My pick... Tom Hooper for Best Director. How he won over Fincher is beyond me. The Social Network was a masterclass in directing, King's Speech was a by the numbers movie including the directing.
Listen, I understand the Academy back then had a hard on for biopics but come on...
Now, Fincher continues making amazing movies and Hooper... Cats. 😺 He's remembered for Cats, not King's Speech, lol.
What's your pick?
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Michael Caine over Tom Cruise, Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law & Michael Clarke Duncan in 1999
Cruise should have won that one. Clarke Duncan’s performance really evokes emotion, but it was a little too heavy handed. Cruise killed that role.
I mean, Cruise’s role was also very hammy.
I disagree. I think he showed a lot of range. Not to be a simp, but I don’t think PTA writes many hammy parts.
By hammy, I mean that he only makes big choices, which can be a little one note. I still enjoy the performance but can understand why it wasn’t wholeheartedly embraced by the Academy. I actually think that his role in Jerry Maguire is more challenging. It’s comparatively easy to act nuts.
Michael Clarke Duncan should have won that year!!
Art Carney - Harry and Tonto over Al Pacino - Godfather Part 2
I will never understand that win. This was Pacino’s year through and through.
Jack Nicholson won the Golden globe drama actor for Chinatown that year over Pacino. It should have been between Nicholson and Pacino
They split the vote and Norton won
I really like Jim Broadbent, but does anyone even remember the movie Iris?
Give my man Gandalf his Oscar!
I actually like Iris, but it’s really a vehicle for Kate winslet and Judi Dench.
And they had Moulin Rouge sitting right there! Though for me it's a better performance in MR anyway, and imo which is the better film shouldn't change that.
The King's Speech won because Weinstein did his usual thing
The King’s Speech won because it was a WW2 period piece about a Royal with a mild disability.
That's the description of a lead Acting win, not BP.
The King's Speech won because Weinstein campaigned the hell out of it and boomers liked to have a reason not to award the Facebook movie
The second half of your comment is the point. The Academy is made up of old people who like period pieces about WW2 and sentimental stories about overcoming adversity. Their tastes are not aligned with 18-35 year olds who love Fincher and Tarantino.
Honestly, I think that that was Weinstein's sale pitch. Throughout the awards season, the Social Network was the clear winner (even if Colin Firth was a lock for Lead Actor), not even the BAFTAs gave Hooper the award for Best Director
Nah it won cause it was a well liked popular film and the Brits rallied. Never underestimate the Brits rallying
That certainly helped, but you seem to be underestimating Weinstein's influence over the Academy.
The Brits certainly made a difference, but let's not pretend that Weinstein didn't own the Academy
I mean Harvey definitely played a role but King's speech was a pretty easy sell
I agree that it's an easy sell, but so was Shakespeare in Love at a time that romantic movies were at their peak
Okay, but Harvey Weinstein didn’t get every movie he ever campaigned Oscar glory. There’s a whole heap of Miramax flops, in fact. Just saying “It’s because of Weinstein” ignores the myriad of other factors that movie had going for it
I agree that there are definitely other factors. However, if a movie (and/or an actress) is in 2nd or 3rd place, he most definitely knows how to position them to win.
I mean, Almost Famous didn't get Picture and Director nominations because Weinstein campaigned the hell out of Chocolat, not to mention Kate Winslet being nominated for The Reader instead of Revolutionary Road, Meryl getting her second Best Actress win for The Iron Lady, or Jennifer Lawrence winning for Silver Linings Playbook
Colin Firth was a virtual lock to win Best Actor that year. Everything else, not so much.
I think it won because it’s not only a good genre and “Oscar Bait”-y film, but it’s excellent. I don’t understand the Reddit dislike for it. The movie is fantastic.
The movie is good and would be a decent winner in a weak year, however it won over The Social Network, which is pretty much the movie that defined the 2010s.
Jon Voight winning the Oscar for Best Actor for Coming Home instead of Robert De Niro for The Deer Hunter
Admittedly, I've never seen Coming Home (I think?), but it's maddening trying to imagine what performance Voight could give to legitimately beat De Niro for The Deer Hunter.
Well yeah because you've never seen it
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
I like her as an actress, but Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl.
Also, a lot of other actors who are completely deserving of Oscars have won for really forgettable roles/films. Like, Judi Dench really won for an 8 minute performance in Shakespeare in Love instead of Mrs. Brown.
“Back then had a hard on for biopics…”
Oppenheimer just won
Green Book was also a biopic, Oldman won for Darkest Hour, Meryl for Iron Lady... Academy has always loved biopics and always will.
Geoffrey Rush in Shine
Also not one of my favorites.
And to think in between his accolades of that and Quills he just starred in a house on haunted hill remake
House on Haunted Hill is awesome.
Rush won the Oscar over Tom Cruise in Jerry McGuire: ridiculous.
I still can't believe he was nominated over Noah Taylor for that movie. Taylor had the more difficult role and had a more layered performance. I just don't get it.
I agree about Noah Taylor. I really like the blog Actor Blogspot. He reviews performance of every Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
He also ranked Noah Taylor much higher than Geoffrey Rush in his ranking of all eligible actors for 1996.
https://actoroscar.blogspot.com/2014/03/alternate-best-actor-1996-results.html?m=1
Thanks for the link! :)
Hard to believe we watched the same movie.
