Q&A Pt. 2: Rain Men, Paperboys, Oscar Greats
Friday, June 5, 2015 at 4:36PM We had too many good questions last week to keep it all confined to one post. So now that you're read part one, so here's part two of the week's reader question roundup. I saved all the Oscar questions for this round to motivate me to update those Oscar chart this weekend. Ready?
SONJA: Why do we mourn/rage about "undeserved" wins so often? In reality it doesn't change anything....
It's as useless as making your bed in the morning but we still make our beds, right? Or in my case throw the comforter haphazardly across the sheets - close enough! Listen, I consider it a sign of good character to mourn poor choices from awards bodies as long as one does so pointedly and briefly and doesn't allow it to become part of one's whole character like hating an actr- OH WAIT OOPS.
People like to be dismissive about awards and say 'they don't matter!' but it's simply not true. THEY DO. Awards permanently influence resumes and entire careers by way of their temporary affect on opportunities and, yes, praise (once considered a "great" it takes decades for the petals to fall off that rose... it took decades for people to start getting snippy about Al Pacino & Robert DeNiro's work!
Plus it goes in the history books. Baby cinephiles decades later still look these things up and watch the movies that were awarded to teach themselves movie history. I speak from experience. I know this to be true.
CASH: Dustin Hoffman's win for "Rain Man" baffles me...
I was more impressed with Tom Cruises' performance than Hoffman's. Was that a weak year? Or was it a makeup for "Tootsie"? He already had the Oscar. Am I the only one confused by that win?
1988 was a long time ago but from how I remember it at least, he was the frontrunner the whole time. The only caveat was I believe some last minute longshot dreams for Gene Hackman (who was also already an Oscar winner) in Mississippi Burning. The other three were just 'glad to be nominated.' The public was obsessed with Rain Man (the #1 of its box office year) and Hoffman's performance in particular, quoting it all the time. It was kind of a Cuba Gooding "show me the money" type performance with the public reception only the lines you couldn't escape no matter where you went were less applicable to everyday situations.
"Definitely not wearing any underpants"
"___ minutes to Wapner"
If it helps think of the time period. Few people really understood what Autism was in the 1980s (new concept) and people confused it with mental retardation as a catch-all "mental handicap" and Oscar voters have always loved "differently-abled" men as much as they love "deglam" women.
SERGIO: As a Nicole Kidman fan I always feel angry for her having ONLY THREE OSCAR NOMINATIONS AND ONE WIN. I would have given her seven nominations and two wins. How about you Nathaniel? How many wins and nominations?
The Film Bitch Awards don't stretch back to the beginnings of Nicole Kidman's career but if they had I'd have the same count - 7 nominations and 2 wins (To Die For, Moulin Rouge!, The Hours, Birth, Margot at the Wedding, Rabbit Hole, and The Paperboy with the latter two being her wins). Naturally I would love to say a win for Moulin Rouge! but at the time I gave my win to her bestie Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive which I'm still okay with as a call though if I believed in ties that's a good year to use one for)
The further we get away from The Paperboy (2012) the bigger shame it is that she didn't land an atypical nomination for that because boy was she swinging for the fences. She got closer than anyone thought she would (bless) but frankly she makes most of the nominees that year look like highly timid thespians. And compounding the frustration: it's starting to look like that was her last shot given the fate of her recent films.
STEVE: What do you think is the best decade of Best Picture winners?
This is an extraordinarily difficult question. Critics tend to value the 1930s and the 1970s as the best decades for American cinema and people need to accept that the Oscars are for American cinema despite the occasional foreign joy. I'm still elated that Marion Cotillard got that Two Days One Night nomination last season but we have to consider such things cherries on top and not part of the basic food pyramid in order to stay sane!
What's more the Oscars have always been schizophrenic with their ability to see greatness within what's put in front of them. Most schizophrenic for me in terms of super high peaks and embarrassing valleys among the Best Picture wins are the 1930s and 1950s. For every It Happened One Night or All About Eve you get a Cimarron and an Around the World in 80 Days, you know? It's sometimes hard to imagine that the same group of people is voting each year. Within each decade AMPAS members tend to choose about 3 greats, 2 duds and 5 semi-respectable choices that aren't remotely exciting to think of as a #1.
So what's my answer? Hell, I don't know. Though I'm desperately curious to hear all of yours in the comments.
I don't want to say the 1970s since I don't really love very many of those winners and there's only one year in which I would have voted the same as Oscar from their fields (Annie Hall) but there is something to be said for consistency and the 70s had it. Tough question. This decade is pretty good so far. We've got two vaguely respectable but ultimately dull winners (The King's Speech, Argo) bu the others have been great or highly entertaining. So I'm fully expecting this year's choice to be maddeningly awful because it's time for something dreadful to happen again. Like another Slumdog, Crash or Braveheart.
So let's end with a slightly different list instead...
