _et al_ had three years’ momentum behind them. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/107 "2005-01-01T00:45:58Z")
> [@HelloKitty](#): > > (slight hijack) > > And I think their needs to be some award-swapping among actors. For example, Denzel should trade his “Training Day” Oscar with Russel Crowe’s “Gladiator” award. Denzel’s Oscar should have been for “The Hurricane”, and Crowe’s for “Beautiful Mind” (great performance, so-so movie). Good idea, but “Hurricane” was 1999. How about this instead? Art Carney gives his to Al Pacino for “Godfather II” (1974). Denzel gets his for Malcolm X (1992), Crowe gets his for “A Beautiful Mind” (2001). Kevin Spacey keeps his for “American Beauty” (1999). Not sure what to do about 2000. Ed Harris for “Pollock,” Tom Hanks for 'Castaway," or let Crowe keep the one for “Gadiator” ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/108 "2005-01-01T01:04:22Z")
> [@](#): > > I can’t believe no one has yet nominated The English Patient. What a load of crap! Yeesh, I must be the only one here that liked it. ☹ OHOH, I would gladly take away the Oscar for _Gladiator_. Yeech. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/109 "2005-01-01T01:10:04Z")
Ah, just remembered one: The decent-but-forgettable _Mediterraneo_ winning the Best Foreign Language Oscar over _Raise the Red Lantern_ in 1991. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/110 "2005-01-01T01:11:59Z")
Make that Best Foreign Language Film. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/111 "2005-01-01T05:29:11Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Julia Roberts for _Erin Brockovitch_. She stunk up the screen in an amateurish, hammy performance. The real life Erin deserved much better. Have you seen the real Erin Brockovitch? Julia was very, very, very restrained compared to the real her. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/112 "2005-01-04T00:02:13Z")
> [@stegon66](#): > > Yeesh, I must be the only one here that liked it. ☹ You beat me to it, **stegon66**. I loved _The English Patient_. Knew nothing about it before seeing it, and was hooked from the opening shot. Can’t agree with you on _Gladiator_, though. I loved that one, too. I’m a sucker for sword and sandal epics, though. I agree completely with **Juniper200** regarding ROTK and M&C. Had _Master & Commander_ been released in 2004, it would be a shoe-in for best picture. _The Return of the King_ certainly earned the Oscar in its own right, but, let’s face it, the award was for the entire trilogy. The Academy passed over the first two chapters knowing that they hadn’t yet seen the entire work. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726/113 "2005-01-04T01:28:22Z")
Count two more positive votes for **The English Patient** and **Gladiator**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-academy-awards-should-be-revoked/281726.md?page=5)