Throughout my life, I've always had trouble remembering numerical data, be it phone numbers or birthdays. Curiously enough, that never stopped me from being able to memorize movie's release years or various tidbits of Oscar trivia. That's why I started associating Best Picture winners to people's ages, to remember them. Some people have astrology; I have the Oscars. For instance, my sisters are Terms of Endearment, Dances with Wolves and Gladiator and my parents are West Side Story and The Sound of Music.
Although, maybe I shouldn't have chosen such a systemsince I've always detested my Best Picture, which won the Oscar precisely 25 years ago today. It was none other than 1994's maudlin hymn to political passivity and dumb luck known as Forrest Gump…
To this day, I despise Forrest Gump with a passion. I thought my opinion might have changed over the years, but a recent rewatch only made my animosity grow stronger. While there may be something to be appreciated in the movie's scope as well as its craft, the narrative is insufferable. Racism is made the subject of silly jokes, the civil rights movement is vilified, war is simplified, and there's an air of anti-intellectualism throughout. Not to mention the misogynistic treatment of the movie's romantic interest, whose punitive arc seems taken straight out of a Hays Code.
Anyway, not everything about the 1994 Oscars was bad. True, it was the year Harvey Weinstein asserted his reign of terror over awards season with Miramax getting more nominations than any other studio, but it was also when Hans Zimmer won his only Oscar and drag queen finery was honored with a Best Costume Design prize. Let's celebrate the 25th anniversary of that golden and historical night, starting with the host's monologue:
Well, there were many good things about that ceremony, but David Letterman's sorry excuse for a hosting job wasn't one of them. And we talk about bad monologues nowadays. Maybe it's a good thing we don't have hosts anymore since, if Oscar history is to be trusted, for every Whoopi Goldberg we must get years' worth of Billy Crystal and David Letterman. The only bright spot of this dreary monologue is that it starts with a good joke, one directed at the Hoop Dreams kerfuffle, something we'll talk about later on.
But before that, it's time for some Oscar wins and a bunch of acceptance speeches.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Dianne Wiest's second win is usually considered among the very best of the Supporting Actress category. While I don't share that exact feeling, one must admit that it's a bombastic performance, both hilarious and intelligent. She's a great thespian and her speech was a class act which included the rare name drop of crew members like costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, production designer Santo Loquasto and cinematographer Carlo di Palma. That said, the mentions of Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein read very differently in 2020 than they probably did in 1995.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
To this day, The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert is the last contemporary-set movie to nab the Oscar for Best Costume Design. If it remains the last, at least it's a stunner. Fashion-wise, we have to say that co-costume designer Lizzy Gardiner wore the most memorable outfit of the night, eclipsing every movie star present with her witty credit card eleganza.
BEST MAKE-UP
What a great win. The team behind the wondrous makeup of Ed Wood is made up of some legendary filmmakers. All of them were already Oscar winners before this night and Rick Baker would go on to win five more statuettes. His last one won in 2011, was for The Wolfman, whose gory effects famously elicited a "that's gross" from Cate Blanchett.
BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING
From Sarah Jessica Parker's presentation, we can deduce that people have had difficulty distinguishing between the two sound categories for ages. It doesn't help when the Academy insists on rewarding the same films in both categories. At least, Speed is a good winner.
BEST EDITING
We arrive at the first of six victories for Forrest Gump. Since we'll have more opportunities to talk about that, let's instead pay attention to some of its illustrious competitors. This was one of only two nominations Sally Menke received and, 25 years later, her loss feels absurd. No movie from the 90s had more influential editing than Pulp Fiction. Onto other matters, this was Hoop Dreams' sole nomination and, to this day, it's only the second documentary to get recognized by the Academy's editors branch.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Like Wiest, Martin Landau won the SAG and the Golden Globe before conquering the Academy Award. While it wasn't a surprise, that doesn't mean it wasn't deserved or that watching Landau hold an Academy Awards isn't a thrilling sight. Still, I must admit Samuel L. Jackson would have gotten my vote for his unforgettable performance in Pulp Fiction.
JEAN HERSHOLT HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Exhibit A of why the Honorary Academy Awards should be handed out on air, during the main ceremony.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
As usual, the Academy loves to bestow its Best Cinematography award to films full of postcard-ready sweeping vistas. Considering this was the first of two consecutive wins for John Toll and that his victory for 1995's Braveheart is infinitely more deserved, it's difficult not to be a bit bitter about this result. Of the nominees, Piotr Sobociński would get my vote, but I wouldn't have been sad if Deakins had won.
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AWARDS
There's not much to say about these awards, just that Jamie Lee Curtis entrance was spectacular and her presentation was perfectly charming. Good job from all involved.
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM & BEST ANIMATED SHORT-FILM
Ties are a fascinating Oscar phenomenon and this is a helpful reminder that Peter Capaldi is an Academy Award winner. Speaking of obscure Oscar trivia, does anyone know when ceremonies started featuring this sort of animated presenters?
