But the Oscars noms are out, and a more predictably dreary selection you can hardly imagine. You know, if they were really about "best of", you'd get a much broader selection of movies, and seldom would you see sweeps, because there can be complete gems in an otherwise turd-of-a-movie.
Big Hollywood has a "top 5" snubs article. I quote:
I had not even ever heard of Sweet Smell of Success until about five years ago, and such a marvel of a film that is. As far as Tony Curtis goes, I have had this discussion with myself and others more than once:1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) – Not just the best picture of that year, but one of the greatest achievements in cinema history. Were it not for the height of the MGM musical in the late forties and early fifties, you’d now be reading an argument that film as an art form peaked with “Sunrise.”
2. The Searchers (1956) – Arguably the greatest film — not just Western - ever produced. John Ford’s epic character study of a man who helps create a civilization that will not have a place for him received a grand total of zero nominations.
3. The Wild Bunch (1969) – Was it the violence, which looks pretty tame by today’s standards, that turned the Academy off? Something has to explain why “Hello, Dolly!” And “Anne of a Thousand Days” made the cut and Peckinpah’s masterpiece did not.
4. A Night At The Opera (1934) – It would take a revival three decades later for the genius of the Marx Brothers to be fully appreciated. “Duck Soup” was never nominated either, but I’m partial to this one.
5. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – The dark, cynical response to anyone who says Tony Curtis wasn’t one helluva actor.
Anyway, Success was up against some real heavyweights: Bridge on the River Kwai was the winner, with 12 Angry Men and Witness for the Prosecution waiting in the wings. The two sacrifices to the God of Mediocrity that year would've been the Brando vehicle Sayonara and the (at the time) steamy soap opera Peyton Place.
Me: Kirk Douglas wasn't really a very good actor.
Me (or someone else): Oh?
Me: Well, he was great in Sweet Smell of Success, though!
Me (or someone else): That's because that was Tony Curtis.
I'll try to get off my keister and put together a "best of" for 2008.
Sweet Smell of Sucess is one of the best of all time. And you know how I feel about The Searchers.
ReplyDeleteI still don't see how they snubbed Encino Man.
You should check out the competition in some of the years that John Ford released some of his classics. It is sick.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that The Searchers had zero nominations! Insanity.
ReplyDeleteI love Bridge on the River Kwai, featuring the dreamy William Holden, but I am very surprised that Twelve Angry Men didn't win. It seems like something Hollywood types would love (not that it isn't a great movie). But I guess things were different back then.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that it used to be The Epic that was favored to win an Oscar.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Big Hollywood, I'm in love with Andrew Breitbart AND Orson Bean.
ReplyDeleteOrson Bean is 80! And I think he's led a fairly wild life, but he sure has aged well.
ReplyDeleteBreitbart, eh? I think I could get my hair all wild like that... Wait, first I'd need to get some hair.
I used to run into Orsen Bean at Sardi's when I hung out at in Times Square. Man could he tell a dirty joke.
ReplyDeleteHa!!! Now it's Troop's turn to name drop!
ReplyDeleteDid he look good in his jeans?
Breitbart's funny: he can look not-so-great or really handsome. Depends somewhat on his weight and, yes, sometimes the hair is a bit much... We can't all have hair like Andy Levy! I mean TV's Andy Levy.
ReplyDelete