The 10 Worst Winners In Oscar History
by Kurt SchlichterLet’s be clear – the upper echelons of Hollywood are dominated by weirdos, losers and mutations. I’m not judging – I live in LA, so naturally some of my best friends are weirdos, losers and mutations. I’m simply pointing out a fact. Most of the normal, hardworking, all-American folks in Hollywood are crew – and they showed it with their heartfelt booing of Michael Moore when he removed the muffin from his pie-hole just long enough to run down our country during the 2003 Oscar ceremony.
But these great Americans are generally not members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and they don’t get to vote for who takes home the Oscar. People like Sean Penn do. And Tim Robbins. And tranny vomit recipient Susan Sarandon.
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These are the kind of folks who make up the majority of Oscar voters, so it’s no wonder that the Academy Awards show is so often a festival of nitwittery that leaves normal Americans scratching their heads wondering, “Um, what the hell was that?”
Oscar has more than its share of astonishing failures, of crazy-uncle-locked-in-the-attic nods that the Academy sorely regretted about the time the after-party coke bowls ran dry. The terrible Oscar choices listed here are only from the last few decades since the sting of choosing How Green Is My Valley over Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon has presumably faded since 1941– well, for some of us. Oh, and you won’t find Marisa Tomei on this list – she rocks. Deal with that, haters.
So, in no particular order of insanity, here are Oscar’s 10 biggest recent screw-ups: ]
1. Crash: Best Picture 2006: Before Paul Haggis annoyed the Scientologists, he annoyed most of the rest of the world with Crash, a ponderous stew of liberal guilt and condescension that lucked into a Best Picture Oscar through a combination of pinko button pushing and the pure dumb luck of having an equally tiresome raft of competing nominees.
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With fellow nominees Brokeback Mountain, Munich, Capote, and Good Night and Good Luck, Crash was up against sodomy, moral equivalence, more sodomy and George Clooney. Apparently, the voters found Crash the lesser of five mediocrities.
2. Shakespeare In Love: Best Picture 1999: Well, I guess I’m just being petty. I mean, Saving Private Ryan was merely a stirring, technically magnificent tribute to the unbelievable bravery of the heroes who stormed the beaches at Normandy and freed Europe from the grip of Nazi tyranny. But Shakespeare In Love was about show business and it also displayed Gwyneth Paltrow’s epically unimpressive rack. So I guess it was an easy choice for the Academy – they got to pick a flick about Actors and Acting while also dissing those dirty brutes who do Army stuff. To pat themselves on their collective backs and diss the proles – how could they pass up that opportunity? Well, they couldn’t, and they didn’t.
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Now, there’s nothing really wrong with Shakespeare In Love. It’s a perfectly serviceable film if you happen not to have testes, or merely hate all they stand for. Sure, there are some guys out there who think a topless Gwyneth from 14 years ago is sexy, but movies need to appeal to more than just lonely shut-ins whose life partners are manufactured by the Kleenex Corporation. This condescending, anti-American snob is to hot women what her husband’s band Coldplay is to cool music,and she needs to stick to her goop.com blog where she comments on the everyday problems that real moms face, like uppity butlers and “tiara hair.” Enough said about her.
In ambition and execution, Private Ryan – a film I have my problems with – was so manifestly superior artistically and technically that to overlook it could not simply be a mistake. The electrifying initial landing scene is so unforgettable that it alone justified a Best Picture award regardless of what came after. No, there had to be an agenda. And that’s what makes this choice more than just risible – it was despicable.
3. Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman: Best Actor 1993: Oh, how the mighty have fallen. From his iconic roles in the 70’s like Michael Corleone to the bizarrely over-the-top but unforgettable Tony Montana in the 80’s, you could always count on Al to deliver. But this? It’s bad enough that it came to this; it’s worse that the Academy acted as an enabler to Pacino’s sad decline into tedious caricature.
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Hooah? I don’t think so.
