On This Day in History: 1988 & 1994's Opposing Best Pic Lineups!
Friday, December 23, 2016 at 3:00PM Feeling festive today but not quite ready for Christmas? Celebrate one of these anniversaries!
1805 Joseph Smith Jr, founder of the Mormon Church is born in Vermont. Here's a very random piece of trivia: Outside of the very early movie Brigham Young (1940) about his successor with Vincent Price in the Joseph Smith role, the only actually famous actor to ever play him is Dean Cain of Lois & Clark fame in a movie called September Dawn (2007)? It's kind of hard to draw a line connecting Vincent Price and Dean Cain otherwise, right?
1867 Madame CJ Walker, cosmetics mogul and the first black female millionaire in America, is born in Louisiana. Where's her biopic, Hollywood? History has more than just Great White Man stories.
1887 Underappreciated director John Cromwell who guided Bette Davis's breakthrough role in Of Human Bondage , and the all female wonders of Caged was born in Ohio. One more Bette related anniversary after the jump...
1888 Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his left ear. People never stop mentioning it thereafter and I assume this also happens in Lust for Life but I forget.
1918 Kumar Pallana, the actor who delivered such sharp quick impression comedy in Wes Anderson's movies was born in British India on this day. He passed away three years ago so sadly The Darjeeling Limited will remain his last Anderson collaboration
1929 Gorgeous cheekbone blessed jazz musician Chet Baker born in Oklahoma. Have you ever seen Bruce Weber's beautiful Oscar nominated documentary on him, Let's Get Lost?
1930 Bette Davis arrives in Hollywood. Everyone wins... including people born long after she passed. One of the truly enduring icons of the movies.
1937 Director Peter Medak born in Budapest. His credits include multiple genres like comedy (Zorro the Gay Blade), outre neo noir (Romeo is Bleeding), gangster (The Krays) and sci-fi (Species II) more...
1938 Margaret Hamilton's costume catches on fire during The Wizard of Oz filming. Thankfully Margaret herself doesn't melt like her more famous alter-ego when doused with water.
1943 Elizabeth Hartman born in Ohio. She'd become a star briefly in the mid sixties with her Oscar nominated role in A Patch of Blue. Kirsten Dunst will reinterpret her role in The Beguiled next year in its Sofia Coppola directed remake.
1971 Corey Haim, one of The Lost Boys we most loved for an 80s spell (RIP), was born
William Hurt & Kathleen Turner in The Accidental Tourist (1988)
1988 The Accidental Tourist opens in movie theaters, the last of the year's All December Best Picture shortlist to open (that didn't happen again until 2002 I believe). What would you have voted for that year?
- The Accidental Tourist (4 nominations, 1 win for supporting actress)
- Dangerous Liaisons (7 nominations, 3 wins in craft categories)
- Rain Man (8 nominations, 4 wins including Best Picture)
- Mississippi Burning (7 nominations, 1 win for Cinematography)
- Working Girl (6 nominations, 1 win for Original Song)
Fun or aggravating trivia note depending on your point of view. Only ONE of the Globe nominees in Best Supporting Actress transferred to the Oscar list (Sigourney Weaver, who won the Globe), which was entirely drawn from Best Picture nominees instead...much to the disappointment, surely, of Sonia Braga (Moon Over Parador), Barbara Hershey (Last Temptation of Christ), Lena Olin (Unbearable Lightness of Being), and Diane Venora (Bird).
- Joan Cusack, Working Girl
- Geena Davis, The Accidental Tourist
- Frances McDormand, Mississippi Burning
- Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Liaisons
- Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl
1994 Little Women (we just discusssed!), Nobody's Fool, Richie Rich, and Streetfighter opens in movie theaters. Here's a fun trivia note: Unlike 1988's all December Best Picture lineup above not a single Best Picture nominee in 1994 was released in the last month of the year!!! That's extremely rare and also very cool, not making moviegoers wait for everything until the last minute (though Nell and Legends of the Fall were props PISSED that this happen as the big December hopefuls). The nominees were:
the surprise staying power of spring sleeper hit FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL resulted in a surprise Best Picture nomination
- Forrest Gump (July 6th)
- Four Weddings and a Funeral (April 15th)
- Pulp Fiction (October 14th)
- Quiz Show (October 7th)
- The Shawshank Redemption (October 14th)
2005 Laura Dern marries musician Ben Harper. They're divorced now but at least Laura Dern got to pass on those great acting genes from Diane & Bruce to her two kids. May there be a third generation of Oscar nominees if, you know, the kids actually want to act when they grow up!
2011 We Bought a Zoo and In the Land of Blood and Honey open in movie theaters and are quickly forgotten thereafter.
2016 AKA TODAY Martin Scorsese's Silence, the fantasy A Monster Calls, and the comedy Why Him? all open in movie theaters? In what order will you see them.
Reader Comments (25)
On the 2016 films? Only if I need to (Best Picture nominee or A Sudden Urge for Scorsese Completionism), probably not, and never.
I've got beautiful cheekbones too.
Elizabeth Hartman is fantastic in A Patch of Blue
Lawrence Kasdan has only done good work when The Turner is on board.
They screw up many things in '88, but that supporting actress line-up is spectacular. Heaven for actressexuals.
I hope Hugh Grant wins a televised award. His Golden Globe speech was so good.
A Monster Calls (already) Silence (soon) and Why Him? (on an airplane this coming April).
That '88 supporting lineup is basically my actressexual DNA.
I would have put Turner in The Accidental Tourist in that line up out you go Frances.
