I still have a ridiculous amount of films to see from this year, but here's my ballot, which I'll update after I see more. Winners indicated (*).
By the way, here's an idea of what I haven't seen yet: The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Stay As You Are, The Boys from Brazil, Same Time Next Year, La Cage aux Folles, Stevie, The Last Waltz, Blue Collar, The Place Without Limits, Force 10 from Navarone, The Driver, L'Argent Des Autres, Who'll Stop the Rain?, Despair, Knife in the Head, The Girl with the Red Scarf, Watership Down, Fedora, A Night Full of Rain, The Buddy Holly Story, Drunken Master, Fingers, Gates of Heaven, Germany in Autumn, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, In a Year of Thirteen Moons, A Walk Through H, A Wedding, Coma, The Brink's Job, Death on the Nile, Comes a Horseman, Damien: Omen II, The Swarm, An Enemy of the People, The Fury, Convoy, and The Wiz.
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| The Deer Hunter |
BEST PICTURE:
Autumn Sonata
Days of Heaven
The Deer Hunter*
Halloween
Straight Time
BEST DIRECTOR:
Woody Allen, Interiors
Ingmar Bergman, Autumn Sonata
John Carpenter, Halloween
Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter*
Terrence Malick, Days of Heaven
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| Straight Time |
BEST ACTOR:
Brad Davis, Midnight Express
Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter*
Dustin Hoffman, Straight Time
Anthony Hopkins, Magic
Jon Voight, Coming Home
BEST ACTRESS:
Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata*
Jill Clayburgh, An Unmarried Woman
Jane Fonda, Coming Home
Geraldine Page, Interiors
Liv Ullmann, Autumn Sonata
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| Autumn Sonata |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Michael Caine, California Suite
Donald Pleasence, Halloween
John Savage, The Deer Hunter
Sam Shepard, Days of Heaven
Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter*
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Linda Manz, Days of Heaven
Theresa Russell, Straight Time
Maggie Smith, California Suite
Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter*
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| Interiors |
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
California Suite
Coming Home
The Medusa Touch
Midnight Express*
Straight Time
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Autumn Sonata
The Deer Hunter*
Halloween
Interiors
An Unmarried Woman
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| Days of Heaven |
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Autumn Sonata
Days of Heaven*
The Deer Hunter
Halloween
Interiors
BEST FILM EDITING:
Days of Heaven
The Deer Hunter*
Halloween
Midnight Express
Superman
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| Halloween |
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Days of Heaven
The Deer Hunter
Halloween*
Midnight Express
Superman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Animal House", National Lampoon's Animal House
"Annie's Back in Town", Paradise Alley*
"Hopelessly Devoted to You", Grease
"Move 'Em Out", Revenge of the Pink Panther
"You're the One That I Want", Grease
Additional Categories
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| Midnight Express |
BEST ART DIRECTION:
The Deer Hunter
Grease
Heaven Can Wait
Interiors*
Superman
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Autumn Sonata
California Suite
Days of Heaven
Grease*
Paradise Alley
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| Superman |
BEST MAKEUP:
Dawn of the Dead*
Grease
Superman
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
Days of Heaven*
The Deer Hunter
Halloween
Midnight Express
Superman
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Dawn of the Dead
Jaws 2
Superman*
For me, I would've gone with Days of Heaven in pretty much all of its technical categories with the exception of makeup and visual effects as well as Best Picture and Best Director to Terrence Malick plus Best Supporting Actress to Linda Manz. I just love that film to death.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that film as well, but it's actually my #3 behind The Deer Hunter and Autumn Sonata.
DeleteLove The Deer Hunter love. One of my Top 5 films of all time. That one will stay with me forever. De Niro deserved more praise for his work.
ReplyDeleteIt's in my top 25, but another look might move it higher. Love that film, and De Niro and company are excellent. It's actually my favorite De Niro performance. So underrated.
DeleteLove the noms for Halloween. How that score failed to get nominated is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteThanks. That's one of my favorite scores. Unfortunately, the Oscars often ignore horror films.
DeleteI have a major gap in this year in that I've never seen The Deer Hunter, it's one of only three Best Picture winners that I haven't-Slumdog Millionaire and Schindler's List being the others, and I have to be honest and admit I have zero interest in correcting that from all I've ever been told about it.