Renee Zellweger for Cold Mountain and Judy.
Renée for Cold Mountain is as forgetable as a trainwreck.
Agree with Judy, though, I think she was the weakest out of the five (either Scarlett or Saoirse should've won)
Wasn’t it some carried over goodwill for losing for Chicago when Catherine zeta won and also her cast mate Nicole Kidman just won against her
Absolutely. It was her third consecutive nomination, but it is still probably one of the top 5 worst acting wins of all time, which makes it absolutely memorable (in the worst way possible)
Agreed. Cold mountain in general was a snore fest too although that one scene with Natalie Portman telling I think Jude Law how she just wanted company she was so lonely was really well done
This system of giving them to people who are perceived to be owed them just creates more people who miss out and are owed them in the future. Very few actresses are as talented as Saoirse Ronan!
I won’t go out of my way to defend Cold Mountain (I liked her performance, however I accept that I’m in a minority), but her performance in Judy IMO was extraordinary. It was by far the best part of what was basically misery porn, & her final scene was heartbreaking. I agree that she was perhaps not the best that year, however I have no problem with her winning the Oscar.
Hillary Swank for MDB and Boys Don’t Cry
She deserved it for Boys Don't Cry, but not for MDB (that should've been Kate's win)
"Hilary Swank never graduated high school and she's won 2 Oscars! One of which she deserved!"
Is that a quote? I don't get it
If only she'd won for Bridget Jones Diary or Chicago
There are so many! Just one year after Kings Speech is one of the worst nominee years ever - The Artist, Descendants, Extremely Loud, Midnight in Paris, the Help, War Horse.
The descendants really should have won that year. Like seriously at least it was about something.
I know people like to say tree of life was robbed but that god it didn't win cause its reputation would a lot worse than academy award nominee.
I generally agree that Tree of Life is fine not winning, but Descendants would not have been a good winner either imo. Kinda wild it won screenplay tbh. It's basically Moneyball or bust, for me haha.
I feel like every film that year would catch a ton of slack (Moneyball would probably get tagged as "too American" or some crap cause it's a baseball film). Descendants is the one film that propably wouldn't get totally trashed for winning.
I have trouble with Moneyball just because the actor who plays 22 year old Billy Beane looks nothing like Brad Pitt. Really brought me out of the movie.
Yeah that's fair. Not gonna save the year, but at least it's a step in the right direction lol. That year is best forgotten altogether.
Clooney should've won Lead Actor for Descendants, in my opinion, one of his best performances and totally breaking stereotype; as for The Help, Spencer earned that win and Viola should've won, even if the movie didn't age well
The Artist, War Horse, Tree of Life, and Midnight in Paris are all fucking amazing
That's fair, I didn't include Tree of Life because I agree that's top notch. But agree to disagree about the rest haha.
Christ that was a very sad year perhaps the worst group of bp noms this century, and there were tons of better movies you could have nominated.
Yup, some all timers that year but they were never gonna get nominated unfortunately.
You mean bridesmaids?! Too bad you can’t winner picture for being the funniest film of the year
What does Christ have to do with it?
I wouldn't call king's speech by the numbers, the performances he got are fantastic and some scenes are among the best in the modern era of the biopic.
He shouldn't have won but give the guy some respect.
Geraldine Page - A Trip to Bountiful
Great performances, but no one seems to remember how good she was.
That performance was amazing. I don’t think people forgot about this one as much as they just never saw it in the first place.
I just finally watched this recently. She absolutely carries that movie with her amazing performance. Not sure who she was up against but I doubt there was a better performance that year.
Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
Side note but have y’all seen Ciciley Tyson’s performance for it in the “remake”? Also really strong
The social network was a biopic dude
Paul Newman for The Color of Money. I’ve seen the film and I hardly remember it. Newman was a great actor and deserved an Oscar, but not for that role. It was the ultimate “body of work” Oscar till Pacino won for Scent of a Woman.
I actually forgot Newman won until someone else mentioned it last year. William Hurt for Children of a Lesser God probably should have won that year.
You can totally tell when voters are thinking "there's no guarantee they'll be in a better role before we end up having to break out the dreaded lifetime achievement award".
It 100% would've been Hoskins if it wasn't for Newman. He won pretty much every other award that year making it even more obvious that this was a make up/ career win for Newman from the Academy.
Mercedes Ruehl for The Fisher King
I watched it fully believing she should’ve gotten it having no idea she actually did.
Shakespeare in love over Saving Private Ryan
A beautiful mind over fellowship of the Ring
Ghandi over ET
I’m not sure you can call that first one “forgettable” since it gets brought up all the time.
I’m sensing a pattern.
Gandhi deserved it. Such an ambitious epic. C’mon, I love ET but I feel like that Gandhi really deserved the award especially in the context of the Falklands War at that time. Sir Ben Kingsley was amazing.
Shakespeare in love deserved it. I’ll forever believe that.
No way. That movie did not deserve anything beyond production design. It's the prime example of Harvey Weinstein running amok