Nathaniel's 3 Favorite Best Pictures From Each Decade (Chronologically)
1930s All Quiet on the Western Front, It Happened One Night, Gone With the Wind
1940s Mrs Miniver*, Casablanca, The Best Years of Our Lives
1950s All About Eve, From Here to Eternity, Ben-Hur
1960s West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, The Sound of Music
1970s The Godfather, Annie Hall, Kramer vs. Kramer
1980s Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa
1990s Silence of the Lambs, Schindler's List, Titanic
2000s LotR: Return of the King, No Country For Old Men, The Hurt Locker
2010s The Artist, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman
*I know people dismiss this movie as clunky wartime propaganda but whatever. I love it. Sorry not sorry.
YOUR TURN READERS
What is Kidman's ideal (imaginary) Oscar stats? Best decade for Best Picture wins? Sound off.
Reader Comments (54)
Kidman:
1995: To Die For (Lost to Elizabeth Sue, Leaving Las Vegas)
2001: Moulin Rouge! WINNER!
2002: The Hours (Lost to Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven)
2003: Dogville (Lost to Naomi Watts, 21 Grams)
2004: Birth (Lost to Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine)
2007: Margo at the Wedding (Lost to Julie Christie, Away from Her)
2010: Rabbit Hole (Lost to Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone)
2012: The Paperboy WINNER!
Nat: I'd definitely agree with the 70s as the best era. I've seen nine of their winners from that time and I'd break it down like this:
A+: 2 (Annie Hall, The Godfather)
A: 4 (French Connection, The Sting, The Godfather Part II, One Flew)
A-: 1 (Rocky)
B+: 2 (Patton, The Deer Hunter)
That's already a shockingly good set of choices for Oscar.
Now, as far as "choosing the best of the nominees"?
1970: YES. *Love Story and Airport unseen. (Five Easy Pieces and MASH are angrier, but they're not BETTER than Patton and the other two are just lucky nominees.)
1971: 2nd place *Fiddler and Nicholas and Alexandra unseen. (They weren't touching Clockwork with a 39 1/2 foot pole and the others were relatively lucky nominees.)
1972: YES. *The Emigrants and Sounder unseen
1973: YES. *A Touch of Class unseen
1974: 2nd place *Lenny and The Towering Inferno unseen (Really disappointing Chinatown couldn't pull that out. The Godfather franchise didn't REALLY need a second win on it's resume but it's not the worst choice they could have made.)
1975: YES *Nashville unseen
1976: 4th place (But the fact that Rocky is 4th place when, in most fields, it'd probably be first or second says a lot about how unusually strong this field is.)
1977: YES. *The Goodbye Girl, Julia and The Turning Point unseen
1978: Probably. *Coming Home, Midnight Express and An Unmarried Woman unseen.
1979: 3rd at best. *Kramer vs. Kramer, the winner, unseen.
i don't have a favorite decade for oscars, especially when i still need to see like, 30 of the BP winners, but so far i'm loving what i've seen from the 60's: West side story, The Apartment, Lawrence of Arabia, In the heat of the night, Midnight cowboy and Tom Jones. A very solid group of winners in my books.
as for the Nicole question:
To die for**
Moulin Rouge**
The Others
The Hours**
Rabbit hole**
The paperboy
and she barely misses for Birth
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
(95) To Die For (removing Thompson)
(99) Eyes Wide Shut (removing Streep)
(01) Moulin Rouge (Berry wins)
(02) The Hours (1st win)
(04) Birth (Winslet wins)
(06) Fur (removing Streep)
(10) Rabbit Hole (Bening wins)
(12) The Paperboy (2nd win)
Best decade for Oscar wins: the '60s. I'm shocked. And you're right, Nat, if we can keep it going, this current decades might turn out as good as that one, or at least as good as the '70s.
Nicole Kidman: Best Actress for To Die For (although that year's nominees were pretty strong, I'd definitely give to it Kidman over three of them -- including Sarandon, who should have won in several other years. Thompson and Streep, however, gave two of my favorite performances of each of their careers, so...)
Kidman my nominations for her no wins.
95 Nom Streep wins
96 Nom Blethyn wins
01 Nom Spacek wins
02 Nom Moore wins
04 Nom Staunton wins
10 Nom Bening wins
12 Nom Field wins
12
Best decade for Oscar Best Picture wins, of course.
While I'm here, a question: Who is between Hardy and Davis in the banner? That grin is so broad that I can't see the face. It looks like Pfeiffer, Dunst, Ann-Margret, Moretz and a few other blondes. (It's probably one of my favorites, so I'm ready to be embarrassed.)
i was very ready to announce my love for the 90s BP winners, but then i went back and actually thought about it... Braveheart was just utter shit, from the field i'd take either Apollo13 or Il Postino... but seriously how did "Babe" get a best pic nom?! Toy Story, Usual Suspects, American President, CLUELESS FOR CHRISTS SAKE! Ung.