A big favorite of mine was also directed by John Cromwell: the splendid WWII homefront tearjerker "Since You Went Away". It remains to be determined how much poor John Cromwell actually directed, what with David O Selznick breathing down his neck! But I love the film, Claudette Colbert, Hattie McDaniel and Monty Wooley in it.
Ummm...Vincent Price played Joseph Smith in the 1940 movie Brigham Young with Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and Dean Jagger playing Young. No disrespect of Dean Cain but I'm sure Price is more famous.
I would have voted for Dangerous Liaisons in '88.
I also hope Hugh Grant scores a nomination this year.
Nathaniel, very fun zoom back to 1988! Dangerous Liaisons has without question held up the best of those five '88 titles. And Michelle should have won for it too. Randomly, just last week, I watched both DL and Accidental Tourist on an American Airlines flight. Time has not been particularly kind to AT. And even though I think Jodie Foster is a far superior actress overall compared to Glenn Close, DL is the absolute best thing she ever did.
My Best Picture Line Up of 1994...
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Clerks
Ed Wood
In the Mouth of Madness
Pulp Fiction (winner)
6. The Lion King
7. Four Weddings and a Funeral
8. Forrest Gump
9. The Shawshank Redemption
10. True Lies
but so many more great films... that was an excellent year.
Elizabeth Hartman and Geraldine Page, co-stars in "You're a Big Boy Now," sadly died within 3 days of one another. On 6-10-87 Hartman committed suicide and 3 days later Page had a fatal heart attack in her Chelsea home. Hartman was 43, Page was 62. Gone too soon.
@Jesus Alonso: 1994 was a great year, wasn't it? Ranks right up there with 1939, 1962, and 1974.
@Eric & Mike in Canada: Agreed, Dangerous Liaisons has held up well -- enough so I consider it a classic and the best film of the year. Michelle Pfeiffer gave a devastating performance as Madame de Tourvel; it's almost too painful to watch, but certainly the best performance out of a stellar roster of top supporting actresses.
I'm looking forward to attending screenings of A Monster Calls and Silence next week.
Of all the 2016 films coming out today, I'd see Silence and A Monster Calls in that order.
1867 Madame CJ Walker, cosmetics mogul and the first black female millionaire in America, is born in Louisiana. Where's her biopic, Hollywood? History has more than just Great White Man stories.
Octavia Spencer intends to play her.
Jodie Foster is a far superior actress overall compared to Glenn Close
Foster's range is limited in direct comparison to Close.
SIGOURNEY WEAVER SHOULD HAVE WON THE OSCAR! With GLENN CLOSE IN BEST ACTRESS!! Dangerous Liasions 4eva!
My favorite of the 1988 nominees is Dangerous Liaisons (by far).
From 1994, I haven't seen Quiz Show since it came out, but I think Pulp Fiction would probably be my pick (though it's pop culture ubiquity makes it seem more annoying in hindsight, but you can't blame the movie for that).
A Monster Calls - may see, especially if one of my movie watching buddies wants to see it.
Silence - won't see, unless it shows up on Oscar nom morning, with likelihood then depending on which categories and/or how many movies overall I still have to see (this is due to my Oscar Completism mental illness - the DSM doesn't recognize it but there are dozens of us! Dozens!)
Why Him? - LOL you're funny. This was not the Bryan Cranston return to comedy I was hoping for.
"and Why Him? (on an airplane this coming April)"
Paul, you kill me
@ Philip H.
;-)
(But it's twue!)
oh, those innocent days of 1988 when the oscar nominations led us to assume it would only be a [short] matter of time before sigourney, glenn & michelle would all be oscar winners...
i would have voted for working girl from that best pic line-up but my favourite of the year was distant voices, still lives
A shame Dangerous Liaisons & Sigourney didn't win 1988's prizes.
As to 1994, fascinating combo of Best Picture nominees - sadly, from my perspective, the award went to what's by far the worst of the bunch.
The 1994 crop of Best Picture nominees was a horror show in my books. I would not have nominated a single one of them, and the two frontrunners...ugh.
My top 18, alphabetically:
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Bullets Over Broadway
Crooklyn
Eat Drink Man Woman
Ed Wood
Heavenly Creatures
Hoop Dreams
Immortal Beloved
The Last Seduction
Léon: The Professional
The Lion King
The Madness of King George
Natural Born Killers
Queen Margot
Serial Mom
Speed
Tom & Viv
Vanya on 42nd Street
@Craver.......Yes!!!! Weaver shld've won best supp actress hands down!!! Davis' win was such a HUGE upset!!!
& Yes, Dangerous Liaisons is indeed Close's Tour de Force! To tink she was snubbed for two yrs in a row for her of her first iconic roles!!!
Correction
Close was unjustly snubbed for two yrs in a row for her two most iconic roles!!
Cant help but tink tt the Academy is afraid to honor strong female villians
a) 1988 - hard pass. At best, we're talking three-star films. At worst, we're talking Mississippi Burning.
b) 1994 - @Craig, I really think it's actually a fairly weak year. It looks better when you rearrange the foreign films to favour it, imo. And 1993 and 1995 can sacrifice those films because they are insane years. But The Shawshank Redemption remains my hardcore favourite.
c) Silence first, A Monster Calls eventually, Why Him? never. James Franco's career is mystifying. James Dean to 127 Hours is basically a tour of a really interesting, adventurous actor. Then he becomes this embodiment of smug pretension. Haven't seen Spring Breakers, admittedly.
Apologies to Arkaan, but Jesus and Craig are absolutely right...1994 was a great year for American and foreign film. And ScottC is also correct - four great choices and the Academy picked the worst of the five. Then again, I also think all four of the other Best Film nominees for 1977 should have beaten "Annie Hall".