Oscar's Greatest Crimes

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 5:31pm

Just read this....thought you kids might be interested--we talk about this stuff ALOT...
Oscar Link

Posted: 2/23/07 at 5:39pm

Yeah Entertainment Weekly did a similar list-- all I can say is that people vote at the time and history makes fools of us all.

But-- Pulp Fiction is one of the stupidest films of all time, not worth the celluloid it was printed on, much less an Oscar. I hated Forrest gump, too, though.

Maybe we should not give the awards out some years? (Like this year, actually.)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 5:51pm

They missed my Oscar gripe.

I always believe that Mary Tyler Moore should have won for Ordinary People. There is a depth in her performance that audiences had never seen from her before and it proved she was more than just a comedy actress. Sissy Spacek did a great impersonation of Loretta Lynn, but it was just that an impersonation. Spacek deserved to win for other roles (In the Bedroom) but not Coal Miner's Daughter.

Updated On: 2/23/07 at 05:51 PM

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 5:54pm

I'm still pissed Sean Astin didn't win for ENCINO MAN...

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 5:55pm

How about no Oscars for the following?

Hitchcock
Cary Grant
Richard Burton
Peter O Toole

& Michael Moore has 1 & these do not. This makes it more mind boggling

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:01pm

And Denzel Washington should have won for Malcolm X and Titans and instead he won for that nightmare flick I can't even remember the title of.

Personally it is the writing awards that I pay attention to---
I am still seething over Matt and Ben beating out Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) and Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty). I am not sure I will ever forgive the Academy for that--

then again I laughed my butt off when they gave Eminem an Oscar for best original song it was poetic justice.

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:02pm

5. Pssst! Halle Berry has an Oscar. So does Marisa Tomei. Hilary Swank has two. It hardly matters whom they beat out for these dubious victories: what's disturbing is that they were rewarded for deeply unimpressive work. Angela Bassett, who could act these three to a standstill while doing her ironing, was right when she mocked Berry's victory for the forgettable (and indeed, now thoroughly forgotten) Monster's Ball. Tomei is a fine actress, but her shrill Joisey-goil supporting role in My Cousin Vinny was a recurring-guest sitcom part writ large. Incredibly, among those she beat were Judy Davis, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson. Swank, with her two expressions and her many, many teeth, first won best actress for playing a woman pretending to be a man; her second, for Million Dollar Baby, playing a female boxer who looks scarily like Matt Damon. It's the reverse version of the Tootsie tranny template for Oscar-snagging.

-----------------------------------------------

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:04pm

I don't think it's fair to compare, Roxy. It's not like they all competed against each other in the same category. Furthermore, Moore specializes in documentaries.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:15pm

I agree with all of these.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:40pm

I think the author is quite harsh towards Little Miss Sunshine, I loathed The Departed so I certainly hope Sunshine beats it.
Having said that, I simply loved the way he summarized all of my feelings towards Forrest Gump, one of the most dangerous right-wing American films, IMO.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:46pm

Forest Gump - Right Wing?

Boy is that a stretch - IMO. I liked The Departed & found LMS amusing but not Best Picture material - again IMO

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:56pm

I'm still pissed that The Sixth Sense got completely shut out at the 2000 Oscars.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 7:33pm

"10. Everybody loves an underdog, but this is ridiculous. Little Miss Sunshine had such a struggle getting made that one was inclined to forgive its messy script and its poorly integrated cast. That mood lasted until I got to the parking lot, by which time I'd forgotten everything about it. Until the Oscar nominations were announced. This mouse that roared should have been stomped on a long time ago. The notion that it's fit to compete for an Oscar in any category - it doesn't even come close - is further evidence of the Academy's mile-wide streak of sentimentality and gullibility in the face of a canny Oscar campaign. If this beats The Departed, I expect Martin Scorsese to pull out a machine-gun and fire randomly into the voting members as they run screaming for the exits. And he'd be within his rights, too."


While I agree with number 5, the author lost me with number 10. It's not that I don't respect an opinion, but this is just idiotic....did he watch the movie or was he too busy playing with his blackberry? Messy Script? Poorly Integrated cast? It's amazing how much you miss when you watch a movie with your eyes closed.

