February 25, 2013

Greg's Top Ten Worst Oscar Snubs of All Time:

1. Val Kilmer, Best Supporting Actor, Tombstone (1993) - Ask anyone of my generation what Val Kilmer's best performance was and I guarantee you the majority will say his extremely memorable and scene-stealing portrayal of gunfighter Doc Holliday takes the cake. I do think that Tommy Lee Jones' win in this category of the 1993 Oscars was accurate. He was incredible in The Fugitive, but how Kilmer failed to even get mentioned for Best Supporting Actor is beyond me, even though the other four nominees in the category were strong that year (Leonardo DiCaprio for What's Eating Gilbert Grape was among them).

2. The Shining, Best Picture (1980) - Seriously, how do you snub The Shining? When the Stanley Kubrick classic was released in 1980, it wasn't well received by critics. In fact, Kubrick was nominated for a Razzie Award for worst director. Yeah, those Razzie Awards. Shocking, right? Best Picture ended up going to Ordinary People, which is really fine by me. The Robert Redford directed movie was a tour de force with an all-star cast led by Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore, but to not see The Shining among the nominees is a crime.

3. Anthony Perkins, Best Actor, Psycho (1960) - Yeah, I guess the Academy doesn't have the luxury of hindsight. Perkins' performance as the deranged Norman Bates is considered one of the greatest and most revered performances of the decade. Yet, at the time, he wasn't given a tremendous amount of praise for his role in the Alfred Hitchcock classic. Though Hitchcock films were notoriously given little recognition by the Academy, it's hard to believe Perkins wasn't given his due.

4. Do the Right Thing, Best Picture (1989) - For this reason alone, I hate the Oscar winning film Driving Miss Daisy. It's so fitting. A movie that highlights racial violence loses out to a film that features racial segregation and a little old lady with an African American servant. Other nominees that year were Born on the Fourth of July, Field of Dreams, Dead Poets Society and My Left Foot. Personally, I think the winner of the bunch (Miss Daisy) shouldn't have even garnered a nomination. Fight the Power!!!

5. Best Director, Steven Spielberg, Jaws (1975) - Horror films are rarely given their due recognition, especially when the director is a wet behind the ears rookie. Although Spielberg had directed many films before this shark tale, it was the first that gained him worldwide recognition. Today, he's considered one of the finest filmmakers of all time and I still find it a bit shocking he didn't get a nomination for Jaws. At least he was able to win a pair of Oscars for Best Director when he took home top prize in 1994 (Schindler's List) and 1999 (Saving Private Ryan).

6. Best Supporting Actor, Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet (1986) - Hopper was always known for being different but there's little doubt in my mind he's at his craziest and most bizarre in David Lynch's masterpiece, Blue Velvet. At least Hopper was given a nomination the same year for his performance in the Indiana basketball classic Hoosiers. Still, I think his performance in Blue Velvet was more deserving.

7. Best Picture, The Dark Knight (2008) - 2008 was the year of The Dark Knight. It seemed everywhere you turned the Batman sequel was the talk of Tinseltown and it wasn't all because of the late Heath Ledger's incredible performance as The Joker. The entire movie was a massive achievement in storytelling and suspense. Slumdog Millionaire ended up taking home the award for Best Picture and I completely understand why, but how The Dark Knight did not get nominated is a head-scratcher, IMO.

8. Best Actor, Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Maybe it's just me, but I think McDowell might be one of the most underrated actors of our time. I guess the Academy really doesn't like to honor Stanley Kubrick movies or the actors featured in them. McDowell might be the most memorable of Kubrick's leading men and that's saying a lot considering some of the main men he's used over the years (Jack Nicholson in The Shining for example).

9. Best Actor, Gary Oldman, Sid and Nancy (1986) - I only recently saw this movie for the first time and I have to admit it's one of those movies I cannot believe I never saw earlier in my life. Oldman is the total personification of Sex Pistols guitarist Sid Vicious in one of Oldman's greatest performances to date.

10. Best Supporting Actor, Alec Baldwin, Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - He's only in the movie for seven minutes, but he makes every second count. IMO, Baldwin's speech about real estate sales is the single greatest speech in the history of film. And, before you say, "He wasn't on screen long enough for a nomination" let me point out that Dame Judi Dench won an Oscar in 1998 for her eight minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love. I say bump David Paymer's nominated performance in the forgettable Billy Crystal movie Mr. Saturday Night and give Baldwin his due.