The Alternate Oscars: Best Picture (1969-Present)

[flyonthewall2983]

If forced to choose between No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood, I think I'd wind up saying "do your worst". I watched them around roughly the same time and I had as near the exact reaction to both of them. I can't think of two of anything I feel the same about.

[mfunk9786]

It's funny that two major league filmmakers (well, three) were both making loose novel adaptations in Marfa, TX about greed and violence at the same time that ultimately were nominated for best picture and similarly acclaimed upon release. The films have quite a few thematic elements in common, but they're ultimately very different - they're worthy of revisits, fly.

[matrixschmatrix]

I initially favored No Country, but I think in retrospect I'd go with There Will Be Blood- they're both sort of statements of purpose from amongst the best working directors, but I think that Anderson's sort of advanced the scope of what he could do more- I adore his previous work, but that one and The Master see him moving into a place that's almost Kubrickian in the sheer scope of what he's doing. The Coens have continued to be amazing filmmakers, but I don't think No Country represented a titanic leap forward for them.

(Though I do think Zodiac kind of did for Fincher, though it's one that his subsequent movies haven't entirely followed up on- it may wind up being his great masterwork, which would be far from shabby.)

[mfunk9786]

Not to belabor the Fincher discussion too much in this thread, but I'm sort of relieved that it looks like the sequels to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo look like they're not getting made - it stands on its own very well, and comes off better in his canon as its own work than it would if some other director made two follow-ups. But let's face it, Fight Club will be the Fincher film with the most staying power, and it breaks my heart, as it's his worst work. I'd say it's even worse than Alien 3, which is really saying something.

[flyonthewall2983]

I have seen both films again since then, but maybe I ought to see them back to back to decide which comes out. Zodiac is my favorite film of Fincher's, and really should have been nominated. Even still I'd have to give it to either the Coen's or PTA that year if it was in the running. Granted it'd be a hard choice if it was, as I loved Michael Clayton too.

[swo17]

I think that Anderson's sort of advanced the scope of what he could do more- I adore his previous work, but that one and The Master see him moving into a place that's almost Kubrickian in the sheer scope of what he's doing.

I don't know that I'd say that moving on to Kubrick constitutes a huge advancement for a director well known for aping the styles of other directors (i.e. Scorsese for Boogie Nights, Altman for Magnolia). If anything, Punch-Drunk Love was the major advancement, as it's the one that seems like it purely reflects his own voice.

[Matt]

Oh, you mean the Tati homage?

[swo17]

I hadn't heard of that before and I'm not sure how well it fits, but even if you accept that, uh, at least there he's advancing to a European director?

[Matt]

I was just cracking wise, but PDL is more of a stew of influences than a recognizable homage like the two films preceding it. This website identifies the influences pretty well, even if that's all it does well.

Also:

What, if any, cinematic influences did you draw on in PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE?

I was trying to steal some Blake Edwards stuff from this movie, and Jacques Tati. Tati stuff is always in my brain, I can't help but escape to his stuff.

[zedz]

If Tati was in his brain for Punch Drunk Love I can't see that much of it made its way through to the screen. I love the film, but it's very verbally driven, the characters and emotional tenor are nothing like those you'd find in a Tati film, and I can't even remember any visual storytelling that's especially Tatiesque.

[domino harvey]

