OK...so I mentioned I was going to do this post at the Oscar party. I wanted to give everyone a little time to fully digest this years awards, and to sift through 80 years of Oscar getting it wrong. You've only got 7 spots on here, so it's going to be tough narrowing it down. To be clear, this is a list of mistakes the Oscars have made, either by giving the award to an undeserving film, or not even nominating the film you think should have won. Now, further clarification may be needed. I don't want a list of what time has proven to be the biggest snubs, otherwise Citizen Kane would almost have to be on the top of all the lists. I'm still working out the kinks in mine, but will be on later today or tomorrow with the final 7. In the meantime, ladies and germs, start whittlin' away. God knows the wonderful Oscar voters have given you no shortage of options.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Film Script's Top 7 - Biggest Oscar Mistakes
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Great topic. I tried to veer away from some of the more obvious choices (Titanic beating out Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential, As Good as it Gets and even the un-nominated Boogie Nights for Best Picture in 1997 would be one, Costner beating out Scorsese for Best Director in 1990 another)… but a few of these I just couldn’t leave off.
But before I get to my list, in honor of “Filmspotting” let me call this list my Alfred Hitchcock Having Never Won Best Director Memorial List.
7. 2006 Jennifer Hudson winning Best Supporting Actress in Dreamgirls over any of the four nominees (Adriana Barraza, Cate Blanchett, Abigail Breslin or Rinko Kikuchi). The only reason this one isn’t higher is because there was no absolute stand-out performance for Supporting Actress in ’06… but still, it was Hudson’s first role and she won the award simply because she can sing. The idea of actually watching her act for the entire running length of a film sends shivers down my spine (and that she’s lined up a Tyler Perry movie as one of her upcoming projects does nothing to dissuade those fears).
6. 1974 Al Pacino not winning Best Actor for The Godfather: Part II. And not only does he not win it, but Jack Nicholson does not win it for Chinatown either. Instead it goes to Art Carney for Harry and Tonto (a film I admittedly have not scene... but those are two of the best acting performances of all-time that it beat out). Okay, so this is one of the more obvious choices… but how did Pacino NOT win a single Oscar for Michael Corleone when he played him 3 times? He even missed out on the “make up” Oscar for Part III.
5. 2000 Marcia Gay Harden winning Best Supporting Actress for Pollock over Kate Hudson (Almost Famous). The Best Supporting Actress category is filled with suspect picks. Marcia Gay Harden was good in Pollock but never once during the film did it have me thinking “Oscar!” Meanwhile, Hudson was the best part of a much better film and Penny Lane was a breakout role. Sure, she would have squandered the goodwill that an Oscar win would have got her… but does that mean she didn’t deserve it?
4. 1979 Kramer vs. Kramer defeating Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz for Best Picture. For the fact that Apocalypse Now is more deserving than that Kramer vs. Kramer is a bad film, because it’s not. But Apocalypse Now is a great one. A classic. And Kramer doesn't hold up to it.
3. 1996 Geoffrey Rush winning Best Actor for Shine over Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire) and Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt). I might be tipping my hand a bit since the next “Screening Room Session” is for Shine but I can’t help it. It deserves to be on the list. Not only is Rush in less than half the film, I found him grindingly irritating during the scenes he was in. More on this in the “Screening Room” but let me say, Scott Hicks even getting a nomination for Best Director would be a dishonorable mention.
2. 1989 Oliver Stone winning Best Director for Born on the Fourth of July. Of the two films I've seen that were also nominated, both Woody Allen (Crimes and Misdemeanors) and Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society) were more deserving. And for as much as I think Cruise should have won for Jerry Maguire, I wish the guy wasn’t even nominated for Born on the Fourth. That’s a horrendous one-note performance and had it won the gold, it would surely have made the list.
1. 2005 Crash (the worst film of all 5 nominees) winning Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, Good Night, and Good Luck and Munich. Yeah, so? This one is still the freshest in my mind. I hated this choice. Hell, my first reaction upon leaving the theater was, “Well, that sucked.” Little did I know then that 6 months later it would win Best Picture. It’s not that it’s a terrible film... it’s only half one, but Crash was so far inferior to at least 3 of the other nominees. It panders to the audience, is completely set-up and tries to make a moral message by pounding it into your skull… for that, Crash is my #1.
