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About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1982)
Oscar nominations hurt commitment to art Well, it’s”sour grapes time once again. This report comes every February tenth, when all the film critics gather around the campfire to moan over the truly awful nominations chosen by the members of the Acadertiy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their an- is the nomination for the Ger man group “Tangerine Dream” for their devastating score in “Thief?” The original score for “Dragonslayer” was quite uninspired, so why the nomination? Even “Heaven’s Gate” had a better score than “On By Thomas A. Rhodes iual awards ceremony March ». aMMK Last year, the moans were ¡oud, 1 indeed. Naturally everyone?', can’t be nominated or various awards, but certain , missions? are almost pitiful ¿hen the objective of the ¡wards is to applaud excellence in a specific field. The biggest moan of the 1980 ceremony was the miss- ng name of Shelly Duvail from jest actress category. Her joint performances in “Popeye” and ‘The Shining” were.unsurpass- sd, yet she wasn’t even nominated. . ' Other foolish délétions were Australia’s great film ‘Breaker Morant.” It received mly one nomination (for screenplay) when it deserved a half dozen more, most notably ‘Best Picture.” ' . . If j anything became evi-( dent from last year’s ceremony, • It is the slippery slope approach Io nominations. If a film gets nominated for Best Picture, it must be nominated for direc tor, actor, actress, photography, and on down the . Golden Pond!” Yes, “Pond” had a nice theme, but if you want nice themes, how about “Rich and Famous” or “True Confessions” by Georges Delurue? Both were sweeping -and moving in their own right. As far as editing went, “Reds” could have been cut down. one-third, , with many needless scenes cut out. You want sharp editing? Try “Zoot Suit.” The editing for “On Golden Pond” was absolutely nothing special. After a few viewings of “Raiders,” one •notices more arid more editing mistakes.. Chase scenes through the streets of Cairo, and the fight under the airplane had many needless mistakes. In their places would have been the editing for “Prince of the City” and “Zoot Suit.” Under photography, nothing was more usual than the photography for either “On Golden Pond” or “Reds.” For slick photography, why wasn’t Owen Roizman, who photographed “True Confes sions,” “Absence of Malice,” line. The same thing has hap pened this year. Of all the films released last year (I’ve seen about 70 of them), only five films received more "than five' nominations: Two films were Riven three, nominations apiece, “Dragonslayer” was awarded two nominations, and handful of films were given one nomination apiece.. Not only is that poor choice quality wise, but it makes the rest of the year’s films look pretty bad. To start at the top. Reds was given 12 nominations. One is reminded of a line Nicol [Williamson delivered when kid tapper Klaus Kinski made his ¡demands rn “Venom.” ¡Williamson said in his best Welsh “Oh, you must be jok- |ing!” 1 was hoping so, but Kin ski’s next line proved “It is no joke.” A nomination for longest movie or most, scenes with members of the socialist party involved is possible, but best original musical score? The composer was one of Broad way’s best in Stephen Son- dheim, but his music was really limp in the film. Why wasn’t Randy [Newman nominated for his wit ty score for “Ragtime?” Where For some reason, Howard Rollins was nominated for a supporting actor award. Anyone who saw the movie would say that he was the central character. Well, vir tually anyone. and “Taps” nominated? All three of those films were photographed better. Why wasn’t the photographer for “Thief” nominated? Worse yet, Vilmos Zsigsmond was not recognized for his (quite literally) great photography of “Blow Out” or “Heaven’s Gate.” That is the worst omission yet. Wednesday, February 17, 1982 Nominating “Chariots of Fire” for seven awards was the only thing they really did right this year. If it were an American made film, it would win some of them. Being made in Britain, gives it virtually no chance. For slick photography, “Outland” was outstanding, as was Freddie Francis’s “The French Lieuteriant’s Woman?” Yet, neither were awarded nominations. Another possible nominee that was overlooked was the photographer for ^‘Cut ter’s Way.” Only one complaint one thé norniness for art direction. “Raiders” was filmed on loca tion. The other nominees were “Heaven’s Gate,” “Reds,” “French Lieuteriant’s Woman, ” and “Ragtime.” “Heaven’s Gate” deserves it, but just who will win it is really up in the air. But now comes the meanest part.. The actors and actresses. Who was left out for supporting' actress? Kristy McNichol; the Only bright thing in “Only When I Laugh,” was left out., Caridice Bergen, was slighted for “Rich and Famous.” Kate Reid gave “Atlantic City’'’ some wonderoüs.moments. Frances Sternhagen was far more impressive in “Outland” than Jane Fonda was in “On Golden Pond.” The same goes for Tyne Daly in “Zoot Suit.” Joan Hackett was nomiriated for “Only Whenvl Laugh.” Why I’m not sure, but she never came close to Cÿril Cusack in “True Confessions.” As for supporting actor,, the biggest mistake was the norriinatioh of Howard Rollins for “Ragtime.” As the pianist, hé was the film’s protagonist and should have been up for best actor. Another joke was the nomination of James Coco. It was not that he was bad, but Nicol Williamson was so much better in “Excalibur,” as was James Olsen for “Ragtime.” Just about every one of. the supporting cast of “Prince of the City” deserved nomina tion. Better yet, where was the nomination for Robert Preston as the good doctor iri “S.O.B?” How about George C. Scott for “Taps?” Boothe Powers ab solutely dominated every scene in “Southern Comfort.” John Colicos deserved a nomination for “Postman Always Rings Twice.” In the best actress category, no real complaints except for the nomination, of Katherine Hepburn for “On Golden Pond.” She has been Award wasn’t even nominated. Under best actor, Robert Duvall’s performance in “True Confessions” was far superior to Warren Beatty’s in “Reds,” as was Treat Williams in “Prince of the City,’- John Heard’s in “Cutter’s Way,” An thony Quinn’s in “Lion of the Desert.” Outside of Beatty’s all other nominations are understandable. On the whole, “On, Golden Pond” didn’t deserve ten nominations any more than “Reds” deserved 12. A few films received most of the nomination®, which adds an air of disrespect to the other talents involved with filmmak ing in 1981. “You want sharp editing? Try ‘Zoot Suit!” so much better before, her per formance here was. quite sad to watch tn comparison with' “Love Amont the Ruins.” Here, she gives a lesson in overacting. Also under question was. the nomination of Marsha Mason for “Only When I Vaugh.” Whén she is over shadowed by Kristy McNichol, you know she is in trouble. Who could have filled their shoes? Lisa Eichom for “Cutter’s Way” for one. Jessica Lange gave thè year’s most surprising performance in “Postman Ring Twice?’¿Kate Nelligan was thè strongest aspect of “Eye of the Needle.” One interesting note, Glenda Jackson, who won the New York-film critics award and the Nation Society of Film Critics On the whole, “On Golden Pond” didn’t deserve ten nominations any more than “Reds’’ deserved 12. A few films received most of the nominations,- which adds an air of disrespect to the other talents involved with filmmak- irig in 1981: Either way, hete is the run sheet on the people who are up for awards this year, and their chances ofjwinning: In the odds, I looked a the other awards, the sentiment j involved and the popularity of the films involved. For best film, whoever, wins best direc tor from the Directors Guild always wins at the Oscars. The director’s film wins best picture also. page 3