By DOUG STRASSLER

Here we are again, on Oscar eve. What better time than to run another edition of The Best Picture Expansion Project? Below we time-warp back one-third of a century to 1977, a pretty important year in the annals of film. Before looking at the final five, take a gander at all of that year’s contenders.

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Annie Hall Winner

The Goodbye Girl

Julia

Star Wars

The Turning Point

What a year! In a clear reflection of the populace, there were actually two great, popular comedies and one sci-fi film in the mix. The two dramas nominated are far more dated, but were well-received that year. Turning is a melodramatic look at ballet that shows what Black Swan could have been if told in a more straightforward fashion. It’s actually worth watching just for the scene when the characters played by Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine finally have it out…and eventually start spanking each other. Awesome! The movie led the field with 11 nominations, but won zero, a record loss for a movie later tied by The Color Purple.

Julia was a smart look at the triangle formed by Lillian Hellman, Dashiell Hammett and “Julia,” a renegade anti-Nazi activist. The storytelling feels antiquated now, but director Fred Zinneman’s penchant for acting acuity brought great performances from Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Robards (the latter two won in the supporting categories).

Goodbye is one of Neil Simon’s rare scripts not written first as a play, and I think it’s actually one of his smoother ones. Simon’s real-life wife at the time, Marsha Mason, gives an honest and humorous performance as a put-upon single mom (to cutie Quinn Cummings, who scored an Oscar nom at 10) and shares great chemistry with Richard Dreyfuss (who won Best Actor for this at the age of 30, making him the youngest winner for 25 years until Adrien Brody bested him).

But the real story here is between Annie and Star Wars, two classics. I’m not going to choose between them. They’re totally disparate, but both allow fans to play in separate areas of the sandbox in their minds and are iconic members of their respective genres. I wish every year had two clear standouts like this. How lucky would that be?

The Expansion Pack

6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Steven Spielberg’s search for alien life was the year’s second –biggest blockbuster, after Star Wars (and also helped Dreyfuss win his award). With vivid and resourceful imagery, Spielberg demonstrates just how exciting – and scary – the idea of intelligent life out in the universe can be. Melinda Dillon, as the mother of a missing son, was the first performer Spileberg ever directed to an acting nomination (he has never directed anyone to an acting win).

7. Opening Night

An avowed John Cassavetes fan, I couldn’t help but trace a clear line between this and Black Swan (amazing how that one keeps turning up). Gena Rowlands is an actress with demons who begins to unravel on the eve of a show opening. What’s real? What’s in her head? Fun fact: The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive album features several songs that pay homage to this film.

8. Killer of Sheep

At first, Charles Burnett’s look at working-class life in LA’s Watts district doesn’t seem to go anywhere. But by movie’s end, we’ve gotten a complete picture of just how hopeless and foreordained the lead character Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a slaughterhouse laborer, view his life to be. A tragedy on a very human scale, beautifully told.

9. Saturday Night Fever

Talk about iconic. Director John Bdham captured a scene and turned a moment into a lifetime. Tony Manero (John Travolta, as if I needed to say that) and his friends may lead hum-drum lives, but when they hit the disco at night, they come to life. And the fact that no song on this soundtrack got nominated? Not even Vinnie Barbarino was that dumb.

10. The Late Show

Before sweeping the Oscars with Kramer Vs. Kramer, Robert Benton directed and wrote this amalgam. Part comedy, part detective story, part romance, this movie is all fun. And how could it not be with a cast that included Art Carney and Lily Tomlin? One of the best thing about the Best Picture Expansion is that hopefully more movies will be preserved in the mind’s eye, as this one should have been. Netflix it if you can.

The Snubs

3 Women
Eraserhead
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Providence
That Obscure Object of Desire
And…ABBA: The Movie (Just kidding!)

Happy Oscar watching!

By DOUG STRASSLER

Well, it’s been a while since the dust has settled on this year’s Oscar race, so I figure it was high time for another entry in The Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008. Today I am going back a score and revisiting the movies that crossed the Oscar finish line in out of all the entrants in 1990.

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Awakenings

Dances with Wolves (Winner)

Ghost

The Godfather Part III

Goodfellas

That’s right; if your title wasn’t near the top of the alphabet, you didn’t even have a chance in 1990. I really like the two also-rans in this bunch, though. It’s probably not surprising that as a guy with two psychology degrees, I’ve always been a fan of Awakenings, the true story of catatonic patients who emerge and temporarily get to experience the world they had missed out on for decades. This was during the time when Penny Marshall seemed destined to achieve the honor that Kathryn Bigelow finally grabbed this year, being named the first female Best Director, with a string of critical and commercial successes that included Big and A League of Their Own. Awakenings should definitely be remembered more than it is – Robert De Niro’s role as one of the patients pushes him far beyond his comfort zone of traditional tough-guy performances (and his reunion after his “awakening” with mother Ruth Nelson is a true heartbreaker), and Robin Williams has rarely been better. (It’s a much better portrayal of a mental health practitioner than the one he gives in Good Will Hunting.)

