Alternate Oscars

[wpqx]

This is a particular favorite topic of mine, and one that I have been going on about for about five years now. I have come up with my own alternate picks for best picture, actor, actress, and director, but I will for now limit my alternate choices to best picture. I have done the best research possible to figure out when certain foreign films came out in the US, and were eligible for Oscars. I have opted to include an alternate in the years I have agreed with the Academy, and some of those choices might seem odd. If this generates enough response, perhaps the other three categories will be added as well.

1927/28 - The Circus
1928/29 - Steamboat Bill Jr.
1929/30 - All Quiet on the Western Front * (no-runner up)
1930/31 - City Lights
1931/32 – The Grand Hotel* (Frankenstein)
1932/33 - Duck Soup
1934 - It Happened One Night * (no-runner up)
1935 - Top Hat
1936 - San Francisco
1937 - A Star is Born
1938 - The Grand Illusion
1939 - Gone With the Wind * (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
1940 - The Philadelphia Story
1941 - Citizen Kane
1942 - Yankee Doodle Dandy
1943 - Casablanca * (Heaven Can Wait)
1944 - Lifeboat
1945 - To Have and Have Not
1946 - The Best Years of Our Lives* (A Matter of Life and Death/Stairway to Heaven)
1947 - Great Expectations
1948 - Oliver Twist
1949 - The Bicycle Thief
1950 - Sunset Boulevard
1951 - Los Olvidados
1952 - Singin’ in the Rain
1953 - From Here to Eternity* (The Big Heat)
1954 - On the Waterfront * (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
1955 - East of Eden
1956 - The Searchers
1957 - Paths of Glory
1958 - The Seventh Seal
1959 - Ben-Hur * (Some Like it Hot)
1960 - Psycho
1961 - La Dolce Vita
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia * (The Manchurian Candidate)
1963 - 8 1/2
1964 - Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1965 - Doctor Zhivago
1966 - Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey
1969 - The Wild Bunch
1970 – Au Hasard, Balthazar
1971 - A Clockwork Orange
1972 - The Godfather * (What's Up Doc?)
1973 - Mean Streets
1974 - Chinatown
1975 - Nashville
1976 - Taxi Driver
1977 - Star Wars
1978 – The Wrong Move
1979 - Apocalypse Now
1980 - Ordinary People * (Raging Bull)
1981 - Reds
1982 - Pink Floyd’s the Wall
1983 - A Christmas Story
1984 - Once Upon a Time in America
1985 - Ran
1986 - Platoon * (Salvador)
1987 - The Princess Bride
1988 - Last Temptation of Christ
1989 – Do the Right Thing
1990 - Dances With Wolves * (Goodfellas)
1991 - Landscape in the Mist
1992 - Malcolm X
1993 - Schindler’s List * (Groundhog Day)
1994 - Pulp Fiction
1995 - Toy Story
1996 - Fargo
1997 - LA Confidential
1998 - Saving Private Ryan
1999 - Magnolia
2000 - Requiem for a Dream
2001 - Moulin Rouge
2002 - The Pianist
2003 - City of God

I'm aware of several other films from 1934, such as Twentieth Century, The Scarlet Empress, Manhattan Melodrama, The Thin Man, It's a Gift, and The Lost Patrol, but each may be great in their own way, but not best picture material. I'm also aware that no one on earth agrees with my choices for 1980 and 1990, except for the Academy of course. As for 1929-30 I have seen a number of films from that year and only GW Pabst's Pandora's Box is worth mentioning as a runner up. I'm also torn between The Circus and Sunrise from 1927/28, and I believe that if I see Sunrise again it would get the honor. I could not find when Abel Gance's Napoleon came out in the US, other than in the 1981 restoration. If I could then chances are that film would have won regardless of the competition, with the exception of the 1929/30 season.
I'm also aware that the Academy has never given a foreign film the best picture Oscar, at least foreign language. The simple fact that they have nominated foreign films makes them eligible in my book. The difference is that it can only begin in 1938. Up until that point the Academy was set up specifically to honor American movies. When A Nous la Liberte was nominated for best art direction in 1931/32, the rules were changed to honor only American film. A similar qualification for cinematography came about after Tabu: A Story of the South Seas won for best cinematography. Ironically that film was funded with American money, and was co-directed by American film pioneer Robert Flaherty. It was still too foreign in its conception for the patriotic Academy voters. In 1938 they nominated The Grand Illusion for best picture, and from that point on foreign films were eligible for best picture contention.
Keep in mind that made for TV movies are not eligible, such as Fanny and Alexander, Scenes from a Marriage, and my personal favorite Berlin Alexanderplatz. I also have never seen a documentary nominated for best picture, and I do believe the Academy specifies fiction film, which explains the reason for the separate documentary feature, and short subject categories. Anyways I'm rambling and hurrah if you actually read this entire post.

