1997 Oscar Watch

Just like another 1997 film, everybody had their ice puns at the ready come Oscar night.  Will L.A. Confidential be the iceberg to sink Titanic?  Can anything sink the giant ship?  Turns out, No.  Titanic was not only the biggest movie of the year, it was the biggest movie of all time and was still taking in money when people were voting on the Oscars.  There was really no stopping it and the main reason is because it was a really good year in film.  If the year stunk and you had Titanic, L.A. Confidential and 3 filler nomination you could make a case for L.A. Confidential taking the prize but this year you have Titanic and 4 good movies.  Compare it to 1977 where you had Annie Hall vs. Star Wars and Annie Hall won.  If Star Wars was up against Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories and Bullets Over Broadway it would be hard not to vote for Star Wars.
You can see my GABBY winners and nominees HERE

BEST PICTURE

 

5. Good Will Hunting - This is not a terrible movie to have in the number 5 spot which shows you not only what a good movie year 1997 was but that the Oscars did a pretty good job of picking their nominees this year.  This is the movie that introduced us to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who not only star but wrote the screenplay.  Damon is a math genius who constantly squanders his potential.  He works as a janitor at MIT and solves a math problem after hours, he gets in a fight with some locals and as part of his parole he is forced to go to therapy with Robin Williams.  It's a redemptive story about a kid coming from nothing to make something of himself and the movie was written by two nobodies who made something of themselves.  The story of the movie was almost better than the film itself.  Here were two starving actors who wrote a screenplay, got it produced and became stars.  As for the movie, it's good, not great.  It has a strong beginning, middle and end but after watching it this time I was surprised by how little I cared about any of the characters and how some of them I just flat out disliked, mostly Affleck and his over the top hamminess.

4. Titanic - The most impressive thing about this film to me is how it wasn't a failure as big as the disaster it depicts.  This movie had horrible buzz leading up to its release.  It was the most expensive movie ever made, it was supposed to come out in summer but wasn't ready in time, then opened at the end of the year and became the top grossing movie of all time.  It was an event that people went and saw again and again.  They would see it, then take their friends to see it, then see it again.  People were reportedly seeing it multiple times a day, leaving the theater only to return to watch again.  The movie is a technical achievement, almost every shot is beautiful and the special effects were something nobody had seen at the time, and they're still impressive 20 years later.  The movie is obviously about the famed ocean liner disaster of the ship that was too big to sink.  It's a really good film if a little long.  My thoughts watching it this time were my same thoughts as when I saw it in 1997, the last act of the movie is incredible but we didn't need to spend so much time getting there.  The bookend narrative with Gloria Stuart and Bill Paxton also feels a little superfluous.  Still, may be the best film I've ever had ranked at #4.

3. As Good As It Gets - Jack Nicholson is an obsessive compulsive romance novelist, Helen Hunt is a single mother with a sick son working as a waitress, Greg Kinnear is a gay painter.  All of these characters get together through a series of circumstances and it is all filmed by the great James L. Brooks.  When Brooks has a handle on his characters his movies are incredible, like Broadcast News and Terms Of Endearment and this.  This is an uplifting film filled with flawed characters.  Of Brooks's best films this is in 3rd place for me but it's still heartwarming and makes you feel good.  It certainly didn't need to win, seeing as how Brooks already had his Oscar, but I'm glad it got the nomination.

2. L.A. Confidential - This is Hollywood film making at its best.  A tight screenplay with interesting characters made for adults with incredible style.  This is an incredible throwback to film noir about corruption within the L.A. police department set against the backdrop of 1950s Hollywood.  The thing I like most about the movie is how it lets you in on what the characters know as they find it out.  A lot of the times in detective movies you are always a few steps behind as an audience member and then the payoff is how the detective put everything together.  For me that's not fun, I like to be in the same shoes as the character and learn as they learn.  This movie does just that and all the twists and turns are exciting, leading to an explosive climax.