Then there's 1998... I dont have the major problem with Shakespeare in Love that others do, but Private Ryan probably should have won that year... Though I do give props to AMPAS for rewarding a fairly woman-centric story with Best Pic... something that happens far too rarely.
Love the wins in '91 (Silence...lambs), '93 (Schindler), '94 (Gump), '97 (Titanic... HELL of a nom group though, at least 4/'5 deserving), and '99 (Am. Beauty).
Thanks Nathaniel!
-Billy (@waflanagan)
As much as I love her in To Die For '95 is too packed to include her in my five (Bening, Shue, Moore, Sarandon, Streep) Nic would have been my number 6.
96, Portrait of a Lady, replacing Keaton, loss to McDormand
01, Moulin Rouge!, win
02, The Hours, loss to Moore
04, Birth, loss to Winslet
10, Rabbit Hole, win or loss to Williams
12, The Paperboy, loss Emily Blunt for Looper.
I think the 70s wins by default in terms of winners. I actually love most of 40s winners too.
Replace Double Indemnity for Going My Way and well anything for The lost Weekend, and I think it's pretty flawless.
My favourite decade for Best Picture winners is the 1970s. Patton is the weakest and it's a very strong film. And there are at least three out-and-out classics (The French Connection, The Godfather and Annie Hall).
Nathaniel, you remember the Rain Man era correctly: Hoffman was the favourite throughout the season, with Hackman the only possible spoiler. Though I think Max von Sydow was better than either of them. And when Rain Man came out, I was one of the ones who loved it. (I was fourteen, and it seemed an idea of a perfect 'adult' film.) My friends and I voted it the best film of the 1980s. It wouldn't come anywhere near that now, but there are still things I enjoy about it - Tom Cruise's performance most of all, probably.
You mention Around the World in Eighty Days as an "embarrassing valley" in the taste of Oscar voters. Now, I shall go to my grave defending that film, it seems. But something you said about Rain Man made me think about Eighty Days as well. The key is the era it came out in. That kind of cinematic spectacle would, I imagine, have been astounding in 1956 - a Star Wars or Avatar of its day. And it wasn't just Oscar that liked it - the film won ALL that year's Best Picture awards. Even the New York Film Critics decided to award it rather than The Searchers (yawn) etc.
But you redeemed yourself with your choice of Out of Africa as one of your three best of the 1980s!!
And I MUST see The Paperboy...
Paul -- that's Ms. Dunst.
Billy -- bite your tongue. Babe is a great movie! And i love atypical nominees when they're actually great movies.
3rtful -- Fur is one of my least favorite Kidman performances. I'm not sure what she was attempting but it didn't play for me at all.
Eduardo -- yeah the 60s wins are pretty good. People bitch a lot about the 60s because of all the musicals but some of them were really good. I'll go to my grave thinking SOUND OF MUSIC is pretty much a masterpiece and people are still so mean to that movie. My Fair Lady & Oliver! have a lot of stiff stagebound problems but Sound of Music is all MOVIE MOVIE and I love it for it.
I love the 70s as a decade for film, but I agree that the Best Pic winners aren't the cream of the crop.
As for my beloved Nicole, I'd bump her tally up to 9:
1. To Die For (WINNER)
2. Eyes Wide Shut
3. Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)
4. The Hours
5. Dogville
6. Birth (WINNER)
7. Margot at the Wedding
8. Rabbit Hole
9. The Paperboy (WINNER...or tie with Hathaway I can't decide)
I'm always hoping the tide will turn for her, she'll always get/do interesting work but I wish she'd be recognized for it more often. Maybe she should take a break? But I don't want her to take a break!
The best decade for Best Picture winners will always be the 1970s. All of them are at least "good" movies, which is more than I can say for all of the other decades. Although, you're right about the 2010s so far Nathaniel. They're all at least "good" too. I must say that Around the World in 80 Days is such a great movie, and I'll never truly understand people's gripes with it, especially film lovers' gripes. It's so fun! And it's real Hollywood entertainment. So many cameos from old movie stars and character actors from Hollywood's Golden Age.
My top three Best Picture winners chronologically from each decade:
1920s-30s - Wings, It Happened One Night, Gone with the Wind
1940s - Mrs. Miniver, Casablanca, The Best Years of Our Lives
1950s - All About Eve, On the Waterfront, Around the World in 80 Days
1960s - West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, In the Heat of the Night
1970s - The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Rocky
1980s - Platoon, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy
1990s - The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List
2000s - Chicago, Crash, The Hurt Locker
2010s - The Artist, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman
I am very disappointed in my fellow Kidmaniacs - everyone seems to love Moulin Rouge (in which I thought she was perfectly fine, but nowhere near my Top 20, let alone Top 5) yet nobody mentions her work in Australia!!!??? Broad comedy to heartbreaking drama, seamlessly... so many moments I adore in that performance.
