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Posts Tagged ‘Quentin Tarantino’

TEN More Questionable Best Picture Awards

Posted in BY THE WAY, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, tagged , , , , , , , on March 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

English: Studio publicity portrait of the Amer...

English: Studio publicity portrait of the American actress Elizabeth Taylor. Français : Portrait publicitaire pris en studio de l’actrice américaine Elizabeth Taylor. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As always I have an opinion I’m more than happy to share with you all about movies, the good ones and the bad ones.  I agree with the comments my nephew, Justin, left for me on Facebook. He was upset about the obvious politics that must go into the choices for Best Picture!  So here are 10 more what I call questionable Best Picture Award winning films.

  1. 1966 – A Man For All Seasons  – This was a very good choice and Hollywood loves a good period piece, BUT complex emotional roller coaster of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?* and the commanding and outstanding performances of both Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton should not have been overlooked!
  2. 1960 – The Apartment – I love this movie and who doesn’t love Shirley MacLain and Jack Lemon?  I’ve watched it many times which attests to its ability to transcend decades…but once again a powerful drama enriched with the likes of Burt Lancaster portraying the lead character, Elmer Gantry* should have propelled this movie to the head of the class!
  3. 1956 – Around the World In 80 Days – This is a repeat from yesterday because shame on me, I forgot to mention Giant,* one of the very few movies, the amazing James Dean starred in and he alone, not to mention Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson should have brought this picture to win the BP award.
  4. 1951 – American in Paris – Oh yes Gene Kelly is fabulous in this movie but when Hollywood makes a movie around the star’s talent which is other than acting as it was in this particular film, the movie becomes a vehicle for the dancing. So while others were watching the animation dancing with Gene and believe me I truly admire his choreography and performance, I was watching A Streetcar Named Desire*  with Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh give the world a stellar performances in a movie that over the years continues to rank among the Top Ten Best Movies ever.
  5. 1961 – West Side Story – A charming, lively, fast-paced adaptation of a very successful Broadway show.  The music lives on and although it dealt with race issues early on, it was no Judgement at Nuremberg!*
  6. 1958 – Gigi – Not my favorite movie just my favorite word as many of my regular readers know this is what my adorable grandchildren call me.  How could Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman and Burl Ives NOT have taken Cat On A Hot Tin Roof* to the winner’s circle?
  7. 1997 – Titanic – Don’t even go there…really?? L.A. Confidential* was a great story with several surprise twists and turns with excellent actors.
  8. 1964 – My Fair Lady – Again a wonderful movie with fine acting and singing yet again an adaptation of a Broadway play and it beat Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb* – Peter Sellers and George C. Scott hit a home run with this iconic film.
  9. 1980 – Ordinary People – This was a very good movie and deeply moving as it explored the dysfunction brought on in a family torn apart by the death of a child.  However, the plot is not original and it forced the likes of Raging Bull *and The Elephant Man *into the loser’s corner. What a shame!
  10. 1994 – Forrest Gump –  Entertaining to some degree, too long and I swear if Tom Hanks had not starred in it, it would never have gotten this far.  Pulp Fiction* was the stroke of genius by Quentin Tarantino with John Travolta and Uma Thurman.

Well that’s it folks, my 10 more worst Best Picture picks.  What do you think? Please do leave us your picks!  Oooh that reminds me I promised one of my readers to include his erudite comment and observation:  ” …1981, where Chariots of Fire beat out Reds, On Golden Pond, Atlantic City and Raiders of the Lost Ark, possibly belongs in that category as well.”

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Academy Awards Oscar UPSETS! Surprises and Controversies!

Posted in BY THE WAY, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , on February 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The big night is rapidly approaching and the educated guessing is full out by now. It’s not  a science, it’s not a horse race and it’s hard to use statistics all because you can never really second-guess humans.  They can always change their mind at the last minute.   Apparently they did because here’s a few more memorable upsets.

1.1981 – Reds was nominated for 12 categories and yet it was outrun in the race for Best Picture by Chariots of Fire!  Sometimes a race is won in the final sprint to the finish line. Must be the case here.

2. 1998-Titanic, a pathetic remake riddled with special effects drowned out L.A. Confidential  and Good Will Hunting.  Sad but true.

3.1988 – The Academy was Moonstruck by Cher’s outstanding performance and she went home with Oscar and Glen Close and Meryl Streep went home with their husbands.

4. 1999 – He scampered over chairs, he jumped around on stage – Roberto Benigni won Best Actor and none were more surprised than Tom Hanks.  Hanks was the favorite for his role in Saving Private Ryan.

5. 1994 – There really is a pattern here. The Academy seems to vote more often for feel-good, loveable or the down and out rise to good fortune through their courage, fortitude and a measure of luck.  And that’s how it went the night in 1994 when Quentin Tarantino was “Gumped” by Robert Zemekis.   Pulp Fiction must have been just too avante-garde for the Academy voters.

6. 1980 – Martin Scorcese made his first feature length film in 1967 and didn’t win an Oscar for his directorial achievements.  In 1980 he lost Best Director to Robert Redford who won it for Ordinary People and he lost it for Raging Bull.

7. 2008 – More than an upset, the fact that The Dark Knight wash’t even nominated! Slumdog Millionaire took home Best Picture and it was an entertaining movie which took audiences to a part of the world they rarely see.  No dispute here, BUT shouldn’t The Dark Knight have been on the table with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, The Reader and Frost/Nixon?

8. 1969 – Oh how I remember this one!  John Wayne wins Best Actor for his role of a cowboy (wow that’s a switch) in True Grit and Dustin Hoffman and John Voight who were spectacular in Midnight Cowboy.

9. 1985 – Another surprise ! The Color Purple was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won NONE!

10. 1968-Oliver,  won Best Director and Best Picture.  It was a buoyant musical retelling of the story of Oliver Twist and sent Stanley Kubrick’s startling and innovative science fiction epic  2001: Space Odyssey  home hungry.

Best Actress Academy Awards

Best Actress Academy Awards (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

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