Your Most Begrudged Oscar Snubs- Page 3

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 9:15am

Agreed about Giacchino's score for THE INCREDIBLES. At least he got a consolation Oscar a few years later for UP.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 9:48am

High off of her golden globe win for Best Actress in 1996- madonna deserved an oscar nom for Evita. Not a win, but at least a nom recognition.

I mean...that was the year Frances McDormand won for Fargo....

and where are the rest of those nominees from that year?
Kristin Scott Thomas??

The nominees that year were as follows:

Brenda Blethyn for SECRETS AND LIES
Diane Keaton for MARVIN'S ROOM
Frances McDormand for FARGO
Kristin Scott Thomas for THE ENGLISH PATIENT
Emily Watson for BREAKING THE WAVES

And to suggest that Madonna's work in EVITA is comparable to any of those performances is ludicrous.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 9:55am

I'd have given it to Brenda Blethyn, myself. That one scene where she has a little memory rush (to say more would be to spoil plot points) is one of the highlights of film acting, I think.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:02am

I'm comfortable with McDormand's win, but I favored Keaton and especially Blethyn that year. And I think Leigh's screenplay is leagues better than that of FARGO, and deserved to win.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:11am

There was no screenplay for SECRETS & LIES. The entire film was improvised.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:23am

Actually, Mike Leigh's films always originate from extended rehearsal and improvisation, but when it comes to actual shooting, there's a very carefully laid out screenplay by Leigh.

From an interview with Leigh:

“That last scene in ‘Secrets and Lies,’ the big barbecue, was a massive improv. Then we rehearsed it and fixed it and pinned it down, so what you finally arrive at—by the time I shoot it or put in on stage—is very precise."

Updated On: 12/18/12 at 10:23 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:30am

From my understanding though, that particular film was pretty much "written" by the actors. He obviously chose what stayed and what went, but an Oscar for a screenplay he didn't "write" doesn't seem "fair". The film could have won Best Picture and I would have been fine with that, I mean the film is superb, but as for Screenplay, he shaped it, he didn't write it.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:36am

Point taken, of course, but it is a thin line, I guess. Did Horton Foote deserve credit for the screenplay of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? He didn't write it, much of it is from the novel, all he did was shape it.

Updated On: 12/18/12 at 10:36 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:42am

Did he win Best Adapted Screenplay? If so, than yes. As far as Leigh goes, I think he directed an "in progress" script. So no, I don't think he should have received a screenplay nom for that. Directing nomination - ABSOLUTELY - The film is brilliant. But he didn't write it.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 10:50am

Sure he did. He took material (improvised by actors, of course) and shaped it into a screenplay. He wrote the film as surely as Horton Foote and others write their adapted screenplays.

It's an interesting point, though. I wonder exactly how much of SECRETS AND LIES was nailed down before hand, it does have the feel of being made up as it goes along, and frankly that's one of the problems I have with the film, some of that dialogue is dreadfully on the nose. That interview clip I posted indicates a good deal of it was nailed down, but I've read conflicting reports about it.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:20am

I always like the idea of Brenda Blethyn better than the reality of her. I was thrilled McDormand won. She gave such a unique internal life to a character that could have been nothing more than a cartoon. It was idiosyncratic without being full of tics.

As for snubs, how about Jennifer Ehle for the only human performance in the antiseptic CONTAGION?

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:23am

Mike Leigh writes his screenplays by giving different actors the story they need to tell through improv. He's designed the entire film on paper and lets the actors fill in all his details. If they hit on something good, he's willing to shift the story.

For example, in Vera Drake, only Imelda Staunton and two or three others knew about the abortions. The rest of the cast was improvising a story about a sweet older woman who takes care of the entire apartment building. Even Staunton herself didn't know when the main story would be revealed to the rest of the cast.

Yet every cast member knew the story they were to tell up to that point. From there, the film is more scripted than his usual work because it has to be from a narrative standpoint. True, Leigh has to transcribe the exact dialogue afterwards, but the story, characters, and structure are all his.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:36am

Well, for what it's worth, I never saw what the fuss was about over FARGO anyway. One of those entirely adequate in every way movies that for some reason get acclaimed as a classic, and Ms. McDormand's performance leaves me colder with every viewing. She's fine, but there's not a lot going on there. Or in the rest of the movie for that matter.

And SECRETS AND LIES has issues too, but I'll take it over the dreadful ENGLISH PATIENT. Man oh man.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:56am

I couldn't stand the accents in Fargo.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 4:13pm

As for snubs, how about Jennifer Ehle for the only human performance in the antiseptic CONTAGION?


It was a good performance--the best in the film, surely--but awards-worthy? Really? I don't see it, and you're not the first person whose opinion I respect to suggest it.

I couldn't stand the accents in Fargo.

That's just how people talk in Minnesota/North Dakota. The accents are extremely accurate.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/18/12 at 6:05pm

I don't think FARGO is a brilliant film but I do find it very entertaining and absorbing. I love that McDormand won, thought it was just an example of a very well realized performance, nothing transcendent but it just works.
Diane Keaton was good in MARVIN'S ROOM (Streep was excellent too) but I didn't think she was worthy of the win, I'm glad she got nominated. Watson had raves for her turn in BREAKING THE WAVES, but seems like the nomination was the award in her case.

I'm with AC on Jennifer Ehle in CONTAGION, she was great but I don't think you can say she was one of the five best supporting actresses of the year. It just wasn't that kind of role or performance, at least for me.