My preferences -
Dogville (loses to Theron)
Birth (loses to Staunton)
Margot At The Wedding (loses to Efron)
Australia (loses to Swinton)
I love The Paperboy (and Kidman in it) but she's currently ranked No.8 for me...
It's interesting you can't ride a catch-phrase to an Oscar win the way that Hoffman did in Rain Man, and that Pacino, Hanks, Pesci, and Hopkins did in the early 90s.
Sean T: Another Eighty Days fan! They do exist! Thank you for your kind words about one of my favourite films!
I don't get what happened to Nicole Kidman. She was white hot and then suddenly became wildly unpopular and made too many offbeat movies. Her films with Colin Firth were each duds, Grace of Monaco was a major flop, and working with James Franco is also just going to set her up for further boredom and disaster. I am hoping she plays better on HBO than cinema, because man, that magic is GONE.
I sadly only have one win for Kidman among the many nods: To Die For, Moulin Rouge! *winner*, The Hours, Dogville, Birth, Margot at the Wedding, Rabbit Hole and The Paperboy.
Best BP decade - I have to be boring and say the 70s, where each pick is at least interesting to consider (though I was surprised the Aughts and the 90s were my second and third picks).
Top threes: (and in the 20s, Sunrise by a mile)
30s - All Quiet on the Western Front, Grand Hotel, Gone With the Wind (RU: It Happened One Night)
40s - How Green Was My Valley, Hamlet, All the King's Men (RU: Rebecca)
50s - All About Eve, On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai
60s - My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, In the Heat of the Night
70s - The Godfather 1&2, Kramer vs. Kramer (RU: Annie Hall)
80s - Ordinary People, Gandhi, Platoon
90s - The Silence of the Lambs, The English Patient, American Beauty (RU: Schindler's List)
00s - Chicago, The Departed, Slumdog Millionaire (RU: The Hurt Locker)
And so far this decade, 12 Years a Slave and Birdman are likely to be in my three, though The Artist was good too.
Did I seriously just forget Casablanca?!?! Easily in my top three winners of all time, and it would bump How Green.
I think it's difficult to measure the decades by nominees. As Nathaniel said, they're actually quite good at the nominations part, it's just that the winners so often end up being disappointments. My prime example of this is always 2001. It has one of my absolute favorite lineups with Moulin Rouge! (WINNER), Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, and Fellowship of the Ring. Each exceptional and significant in some way, but all being trumped by the merely okay and oh so pedestrian A Beautiful Mind. Happens more often than not in my eye, but every now and then you get a great winner or short run of greats. I think the second half of the Aughts (beginning with The Departed) is close to being the most consistent run of high quality winners, but there's that problem of Slumdog Millionaire...
As for my beloved Kidman, I say noms for:
To Die For
Eyes Wide Shut (Supporting)
Moulin Rouge!
The Hours
Birth
Margot at the Wedding
Rabbit Hole
The Paperboy (Supporting)
On my biggest fan boy days (those that end in "Y"), I feel like I could make a case for why she should have won them all!
Has any major Oscar winning actress had such a bad run of luck with projects in the last few years as much as Nicole Kidman? I don't mind though, because she's one of the most fearless actresses working today, so more arthouse fare suits me just fine XD
1996 Best Actress In A Leading Role, Portrait of A Lady (lost to Emily Watson)
1999 Best Actress In A Supporting Role-Eyes Wide Shut (lost to Chloe Sevigny)
2003 Best Actress In A Leading Role- Dogville (lost to Charlize Theron)
2004 Best Actress In A Leading Role- Birth *WINNER*
2012 Best Actress In A Supporting Role- The Paperboy (lost to Lorraine Toussaint)
If it wasn't for the sickening display of exemplary actressing in 1995, she'd be a nominee no doubt. Wasn't it true that a few years ago, herself and Charlize Theron were attached to The Danish Girl?? Like, circa 2007?
NICOLE KIDMAN
1995 - Actress in a Leading Role - "To Die For" *WINNER*
1999 - Actress in a Leading Role - "Eyes Wide Shut" *WINNER*
2001 - Actress in a Leading Role - "Moulin Rouge!" (#2 Naomi Watts)
2002 - Actress in a Leading Role - "The Hours" (#4 Isabelle Huppert)
2003 - Actress in a Leading Role - "Dogville" (#3 Charlize Theron)
2004 - Actress in a Leading Role - "Birth" (#2 Kate Winslet)
2010 - Actress in a Leading Role - "Rabbit Hole" (#2 Natalie Portman)
2012 - Actress in a Supporting Role - "The Paperboy" (#2 Anne Hathaway)
One of the all time greats.
Nicole Kidman: Nominations for Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge, The Hours, Birth - no wins.
