"Ghost" and Other Blockbuster Best Pics
Monday, July 13, 2015 at 4:00PM 
Today is the 25th anniversary of Ghost (1990), that wildly successful supernatural-comedy-romance-adventure-whatsit from 1990 which briefly iconized Demi Moore's single teardrop face, revived the popularity of a 1955 song hit, made pottery-wheel lovemaking into a meme (before memes were called that) proved that Patrick Swayze was more than just Dirty Dancing, made the world hate the grandson of legendary movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn, and won Whoopi Goldberg her Oscar, the first acting win for an African American woman since Hattie McDaniel in 1939 (it's since become far more common... at least in Supporting Actress).
Ghost is among the most atypical Best Picture nominees of all time, and one that would never have been nominated without its phenomenal grosses. It ended 1990 as the top global grosser with over half a billion in the bank, though Home Alone, Pretty Woman and Best Picture winner Dances With Wolves were not far behind).
So here's a quick Oscar talking point about the last, oh, 40 years of Oscar history. Which of these Best Picture nominees, arguably none of which would have been nominated without their blockbuster phenom cred given their genres and non-prestige foundations, is your favorite?
Star Wars (1977)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
The Fugitive (1993)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
District 9 (2009)
The Blind Side (2009)
How do you think Ghost (1990) stacks up to that list? None of them actually won Hollywood's top prize in their year.
Reader Comments (51)
I like a lot of these films, including Ghost. I think my favorite is probably Fatal Attraction. Really assured in is execution, knows it's over-the-top and rarely tries for decorum. And every performer seems to hit the right note. Very possibly my favorite Glenn Close performance and she would have gotten my vote in the insanely good lineup that was Best Actress 1987.
Star Wars easily my "favourite", and I'd rank Ghost second in that crop. I have no real issue with it having a Best Picture nomination...
Fatal Attraction still feel Douglas should have got the Oscar for that film rather than Wall Street.
MARK -- really? but glenn close is such the main attraction.
See, at least all of those films are still ones that people still like and remember, and might even call their favorite, unlike 'Chocolat' or 'Finding Neverland' or 'Frost/Nixon'.
Did you have to remind me of that Blind Side best picture nod? It brings back memories of arguments I had with other black people who liked it better than Precious.
Anyway, the first three on that list in no particular order, and I have no shame about my affinity for Ghost..
The box office wasn't the only reason these films were nominated, but it definitely helped. Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark are undoubtedly classics and deserve their nomination outright, but the box office pushed them over. Good reviews also help these hits, but more importantly they need to tap the zeitgeist. A lot of these films developed into early memes and got people talking. They also had box office legs that is just about non-existent now. "Ghost" grossed no higher than $12 million in a weekend but it just kept going and going. Now something has legs if it lasts a month in the top 5.
Raul -- i'm not saying the nominations are not deserved (that's on a case by case basis) but they never would have been taken seriously as Oscar votes if they didn't have that gargantuan box office. thus, the list.
The Fugitive is one of my favorite films, and a great performance by Tommy Lee Jones. Now that's how you do a tv show film adaptation.
District 9's nom gave me hope that the ten-wide field would be useful/interesting. Unfortunately, see: all years since
I was only 8 in 1987, so when I got into Oscar I was shocked to find out the <I>Fatal Attraction had been nominated for Best Picture. I had seen it, I knew that Glenn Close was the brilliant runner-up queen of the 80s, but else about that film struck me as "Oscar" and I'm always surprised when I think about it being there. In a year of 5+, sure, but how wild was the conversation around this movie that it propelled it that high?
Ghost and The Sixth Sense are my favs. No shame.
Of that crop?
