1998 Oscar Shouldabeens

1998 through 2007
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

I said at the time that neither Pleasantville nor The Truman Show would do well at the Oscars because old-timers found both films to be pale imitations of Twilight Zone, a show that kept them glued to their TV sets every Friday night from 1959-1964. While they both received three nominations apiece, The Truman Show garnering two in the top six categories, the lack of anticipated nominations for Jim Carrey in Truman and Joan Allen in Pleasantville did not surprise me.

In retrospect those same voters might want to take away Brenda Blethyn's nomination for Little Voice and give it to Allen, but at the time there was more good will toward Blethyn for having lost the Oscar in Secrets & Lies two years earlier than there was for Allen's having lost her supporting nod for Nixon the year before that.

Christopher Plummer, on the other hand, was robbed.
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Post by dws1982 »

That one still confounds me. It seemed like the perfect year for her, since she was coming off of two recent losses. She got great reviews, and as Oscar season began she won several critics awards--Los Angeles, Broadcasters, and several minor groups. But for some reason Pleasantville got ignored by the Globes, the SAGs (where it seems like the type of film that couldget an Ensemble nomination)...those early Best Picture predictions came to nothing; nothing for Screenplay, Cinematography, Effects. I don't really know why it ended up like that, but someone who should've been a frontrunner just ended up falling through the cracks.

Christopher Plummer ended up being in a similar situation the next year, although his was even stranger in that he was in a Best Picture nominee.




Edited By dws1982 on 1236309399
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Post by flipp525 »

--paperboy wrote:BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Joan Allen - Pleasantville*

Let's just talk this out. Why wasn't Joan Allen nominated this year? It still just confounds me to no end.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1299623419
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Post by paperboy »

BEST PICTURE
A Bug's Life
Pleasantville
Rushmore
Shakespeare in Love
The Truman Show

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson - Rushmore
John Madden - Shakespeare In Love
Terrence Malick - The Thin Red Line
Gary Ross - Pleasantville
Peter Weir - The Truman Show

BEST ACTOR
Jim Carrey - The Truman Show
Joesph Fiennes - Shakespeare In Love
Stephen Fry - Wilde
Ian McKellen - Gods and Monsters
Edward Norton - American History X

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Fernanda Montenegro - Central Station
Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love
Christina Ricci - The Opposite of Sex
Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Happiness
Ewan McGregor - Velvet Goldmine
William H Macy - Pleasantville
Bill Murray - Rushmore
Tom Wilkinson - Shakespeare In Love

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Joan Allen - Pleasantville
Patrica Clarkson - High Art
Toni Collette - Velvet Goldmine
Judi Dench - Shakespeare in Love
Rachel Griffiths - Hilary and Jackie

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
A Bug's Life – Andrew Stanton, Don McEnery, Bob Shaw
Pleasantville – Gary Ross
Rushmore – Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson
Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard
The Truman Show – Andrew Niccol

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gods and Monsters – Bill Condon
Out of Sight – Scott Frank
Primary Colors – Elaine May
A Simple Plan - Scott B Smith
Wilde – Juilan Mitchell




Edited By paperboy on 1242310790
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Post by Eric »

PICTURE
Alone. Life Wastes Andy Hardy
Flowers of Shanghai
Run Lola Run
Rushmore
The Thin Red Line


DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, Rushmore
Brian De Palma, Snake Eyes
Hou Hsiao-hsien, Flowers of Shanghai
Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan
Tom Tykwer, Run Lola Run

LEAD ACTOR
Moritz Bleibtreu, Run Lola Run
Johnny Depp, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan
Bill Murray, Rushmore
Edward Norton, American History X

LEAD ACTRESS
Shuan Fang, Flowers of Shanghai
Michiko Hada, Flowers of Shanghai
Franka Potente, Run Lola Run
Michelle Reis, Flowers of Shanghai
Jennifer Tilly, Bride of Chucky

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alexis Arquette, The Wedding Singer
Dylan Baker, Happiness
Matt Dillon, There's Something About Mary
John Goodman, The Big Lebowski
the pill bugs, A Bug's Life

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Joy Adams, Happiness
Elizabeth Ashley, Happiness
Fairuza Balk, American History X
Louise Lasser, Happiness
Camryn Manheim, Happiness
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Post by The Original BJ »

--Cinemanolis wrote:
--Big Magilla wrote:Manolis' count, though well intentioned, is flawed because it considers people's opinions of five years ago mixed with those whose lists are more recent or recently updated. Another problem is that it counts total mentions as opposed to placements within their top fives.


