Except that Bebe played Velma in the current revival, not Roxie.
And, so as not to go *too * OT, Zeta Jones really impressed me with her singing and dancing. She wiped the floor with Zellweger, IMHO.
I don’t really see how you could have
Annie Hall over Star Wars
Ghandi over ET
Rocky over Network, All the President’s Men, and Taxi Driver
Kramer vs. Kramer over Apocalypse Now, All that Jazz, or even Alien
(bolding mine)
Search for Bowling For Columbine. We have argued at length as to whether or not Moore’s film fits the Academy definition.
Sorry, I’m going to have to defer to the Academy on that one. I think they have a pretty good idea about what they’re doing.
:eek:
You have got to be kidding, right? Star Wars is a joke. There is not one single thing in that movie that is original, and the performances of the actors is wooden at best. (I love the movie, but Oscar-worthy it ain’t!)
Ditto for the treacle that is ET.
The other ones you mention I agree with totally. 
Seriously? Kramer v. Kramer over any one of those movies! Yikes. That’s just wrong.
That’s exactly what I came in here to post. The Shawshank Redemption was, by any measuring device, the best move of '94. And if for some completely unfathomable reason you don’t like that movie - Pulp Fiction blew Forrest Gump away. God I hated that movie.
Not that I’m a huge Michael Moore fan, but the central reason anyone makes this criticism is that Moore is famous. Prior to Moore, nobody gave a shit about this award.
Many of the nominated documentaries, and many of the winners, have been even MORE biased and politically twisted as “Bowling for Columbine.” There was nothing about BfC that was even the slightest bit unusual for an Oscar-nominated documentary, except that it was famous. Its level of bias and fact-playing was perfectly in line with the history of the medium in general and Oscar-nominated documentaries in particular. And as has already been established, the rules clearly include it.
Meaning no offense, the only reason you’re making this argument is that A) it was famous, as opposed to the dozens of equally creatively biased documentaries nominated for Oscars that you wouldn’t know if they bit you in the ass, B) you don’t like Moore, and C) you have been misinformed as to what a “documentary” is, either in cinematic terms or as specifically defined by the Academy.
As to the usual bashing of “Forrest Gump,”
-
I love “Pulp Fiction” too, and if I’d had a vote I would have voted for it. But Forrest Gump was still great and wasn’t a bad choice. I have never understood the amazing vitriol directed towards this outstanding movie. It was a remarkably clever movie - flashy and amusing, but with lots of serious subtext and meaning woven into a solid and interesting story.
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I’ve never understood the obsession with “The Shawshank Redemption.” Good movie. Not great. Deserved no awards.
If you want to pick out some Oscars that went to pictures that didn’t deserve it, picking on films like “Forrest Gump” and “Titanic” betrays recency effect. There have been movies that won the Best Picture award that weren’t half the movies “Titanic” was.
Around The World In Eighty Days?
Oliver!?
Tom Jones?
Ordinary People?
Blech.
I respond with: So?
We’re in a thread where people are saying X person doesn’t deserve an ward because “the plot was stupid” or “this was retarded” et cetera. So I really don’t see the reason to have any objections over this one.
Maybe the Academy Awards (which BTW I’ve never watched because I don’t really give a damn how entertainment people decide to award themselves, as they do things to get acclaim from viewers, so how they are received by their peers doesn’t matter much to me) has awarded a lot of Oscars to documentaries that very dangerously skirt the definition, I don’t know. I just know if the AA is going to have a documentary award it should probably be a bit more fleshed out than it is and certainly try to hit at the real nature of documentary films, which BfC really isn’t. Because BfC almost seems like a mixture of political grandstanding and Tom Greenesque humor. The fact is the “non-fiction” part of Moore’s documentary is rambling and not really coherent, which IMO means it’ shard to say Moore’s work is really primarily a non-fiction work as opposed to an entertainment or editorial piece.
Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny. She was up against some of the greatest actresses of our time: Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives, Joan Plowright for Enchanted April, *Vanessa Redgrave * for Howards End, and Miranda Richardson for Damage. I mean, really now, the only thing she’s got that they don’t have is… she’s an American.
Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman. I love Al Pacino, but he should have won for Serpico, Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, hell, even Glengarry Glen Ross, but not for this overacted dreck. I hate it when the Academy gives what seems like an apology award, and this one and Judi Dench’s for Shakespeare in Love sure qualify. Why she didn’t get it for her role as Mrs. Brown (in a fantastic movie) when Helen Hunt got it for As Good as it Gets (an OK movie but wildly overrated) is beyond me.
The fact that Denzel even got considered for nomination in Training Day blew my mind.
It was a decent performance in a piece of crap, summer popcorn movie. Wow.
Cuba Gooding, Jr., Best Supporting Actor for Jerry Maguire. Other nominees that year (thanks, IMDB) were William H. Macy for Fargo, James Woods for Ghosts of Mississippi, Edward Norton for Primal Fear, and Armin Mueller-Stahl for Shine.
Dock points for the most annoying catchphrase of the year; playing the Mystical Minority in Men of Honor and What Dreams May Come; playing the mentally challenged in Radio; and appearing in Boat Trip, Snow Dogs, and Chill Factor.
Also, the Best Animated Feature should have existed in 2000 so it could have gone to South Park.
Have I missed where someone jumps in and says Saving Private Ryan over Shakespeare In Love?
That usually goes first.
All-time worst Best Picture: Oliver! over 2001.
Angelina Jolie - Girl Interrupted
I personally wasn’t a fan of any of Pixar’s films except for the two Toy Stories and The Incredibles, and I also thought Shrek was overrated. I guess that means I’d have given the trophy to Jimmy Neutron.
I disagree with that. I felt Shrek was much more clever and certainly less formulaic than Monsters, Inc. Monsters was better than the normal standard Disney stuff, true, but not outstanding.
Rats, beaten to the punch. I’ve seen most of the Best Picture winners, and this was the most “blah” by far.
And what the hell was with Out Of Africa winning over The Color Purple? What a snore that movie was…
Remember Chariots of Fire beating Raiders of the Lost Ark for Best Picture? Shit, has anyone even seen Chariots? It’s like it was scrubbed out of human consciousness.