1995 Oscar Watch

1995 is a pretty weak film year.  There wasn't a movie that scored huge with critics and audiences like Forrest Gump the year before and there weren't any cool indies like the year after.  This year is just kind of, meh.  The acting categories are all decent, except for one, but Best Picture just seems like a category full of second choices.  I actually don't blame the Academy for the poor choices, I had trouble filling out some of my categories as well.
You can see my GABBY winners and nominees HERE

BEST PICTURE

 

5. Sense And Sensibility - What if Little Women won in 1994 or Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet won in 1996?  I don't care if this is the best adaptation of a book that has been filmed countless times, it's still a story that has been filmed countless times.  If I keep making a shot-for-shot remake of Fargo with the same actors every year, eventually I'll win Best Picture.  How is that fair?

4. Il Postino - 9 times out of 10 a foreign film automatically lands in 5th place.  This year I would rather vote for this than Sense And Sensibility.  Also, it wasn't eligible for Best Foreign Film so putting it here makes sense.  I really don't like when a foreign film gets nominated for both Best Foreign Film and Best Picture, I feel like it should be one or the other.  Anyway, this is a movie about a postman who falls in love with a girl and gets help in wooing her by the famous exiled poet Pablo Nerudo.  It's a sweet little film and it was released by Miramax so you can be assured that it would show up here.  Is it a good film?  Yeah.  Did it need to be nominated?  Absolutely not.  Would Leaving Las Vegas, The Usual Suspects, Toy Story, Dead Man Walking or 12 Monkeys have been better nominees?  Yes.

3. Braveheart - "They can take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom."  This seems like a weird Best Picture choice.  It was a historically inaccurate action movie that came out in the summer starring Mel Gibson in a kilt.  I looked through the small handful of awards it won and it seems to be a surprise nominee as well.  More on that later, let's just talk about the movie.  It's fine.  Mel Gibson has an eye for visual violence as we saw in his later films.  The battle scenes are really well done but the story and the acting and the writing don't push this anywhere close to Best Picture territory for me.

2. Babe - I never saw Babe until I was in college, circa 2002 maybe, but we did have Gordy on VHS when I was growing up.  That was the other talking pig movie from 1995 that is nowhere near as good as this.  It's still a passable family flick but Babe is a beautiful fairy tale.  Everything about this movie is magical, the voices of the animals, they way their mouths move to talk, even the sets and costumes, it looks like a storybook brought to life.  It's not something that usually gets nominated for Best Picture, but I'm glad it's here and I kinda want to vote for it.  Babe is a pig separated from his mother, he is brought to a farm to be slaughtered but proves himself as a sheepdog and wins the respect of his owner and the other animals on the farm.  It's an incredibly sweet movie that is perfect for all ages.

1. Apollo 13 - This is Ron Howard and Tom Hanks's love letter to NASA.  It tells the true story of the Apollo 13 space mission.  This is only a year removed from the first moon landing and the public's interest in landing on the moon has waned.  We were excited when you did it once, then still enthusiastic when you did it again, but now you're doing it a third time and you expect us to care?  There's a problem in space and they have to fix it or they will die.  It flows like a documentary and is a really good movie.  It's smart but also a popcorn flick.  I honestly think the only reason this didn't win is because of the Tom Hanks factor.  He wins Best Actor in 1993 and 1994, his movie wins Best Picture in 1994, does this guy really need any more love?  That and the Ron Howard snub.

This is the first time for my Oscar blogs that my favorite choices were in alphabetical order.  I know that's probably not interesting to anyone but I thought I'd mention it.  You know what else is uninteresting?  This category.  This whole year seems weird, it's like they had no idea what to do so they just picked some movies out of a hat.  Braveheart received no critics awards, those were gobbled up by Sense And Sensibility and Leaving Las Vegas, which wasn't nominated.  All Braveheart really had was a Golden Globe win for Best Director.  Then the director's guild messed up and didn't include Ang Lee or Ron Howard leaving Braveheart as the only option for the win.  If Ron Howard got a director nomination, Apollo 13 would have been the winner.  Apollo 13 is the only movie that leaps out as me as a Best Picture winner but I will admit it's a pretty boring choice.  It just checks all the boxes of an Oscar winner.  Also, it would be justice for Ron Howard getting snubbed in the Best Director category, just like Argo winning in 2012.  Also it might spare the Academy the embarrassment of awarding A Beautiful Mind in 2000.