BEST ART DIRECTION
This is the only win for The Madness of King George and it's a bit of a surprise. While the splendor of Georgian interiors is nothing to scoff at, there were much showier works in contention that year. The sheer scope of Forrest Gump makes it seem like a shoo-in and then there's Dante Ferretti's century-spanning designs for Interview with the Vampire.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Mask should have won and I deeply despise that damned feather. That's all.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT-FILM & BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Rare is the year when the most controversial Oscar category is Best Documentary. It happened in 1994, though, when Hoop Dreams was shockingly snubbed after a season that had critics speculating that the epic doc could perhaps even nab an elusive Best Picture nomination and become the first non-fiction film to do so. Still, it happened and it caused a justified outrage, so much so that the Academy did what they never do, asking Price Waterhouse Cooper for the results of the nomination voting. Thanks to a convoluted system, Hoop Dreams ended up in the sixth spot, a result that impelled the Academy to change its methodology and eventually create the Documentary branch. Hoop Dreams is a stone-cold masterpiece.
BEST SOUND
Speed's a perfectly good winner, though I must again grumble about the Academy's habit of giving its two sound awards to the same picture. At least, it wasn't Forrest Gump.
HONORARY ACADEMY AWARD
Exhibit B of why the Honorary Academy Awards should be handed out on air, during the main ceremony.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Despite being one of the most famous movie composers of our days, Hans Zimmer has only ever won one Academy Award. Unlike many other Oscar winners with illustrious careers, he can pride himself having won for one of his very best works. Because of that, it's difficult to begrudge him the victory, even though these Oscars marked the first time Thomas Newman would lose the award. In 2020, he's the most nominated composer never to have won.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
As I've never seen Cuba's Strawberry and Chocolate, I don't know which of these nominees would get my vote. At the moment, I'm split between Before the Rain's tales of war and Eat Drink Man Woman's lovely fusion of Ozu's father-daughter melodramas with food porn. It should be noted that due to some very inconsistent rulings and since-changed norms, Three Colors: Red was disqualified as Switzerland's contender just as its predecessor, Three Colors: Blue, had been when it was submitted by Poland. Regarding the actual winner, we must contend that it was a heartfelt acceptance speech and the bit about Nikita Mikhalkov's daughter was adorable.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Circle of Life" should have won.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
An obvious winner but not an undeserved one. As previously mentioned, Pulp Fiction is one of the most influential films of the 90s and a good part of that comes from its ingenious structure and memorable dialogues.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
I would have voted for Quiz Show regardless of the controversy surrounding the film's historical accuracy. Truth be told, any of the nominees would have been more deserving than Forrest Gump. Though my judgment might be clouded by a general dislike for the movie, wasn't this one of the night's worst speeches?
IRVING G. THALBERG MEMORIAL AWARD
Ok, maybe not all Honorary Oscar should be televised live. Just kidding, though I do think Arnold Schwarzenegger's articulate presentation was better than Clint's actual speech.
BEST ACTRESS
Just like this year, the 1994 Oscars saw a Best Supporting Actress winner of the previous decade conquer a Lead Actress statuette thanks, in part, to a competition that didn't manage to garner much enthusiasm. There's even a Jo March in both races. Putting aside such comparisons, we must admit that Lange's second win is a bizarre little chapter in Oscar history, coming for a film that seemed like it would never be released and which bombed at the box office. Not only that, but Blue Sky is one of the actress's lesser efforts, showing the limitations of her usual technique of total abandonment and perennial onscreen volatility. Lange never pulls any punches and, while that may be a genius move in films like Frances, it can quickly veer into camp if the production doesn't support that sort of emotional pyrotechnics. Blue Sky is incapable of containing Lange's fire and fury, never giving it any shape, place or purpose. It's a performance that's impressive to watch, but it's not Oscar-worthy by any means.
BEST ACTOR
Speaking of undeserved Oscar wins, I despise this victory and for years it sullied my view of Tom Hanks himself. If there was an actor worthy of winning a second Oscar in 1994, it was Paul Newman for his beguiling work in Robert Benton's Nobody's Fool. All things said, Hanks is incapable of giving a bad acceptance speech and this one is charming. It almost brought a tear to my eye.
BEST DIRECTOR
Kieslowski should have won, even though it's only thanks to a miracle of aggressive campaigning that he was nominated in the first place. At the very least, it's nice to see Steven Spielberg's enthusiasm at Zemeckis' victory.
BEST PICTURE
You've probably tired of reading my jibes at Forrest Gump, so let's end this retrospective with some positivity for the other Best Picture nominees. Quiz Show may play fast and loose with historical fact, but its social critique is on-point and smartly explored by an elegant script and Robert Redford's direction. Compared to other major releases from 1994, it's nakedly political and unafraid of confronting its audience with difficult questions about the insidiousness of antisemitism. In contrast, The Shawshank Redemption doesn't challenge its audience so much as it placates them with heartfelt humanism, though it's earnest rather than schmaltzy. Four Weddings and a Funeral is an explosion of charm that's impossible to resist and Pulp Fiction deserves its reputation as one of the most important American films of the past few decades.
Any of them would have been a worthy Best Picture winner.