The Best Picture Expansion Project: 1997

July 7th, 2009 · 15 Comments

guffman

Welcome back to the Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the new Academy rule for Best Picture Oscar nominees, which increases the field from five films to ten, was in effect between 1943 and 2008.

Let’s stroll through 1997. You know… the year that people were enjoying that one movie about the boat. What was it called? I remember it was fairly popular.

(To visit the rest of the Best Picture Expansion Project, please go here.)

Here’s the list of films that were released in 1997.

Actual Best Picture Nominees

As Good As It Gets

The Full Monty

Good Will Hunting

L.A. Confidential

Titanic (winner)

In Retrospect: You know how the conventional wisdom about the Academy is that they always nominate a twee British comedy for Best Picture? That entire line of thinking stems from The Full Monty‘s surprise inclusion in the big race. For years afterward, prognosticators insisted that Waking Ned Devine and Little Voice and That One Where Brenda Blethyn Grows Pot were shoo-ins, but those quirksters never made the cut. In retrospect, it’s clearly because The Full Monty is more than just cute. It’s good. A heart-tugging story, nice performances, and a fascinating subtext about “average guys” subjecting themselves to objectification all add up to something special.

I’d much rather vote for The Full Monty than the mean-spirited comedy of As Good As It Gets or the oversimplified feel-goodery of Good Will Hunting (which I loved in 1997 but found really clunky when I rewatched it five years later.)

My choice from this batch, however, is L.A. Confidential, which remains a sexy, dirty good time.

Because really… can any of us now in good conscience vote for Titanic? Maybe I’ve just jumped on the giant backlash bandwagon that seemed to have a seat for everyone at the time, but I can’t throw my support behind a script that bad and performances that wooden. Yes, yes… the effects and the spectacle are first-rate, and I certainly think Titanic merits a nomination, but in my foolish heart, I always want the Best Picture Oscar to go to a film with good everything. As in, good writing, good acting, good cinematography, etc.

Also, is it just me, or has everyone kind of forgotten about Titanic, the way they’ve kind of forgotten about Forrest Gump? To be the highest-grossing film of all time, it certainly gets less play these days than, say, The Shawshank Redemption or Pretty Woman. Isn’t that a sign that it isn’t all that awesome? That maybe its success was very much of its moment, and not necessarily timeless? Or am I just hanging with the wrong people?

The Expansion Pack

6. The Apostle

Look out, y’all. Robert Duvall’s passion project, which he financed himself, is a corker. He plays a Pentecostal minister who assaults his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, then runs away. What makes the film so stirring is that as he flees from his crime, he is forced to face all the things about himself that need to change. By the time his past catches up to him, he has actually become the man he declared himself to be . That’s a thoughtful, powerful journey without any Hollywood varnish, and it deserves a Best Picture nod.

7. Boogie Nights

I mean… right? Paul Thomas Anderson’s second film put him on the map by taking a heartfelt dive into the 1980s revolution in the adult film industry. In Anderson’s hands, the rise of the videocassette means the demise of “classy” porn and the dissolution of a family of stars, directors, and crew members. By refusing to look down on his characters, Anderson makes them unexpectedly relatable.

This movie gets bonus points for being the first to show us that Mark Wahlberg and Heather Graham can act. And for reigniting Burt Reynolds. And for casting every great actor we hadn’t quite of heard of in 1997—Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle, etc.—but would grow to love very soon.

8. Waiting for Guffman

Let me throw this gauntlet down: Christopher Guest and his impov-eriffic ensemble have never topped this movie. It’s better than Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration. Possibly combined.

Snap! I said it!

But I believe it, too. Because Waiting for Guffman deepens its satire of theater folk with a statement about the struggle to love what we have. Throughout the film, the cast of Red, White & Blaine are so focused on impressing a Godot-like Broadway producer (who has promised to be in the audience) that they don’t see how much everyone in town adores them and their work. When Guffman doesn’t show, they’re all crushed. They deafen themselves to the screams of adoration coming from their hometown crowd.

And in the final scenes, we learn that most of the characters have left their lives in Blaine to chase fame in New York and L.A. And they’ve failed. And now they’re trying to pretend they’re not miserable. If they had embraced the town that loved them, however, they might have become local legends.

Considering how much pressure Americans put on each other to succeed-succeed-succeed, this reminder that we can overlook success when we achieve it is really disquieting. Add that to some of the all-time funniest scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie, and you get a classic.

The following Guest films don’t strike balance. Best in Show has great gags, but very little heart, whereas A Mighty Wind has some believable pathos but scant humor. And For Your Consideration is… not that good. Guffman is the one that merits a Best Picture nomination, and it’s the film I would vote for on this expanded list.

