Judging Oscar: 1986

For other years completed in this project see the purple Judging Oscar links in the sidebar ----------------------->

BEST PICTURE

WINNER: Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986)

Stone takes the WWII movie and puts it in Vietnam.  There are a couple of decent setpieces but overall, I don’t find anything particularly noteworthy about it apart from this being the only major Vietnam movie that was directed by an actual Vietnam veteran.  Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger are very good as the dueling Sergeants with differing philosophies of warfare and leadership, and that dynamic really is the most gripping part of the film.  This comes to a head in the film’s best scene: a tiny farming village where the distrustful GI barge in and begin to emotionally and, later, physically torture several South Vietnamese civilians because they are believed to be untrustworthy in their association with a battalion of Vietcong.  Led by the malicious Sgt. Barnes (Berenger), even Chris Taylor (Sheen) gets in on the hostilities before Sgt. Elias (Dafoe) steps in and puts an end to the madness.  It is a good scene and Stone certainly doesn’t shy away from some of the other secret realities of the war (drug use, racism, classism, disenchantment, distrust of authority), but it also doesn’t add up to much more than a slightly interesting shrug.  Thankfully, this is before Stone got swept away with his fractured patchwork aesthetic of the 90’s, so the film actually maintains a consistent point-of-view and shows some understanding of screen geography, even if it lacks the associative power of his post-JFK work.

Judging Oscar: 1994

I have recently watched or re-watched all the films nominated for Best Picture and Best Director from 1994.  I have placed a value judgment on what I saw cinematically.  I may one day have breakdowns for every year of the Oscars, but I have not gotten very far into this journey yet.  You can follow up on the years I have completed so far: 1973, 1975, 1980 and 1996.

BEST PICTURE

WINNER: Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)

If you grew up during the 90’s, you could not escape Forrest Gump.  It was inevitable.  In my world, it was universally loved and I confess I have been systematically predisposed to like this movie ever since I saw it in the theater at age 11.  Maybe it is the desire to “get to my roots” through popular cinema (boomer parents, small southern hometown), maybe its because the soundtrack was on repeat for years in my room, maybe its because I related to Gump in a way I related to few other movie characters.  Whatever the case, I have loved this film since childhood and when I watch it today, I find I still love it and that it only deepens as I examine the movie closer.  Whatever the major effect the film had on American culture at large, I see in the film a unique skewering of American exceptionalism through the narrative of a guileless individual who is shamelessly exploited by a variety of individuals and social institutions yet maintains a loyalty to the handful of people who have ever shown him interest, in spite of his low IQ and naïveté.  The character of Forrest Gump is essentially a blank slate that viewers project their own feelings and nostalgia upon.  To me, it is a glorious picaresque that succeeds thanks to the charismatic humanism of Tom Hanks and the over-arching relatability of Zemeckis’ cinematic techniques.  Forrest is not without agency but he is without cynicism.  It is his guileless loyalty and lack of cynicism that has made the film seem sentimentalized when it fairly earns its emotional climaxes; likewise, Gump’s accidental wealth and fame countered by Jenny’s failed endeavors have made liberal critics spurn the movie for not being an ode to the 60’s counterculture.  It seems people are still projecting their own objectives upon the life of Forrest Gump and the fact that the film lets you do so is testament to its endearing greatness.

1996 Cii Movie Awards (Take 2)

This list (Take 2) was compiled July 5, 2013.  Take 1 is available here.
                       For the criteria of the Cii Movie Awards, click here.

Top 10 Films of 1996
1. Lone Star (John Sayles)
2. A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
3. Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma)
4. Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh)
5. Drifting Clouds (Aki Kaurismäki)
6. The People vs. Larry Flynt (Milos Forman)
7. Fargo (Joel Coen)
8. Get on the Bus (Spike Lee)
9. Six O'Clock News (Ross McElwee)
10. American Buffalo (Michael Corrente)
Honorable Mentions: Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas), Kansas City (Robert Altman), Mother (Albert Brooks), Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe), Scream (Wes Craven), Stealing Beauty (Bernardo Bertolucci), Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest), The Rock (Michael Bay), Flirting with Disaster (David O. Russell), La Promesse (Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne)

Judging Oscar: 1996

I have watched or re-watched all the nominees for Best Picture and Best Director, giving my assessments below.  Check out previous Judging Oscar assessments from 1973 and 1980.