Ghost was so successful when it came out nearly two decades ago that when it got nominated, there was outcry that the Academy had gone too commercial. (Ironic, given what was to come with the Expansion of 2010.) But Ghost is not your average hit. It’s a unique blend of humor, tragedy, suspense, romance, and spirituality, not to mention a great ad for pottery and Tribeca real estate. The clips that aired following Patrick Swayze’s death last year served as a reminder (to me, at least) that beyond dollars and awards, a great movie is that which can claim a spot in the innermost part of your heart and you mind and stay there forever. Ghost is one of those movies. (Also, director Jerry Zucker deserves mad props for breaking away from his oeuvre of awesome comedies like Airplane! and Ruthless People and succeeding with something decidedly different.)

Then we get to the Wolves vs. Goodfellas debate. Here’s the thing: if Scorsese had campaigned for his movie, it would have had the momentum to beat Kevin Costner’s directorial debut. But he didn’t, and Costner, pretty much one of the biggest stars in the world at the time, had the race wrapped up fairly early on. I actually like Wolves; its epic scope in telling the largely unknown story of the Lakota Sioux’s banishment from their home territory worked for me, and Mary McDonnell is fantastic as the emotionally torn white woman adopted into Lakota life. (And as Avatar demonstrated, this type of plot certainly has legs).

But there’s no contest – Goodfellas is the better movie. Scorsese’s flashy, frenzied inside look at the life of made man Henry Hill is a masterpiece. Would I have voted for it? You bet. But I’m not devastated by Wolves’ win. I mean, it’s not like it’s Crash.

Contrary to common belief, Godfather III isn’t a total failure. It has an interesting modern feminist bent and the climactic opera sequence is great, but…yeah. It’s not a good movie and has no place on this or any other “Best” list.

Any one of these other movies would have been way more deserving:

The Expansion Pack

6. The Grifters

From Dangerous Liaisons to The Queen, is there anything Stephen Frears can’t do? This pitch-perfect noir adaptation of the Jim Thompson novel about a trio of con artists whose desperation escalates doesn’t shy from gritty darkness. And what a cast: John Cusack in his first adult role, Annette Bening in the role that solidified her as a star, and, most especially, Anjelica Huston in the performance of her career as a mother who’d make Joan Crawford turn her head away in shame. (Elmer Bernstein’s score is also fantastic.)

7. Reversal of Fortune

Barbet Schroeder’s look at Sunny von Bulow’s coma and the ensuing trial and acquittal of her husband Claus is also an uncommonly insightful look at the inside world of old money and the legal process. Glenn Close is terrific as the troubled and troubling Sunny, but it’s Jeremy Irons who steals the day – and won a rightful Oscar – as the husband who may or may not have had tried to get rid of her. Fun fact: Reversal reunites Close, Irons, and Christine Baranski, who all won Tonys for my favorite Tom Stoppard play, The Real Thing.

8. Edward Scissorhands

With the exception of Ed Wood, this is easily the greatest thing Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have done. It’s not just a visually beautiful movie, but one of the great portrayals of the outcast as a film archetype. Depp is sensational in a performance brimming with physical discipline and emotional resonance, and whatever chemistry he and Winona Ryder shared in real life is right there on celluloid for eternity. And speaking of musical scores, Danny Elfman’s work in Scissorhands is unforgettable.

9. Pretty Woman

After writing this, my inclusion of Pretty Woman on this list probably isn’t much of a surprise. But this is a movie for the ages. I love how 1990 contains such a motley mix; popular movies like this, Ghost, and Scissorhands, as well as Dick Tracy and Home Alone, all struck a major chord with audiences, and they were also rich pieces of work that hold their own alongside more traditional critical fare.

10. Avalon

This overlooked gem is a personal story for director Barry Levinson. It’s a tale of assimilation. The saga follows the Krichinskys, Eastern European Jewish immigrants who come to Baltimore at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the hardships and eventual successes they find. It is a quietly graceful look at the sacrifices made at chasing the American dream, and it is worth a Netflix.

