• Pete Hammond on campaigns entering the final stretch, voters with ballots in hand. [Deadline]
• Anne Thompson discusses Oscar voting procedures and more with AMPAS president Tom Sherak. [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Jen Yamato talks being the underdog with “Winter’s Bone” star (and Oscar nominee) John Hawkes. [Movieline]
Catch up with the idea behind this series here.
As the 60’s came to a close, Oscar decided to embrace its dirty side and give X-rated “Midnight Cowboy” the top prize. Coming a year after “Oliver!” makes it quite a juxtaposition and the film remains one of the most interesting picks by the Academy, particularly as it triumphed in the “Year of the Western.”
“The Wild Bunch,” “True Grit,” “Paint Your Wagon” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” all found themselves up for top prizes in a year that Tapley would probably have died to cover. Also great to see “Z” become the second foreign language Best Picture nominee in a year that Wikipedia claims is still the highest rated Oscar telecast ever. Take note current producers- there was no host and it lasted 145 minutes.
The 70’s were introduced with “Patton” earning Best Picture. War, epic, biopic, strong male lead; it completely fits the bill for a Best Picture winner. Of course, George C. Scott would famously become the first actor to refuse his award this year.
It was also the year The Beatles finally won an Oscar (for “Let it Be”) but had already broken up and failed to appear. Timely as ever, Academy.
With the Oscar season officially here it seemed only logical to dedicate an installment of The Lists to the little golden guy. And as we push forward past the fests and into the thick of it, I figured the best idea would be a broad assessment of the Academy’s chosen best through the years, a bone of contention for a great many, as you read in this space and in the comments section year in and year out.
But I must say, putting this list together was a joy. The percentage of times I think the Academy has gotten it “right” is quite low, of course, but when I skimmed the cream of the crop I was left with, I felt, a wonderful collective representative of the finest of American cinema.
Of course, that should itself be seen as damning the organization with faint praise. After all, the Academy has failed to recognize a great many foreign classics with its top prize. And by a great many I mean any.
The most celebrated decade in cinema, the 1970s, has three representatives on the collective, each of them at the very top. The 1990s and 1980s came in right behind with two to show for themselves, while the 1930s, 1940s and 1960s each had one entry.
I’d say that’s a pretty decent cross-section.
It goes without saying a list like this is incredibly subjective, but I’d be very curious to hear the readership’s thoughts on 82 years of this award, so when you rattle through my list, be sure to offer up your own in the comments section. We have a diverse group here so I’m sure there will be a number of unique takes.
What a sweet move on the part of Universal Pictures to unleash Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” a week or so early at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June. The Johnny Depp starrer will play as the fest’s centerpiece film. This will be a great way to drum up more and more recognition for the film leading into its July 1 release date.
Aside from that exciting news, I’m totally stoked for the “Behind the Scenes” screening of John Schlesinger’s “Midnight Cowboy,” which will include an extended conversation with actor Jon Voight. “Midnight Cowboy” remains one of my favorite films of all time, so just from a cinema geek perspective, I’m there.
The L.A. Film Fest runs from June 18 to June 28.
I’m having a hard time deciphering Peter Bart’s point in his cryptic new blog post, in which he reflects on the Academy’s malleable taste, and how quickly it can shift.
As his primary case study, he cites the bizarre contrast between two back-to-back Best Picture winners, wholesome musical “Oliver!” and X-rated, gay-tinged drama “Midnight Cowboy” in 1968-9, a turnabout which Bart feels reflected significant social change at the time. True enough. But he goes on to imply obliquely that we may be in the midst of a similar situation:
It’s hard to recall a more dramatic example of a professional organization displaying such a dramatic mood swing. But this was 1969, the year of Woodstock, Charlie Manson, Altamont, the Chicago Seven – a year of turmoil when just about everyone changed their attitudes toward just about everything.
Sounds a bit like 2009, doesn’t it? Well, not really. The country is opening up to new ideas and new leaders, but even today “Midnight Cowboy” would provide a measure of culture shock.
In 1969, the Academy saw fit to give “Midnight Cowboy” the award for Best Picture — a first ever for an X-rated film. Some saw the moment as a bellwether signaling a new dawn for the group, that they were developing a growing acceptance for the films that would start coming at them around this time of creative invigoration in the cinema. But was it really?
I remember somewhere that a high-ranking Academy official stated that if “A Clockwork Orange” won the Oscar for Best Picture they would resign their membership! The film had already won top honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and was nominated for four Academy Awards, among them Best Picture and Best Director. A ground-breaking work, the best of Kubrick’s career, still looking futuristic 37 years later, the film is an obvious masterpiece. But it frightened the Academy for whatever reason.
A year later Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris” came along with a galvanizing performance from Marlon Brando and was certainly a better film than at least two of the pictures nomination int he top race, “The Sting” and “A Touch of Class,” yet as expected, the Academy backed away from the film, nominating only Brando and Bertolucci.
What is it in the makeup of this esteemed organization of artists that makes them steer clear controversial films, films that push the envelope, that go further out on a limb than most in exploring dark and sometimes daring subject matter?
As much as I rant about some of the bizarre choices made by the Academy, let’s be fair…there are times when they are right on the money.
The AMPAS allowed for an embracing of the New American cinema with their awards for Best Picture and Best Director for “Midnight Cowboy” in 1969, and only they had the courage (and the smarts) to recognize that “The Godfather Part II” was a superior film to the first in handing it the same two trophies. They had awarded “The Godfather” Best Picture two years earlier, but much of the precursor circuit (and all of the critics groups) largely ignored the sequel, opting instead for films such as “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Chinatown,” among others.
The five awards betsowed on “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975 are among the group’s best choices ever, in particular the honors for actor Jack Nicholson and director Milos Forman.
Though far too often dismissed as a chick flick, “Terms of Endearment” was a marvelous slice of life that the Academy embraced with five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. By the way, is it not odd that first time winner James L. Brooks has never again been nominated in the directing category again, despite two Best Picture nominees in “Broadcast News” and “As Good As It Gets?”
I remember cheering loudly the many wins for “Amadeus,” “Out of Africa” and “Platoon” three years in a row, and though I believe “Goodfellas” is a better film, I was pleased to see a western, “Dances with Wolves,” win seven Oscars.
No arguments from me between 1991 and 1993, with “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Unforgiven,” and “Schindler’s List” all most deserving winners. And though I prefer “Pulp Fiction,” I understand why “Forrest Gump” took the top prize in 1994.
Bravo, too, to the Academy for honoring “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” a bonafide movie masterpiece, and again the following year for “Million Dollar Baby.”
So you see, for all my bitching (and we all do it…come on), I concede that the Academy does, from time to time, nail the best.