1. The Full Monty - I absolutely adore this film and it is one I can watch at anytime, no matter what my mood.  It never fails to put a smile on my face.  It's about a bunch of guys out of work who need money so they get the harebrained idea to put on a live nude revue.  None of them can dance and they aren't much to look at but they think if they disrobe in public they can make a couple of bucks.  This preceeded a string of imitators but this was the first.  After The Full Monty we got one movie every year that billed itself as "this year's Full Monty", movies like Calendar Girls, Saving Grace, Still Crazy and Kinky Boots where normal people concoct a crazy scheme to get money or save the whatever.  The thing that works best about this film is the characters and their attitudes to their situations.  There's some heavy themes at play here but they just live their lives the only way they know how, and why wouldn't they think they were as good as any Chippendale's dancer?

This is like David vs. Goliath but it's 4 Davids up against one Goliath.  Which David do you root for?  Might as well have David step on all of them.  My favorite film of the bunch is The Full Monty but I would also like to see L.A. Confidential win, or As Good As It Gets, or Titanic, Good Will Hunting, not so much but it's still a quality film.  So, since I could go a few different ways with my choice for the best film of the year might as well look the other way and let Titanic sweep.  It's a good film and holds up as an Oscar winner, unlike some other Oscar winning epics of the decade.  I like spectacle at the theater and Titanic brought just that but what brings me back again and again to a film is story and characters and that is what Titanic is lacking.  So I will watch The Full Monty over Titanic any day of the week but I'm not upset that Titanic won.

Oscar Winner: Titanic

My Vote: The Full Monty

GABBY Winner: Con Air

BEST ACTOR

 

5. Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting - Damon plays Will Hunting, a math genius who has been wasting his potential because he never got the breaks that other, richer kids got.  He was brought up an orphan, he never went to school, he works as a janitor at MIT and proves his intelligence by solving math problems in the hallways and giving it to the smahta kids.  He holds the film together with his angst and charm and his scenes with Robin Williams are very engaging.  Ironically, the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with Will Hunting.  He just wanders through life until he decides to wander somewhere else.  I usually don't like when someone wins for their first film role, I'd rather award a proven talent than a possible flash in the pan so Damon gets the 5th spot here but should be thrilled to be in such good company.

4. Peter Fonda - Ulee's Gold - This is a very understated performance, by which I mean it's kind of boring.  The movie is very simply told, by which I mean slow.  It's not a bad film but it's just kind of there.  The same thing can be said about Fonda's performance.  He's good but he just kind of walks around and lets things happen to him.  He's a widowed beekeeper and a Vietnam vet, his son is in jail and he is raising his granddaughters by himself.  You keep waiting for him to explode but he never does.  He stays quietly the same through the whole movie.  This opened up early in the year and critics loved it, I think this is a nomination for a guy who has been in movies for over 30 years and finally got a well written role.

3. Dustin Hoffman - Wag The Dog - This is a hilarious movie and was eerily timely when it came out.  The president gets in a sex scandal with an underage girl and to distract the public they start a fake war.  Hoffman is the movie producer who gets called in to make it all look real.  The film came out a month after the Monica Lewinsky scandal and even includes a familiar looking photo of a girl in a beret.  Watching it 20 years later, it still holds up.  They don't refer to any prominent political figures by name so the movie still feels current, since, you know, things never change.  Hoffman is really fun in the role, pretty much doing a direct spoof on Robert Evans.  I liked Robert De Niro's performance in the film a little better, he had the less flashy role and fleshed out his character more but Hoffman has most of the funny lines and is a real highlight.

2. Jack Nicholson - As Good As It Gets - Melvin Udall writes romance novels but can't have the simplest conversation with a normal person.  He is obsessive compulsive, vulgar, racist, homophobic and just big piece of shit.  Jack had 2 Oscars at this point so he didn't really need a 3rd but his performance here is certainly Oscar worthy.  He is able to get to the heart of the character, even if that heart is buried beneath an exterior that is despicable.  No matter how awful Melvin is, we still identify with him and love him because of Jack's performance.