1989
Born on the Fourth of July Oliver Stone more than earned his Best Director Oscar for this, and had the Academy not panic voted for Driving Miss Daisy in the wake of the Do the Right Thing fallout, surely this would have gone the distance. It certainly should have won this year-- here's the best of the Academy's Vietnam pic picks, a tough, beautiful look at what went into the war before, during, and after it was actually fought. I enjoy Tom Cruise as a celebrity and he's usually a welcome screen presence, but here he reveals the full depth of his ability as an actor and it is a stunning and powerful performance. I don't fault the Academy for giving the statue to Daniel Day-Lewis instead, but what Cruise does here is even more impressive than DDL's great work-- Cruise takes us on a journey through the stages of a man's life, each distinct and vividly portrayed. From the wholesome (and winsome) American Graffiti-ish antics early on to the agonizing recovery and unsure mental state. Cruise's breakdown midway through the pic, with him screaming vulgarities at his parents and taking their discomfort into shocking arenas of attack, is brutal and brave stuff. Stone portrays all the ugliness that comes with such truths in a lovely fashion, and John Williams' refrain grows to represent a sort of sad, alternate-world patriotic anthem. This is one of the best films ever to address Vietnam and one of the best films, period, nominated in this category.

Dead Poets Society Like most films about "inspiring" teachers, this film confuses instruction and learning with charismatic cults of personality, the central figure a coach leading his charges on with rallying cries of coffee cup-ready aphorisms that decontextualize great works of literature to fit narrow, mindlessly affirming fluff. This is a dangerously stupid film, one that has no interest or insight into the teaching process, and it's a sad fact that I've encountered more than too many fellow teachers who consider this film an inspiration and impetus for their teaching careers. No wonder the educational foundation is crumbling. I hold no auspices of the saintly art of teaching, though, and grow weary of any film that lionizes the noble, self-sacrificing teacher-- it's a sad fact that few films will ever bother to depict an effective teacher at work because it's not the kind of thing that can be easily gleaned from a two hour narrative (and the real thing will never be as glamorous as throwing candy bars at ghetto kids or bravely teaching the Holocaust via notebooks). It's a series of challenges, defeats, and small wins. At no point in this fictional tale of The World's Greatest and Most Misunderstood Teacher did I ever believe that its subject knew his subject in any real way. Rather, he was flashy and personable and gave kids what they want to hear rather than give them the tools to fend for themselves. Had Robin Williams actually taught his kids, they'd have been fine in the hands of the stern headmaster now leading their English class at the end of the film: after all, they'd have the ability to think critically and use even a bad situation to their continuing development and advantage. But that's the problem with cults of personality: remove the personality and there goes the cult.

Outside of the uplifting central adult figure (who of course is coded as a wise older brother at best/eldest), the film is stuffed with mawkish outrages and emotional impetuses that are as heavily signaled as an old woman doing her Sunday driving and about as pleasant to sit through. When our future suicide victim dons a holly-wreath 'round his head and it bears a closer resemblance to a crown of thorns, I wanted to jump on a desk myself, if just to stand high enough to no longer be able to see the TV displaying this moronically manipulative shit. Carpe nihil.

Driving Miss Daisy I am struggling with how to approach this one in the right frame of mind. Objectively it is a competently made small-scale period piece, epic in breadth of time but not of scope, with fine central performances by Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Ackroyd (all nominees and in Tandy's case, winner) and understated direction by Bruce Beresford of Tender Mercies. That said, this film still tested by last nerve and I found myself… upset at its very existence. I will concede all the objective praise allotted in the beginning of this writeup, but subjectively, I just did not think this was a story that needed to be told about characters I didn't need to encounter doing things I had little patience for. I could not stop cringing and sighing throughout due in large part to Morgan Freeman's shufflin' "yessum" chauffeur. I have no doubt that some black servants in this era behaved in this fashion. But why does this character have to slur his words and moon in grotesque caricature of the subservient black servant? Could he not also be depicted in a way that doesn't reinforce every reductive and regrettable black servant role from the studio era? Or, for that matter, why must we spend so much time with an unpleasant, passive-aggressive old Jewish woman who is only "Jewish" in the sense that the film needed a scene where cops hassle her black chauffeur so they can say "an old Jew woman and her nigger driver" as they drive off? Otherwise her faith doesn't come into play except to somehow suggest a bond between two seemingly disparate parties that has been better explored elsewhere-- oh, and of course her Jewish son is the richest man in town, but the film lamely attempts to undercut this by having Freeman say "Some people say Jews be greedy but not me"-- har har har. By the end of this utterly calculated, soulless mush, I was angry. Not that this film won only because the Academy realized it had to pretend to care about black people after all the outcry over Do the Right Thing's snub. I was angry that this film won over any film. I was angry that it was even nominated. I was angry that it was made. I was angry on behalf of anyone who found this feel-good entertainment or a serious social statement because society has failed to prepare them for how to properly react to artistic works of this nature: shake your head, whisper no, and never speak of it again.

