Now I know they never nominate my choices, and I didn't expect, say, Happiness to get a Best Picture nom, but I still think they could have done a better job. The only thing I was really happy about was Life Is Beautiful getting all those noms. I think the category that pissed me off the most was "Best Supporting Actress." Lynn Redgrave and Brenda Blethyn were god-awful in their roles---I'd nominate them as two of the WORST performances of the year. And Judi Dench? She was on-screen for like 30 seconds. The other egregious misstep: best screenplay for Bulworth. As if.
I really didn't care for Saving Private Ryan, so I'm not thrilled about all the attention it's getting, but at least Shakespeare in Love got more noms (though it's nowhere close to an Oscar-caliber movie, in my opinion, except maybe for the script). Big oversights that were at least within the realm of possibility: Truman Show for best picture, The Celebration for best foreign language.
If you're interested in seeing the flip side, Mr. Showbiz runs down the Razzies noms (that would be contenders for worst film of the year---I think Sylvester Stallone is their patron saint with a lifetime 23 nominations). I am very proud to say that I did not see one single film nominated in any category. Unfortunately, Buffalo '66 was shut out.
Finally, since I've added a bunch of people to the list in the past month, I thought I'd rerun my "best of the year" list (slightly altered in view of last weekend's moviefest) to give you an idea of what MY best picture noms would have been.
1. Men with Guns (best
soundtrack of the year, too)
2. Happiness
3. The Opposite of Sex
4. Out of Sight
5. The Big Lebowski
6. Life is Beautiful
6.5. The Celebration
7. Lawn Dogs
8. The Truman Show
9. A Simple Plan
10. Rushmore
One final note: re my review of American History X, my learned colleague Ed informs me that the term "chickenhawk" actually is a pretty nasty insult --- it refers to an older man who sexually preys on younger men. But he says he hasn't heard it used in years.
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