ReplyDeletePicture:
Coming Home
Days of Heaven
Grease
Midnight Express
Superman-Winner
All the films are fine pictures with the three dramas full of weighty, profound issues and the other a wonderfully realized bubblegum populist entertainment but I'm going with Superman, the superhero movie that got it right-balancing the thrills with actual character development and an all-star cast that really deliver in their roles. It's a definite precursor to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Perhaps not the greatest movie ever made but when you compare its bouyant heart and desire to entertain with the interchangable CGI junk which has no real interest to connecting with its audience churned out now it looks more like a masterpiece than ever.
Director:
Hal Ashby-Coming Home
Ingmar Bergman-Autumn Sonata
Richard Donner-Superman
Randal Kleiser-Grease
Terence Malick-Days of Heaven-Winner
Kleiser and Donner both get the jaunty air essential to making their films perfect escapist entertainment just right and Ashby and Bergman with good material and major talent at their disposal gently guide them and allow them to do their best. Even though Days of Heaven moves at a deliberate pace few are better than Malick at directing the viewer's eye to breathtaking scenes of great beauty and impact.
Actor:
Warren Beatty-Heaven Can Wait
Gary Busey-The Buddy Holly Story
Brad Davis-Midnight Express-Winner
Christopher Reeve-Superman
Jon Voight-Coming Home
Beatty, at his movie star brightest, proves to be an adept comedian in Heaven. Busey tones the weird down and seems to connect with who Buddy Holly was, this is the best he's ever been. It wasn't apparent at the time but in hindsight with the reference of all the others who have attempted the role Reeve makes Superman/Clark Kent such an interesting well rounded character with great skill and tons of charisma. Voight's performance is a wonderful piece of work, his final scene is a killer but I'm going with Davis's incredibly intense, soul baring Billy Hayes.
Actress:
Ingrid Bergman-Autumn Sonata-Winner
Genevieve Bujold-Coma
Ellen Burstyn-Same Time, Next Year
Geraldine Chaplin-Remember My Name
Jill Clayburgh-An Unmarried Woman
Genevieve takes what could have been a stock character and makes her compelling in a genre that doesn't usually have a strong female lead. Ellen modulates her character's changing personality over the decades believably and beautifully, how well she does it can be seen by observing how little Alda does with a similar character arc in Same Time. This was Jill's signature role and she does so well in it, too bad it didn't come in a weaker year since her peak was so short-lived. My runner up is Geraldine Chaplin. She's extraordinary in Remember My Name, chillingly evil but somehow seeming innocent at times and I'd love to hand her the award but Ingrid's final feature performance is arguably the best she ever gave, I think if she hadn't won the tribute Oscar for Orient Express she would have stood a strong chance to have been awarded for this.
I hadn't seen The Deer Hunter in years, and I rewatched it twice before I posted this. Now I consider it one of the best films of the decade, and it's one of my all-time favorites. Also, I'd argue it contains De Niro's and Walken's best performances. Still, if it doesn't sound like your thing, I wouldn't bother.
DeleteI haven't seen some of your acting nominees, but I really like these lineups. Grease and Superman are wonderful additions, and Davis and Bergman were great in those performances.
Supporting Actor:
ReplyDeleteBruce Dern-Coming Home
Gene Hackman-Superman
John Hurt-Midnight Express
James Mason-Heaven Can Wait
Dudley Moore-Foul Play-Winner
Both Dern and Hurt are heartbreaking in there respective films, Mason clever grace personified in Heaven and Hackman a perfectly droll Lex Luthor but none match the manic nuttiness of Moore in Foul Play.
Supporting Actress:
Eileen Brennan-FM
Dyan Cannon-Heaven Can Wait
Stockard Channing-Grease
Maggie Smith-California Suite
Maureen Stapleton-Interiors
Stapleton is wonderous in Interiors, the only life in that suffocating feature. Brennan is tough and full of grit as the worldly DJ Mother in FM who has probably forgotten more about life than the people surrounding her will ever know. In what could have been just a shrill throwaway Cannon controls her hysteria just enough to be amusing rather than annoying. Even though she's too old by at least a decade Channing is the perfect Rizzo in Grease able to convey all the conflict of "the easy girl" in small subtle gestures, she's my runner up but I'm going with the academy's choice of Maggie Smith. Her wry observations and handling of her character's constantly vacillating emotions are genius.
I never saw Foul Play in its entirety, but I'm really intrigued by that Dudley Moore win. Smith is my runner-up, and I'd probably put Channing in over Russell now. I might add her whenever I make images for this year.
Delete