Field of Dreams Successful melding of a studio era fantasy and the boundless (and answerless) mysticism of the eighties. The film wisely side-steps attempting to explain the How of the premise, and it's just as well because a lark like this coasts by on good vibes and the charm of its simplicity. The final twenty minutes or so are, in their fashion, exactly right and true to the premise presented. In a year where the Best Pic nominees are either sappy or hard-edged, this is the best of the sunny side of the offerings.

My Left Foot Miramax's first victory lap in the winner's circle and it's a good one-- the story of Christy Brown, the cerebral palsy-striken Irish artist who learned to paint and write with the titular appendage sounds like awards bait pap from the outside, but the film's great strength is in its world-beaten hardness and great black humor. There are many big laughs to be had, most aided and incited by Brown himself, and whenever the film seems to be veering into too much sentiment we get a riotous laugh (the cathartic bar brawl near the end of the film is uproarious and perfectly timed within the narrative). The film of course netted Daniel Day-Lewis the first of his Oscars and while I've already made the case for Cruise, but that doesn't mean I discredit DDL for running a close second.

My Vote Born on the Fourth of July

[domino harvey]

I initially favored No Country, but I think in retrospect I'd go with There Will Be Blood

Since I didn't vote for either in the ballot I cast at the beginning of this thread-- sorry mfunk but Michael Clayton is a modern masterpiece and the best of the lot-- I'll weigh in on this pointless ranking fest (and what better place to weigh in on movie-based rankings that don't matter than the Oscar thread?) by casting my lot with No Country For Old Men. There Will Be Blood is a beautiful looking film and DDL's perf is legendary and vital, but the Coens' ability to make a well-observed and cynical "straight" adaptation that played to both wide audiences and the art house crowd is not only a more impressive achievement, it also shows a capacity for objectivity the Coens' had rarely employed before (and haven't since, in my opinion). It's admittedly a bit unfair-- filmmakers I don't like make a film I like vs a filmmaker I like making another film I like-- but here we are!

[flyonthewall2983]

Field of Dreams Successful melding of a studio era fantasy and the boundless (and answerless) mysticism of the eighties. The film wisely side-steps attempting to explain the How of the premise, and it's just as well because a lark like this coasts by on good vibes and the charm of its simplicity. The final twenty minutes or so are, in their fashion, exactly right and true to the premise presented. In a year where the Best Pic nominees are either sappy or hard-edged, this is the best of the sunny side of the offerings.

Assuming we are around the same age, I'm sure you can agree any American male our age or older has probably teared up at least once at the famous final lines of the film.

[domino harvey]

Believe it or not I had never seen it until I watched it for this project last year! It's a touching ending though, no doubt

[knives]

Thanks for making me dread Driving Miss Daisy more. The idea of her being Jewish in the film already has my skin crawling. Though for now since it's the only one I've seen the Dead Poets Society stuff is what interests me the most. I mean how could a film maker as smart and talented as Peter Weir make that? He clearly knows better (I also find it hilarious that Williams best dramatic performance of the era is the film to be mostly snubbed). Though you have me thinking what film about a successful/ inspirational teacher is any good and I can't think of any that go above mediocre. There's a few of my favorites like Up the Down Staircase and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but they're all fairly negative portraits overall of the profession (making them all the more honest in my experience).