4. Roberto Begnini in Life Is Beautiful: Best Actor 1999: This award was so manifestly undeserved that it made President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize seem as underwhelming as a third place middle school science fair ribbon tossed at Albert Einstein. Let me put this out there – Life Is Beautiful is perhaps the stupidest, most offensive major motion picture ever made. When the Nazis came looking for Begnini, this holocaust comedy literally had people in the audience yelling, “Hey, he’s hiding in the alley!”
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Someone told Roberto Begnini a terrible lie – that he was amusing. In fact, he is the most annoying performer in the entire history of cinema, a history that includes Matt Damon and Channing Tatum. What takes him to a whole new level of suck is that he thinks he’s hilarious, which he is – in the same way a giant herpetic lesion is hilarious.
The “wacky” English-mangling acceptance speech he offered when presented with this award was brilliant…to those who hit the sauce in their limos beforehand. For the rest of the audience, it was like a root canal sans anesthetic, but without the fun. Fortunately, Begnini has faded into well-deserved obscurity and his movies are today largely forgotten, a tribute to the collective human mind’s ability to block out traumatic experiences.
5. Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine: Best Supporting Actor 2007: “Let’s honor a trangressive indie comedy where the grandpa swears and drinks and does drugs – yeah, that’ll blow the collective minds of those squares out there in Jesusland!” Such was no doubt the thought process that went into handing the little gold naked guy to veteran Alan Arkin for what was essentially playing the same curmudgeonly character he’d been essaying since the great Freebie and the Bean. Now, that was an amusing, truly un-PC movie:
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So rent Freebie and let Little Miss Sunshine fade into a vague, unpleasant memory.
6. Diablo Cody for Juno: Best Original Screenplay 2008: Once again, the Academy experienced the equivalent of a “double bagger,” where it wakes up in the morning, looks at what it brought home, and asks “What the hell was I thinking?”
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Juno is not the most horrible movie of all time, despite the presence of the spirit-killing Michael Cera and Ellen Page and a soundtrack full of crappy, waify hipster alt-folk songs that are so twee they make Justin Beiber seem like Megadeth. It’s just that Juno is embarrassingly pretentious, with the precocious heroine’s vocabulary packed with painfully cutesy words like “shenanigans.” And when Rainn Wilson’s character calls her “home skillet,” well, you just want to slap him.
This is the problem with a novelty act movie – the Academy is amused for a few minutes, votes it an Oscar, then spends the rest of eternity shaking its collective head after figuratively sobering up.
7. An Inconvenient Truth: Best Documentary 2007: It’s hard to believe that it was only four years ago that people actually believed in global warming. But it’s not hard at all to believe that among the biggest suckers were the pampered quarter-wits who do most of the Academy Award voting. Al Gore’s ridiculous exercise in propaganda, delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, was a natural choice for the Oscar voters, but they were probably pretty disappointed they couldn’t also vote for the nominated documentary that dissed Christians or the other one that trashed America over Iraq. Whoever said that Hollywood doesn’t embrace a diversity of thought?
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In any case, An Inconvenient Truth is destined to be the Reefer Madness of 2007, with stoned UC Berkeley students from the Class of 2032 laying around their dorms laughing at how stupid people were back in the mid-aughts. Well, some people.
8. The English Patient: Best Picture 1997: Perhaps the Academy wanted some balance after properly awarding the magnificent Schindler’s List Best Picture in 1994, which is the only possible explanation for why this over-praised, under-interesting celluloid atrocity could have won. After all, this is the film that seriously posits that collaborating with the Nazis is perfectly cool if it will help you score with a mediocre chick who happens to be married to some other dude.
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Sure, we can’t expect the film’s mere utter moral bankruptcy to dissuade the Academy voters – these are the folks who think Roman Polanski is the real victim. But couldn’t they at least notice that this soapy melodrama is about the most boring way to spend nearly three hours outside of a Meet the Press marathon?
9. Kate Winslet in The Reader: Best Actress 2009: What the hell is it with Hollywood and Nazi sympathizers? Well, admittedly Kate Winslet’s character had more going for her than just cavorting with brownshirts – she was illiterate and liked to do underage boys. In Hollywood, that’s like an acting trifeca, and Kate went the full fascist-illiterate-pedo.
