Did They Get it Right? – Best Picture – Oscars 1980

Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)

Coal Miner’s Daughter

The Elephant Man

Ordinary People

Raging Bull

Tess

Biggest Snub:

The Blues Brothers

My Overall Thoughts:

This is the year where the voters finally were able to give a Directing and BP Oscar to one of their beloved stars; Robert Redford.

Over the years, it has happens numerous times and each time it has gone to darlings of the Academy community.

That being said, OP is an amazing film that truly deserved it’s win because of the fact that it discusses a theme that is so hard hitting and poignant that it still works so well 36 years later.

My Rankings:

Movies

• 5. – Tess -Over-long epic film that could have been better had it been tighter.  Too many scenes are too drawn out
• 4. – Coal Miner’s Daughter – The first half of this biopic is better than the second half and it runs out of steam along the way. Great performances by Spacek and Jones
• 3. – The Elephant Man – Amazing performance by Hurt (who should have won Best Actor this year), but the story isn’t as engaging as it could have been
• 2. – Raging Bull -DeNiro and Pesci are amazing here, but the story lags a bit here and there.
• 1. – Ordinary People – Great look at how a family deals with the aftermath of a tragedy. Redford does an amazing job directing and was deservingly the first actor to win for directing which has become the norm ever since.

Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most Definitely! Redford’s look at family life following a tragedy is moviemaking drama at it’s best.  None of the other films are as realisticly powerful.

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