BEST PICTURE

WINNER: The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996)

A pretty typical historical epic of love and loss made more interesting by some decent performances and wonderful production elements yet is hindered by some lapses in story and character.  Minghella succeeds in crafting many wonderful scenes yet overall, the film can’t add up to more than the sum of its parts.  The central character of the Count is a bit murky and though Fiennes is committed, it is a character that should not seem as uncertain as he does.  Where the film shines is in the details of the scenes, the details given by Minghella in the image.  There is beauty and grandeur in the desert, in the war, in the cave, in the apartment, but it is all taken simply as beauty.  Caravaggio gets onto Hana for romanticizing the Count, but it is his stories that appear to us as romanticized.  Is this because of his description or her reception?  It isn’t clear but they play more as definitive reality than stylized remembrance.  Additionally, there are some portions of his flashbacks that he could not possibly know about (scenes with Katherine and her husband) which strike me as lapses in film logic.  Overall, the film feels very romantic toward the doomed relationship of the Count and Katherine, but the relationship I found most compelling was the one between Hana and Kip.  Hana and Kip’s relationship is based on genuinely expressed affection that comes out in unforced sacrifice and the paradoxical frustration of their allegiances to their particular occupations in the war.  Juliette Binoche and Naveen Andrews are wonderful.  The Count and Katherine’s relationship feels less grounded yet it is presented as the central relationship of the movie.  Perhaps the whole point of his character is that he sacrifices too late, but I found his sacrifice circumstantial, and his whole passivity toward death afterwards to be unjustified.  If he doesn’t care about dying, why try and make Caravaggio’s desire to kill him a potential threat?  The film touches lightly on a few interesting sub-themes including a post-nationalist commentary on war in general and WWII in particular, but it never explores these themes thoroughly.  Overall: a very ho-hum affair with sweeping imagery.

1973 Cii Movie Awards

Top 10 Films of 1973
1.  The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman)
2.  Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich)
3.  Electra Glide in Blue (William James Guercio)
4.  Badlands (Terrence Malick)
5.  Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg)
6.  The Sting (George Roy Hill)
7.  American Graffiti (George Lucas)
8.  The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice)
9.  Westworld (Michael Crichton)
10.  World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Honorable Mentions: Sleeper (Woody Allen), O Lucky Man! (Lindsay Anderson), Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese), Fantastic Planet (René Laloux), Charlotte's Web (Charles A. Nicholas & Iwao Takamoto), The Last Detail (Hal Ashby)

1980 Cii Movie Awards

This list and awards compiled March 15, 2013.

                    For the criteria of choosing the awards, click here.

Top 10 Films of 1980

1.  American Gigolo (Paul Schrader)

2.  Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme)

3.  Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

4.  Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)

5.  Bad Timing (Nicolas Roeg)

6.  'Breaker' Morant (Bruce Beresford)

7.  The Changeling (Peter Medak)

8.  Stardust Memories (Woody Allen)

9.  Kagemusha (Akira Kurosawa)

10.  Popeye (Robert Altman)

Honorable Mentions: Coal Miner's Daughter (Michael Apted), Spetters (Paul Verhoeven), Poto and Cabengo (Jean-Pierre Gorin), Mon Oncle D'Amerique (Alain Resnais), Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker), Heaven's Gate (Michael Cimino)

2002 Cii Movie Awards

This list and awards compiled March 16, 2013

                      For the criteria of choosing the awards, click here.

Top 10 Films of 2002

1. Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov)
2. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. Adaptation. (Spike Jonze)
4. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson)
5. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese)
6. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Sam Jones)
7. 25th Hour (Spike Lee)
8. Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma)
9. 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle)
10. Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasenthakul)

Honorable Mentions: Voice of Hope (Maciej J. Drygas), K-19: The Widowmaker (Kathryn Bigelow), Sunshine State (John Sayles), Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes)

Best Actor

* Nicolas Cage – Adaptation.

Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York

Edward Norton – 25^th Hour

Sam Rockwell – Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Adam Sandler – Punch-Drunk Love

Best Actress

Kate Dollenmayer – Funny Ha Ha

Nicole Kidman – The Hours

* Diane Lane – Unfaithful

Julianne Moore – Far From Heaven

Catherine Zeta-Jones – Chicago

Best Supporting Actor

Cedric the Entertainer – Barbershop

Chris Cooper – Adaptation.

