Past Oscar Mistakes | Golden Skate

Past Oscar Mistakes

Joined
Aug 3, 2003
When do you think the Academy voted to give the Oscar to the wrong film (in any category), the wrong actor (lead or supporting), actress, director, score, song, or whatever?

Tops on my list are:

Best Picture--
1968: "Oliver" over "2001: A Space Odyssey."
I think the Academy was showing its conservativism and probably had many members who would never vote for a movie they couldn't "understand" or that didn't have a traditional narrative structure.

1980: "Ordinary People" over "Raging Bull."
I think this was partially a show of support of Hollywood (Redford) over New York (Scorsese); middle class emotions revealed through psychotherapy over working class emotions revealed through violence.


Best Supporting Actress--
1993: Anna Paquin in "The Piano" over Winona Ryder in "The Age of Innocence." Paquin was captivating, but she was a child doing what many children do best--play. Ninety percent of her lines involved Paquin spinning tales about her mother, playing with her imagination, except that she was spinning the tales via the lines in the script.

Ryder, OTOH, had the difficult job of playing a young woman who had to make the audience believe she was truly nice and sweet only to have it revealed at the end that all along she had been a crafty manipulator in order to save first her engagement and then her marriage. Upon a second viewing of the film, Ryder gives subtle clues throughout her performance that May is not the simple, empty-headed cliche she portrays on the surface both in the film as a whole and to the other characters in the film, especially Newland Archer. Ryder also did exactly what a supporting actor is supposed to do--support the lead(s).

Although Paquin was enchanting, I felt the real acting chops were exhibited by Ryder. Not a criticism of Paquin, I just think Ryder gave the superior performance.


Do others have their own "wuz robbed" situations with the Oscars?
Rgirl
 

Tonichelle

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Jun 27, 2003
Ewan McGreggor and Richard Gere are both overlooked for even a nomination every year. It's frustrating...
 

BronzeisGolden

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Jul 27, 2003
1998, Gwenyth Paltrow for "Shakespeare in Love"
Okay, Paltrow was wonderful and I have no arguments that she did an excellent job. But, I felt the Oscar belonged to Cate Blanchett for "Elizabeth". Perhaps it is my love of history, but I felt she tackled one of the most demanding roles in recent years and delivered a masterful performance. Her performance was infused with such regal command and confidence.

More when I have time later....
 

supersk8er

Rinkside
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Jan 23, 2004
BronzeisGolden said:
1998, Gwenyth Paltrow for "Shakespeare in Love"
Okay, Paltrow was wonderful and I have no arguments that she did an excellent job. But, I felt the Oscar belonged to Cate Blanchett for "Elizabeth". Perhaps it is my love of history, but I felt she tackled one of the most demanding roles in recent years and delivered a masterful performance. Her performance was infused with such regal command and confidence.

More when I have time later....

I completely agree. Paltrow did a good job, but it was a love story...I'm not saying that all best actresses should be in dramas, but [most of] the best acting is from dramas. Blanchett was incredible.

I thought it was ridiculous when Halle Berry won for Monster Ball. In my opinion, the movie was one of the worst that I have ever seen. In that year, I thought that Nicole Kidman should have won best actress...Mind you, that was a love story, and I am sort of contradicting what I JUST said, but it was also a drama and she was incredible, and beautiful. Hehe.
 

Jimmy Hoffa

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Jul 28, 2003
It's funny, though. Even though Anna Paquin was the child star, it's Winona Ryder who ended up leading a life of crime, so to speak.:p
 

hrmsk8ngnutt

Final Flight
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Jul 29, 2003
1997 - Helen Hunt in 'As Good As It Gets' over Judi Dench in 'Her Majesty Mrs. Brown'.

1998 - Roberto Begnini in 'Life Is Beautiful' over Ian McKellan in 'Gods and Monsters'.

Herm (sk8ngnutt)
 

equestrianguy

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Jan 20, 2004
I have to disagree about Anna P and Winona R.. The chemistry between Holly Hunter and Anna P was magical and made The Piano one of the best that year.. Yes, she was only like nine years old or something, but very deserving.. I LOVED Winona in The Age of Innocence! If it had been any other year she would have won.. In my opinion I could have seen her winning the best Actress for Little Women.. I hope after the mess she has been in recently Winona will have a comeback in the future.. As for Anna P, I guess she is like 19 now? I think she is a brilliant young actress.. She just needs the right part again to make everyone see she was not just a fluke for winning the oscar as a child..
My other disapointments in oscar was Hally Berry winning over Sissey.. What was that about!!!! lol
Yes, I greatly agree Cate Blanchett should have won over Gweneth P... Cate Blanchett's performance in Elizabeth is one of the best ever by an actress.. She is definately the Scarlett Ohara/Vivian Leigh of the 21st century..
As for Ewan McGreger, he will get his due... As for Richard Gere...lol He can't act his way out of a paper bag... lol...................Peace
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
It's all so political, But there was one case in point that I got a big laugh. It was Mira Sorvino who won Supporting but there was she and 4 English actresses including Judi Dench nominated. Jack Palance whose eyesight was going read the nominees from the cue cards, however, he couldn't see who the winner was from the envelope so he just read the last name from the cue cards. The winner was acutally Judi Dench but no way could they change Palane's boo boo.

