Oscars pick the losers

[mollyringle]

OK. In trying to make myself less irritated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for totally overlooking the actors of LOTR this year (and last), I've reminded myself that they don't really matter. In fact, they almost never pick the picture I liked best, of the nominees. Let's review the last ten years for the Best Picture nominations. Winners are in italics; my choice is in boldface.

1993:
In the Name of the Father
Schindler's List
The Fugitive
The Piano
The Remains of the Day
(OK, we match up here.)

1994:
Forrest Gump (Gag me.)
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption
(I actually liked all four of the others quite well. But 'Pulp Fiction' was the most memorable as a film, I thought.)

1995:
Apollo 13
Babe
Braveheart
Sense and Sensibility
The Postman (Il Postino)
(It's a tie. Can't decide.)

1996:
Fargo
Jerry Maguire
Secrets & Lies
Shine
The English Patient
(In fairness, I haven't seen all these. But come on, how could you not like 'Fargo'?)

1997:
As Good As It Gets
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential
The Full Monty
Titanic
(CLEAR-ly.)

1998:
Elizabeth
Life Is Beautiful
Saving Private Ryan
Shakespeare In Love
The Thin Red Line
(Again, I actually haven't seen most of these, including 'Shakespeare in Love.' Disregard this vote at will.)

1999:
American Beauty
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Sixth Sense
(I did like 'American Beauty,' but 'The Sixth Sense' stayed with me way, way longer.)

2000:
Chocolat
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Erin Brockovich
Gladiator
Traffic
(Hm. Slim pickings this year.)

2001:
A Beautiful Mind (Insert incoherent rage.)
Gosford Park
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
(I'd take either happily.)

2002:
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
(Any of those three would have been better choices in my mind. Didn't dislike 'Chicago'; just didn't think it was so spectacular. It was no 'Moulin Rouge'; I'll tell you that.)


So, yeah. In the last ten years, I've only approved of Oscar's choice for Best Picture once. 10% is a failing grade, Academy dearest. I officially no longer take you seriously.

Comments

[dirae.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dearest, for picking LA Confidential. I almost cried when it lost. What an effing achievement to be overlooked for Titanic?

Furthermore, not to upset anyone, but what was up with picking Johnny Depp for Pirates. This *was not* even close to his best work, in my humble opinion.

[vill.livejournal.com]

Of the 1998 picks, I've seen all except Thin Red Line. Shakespeare in Love is a truly, truly great film. They are all great films, but Shakespeare in Love is the greatest of them, I think.

At Dragon*Con, Brad Dourif talked about A Beautiful Mind. He said he'd been married to an alcoholic, and had dealt with her mental illness throughout their marriage. In living with someone who is seriously mentally ill, he said, "you don't look pretty, and you don't feel pretty. Fuck the Oscars."

I've also seen all of the 2001 pics, and ANY of them would have been better than that scenery-chewing piece of award-pandering.

[jazzypoet.livejournal.com]

*sighs* Amen to that. Let's hope the Academy gets it right this year...

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I've only seen 12 of the films on the list. Have I been remiss in my movie watching or what?

I hated Fargo. I didn't get it, I thought it was long and dull and very dumb.
Of course, had it been captioned, I might have had a different opinion...

[ramaustin.livejournal.com]

Pulp Fiction is my all time favorite movie.. bar none.

Apollo 13 is a movie i could watch a thousand times and still be interested...

I have never seen The Sixth Sense, but upon your recommendation and THIS, I am going to order it from Amazon.com tomorrow!

And you are the first woman I have heard say that she "liked" American Beauty... or maybe it's just that I have heard my girlfriend say soooo many times that she detested it, it just seems like it... (something about the dirty "old" man and the underage school girl.) ;)

but,
in MHO, the movie was exsquisit on so many different levels... a masterpiece.

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

A lot of their choices are dumb. Braveheart?! That's not a serious film!! Bah. And Forrest Gump was so twee!

Oh well. It's just a silly ceremony.

[elycia.livejournal.com]

And you are the first woman I have heard say that she "liked" American Beauty...

Count me as the second. I found it disturbing as hell on a number of levels, but Alan Ball has an amazing talent for exposing the utter frailty of most of the human race's adaptive strategies. The guy just goes right through the gristle and hits bone, every time.

I guess you can tell I'm a big fan of Six Feet Under, too? ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Furthermore, not to upset anyone, but what was up with picking Johnny Depp for Pirates.

I've heard it was actually all a big business thing, because he has two big and apparantly "fantastic" (yes with the quotations) movies coming out later this year and they want to make sure people are keeping their eyes out for him. Or something like that.
I agree that while the character was quite amusingly fantastic, he made the movie what it is and it doesn't really deserve an Oscar, of all things. It wasn't his best performance (but when doesn't he do a good one?), and the whole business thing sounds really weird to me. Probably because Depp has never been about business, or doing things purely for the admiration or popularity.
But I guess it's all how you see it, and that's just what I've heard.
Sorry lemonlye for posting anonymously.

-Ké.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Well, you're welcome, but unfortunately my opinion doesn't carry any weight in that town. :) I know most girlies fixed onto Russell Crowe or Kevin Spacey for that film, but I was actually most fascinated with Guy Pearce - probably because it was such a huge change from his Priscilla role, which was the only thing I'd seen him in before. Quite the versatile fellow. (And cute, too, in that uptight, intelligent way we all appreciate so much.)