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (A)
2. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (A)
3. Fatal Attraction (A-)
4. The Sixth Sense (A-)
5. District 9 (B)
6. The Blind Side (Based on what I saw of it, mind) (C)
Ghost? C. I'd be way less bitter if their hit movie choice were Total Recall. Seriously, you had a genuinely good hit movie that allowed you to, simultaneously, say "we made it up to Paul Verhoeven for not nominating RoboCop" AND "we made it up to Blade Runner for nominating the next quality Phillip K. Dick adaptation" and you chose Ghost? I get Ghost made double the money, but it's borderline incoherent as a script, seeming to switch it's own genre every fifteen to twenty minutes.
For me, the above list is in descending order of quality. Star Wars is an out-and-out classic. The Blind Side...isn't.
Ghost comes in between The Fugitive and The Sixth Sense.
I guess Star Wars came the closest to winning. It could plausibly have been runner-up in 1977. Raiders probably came behind Reds and On Golden Pond. 1981 was a very close year; even Atlantic City, which won no Oscars, gets huge applause in the Oscar ceremony clips. I'd have ranked Ghost third for 1990, after Dances With Wolves and (ducks quickly) The Godfather Part III.
I think I agree with MARK that Michael Douglas should have won his Oscar for Fatal Attraction rather than Wall Street. He's excellent in both, but I have a couple of quibbles with his performance as Gordon Gekko whereas I have none with his performance as Dan Gallagher. And for me, he's just as much the attraction as Glenn Close - they're both amazing, but Douglas is one of my favourite actors, so I'm truly torn when they are sharing the screen!
I'm not ashamed to admit that I love "Ghost." The movie may be sappy and have its issues, but I think the heart, humor and cleverness of the film really make it shine. It's total popcorn, weepie, blockbuster entertainment, but it's all of those at its best. Deserving Best Picture nominee.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my top 10 all time favorite films, so that would be my favorite of the list. So many of those on there - Star Wars, Fatal Attraction, District 9 - will age well as Best Picture nominees and I'm so happy the box office pushed them. However, even now, Blind Side is the giant blemish of the 10 wide system, the "what were we thinking" embarrassment of the Academy. That's why its hard to get a big hit into the Picture race, because it'll either be remembered as your best (Star Wars, Raiders) or worst (Blind Side) mistake. It's not like a Frost/Nixon that people can just forget happened.
Nat on MARK: I think what he's really saying is that Michael Douglas is actually kind of bad in Wall Street. He does it far too restrained and I've seen a PARODY of his Gekko (Futurama's '80s Guy) that's actually a way better performance.
Val: I remember perhaps a bit better than you when Fatal Attraction came out. (I was 12.) And it was huge - THE talking-point movie of the summer. It seemed as though every adult was talking about it. I was too young to see it (I was in Britain, where if you were under 18 you simply couldn't go) and so I had to content myself with watching the trailer on TV. I wasn't at all surprised when the film was nominated for Best Picture (though according to Inside Oscar its producer Sherry Lansing was): it seemed to have become one of the most significant films of the year, a huge money-spinner that was also a 'grown-up entertainment'.
Volvagia: No! Douglas is very good in Wall Street. You might be right that he's a bit to restrained, though. But perhaps he acted it that way to counterbalance the film itself, which, being directed by Oliver Stone in the late '80s, isn't restrained at all.
I actually happened to watch The Fugitive on TV last night. Regardless of the box office, I find its BP nomination puzzling, especially in a field of five.
My ranking for the five that I've seen:
1. The Sixth Sense
2. Fatal Attraction
3. District 9
4. The Fugitive
...
5. The Blind Side, of course
Star Wars is easily my favorite (and I unashamedly LOVE Ghost and The Sixth Sense), but ALL of these are great... except for that last one. Shouln't The Help be on this list? I can't imagine that being a Best Picture nominee if it was only a modest grosser.
1. Raiders
2. District 9
3. Fatal Attraction
4. Star Wars
5. The Sixth Sense
6. Ghost
7. Blind Side
8. The Fugitive
It's in the lower tier of this crop but it's not a bad movie. Swayze is easily the best part.