[oscar jubis]

The Scarlet Empress is "not best picture material" unlike Pink Floyd-The Wall and other such crap???

[wpqx]

Not to say I disliked The Scarlet Empress, but it is not among my favorites. As for the Wall, well after you see it three times come back to me. I disliked it the first two times I saw it, but for some strange reason I gave it a third chance and it is now among my favorites. For Sternberg-Dietrich I would prefer The Blue Angel and Morocco, but neither of those came out in 1934, so therefore I repeat my previous statement. It could however get an award for the best performance by Dietrich, just something about the film as a whole that left me a little let down. I must admit that this film I didn't give three chances, so maybe if the day comes when I can see it again, I might change my tune. I figured I would get more flack for Dances With Wolves than anything else. I guess I shouldn't let you know what films from 1944 I think are unworthy of an Oscar. I'll give you a small hint, one of the films was directed by Billy Wilder. I welcome your complaints/comments, because that's what these boards are for. Submit your picks, so I can make similar complaints directed at your choices, Oscar.

[HorseradishTree]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
The Scarlet Empress is "not best picture material" unlike Pink Floyd-The Wall and other such crap???

You have a beef with The Wall, you have to go through me first.

Hey man, how long did this take you? I would love to do this, but I could maybe only make picks since the late-80s, because I'm sketchy on a lot of stuff before that (i.e. year they came out and what it's contending with).

[wpqx]

It took about five years. I have had some incarnation of a running list for a couple of years, but the form it is in now took a lot of revision, and a lot of research. www.filmsite.org is a great place to research this. They have Academy summaries for every year, and at the bottom of each they list films that were snubbed by the Academy. By no means a complete source, but certainly a great place to start. As for the foreign film dates, those took a lot more time to find, and I can't even begin to tell you how to figure it out. I also say thanks for the support on the Wall it is a great film. I'm also a huge fan of The Who's Quadrophenia, another concept album turned into a film. Quadrophenia might have more emotional weight, but The Wall is one of the most visually audacious films ever made. I also prefer Pink Floyd's album to the Who's. Anyways I'm speaking too much on the subject, I'll try to make my future words choice.

[oscar jubis]

Both of you have given me reasons to believe you'll outgrow this infatuation with The Wall, a confused tribulations-of-a rock-star flick brimming with self-indulgence. The music isn't bad, for "progressive" rock. I watched it at the Miami Planetarium 20+ yrs. ago at midnight, with a laser show and the pungent smell of doobies. Cliches about the fucked-up artist galore. Oh, and Mother is a villain.

It's only fair I come up with some titles for you to criticize. I suppose you don't mind that I go by year of premiere, not year of American premiere. I did my best to list only one film per year, even though in most years there are other films I like just as much as the one listed here.

