3 Great Oscar Losing Lead Performances of the 90s
(I've excluded '95 as we've discussed a jillion times already.)
Denzel's towering "Malcolm X" loses to overcooked "Scent"ed ham (92)
If there is one truism I wish to impart on any unlucky Academy voter who chances upon my annual 'i hate you and your ass face' ravings about their poor-taste choices it is this: Award people when they are great. That way you don't have to award them later on and look stupid when you do. This backward glancing keeps the Oscars in a perpetual cycle of mediocrity (more on this when we get to the 00s)
Helena's cold heat in "Wings of the Dove" loses to some crappy TV star (97)
Don't get me started. I'm a Bonham-Carter fan and even I didn't know she had this level of control. This is an awesome performance. Presumably done in (Oscar-wise) because the character is unlikeable. And we can't have protagonists with non-endearing flaws winning prizes, now can we? That just wouldn't be right.
Ian McKellen's "God" among monsters loses to a flavor-of-milisecond (98)
Nevermind about what Benigni did to the Holocaust --can we talk about what he did to McKellen, Norton, and Nolte?
Agree? Disagree? Say so in the comments. Or list the three losses that hurt your heart most.
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23 comments:
I agree with you on all of those.
I maybe in the Minority on this but I thought Susan Sarandon(Thelma and Louise) should have won over Foster and should have lost to Elisabeth Shue
chofer --the only reason i didn't name Hopkins (which is one of my very favorite performances of the whole decade) is that he won for silence and i wanted to give some others props.
anonymous. if you're in the minority i join you. Sarandon was my choice for 91, too. And Shue should've beaten Sarandon in 95 (since Moore wasn't nominated)
Totally with you on McKellen - I thought at least the Academy would make it up with giving him the gold for Fellowship. But I loved Broadbent as well, so I can't really complain. I hope McKellen wins one day soon.
As for my choice, I'd submit Being John Malkovich's Catherine Keener losing to Angelina Jole back in '00. That was a truly depressing moment; Keener was phenomenal in that film.
Oh, and also Cate Blanchett losing to Gwyneth Paltrow. That also pissed me off considerably. But I've made peace with Platrow now that Blanchett was recently Oscared.
A great performance from Sir Ian Mckellen in Gods and Monsters, that was a huge shock when he lost that year. I thought they will make it up to him for LOTR but again he lost out to Broadbent, but to be fair Broadbent's win was deserved !
Another one that really bothered me was Annette Benning losing to Whoopi Goldberg in '91 !
Love the choices, but could go on all year about 90s oversights/disagreements. You pick 3 fine choices though, two of whom (Washington & Bonham Carter) I'd echo as deserving of their respective wins. I'd have handed the 98 Oscar to Norton, but McKellen was superb.
Bonham Carter was astonishing (saying something completely different with her words than she says with her face), though I can't say Hunt wasn't great in that role (I confessed recently how much I've grown to love As Good As It Gets). The REAL tragedy that year in the actress category, to my mind, was that they didn't find room for Pam Grier.
Also full agreement with Chofer that Anthony Hopkins should have walked the 93 Oscar for Remains. If only I hadn't just caught his ridiculously dreadful turn in Proof, I wouldn't have had gritted teeth as I typed that.
Rob
One circumstance that still makes me shake my head is Joan Allen in Nixon losing to Mira Sorvino. Joan had all the Oscar boxes ticked - put upon wife, playing a real-life person etc plus the performance absolutely gives me chills. I'll take that any day over the cliched hooker with a heart of gold.
Other head scratchers are Cuba Gooding over William H Macy in Fargo in 1996 and Hank's Gump over Nigel Hawthorne's King George in 1994
I would go with Anjelica Huston for The Grifters being the most slighted Lead Actress loser of the 1990s, but Bonham Carter is a great choice too...
"And we can't have protagonists with non-endearing flaws winning prizes, now can we?"
Tell that to Sean Penn, Charlize Theron, Denzel Washington.
All in all, excellent choices. The 1998 Best Actor race should just be retroactively erased by official decree of the academy.
right said...
well the thing is though that those unlikeable characters had baity elements offsetting the dislike ;)
charlize you were supposed to "pity" her so it's OK to dislike. denzel was the villain -it's TOTALLY fine to be unlikeable when you're the villian. Not when you're the protagonist. Penn --hey his daughter was murdered! show some sympathy ;)
i firmly believe that HBC didn't get the proper respect because the character is tough to love.
Um... this might be an unpopular opinion but I really thought Dame Judi was spectacular in "Mrs. Brown". So that's two ladies Hunt stole it from (and this coming from someone who really likes Helen Hunt!)
yeah but who did Dame Judi steal from when she won for an 8 minute performance? Nathanial is on the money - reward someone when they deserve it at the time. They need to get rid of these consolation oscars they hand out every year. Morgan Freeman anyone?
I'm still mad about Blanchett's loss. 90% of my love for that movie is Blanchett's performance. She was incredible, lovely, moving, convincing..I just don't know how Paltrow won. I guess I wasn't old enough to pick up on any cultural phenomenon factors.
1 - Fernanda Montenegro - Central Station
2 - Ralph Fiennes - Schindler's List
3 - Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction
just a reminder ... these are only LEAD performances I'm choosing from. Ralph Fiennes Schindler's List performance is THE most egregious loss of many many many many many many many years.
If we're talking lead, then I'd throw in Liam Neeson in Schindler's List too. And McKellen.
What about Robert Duvall for The Apostle in 1997? Who, as you'll recall, lost out to the smirking jackass Nicholson.
I think Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets ('97) is one of the worst performances ever to win Best Actor, down there with Warner Baxter. Anyone would have been better.
My other two choices from this decade would be Pacino over Washington & Rea ('92) and Hanks over Hopkins & Fishburne ('93).
I will take exception on McKellen, though. I'm not taken by that film or that performance (and don't get me started on Redgrave), though Nolte and Norton were majorly swindled. I do love the story about McKellen, Nolte, and Norton meeting at the bar right after Benigni's win and collectively laughing their asses off.
"Anthony Hopkins in THE REMAINS OF THE DAY."
Brilliant choice, chofer.
I think Nicole Kidman had a very big right to be pissed off for missing out on even being nominated for To Die For.
However, I would say the worst snub of the entire 90s was due to an annoying rule... Linda Fiorentino for The Last Seduction. It's funny watching the Pulp Fiction special features where they're interviewing QT at the Indie Spirit Awards and when they announce Linda has won in the background he stops the interview jumps up and is all "Yes, Linda won!"
I haven't seen Wings of the Dove, so I can't comment.
And speaking of QT and the 1997 season, where was Pam Grier for Jackie Brown?
Loved Helena B.C.'s performance, and agree that the Helen Hunt win was a total travesty. BUT, I actually think that the best performance of that year (and quite possibly of the decade) was given by Joan Allen in The Ice Storm.
(On a sidenote rant, I'm so sick of people referring to Joan Allen as a perennial Oscar favorite when she's been egregiously snubbed more times than she's actually been nominated. I wouldn't call that love).
For me, the greatest travesty of the 1990s was River Phoenix not being nominated (and not winning for "My Own Private Idaho".
Emily Watson losing to Frances McDormand was unbelievable, as was Anthony Hopkins losing to Tom Hanks.
Joan Allen was excellent in The Ice Storm - i would've nominated her for sure! Sigourney too.
It still amazes me to this day that Prescilla won Best Costume Design. It deserved it, but my god - a low-budget Australian movie about drag queens (and 1 transvestite) travelling through the desert? Brilliant.
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