Best decade: Easily the 1940s
1995: Best Actress Nominee for To Die For
1996: Best Actress Nominee for The Portrait of a Lady
2001: Best Actress Nominee for The Others
2004: Best Actress WINNER for Birth
2007: Best Actress Nominee for Margot at the Wedding
Nicole is my all time love and I have to answer that question:
1991: Best Supporting Actress for Flirting (a really fun movie in a year where the category was kinda weak) (lost to: Mercedes Ruhel - The Fisher King)
1995: Best Actress for To Die For (close loss to Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking with Elisabeth Shue being the even closer second place)
2001: Dual Best Actress nominations for The Others and Moulin Rouge (this is my fantasy world and double noms are allowed) (she wins for Moulin Rouge)
2002: Best Actress for The Hours (loses to Julianne Moore for Far From Heaven)
2004: Best Actress for Birth (It's a toss up between that and Dogville, another great year for her) (loses to Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine)
2010: Best Actress for Rabbit Hole (wins)
2012: Best Supporting Actress for The Paperboy (wins)
That's 8 nominations and 3 wins (I'm a fan so I'm biased)
I agree 100% about the 70s being misjudged in terms of this golden age for Best Picture winners. Nominees? Certainly. There are some good'ns in there. But The Sting, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rocky and Patton (none of which I hate, but I find to be problematically average for different reasons) are enough to bring that decade's average down for me. I don't really think that there's any decade that can boast total greatness.
As maligned as the 90s are, I think it's the decade with the most Best Picture winners that I really like.
I think Silence of the Lambs, Schindler's List, The English Patient, Titanic and Shakespeare in Love are all pretty great and I like some of the others as well. In fact, the only two BP winners from the 90s that I actively dislike are Forrest Gump and Braveheart.
KIDMAN:
1995: To Die For (lost to Julianne Moore in Safe)
1999: Eyes Wide Shut (winner!)
2001: Moulin Rouge! (lost to Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr.)
2002: The Hours (winner!)
2003: Dogville (winner!)
2004: Birth (lost to Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine)
2007: Margot at the Wedding (lost to Anamaria Marinca in 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days)
2010: Rabbit Hole (lost to Carey Mulligan in Never Let Me Go)
2012: The Paperboy (lost to Helen Hunt in The Sessions)
2013: Stoker (lost to Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave)
10 Nominations
3 Wins
2 Best Actress Wins (back to back)
1 Best Supporting Actress Win
Oh, 1988! Hoffman was always the frontrunner. Olmos and Von Sydow were huge surprises considering they left out William Hurt, John Malkovich and Forest Whitaker.
I'd say the best for Best Picture wins is the 40's. Three of the my favorite winners, Mrs. Miniver, Casablanca and The Best Years of Our Lives, are from that decade the most of any period. An extra bonus is that two of my other favorites GWTW and All About Eve bookend the decade.
The 70s are definitely my favorite for Best Picture winners, followed by the 60s. I'm surprised at how much I like the winners in the 80s though. While I might not have given them the win in their years Ordinary People, Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, and Platoon are all favorites of mine from that decade and I enjoy parts of Gandhi, Out of Africa, and Rain Man (mainly Tom Cruise's performance). The only Crash or Braveheart level offense for me is Driving Miss Daisy. And how did Dan Aykroyd get nominated for that?!
The 90s are pretty great but damn, is it ever blighted by Braveheart and Forrest Gump. Whenever I mention or allude to the fact that I hate Forrest Gump with a passion of a 1000 suns, my friends think I'm crazy. I just can't get over how shameless that and Rain Man are.
Also, the SHADE of including a picture of Swank next to Sonja's question!
Love that! 3 favorite Best Picture winners from each decade (I'll begin at the 50's because I haven't seen all winners from the 30's and 40's):
50's : All About Eve, On the Waterfront, Ben-Hur
60's : West Side Story, The Sound of Music, In the Heat of the Night
70's : One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Annie Hall, Kramer vs Kramer
80's : Terms of Endearment, Amadeus (My favorite film of all time!), Rain Man
90's : Silence of the Lambs, The English Patient, American Beauty
00's : Chicago, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Departed
10's : Argo, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman
I'll be the outlier and say the best decade for Best Picture wins is the 1980s. The only really bad choice from that decade for me is Ghandi, and Amadeus and Out of Africa are my two favorite Best Picture winners of all-time. Terms of Endearment and Ordinary People are films I've watched countless times as well, and the rest were all good films.
Favorites from each decade (I need to educate myself more on the '30s and '40s):
1950s: All About Eve, From Here to Eternity, On the Waterfront
1960s: The Apartment, West Side Story, Midnight Cowboy
1970s: The French Connection, The Sting, Annie Hall
1980s: Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa
1990s: Schindler's List, The English Patient, American Beauty
2000s: The Departed, No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker
2010s: The Artist, Argo, 12 Years a Slave
Nathaniel, more terrifying than your prediction that we're getting a dud as a Best Picture winner this year is that if there are truly about 3 great winners each decade, there will probably be no more great winners in the 2010s. Holding out hope! It's such a good 5 right now. I think Argo is the weakest link, and it's a perfectly good movie.