Personal picks would be Johnny Depp not even being nominated for Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands, two of his best pieces of work. Jim Carrey being looked over for Truman Show. Nigel Hawthorne not winning the best actor oscar and giving it to Hanks for Forrest Gump. Scorsese not winning for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

And Rose...I dunno, that movie really isn't the classic most make it out to be. It's plot holes are big enough for a mac truck to pass through unnoticed, Bruce Willis and his "This is a serious movie so I need to whisper everything" school of acting and the fact that over time any M. Night Shamalamadingdong movie pretty much blows.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 7:36pm

At least Landau got a much deserved Oscar for Ed Wood

Who would have ever thought the name Ed Wood would ever be spoke at an Oscar ceremony let alone win one

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 7:37pm

Totally agree. At the time I wanted Sinese(sp) to win but with a more mature eye, I really see the brilliance in Landau's work in Wood.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 7:42pm

And yeah ok I'm gonna sound like I'm trying to be hip but Cohen got passed over for BORAT, whether you want to admit it or not. The level of commitment was beyond anything this year and far more daring than giving the pretty overrated actress an oscar for putting on a fake nose(credit Little Dog Laughed, but oh so true)

[RadiGal2]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 7:54pm

I think if there is a real upset anywhere it will be Borat beating The Departed in Adapted Screenplay-- this is typically one of those categories where strange things often happen, alas only a few people like me actually pay attention.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 8:53pm

I will never get over Peter O'Toole not getting an Oscar for Lawrence of Arabia. His scenes - particularly in the first half of the movie - are some of the most impressive I have ever seen by anyone.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 10:14pm

I'm not saying that I think The Sixth Sense is the most brilliant film ever made, Carl, but I thought it deserved an Oscar or two. Especially for Toni Collette.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 10:53pm

I actually think Tomei is a really fine actor.

And, Halle Berry gave a really rounded performance in Monster's Ball. I think her work was better than the other four nominees that year (save Judi Dench, who was in a subpar movie but had a great performance)...so, I don't mind her winning. Naomi Watts, Thora Birch, Tilda Swinton, and Cate Blanchett all gave more refined performances, but...Halle gave a very nice performance in an Oscar-bait movie. And, I have no problem with her having won it.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:17pm

Judy Garland never received a "real" Oscar. One of our greatest acting talents. I'll never get over that.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:34pm

Rath, was just about to post the same thought.

"A Star is Born" was a masterpiece of Garland magic. "Born In A Trunk" alone is worth winning for. This is the only instance when it has actually saddened me that a performance was not granted an Oscar.

[PJ]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:39pm

Tomei is quite a good actor, and redeemed herself in In The Bedroom to prove that her Oscar wasn't a fluke.

I have warmed up to Berry's victory after a few viewings of Monster's Ball over the years.

[blueroses]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:53pm

Hmm. Well, Whoopi Goldberg may have been enjoyable in Ghost, but I've always felt that Lorraine Bracco REALLY deserved the Best Supporting Actress Oscar that year for her work in Goodfellas. That's the one that sticks out the most to me.

Well, that and Matt Damon's not even being nominated for The Talented Mr. Ripley.

ETA: How could I forget?! Paul Giamatti being snubbed TWICE--for American Splendor and Sideways.
Updated On: 2/24/07 at 11:53 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:58pm

Like most discussions and articles and arguements about the Oscars, that article is silly. Mainly, because the awards themselves are silly. For example:

4. The victory of Carol Reed's unremarkable musical Oliver! over Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1969 is another sad reminder of exactly how clueless and out of touch the Academy was in the cauldron years of the late 1960s. Vietnam, the most important, convulsive issue of the times, was basically off the table as a movie subject, but surely Kubrick's 2001, which echoed the soon-to-climax Nasa space programme and offered a boon to acid dealers nationwide, had more contemporary resonance than a big-budget musical set a century earlier. But Hollywood was demented by its anachronistic attachment to the Broadway musical throughout the rock'n'roll 1960s, and thus Kubrick was doomed to lose.

Aside from the fact that the above makes no sense, how does what he cites, make 2001 a better film than OLIVER!? Regardless, it's all subjective and a matter of personal taste and opinion, based on those tastes.


Updated On: 2/24/07 at 11:58 PM