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Oh, the performance itself? Um, I have a question: How did Kate Winslet get tagged as some sort of great thespian revelation? In every movie she is in, she always seems to bear the same furrowed-brow, vaguely troubled expression, as if she was suffering from mild indigestion. It must be something else – perhaps her willingness to doff her clothes and display her chubby charms in pretty much everything she’s been in. Whatever.
10. 3-6 Mafia’s “Hard Out here For A Pimp”: Best Song 2006: Perhaps the most hilarious pick of all time, the Academy’s choice of the year’s Best Song from the rap/hooker extravaganza Hustle & Flow was just awesome. For once, the saccharine Disney ditties and the generic pop hits were thrust aside in favor of a gritty urban tune that finally dared to musically explore the difficulties that industrious entrepreneurs face in their daily lives. Yeah, nothing like a song we can all relate to.
Most amazing were the hip hop stylings of those past and future unknowns, 3-6 Mafia, cavorting on stage while a bunch of dancers dressed like Hollywood’s idea of “hos” gyrated and frolicked before the bejeweled and bewildered audience:
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Simply spectacular. Yeah, it sure is hard out here for a pimp who’s trying to get his money for the rent. Who can’t identify with that? Especially in Hollywood.
And this year, Oscar, don’t forget to keep your pimp hand strong!
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299 Comments
"..the upper echelons of Hollywood are dominated by weirdos, losers and mutations."
Doesn't leave much room for argument, does it? But then again, who would want to after they've watched the "winners" you've just listed.
lol, I was in rehab with the woman from Scent of a Woman. Sorry, I should not have told.
Couldn't agree more with the author. Well thought out piece. Mind you, "Freebie" is one of my all time favorite movies!
"…a soundtrack full of crappy, waify hipster alt-folk songs that are so twee they make Justin Beiber seem like Megadeth."
Thank you. You have made my morning.
I happen to like Shakespeare in Love, and not for Gwyneth Paltrow's boy-boobs. (Boybs?… nah.) But you're dead-on about SPR. It should've won handily.
I suppose if I wanted to debate your choices I would first have seen any of these movies.
Whatever…
Great list! Hard to argue.
I actually enjoyed Terrence Howard beating up his carjackers in "Crash". Sadly not enough Black people are sick and tired of other Black people doing wrong…and while we're on the topic, awarding 3-6 Mafia's song means that it's okay for hip-hop to keep degrading/debasing Black women. Way to go, Academy!
"Juno" and "Knocked-Up", IMHO, paved the way for MTV's "Teen Mom"; both movies helped make unprotected sex and the resulting unplanned pregancies a societal norm. This is why you have high schools with 20% of the female student body pregnant, and one school's population of preganant teens asking for special priveleges.
Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and Gwyneth Paltrow: GO. AWAY. NOW.
You nailed it regarding Shakespeare In Love — it's all about show biz so let the self-love roll.
The English Patient — a nothing movie from a lousy field and sub-par year.
Juno is trendy and pretentious, vaguely repellant and utterly jorgettable.
Scent of a Woman was problematic even without Al Pacino. There is something unsavory and showy about that denouement involving the kangaroo court. Someone trashes the pretentious principal's new car, and it's okay not to tell thye truth? It has a anti–McCarthy stench.
Never saw Crash, Life is Beautiful, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Reader– and don't intend to.
“Hard Out here For A Pimp” — isn't that the curren theme song for the New New Hollywood?
Same here. I've never even heard of more than half of 'em and never seen any of them.
Weirdos dressed up and talking funny.
"Protected" sex made unplanned pregnancies the norm long before that.
IRT #10: You know people in the audience were thinking "WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE DONE?' And Queen Latifah was thinking, "Thank God I didn't have any part of all those #@$! disrespecting my Black sisters. And ^#@$ the Academy for giving them that damn Oscar."