Oscar Winner: Braveheart

My Vote: Apollo 13

GABBY Winner: The Usual Suspects

BEST ACTOR

 

5. Massimo Troisi - Il Postino - It's a sad story, this guy had heart problems but postponed surgery until after filming was completed.  The day after shooting was wrapped he died from a massive heart attack.  Dude, I'm sorry you died but that's got to be worthy of a Darwin Award.  He's good as the titular postman but I always find it hard to judge a performance in a foreign language against an English speaking one.  So, sorry you died for your art but you still end up in the 5th spot.

4. Richard Dreyfuss - Mr. Holland's Opus - This is an inspirational teacher movie, like Dead Poets Society with music instead of poetry.  Dreyfuss plays a music teacher who uses rock and roll to reach his students, much to the chagrin of the school board.  His newborn son is also deaf so he has to learn sign language to communicate with him.  Dreyfuss does a nice job of aging with the character, the movie spans almost his entire life, but this is a veteran nomination, and he already won for a better performance.  So, glad to see you're still working but I can't vote for you.

3. Anthony Hopkins - Nixon - Hopkins plays Richard Nixon in Oliver Stones 3+ hour biopic.  What Hopkins does here is create a character instead of relying on an impression.  This isn't Rich Little doing Nixon, this is Anthony Hopkins creating a character that has a Nixon base.  He's really fascinating to watch.  I'm not voting for him because the movie is too bloated and he already won but Hopkins being here gives this category a bit of class.

2. Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking - Penn plays a man on death row for murder and rape.  At first he's claiming his innocence but then comes out and says he did it, but he's still a human being, a shitty one, but still a human life.  The whole movie is him talking to a nun who is trying to get his sentence commuted to life in prison instead of death.  It's an interesting story to tell because this guy shouldn't be part of society, but what should we do with him?  Do you stick him in a cell for the rest of his life or kill him?  I've never been a fan of Penn, I definitely don't like his 2 Oscar winning performances, but this is my favorite role he's done.  He's really good at creating an unsympathetic character that you hate but question whether or not he deserves to die.  If you NEED to give Sean Penn an Oscar, this is the one I would give it to him for.  I can't vote for him though because there is one performance I like better.

1. Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas - However you feel about Nicolas Cage, you can't say he doesn't deliver interesting performances.  The guy consistently goes to 11 in every role whether he's playing a drunk, an FBI chemist, a southern convict, a ghost rider or a guy bitten by a vampire.  This was the perfect marriage between actor and character.  His Nicolas Cage-isms are blended together with a more muted character and he's incredible in the film.  He plays a guy who decides to drink himself to death in Las Vegas after a divorce.  There he meets a prostitute, starts a relationship with her and they both go down a path of the most depressing love story ever told.

God damn, Nic Cage is amazing here.  Every tic and every mannerism seems both over the top and understated at the same time.  He's given some incredible performances and some incredibly insane performances and this one straddles the line between both.  It's the perfect Nicolas Cage performance, this and Adaptation, which he could have also won for.  It just so happens that he was the best in a fairly weak category too.  No other choice makes sense other than Cage.

Oscar Winner: Nicolas Cage

My Vote: Nicolas Cage

GABBY Winner: Nicolas Cage

BEST ACTRESS

 

5. Emma Thompson - Sense And Sensibility - I know there must be people who love these Jane Austen costume dramas, because they keep getting made, but I don't get it.  Stuff like this had a time and a place and that was in the 1930s and 1940s where they could get away with a boring movie like this with beautiful technicolor or lush black and white cinematography.  In 1995 it just feels dated.  There's absolutely nothing fresh about this thing at all.  The costumes are pretty, the sets are nice, the acting is fine but I just can't get past the proper dialogue.  How is Thompson in the film?  She's fantastic.  She's a terrific actress.  You fall in love with her.  The movie's boring as shit though so I ain't voting for it.  Sorry if I seem angry but I literally just finished watching the movie and want those 136 minutes back.