[domino harvey]

I get asked that a lot and my default answers have long been the Blackboard Jungle and Lean on Me, even though the latter is about a principal it still comes closest to depicting what being in an inner city school actually looks like (and depressingly was made a full twenty-plus years before I was teaching in one). I am not sure how "inspirational" these are to everyone, but the part in Lean on Me where Morgan Freeman tells off all the teachers who are forming committees instead of just solving the problems is some of the most cathartic behavior imaginable for anyone stuck in the system (which I've thankfully transitioned away from into private schooling)

[flyonthewall2983]

Ever see The Principal or The Substitute, or 187 (which supposedly was written by a teacher)?

[domino harvey]

I haven't seen the Principal (that's Jim Belushi, right?) but the other two fall under the Dangerous Minds mold for me, regardless of their more negative tone (though I kinda like the Substitute anyways). Weirdly, though it's a parody of those films, High School High gets at a lot of truths about how insane the inner city school system really is and it does it by mocking most of the films that get held up as worthwhile in these discussions

[flyonthewall2983]

Yeah, I think it was Jim's attempt at being an action star. He told a funny story about how in shape he got for that, but that Arnold basically fattened him up while they were doing Red Heat.

The comedies I've seen felt closer to what HS life was like than the dramas. Breakfast Club kind of gets it right though that's straight down the middle between the two. Election is probably my Lean On Me for being pretty accurate to HS attitudes in the middle of nowhere.

[colinr0380]

I've got a copy of Field of Dreams from when it was first shown on British television back on Christmas Day 1993. I've never upgraded it because I find something touchingly appropriate by the Careline number for people depressed or alone at Christmas to call in popping up over the scene where Costner goes to visit James Earl Jones's isolated ex-baseball player!

That's a great critique of Dead Poets Society and especially the way that the teaching isn't really helping the students to think critically about their subject. It has been a long time since I last saw the film but I wonder if it is because the film is so ambivalent about knowledge and education, and especially about kids being insipired or influenced by art, given that the whole suicide section kind of justifies the way that impressionable kids just shouldn't be taught some things that might give them the wrong ideas, at the same time as the film is celebrating rebellion against the square adults in more superficial (and impotent) ways.

Isn't there a call back to the quite shocking scene of tearing the poetry introduction out of the textbooks (Because, hey, who needs critics? And if you can't ignore or counter-critique, you might as well destroy) in an episode of The Simpsons with the "I'm ripping at an eighth grade level!" line?

Strangely, Williams was in a film actually titled Seize The Day a couple of years before this!

[YnEoS]

Is this an appropriate time to bring up the Community episode parody of Dead Poets' Society?

[knives]

Huh, I had always dismissed Lean on Me as being sort of the granddaddy to the Dangerous Minds type of film. Also, yes, The Principal is a fun stupid movie.

[flyonthewall2983]

James Earl Jones's isolated ex-baseball player!

Not to nitpick, but he didn't play a former ball player. He was a Salinger-esque author (they even named him Terrence, likely a reference to Malick's self-imposed exile at the time).

[colinr0380]

No problem. It has been ages since I last watched Field of Dreams too! I just remember him being a grumpy curmudgeon and assumed it was because his baseball dreams had been smashed, not because he was just a grumpy author!

[domino harvey]

Huh, I had always dismissed Lean on Me as being sort of the granddaddy to the Dangerous Minds type of film. Also, yes, The Principal is a fun stupid movie.

It's a better film because it (rightly) suggests that no matter what's happening in the classroom, there's bigger institutional problems standing in the way for students that can only be overcome by breaking the "rules" and doing what needs to be done. This isn't the story of a man who devoted his life to his school. It's a story of a good person, frustrated by bureaucracy and a culture of displaced responsibility, doing what he must to achieve the results that will never come via the "right way." I don't know how inspirational it is to non-inner city school employees, but I thought fondly of him locking the fire doors &c all the time at my old job and certainly took a page from his book whenever possible