This is the funniest thing I've read on here in a while. Made my morning. Thanks!
"Well, admittedly Kate Winslet’s character had more going for her than just cavorting with brownshirts – she was illiterate and liked to do underage boys. In Hollywood, that’s like an acting trifeca, and Kate went the full fascist-illiterate-pedo. "
I think Winslet chose that role precisely because it is the type of role that the Academy likes to give Oscars. She wanted an Oscar, period, and if playing an illiterate, Nazi-sympathizing pedophile is what it takes to win, then by God that's what she'll play.
Ricky Gervais will back me up on this.
It's a toss up between Crash and the Al Wh.ore, I mean Gore trueth. Crash was like the Carter Administration, or now the Obama Administration, just all over the road and was flat out stupid!
On a side note, please don't feed the false narrative that Kate Winslet is chubby. She's chubby only in comparison to the 5'7" 105-pound anorexic Hollywood cookie-cutter starlets that the film industry likes to hold up as an ideal of feminine beauty. By any normal standard, a size 8 is not chubby.
Forgive me for not sticking with the general theme, but my most memorable "worst Oscar moment" was when Julia Roberts (ugh!) presented the Best Actor Oscar in 2001.
She opened the envelope, saw that she would be presenting the Oscar to Denzel Washington…the 2nd Black 'Best Actor Oscar' winner in history, after the great Sidney Poitier…
…and said aloud "Oh, I love my life!"
Julia…sweetheart…this wasn't about YOU. It was about Mr. Washington!
As ridiculous as it may seem, I still find such egocentric narcissism on the part of Julia Roberts to be cringe-worthy.
Don't forget "Talk to the Animals" from "Doctor Dolittle" winning best song in 1967.
It was during the beginning of the unintentional comedy that has become the Oscars.
Somehow the Academy seemed to think that song was indicative of the beginnings of racial harmony.
It was a fun song, but not Oscar material.
"Citizen Cane"? Wasn't that about a cruel sugar plantation owner in Jamaica?
This was actually satirized (predicted?) in an episode of "Extras," in which Kate Winslet explains why you should act in a Holocaust flick if you wanna have a chance at the Oscar.
Haven't seen any of these future 2:00 AM, TCM, Oscar week contenders,
10 times 30, I saved $300.00 with no regrets and I enjoyed your review.
I also enjoy the occasional boob display tho of course only when its neccessary to the plot.
Great list, to which I would certainly add the insipid, self-congratulatory and proto-P.C. DANCES WITH WOLVES — a western that Costner's later and less-heralded OPEN RANGE is far superior to.
Oh, snap! My own nominee, Kevin Costner's overlong P.C. epic "Dances with Wolves" (aka "Blame the Pawnees for Everything and Then Slaughter Them with Breech-loading Rifles") didn't make it!
Oh, well, that's the trouble with these Top Ten — er, Bottom Ten lists. You can't please everybody!
How about a Bottom Twenty-Five list?
Truly it was Roberto Begnini who was robbed when his masterful turn as "Son of the Pink Panther" wasn't nominated!!
The only thing stunning about "The Reader" was seeing Kate Winslet's "merkin"!
Don't know if anyone else mentioned Cameron's "Titanic", but it's impossible to leave it out of any list of "worst Oscars".
LOL!
I have to put in a good word for Juno.
The message I took away (and my teenage daughter, who, while in libertarian punk mode is outspoken for gay rights, as well as unabashedly pro life–go figure) was that of imperfect people dealing with a dose of sudden reality, and dealing with it imperfectly in a way that was yet completely life affirming.
The dialogue, the conceits, the music were all secondary for me.
The story of the choice and the fight to give that baby not only a life, but as best of one as could be managed by those in a position to do so, was heartwarming and worth cheering.
The one "cool" adult turned out to be a weenie and a weasel, jettisoned himself, and was apparently not missed much.
The two female adults met the challenges with all of their foibles, and the shot of that "perfect alcove, for a perfect family portrait" featuring instead the soiled and wrinkled sharpie-smeared auto body receipt–"I'm still in if you are", speaks volumes.