1927 SUNRISE
1928 THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK
1929 UN CHIEN ANDALOU
1930 EARTH
1931 CITY LIGHTS
1932 TROUBLE IN PARADISE
1933 HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM!
1934 L'ATALANTE
1935 THE INFORMER
1936 MODERN TIMES
1937 GRAND ILLUSION
1938 ALEXANDER NEVSKY
1939 RULES OF THE GAME
1940 THE GREAT DICTATOR
1941 CITIZEN KANE
1942 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS
1943 CASABLANCA
1944 MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK
1945 ROMA, CITTA APERTA
1946 SHOESHINE
1947 M. VERDOUX
1948 BICYCLE THIEVES
1949 LATE SPRING
1950 THE THIRD MAN
1951 RASHOMON
1952 IKIRU
1953 TOKYO STORY
1954 SANSHO THE BAILIFF and UGETSU MONOGATARI
1955 ORDET and PATHER PANCHALI
1956 THE SEARCHERS
1957 A MAN ESCAPED
1958 VERTIGO
1959 HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR
1960 L'AVVENTURA
1961 LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD
1962 MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
1963 SHOCK CORRIDOR and 8 1/2
1964 DR. STRANGELOVE
1965 FALSTAFF
1966 AU HASARD BALTHAZAR
1967 PLAYTIME
1968 COLOR OF POMEGRANATES and 2001
1969 ANDREI RUBLEV
1970 THE CONFORMIST
1971 McCABE AND MRS. MILLER
1972 DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
1973 SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE and AGUIRRE
1974 CHINATOWN
1975 NASHVILLE
1976 CRIA
1977 ERASEHEAD
1978 THE TREE OF WOODEN CLOGS
1979 STALKER
1980 RAGING BULL
1981 REDS and PIXOTE
1982 LA TRAVIATA
1983 EL SUR
1984 None
1985 BRAZIL
1986 None
1987 AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS
1988 LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST and DEKALOG
1989 DO THE RIGHT THING
1990 CAIDOS DEL CIELO
1991 A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY
1992 ACTRESS and THE BOYS OF ST. VINCENT
1993 THE PUPPETMASTER
1994 THREE COLORS
1995 DEAD MAN
1996 IRMA VEP
1997 KUNDUN
1998 FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI
1999 EYES WIDE SHUT and THE WIND WILL CARRY US
2000 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
2001 MULHOLLAND DRIVE
2002 BLOODY SUNDAY
2003 RUSSIAN ARK

[HorseradishTree]

Alright, I'll play this game. But since this might take a while, I'll just go through the mid-40s.

1927-28 - Sunrise
1928-29 - The Patriot
1929-30 - All Quiet On the Western Front
1930-31 - Little Caesar
1931-32 - The Champ
1932-33 - I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
1934 - It Happened One Night
1935 - Captain Blood
1936 - Modern Times
1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1938 - The Lady Vanishes
1939 - The Wizard of Oz
1940 - The Philadelphia Story
1941 - The Maltese Falcon
1942 - This Gun for Hire
1943 - Casablanca
1944 - Gaslight
1945 - Spellbound

I'll put more up in due time.

[wpqx]

HorseradishTree
Not to get on you, but are you sure about Cimaron? Over The Front Page, City Lights, The Public Enemy, and Little Caesar? I also think it a little odd for Maltese Falcon over Kane in 1941, but to each his own. The Maltese Falcon is probably somewhere near my top twenty, but Kane is the greatest film of all time. No arguments on All Quiet though, one of the greatest films ever made. By the way keep 'em coming, I want to nag at the rest of your choices.
As for Oscar, your list has some interesting choices, and to help out on some foreign films:
Grand Illusion - US 1938
Open City - US 1946
Shoeshine - US 1947
The Bicycle Thief - US 1949
Ikiru - US 1960
L'Avventura - US 1961
Last Year at Marienbad - US 1962
Falstaff/Chimes at Midnight - US 1967
Au Hasard Balthazar - US 1970
Color of Pomegranates - US 1977
The Conformist - US 1971
Aguirre the Wrath of God - US 1977

The others either came out the year you picked them, or I just don't know or can't find out. I'll take Last Temptation of Christ as your pick for 1988, considering that The Decalogue was made specifically for Polish television and therefore would have been ineligible regardless of what year it came out in the US. I do think the Decalogue is a remarkable achievement, and would place it above the Three Colors Trilogy, but I already gave reasons not to pick it. Last Temptation is a great choice though, and surprise, it was the same as mine.

[HorseradishTree]

Oh geez, wow. I forgot about Little Caesar (slaps self repeatedly). I'll edit that in. As for Kane, it's great, but Maltese Falcon keeps getting better for me (I ought to be shot for saying things like this). Here are some up to the mid 60s.