1. Robert Duvall - The Apostle - Duvall wrote, directed, produced, financed, starred in and I think catered this film about a preacher without a flock.  It's one of those movies where we just follow a guy around for 2 hours but luckily Duvall creates such a fascinating character.  He's a god fearing man who believes in what he preaches but is assuredly a flawed man.  He openly sins but doesn't seem to have a problem with it because of his closeness to God.  I can't really tell if this is an overtly religious film or if it is condemning the two-faced ways of religious people and that's what makes the character so fascinating and Duvall is incredible in his more quiet moments and when he is full of fire and brimstone.

Duvall wins this based on process of elimination.  First off is Matt Damon, he just can't compete with the rest of this category.  Next off is Fonda, the performance is just too subdued for a Best Actor win.  In a weak year, maybe, but not here.  That leaves Hoffman, Nicholson and Duvall and since all the performances are good you just have to look at the figures.  Hoffman has 2 Oscars, Nicholson has 2, Duvall only has 1.  I think you have to give it to Duvall.  I think this one stung for him too.  He got robbed in 1979 and then got a makeup Oscar in 1983, this was a passion project for him that he wrote, produced, financed and directed plus the performance is great too.  It's much better than the one he actually won for.  The real reason I don't like Nicholson winning this year is because if he doesn't win here then he almost assuredly wins for About Schmidt and we could have been spared having to call Adrien Brody, Academy Award winner Adrien Brody.

Oscar Winner: Jack Nicholson

My Vote: Robert Duvall

GABBY Winner: Kevin Kline for In & Out

BEST ACTRESS

 

5. Julie Christie - Afterglow - Nick Nolte is married to Julie Christie, Johnny Lee Miller is married to Lara Flynn Boyle, Nolte has sex with Boyle, Christie has sex with Miller, they all find out, they have a big fight.  If you asked me what this movie was about, and please don't because I just watched it last night and barely remember it, I would say it was about Nick Nolte cheating on his wife.  What does Julie Christie do besides look incredibly gorgeous for her age?  Not that much.  She's perfectly fine in the movie but I couldn't point to one scene that warranted awards consideration.  This is a pure veteran nomination, no questions about it.

4. Helena Bonham Carter - The Wings Of The Dove - Every time I have to watch a foreign film for one of these blogs I always put it in the 5th spot and chalk it up to something getting lost in the translation.  I think I need to start doing that for costume dramas like this.  I can't tell you if this is a good film or not.  I didn't like it but if you like movies with pretty costumes, music and cinematography more than you like movies with relatable stories then you should check out The Wings Of The Dove.  Carter plays a woman who loves a man that she can't have and blah, blah, blah.

3. Kate Winslet - Titanic - Winslet plays Rose, a rich girl on the Titanic in love with a man below her social standing.  Winslet feels like a filler nomination and a real contender at the same time.  Depending on how I look at her name I think, oh yeah, she was great and deserved the nomination or I feel like she just got swept up and came along for the ride.  That's probably because she was nominated and DiCaprio wasn't which makes me think that the Best Actress contenders this year were weaker than the Best Actor contenders and that's how she secured the nomination.  Still, she is good in the film, not really Oscar winning level good but neither is anybody really in this category.

2. Judi Dench - Mrs. Brown - This is a Miramax costume drama about long dead English monarchy figures.  Usually you gotta stay away from these like the plague but this one is pretty enjoyable.  Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria, she's depressed because her husband is dead but forms a relationship with a Scotsman played by Billy Connolly.  He comes on as her servant but he's one of those servants where he respects her but doesn't take any of her shit.  He treats her like a real person when everyone else walks around eggshells in front of her and she respects that.  Everyone thinks their relationship is untoward and that's where the plot starts.  Dench is really good here and was the favored to win.  I would have no problem with her winning but I'm glad she didn't because if the choice was between As Good As It Gets winning an Oscar and Mrs. Brown winning an Oscar, I'm going to vote for the more enjoyable movie.