The message is of life, and the acknowledgement that life must be affirmed and dealt with in spite of imperfection is a keeper.
So Elaine Benes was right about "The English Patient". It did suck.
You forgot "The Piano". More dreck with a bonus shot of Harvey Keitel's weewee.
- This can also be called “The top 10 reasons nobody cares about the Academy Awards and why viewership has declined.” All 10 are over-rated and forgettable movies that you never, ever have to watch ever again… Ever!!!
I knew there was a reason I haven't read one of your columns in quite awhile, Kurt. Not only is your writing snarky and totally devoid of charm and humor, it's also dumb.
A recent oscar screw up column with no mention of Haley Joel Osment getting robbed for one of the most stunning performances in cinematic history? And probably only because his closest competitor played an illegal abortion doctor "hero"?
Unforgivable. And I've not watched an oscar telecast since (they became nauseating long before the Osment snub – that was just the last straw).
That's exactly what i was referring to, Calumet1. Good call!
Gervais even called her out on it while he was hosting the Golden Globes in which she won for that role.
I'd like to throw in Jaye Davidson winning the Oscar for The Crying Game — for a movie no one watched and those those that did went "what the hell?"
Whoopi Goldberg beat Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas) in 1990 for her "wacky" performance in Ghost. Yawn. A travesty.
I'm reminded of this fact since Whoopi schlepped her Oscar to the View last week (not unlike Olbermann defiantly displaying his Cornell Cow College diploma) to protest the Times overlooking her "brilliant" Oscar winning performance as a "woman of color." Sheesh….
Sorry, I actually really like Life Is Beautiful. The audience I saw it with was all in tears, not shouting irritating things at the screen.
I used to think you were wrong, but now I see that "L.A. Confidential" is better written, better acted, and deserved to win that year. It really holds up well. I think Cameron won primarily because of the level of technical work that he put into "Titanic".
You left out two of the very worst:
1990 "Best Picture" — "Dances With Wolves" over "Goodfellas"
1968 "Best Actor" — Cliff Robertson instead of the not-even-nominated Zero Mostel.
OMG — a list of awful films I agree with totally. Or at least those I saw. Most of them I avoided like a plague carrying rat. Thanks to BH and Dirty Harry before, I no longer get snookered into seeing films I know I'll hate. ("Crash" was one of those). I saw "Saving Private Ryan" on home theatre, but once I realized how sucky it was, I got out a book. I should have known. Any film with Tom Hanks AND Matt Damon has to stink. I thought I was the only one in the world that hated "The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love". I walked out on "Dances With Wolves", so I agree that should have been included in any worst list. And mustn't leave out "Titanic" probably the worst casting job ever. Leo as the love interest when he looked fifteen. Might as well have cast Justin Bieber. (Leo's grown up since then, thankfully, and does a credible job in his films. We have to remember he didn't cast himself in "Titanic"; the "grownups" did that.)
OMG Talk about coincidence. My column for the Irish Examiner comes out tomorrow and will be online WEd. is called-Time to Downsize the Increasingly Irrelevant Academy Awards,
I mention the same travesty award for Shakespeare. BTW You forgot to mention Kim Bassinger.
absolutely hilarious…
21st Century Hollywood-they're ALL Jane Fondas now.
Sorry but you left out the greatest Oscar upset of all time; in 1980 Ordinary People beat out Raging Bull for Best Picture and Scorsese lost the Oscar for Best Director to Redford. If any one award proved that Hollywood is politically motivated (Redford is unabashedly liberal and his film is about middle class suburban dysfuction) before anything else that would be it.
You should have also pointed out that Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Kurosawa never won Oscars either.
If you had nominated Zero Mostel for "The Producers", you would have also had to nominate Gene Wilder for the same film. They would have split the vote. But I must agree that either (or both) of them deserved the award. "The Producers" remains a film classic, while the Robertson film – I don't even remember its name – is largely forgotten. The big problem is that comedies are not taken seriously by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
I don't know how "American Beauty" somehow was not mentioned in the WORST OF THE WORST category. Truly, this picture embodies all that is wrong with hollyweird.