1946 - Henry V
1947 - Crossfire
1948 - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (I'm sure I'll be hearing it for this choice)
1949 - White Heat
1950 - All About Eve
1951 - The African Queen
1952 - High Noon
1953 - Julius Caesar
1954 - On the Waterfront (whoa, two Brandos in a row)
1955 - Rebel Without a Cause
1956 - The Seven Samurai (that's right, no Searchers here)
1957 - Bridge Over the River Kwai
1958 - Touch of Evil (this is a reluctant choice, but I couldn't find much else)
1959 - Some Like It Hot
1960 - The Alamo
1961 - The Hustler
1962 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1963 - 8 1/2
1964 - Dr. Strangelove
1965 - Dr. Zhivago

[oscar jubis]

wp: there are so many excellent made-for-tv features that deserve our attention. You mentioned 3 outstanding European ones in your intro. Worthy thread topic, I'd say.

tree:I love Sierra Madre, the first Hollywood film shot outside the USA, but it was released the same year as arguably the classic neo-realist film.

[HorseradishTree]

I'll head up to 1980 this time. Here we go.

1966 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967 - Bonnie and Clyde
1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey
1969 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1970 - M*A*S*H
1971 - McCabe & Mrs. Miller (but Dirty Harry, Macbeth, and Clockwork Orange are close behind)
1972 - The Godfather
1973 - The Sting (followed by The Exorcist)
1974 - Chinatown
1975 - The Man Who Would Be King (with Dog Day Afternoon in a close second)
1976 - The Shootist
1977 - Annie Hall (Star Wars too)
1978 - Interiors (Two Woodies in a Row)
1979 - Apocalypse Now (with Manhattan and Escape From Alcatraz trailing)
1980 - The Empire Strikes Back

[wpqx]