1. Helen Hunt - As Good As It Gets - Hunt is a single mother and a waitress with a sick son.  Every day at work she waits on Jack Nicholson, who is the worst person in the world.  When she doesn't show up to work one day because of her son, he pays for a personal doctor to visit her.  There's nothing automatically Oscar worthy about this performance but she is incredibly charming and holds the movie together.  Her romance with Nicholson should be weird because of their age difference but Hunt never makes it feel anything less than a genuine attraction.

Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets doesn't feel like a right choice to make but I'm voting for her and I feel like she is the right choice for a few reasons.  1. She's the only American actress nominated.  That feels like a bullshit reason to vote for someone but it does set her apart from the competition.  2. Her winning here almost makes up for Holly Hunter losing for Broadcast News.  After watching that movie I wanted to retroactively give the entire cast awards and giving this James L. Brooks movie an acting Oscar is kind of the same thing.  3. I liked her movie the most.  4.  Process of elimination.  3 out of 5 of these movies are boring as shit and the other one is Titanic.  Was the acting the best part of Titanic?  No.  Winslet's good but if you're going to honor acting you might as well honor the film that had one of the best acting ensembles of the year

Oscar Winner: Helen Hunt

My Vote: Helen Hunt

GABBY Winner: Pam Grier for Jackie Brown

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 

5. Anthony Hopkins - Amistad - Amistad is a Steven Spielberg historical drama about a slave ship.  Spielberg always knows how to make a movie look interesting, he's a great visual storyteller, but his dramas always tend to be 30 minutes too long.  This, Lincoln, Bridge Of Spies, I guess it's a problem with most historical dramas but those just happen to be 3 I watched recently.  I know where the story is going, because it's based on fact, but it takes it sweet time getting there.  As for Hopkins, he plays John Quincy Adams and it's one of those eccentric slightly hammy performances that livens up a dull film.  He's good but there's no way he can win for this, this is not on par with Hannibal Lecter so he's just taking up space from another deserving actor.

4. Burt Reynolds - Boogie Nights - What a difference 20 years makes.  I remember in 1997 thinking that Reynolds was the one to beat in this category and that he got robbed.  He was highly favored to win, picking up a bunch of critic's awards and a Golden Globe.  Watching the film this time I was surprised by how little he has to do here and how he is completely outshined by the entire cast.  The whole ensemble is filled with fascinating characters and he's just a horny old man.  He got this nomination because he was a star in the 70s who showed up in a respected indie.  If you're looking for someone to nominate from the film, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman and John C. Reilly would really be better choices.

3. Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting - Williams plays Sean Maguire, a psychology professor who takes on Will Hunting as a patient after several other therapists are unable to reach him.  His performance is warm and sweet and when he talks about his deceased wife you really feel for him.  Williams's untimely death has only added poignancy to the performance.  He's the most interesting character in the film and after the movie is over I realized why he won.  I just have one really big problem with it and that's the accent.  Is it better to try and fail or not try at all?  I would much rather Williams didn't attempt the Bahstan accent because when he really leans into in that "pahk the cah in the yahd" kind of way it's really distracting.

2. Greg Kinnear - As Good As It Gets - Kinnear plays Simon, a gay painter who lives across the hall from Jack Nicholson.  One day he sketches a model for a painting and he is robbed and beaten up.  This starts a series of events that gets Nicholson, Hunt and Kinnear together for a weekend getaway.  I'm trying to keep my opinions of Kinnear's performance in a 1997 mindset.  When I saw the movie then I really liked how Kinnear didn't play his character as a stereotype.  Watching it 20 years later I noticed a little lisping and limp-wristing but nothing that overshadows the heart of the character.  He provides the moral center of the story and holds his own in scenes with Jack, which is pretty remarkable considering he's only been in films for like 2 years at this point.