9. Eve’s Bayou

Who knew that the actress who said “God damn, Clarice. He knew her!” in The Silence of the Lambs would go on to become such a gifted writer and director? Kasi Lemmons first made her mark with this under-remembered, magical-realist tale of a young Louisiana girl uncovering her family’s dark secrets.

From Lynn Whitfield and Samuel L. Jackson’s fantastic performances as the girl’s parents to Lemmons’ understated confidence handling the film’s supernatural elements, the movie is delicious all around.

10. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

It’s easy to forget, given the decade-long bloating of Mike Myers’ ego and the concomitant collapse of his creative output, but the first Austin Powers movie is golden. Unlike the sequels, it makes Austin a fish out of water, so we get to fall for this swinging spy as he butts against the hostile, p.c. world of 1997. Witty, zippy, charming… I really want that Mike Myers back on my screen.

The Snubs

I’ve always thought Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy deserved more love, and it’s number eleven on my list. I also would have given a best actor nod to Eamonn Owens for his turn as the mentally unstable Irish lad who goes haywire.

I also enjoyed Donnie Brasco and Contact, though my memory tells me that they’re both too slight for a nomination. Yes? No? What do you think?

And finally, I give you The Ice Storm, which is too predictably cynical about suburbia to get my vote, but which is too well-made to be completely ignored.

Tags: Movies · The Best Picture Expansion Project

15 responses so far ↓

1 TravisN // Jul 7, 2009 at 1:13 am

Hm… I don’t quite agree with this year’s Plus Five selections. Guffman and Boogie, yes. But I’d pick Princess Mononoke, Gattaca, and one of Grosse Point Blank/Jackie Brown/Men in Black/The Game.

And the Academy surely would have gone for Amistad (bleh).
2 Madge // Jul 7, 2009 at 3:52 am

I love this re-hashing, because not am I remembering old favorites, but I’m anticipating great movies on my Netflix list.

One quibble with your assessment of “A Mighty Wind”: it was completely hilarious. But only to people who really know the 1960s folk-singing genre. As a folk singer from way back, that movie was totally made for me, and for 5 other people in the United States.
3 katy // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:26 am

Titanic is an interesting disasterpiece. Because Kate and Leo? Turns out they’re among the best actors of their generation, and they couldn’t quite save it. (And they’ve spent the rest of their careers smiling politely when it comes up, and probably hate to think how it will show up in the headline of their obituaries.) I think that ship was really sunk by a bad script. I think every problem in that movie really boils down to the dialogue.

I don’t remember As Good As It Gets especially well, but I’m surprised to hear you call it “mean-spirited.” Isn’t that the film where cranky Jack Nicholson comes around to loving everybody? I thought that film’s flaw would more accurately be its “over generosity.”

As Good As It Gets
The Full Monty
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential
Titanic (winner)

Here are my bonus five:

6. Grosse Point Blank. Very good call TravisN. “Look, I don’t want to get into a semantic argument, I just want the protein.”

7. Waiting for Guffman. I can’t ever remember a film being more pleasurable to watch from start to finish than this film. And yes, it’s the best of Guest. (Although that unexpected pathos in A Mighty Wind made me cry.)

8. Men in Black. Yep, I included it. Yes, I think it’s better than Austin Powers.

9. Boogie Nights.
10. The Ice Storm.

(I do love Contact. It had one of the best opening sequences of a film in recent history. But it would be a better film with Matthew McConaughey’s character edited out of it. The romantic blah-blah just brought a cool Twilight-Zone-y film down, and Jodie sure didn’t need him.)
4 Roommate Joe // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:33 am

Holy crap, THAT’S Kasi Lemmons?? That girl has been one of the all time “where is she now?”s. And if my list had a #11 it’d be “Eve’s Bayou,” I think. (Either that or “The House of Yes.”)

As it is, I keep nominees “L.A. Confidential” (my #1), “Titanic” (it’s spectacle was SO good, and I think it endured on pop culture better than you think), and “Good Will Hunting” (take out the Robin Williams ending and it’s a very good movie).

Then I’d add:

“Boogie Nights” (Still PTA’s best and always funnier than I’d remembered it last.)

“Jackie Brown” (No longer underrated, thanks to the contrarian streak in critics/fans as of late, but great nonetheless.)

“Wag the Dog”

“Waiting for Guffman”

“The Sweet Hereafter” (Soul-crushingly depressing, but in a wonderful way; indelible mental images of that bus on the ice.)

“Chasing Amy” (Kevin Smith’s best; may not hold up after years and years, but this blew me away at the time.)