After reading that Tony Goldwyn, who played Carl in Ghost, was Samuel Goldwyn's Grandson, I looked him up. His other Grandfather was Sidney Howard, the playwright who won the Best Screenplay Oscar for Gone With The Wind!
As to the question, I think my favourite is Star Wars, followed by The Fugitive. I like Fatal Attraction, but prefer the original ending. I'm more of a Temple Of Doom than a Raiders man.
Nat, any particular reason you chose District 9 over Avatar?
I would rank them thusly:
1) Raiders, 2) Star Wars, 3) The Fugitive, 4) Fatal Attractions. 5) Ghost, 6) The Sixth Sense, 7) The Blind Side, 8) District 9
Raiders & Star Wars are clearly better movies overall, but The Fugitive is probably one of my all time, "oh hey, x is on, I'll think I'll watch it to the end," kind of movies. It's not really that much better than a lot of the other really good 90s pot boilers and thrillers - Primal Fear, stuff like that - but it does it's thing *exceedingly* well. It really didn't deserve a BP nomination, not in 1993, not in any year, but I still love it. "I don't care!"
I've always been annoyed at The Fugitive for taking up such valuable real estate during the 1993 Oscars. It was a great year for cinema when, unlike 1999, the Academy actually did pretty well with nominations.
Roark-Avatar was so huge technically and as Cameron's Titanic follow up that I don't think it needed the Box Office. It obviously couldn't flop, but it's rare a Best Picture nominee of any ilk flops and gets nominated.
Suzanne: But what would you have liked to see nominated in place of The Fugitive? The Age of Innocence and Philadelphia - the other two films considered in with a chance at the time - are weaker films seen in retrospect. The Fugitive seems to get stronger with each viewing.
Roark -- Avatar was actually kind of prestigey in that it was James Cameron, king of the world, pushing the envelope yet again. with ostensibly important themes (environment).
suzanne & edward -- except neither of those were going to happen. both were not as well loved as hyped. so the Fugitive nomination didn't surprise me at all. there was a lot of talk at the time that people didn't actuallylike age of innocence but just admired it.
Denny -- i would say the box office was undeniably a major element of The Help's Oscar success but it could have been in without it. Still an actors movie, a period costume drama, and a message movie all in one - Oscar likes the civil rights period drama genre
Nathaniel: Yes, I think The Fugitive was a better choice for a nomination than either of those two. Also, I suspect Andrew Davis was close to getting a Directing nomination too. (He'd been nominated for both the Golden Globe and the DGA.)
If you're going back 40 years then shouldn't this list include Jaws?
N8 -- yes probably. forgot that that was just barely within the time frame.
Ghost gets brownie points for Angelica Huston on Oscar night.
Suzanne: My five wide Best Picture field from 1993 would be Schindler's List, True Romance, Dazed and Confused, Groundhog Day and Carlito's Way. Random choice from 6-10? 8, also making room for Farewell My Concubine, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Army of Darkness. Why? Because this...is my BOOMSTICK! to the idea of prestige as value.
I love Ghost. I think my favorite on this list is Fatal Attraction, which is certainly the one I watch the most often, but I grew up on Star Wars and probably wouldn't recognize my own life without it. I don't watch it because I barely need to. Anyway, those three are all fantastic, and though Raiders hasn't held up for me as well over successive re-viewings as an adult, I still like that one a lot, too. All four would have made serious bids for my vote in the years they were contenders, although they all have at least one competitor that makes me unsure.
I would rank the ones you listed as such:
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. The Fugitive
3. Star Wars
4. The Sixth Sense
5. Fatal Attraction
6. District 9
7. The Blind Side
How about "Jaws"?
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Star Wars (1977)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
District 9 (2009)
Ghost (1990)
The Fugitive (1993)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
On this list: definitely The Sixth Sense. Generally, that is a good list of films; I even like The Blind Side (sorry). My 2nd viewing of District 9 was not nearly as good as the 1st; I'd slot that one as the single weirdest Best Picture nominee ever.
