asc85,

You're right, Do the Right Thing was only nominated by the Academy for screenplay written directly for the screen. And it did not win.

It was nominated at Cannes and for the Golden Globe, and won for best picture with 2 or 3 of the film critics associations.

But whatever your opinions of Spike or the picture, it is telling that of the 2 pictures that has something to saying about race relation in the United States in 1989, the one the Academy chose to honor was Driving Miss Daisy, an exercise in antebellum wish-fulfillment if there ever was one.

The feel-good wish fulfillment of Field of Dreams is less offensive, I grant you, but not more than that.

Must we always have to have a picture whose primary emotional calling card is: it is time for the country (or a people) to feel good about itself? In this case, to disappear into the nostalgic rabbit hole of the national pastime of baseball. I understand the appeal of good feelings and good intentions - and if that is all it would takes to create a better world, I think pigs would fly too.

I would have given it to Dead Poets Society, but that would have had more to do with being 16 at the time than anything else.

quote:

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Originally posted by wong828:

But whatever your opinions of Spike or the picture, it is telling that of the 2 pictures that has something to saying about race relation in the United States in 1989, the one the Academy chose to honor was Driving Miss Daisy, an exercise in antebellum wish-fulfillment if there ever was one.

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There was another film that had something to do with race-relations that year which I believe was better than the rest - "Glory." Powerhouse direction and acting right down the line. Once again, if you want to find fault with Hollywood telling the story of a black regiment during the Civil War through the eyes of rich, white Matthew Broderick's character, then have at it. It was based on a true story and his character's diary. Denzel Washington got his first Oscar for it, but I thought Morgan Freeman was even-more incredible, and Andre Braugher and Jihmi Kennedy were also excellent. It's one seriously-great film.

Oh yes, even though I normally dislike movies depicting war, I remember liking Glory very much. I would never have seen it on my own, but my parents took me to see it. I guess my fascination with little known aspects of history won out over my distaste for watching combat.

It probably also helped that there were necessarily no bombs, machine guns, and I don't remember a lot of gratuitous violence.

In response to Wong828's comments, I will only confirm that I was not a fan of "Driving Miss Daisy", and I would agree with much of the criticisms you made about that movie.

As for Spike Lee, I just never cared for "Do the Right Thing." I didn't care very much for the way the film ended, and for the political point of view that seemed to condone/justify what was done to Sal's Pizza Parlor.

Interestingly, though, I think he did a GREAT job on "Jungle Fever." The sequence of Wesley Snipes looking for a cracked-out Gator (early Samuel Jackson) with Stevie Wonder's "Livin' for the City" in the background is one of my favorite all-time movie scenes.

asc85,

Tangential, but I thought that the portrayal of Malcolm X in Michael Mann's Ali was way superior to Spike's film of the same name. And Melvin Van Peeble was better than Denzel playing the role.

Soundtrack was great too, jazz, r&b, and world music. Smith was excellent and nuanced as Ali. I never expected it of Mann.

KT
I disagree. Both Forrest Gump and Rainman were great movies and deserved the award.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: St. Mike,

Soady, KT is coming back next month, but until then, let me tell you that she doesn't have a short attention span. I consider her to be one of the best, most-educated, emotionally-honest (not to mention humanitarian) members which Metacritic is lucky to have. I WILL say that she is EXTREMELY-opinionated, but aren't WE ALL?

Yep, we are all quite opinionated at sites like these. Didn't mean to come off like that, just stating my love for Gump, meant nothing against KT at all.

I think that both of LoTR movies that didnt win the oscars should've won. Mostly Fellowship over beautiful mind.

Beautiful mind. Period.

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Originally posted by Metacritic Games Editor:
Beautiful mind. Period.

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Amen to that MY BROTHER!!

I hated Chicago. I'll admit that quite happily. I don't see what all of the buzz was about. Certainly my #1 pick.

Titanic is a close second. Best Director may have been reasonable, because it had some spectacular moments visually, but that doesn't make up for the deficits in script-writing and acting (considering how long it's been since I saw the movie, the two things get sort of blurred in my mind).

Basically all of the winners of the last 4 or 5 years have been overrated. Gladiator shouldve gotten beat by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...A Beautiful Mind I am okay with...but Chicago wasn't even close to the best movie of 2002. And the LOTR was too long, boring, and Mystic River was better. Titanic is possibly the most overrated movie of all time. If you want to go back in history, it could be argued that The French Connection was not even close to as deserving as A Clockwork Orange.

This year, Sideways, Eternal Sunshine and all the other movies will get screwed over by the Aviator, so the trend will continue.

quote:

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Originally posted by asc85:
Wong828 said,

"When Driving Miss Daisy won, it won over Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing."

Not sure if wong828 has remembered it right. "Do the Right Thing" wasn't even nominated for Best Picture that year. The film's that were nominated along with "Driving Miss Daisy" were

"Born on the 4th of July"
"Dead Poets Society"
"Field of Dreams"
"My Left Foot"

Personally, I would have given it to "Field of Dreams". Although Spike Lee still thinks his "Do the Right Thing" was a masterpiece, I still think that it wasn't.

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Totally agree. Do the Right Thing film of the year....then Born On The Fourth....

But, agreeing with the topic starter, Ordinary People does not hold up. It beat Raging Bull for ch**** sakes!!!!! That is the worst!!!

Maybe I just have bad taste when it comes to movies, but I actually thought Titanic was good when it came out on VHS. In theaters, the experience was absolutely horrible. I remember not being able to hear the last 45 minutes of the film over the blubbering mass of preteen estrogen in the front rows (the fact that my mom couldn't stop laughing at them didn't help either).

Anyway, Titanic won for the same reason Return of the King won: it had the advantage of being an undeniable cultural phenomenon. Not to say anything bad about RotK (it really did deserve the Best Picture Oscar), but you know the Academy would have snubbed it if they hadn't forgotten to nominate Cold Mountain.

kwakerjak

Lots of people have been saying that it is 'A Beautiful Mind'. I would like to say "I completely Agree"

I don't know if I'd call it the worst Best Picture winner ever, but ROCKY doesn't hold up well at all. It is not even a very good film.

I also agree about FORREST GUMP. I hated that film. This one may get my nod.

I'd need to see a list of all the films to make my selection. Wasn't GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT a best picture winner? That one doesn't hold up well at all. Preachy and didactic.

And I saw it years ago on video, but THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH from the wooden director Cecil B. DeMille wasn't any great shakes either.

"Shakespeare in Love" was good, but it wasn't Best Picture material.

Also, I know I'll probably get some hate for this, but I'll second the nomination for "LOTR:ROTK". Despite being full of epic battle scenes, it was one long, boring movie. Peter Jackson needs a good editor. There's no way he needed almost 4 hours to tell that story.

I have to go back to 1976 and Rocky as the worst contemporary film (I can't go back further than probably 1955 or so) to win an Oscar for Best Picture. I felt that the gritty, politically important, docudrama All The Presidents Men had more of the cinematic integrity than the more popular, mundane, and stereotypical Hollywood storyline that we've seen over and over again and again. Even so, the American Film Institutes ranking of Rocky among the top 100 American movies of the last 100 years at 78, still lists two other movies that came out the same year as even higher ranked movies and worthy of the Best Oscar nomination consisting of Network at number 66 and Taxi Driver at number 47.