1980-Ordinary People and Redford over Raging Bull and Scorsese.
"With fellow nominees Brokeback Mountain, Munich, Capote, and Good Night and Good Luck, Crash was up against sodomy, moral equivalence, more sodomy and George Clooney."
Doh!!!!
Say what you will, it's still a decent movie and he had everyone fooled until he dropped his pants.
was it holly hunter? the scene where her fingers are cut off stands out for me as acting.
But yes I could have live with out all the other
Yeah, the message was okay, but the movie itself was crap. I'm sorry but I am (mostly) an adherent of SamGoldwyn's adage that "If you want to send a message, use Western Union."
Most "message movies" are garbage.
Gene was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but certainly could have been considered for Best Actor instead. (I always thought that Pacino was the lead in "The Godfather" and Brando won Best Actor for what was really a supporting role.)
The Robertson picture was "Charly." His character was mentally challenged — a classic Oscar-bait role.
This is actually the first article of his where I agreed with some of what he's said although reducing Brokeback Mountain and Capote to "sodomy" is pretty pathetic.
Otherwise i totally agree with you and find every film article he has written to be devoid of both intelligence, sensitivity(oh bad word Kurt always has to prove what a man he is, suprised he didnt mention how he had to take his hot wife to see one of these films!)and bias for the film's subjects, actors, message, etc.
I liked it too.
One of the greatest comic scenes of all time: Alan Arkin cradling the crucifix while James Caan mutters excuses to the couple whose upper-storied bedroom they had just crashed their car into.
was Bob Roberts ever nominated? After watching that flick I wanted 2 hours of my life back.
Pitting three fine films against each other for the sake of a quip was wrong. It's a false argument in any event.
agreed, but not Oscar worthy — only mentioned because he is a gay actor playing a transvestite — how PC was that award? liked him better in Stargate but only marginally.. and what's he been in since, if he were any good, wouldn't he have showed up somewhere?
"The Oscars" still have a 'cultural train wreck' watchability. The reason this list hits home is we want the Oscars to be fair-we want the Academy to reward good films and punish bad.
Not going to happen. But still…it is the grist for our particular mills, and it generates great posts, so rock on, Oscar!
I don't recall what else was nominated. Do you recall? Mancini was still writing back then.
I generally like Anthony Hopkins, but Best Actor in 1991 for a 15 minute role in Silence of the Lambs is absolutely absurd. I have to say Nick Nolte was pretty good as a "tortured soul" in Prince of Tides. Was surprised he didn't win, actually.
I'm with you on that one. Goodfellas was robbed that year.
1981-Chariots of Fire over Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Plus she's got a nice rack and a sweet juicy-caboosey.
You are an anti-sucroticist!
You Are Not Alone.
Oh come on. Paltrow's rack was the best thing in the movie.
You know, you may be right. That might be the worst of the several screwings Marty received from the Academy — it's a top "what-were-they-thinking" moment in Oscar history.
"Rocky" over "Taxi Driver," I can understand (but still disagree with). "Rocky" is an excellent movie, and a real feel-good story, while the tale of Travis Bickle is a bit of a bummer.
But "Ordinary People" — in a addition to being a downer — is an awful picture.
Curtis Hansen was effing robbed.
Oh, I have such a long grudge against "Titanic" because the true winner was "LA Confidential".
I've mellowed over the years considering there are some nice achievements with Cameron's "Titanic", when the ship sinks dramatically in real time and Cameron uses simple vignettes to establish what's going on it is marvelous… however, in terms of storytelling, directing, general film making, and so on "LA Confidential" is a superior film.
There isn't a weak performance in "LA Confidential", and the characters are not two-dimensional… while "Titanic" has enough paper-thin characters for a cast of thousands.
Agree totally. You couldn't pay me to watch "Dances" again but I've lost count how many times I've watched all or parts of "Open Range". There is something so deeply satisfying in watching Costner put a hole right through the evil hired gun's forehead. Is that wrong?