“The Ice Storm” (I share your weariness at suburban-underbelly dramas, Mark, but this came before the glut of them really happened, and it was SO expertly put together. )

[And, yes, the Academy likely would have added "Amistad," "The Sweet Hereafter," "Boogie Nights," "The Wings of the Dove," and ... "Wag the Dog"? "Kundun"? Those 5 Best Pic nominees really did hog everything that year. ]
5 Michael // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:51 am

By now, everyone knows Titanic was a big popcorn movie melodrama-romance that delivers its every virtue on a first viewing and just looks more and more mindless with each re-viewing.

I for one was astonished at the respect and excitement the Good Will Hunting screenplay got at the time; I found it paralyzingly predictable (did anybody NOT see the psychiatric epiphany coming from light-years away?), formulaic hokum with some nice surface grit and local color and some flashy performances. Total flash in the pan.

As Good as It Gets? Let me get this straight. I’m supposed to want Jack Nicholson to pair up with Helen Hunt. Is that the premise? Pass. (I liked Greg Kinnear, and was moved by the story of a can’t-catch-a-break working mother with a chronically sick kid, but–we were supposed to feel good about her adding a bearish obsessive-compulsive put-down artist who looked like he ought to have been dating her mother to her list of problems? Really, guys? No, look at me– Really?)

As for Mark’s proposed expansions? Eve’s Bayou and Waiting for Guffman! Absolutely! Distinctive, original–treasurable.

The Apostle? In my opinion, anybody who didn’t adjust her list of great American film performances after seeing Duvall in that one didn’t see the film. Beyond Oscar-worthy.

But–Boogie Nights? You’re right about the casting, but . . . well, let me get this straight: I’m supposed to feel bad for the loss of the drug-addled, bugs-in-mating-season, suicidal life of making videotape porn, and mourn the heartless oncoming commercialization of DVD porn, as if something precious were being lost? Really? I mean–really?

Austin Powers? Sorry. I can’t.

(And–with grudging acknowledgment of the virtues of The Usual Suspects–am I really the only person who guessed who Kaiser I-can’t-spell-it was, early on?)
6 Michael // Jul 7, 2009 at 8:57 am

And Men in Black was superbly made, with sharp dialogue and well-employed stars right down the line. Over Austin Powers? In a hearbeat. In a millisecond.
7 Doug // Jul 7, 2009 at 10:11 am

My 5 bonus filsm would have been:

The Sweet Hereafter
Boogie Nights
Eve’s Bayou
In the Company of Men
Grosse Point Blank

Quite frankly, I loved a ton of non-nominated 1997 films: The Apostle, The Wings of the Dove,
Donnie Brasco, Chasing Amy, Washington Square, Wag the Dog, Jackie Brown, Mrs. Brown, The Boxer, The Ice Storm, Ma Vie en Rose, Face/Off, Taste of Cherry. For such a good year, I always thought the Oscar 5 was a big let-down.
8 Mark Blankenship // Jul 7, 2009 at 10:27 am

Wow… lot’s of love for “Men in Black.” I guess I’ll be watching “Austin Powers” alone while everyone else is at the annual “Men in Black” party. But hey, that’s cool. More Whoppers for me.

@Madge — How awesome that you were part of the 1960s folk scene. Tell me more! Did you know Bonnie Delaney? I love her!

And I take your point that if you’re “in the life,” “A Mighty Wind” is funny. I’ve always tried to argue that “Waiting for Guffman” is hilarious for everyone, even if they don’t hang around theaters all day, but I secretly wonder if the movie holds up as well for people who haven’t met its characters in the casts of their own crappy shows.

@Joe — Yes! That’s Kasi Lemmons. So cool, right? And in 2007 she directed “Talk To Me” with Don Cheadle as the fiery 1970s radio host.
9 Madge // Jul 7, 2009 at 12:40 pm

@Mark: Not actually a part of the scene, alas, since I’m only 36 years old But I grew up listening to a LOT (a lot) of folk music, including all of the groups that A Mighty Wind was parodying. I even got to see the Clancy Brothers in concert, on their final “we’re not quite dead yet” tour. I’m more in the folk-revival movement (if there is such a thing), and have cut a couple folk CDs.