So of course we all know that the Oscars have made quite a few mistakes, but in order for me to consider it for my list, they had to be glaring blasphemous omissions or mistakes on their part. I'm sorry, but I think "Titanic" is a worthy Best Picture film. Was it the best of that year? No. But it wasn't a bad one either, and I think we can all agree that if it didn't win, many people would probably proclaim that to be the niggest mistake of the Oscars. Obviously, this is all subjective and I look forward to debating one another on each other's merits. Once again, I too neglected the obvious choices (ie Ordinary People over Raging Bull, Ron Howard over Altman, Jackson, Lynch, and Ridley).
My "No Wins for Bergman, Kurosawa, and Kubrick" Memorial List:
7.5 Phil Collins win over both South Park and Magnolia:
Phil Collins is a bore and a prick. I liked "Tarzan" and think it was the last great Disney 2D film, but "South Park's" satirical song easily was more memorable and paid great homage to early day musicals. I certainly was hoping for a Trey Parker Oscar, but Aimee Mann's beautiful song for "Magnolia" would have been okay with me too.
7. Michael Caine over Tom Cruise:
Michael Caine already had an Oscar, and he starred in a completely forgetful movie like "Cider House Rules," but Tom Cruise gave he best and perhaps only real "performance" as Frank TJ Mackey, a filthy, vulgar motivational speaker who claims to know all their is to know about the desires of women, yet doesn't know his own father. Tom Cruise is mesmerizing here and totally was robbed of his Oscar.
6. No Love for "Do the Right Thing":
A seminal film that ushered in new film making and a new ideology for the '90s, yet not only did this Spike Lee joint not win, it wasn't even nominated for Picture or Director. It was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay, losing on both counts. You won't hear me stick up for Spike Lee often, but this omission had me screaming racism, too.
5. "The Pianist" wins Best Screenplay over "Adaptation":
You got to be kidding me. I thought "The Pianist" was great too, and I was happy to see Brody get recognition (Day Lewis still deserved it), but what was so memorable and unique about the script here. Nothing. "Adaptation" took the concept of a screenplay and threw it out the window. The Oscars just couldn't award such a rebellious film as this. It did as much for storytelling as "Memento" did.
4. Where the hell was "Hoop Dream?":
Perhaps THE documentary of the last 20 years, and it wasn't even nominated. Not only did it deserve the Documentary Oscar, it deserved a nom for Best Picture (if that is even possible). The Oscars should just start giving out a "Oops we fugged up awards" starting with this one.
3. No Jim Carrey for "Man on the Moon":
This was perhaps the Best Film that year, but I understand how polarizing a film about Andy Kauffman could be to people, so I understand why it was neglected. But there is absolutely no reason why Jim Carrey could win 2 Golden Globes back to back for both this and Truman Show, and both times be omitted from the Oscars. Truman was great, but his performance as Andy goes beyond mimicry. I've never been so convinced that what I was watching wasn't simply acting, but complete embodiment of a character. The winner that year was Kevin Spacey for "American Beauty." I thought he was great, but Carrey was better.
2. "2001" loses Best Director to flipping "Oliver!":
How does this not get more attention. The damn film has an exclamation point in it. That alone should have it thrown off the ballot. "2001" is arguably the best film of the 60s and it lost to a damn orphan who can't sing. In what capacity is Oliver1 a better directed film. Did it revolutionize FX? No! Did it challenge us to think outside the box? No!! Did it show that pacing and silence are just as important as the words being uttered? No!!! Did it have anything as brilliant as that jump cut from ape man to space age man shown in one utterly magnificent shot of a bone-to-spaceship parallel? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You see "Oliver!", I can use exclamation points too.
1. 1984's Best Song is Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from "The Woman in Red", NOT Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters":
I hope Ray tripped Stevie on the way to the stage. I'm too angry to discuss this one any further.
Apparently Ted is so pissed at our lists Ty that even he refuses to answer his own question.
C'mon man, we left off Elliott Smith just for you...
He made a list and everything of what he wanted to discuss, only to leave it in his pants and wash them. And of course he can't recall everything he had found out about.
Currently he is in Ohio on vacation with his girlfriend. So I'm sure he'll get to it eventually.
Fair enough, but who goes on vacation to Ohio anyway?
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