That's a fair point from Goldwyn, but there are unabashed "message" movies that many love–do you feel the same about the movies of Capra?
I was somewhat astonished that this message of life came from a multipierced and inked former stripper, who, with less than perfect language and a lot of attitude, nevertheless sent a real-world message of LIFE.
Rare these days, and I liked it (like EdSki!).
I'm gonna get in trouble over this but…1972: "The French Connection" over "A Clockwork Orange"? How'd that happen?
Yeah, definitely not Oscar worthy, although Neil Jordan is a good director and I've always been a fan of Stephen Rhea.
I think Jay Davidson works in the fashion industry now.
I think to add insult to injury when Marty finally was acknowledged it was for two of his lesser works, "The Departed" and "Color of Money".
I like "Rocky" but compared to "Taxi Driver"……
Two more to add:
1) Julia Roberts (for Erin Brockovich) winning over Ellen Burstyn (for Requiem for a Dream) in 2001.
2) Cuba Gooding, Jr. (for Jerry Maguire) over Edward Norton (for Primal Fear) in 1997.
Jaye Davisdon didn't win that year. Gene Hackman did for
"Unforgiven."
With the exception of John Holmes, Keitel might have more full frontal shots than any living actor.
Only if you're a pissant malcontent who despises everyone and everything. The article was hilarious for how over-the-top bitchy it was. Schlichter is so apoplectic over politics, he posited his opinions as the opinions in all of these films. He sure as hell found a liberal under very bed. I saw Crash by accident, just picking it up off the shelf, knowing nothing about it. This was long before the nominations were announced. I liked that movie a lot and recommended it to my friends. Of course, I'm a liberal, but I'm sure that the movie was good regardless, the way all the stories dovetailed or touched on one another.
And because I disdain rap music, I, too, was appalled that "Hard Out Here for a Pimp" won best song that year. However, once I saw the movie Hustle and Flow, I changed my mind, because in the context of that movie, an emotional crescendo was reached that somehow transcended my own cultural bias, and I ended up somewhat understanding why it won.
Now, granted, as a liberal, I'm not sitting down to watch a movie and look for political messages, or to get all knotted up when I sense one is present. I either like a movie or a don't. You right-wing conservatives can't do that. You can not see past your partisan-stupid politics to see if there's anything of merit. So you end up either writing a screed like the author above, are giving him a high-five.
Well my friend the "occasional boob shot " is here to stay and like you, I'll deal with it if I absolutely have too.
I don't know…I'm sick of Roberts as well, but if I got to present to Denzel on such a night I'd kinda love my life too. This was far less irritating than her own acceptance speech when she won.
When is a boob display not necessary to the plot ?
Hey Ralph Fiennes can put in some unbelievably chilling performances.
Watch the riff-trax version of "Titanic". It'll make some of the pain go-away. Ok, I lied, Titanic is a movie that brings the pain.
I liked it also. It kind of took me back to high school, when hormones, athletics and rock n roll did not just get me through life, they were life itself.
How did you make it through that?
You clearly did not see those 15 min then, because he completely stole the movie and scared the f out of me.
Yeah, that was clear robbery. I have a feeling Redford gave more than a few free skiing vacations to win the oscar over Scorsese.
I think I was drunk.
A Clockwork Orange was way too controversial and has a bunch of cringe worthy scenes, with the "Singing in the Rain Rape" scene standing out. It's a good movie, but when something that controversial is paired with an almost equally good movie, "The French Connection" will always win.
Don't be hatin' on Titanic now. Where else can you see Leo DeCaprio die a horrible death from hypothermia, before having the love of his life toss his body down into the depths?
Definitely the cinematic feel-good moment of the decade.
"The Departed" wasn't even an original.
JUNO–I ugly cried through the end, into the restroom, through the lobby and across the parking lot. No, it wasn't a perfect movie (and maybe the hormones were talking) but it was enormously life affirming.
