The Year: 1993 What the Nominees Were: The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day, Schindler’s List Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Groundhog Day, which belongs on any shortlist for the greatest movies of all time (and certainly one of the most profound) was not even nominated! What Should’ve Won and Did Win: Schindler’s List How Hard Was the…
The Year: 1992 What the Nominees Were: The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howard’s End, Scent of a Woman, Unforgiven Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: It’s insane that Malcolm X was not even nominated. Aladdin and The Player should also have been up there (They’re certainly better than Scent of a Woman! ) Over in indie-land, I love Simple Men , but that never would have been a nominee.…
The Year: 1991 What the Nominees Were: Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides, The Silence of the Lambs Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Richard Linklater’s Slacker is an indie masterpiece, but hardly the sort of movie that would have been considered. What Should’ve Won and Did Win: Silence of the Lambs How Hard Was the Decision: Not really hard, because this is…
The Year: 1990 What the Nominees Were: Awakenings, Dances With Wolves, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, GoodFellas Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan is one of my favorites. In China, Zhang Yimou had Ju Dou and in Poland Agnieszka Holland had Europa Europa both of which deserved Oscar nominations (certainly over The Godfather Part III !) What Did Win: Dances…
The Year: 1989 What the Nominees Were: Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Driving Miss Daisy, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Do the Right Thing; Sex, Lies and Videotape What Did Win: Driving Miss Daisy How It’s Aged: It’s artless and treacly. Compared to our winner, it feels like a very benighted portrayal of what it means to be beneficent…
The Year: 1988 What the Nominees Were: The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Rain Man, Working Girl Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Martin Donavan’s Apartment Zero is a brilliant film. Die Hard is fantastic, of course. What Did Win: Rain Man How It’s Aged: A film the autism community is not a big fan of, certainly. Tom Cruise is an underrated actor and…
The Year: 1987 What the Nominees Were: Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, The Last Emperor, Moonstruck Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: That’s a good list, but I’d add Raising Arizona and Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun What Did Win: The Last Emperor How It’s Aged: It’s beautiful, but ultimately fairly forgettable. Bernardo Bertolucci is a great filmmaker but this is not…
The Year: 1986 What the Nominees Were: Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and her Sisters, The Mission, Platoon, A Room With a View Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Blue Velvet What Did Win: Platoon How It’s Aged: Despite starring Charlie Sheen, it remains a hard-hitting, deeply authentic story, but ultimately a bit too overwrought and melodramatic to deserve the top prize in…
The Year: 1985 What the Nominees Were: The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider-Woman, Out of Africa, Prizzi’s Honor, Witness Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Albert Brooks’ Lost in America and Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo are great films. For that matter, Back to the Future is a better movie than Out of Africa . Outside of America there was Kurosawa’s Ran and another great Japanese…
The Year: 1984 What the Nominees Were: Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier’s Story Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: It’s crazy that Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America wasn’t nominated. Sayles made his greatest film, Brother from Another Planet . Germany’s Wim Wenders showed he could also master American cinema with Paris, Texas . Over in…
The Year: 1983 What the Nominees Were: The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies, Terms of Endearment Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Sayles’ Baby, It’s You , Allen’s Zelig , and Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander What Should’ve Won and Did Win: Terms of Endearment How Hard Was the Decision: Very hard because Terms of Endearment is not an all-time classic, but it was a…
The Year: 1982 What the Nominees Were: E. T. the Extra Terrestrial, Gandhi, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Sophie’s Choice, The World According to Garp and Victor/Victoria come to mind. Not much going on overseas (the various New Waves had all crested.) What Should’ve Won and Did Win: Gandhi How Hard Was the Decision: It was hard. All five of these…
The Year: 1981 What the Nominees Were: Atlantic City, Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Lumet’s underappreciated gem Prince of the City and Malle’s brilliant talk-fest My Dinner with Andre What Did Win: Chariots of Fire How It’s Aged: The first weak winner since Oliver back in 1968. The Academy had its act together for a…
The Year: 1980 What the Nominees Were: Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Elephant Man, Ordinary People, Raging Bull, Tess Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: John Sayles arrived on the scene with Return of the Secaucus Seven . Sam Fuller finally made his autobiographical magnum opus The Big Red One . Stanley Kubrick delivered The Shining . And of course we had one of the all-time great…
The Year: 1979 What the Nominees Were: All That Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Breaking Away, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Norma Rae Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Those are five great movies! This was one of the best years for American film. Amazingly, there were more great films, including Being There, The China Syndrome and, of course, Alien . What Did Win: Kramer Vs. Kramer How It’s Aged: It’s…
The Year: 1978 What the Nominees Were: Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Heaven Can Wait, Midnight Express, An Unmarried Woman Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: How did Days of Heaven not get a nomination?? Blue Collar would have been an interesting choice. What Did Win: The Deer Hunter How It’s Aged: The scenes in America are very well done, but the movie’s portrayal of the people of…
The Year: 1977 What the Nominees Were: Annie Hall, The Goodbye Girl, Julia, Star Wars, The Turning Point Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: How on earth did Close Encounters of the Third Kind not get a nomination?? What Did Win: Annie Hall How It’s Aged: Look, what can I say here? It’s undeniable that Annie Hall is absolutely brilliant. Very funny (I quote it frequently), beautifully…
The Year: 1976 What the Nominees Were: All the President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Rocky, Taxi Driver Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Those are five pretty great movies. They also could have considered Arthur Penn’s oddball western The Missouri Breaks and Paul Mazursky’s autobiographical masterpiece Next Stop, Greenwich Village . What Did Win: Rocky How It’s Aged: It’s a…
The Year: 1975 What the Nominees Were: Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: In America there was Smile and Three Days of the Condor . Overseas there was Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles . What Did Win: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest How It’s Aged: Not great. I bet you don’t remember what…
It's the final episode of our Guilty Treasures season! Award-winning podcaster Austen Rachlis stops by to profess her affection for Hardball , in which Keanu Reeves coaches an inner-city little league baseball team, including a young Michael B. Jordan! Will we wholeheartedly endorse her choice?
The Year: 1974 What the Nominees Were: Chinatown, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Lenny, The Towering Inferno Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: Scorsese had another great one with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore . And if we grant that the Academy should have been more accepting of comedy, then we have to acknowledge that Mel Brooks released both Blazing Saddles and Young…
The Year: 1973 What the Nominees Were: American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist, The Sting, A Touch of Class Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: The Academy missed out on most the great American films that year, including The Last Detail, Scarecrow, Mean Streets, Serpico, Badlands , and Paper Moon . What Did Win: The Sting How It’s Aged: It’s delightful. I considered sticking…
The Year: 1972 What the Nominees Were: Cabaret, Deliverance, The Emigrants, The Godfather, Sounder Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: John Huston’s Fat City was a late masterpiece. What Should’ve Won and Did Win: The Godfather How Hard Was the Decision: Surprisingly hard. Everybody knows that The Godfather is one of the most worthy winners in Oscars history, but I have even more…
Acclaimed children’s author Kate Milford joins us to talk about one of her favorite movies, John Carpenter’s cult classic Big Trouble in Little China . Will she be able to win us over to its charms?
The Year: 1971 What the Nominees Were: A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, The French Connection, The Last Picture Show, Nicholas and Alexandra Other Movies That Should Have Been Considered: I can understand how they overlooked Harold and Maude , but how could they ignore the greatness of McCabe and Mrs. Miller ?? What Did Win: The French Connection How It’s Aged: It’s one of the best movies…