Thanks for answering my question, by the way. Glad it could help spark some debate. My personal answer would be the 60s (The Sound of Music is a masterpiece and 100 years from now will still be celebrated as such), with the 40s as a close runner-up (The Best Years of Our Lives is my all-time favorite movie and Casablanca is up there.)
I was surprised to see that Grand Hotel wasn't in your top three of its decade. You always speak about it so affectionately.
Kidman (8 noms - 2 wins)
To Die For (95) (*wins* over Sarandon)
Eyes Wide Shut (99) - Supporting (Keener wins)
Moulin Rouge (01) (Naomi Watts wins)
Dogville (03) (Charlize wins)
The Human Stain (03) - Supporting (Holly Hunter wins)
Birth (04) (Uma Thurman wins for KB2)
Rabbit Hole (10) (Kim Hye-Ja wins for Mother)
The Paperboy (12) - Supporting (*wins*)
RE EWS is she supporting or lead,how was she capaigned.
I've always felt the award for Best Director was the most prestigious of all. The Director's Branch has often overlooked popular hits for more political international masterpieces. While rarely winning, how else could you rejoice in the nominations of "Z," "The Battle of Algiers," "Woman in the Dunes," "Satyricon," "Amarcord," "Seven Beauties," " The Sweet Hereafter," "Das Boot," 'City of God,"
MARK - all nominations she got for that move are in Lead, so I'd say that's where she was campaigned.
1991 - Best Supporting Actress - Billy Bathgate (Juliette Lewis)
1995 - Best Actress - To Die For (Elizabeth Shue)
1996 - Best Actress - The Portrait Of A Lady (Frances McDormand)
1999 - Best Supporting Actress - Eyes Wide Shut (Catherine Keener)
2001 - Best Actress - The Others/Moulin Rouge! **WIN**
2002 - Best Actress - The Hours (Diane Lane)
2004 - Birth/Dogville **WIN**
2007 - Best Actress - Margot At The Wedding (Ashley Judd)
2008 - Best Actress - Australia (Kate Winslet - The Reader)
2010 - Best Actress - Rabbit Hole (Natalie Portman)
2012 - Best Supporting Actress - The Paperboy - (current winner but I need to see a few more films, especially The Master)
Top 10 in...
1989 - Dead Clam
2003 - Cold Mountain
2013 - Stoker
I cannot believe how many times she's been overlooked by the Academy, but someone like Blanchett gets in for her ridiculous over the top performances time and again. Still, at least Kidman got the gold man which my other favorites never did/will (Natalie Wood, Kathleen Turner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver)
To Die For, Moulin Rouge!, The Hours, Dogville, Birth, Margot at the Wedding, Rabbit Hole and The Paperboy. Eight. She'd have won three, probably for To Die For, Birth and The Paperboy.
I love these posts.
To me, Rain Man is an entertaining film. It's not "Best of" anything material, but compared to the other nominees that year, it's a deserving win. I personally would have voted for Hackman over Hoffman in Best Actor. The nominees that year, in general, suck. The Academy should have nominated Last Temptation of Christ, Bull Durham, and Unbearable Lightness of Being for Best Picture, but even those films, with the exception of Bull Durham, don't really do it for me. 1988 was a weak year.
Kidman is such an underrated actress, and although her recent films haven't been as memorable as the ones she made in the '00s, which I believe is her peak decade, we still have to acknowledge her great work in both 'Stoker' and 'Paddington.' She nailed those roles. Out of the peak decade, my favorite performances will always be 'Moulin Rouge' and 'The Hours', but special props to 'Birthday Girl' because she elevated that film and made it worthwhile.
The '70s is easily the best decade in American film, followed by the '90s, the '00s, the '40s, and the '80s. It's hard to say which decade was the best for Academy Best Picture Winners, though. For every 'Annie Hall' there's a 'Rocky' in the '70s, and for every 'Silence of the Lambs' there's a 'Shakespeare in Love.'
Josep -- 1988 was anything but a weak year.
Thank god for someone like you, Nat. Birdman is a great choice for last year, and Argo is just unbelievable as a BP winner.
Lol, Nat, I already said it was the silliest question of all time because I just know we always will complain about "poor film award choices". And Swank did at least deserved her first Oscar.
She was lucky to be in an upcoming BP winner four years later, an overly emotional (manipulating) boxer movie by Eastwood.
Timing is all. May Benning finally have it.
Still, I know people who love "Crash". We all have at least one "undeserved" win, I'm sure. ;)
I continue to be mystified by Kidman's appeal - and I've tried! I even sat through Before I Go to Sleep for God's sake. I'd say 2 noms 0 wins feels about right to me.