1. Robert Forster - Jackie Brown - I've been going back and forth on this movie for 20 years now.  When it first came out I was disappointed because it is nowhere near as cool as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and From Dusk Till Dawn and it just felt like it was missing something.  Then I watched it a couple years later and thought it was a cool movie but a lesser effort from Tarantino.  Now I think it may be my favorite of his films.  It's definitely not as cool or exciting as some of his other movies but I love how the story flows and how he puts different scenes together.  For instance, when Forster drives Pam Grier home from prison she steals a gun out of his glove box.  Instead of seeing her steal the gun, Forster find that the gun is missing and then her pulling the gun on someone.  We see these scenes side by side so as soon as Grier pulls out the gun, we see Forster discover it's missing.  Little things like that make this movie really interesting.  Anyway, Forster is one of the coolest actors ever and he seems to never raise his voice or really change his inflection.  He's a very reactive actor where you can tell that he's actually listening to what the other person is saying and responding appropriately.  He plays Max Cherry, a bail bondsman who puts out a bond on Jackie Brown from a drug dealer, then becomes infatuated with her and helps her carry out a scheme.  It's a really great laid back performance that gives the movie a really cool vibe.

Forster doesn't do anything flashy in Jackie Brown and that is precisely why he is so cool.  If you want further proof that he is a great actor, watch the 3rd season of Twin Peaks.  He just stands and looks at everyone, like he's making up his mind about what to say, and he's the most interesting character in the whole series.  He had a somewhat respectable career in the 1970s before Tarantino brought him back for this film.  So obviously, if we're talking career achievements, Williams and Reynolds deserve an Oscar before Forster.  But in this category I will almost always choose a true supporting actor over a star in a smaller role.

Oscar Winner: Robin Williams

My Vote: Robert Forster

GABBY Winner: Robert Forster

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 

5. Gloria Stuart - Titanic - Sometimes an old lady just has to play an old lady and they become an Oscar front runner.  Stuart won a SAG award and a few other critic's prizes and was considered a good chance to win here.  I never really understood it, it's not like she's Lauren Bacall, she was an actress that nobody had thought about in 50 years.  She's appropriately sweet in the film but I feel that her whole part is kind of filler.  We get all the emotion of the story without her bookends and she doesn't have much to do in the film except act as a storytelling device.

4. Minnie Driver - Good Will Hunting - Driver plays the stock girlfriend role but has some nice moments.  Driver's performance is actually all the more impressive since she's not a fully fleshed out character.  She meets Will Hunting in a bar, is attracted to him, stands by him even though he really doesn't give her any reason to and is talked about like she is the perfect woman the whole movie.  Driver does the best she can with the role but was far more alluring this same year in Grosse Pointe Blank.  There she was given a character worthy of her talent.

3. Kim Basinger - L.A. Confidential - Basinger plays a hooker that looks like Veronica Lake.  One of the subplots of the movie is about a guy who pays a plastic surgeon to turn prostitutes into famous movie star look-alikes, just watch the movie.  Basinger is fine in the film but is really kind of flat.  She does a good job of playing the femme fatale and serves that role well, just like Veronica Lake would have done in the 40s, but Lake never got an Oscar nod.  Basinger is just not that great of an actress and looks aside doesn't bring much to the role.

2. Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights - Moore plays Amber Waves, a porn star who acts as a maternal figure to her collection of outcasts.  She actually does have a daughter that she is not able to see because of her profession so she acts as a mother to a group of porn stars.  The most impressive part of Moore's performance is how well she transitions between portraying a character and portraying a character that is a bad actress.  She conveys real emotions when the cameras aren't rolling but as soon as she's on screen in the movie she does an amazing job of trying and failing to sound convincing.