Vincent D’Onofrio – The Salton Sea

Barry Pepper – 25^th Hour

* Andy Serkis – Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Phillip Seymour Hoffman – Punch-Drunk Love

Best Supporting Actress

Toni Collette – About a Boy

Edie Falco – Sunshine State

* Julianne Moore – The Hours

Samantha Morton – Minority Report

Meryl Streep – Adaptation.

Emma Watson – Punch-Drunk Love

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson – Punch-Drunk Love

Kathryn Bigelow – K-19: The Widowmaker

Brian De Palma – Femme Fatale

* Spike Jonze – Adaptation.

Aleksandr Sokurov – Russian Ark

Best Screenplay

* Adaptation. (Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman)

Catch Me If You Can (Jeff Nathanson)

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson)

Minority Report (Scott Frank & Jon Cohen)

Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Best Cinematography

Far From Heaven (Edward Lachman)

Femme Fatale (Thierry Arbogast)

Punch-Drunk Love (Robert Elswit)

Road to Perdition (Conrad L. Hall)

* Russian Ark (Tillman Büttner)

Best Editing

28 Days Later (Chris Gill)

Adaptation. (Eric Zumbrunnen)

Femme Fatale (Bill Pankow)

* I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Erin Nordstrom)

Minority Report (Michael Kahn)

Best Film Score

Far From Heaven (Elmer Bernstiein)

* Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Howard Shore)

Punch-Drunk Love (Jon Brion)

Best Production Design

Catch Me If You Can

CQ

Devdas

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

* Minority Report

Best Ensemble Cast Performance

25^th Hour

About a Boy

* Gangs of New York

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Road to Perdition

2002 Films Seen (63 features as of 03.16.2013)

8 Mile (Curtis Hanson, 2002)

13 Conversations About One Thing (Jill Sprecher, 2002)

25^th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

About a Boy (Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz, 2002)

About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)

Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)

Analyze That (Harold Ramis, 2002)

Austin Powers in Goldmember (Jay Roach, 2002)

Auto Focus (Paul Schrader, 2002)

Barbershop (Tim Story, 2002)

Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2002)

The Bourne Identity (Doug Liman, 2002)

Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)

Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002)

Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2002)

City of God (Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund, 2002)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (George Clooney, 2002)

The Count of Monte Cristo (Kevin Reynolds, 2002)

Death to Smoochy (Danny DeVito, 2002)

Devdas (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2002)

Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002)

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Callie Khouri, 2002)

Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)

Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma, 2002)

Full Frontal (Steven Soderbergh, 2002)

Funny Ha Ha (Andrew Bujalski, 2002)

Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002)

The Good Girl (Miguel Arteta, 2002)

The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002)

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Sam Jones, 2002)

Ice Age (Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha, 2002)

Igby Goes Down (Burr Steers, 2002)

Insomnia (Christopher Nolan, 2002)

K-19: The Widowmaker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2002)

The Kid Stays in the Picture (Nanette Burstein & Brett Morgan, 2002)

Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (Bill Corcoran, 2002)

Lifeline (Victor Erice, 2002) [10 minute short]

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002)

Maid in Manhattan (Wayne Wang, 2002)

Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)

Mr. Deeds (Steven Brill, 2002)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Joel Zwick, 2002)

One Hour Photo (Mark Romanek, 2002)

Phone Booth (Joel Schumacher, 2002)

The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)

Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)

Red Dragon (Brett Ratner, 2002)

Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes, 2002)

The Rules of Attraction (Roger Avary, 2002)

Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002)

The Salton Sea (D.J. Caruso, 2002)

Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002)

Solaris (Steven Soderbergh, 2002)

Spider-Man (Sam Raimi, 2002)

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002)

The Sum of All Fears (Phil Alden Robinson, 2002)

Sunshine State (John Sayles, 2002)

Sweet Home Alabama (Andy Tennant, 2002)

Time Changer (Rich Christiano, 2002)

Two Weeks Notice (Marc Lawrence, 2002)

Unfaithful (Adrienne Lyne, 2002)

Voice of Hope (Maciej J. Drygas, 2002)

2001 Cii Movie Awards

This list and awards compiled March 8, 2013

                      For the criteria of choosing the awards, click here.