I am not necessarily a huge Kidman fan.... but I thought great performances were for:
To Die For Rabbit Hole The Others
I do not get the love here for The Paperboy ... really over the top!
@Rick, Nicole Kidman was tonally spot-on in The Paperboy, which was *supposed* to be an over-the-top gothic throwback.
1995: B.A. nominee, To Die For (winner: Elisabeth Shue)
2001: B.A. (double) nominee, Moulin Rouge! and The Others (winner: Naomi Watts)
2002: B,A, or B.S.A. nominee, The Hours (winner: Diane Lane or Julianne Moore)
2004: B.A. winner, Birth
2007: B.A. nominee, Margot at the Wedding (winner: Julie Christie)
2010: B.A. winner, Rabbit Hole
2012: B.S.A. winner, The Paperboy
Nicole Kidman would have seven Oscars nominations and three wins in my world, although a strong case could be made for Kate Winslet in 2004 and Natalie Portman in 2010. But 2012? No one else even comes close to her gonzo genius that year. (Nevertheless Birth is still my all-time favorite and best performance of hers, no question.)
Regarding the best Oscar-lauded (full) decade in film, I'd rank them thusly:
1. 50s (All About Eve, From Here to Eternity, On the Waterfront)
2. 40s (The Best Years of Our Lives, Casablanca, The Lost Weekend *or* Rebecca)
3. 60s (The Apartment, Lawrence of Arabia *or* Midnight Cowboy, West Side Story)
4. 90s (The English Patient *or* Schindler's List, Shakespeare in Love, SIlence of the Lambs)
5. 70s (Annie Hall, The Godfather, Kramer vs. Kramer)
6. 30s (Gone with the Wind, Grand Hotel, It Happened One Night)
7. 80s (Amadeus, Out of Africa, Terms of Endearment)
8. 00s (The Departed, The Hurt Locker, No Country for Old Men)
The 10s are off to a GREAT start, The King's [gag] Speech [barf] notwithstanding.
Steve -- i love GRAND HOTEL. so know that it was a close fourth for that decade :)
I'm going with the 90s for favorite BP decade. They got a lot wrong (here's looking at you 'Dances' and 'English') - but that 91 to 93 stretch was epic and even though Forrest Gump is polarizing, it's been nothing if not an enduring pop cultural phenomenon. I loved or liked 7 of the 10 - which is more than I can say for any other decade except maybe the 00s.
Hi! Another great post here I see. :-) I 've reading the site for quite long time now.. meaning the past three years to be exact and I want to congrats everyone here for doing such a remarkable job and so passionate as well ! Specially you Nathaniel.
What motivated me to post a comment here is my love and admiration to Nicole Kidman and that intriguing thought of how many nominations should Nicole have over the years if just the Academy could judge correctly... Of course there are a lot of factors that influence an Oscar nomination.. I mean it depends of the competition that certain year.. of how many great performances would be.. of how the produce company will "push" the actors and their movie in general and even the realese date has somethning to do with it.
Who can forget the shocking Gwyneth Paltrow's win for 'Shakespeare in Love' over Cate Blanchett's most shining moment. I'm sure that Harvey Weinstein got it for her. And ok Blanchett had apparently other opportunities for the gold statue, but there are actors that haven't and that's too sad in my opinion..
But all these are well known by everyone.. I just think that our beloved Nicole is the most underprivileged actress according to the Academy embrace. For my point of view Nicole's performances were criminally underrated and she clearly should dominate the oscar race pretty much year by year.. She is an actress who sould be worldie respected and acknowledged for her acting phenomenon abilities like Streep or Blanchett..
And I see her.. that she could holding that gold statue in several times.. all these roles that got away.. I can picture her in 'The Silence of the Lambs' (a role that auditioned for, but eventually lost to Jodie Foster's sparkle and enthusiasm to portray the FBI agent Clarice), she could be Viola in 'Shakespeare in Lov'e (a role that was offered to her but I think she turned it down, wanting to spend time with family at that period) and I could so easily imagine her acceptance speech for 'The Reader'. As Hanna, a role so perfect for her that actually was destined to her but had to drop out due pregnancy..
But still.. she has many incredible performances in her career so far. The past decades has amazed us all, even those who don't want to admit it. Her craft would be the groundwork for the next generations of actresses to come as she ,gentle and true humbled, had said in a past interview.
So here is my imaginary Oscar nominations that Nicole deserved for her work already. It concludes 15 nominations and 3 wins.