4. Meryl Streep - The Bridges Of Madison County - Meryl is an Italian housewife.

3. Sharon Stone - Casino - Casino is like Goodfellas Too.  Not Goodfellas 2, Goodfellas Too.  Like how Teen Wolf Too was about another Teen Wolf.  This is Martin Scorsese doing Goodfellas again.  It's not as good as Goodfellas but it's almost as good and given the weak Best Picture lineup, had this been nominated I would probably vote for it and Scorsese as Best Director.  It didn't get the respect it deserved at the time probably because it feels too much like Goodfellas.  Robert DeNiro is a Vegas casino boss and the movie is all about mob dealings and gangster stuff.  Stone plays his wife, she starts out as a girl in the casino who grifts people for money but then becomes kind of the Lorraine Bracco character in Goodfellas.  She's really good in the role.  Problem is, it's not exactly a lead role.  Had she been in the supporting category she would have totally gotten my vote there.

2. Susan Sarandon - Dead Man Walking - Sarandon plays a nun who talks to Sean Penn while he's in prison awaiting lethal injection.  She won this Oscar based on career achievement, you can't convince me differently.  Based on performance alone I would probably rank her 4th or 5th but the fact that she never won an Oscar and this was her best opportunity ranks her 2nd this year.  I couldn't get past the fact that she was slightly miscast.  She's playing an old nun but I kept seeing Susan Sarandon advocating against the death penalty.  She's perfectly fine in the role but this feels like Hollywood casting and I think a less glamorous actress would have been more realistic in the role.

1. Elisabeth Shue - Leaving Las Vegas - In lesser hands this would be your standard "hooker with a heart of gold" role.  Shue plays a prostitute who meets a drunk and they form a relationship.  Shue is incredible in the role, she's a tortured soul who finds a kinship in another tortured soul.  There's a vulnerability and strength in her performance that is fascinating and she matches Cage beat for beat.  I see them as a package deal and if I'm going to vote for Cage I gotta vote for Shue too.

I love Susan Sarandon and completely support the decision to give her an Oscar.  I just thought Elisabeth Shue was too incredible to be ignored.  Sarandon does a decent job in her film but this is by no means her best role.  She's also still cranking out good work 20 years later so if they don't give her the win here it sets her up for a real nice veteran win in the future.  Shue has never been as good as she is in Leaving Las Vegas before or since, so that definitely influences my decision.

Oscar Winner: Susan Sarandon

My Vote: Elisabeth Shue

GABBY Winner: Elisabeth Shue

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 

5. Tim Roth - Rob Roy - You know how I mentioned Gordy earlier?  That was the other talking pig movie from 1995.  This is the other Scottish romantic epic from 1995.  I remember when this came out and nobody cared, then Braveheart came out and I thought, who's gonna want to see that if nobody saw Rob Roy?  Anyway, Roth plays the villain.  He's an aristocrat sent to find Rob Roy and he's good in the role.  He plays the character very quirky to where it stands out from the film and he's the one thing you remember after watching.  I'm surprised he got nominated.  Only rarely do you see a guy get nominated for being the best thing in a bad movie.

4. Ed Harris - Apollo 13 - Ed Harris is such a good actor and should probably have an Oscar at this point.  He's just never had that role that gives him that "No questions asked" status when it comes to winning an award.  It's because he's an understated actor, he's not flashy, he just exists in the character and delivers a good performance but after watching the movie you're like, he's good but he didn't stand out at all.  Here he plays a NASA flight director who is the guy on the ground making sure everything runs smoothly.  He's got some real good scenes but, again, it's nothing that makes you put his name at the top of the list of people who deserve an Oscar.  He had another good performance this year in a horrible movie called Just Cause where he plays an insane criminal.  I'm glad he's here but I just can't vote for him against his competition.

3. James Cromwell - Babe - Cromwell is another actor that is so good that he should have an Oscar, but what role could you have him win for?  He's been working since the 70s but didn't break out until he got older and this was really the start of his career.  This role lead to LA Confidential and Star Trek: First Contact and a lengthy resume of character roles.  Here he plays Farmer Hoggett, the farmer who takes in Babe and trains him to be a sheepdog.  The final scene in the film is so touching and heartfelt that he deserved the nomination just for that.  There's also a scene in the middle of the film where he sings to Babe as he is nursing the pig back to health.  There is no hint of irony in his performance, he's just a man taking care of his pig.  It's a really sweet performance.