Oscar,
As for the made for TV, I am about to start watching Pennies from Heaven, and have my hopes unreasonably high for it. I already saw the Singing Detective (mini-series mind you), and if Pennies is half as good, I should be in for a treat. I meant to get at you for your selections. Again remember "The neo-realist film" you are speaking of The Bicycle Thief (Correct me if I'm wrong) won the Foreign Language film Oscar in 1949, as I already pointed out, so the complaint would be over White Heat, which is a fierce debate in my head. As for better films from 1948 I think David Lean's Oliver Twist is the best of the bunch. Now I'm not saying I prefer these films but I'm also a huge fan of Olivier's Hamlet, Force of Evil, and John Ford's Three Godfathers. Huston's film is still the runner-up if I'm allowed one. Also worth mentioning is the Powell-Pressburger film The Red Shoes.
Now I love Bunuel almost as much as Godard, but Un Chien Andalou is what I would call a short subject film, and that would rule it out for me personally. I am also not a big fan of The Docks of New York. Now as we have already established I do like Von Sternberg, but this film didn't do it for me. I would prefer The Passion of Joan of Arc, which I'm still trying to figure out when it came out here, Steamboat Bill Jr. (My favorite Keaton), The Wedding March (Favorite Von Stroheim), and The Wind (Favorite Sjostrom). I believe Earth is a film that gets better each time you see it, and because I have only seen it one and a half times I am not exactly enamored with it. I prefer the earlier Zvenigora, but more importantly All Quiet on the Western Front. Chances are you won't find a bigger fan of that film than myself, so I'll denounce any film picked over it. I agree with Danny Peary (author of Alternate Oscars) in thinking that 1933's group of films is enough to rival 1939, but I could hardly go for Hallelujah I'm a Bum. Truth is Trouble in Paradise was nominated in this season, but you had a separate system. That was the year of Duck Soup, 42nd Street, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, Design for Living, and Fritz Lang's M was released here that year. King Kong was also released along with Queen Christina, She Done Him Wrong, and Little Women, but I'm not a particular fan of any of those films. Personally I think King Kong is laughable, horrible dialogue, a great deal of incontinuity (the size of Kong is different in nearly every shot), and bad acting pretty much all around. I also cringe at the final line as well. The others are just met with indifference. I'm a little surprised at Hiroshima, Mon Amour from 1959. I know I'm the only person around who actually thinks Ben-Hur is the best film of the year, but I'll explain. Ben-Hur was one of the very few (real) films I had seen before getting into film on a more obsessive basis. I am also a particular fan of William Wyler, and think that there is no better historical epic made (Lawrence of Arabia being an exception. I am also the world's biggest Charlton Heston fan, and no I'm not a member of the NRA. I have seen more of his films than most people would care to admit exist, and this is by far my favorite. Also worth noting are Some Like it Hot, North by Northwest, Anatomy of a Murder, Pickpocket, The 400 Blows, Wild Stawberries (came out here this year), and Rio Bravo. Anyways the rest of your list is food for another meal. If you feel like justifying any of your choices please do. I know it is easy to make a list, but a little more difficult to explain the method behind the madness. And from the outside all of our lists have some bizarre choices.
HorseradishTree,
you have some interesting choices. High Noon is a great western, but Singin' in the Rain is the greatest musical ever, and it happens to be in my personal top 10. I got the feeling that you are not a big fan of later Hitchcock, i. e. Touch of Evil over Vertigo (Which I agree with), The Alamo over Psycho (Which I can't imagine anyone alive agreeing with), and The African Queen over Strangers on a Train (neither film was my pick, but I would prefer Hitch). I also admire the Empire Strikes Back choice. I usually forget it simply because it is a sequel and one that is in the middle of a trilogy. It is a remarkable film however, and you spare yourself the painstaking Raging Bull-Ordinary People debate. I would also throw Airplane in my list of worthy best pictures from 1980. You are also on my good side for your two Woody Allen choices, even though I picked neither. I love Interiors and Annie Hall with all my heart, but competition was very tough. As for your 1971 pick, I would have selected any of your runners-up ahead of McCabe. I thought the film was a little boring and overrated. I have resolved to watch it again with the hope that I missed something, but it would be near impossible for that film to top A Clockwork Orange. The Shootist is an odd choice as well, but if you prefer it over Taxi Driver, Network, All the President's Men, and Rocky then more power to you. By the way what the hell is a Find Madness, maybe it is just slipping my mind right now, but I have no idea what the hell this movie is, so if you can help a brother out.

Everyone else
Remember this post isn't exclusive to us three nut jobs, so feel free to get in on the fun, and believe me it is fun. So denounce the Oscars and offer your expert opinion on what should have received a trophy.

[oscar jubis]

A few comments and observations regarding my views on cinema that could shed light into the "method behind the madness", as you'd say. Think of the comments below as a first sketch towards a personal manifesto, detailing personal beliefs and preferences.

*International Outlook.
I think American films (and English language films in general) get a disproportionate amount of attention. This has a lot to do with the publicity budgets of Hollywood films and their monopoly of screens throughout the world. The mainstream media is primarily interested in the movies that pay for advertisement. Those are the films that get the prominently placed reviews and "star" interviews. It's become imperative to search for specialized sources of information, if you happen to be the type who is just as likely to appreciate a foreign language film as an English one. Or if you want to teach yourself to be free of ethnocentric bias.

*Cinema is a lot more than storytelling.
I harbor no contempt towards the average filmgoer who goes to the movies to be told an entertaining story. But personally I make no such requirements of a film. Plot and narrative can be dispensed with, in the service of characterization, mood, exposition of ideas, abstract beauty, etc. A film doesn't have to be inspired by a novel or short story. A great film can be akin to a filmed essay or poem.

*What's new?
I place a great deal of value on originality. I have been a gluttonous consumer of cinema since the mid 60s. It makes sense that by now the films that attract my attention are the ones who show me an aspect of humanity, past or present, that is new to me. It makes sense, form-wise, that my favorite recent films often challenge aesthetic conventions inherent in older films.

