by Nathaniel R
On this day 25 years ago It Could Happen to You was released, a romantic comedy in which a cop (Nicolas Cage) wins the lottery and shares half his fortune with a waitress (Bridget Fonda) who he was unable to tip. The original and far superior title was Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip. That year in its rejected honor, my friends and I would jokingly refer to movies by a single sentence plot rather than titles... Streep Goes White Water Rafting, Vampire Brad Feels Guilt, This Bus Is a Bomb! etc -- shut up, it was funny at the time.
In its honor today, what would you do with a $2 million dollar windfall? The catch is that you have to spend half of it on the movies. Would you invest in films, be a patron for an auteur, gift it to a struggling actor, or other? (After the jump, an Oscar-adjacent list for fun)
Though I haven't seen It Could Happen To You since then and have no idea if it holds up, I was briefly obsessed with Rosie Perez's comic turn as the cop's greedy wife. Loved Rosie so much that she placed on my supporting actress list that year (before The Film Experience existed, I saw fewer movies but still had lists of my own Oscar-alternate ballots.)
Oscar's Supporting Actress List of 1994
HEY WE DID THIS ONE AS A SMACKDOWN JUST LAST YEAR!
- Rosemary Harris, Tom & Viv
- Helen Mirren, The Madness of King George
- Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction
- Jennifer Tilly, Bullets Over Broadway
- Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway ★
Nathaniel's Supporting Actress List of 1994 at the time
- Virna Lisi, Queen Margot
- Rosie Perez, It Could Happen To You
- Jennifer Tilly, Bullets Over Broadway
- Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction
- Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway ★
But I remember feeling guilty about leaving out Sarah Peirse Heavenly Creatures, Janeane Garofalo Reality Bites, Kristin Scott Thomas Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Claire Danes Little Women (t'was obsessed with My So-Called Life at the time).