2. Brad Pitt - 12 Monkeys - It's hard to describe the plot of 12 Monkeys so I won't even try.  It's a Terry Gilliam mindfuck involving time travel.  Bruce Willis goes back in time to stop Pitt from releasing a virus, but Pitt is just an insane man.  If you haven't seen it just know that it's a good flick and Brad Pitt is really good in it.  Pitt gets to play full on wack-a-doodle here, he started out as pretty face who was geared to go on the romantic drama route but proved that he could actually act and create a character with this film.  He'd completely hold up as a winner but there's just one performance on this list that's better.

1. Kevin Spacey - The Usual Suspects - OK, no spoilers for The Usual Suspects but, why are you reading this if you haven't seen The Usual Suspects yet?  You've had over 20 years, get on that shit.  Spacey plays a crippled criminal who is the lone survivor of a heist went wrong.  He's telling the story to a police detective and the movie plays out mostly in flashback.  Spacey is incredible.  The only problem is that he's kind of a lead role so it feels like cheating to have him win here.

Damn, tough category.  All these actors deserve Oscars based on good careers and solid performances.  Having hindsight on my side makes me want to vote for Pitt, Cromwell or Harris because Spacey is just going to win another Oscar in 4 years.  All things were equal in 1995 though so Spacey gets my vote just because he gave the best performance.  That along with the fact that he had a breakout year in 1995, not only did he have The Usual Suspects but he also starred in Swimming With Sharks and had a cameo as the villain in Seven and appeared in Outbreak.  The dude had an insanely good year so he earns it based on that as well.

Oscar Winner: Kevin Spacey

My Vote: Kevin Spacey

GABBY Winner: Kevin Spacey

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 

5. Mare Winningham - Georgia - This movie is about Jennifer Jason Leigh as an aspiring singer, her sister, Winningham, is a successful singer, and Leigh is just a mess of a human being.  She does a lot of drugs and has questionable talent.  She has a lot of heart as you can see in a scene where she sings with her sister.  Winningham is fine in the film but this seems like a nomination you get if the movie gets a slew of nominations.  The fact that Leigh was ignored but Winningham is here automatically puts her at number 5.  It's like now I'm watching the movie for Winningham's performance but I'm just thinking, why wasn't Jennifer Jason Leigh nominated instead?  She's great in the role, Winningham is just kind of there.  Winningham herself was surprised to be nominated.

4. Kathleen Quinlan - Apollo 13 - Quinlan plays Tom Hanks's wife who is back on Earth with their son while he is facing certain death in space.  She sees him off then gets worried when he's in trouble then cries tears of joy when he safely lands.  There's really not much to the character and probably any other actress would have been just as effective in the role.  This is a bit of a filler nomination for a movie that was going to get a lot of nominations, she came along for the ride.

3. Kate Winslet - Sense And Sensibility - Hey, how did Kate Winslet get in the 3rd spot?  Oh right, this is a weak category.  I wish Winslet and Thompson weren't so damn good.  They are both fantastic.  I just can't stand this movie, or, I can't stand this type of movie.  I feel like critics give these a pass because they would feel dumb if they didn't like it.  Anyway, Winslet is great in the movie and if you do like these types of movies I can see why you would want to vote for her.  I would much rather her have an Oscar for a movie I enjoyed.

2. Mira Sorvino - Mighty Aphrodite - The Academy loves women in Woody Allen films.  Here Woody and Helena Bonham Carter adopt a baby and Woody discovers that the birth mother of the child is a prostitute and a porn star, played by Sorvino.   It's definitely the most fun role on this list.  She has a high pitched voice that almost makes her sound like a cartoon character.  The academy loves Woody and they love awarding ingenues in this category, and they also like ingenues that are the offspring of other actors (see Angelina Jolie in 1999).  I understand why she won and I'm okay with it but I'm voting for someone else.

