Did They Get it Right? – Best Picture – Oscars 1991

Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)

Beauty and the Beast

Bugsy

JFK

The Prince of Tides

Silence of the Lambs

Biggest Snub:

Boyz in the Hood

My Overall Thoughts:

This was another strong year for BP nominees and the deserving winner was a bit of a surprise because it hadn’t won many other BP awards during the year.

Looking back 25 years, it really is the best film of the year and is the most powerful of the five films chosen.

Everyone knew even then how great the two leads performances were by Hopkins and Foster, but come Oscar night, it took everyone by storm and became only the 3rd film to ever take home the top 5 awards (which hasn’t happened again since then).  It was able to win Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and screenwriting.

My Rankings:

Movies

• 5. – Bugsy – Beatty is fine here, but the story feels too Hollywoodish than powerful gangster flick. Drags a bit much at certain points and should have been shorter and tighter to make the story more palatable.
• 4. – The Prince of Tides – Nice adaptation of an amazing book. The characters evolve so well here, but it’s hard to like this as much as I wanted to as it was written much better by Conroy than Streisand was able to show on film.  Perhaps one of Nolte’s best performances tho.
• 3. – Beauty and the Beast – The first animated film to make the elite list of BP nominees. Great characters with amazing music.  The cinematography is superb despite being animated.  Proof once again that animation doesn’t necessarily mean – solely for the kids.
• 2. – JFK – Stone does a wonderful job showing the conspiracy theory of one of the most notorious crimes in US History.  Length is not a problem here because it’s fascinating to watch, but in the end it loses a few points for being very one-sided.  One of Stone’s best films tho because it’s so engrossing throughout.
• 1. – Silence of the Lambs – Amazingly filmed movie that does everything just right. Great suspense, amazing characters and of course a top notch story that will keep you interested even after its over.

Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most definitely!  SotL is an amazing film that does a wonderful job of developing its characters and story.  Everything si done perfectly and the result is astoundingly powerful.

Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!

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