Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Biggest Snub:
Steven Spielberg – Empire of the Sun
My Overall Thoughts:
This was an interesting year for nominees because four of the five did fine jobs but the fifth did a masterful job at creating a visual masterpiece that still towers over all of the others 30 years after it was made.
My Rankings:
Directing
4. Lasse Hallström
3. Norman Jewison
2. John Boorman
1. Bernardo Bertolucci
Movies
5. Moonstruck – This film is quite good, but it highly over-rated IMHO. Cher and Cage have no chemistry together what so ever and it’s kind of torture watching them act together. Gardenia, Mahoney and Dukakis are the true stars of this film and are all wonderful in supporting roles. The idea of the love in the atmosphere comes across really well and is mostly believable. Perhaps if the leads were played by better actors, it would have been even more enjoyable to watch.
4. Hope and Glory – Liked the way we are shown everything through the eyes of an innocent young boy because it gives a very neutral perspective on many of the events depicted. Boorman definitely used his own memories of this time to recreate a very emotional look at everything that happens.
3. Fatal Attraction – Was much more controversial back when it came out, but the premise is quite tame compared to today’s standards. Douglas is ok here, but not convincing enough, but Close is scary as his one-night stand. The story is quite universal tho and it’s a bit understanding how this could get nominated for Best Picture. Gives people even more reasons to stay away from extramarital affairs than just the normal moral ones.
2. My Life as a Dog – Nice idea that works quite well showing the ups and downs of life for a young boy trying to understand everything that happens around him. They do an excellent job giving him diverse issues to deal with which help cover many different aspects of childhood. The story itself manages to give us a really good perspective of life in Sweden during the 60’s and comes across as quite realistic in everything that it does. I can completely understand how this film could get Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay and that it could win Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.
1. The Last Emperor – Visual masterpiece, stunning movie that lacks only in it’s narrative which is too short and choppy and would have been even better (if possible) if it was even even longer.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Absolutely! BB did an amazing job putting together this epic film and none of the other films come anywhere close to being as powerful.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 