I'm even more fascinated by the times when the movie wasn't a big hit, and the Academy still got it right. Like Shawshank - that was a total flop upon release, but somehow the Academy saw fit to include it. Or Tender Mercies - not a "major" film by any stretch, very modest, and yet that made it in.
Guestguestguest: Or It's A Wonderful Life winding up a Best Picture nominee? Commercial flop and only mixed reviews at the time, but the Academy gave it the nomination.
Yikes!!
What a horrible group (except District 9 and Star Wars).
But Ghost is surely the worst Best Picture Nominee since Dr.Dolittle.
Star Wars is easily my favorite, though I actually haven't seen all of those.
And Ghost, I'm slightly ashamed to say, might be my #2. It's such a bizarre unclassifiable guilty pleasure of a movie. It's still hilarious to me that it was classified a comedy at the Golden Globes and that Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore rode to GG comedy nominations on Whoopi Goldberg's coattails. The movie the first two were in was essentially a sappy romantic drama, but then it'd morph into a ridiculously amusing comedy whenever Whoopi was onscreen.
"Molly... You in danger, gurl." My first hint growing up that part of my personality harbored a feisty black soul diva that laid dormant most of the time but would learn to make herself known sparingly and only in appropriate company. The Sister Act movies went a long way toward further realizing that.
The Whoopi Goldberg of the early 90s was really quite miraculous...
Fatal Attraction is my favorite and The Blind Side is my least everything.
I got the feeling that we don't get hits like Ghost anymore. Those were movies that EVERYONE saw in theatres: young, middle age, old, thin, fat, blond...
I love Ghost, but box-office certainly was a big part in getting its BP nomination. Objectively speaking, it's one of the weirdest Best Pic nominees (not saying bad, just weird).
RANKED:
1 - The Sixth Sense (1999) - a horror classic, by all means
2 - Fatal Attraction (1987) - Glenn Close is phenomenal, thrilling
3 - District 9 (2009) - one of the most refreshing Best Pic nominees
4 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - very enjoyable, high production value
5 - Star Wars (1977) - not a big fan, but fun, exciting, iconic
6 - The Fugitive (1993) - barely memorable, but thrilling and engaging
7 - The Blind Side (2009) - I don't hate the film, but I despise the nomination. Srsly? Aside from Sandra Bullock's good but not Oscar-winning-worthy performance, there's nothing remotely "great" about this film. And to think the richness of films chosen over this one. (I'd rather have Nine take The Blind SIde's spot).
I'm hesitant to believe that any of these would have made it over the hump to get the nomination without such great box office. Maybe Star Wars?
Raiders and Star Wars are in my personal top 10. Transcendent.
District 9 has not held, up well. Freak nom only due to a fresh set of rules.
The Fugitive was a juggernaut in its time. Not only was it's nomination not a surprise, it made the academy seem more in touch with the average movie goer (who had never heard of ITNOTF, ROTD, nor sadly The Piano). Harrison Ford was still a STAR at the time, too.
There's something about Ghost thst makes the sum greater than any of it's parts.
The Blind Side nom is an atrocity. The Sixth Sense is good - I'm just not a big fan.
i'm pimping for the only one on the list that should have won best picture of its year: raiders of the lost ark
as for ghost, it's like two different films in one [the whoopi scenes vs the rest] and only the former is entertaining
Loved "Ghost" then and now, and I'll always defend it. Haven't seen "Raiders" or "Star Wars" as they were before my time. Can't say I liked anything about "The Blind Side." "District 9" was cool and expanded the definition of what "Best Picture" means (but I guess all films do that every year technically). "The Fugitive" and "The Sixth Sense" are okay, but I always found "The Fugitive" as disposable, and "The Sixth Sense" revealed what a one-trick pony its director really was. "Fatal Attraction" still rocks me to my core to this day. "I won't be ignored, Dan!" Yassss Queen Glenn! That should have been at least one of her Oscar wins. I'm glad the film made it in the final five for whatever reasons. It would be nice to see some films like these get into BP, but these kind of films aren't made today, at least not with the same eye toward critical and commercial acclaim combined. It's either one of the other is sought out after, and good luck to the ones that find that happy medium.