I guess for clarity, I should have said that I grew up with all of that music and all of those groups, and they inspired me to become a folk singer in my late teens and adulthood.
10 Mark Blankenship // Jul 7, 2009 at 1:08 pm

@Madge: Well, how cool that you have cut your own CDs! I really like a lot of folk-influenced artists. I’m a big fan of Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky, and Ellis Paul, and I love-love-love Patty Griffin and Dar Williams’ records. Who do you listen to? And where can I hear your music?
11 ferretrick // Jul 7, 2009 at 1:08 pm

I put Titanic in the same kind of category as say Star Wars, Gone With The Wind, etc…namely, it was such a cultural touchstone in its time, it transcends its actual artistic weaknesses. Whether Titanic will hold up like those others in another decade I’m not sure, but in 1997 I saw it in the theater EIGHT TIMES. (And now that I’ve admitted that on the Internet, I’ll be in hiding). The interesting thing is I don’t think I’ve watched it on DVD once. But, in 1997-vision, there really was no other choice for Best Picture.

As Good As It Gets-loved it then, loved it now, don’t care how mean spirited it is, don’t care that I loathe Jack Nicholson AND Helen Hunt, I still love this film. Helen Hunt justified her entire existence just by giving me a lifetime of imitating her “WHY CAN’T I JUST HAVE A NORMAL BOYFRIEND WHO DOESN’T GO NUTS ON ME?!!” line. And her mom’s reply: “Everyone wants that, dear…it doesn’t exist.”

Eve’s Bayou would definitely be added. Love that movie-and Lynn Whitfield and Samuel L Jackson were excellent, but the real revelation was Debbi Morgan, who proved (some) soap opera people can act. I’ve often thought of having a movie party just to show off this movie to people who’ve never heard of it.
12 Destiny // Jul 7, 2009 at 2:21 pm

I remember very clearly, watching Titanic as a teenager, and hating every single thing about it except Victor Garber and the scenes James Cameron stole from A Night to Remember. I had a similarly negative reaction to As Good as it Gets which has really not aged well. I think the Oscar Gods cringe every time the words “Helen Hunt” and “Oscar Winner” are mentioned in the same sentence. I was rooting for L.A. Confidential then, and I believe that film holds up, so if I were starting from the beginning and choosing 10 new nominees, mine would be (in no particular order):

1. LA Confidential
2. The Fifth Element
3. Jackie Brown
4. 4 Little Girls (Stunningly brilliant Spike Lee documentary)
5. Donnie Brasco (far from slight, close to brilliant)
6. Boogie Nights
7. My Best Friend’s Wedding (okay, some of you are laughing, but this is/was an incredibly successful film that featured memorable scenes, Julia Roberts at her romantic comedy best, and a scene stealing performance from Rupert Everett.)
8. Abre Los Ojos (maybe if this had been nominated, we would have been spared the travesty that is Vanilla Sky)
9. The Apostle (I still remember seeing this movie at the Tara theatre, and thinking “Why isn’t this up for Best Picture?)
10. Eve’s Bayou (I’m so glad to see that other people have actually seen this movie.)

Honorable mention for Austin Powers, The Sweet Hereafter, and Gattaca.

I think the 10 nominee system will definitely lead to the inclusion of more comedies, foreign films, and possibly even documentaries and animated films that often don’t make the cut because they have separate categories.
13 Carol Elaine // Jul 9, 2009 at 2:21 pm

I don’t really have any movies to add, but I agree with your assessment of L.A. Confidential, though I wish Guy Pearce had gotten more love from it than Russell Crowe. Yeah, Crowe had the splashier role and he did a good job with it, but Guy Pearce was not only effective with such a quiet role, he kept his American accent even when emotional, whereas Crowe often lost his. Also, James Cromwell totally rocks (been a fan since his All in the Family Days).

Also: Titanic = crap. Well made crap, but still crap. I didn’t believe the main romance at all (even though I do like Kate Winslet a lot) and the movie seriously needed an editor. The character actors are amongst my favorites (David Warner, Victor Garber and – yay! – Bernard Fox), but they were weighed down by the central unconvincing storyline.

I think The Ice Storm should’ve been on the list. I’m not much of one for suburban ennui, but it was devastatingly well-made. Wag the Dog was also great, but I’m a sucker for excellent political satire. Bob Roberts (from 1992) remains one of my favorite movies.

While Contact was also amazing and Grosse Point Blank was a ton of fun, I’m not sure they belong on the list. I’ll have to think about it.

Doug, Mrs. Brown definitely should’ve been nominated. It was fantastic and Billy Connelly was a revelation in it. So many people have forgotten it, but it was ten times better than Titanic.
14 Darryl // Jul 13, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Ah yes, the heady days of 1997 when I had three tween-aged daughters in the house… It was “Titanic” overload for me, long before the back-lash and possibly pre-dating nearly everyone on the planet unless they found themselves in a similar situation… “The Sweet Hereafter” wuz robbed, I tell ya, robbed!
15 InfoMofo // Jul 14, 2009 at 12:25 pm

Just saw Gattaca again this weekend. That movie holds up.

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