1. Joan Cusack - In & Out - Joan Cusack is always big, broad and over the top and when it doesn't work it can be slightly annoying like in Mr. Wrong but when it works she is the best part of a movie.  Here it works.  She plays a bride-to-be whose fiancee is outed on national television shortly before their nuptials.  At first she is confused and doesn't believe the rumors but then starts to realize that her future husband may be lying to himself.  This all accumulates into a hilarious break up scene at the altar.  When a comedic performance gets nominated I almost always root for it but here, her performance mixed with the fact that she is consistently the most interesting thing about any movie she's in, she recently stole the film Snatched without saying a word, makes her an easy winner.

Cusack is my absolute favorite of the bunch but I could have definitely liked to have seen a Julianne Moore victory as well.  I see Basinger's win as an award for the film more than the actress.  Basinger is just not that great of an actress but people were able to spin this year into being about Kim's time.  Every year it seems there is one category where the winner isn't determined by the performance but by the actor being overdue and this being their year.  But was it really Kim Basinger's time?  Did she ever have a time?  Michelle Pfeiffer certainly had a time but didn't get an Oscar.  I gotta vote for Cusack just because she was the best of the bunch.  I think Basinger won because she was the only acting nominee from a film with an impressive ensemble.  They couldn't give an Oscar to Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce or Kevin Spacey so they settled on giving one to Kim.

Oscar Winner: Kim Basinger

My Vote: Joan Cusack

GABBY Winner: Joan Cusack

Best Director

James Cameron wins for Titanic which makes perfect sense.  The time and care he put into this movie deserves credit.  I would have rather seen Curtis Hanson win for L.A. Confidential but just like with Best Picture, I'm having a hard time picking whether I like L.A. Confidential or The Full Monty better and this category also has Atom Egoyan for The Sweet Hereafter thrown in which makes the decision even more difficult.  I'll just hold my nose and vote for Cameron.

Best Original Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay

Good Will Hunting wins Original which is a decision I liked at the time.  The movie really didn't hold up for me rewatching it 20 years later though.  Matt and Ben won the Oscar for their success story more than their actual screenplay.  As Good As It Gets, Boogie Nights, Deconstructing Harry and, especially, The Full Monty are much better written films.  L.A. Confidential wins Adapted which is the best choice in the category even up against tough competition from Wag The Dog and The Sweet Hereafter.

Best Original Dramatic Score/Musical or Comedy Score/Song

This is a year where I'm glad they split up the score category into comedy and drama.  Nothing was going to stop Titanic from winning in the music category but the original score to The Full Monty is really beautiful and deserved an Oscar.  When I first saw it nominated in this category I thought they were voting for Donna Summers but every time I watch the movie I always get swept up by the underscoring.  Titanic also wins for Best Song and Celine Dion's unstoppable ballad My Heart Will Go On.  This was the biggest song of the year and there was no way it couldn't win.  I would have voted for How Do I Live from Con Air but that's only because it's my favorite movie and the scene where they play the song makes me choke up every time.

Best Sound/Sound Effects Editing

Titanic wins both sound awards and deservedly so.  It would have been cool if Face/Off and Con Air were Academy Award winning films but Titanic was the best choice here.

Best Art Direction/Cinematography

Titanic wins both categories and while it's understandable and deserved I just have a slight issue with it because the movie is so heavy and reliant on special effects.  A lot of the ship was built on a computer so what's real and what's not.  L.A. Confidential is all practical film making and I feel deserves more credit for its design and cinematography.

Best Makeup

Men In Black wins over Titanic and Mrs. Brown.  No complaints here.

Best Costume Design

Titanic wins over a set of fairly boring and routine nominees including The Wings Of The Dove, Kundun, Amistad and Oscar And Lucinda.  What a horrible marathon that would be.

Best Film Editing

James Cameron wins his 3rd Oscar of the night as he's also a credited editor for Titanic.  This is another technical category where L.A. Confidential really should have won.  The way the movie is cut together is one of the reasons it works so well and glues your interest.  The ending shootout alone should have earned it the win here.

Best Visual Effects

Titanic wins over Starship Troopers and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.  Absolutely no complaints.

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