Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site bbncca.ARPA Path: utzoo!linus!bbncca!rebbs From: rebbs@bbncca.ARPA (Robert Ebbs) Newsgroups: net.movies Subject: Re: Oscar Nomination Gripes (LONG) Message-ID: <603@bbncca.ARPA> Date: Thu, 23-Feb-84 01:43:49 EST Article-I.D.: bbncca.603 Posted: Thu Feb 23 01:43:49 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 23-Feb-84 06:37:16 EST References: <600@bbncca.ARPA> Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma. Lines: 95 About your gripes: The fuss about Tender Mercies: Of course, it hasn't got a chance of winning a damn thing - no violent deaths, no cheesy sex, no upanddown roller coaster ride for the TV conditioned audience, too few queues as to when to (ready, one two three CRY!; okay, now LAUGH!) respond and in what manner. This movie is a marvel in maturity for a Hollywood production. Let's allow it its brief shining moment and maybe this year (and each year following) we'll get our one token adult film from Hollywood. Eric Roberts: Just a question - How can you say he gave this year's best performance if you haven't yet seen The Dresser? Terms of Endearment: God, yes, overrated. I always like Shirley and Jack, but, really, the movie was just better than average TV tearjerker stuff. (Though the book was a fun read and incidentally - you probably know this - was without the character played by JN.) Best Actress: How could Meryl Streep not win this one? (Well, easy; after all this is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the same group that in 1964 decided that John Wayne did a better job in True Grit than did Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy!) Best Supporting Actor: Jerry Lewis!? Talk about doing oneself! He was adequate... Of the nominees, I like Lithgow, whose rather woebegone character still came across with some degree of dignity, an element that many actors would have lost or sacrificed for the big cheap laugh. (Yes, credit the director for this, too.) As for Hurt and Kline, seems to me The Big Chill was so much a team movie, all the gears meshing, that no one character stood out enough for special mention. But I would say (dare I?) that the one character you could not subtract without losing the whole tone of the film would be Jeff Goldblum. Think about it. Best Supporting Actress: Linda Hunt, agreed. Ditto on your comments on Cher (except I thought it a better than OK performance.) She has truly become a fine actress. Best Director: Mike Nichols, Silkwood. Screenplay: Damnit, Under Fire is underrated. A fine screenplay, fine direction, fine acting (and I've never particulary appreciated Nick Nolte's persona.) Of all last year's movies, this is the one that was meaty enough for a second viewing. Like Silkwood, it concerned itself with questions of conscience, how much responsibility we must take on ourselves for condoning the world we live in. It was a daring film, doing, not surprisingly, much better in Europe where politically conscious films (and books) are generally better received; Americans are too complacent and truculently maintain that they go to the movies not to think but to have a good time. Cinematography: Again, Under Fire should also be nominated. But this is the one category, I think, where excellence is almost the norm. As a serious amateur photographer, I am amazed at the technical know-how and attention to detail and the commitment to artistic integrity that most cinematographers today show us. I think of all the categories for the Awards, cinematography is the one that requires the longest apprenticeship, the one that most resembles a craftsman's guild, where expertise and dedication are passed on from master to student. Editing: Well, wasn't that what Flashdance was all about? Surely we aren't meant to believe that a 19 year old woman had broken into a tight union as a construction worker in order to study ballet. The Right Stuff, tho, should win here, managing as it does a tough job of crosscutting throughout the movie to make its "statement" concerning who the true pioneers are even while several Johnny Come Lately Blue-Eyed Americans are being heralded as America's new frontiersmen. (And let this be a lesson to all the boys and girls who think a college education is less than important: you too could be left behind in the California desert. So, be elite.) But, really, what does it all matter in the large scheme of things. The only reason to take it halfway seriously is because they who win will be the one who continue to get the backing to do other movies. So we would hope the dedicated, talented and conscientious win.... Fat chance.