You're right.

However I am willing to do another counting, if we vote again.

The other issue is that even our own tastes change. I revisited a couple films from this year recently and was shocked to find that some pictures I had so loved didn't hold up at all, while others I had actively disliked seemed pretty great a couple years later.

So I tweaked a couple things, and I think I'm happy with the list...at least until the next revision.




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Cinemanolis
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Post by Cinemanolis »

Big Magilla wrote:Manolis' count, though well intentioned, is flawed because it considers people's opinions of five years ago mixed with those whose lists are more recent or recently updated. Another problem is that it counts total mentions as opposed to placements within their top fives.


You're right.

However I am willing to do another counting, if we vote again.
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Post by Big Magilla »

Sabin wrote:I thought we fucking decided that 'The Thin Red Line' is the better movie. I thought we all agreed. What are you doing? This is embarrassing. We're supposed to be better than that. A tie...horseshit.
There is a separate thread, a poll conducted last month in which The Thin Red Line was voted the best film of the five nominees.

Manolis' count, though well intentioned, is flawed because it considers people's opinions of five years ago mixed with those whose lists are more recent or recently updated. Another problem is that it counts total mentions as opposed to placements within their top fives.

If we were to list our choices in the top six categories in preferential order as we see them today, I'm sure it would produce a different outcome. For one thing, Gods and Monsters would place in the top five, certainly ahead of The Truman Show here and Elizabeth among the actual nominees.
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Post by Sabin »

98 was the year I started changing my perspecctive on film and I'm pretty sure I topped 100 that year for the first time. I worked at a movie theater that summer and it seemed so odd that the works of art (The Truman Show, Bulworth, Saving Private Ryan, and There's Something About Mary) thrived as much as the crap. Even the crap that wasn't terrible was pretty good, like the overlong but enjoyable Mask of Zorro. And the Art House Fare was especially hit or miss. I hated Smoke Signals but really loved Buffalo 66.

I wouldn't see the summer's best movie (Out of Sight) for some time, but it was a very cinematically formative summer even if my Best Of... list probably was as uninspired as this one.

(I do love There's Something About Mary which I saw at a sneak with no knowledge of the hair gel scene and to this day, I've never heard an audience lose its shit like that.)
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Post by Okri »

Sabin wrote:ANOTHER THING...'Rushmore'...is directed...by WES ANDERSON. Do I have to say more? No, I don't. TOO BAD! I'M GONNA! It's a masterpiece. It's the most miraculous, innovative, and cinematically influential comedy of the decade. By the way: uh-YEAH! What does it get? 2nd place for Bill Murray? And an 11th place mention for Paul Thomas Anderson? You're all embarrassments. And what about 'Out of Sight'? Didn't you guys seem 'Out of Sight'? It's amazing! One of the great genre-riffs of the decade and probably Soderbergh's best movie. Another taste of things to come, and the pulpier work of 'Pulp Fiction'.
I particularly appreciated Paul Thomas Anderson's work for Rushmore. Beautifully done....
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Post by Eric »

Yeah, I'm not sure which of these threads have lists from me, but I'd bet the number is few. Unlike some of us here who see 40 movies a year and think they're pretty well done, I can't even say I feel I've gotten a well-rounded look at the year's offerings if I've seen 100. (The last time I managed that was in 2004, when I was sort of second-stringing for City Pages and saw a bunch of movies that shouldn't have even counted.)
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Post by Penelope »

Well, Sabin, look over the names of people who voted in this thread (and, it seems, in the other "shouldabeen" threads)--I'm afraid I don't recognize many of them, and some of the board stalwarts (myself, flipp, etc.) aren't here. I'm working on my "shouldabeens" but it'll take awhile....
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Post by Cinemanolis »

Sabin wrote:ANOTHER THING...'Rushmore'...is directed...by WES ANDERSON. Do I have to say more? No, I don't.


Oops, you're right, That's my mistake. Corrected.

Totally agree that Thin Red Line is better than Saving Private Ryan.

