Best Oscar Year (6th Decade)

[Heksagon]

This decade overall just doesn't seem that great. I'll go with 1980, which is led by Raging Bull and The Elephant Man, and most of the other nominees are at least respectable.

1979 is one of the most frustrating years ever. The fact that Apocalypse Now lost feels absurd nowadays, but I suppose the Academy was just falling in love with family films and they had awarded a war film just the previous year.

You can count me as one of the people who don't like All That Jazz. I just found it to be hugely egotistical, although I'm not surprised that a lot of artists love it. Jazz beating out Apocalypse for editing is, for me, one of the least deserving wins in that category ever (that is, relative to competition).

How Manhattan didn't receive more nominations is one of the biggest Oscar mysteries ever to me. Allen was at that time at the critical peak of his career and the film was commercially hugely successful.

[gunnar]

I went with 1986 because I liked the depth of the selection there with 1979 in second place. There were definitely plenty of films in other years that I liked as well, but I didn't like the overall lineup quite as much. For 1979, I love Breaking Away, but I'm not a big fan of Apocalypse Now. There were parts that I liked in that film, but overall I didn't care for it that much. Alien, Norma Rae, The Rose, and A Little Romance were all excellent as well. 1986 edged it by a bit, though, with Aliens, Hoosiers, Children of a Lesser God, Stand By Me, and others.

[Big Magilla]

It's not as if I saw the damn thing once 42 years ago and have loathed it ever since. I have tried to watch it at different times over the years, including on the Criterion Blu-ray because it's, you know, an "important" film, but it just drives me nuts. I did enjoy the interview on the disc with Ann Reinking, though.

[dws1982]

Magila's continued loathing of All That Jazz, all out of proportion to the movie's flaws (which I do acknowledge), is an ongoing mystery to me.

That's one of those movies where the people who hate it really hate it. I remember being kind of indifferent to it, but I bought it in the Criterion sale recently and plan to rewatch it soon. (There just never seems to be time, teaching two AP's now, and having to study for an additional certification...always something.)

There are still some big 1979 films I'm missing but it would tentatively be my pick as well. A year like 1984 has two of my favorite American films of the 1980's in the Best Picture lineup (Amadeus and Places in the Heart) but the rest of the year is just a wasteland, and a lot of this decade is like that for me.

[Mister Tee]

1979, the last great movie year of the 70s (and the best past 1975-76), is the easy choice for me -- despite the fact that they seriously under-rewarded the masterpiece that is Manhattan. But the five nominated films are all strong achievements, some of them ambitiously so. And, as with 1993, movies whose omission from best picture rankled me still show up in acting/writing categories (in addition to Manhattan, Being There, The China Syndrome and The Black Stallion), so they fit Wes' criteria.

There is much more to enjoy from the year beyond what made Oscar's list -- if one wants to dig deep, Rich Kids, Murder by Decree, North Dallas Forty, Life of Brian, Going in Style, and The Wanderers are all worth seeking out -- as is Magilla's Hair (a good effort, though not the godsend he apparently perceives).

Magila's continued loathing of All That Jazz, all out of proportion to the movie's flaws (which I do acknowledge), is an ongoing mystery to me.

[Big Magilla]

I'm very interested in what the board elders say about this one because for me it looks like an easy win for 1979. But that involves the canonization of Apocalypse Now among other films.

For me, 1979 is handicapped by the inclusion of the sickening All That Jazz at the expense of Hair, the year's best musical and best anti-war film, superior to the bloated Apocalypse Now in that regard.

Kramer vs. Kramer was a film of the moment but has faded in importance. Breaking Away was the best nominated film of the year, second only to Hair.

[Reza]

Not withstanding the 5 films Sabin mentions for 1979 I much prefer the films nominated for 1978.

The Deerhunter, An Unmarried Woman, Coming Home, Autumn Sonata, Midnight Express, Interiors, Coming Home, The Buddy Holly Story, California Suite (if you omit the Bill Cosby/Richard Pryor segment), Foul Play, Superman, Grease and Death on the Nile. All of these still hold up today.

The year also had Days of Heaven and Heaven Can Wait - both of which I never liked.

[Sabin]

I'm very interested in what the board elders say about this one because for me it looks like an easy win for 1979. But that involves the canonization of Apocalypse Now among other films. It's seen as a classic today but I know that view wasn't widely shared at the time. But a crop that involves All That Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Being There, Breaking Away, and Manhattan probably can't be beat, as well as a strong upper-tier of nominees plus a decent Best Picture winner Kramer vs. Kramer. That being said, I haven't seen a lot of that year's junk like 1941, The Black Hole, Ice Castles, Meteor, Moonraker, and The Promise.

[Big Magilla]

Platoon, A Room with a View, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Blue Velvet made this the most interesting year of the decade.

[OscarGuy]

Based on the totality of nominations, which Oscar year within this decade is best?