Four is today's magic number so let's share some Oscar trivia.
Makeup prosthetics for Christian Bale as Dick Cheney (photo from Aida Dombr instagram)
• IS ANYONE UP FOR A POSSIBLE FOURTH COMPETITIVE WIN THIS YEAR?
Why yes, we're so glad you asked. In addition to the previously discussed costume designer Sandy Powell (The Favourite might make it four for that genius), Makeup artist Greg Cannom, who previously won Oscars for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mrs Doubtfire and Bram Stoker's Dracula, might well win his fourth for giving Christian Bale that realistic looking Cheney bald cap and thick neck in Vice. If Cannom wins he becomes the second most awarded makeup artist of all time (after category king Rick Baker -- who appears to have retired? -- who took the Oscar an incredible 7 times). Now, technically, Cannom is already the second most awarded makeup artist but he's currently holding that honor in a tie with another three time winner Ve Neill (she won for Beetlejuice and Ed Wood, as well as Mrs Doubtfire alongside Cannom). Interestingly enough both Cannom and Ve Neill each won Makeup Guild awards this past weekend for Vice and A Star is Born respectively.
• Katharine Hepburn is the only person to ever win 4 acting Oscars...
Three living actors have 3 (Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, and Meryl Streep) but both of the men are retired so only Streep has a shot at tying this record.
Our theory is she won't be able to do it (they'll wanna save some record for Hepburn) unless they stop nominating her every time out and she does something undeniable in her late 70s or early 80s. In other words: another Iron Lady won't cut it -- she'll have to do something Kramer or Sophie's or Prada or Madison County iconic again in old age to win a fourth. We firmly believe the excessive nominations were why she didn't win the third for so long. It felt like she had already won three by the time she did and perception often trumps reality in terms of whether or not someone is 'overdue' or, the opposite, 'overrewarded'
• John Ford is the only person to ever win 4 Directing Oscars. No one who's still living even comes close with Eastwood, Lee, Spielberg, Iñaritu, and Stone having half of Ford's total with two wins each. We imagine that Alfonso Cuarón will join this group of two-timers on Sunday, though. Can any of them even reach three though?
• While several categories feature four-time winners (or more), the following categories from Oscar's 24 regular prizes have never had a four-time winner though most of them have had a 3 time winner: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Feature. Though Best Foreign Language Film wins are not technically credited to their directors (they should be) if they were, that category would have been a category with a single four-time winner: Federico Fellini for La Strada (1956), Nights of Cabiria (1957), 8½ (1963), and Amarcord (1974).
• There are eight living actors with exactly four acting nominations who have not yet won an Oscar for acting: Jane Alexander, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Marsha Mason, Michelle Williams, and brand new to this list this season... Willem Dafoe and Bradley Cooper, both nominated for Best Actor this year.
Okay, because this was fun when we did it with 6 and 5, here are the Best Pictures of the years ending in 4 ranked. To my great shame (and I've shared this before but still haven't course corrected) I have not seen The Godfather Part 2 (1974) which is my single most glaring screening gap in Best Picture viewing history. My lame excuse is that I generally fill in classic cinema gaps through personal projects and I haven't found a good project involving 1974 yet since that Smackdown was already done years ago at StinkyLulu's and the 50th anniversary (we often use 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th anniversaries to catch up) is still so many years away. For the record I do think The Godfather is pretty great though it's not my favourite film of 1972 so I have a hard time assuming that this will become my favourite of 1974 since that spot is already taken by Francis Ford Coppola's other picture that year, The Conversation, but we'll see. Eventually!
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
If you were giving out Oscar's by genre, this one would obviously compete for the Title of Greatest Romantic Comedy of All Time with four other worthy players that are both hilarious and swoonworthy. But which?
AMADEUS (1984)
Oscar used to worship huge costume dramas. They weren't always worthy but damn this one is great. One of those rare epically long movies that justifies its length. At least that's how I remember it.
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
Such a contendah. Though my Best Picture vote in its year goes to either Rear Window or Judy Garland's version of A Star is Born neither of which were nominated for the top prize even though they totally wipe the floor with the Best Picture nominees that year (but for On the Waterfront which is also pretty damn great)
BIRDMAN (2014)
Don't care that you hate it, I stan. Cinephiles be so crazy sometimes and just turn on movies they would normally love given their general affection for formal dynamism / cinematic invention. You can never know when people will just decide en masse that something is bad even when it's brilliant (or vice versa), but you can bet that when either of those twists happen, the Oscars are too blame!
MY FAIR LADY (1964)
This movie hasn't figured out how to be a MOVIE instead of a stage show, filmed, BUT the song score is among the greatest musical compositions in the history of the world (and probably other worlds, too), the costumes are among the greatest ever designed, Audrey Hepburn is beyond glamorous once the transformation hits, and Marni Nixon's vocals are sublime in the titular role. So there's a lot to recommend here despite the overal staginess.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
People think I hate this movie but they're wrong. I just didn't want it to win any of its Oscars. It's an effective sometimes quite moving drama but there were several better movies in its year.
GOING MY WAY (1944)
Not a fan of this one but Bing Crosby has such a dreamy voice.
FORREST GUMP (1994)
Shit/Gump happens!