The thing about Wes Anderson, AND Paul Thomas Anderson by the way, is that i always seem to like their directing abilities, more than their films. Don't get me wrong, most of the times i love their films, but in my year-end awards i end up nominating them as directors, but their films are not in the Best Picture lineup
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Post by Sabin »

WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE!

I thought we fucking decided that 'The Thin Red Line' is the better movie. I thought we all agreed. What are you doing? This is embarrassing. We're supposed to be better than that. A tie...horseshit.

ANOTHER THING...'Rushmore'...is directed...by WES ANDERSON. Do I have to say more? No, I don't. TOO BAD! I'M GONNA! It's a masterpiece. It's the most miraculous, innovative, and cinematically influential comedy of the decade. By the way: uh-YEAH! What does it get? 2nd place for Bill Murray? And an 11th place mention for Paul Thomas Anderson? You're all embarrassments. And what about 'Out of Sight'? Didn't you guys seem 'Out of Sight'? It's amazing! One of the great genre-riffs of the decade and probably Soderbergh's best movie. Another taste of things to come, and the pulpier work of 'Pulp Fiction'.

Dude...you guys have changed.
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Post by Cinemanolis »

Overall (23 VOTERS)

PICTURE
1. Saving Private Ryan ---------- 12
2. The Thin Red Line -------------12
3. Shakespeare In Love --------- 11
4. Life Is Beautiful -----------------9
5. The Truman Show ------------- 9

6. Gods and Monsters ----------- 8
7. Elizabeth ------------------------- 7
8. Central Station ----------------- 7
9. Happiness ----------------------- 6
10. A Simple Plan ------------------- 5

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan ---- 15
2. Terrence Malick, The Thin Red Line --------14
3. Bill Condon, Gods and Monsters ------------8
4. Shekhar Kapur, Elizabeth ----------------------8
5. Peter Weir, The Truman Show -------------- 8

6. John Madden, Shakespeare In Love -------- 7
7. Todd Solonz, Happiness ------------------------5
8. Roberto Benigni, Life Is Beautiful ------------5
9. Walter Salles, Central Station ----------------4
10. Wes Anderson, Rushmore ---------4
11. Sam Raimi, A Simple Plan ---------------------4

BEST ACTOR

1. Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters --------- 20
2. Nick Nolte, Affliction ---------------------------17
3. Edward Norton, American History X -------14
4. Jim Carey, The Truman Show ---------------- 9

5. Roberto Benigni, Life Is Beautiful -----------7
6. Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan -------------7

7. Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski ----------------5
8. Alex Dimitriades, Head On --------------------4
9. Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare In Love ------4
10. Eamonn Owens, The Butcher Boy ----------4

BEST ACTRESS

1. Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth --------------------- 19
2. Fernarda Montenegro, Central Station ----18
3. Emily Watson, Hilary and Jackie -------------18
4. Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare In Love ---14
5. Meryl Streep, One True Thing ----------------9

6. Holly Hunter, Living Out Loud ----------------4
7. Jane Horrocks, Little Voice --------------------4
8. Ally Sheedy, High Art ---------------------------4
9. Oprah Winfrey, Beloved -----------------------3
10. Christina Ricci, The Opposite of Sex ---------3

BEST SUPPRTING ACTOR

1. Billy Bob Thorton, A Simple Plan ------------ 19
2. Bill Murray, Rushmore -------------------------13
3. Ed Harris, The Truman Show ------------------ 9
4. James Coburn, Affliction ------------------------8
5. Michael Caine, Little Voice ---------------------7

6. Dylan Baker, Happiness -------------------------5
7. Jeremy Davis, Saving Private Ryan -----------5
8. Geoffrey Rush, Shakespeare In Love --------5
9. Donald Sutherland, Without Limits ---------4
10. Nick Nolte, The Thin Red Line ----------------4

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Kathy Bates, Primary Colors ------------------ 16
2. Lynn Redgrave, Gods and Monsters --------14
3. Joan Allen, Pleasantville -----------------------14
4. Rachel Griffiths, Hilary and Jackie -----------12

5. Judi Dench, Shakespeare In Love ------------11
6. Lisa Kudrow, The Opposite of Sex -----------11

7. Brenda Blethyn, Little Voice ------------------8
8. Patricia Clarkson, High Art --------------------5
9. Thandie Newton, Beloved --------------------5
10. Kimberly Elise, Beloved ------------------------4
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