1) 1995-Leading role- To Die For (Suzanne)
(removing Elizabeth Shue's nom)-Susan Sarandon wins
2) 1996-Leading role- The Potrait of a Lady (Isabel Archer)
(removing Brebda Blethyn's nom)-Emily Watson should win
3) 1999-Supporting role- Eyes Wide Shut (Alice)
(removing Chloe Sevigny nom)-Angelina Jolie wins
2001 *Double nomination*
4) -Leading role- Moulin Rouge (Satine) -NICOLE WINS
5) -Leadig role- The Others (Grace Stewart)
(removing Renee Zellweger nom- by the way I loved Renee
in Chicago but that is next year)
6) 2002-Leading role- The Hours (Virginia Woolf)- NICOLE WINS
2003 *Double nomination*
7) -Leading role- Dogville (Grace Margaret Mulligan)
8) -Leading role- Cold Mountain (Ada)
(removing Keisha Castle Hughes and Diane Keaton's noms)
9) 2004-Leading role- Birth (Anna)
(removing Catalina Moveno nom)- Hilary Swank wins
10) 2007-Leading role- Margot at the Wedding (Margot)
(removing Ellen Page's nom)- Marion Cotillard wins
11) 2010-Leading role- Rabbit Hole (Becca)- NICOLE WINS
12) 2012-Supporting role- The Paperboy (Charlotte)
(removing Jacki Weaver's nom)- Anne Hathaway wins
13) 2013-Supporting role- Stoker (Evelyn)
-a much underrated performance-
(removing June Squibb's nom)-Lupita Nyong'o wins
2014*Double Nomination*
14) -Supporting role- The Railway Man (Patti Lomax)
(removing Keira Knightley's nom)-Patricia Arquette wins
15) -Leading role- Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly)
(removing Marion Cotillard's nom)-Julianne Moore wins
And I know that for the last one there are many hands on the air right now.. But I can't help it.. I loved Nicole as Grace Kelly. At first was the perfect actress to cast but she also successfully captured her essence. And it happens to see the movie to the big screen cause in Greece (where I live) it actually got released in cinemas. So I remember been amazed by her once again seeing her to the big screen, this time with royalty beauty. For me it was the King's Speech going all wrong.. It was a sure thing and it end up being mugged.
Anyway, I have incredible high hopes for this year Oscar race and Nathaniel I didn't expect that you wouldn't include Nicole to the prediction desk already.. Come on!! What about the Family Fang at least? (the writer of the Rabbit Hole in an also screen adopted novel and Nicole is producing again) I think that is the secret weapon.. just wait until December for that one to make some noise.. But let start the buzzing right now and hopefully Academy will make up for all that lost ground..
My wishful thinking is for all the 6 upcoming movies of hers..
Strangerland, Queen of the Desert, The Secret in their Eyes, Genius, The Family Fang and Lion.
The first impression that I have for Strangerland is that 's something truly powerful..
Must be like a combination of two previous breathtaking performances of Nicole. I guess that Catherine saws the deep emotion and grief of Becca's character in Rabbit Hole and also maybe have something sort of the sexuality of Charlotte in Paperboy.. I want to believe that that it will end up at least with an Golden Globe nomination.
Queen of the Desert hasn't the support of the critics reviews, but some say that she is superb in it , although it might be an uneven film, sadly again. I was excepting greater things from Berlin fest..
In Secret in their Eyes she teems up with Julia Roberts and fingers crossed for a worldwide blockbuster
Supporting turn in Genius as Aline, the writer's Thomas Wolfe muse.. Last time being a muse was in Nine, as Claudia, a glowing beauty, was just jaw-dropping..
Rumours has it for once in a lifetime performance in The Family Fang. And I trust completely Nicole for the final outcome of the movie.. That it would be big.
Finally, the performance in Lion must be really strong. The creative team behind it say that she gives a mature performance that it will get attention. Please Harvey do something about it also! Step it up!!
So my dream award season this year would be the following:
4 Golden Globes nominations (yes you read that right)
Best Actress in Drama: 1)-Strangerland and 2)- Queen of the Desert
Best Actress in Comedy: 3) The Family Fang
Best Supporting Actress: 4) Lion
As far for the Oscars I'm thinking something that It has not happened before.
3 nominations at the same year (It is time for that to happen I think...)
Best Actress -Strangerland- & - The Family Fang-
Best Supporting Actress -Lion-
So what do you think about those suggestions?
sorry for the extended text but I get so passionate when it comes to Nic..
Ι apologise for that long long expression of mine.
In conclusion, I would love to see her in magor roles like Catherine the Great, I think she would be amazing as that despotic queen, leader of Russia and Nicole greatness as an actress would eventually shine. Picture it in a big budget film... Someone make it a movie! With Nicole certainly!!
Directors everywhere give her the roles that she deserves!!
ok I'm stopping now..
But I will be back for a Pfeiffer dream Oscar nomination list..
She is also capable for a lot more than she credit for..
Hope that Michelle will have among the next years the Oscar recognition that Julianne Moore had recently
everyone -- though i get everyone's enthusiasm for the DOGVILLE performance it wasn't actually eligible in 2003 as the film didn't get a US release until 2004 so it was either that or BIRTH for the nomination.