I just recently saw "Ghost" for the first time in many years (it was at a supermarket for $5.99 and I thought why not). I had seen it about 60 times as a kid, but never really as a grown-up. It still totally works for me. The leads and Whoopi are great, but I also love the character actors, and it's sad that so many of them are gone now (Vincent Schavielli, Phil Leeds, Rick Aviles). I was surprised by how moved I was by Schiavelli's character (the Subway Ghost). I wanted to know if he was always mentally ill or if he was really pushed.
We should also note that "Ghost" won Best Original Screenplay over "Alice", "Amazon", "Green Card" and "Metropolitan". I have only heard of "Green Card".
GHOST is my Best Pic vote for 1990; it's an all-timer for me, and one of those movies I can watch with my dad without interruption (except for my mom getting up to grab us tissues; we're a family of weepy men).
After that:
Star Wars -- too many great memories, holds up remarkably well
The Sixth Sense -- a movie that works even knowing the twist; another movie where Mom came home to find her husband and son weeping uncontrollably
Raiders of the Lost Ark -- great fun, but I agree that it doesn't get in without box office
The Fugitive -- enjoyable, better than you'd think, but still a weird nominee
District 9 -- likewise
The Blind Side -- blech.
I have never seen Fatal Attraction.
MASTERPIECES:
Raiders
Fatal Attraction
Star Wars
GREAT:
The Sixth Sense
District 9
FUN:
Ghost
The Fugitive
TRASH:
Blind Side
Jakey -- OMG. Metropolitan and Alice -- get to them.
Walter - you have to see Fatal Attraction. It's so good.
Gerry --
Sadly this is accurate. :(Hee hee hee, Ghost is one goofy movie. I think Whoopie is totally great in it - masterfully funny - but Patrick Swayze has basically one expression throughout, a kind of pained, constipated wonder. When I saw the movie again a few years back, I'm sorry, I thought it was really klutzy. It's a kitsch classic, if nothing else.
Sixth Sense is really good, still. Makes me cry. Loved District 9 and would like to see it again. Fatal Attraction is a very 80's movie - I agree with many critics that it is terribly reactionary and anti-feminist. But I can't help it, I love it. It's a very interesting cultural artifact.
The Fugitive, Star Wars, & RoTLA are all fine. Never movies I responded to all that strongly but classics for others. And that's cool.
The Blind Side is one of the worst BP nominees in recent memory. But at least it didn't have the temerity to actually go ahead and WIN the Oscar, like Crash did (something I will never ever forgive Crash for - ugh, such a didactic, sledgehammer movie).
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Then the rest. With The Blind Side last
Meanwhile, Ghost represents how far our blockbusters have fallen. Ghost, adjusted, beats out everything from 2013. It's highly watchable - Goldberg is hilarious - but miscast as a best picture nominee.
"Fatal Attraction" was on the cover of TIME Magazine. It was that big of a deal. It was the movie that symbolized AIDS for heterosexuals.
I was in college at the time, and the mixed sexes group I went to see the movie were supposed to go to a party later that night, but instead went to some restaurant to continue the discussion. It's manipulative, but it works.
I saw "Ghost" opening weekend with my emotionally open cousin, and remember sobbing, SOBBING by the end of it. So romantic! It's a wish fulfillment movie.
I was 10 when "Star Wars" came out, so my inner 10 year old is clamoring for December to hurry up and get here.
I don't remember much about "District 9" and concur with most of the above on "The Bad Side" but the rest are stone cold classics. You get that story and characters to care about, you can make a much beloved masterpiece of entertainment.