Yeah, it's odd about Depp. He's done great work before, but he was one of the only actually talented things about that particular movie, which was mostly a bit of silly fun. Why now? Just to annoy Russell Crowe? *shrug*

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I don't mind about the posting anonymously, per se, since you did sign it. :) Though, since LJ accounts are now free and you don't need to "know anyone" to get a code, and since you do seem to enjoy reading and commenting here, why not get an LJ? You don't have to post much yourself; in fact, you don't have to post at all if you don't want to. But it would make it easier to keep track of whose journals you want to read, and would let you have fun things like user pictures. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hm, I should probably see Shakespeare in Love, then. The reason I didn't was largely because I detested Gwyneth Paltrow. My hate has lessened somewhat with the years. Also, I never saw the attraction in Joseph Fiennes, who to me looks like a rodent. And that part hasn't changed. But the screenwriter is awfully good (Stoppard, yes?).

Beautiful Mind was, like many of these winners, a pretty good movie, but not the best movie of any year, in my book. It's hard to put my finger on, but that film and most of the other winners all had the feel of "the kind of film that would win Best Picture." Which, these days, is not entirely a compliment.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

The Sixth Sense is that amazing rarity: both freakin' scary and honestly good. With beautiful cinematography - rather similar to American Beauty, actually, given the careful placement of the color red. (Keep an eye on where red pops up in Sixth Sense! It isn't necessary for understanding the plot, but it's a very cool touch.)

I have a thing for slightly twisted love/sex stories, so maybe I'm not the best representative of women at large. ;) But that did help me appreciate parts of American Beauty - including the cheerleader/older guy thing. Creepy, yet fascinating.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Dangit, WHEN is the second season of 'Six Feet Under' coming out on DVD?? I'm trying to be patient here. *taps foot*

[elycia.livejournal.com]

10% is a failing grade, Academy dearest. I officially no longer take you seriously.

Well, you do have to consider the source; the Academy, after all, comprises people who make movies for a living, and probably 90% of these are criminally insane. :-) Perhaps that explains the 10% match?

Let's see where you and I agree...

1993. I have never seen Schindler's List (hides). I understand it's coming out on DVD soon, at which point I plan to purchase and FINALLY see it. I'm glad it won that year--heaven knows Spielberg had been dissed long enough--but The Piano was still a pretty amazing movie that might well have won in a different year.

1994. I haven't seen Pulp Fiction, either. I don't quite share your dislike of Gump, but I think it's because I'm a southern gal myself, so I felt a certain kinship, if you will.

1995. I LOVE Braveheart! Okay, so it's about as historically accurate as your average comic book... I agree with you on Sense, though. Alan Rickman alone makes it Oscar-worthy. :-)

1996. I have not seen even ONE of these movies. What the hell was I DOING in 1996?

1997. ANYTHING but Titanic. :-) It would have been neat to see Monty get it, but I think the Academy would have swallowed its collective tongue first.

1998. Elizabth is amazing; Cate Blanchett just kicks ass. Go rent it, quickly. I think you'll love it. I would have liked to see Ryan win, mostly because my dad was a WWII vet.

1999. American Beauty took suburban America and stood it on its ear. You gotta admire that. :-) I was bummed that Haley Joel didn't win for his performance in Sixth, though. Did you guess the "twist" at the end ahead of time? I did.

2000. Only one I've seen is Gladiator. Eh (shrugs). What I don't get is why on earth Joaquin Phoenix got nominated for that instead of Quills, which is an order-of-magnitude stronger performance.

2001. I second your rage, but I must admit to not getting Moulin Rouge. I love the Roxanne/Argentine Tango, but the Like a Virgin redeux is actually *painful* to watch.

2002. Of course, I would have preferred to see TTT win, but I can't begrudge Bob Fosse any recognition, even posthumous. The man was bloody brilliant, albeit completely nuts. :-)

So who do you want to see get the acting awards this year, now that LoTR has been so scandalously overlooked?

Re:

[elycia.livejournal.com]

Brad Dourif was at DragonCon and I *missed* it?

Okay, I'm going to go drown myself now.

You gonna be there this year?

Re:

[vill.livejournal.com]

In 2003 he was one of their main attractions, or whatever, along with John Rhys-Davies, who was filming in Argentina and didn't make it to the Con after all. But, yeah, there was an Hour with Brad Dourif, and he was on the walk of fame for a while. He is hard to recognize when he's not dresesed and made up as any of his personae, though.

I'm going to be there maybe. It depends on a number of factors that are up in the air now. I want to be there, but there are too many things that could happen between now and then that could prevent it.

Re:

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I didn't guess the Sixth Sense twist. But was likewise annoyed that Haley Joel Osment didn't win that year.

I haven't actually seen enough of the films nominated this year to know who should get the Oscars. As long as it's not Sean Penn for Actor, I could be content. I'm quite fond of Jude Law and Bill Murray; it'd be nice to see them win. Johnny Depp has had better parts, but he's a good actor, so I wouldn't mind if he won either. Ben Kingsley's always good, likewise...