*Fiction vs. Non-fiction
These are extremely fluid terms, in my view. Some very interesting films reflect a combination of fiction and documentary techniques. I don't even impose on cinema the need to be "realistic" or even "logical". It all depends on the perceived intentions of the filmmakers. Most films aim for verisimilitude but I keep the door open for films that function as parables and characters that are metaphorical or representational, rather than psychologically believable.

*Viewer as active participant
Many of the films I hail nowadays compel the viewer to fill-in the blanks left by the director. These films often allow for a variety of interpretations because aspects of them, particularly resolution, are vague or ambiguous. These are often films that require more than one viewing for a proper reading. Abbas Kiarostami penned the term "unfinished" cinema at a pronouncement at Cannes in '95, but this approach to cinema arguably began over 40 years ago with Michelangelo Antonioni. "What a film doesn't say or show is just as important as what it does" (Scorsese on Antonioni).

*The primacy of the image
A primary consideration for me is whether a film's images give me pleasure (pure aesthetics) and their ability to make room for themselves in my visual memory bank. It's difficult to unravel this mysterious process but composition, use of color, mise-en-scene, art direction and other characteristics are pertinent.

*Subjectivity
I don't usually talk about "best" movies, only favorite ones. Film appreciation is dependent on what you bring to the experience, your personality, history,education, proclivities, predilections, biases, values, etc. Personal canons like ours above are simply a reflection of who we are. There are no "bizarre" choices, only personal ones.

*Values
Most of the films I prefer present values, points of view, "messages" so to speak, that are congruent with my own philosophy and outlook. Several favorite films say things about humanity that I believe are important, others have informational or inspirational value. This is an outgrowth of the previous paragraph because each person decides what information, outlook, values are important to communicate to others.

*Moderation
A minor point, most relevant to film criticism. I think most movies fall between "mediocre" and "good". There are few truly bad movies and even fewer masterpieces. Critics in general fail to point out redeeming aspects of movies they pan, and fail to point out that there's a sub-segment of the audience that may find a mediocre movie worth-watching. Even worse, mainstream critics are way too generous with "the four stars" and laudatory terms.

My cinema education has evolved as a process of dispensing with a profusion of biases based on: country of origin, language spoken, advertising budget, duration, legibility, narrative conventions, genre expectations, casting, verisimilitute, animation vs. live action, etc.

[HorseradishTree]

Well, the thing is that I've never been a fan of musicals. The ones I seem to most enjoy are the parodies and/or abnormal ones, in which the genre is sort of dissected and poked fun at. Dancer in the Dark is most certainly one of my favorites, but I don't think I'll see it again for a few decades.

And what can I say for the John Wayne picks of mine. He's really a favorite for me. I believe The Alamo, while grossly inaccurate, still held its own as a fine film. Also, The Shootist, I think, brings out the best in Wayne as well as everyone in it, and makes me kind of think that it is what Eastwood's Unforgiven should have been.

I think I might have to change A Fine Madness. It's been a while since I've seen it. Sean Connery stars as a depressed poet. It's quite entertaining, as I recall.

Another runner up for 1975 for me would be Allen's Love and Death, which I think to be his best, though my first choice for that year blows it away.

I'll finish off the last twenty-four years in a little while.

[HorseradishTree]

Finally, here's the rest of 'em:

1981 - Gallipoli (with Spielberg's Raiders in second)
1982 - The Road Warrior (Blade Runner's close)
1983 - Return of the Jedi
1984 - The Terminator (I'm serious)
1985 - Pee Wee's Big Adventure (really, and I'm not kidding when I put Evil Dead II up there)
1986 - Platoon (Stone's best)
1987 - Full Metal Jacket
1988 - The Last Temptation of Christ
1989 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1990 - Miller's Crossing
1991 - JFK
1992 - Reservoir Dogs
1993 - The Piano
1994 - Ed Wood
1995 - The Usual Suspects
1996 - Fargo
1997 - Chasing Amy
1998 - A Simple Plan (Dark City is there too)
1999 - Eyes Wide Shut
2000 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001 - Waking Life
2002 - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (though I loved Road to Perdition)
2003 - Kill Bill Vol. 1

Whoa. It seems that as I go through the years, my taste slowly degrades to that of a 16-year-old slob (*cough*).