Written by Rhys Dowbiggin

It's weeks away from the penultimate awards ceremony in the film industry. What does that mean? It means a nice Sunday dinner, a pleasant television experience, and a few exchanges of, “Oh, that was a surprise.”

The Oscars are, regardless of the outcome, a great day. The faculty of film congregates to celebrate the achievements of their peers from the past year. From the red carpet ceremony to Jack Nicholson announcing the Best Picture, it’s hard not to be intrigued. Who wins and who loses often becomes more predominant than the actual work of the nominees. In that vein, let us take a trip back and focus on some of the greatest films in Oscar history.

1973

1975-77

Talk about stacked. Three straight years with three or more legit contenders for Best Picture. Just to blow your mind, here is a chronological list: The Godfather: Part II (1975), The Conversation (1975), and Chinatown (1975), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1976), Barry Lyndon (1976), Dog Day Afternoon (1976), Jaws (1976), and Nashville (1976), Rocky (1977), All The Presidents Men (1977), Network (1977), and Taxi Driver (1977).

I know, I know. Ridiculous lineup. Twelve movies were released in three years that could have contended or won in any year. Not just a few years. Any year. To truly fathom the scope of this three-year period, let’s look at the people involved. Directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, Sidney Lumet, Steve Spielberg, Robert Redford, Robert Altman, Milos Forman, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick directed one or more of these films. Actors like Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Harvey Keitel…. I’m going to stop. Honestly, need I go on?

1978

The year of the hunter. The Deer Hunter to be exact. The Oscars are famous for their upsets. One can stretch back all the way to 1978 to find the first true, clear-cut deserving winner for Best Picture. This isn’t to say every year since then has been stacked. This is to say that The Deer Hunter was so superior a film to it’s competitors it would have been a near criminal offence not to award it.

The Deer Hunter is the story of a group of friends in Vietnam-era Pittsburgh. Three of them enlist and go to war and everyone is forever changed. Robert DeNiro is sensational as the natural leader of the group. As was the case during his heyday, DeNiro commands every scene with both ease and power. The famous Russian roulette scene is a harrowing example. Christopher Walken took home a Best Supporting Actor award for a role that epitomizes the destruction of character through trauma. Compared with his performances nowadays, The Deer Hunter is almost a eulogy to a once-great actor. The late John Cazale (who’s resume is and will likely always be the most sterling of any actor ever) is excellent, as is Meryl Streep.

The Deer Hunter is a heartbreaking tribute to the relationships that the United States was built upon. While we as Canadian criticize Americans for their relentless patriotism, we forget that they nearly had their country taken from them on a number of occasions. That builds passion. The Deer Hunter is a wonderful example of this. The first hour of the film focuses on a wedding. The characters don’t even arrive in Vietnam for more than a third of the film. Director Michael Cimino builds a relationship between the viewer and the characters to the point we feel for them on a near-personal level.

1980

Arguably one of the most debated Best Picture results in history. It exceeded the controversy of Shakespeare In Love over Saving Private Ryan or Dances With Wolves over Goodfellas. Martin Scorsese’s anti-hero masterpiece Raging Bull was upset by Robert Redford’s family tragedy Ordinary People. Raging Bull lost Best Picture. That actually happened? It did and it’s hard to believe. Few would argue that Scorsese is one of the best filmmakers of our time and yet his best work, or at least character work, was overlooked.

The question I most often ask people when this debate arises is: have you seen Ordinary People? The answer is usually no. Granted, people deserve the benefit of the doubt. Raging Bull is one of the most riveting performances by an actor in Robert DeNiro and thus a riveting portrait of a disputed figure. It’s easy to be shocked that it did not win.

Ordinary People is no slouch by comparison. Starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People was the American Beauty of the 80’s. It is about how tragedy can expose the differences between family members. It was Robert Redford’s first foray as a director. Known as a light, comedic actor, Redford was handling serious material. It was an acting-heavy piece and garnered a number of nominations.

Ordinary People will always go hand-in-hand with Raging Bull. Mention Scorsese and likely you will hear how he should have won for Raging Bull but didn’t. Bring up DeNiro and you will likely hear how greatest performance was Raging Bull, but how did that movie not win Best Picture? It’s unfortunate but true. The world of film will always remember Raging Bull before Ordinary People.

Their relationship is similar to pitting The Beatles against the Who. The Who are great, just not in the same league as The Beatles. Focusing on the negative only does a disservice to both films. To say so is unfair. Ordinary People is not in the same league, but the question should be, “How many are?”

1999

The return to prominence. Count the number of excellent films up for Best Picture in this year and it rivals any. American Beauty, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense. Phew. What a lineup. The problem? How many other excellent films were left out? Fight Club, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Dogma, Toy Story 2, Go, Three Kings, and more. You could make the argument that at least three of the previously named flicks were good enough to bump The Cider House Rules from the fifth spot for Best Picture.

1999 offered an embarrassment of riches. It’s packed full of unique, genre-breaking pictures. Think of the influence films like Fight Club and Magnolia have had. How many films have emulated their style of storytelling? Think of the impact The Matrix had on the action genre. It literally rewrote it. Try to argue Being John Malkovich is not one of the most original films ever conceived. Toy Story 2 provided the blueprint for CGI films today and made Pixar a major player every year because of it. Eyes Wide Shut is the last film of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick, and is sadly underrated. That’s not even taking into account the films that were up for Best Picture, which all took filmmaking and turned it on its head.

Come Oscar weekend, take a few hours out of your time and watch a flick that didn’t come out in 2009. A number of those films will have their chance to stand the test of time. Take the opportunity to remember the films that have and deserve the attention.

For more reviews by Rhys Dowbiggin, visit:

http://doandroidsdreamofmovingpictures.blogspot.com/

Written by :

rdowb

 

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written by rocksubstance, March 08, 2010

1999 was so off the charts that it was a damn shame some of those not nominated couldn't have been carried over to 2000, a pretty lean year where the best of a weak pack was Gladiator- a classic epic in the spirit of Ben Hur mind you but also one of the worst winners ever, the worst at the time since Dances with Wolves (though one could argue that Titanic wasn't so special itself). Anyway, the right movie won! I only saw 1 of the nominated movies and it happened to be best picture so I guess I lucked out.

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written by rdowb, February 26, 2010

Thanks for the comment. I am also not to happy that A Single Man was not nominated. Or Crazy Heart. Personally, I hope The Hurt Locker wins. I really enjoyed Avatar because it's groundbreaking and will likely be remembered more but The Hurt Locker is just such a pitch-perfect adrenaline rush. Oh well. I think it's a average field overall.

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written by ScullyLovePromo, February 26, 2010

Another well written piece! I can't argue with your choices as in my humble opinion, The Godfather I & II, Dog Day Afternoon, Rocky, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Deer Hunter (did you know that John Cazale was Meryl Streep's first love?) Goodfellas, Dances With Wolves, Ordinary People, American Beauty, Magnolia, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, and Three Kings are among my favourites.

DeNiro rightfully won the Oscar for Raging Bull because he was absolutely brilliant in it, but the movie itself, didn't do nearly as much for me on an emotional level as Ordinary People and I think that's why it ended up winning.

This year, I can't believe that Oscar has 10 films in the running for Best Picture and yet A Single Man didn't make the cut. That's just wrong! It's absolutely brilliant. I didn't see The Blind Side and although I heard it was very good, I can't imagine that it's Oscar worthy, nor An Education or The Hurt Locker and I don't think Inglorious Basterds has a chance either. It's going to be Avatar all the way.

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