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.
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