1. Joan Allen - Nixon - Allen plays Pat Nixon, Richard's wife.  She stands by her man but wants him to get out of politics.  She's the only person he will listen to.  It's a very strong character and Allen is perfect in the role.  In a stronger year she would be a number 2 but this year she's number 1 based on performance alone.  Add that to the fact that she's been nominated a couple times and never won and been snubbed more times than she's been nominated (Pleasantville, The Upside Of Anger, Room, Manhunter, The Ice Storm).

Mira Sorvino is a hoot in Mighty Aphrodite and if I was voting for my favorite movie on this list I would vote for her.  I'm voting for my favorite actress though and Joan Allen deserves an Oscar more than Mira Sorvino.  Sorvino never came close to getting another nomination and Allen is an incredible actress who is consistently overlooked.  I like both performances and my vote doesn't matter anyway, so I'm picking Allen.

Oscar Winner: Mira Sorvino

My Vote: Joan Allen

GABBY Winner: Catherine Keener for Living In Oblivion

Best Director

No doubt Ron Howard should have been nominated, and probably should have won, for Apollo 13.  The way he shot the space mission footage makes you feel like you are in the shuttle.  He won the DGA award but was slighted by the Academy.  In his absence Mel Gibson wins for Braveheart.  I don't like the decision because I don't like the man, he does have a keen visual eye for action but I can't say he deserved this.  His competition was weak though, Chris Noonan for Babe and Michael Radford for Il Postino were the only two that had corresponding Best Picture nominations.  Instead of Howard or Ang Lee for Sense And Sensibility they went with Tim Robbins for Dead Man Walking and Mike Figgis for Leaving Las Vegas.  If I was voting for best directorial achievement I would pick Figgis, but he was definitely a long shot.

Best Original Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay

The Usual Suspects rightfully wins Best Original Screenplay over Toy Story, Mighty Aphrodite and Nixon.  For some reason Braveheart got nominated as well.  Emma Thompson wins the adapted screenplay category for Sense And Sensibility.  I understand why she won, you gotta give her something for her passion project but Leaving Las Vegas, Babe and Apollo 13 were better screenplays in my opinion.

Best Original Dramatic Score/Musical Or Comedy Score/Song

This is the first year in the Oscars failed experiment of splitting up the score category into dramatic and musical/comedy.  It was a novel idea but it led to movies like the remake of Sabrina to earn an Oscar nomination.  Il Postino takes home the Dramatic score Oscar over Apollo 13 and Braveheart.  It seems like a consolation prize as it was the only thing it won.  Pocahontas wins in the musical or comedy category which is the exact reason the Oscars did this.  Disney was dominating the score awards for movies that were more heavy on songs than original scores.  This was the perfect time to honor Randy Newman for his work on Toy Story but they missed the boat twice.  He was also nominated for the song You've Got A Friend In Me but lost to The Colors Of The Wind also from Pocahontas.

Best Sound/Sound Effects Editing

Apollo 13 wins 1 of its only 2 Oscars in the Best Sound category, and deservedly so.  The big budget Kevin Costner disaster Waterworld also got a nomination.  Braveheart wins Sound Effects Editing for a bunch of clanging swords and horse hoofs, a fair choice. 

Best Art Direction/Costume Design

Remember Restoration?  No?  Neither do I, but it won two Oscars.  How it beat Sense And Sensibility for costumes I have no idea.  Not that I prefer one over the other but one was nominated for Best Picture, so you think that would edge out another film.  I'm also not sure how 12 Monkeys got a nomination for costumes. 

Best Cinematography

Braveheart wins an incredibly weak category.  None of the nominees really deserved to be here, especially Batman Forever. 

Best Makeup

Braveheart wins another weak category.  Painting Mel Gibson's face blue is more worthy of an Oscar than turning Peter Falk into a 100 year old man in the forgettable film, but worthy of a makeup Oscar, Roommates.

Best Film Editing

Apollo 13 wins its 2nd Oscar, rightfully, for editing, even though it beat out Seven which is a more interestingly edited film. 

Best Visual Effects

Babe beats Apollo 13.  They were also the only 2 movies nominated.  I'll admit that the talking animals in Babe look a whole lot better than Mr. Ed but Apollo 13 shot in zero gravity, that's not worth an Oscar?  This was the only thing Babe won though so I'm glad it didn't leave empty handed.

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