Joe
 

mike79

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Jul 27, 2003
Ewan McGreger should have been nominated for Moulin Rouge.

Al Pacino should not have won for Scent of a Woman. He should have won 20 years earlier for The Godfather II.

Shakespeare in Love, although a great movie, should not have beaten Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture.

Richard Gere should have been nominated for Chicago. I usually can't stand his acting but he was superb in that movie.
 

show 42

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This is one "awards event" where the nominated actor can win for a "body of work" and not a single performance.......not that I am comparing this "competition" to skating, no way, nah-uh.....would never happen........:p

But seriously, I am still fuming that Sean Astin was not nominated for a supporting actor spot, and wasn't recognized for "Rudy"....42
 

Kasey

Medalist
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Jul 27, 2003
Cher, winning for "Moonstruck" instead of "Silkwood" or "Mask".

Whoever was nominated for Supporting actresses along with Marisa Tomei, when she won for "My cousin Vinny"...I mean, come on!

The fact that this is Johnny Depp's first nomination is a travesty.

Oh yeah, and my mom will never agree with Ben Kingsley winning for "Gandhi", as opposed to Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie".

Kasey
 

skatepixie

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Aug 2, 2003
I know...Ghandi is the most boring move ever,

Im still quite angry that Gladiator won over Chocolat.

Judi Dench should have won for Mrs Brown.

Moulin Rouge should have won best picture...and Ewan should have had actor.

Haley Joel Osment should have won for 6th Sence.

I could go on and on with this...
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Kasey said:

Whoever was nominated for Supporting actresses along with Marisa Tomei, when she won for "My cousin Vinny"...I mean, come on.
Kasey

Whoops, sorry Kasey, it was in 1992 that Tomei won the Oscar (not Sorvino) winning over Vanessa Redgrave; Joan Plowright; Judy Davis and Miranda Richardson. The Palance story is just a rumor.

Joe
 

Tonichelle

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As for Richard Gere...lol He can't act his way out of a paper bag... lol

Well... then I just have no taste in anything because he was awesome in Chicago... I mean... Christopher Walkin got a stupid nomination for his itty bitty role in "Catch Me If You Can" and really anyone could have played that part just as well as he could have...
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Gywneth Paltrow over Cate Blanchett! Big bad! Big, huge bad! ITA, ITA! Paltrow's done good work, but "Shakespeare in Love" wasn't part of it.

It's all so political, But there was one case in point that I got a big laugh. It was Mira Sorvino who won Supporting but there was she and 4 English actresses including Judi Dench nominated. Jack Palance whose eyesight was going read the nominees from the cue cards, however, he couldn't see who the winner was from the envelope so he just read the last name from the cue cards. The winner was acutally Judi Dench but no way could they change Palane's boo boo.
Joe
Sorry, Joe, you've got your facts on something that never even happened wrong. It was the year Marisa Tomei for "My Cousin Vinny" won over the favorite Vanessa Redgrave in "Howard's End" and Judy Davis in "Husbands and Wives." Because Tomei's name was last on the list, because Jack Palance (who looked like who wasn't sure what was going on) was reading it, and because the favorites were Redgrave and Davis, the rumor started immediately that Palance had just read the last name of the nominees, which happened to be Tomei's.

FALSE! says snopes.com. Read all about it at:
http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/tomei.htm Tomei's name is indeed the winner on the card, which, as we all know, is carefully overseen by Price Waterhouse. I have no doubt that politics is the meat and potatoes of who votes for whom for the Oscars, but the Academy is still serious about their winners. They know what one of these golden nonanatomically correct guys can do for a career. If Palance had really blown it, Price Waterhouse would have done its job, the president of the Academy would have done his job, and/or lawyers for the other nominees would have been out doing their jobs en masse. Great rumor, believable rumor, but it just didn't happen.

And personally, having watched "My Cousin Vinny" for the first time a few months ago, Tomei is not only funny and believable--within the ridiculous confines of the script--but she also holds this otherwise weak movie together. If the job of a supporting actor is to support the lead and make the film a notch better because of his/her perofrmance, then Tomei did that better than any of the other nominees that year, I have to admit. Her final exchange with Joe Pesci as his "hostile witness" giving a dead-on explanation of why Pesci's clients cannot possibly be guilty using very technical automotive jargon, is great comedic acting IMO.

