First & Last 006
Sunday, June 18, 2023 at 8:00AM We're bringing back one of our greatest hits like an aging band on tour.
CAN YOU GUESS THE MOVIE FROM ITS FIRST AND LAST SHOT?
The answer (and some Oscar thoughts) are after the jump once you scroll down...
Yes, it's Glory (1989) the movie that won Denzel Washington his first Oscar. Long forgotten (in non-Oscar circles at least) is that it wasn't actually his first nomination even though he wasn't quite a headliner yet. He was previously up for Cry Freedom (1987) also in the supporting category. After Glory (1989) he was a bonafide movie star and the subsequent nominations would be in Lead.
Glory was well regarded at the time and remains a minor "how did that happen?" voting curiousity in Oscar history. It was well loved enough to win three Oscars (Cinematography, Supporting Actor, Sound) but despite an arguably weak year for traditional "Oscar-bait" films -- back when that description very much meant something -- it still didn't manage to crack the top categories of Picture and Director even though it's exactly the kind of movie that usually would have. In 1989 the big critical stories were sex, lies, and videotape and Do the Right Thing but Oscar voters were mostly scared of both of them, opting for a Best Picture lineup of Driving Miss Daisy, My Left Foot, Field of Dreams, Born on the 4th of July, and Dead Poet's Society.
1989 is an interesting year to think about in terms of the "expanded Best Picture" race of recent history. You can argue that about six different titles had reason to think they had an outside shot at the top five: Crimes and Misdemeanors (probably given the Woody Allen love), Do the Right Thing (maybe though who knows given that people were nervous about it in 1989) Enemies a Love Story (maybe given the acting branch enthusiasm at the time), The Fabulous Baker Boys (maybe), Glory (most certainly), and sex lies and videotape (maybe but who knows... Oscar hadn't entered its "indie" phase really). And beyond those six there were eight more that might have factored into a different voting system or have fared better in just a slightly different year: The Abyss, Camille Claudel, Parenthood, Shirley Valentine, When Harry Met Sally, The Little Mermaid, Batman, and Steel Magnolias.
But I digress, back to Glory. It would never be made today, given that it's ostensibly the story of an all black regimen of soldiers but it centers itself on the white man (Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Shaw) who leads them.
Have you seen Glory? It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Oscars (80s), first and last
Reader Comments (4)
This was an easy one thanks to the final shot. I haven't seen Glory since the 90s, but I have positive memories of it. Reading this, I realized that I haven't seen a lot of 1989's big movies. Need to rectify that. I've seen Driving Miss Daisy, and I liked it. I think I have more positive feelings toward it than most people here, but it really is a lesser best picture, isn't it?
In a just world where Al Pacino wins literally any of his first 5 noms, and Denzel gets his rightful Malcolm X oscar, is the conventional wisdom that '89 belongs to Aiello? Or do you still give it to Denzel?
Honestly, this was one of the best films I had ever seen as a kid and it appealed to me as someone who is a history buff while I also loved the look of it and the character arcs in that film. It was the film that introduced me to the force that is... Denzel!
Mike,
Washington is great, Aiello is great, but no one deserved that Oscar more than Martin Landau in that masterpiece by Allen called "Crimes and Misdemeanors". His performance is beyond words. "The eyes of God."