Kurt,
You and Gweneth need to get a room.
~ Thanks for the laughs ; )
I stand corrected (mea culpa, mea culpa) — somehow that nomination stuck with me
Sorry, got to disagree. Hopkins was amazing in every frame, and his character was crucial to the plot. Judi Dench's win for her tinier amount of screen time in "Shakespeare In Love" was far more surprising (although she was wonderful).
"Kramer vs Kramer" vs "Being There"; and later D. Hoffman for "Rain Man" anything after that was just par for the course.
The Hollywood establishment up until recently has always hated Marty. Perhaps it's that he has always subsribed to the autor theory of filmmaking and hence was a challenge to his finaciers and producers, or they are simply jealous of his talent, passion, and the fact that he didnt live in LA all those years and preferred to set up camp on the East Coast?
Good job Mr. Schlichter. Quite a cornucopia of crap!
May I modestly add 1999's "American Beauty" to your list. A film that is completely unwatchable (and unwatched today) featuring Kevin Spacy at the top of his form doing a terriffic Kevin Spacey impersonation. It also features every worn-out Hollywood cliche about middle-class angst and let's not forget the brutal portrait of the military in the form of Chris Cooper's sadistic Col. Fitts. Throw in the cool-hip-damaged-yet-wise precocious teens and Annette's Benings riff on suburban matrons and you have a storyline that looks like it was put together in some sort of Creative Writing 101 assembly-line. This HAS to be in the top 10.
Agreed pretty much with your choices.
Say what you will about the Star wars Prequels (I love 'em; so sue me), but I thought Ian IcDiarmid should have at least been nominated for his role as Palpatine/Darth Sidious in "Revenge of the SIth."
And one of the best war films of all time was snubbed for an Oscar nonimation: "Hamburger Hill," a pure battle film that's superior to "Platoon" and also the best movie about the Vietnam War.
As for worst Academy winners, mine is the only Oscar that Bugs Bunny ever won, for "Knighty Knight Bugs" in 1958, one of his lamest cartoons. Warner Bros. made far superior Bugs Bunny shorts, especially the "Rabbit Season" triology with Daffy and Elmer.
I ended up loving Garner's character, after disliking her from the get-go.
My ugly cry came (aside from the perfect alcove) when she backed off so quickly after not feeling the baby move at the mall encounter, and then took her own little leap of faith to kneel and talk to the baby, then the glorious explosion of wonder when she felt the movement.
What a sweet sad woman, following such a narrow perfect path in such loneliness, and how wonderful that she grew to let the immature weasel go and choose to be "still in".
Lucky baby.
According to Wikipedia, the other nominees were "The Bare Necessities," "The Eyes of Love," "The Look of Love," and "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Can't say I really can fault the Academy. Also don't think its win had anything to do with race relations.
Here was my own review of Juno.
I like this movie despite its now cliched self-consciously hip style. Thanks to Wes Anderson, each film in this style must have an eccentric/quirky but special protagonist. Whenever this protagonist is walking, the eccentric/quirky ultra-hip indie acoustic soundtrack plays in the background. There are a lot of static shots of people talking that capture the awkward moments of life, "breaking the rules" of classical Hollywood cinema. The film is usually packed with fairly big stars who have foregone their usual high fees for the chance to get some indie cred by acting in a low budget, but meaningful movie. So I'm cynical…but so are the people who make these kinds of films.
Anyway, I still like the film, mostly for the awesome performance of Ellen page. Even though she's hitting all the expected ultra-hip indie film beats. She's really fresh and real…I would call her a revelation if I were that unimaginative. I first saw her in X-men 3 and didn't think much of her, but then I saw Hard Candy and she was pretty captivating. She's got a lot of talent.
Even though the style is so self-conscious, the film has a sweetness that very purposely shines through Juno's emotional distance and sometimes acerbic personality and the barely-there Michael Cera. In all, this is a fine addition to the trend of hip indie films that is reliably bittersweet, depressing and smartly funny.
I gave it a 6 out of 10.
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