Not to take anything away from any other Best Supporting Actress winners, but one thing about Tomei: she's escaped the young actress Best Supporting win jinx that has afflicted many others. Although she hasn't had any big hits or moved onto leading roles, she's been in or is about to appear in 28 feature films since '92. My personal favorite roles of Tomei are, in comedy, "The Slums of Beverly Hills" (does a great boogie down with a vibrator) and her Oscar worthy supporting performance in '01's "In the Bedroom."
Rgirl
 

VIETgrlTerifa

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Jul 26, 2003
I know many will disagree with me, but I thought Tomei was totally Oscar-worthy! I mean I felt it was comedic acting at it's best. Much better than what Johnny Depp does with that theme park ride character.

I would have given Tomei the Oscar for "In the Bedroom" as well.

Oscar mistakes?

Chocolat even being nominated for Best Picture...I mean over the likes of Wonderboys, Almost Famous, You Can Count on Me (well this didn't really have a chance)...c'mon.

Roberto Beignini winning Best Actor over the likes of Ian McKellen in "Gods and Monsters" and Nick Nolte in "Affliction" That Oscar was a great example of Miramax's genius in campaining (as was Chocolat even being nominated for Best Picture).

"Life is Beautiful" winning Best Foreign Film and being nominated for Best Picture. This awful movie that makes concentration camps look like some sort of themed vacation won over the wonder Braziallian "Central Station".

People complain that Gweneyth Paltrow winning over Cate Blanchett, but I think this race was really close and could have gone either way. My personal pick would have been Fernanda Montenegro for "Central Station". She gave the best performance that year. I also wouldn't have nominated Meryl Streep for "One True Thing". I love Meryl, but I would have given her nomination to Ally Sheedy for "High Art" that year.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" not winning Best Picture. This movie was the best of the year IMO and the fact it lost to a conventional, badly presented (the visual effects were horrible, and the dialogue was beyond ridiculous) stupid movie like "Gladiator" is really an injustice. I would have been happy if "Traffic" won because at least that movie was deserving to be nominated for Best Picture, unlike "Gladiator" and "Chocolat".

I just want to say I hated "Moulin Rouge" so I don't agree that Nicole's hammy over the top performance there was robbed by Halle. IMO that year, the actress race was always between Halle Berry and Sissy Spacek. I gave my nod to Spacek.

Ang Lee not getting nominated for Best Director for "Sense and Sensibility"...but Mel Gibson was for his men in skirts with over the top masculinity epic???

A movie with one of the best acting and screenplays in 1997, "The Ice Storm", not getting any nominations while the movie with one of the worst acting and screenplay, Titanic getting 14 that same year?


EDITED TO ADD:

David Thelewis not getting nominated in 1993 for "Naked" is a big mistake. He gave one the best performances that year and won all kinds of critics awards for Best Actor, but he wasn't even nominated.

I'll think of more later.
 
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jenny12

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
The last time I agreed with the Best Picture winner was when American Beauty won. If that movie lost that year...

Ordinary People over Raging Bull?

This was a "wha?" moment. Obviouisly the Academy Award members have a problem with Martin Scorcesse (sp?). Raging Bull was bold and brilliant, Ordinary People was pretty ordinary.

Forrest Gump over Pulp Fiction?

Forest Gump was a lovely film but Pulp Fiction was ground-breaking. The dialouge, everything, so stylish.

Hoop Dreams wasn't even nominated for Best Documentary?

Anyone who has seen this film will know what I mean.

Titanic over LA Confidential?

Titanic was an amazing production. That's it. The story and dialouge did not match the epic ship.

English Patient over Fargo?

The English Patient was a fine film but I mean this in a similar vein as Forrest Gump over Pulp Fiction. Very good over classic.
 
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Tonichelle

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don't get me started on that "movie" Titanic or that pathetic excuse for a director/screen-play writer James Cameron.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
rgirl - My correction on the Tomei post is shown two posters above yours.

I knew there was a tale about the Palance presentation and I got confused with Sorvino and Tomei. Kasey brought up the Tomei and I looked it up. I suffer from Short Term memory :eek:

Joe
 

equestrianguy

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Jan 20, 2004
Jenny12, You are sooo right about Pulp Fiction.. Yes, Forrest Gump was very heart warming, but Pulp Fiction was the first movie of its kind... Sameul Jackson and Uma Thurman both should have won supporting oscars for their roles.. Uma gave me CHILLS in the movie!................Peace
 
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