Top 10 Films of 2001

1. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson)
2. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
3. Ali (Michael Mann)
4. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson)
5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)
6. Domestic Violence (Frederick Wiseman)
7. What Time Is It There? (Tsai Ming-liang)
8. Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis)
9. Electric Dragon 80.000 V (Sogo Ishii)
10. Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott)

Honorable Mentions: In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai), Gosford Park (Robert Altman), Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón), The Man Who Wasn't There (Joel Coen)

Best Actor
* Gene Hackman – The Royal Tenenbaums

Jack Nicholson – The Pledge

Will Smith – Ali

Billy Bob Thorton – The Man Who Wasn’t There

Tom Wilkinson – In the Bedroom

Best Actress

Halle Berry – Monster’s Ball

Maggie Cheung – In the Mood for Love

Catherine Keener – Lovely & Amazing

Audrey Tautou – Amélie

* Naomi Watts – Mulholland Drive

Best Supporting Actor

* Jim Broadbent – Moulin Rouge!

Steve Buscemi – Ghost World

Jude Law – A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Ian McKellen – Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Tony Shalhoub – The Man Who Wasn’t There

Ben Stiller – The Royal Tenenbaums

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Connelly – A Beautiful Mind

Cameron Diaz – Vanilla Sky

* Illeana Douglas – Ghost World

Frances O’Connor – A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Gwyneth Paltrow – The Royal Tenebaums

Maribel Verdú – Y Tu Mamá También

Best Director

Robert Altman – Gosford Park

Claire Denis – Trouble Every Day

* Peter Jackson – Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

David Lynch – Mulholland Drive

Steven Spielberg - A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Best Screenplay

Electric Dragon, 80.000V (Sogo Ishii)

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Frances Walsh, Phillipa Boyens & Peter Jackson)

Memento (Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan)

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)

* The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson)

Best Cinematography

* Ali (Emmanuel Lubezski)

Electric Dragon, 80.000V (Kasamatsu Norimichi)

In the Mood for Love (Christopher Doyle & Mark Li Ping-bin)

LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring (Andrew Lesnie)

Mulholland Drive (Peter Deming)

Best Editing

Ali (William Goldberg, Lynzee Klingman & Stephen E. Rivkin)

Black Hawk Down (Pietro Scalia)

Memento (Dody Dorn)

* Mulholland Drive (Mary Sweeney)

Trouble Every Day (Nelly Quettier)

Best Film Score

* Amélie (Yann Tiersen)

In the Mood for Love (Mike Glalasso & Shigeru Umebayashi)

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Howard Shore)

Mulholland Drive (Angelo Badalamenti)

Best Production Design

* A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Amélie

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

The Man Who Wasn’t There

The Royal Tenebaums

Best Ensemble Cast Performance

Gosford Park

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Memento

The Pledge

* The Royal Tenenbaums



2001 Films Seen (49 features as of 03.08.2013)

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
Ali (Michael Mann, 2001)

Amélie (Jean-Pierre Juenet, 2001)

American Pie 2 (J.B. Rogers, 2001)

Baby Boy (John Singleton, 2001)

Bandits (Barry Levinson, 2001)

A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard, 2001)

Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001)

Blow (Ted Demme, 2001)

Bridget Jones’ Diary (Sharon Maguire, 2001)

Domestic Violence (Frederick Wiseman, 2001)

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)

Electric Dragon 80.000 V (Sogo Ishii, 2001)

Frailty (Bill Paxton, 2001)

Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)

Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)

Hannibal (Ridley Scott, 2001)

Hearts in Atlantis (Scott Hicks, 2001)

Heist (David Mamet, 2001)

Hell House (George Ratliff, 2001)

I Am Sam (Jessie Nelson, 2001)

In the Bedroom (Todd Field, 2001)

In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2001)

Iris (Richard Eyre, 2001)

Jurassic Park III (Joe Johnston, 2001)

Life as a House (Irwin Winkler, 2001)

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)

Lovely & Amazing (Nicole Holofcener, 2001)

The Majestic (Frank Darabont, 2001)

The Man Who Wasn’t There (Joel Coen, 2001)

Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2001)

Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman & Lee Unkrich, 2001)

Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

Monster’s Ball (Marc Forster, 2001)

The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001)

The Pledge (Sean Penn, 2001)

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

Schlock!  The Secret History of American Movies (Ray Greene, 2001)

The Score (Frank Oz, 2001)

Scotland, PA (Billy Morrissette, 2001)

Shrek (Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson, 2001)

Swordfish (Dominic Sena, 2001)

Training Day (Antoine Fuqua, 2001)

Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis, 2001)

Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001)

Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)

What Time Is It There? (Tsai Ming-liang, 2001)

Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001)