The Snubs

Alice
The Field
The Hunt for Red October
Longtime Companion
Metropolitan
Miller’s Crossing
Misery
Postcards from the Edge
Quick Change
White Palace
Wild at Heart

By DOUG STRASSLER

Since we’re approaching Oscar eve, my favorite time of year, I figure it’s not only fitting but necessary to write another entry for the Best Picture Expansion Project. In honor of the apparent battle royale between frontrunners Avatar and The Hurt Locker, I’ve decided to write about another year with polarizing Best Picture results: 1980. A full list of that year’s films can be found here; below is the list of the five finalists:

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Coal Miner’s Daughter

The Elephant Man

Ordinary People Winner

Raging Bull

Tess

In Retrospect:

1980’s Best Picture winner was a no-brainer at the time, but has since emerged as a controversial pick, as affection for Raging Bull has grown. For my money, though, both Bull and People are unqualified masterpieces. They’re just very different types of movies: Bull is a directors’ movie and reflects current filmmaking sentiments; People is a writers’ movie and mirrors the era in which it was released.

Martin Scorsese took the life story of Jake La Motta and turned Bull into a rumination on the male animal. Robert De Niro’s performance brims with rage and sexual jealousy as La Motta questions his own virility and identity. It’s a beautifully shot and edited movie – perfect, really. But it’s also very raw, and upon its release, the movie’s violence turned some viewers off. Also, De Niro’s performance, which won an Oscar and came to embody Method acting, was as vilified as it was acclaimed for the actor’s dramatic weight gain for the part. Some felt it was distracting and that another actor more physically suited for the role should have taken it.

People, meanwhile was a cold film about a fractured family struggling to pick up the pieces after the drowning of the older, more beloved of two sons. Timothy Hutton won Best Supporting Actor (though it’s a lead role, he had no chance competing against De Niro) for his searing embodiment of the guilt and depression of those left behind. Robert Redford, in his first stab behind the camera, won as both director and producer, and he wrung the most out of his superb troupe of actors: Judd Hirsch, in one of filmdom’s most convincing portrayals of psychoanalysis; Dinah Manoff and Elizabeth McGovern, as two young women who attempt to break through to Hutton’s character; and Mary Tyler Moore (shedding her “lovable Mary” reputation) and Donald Sutherland as the parents unsure of how to go on. (Sutherland himself has never been nominated for an Oscar. Last year, I spent several BPEP’s discussing how the genius Jeff Bridges had been overlooked by the Academy, and now he looks like a lock to win on Sunday. I think I’ll start a 2010 campaign for Sutherland now!) This movie Breaks. Your. Heart. It is real, and devastating, and remains one of the most honorable, inspiring works I have ever seen. I’m not alone. Many actors I know, and more famous ones, refer to People – particularly Timothy Hutton’s performance – as the reason they wanted to start acting.

It was only a decade later, when Scorsese’s Goodfellas lost to another actor-turned-debuting-director, Kevin Costner, that some savvy PR people began spinning Scorsese’s Oscar losses into a great underdog narrative. At the time, though, Bull was mostly praised for its individual cast members and Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing; People was the story that gripped the nation, and here’s why I believe it to be so. Best Picture winners are victorious because they tap into the cultural zeitgeist, capturing the feeling of the times, and the late 1970s and 1980s were a time in which the picture of what makes a family redefined itself. The divorce rate spiked, and more single-parent families emerged, which is reflected in such major releases as An Unmarried Woman, Starting Over, Shoot the Moon, and other Oscar victors like Kramer Vs. Kramer and Terms of Endearment. The struggles of the Jarrett family in People echoed fundamental changes in the domestic landscape, and that’s why it won.

There were two other great, real-life tales also nominated that year. Coal Miner’s Daughter, which nabbed Sissy Spacek an Oscar for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn, remains to me the benchmark of a musical biopic – heck, maybe any kind of biopic. I love the way Michael Apted was able to fluidly capture the full arc of Lynn’s rise from deep poverty to stardom. Bonus points to Spacek and Beverly D’Angelo (as Patsy Cline) for using their own singing voices.

The Elephant Man was David Lynch’s most conventional movie until The Straight Story. It tells the tale of the deformed John Merrick (his real name was Joseph, he’s played here by John Hurt), who finally finds humane treatment when surgeon Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) discovers him. John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, and especially Anne Bancroft also turn in moving performances.

(Elephant had a long-lasting effect on the Oscars: it led to the creation of the Best Makeup category.)

As for Tess, the fifth nominee, I wasn’t a fan of the Thomas Hardy novel and I’m even less of a fan of the Roman Polanski adaptation. It belongs nowhere on this list. Any of the movies listed below are more deserving:

The Expansion Pack

6. The Empire Strikes Back – I won’t try to preach to the unconverted here; you’re either a Star Wars fan or you’re not. But this is the best entry in what is arguably one of the most important trilogy in movies, and it also features one of the great cliffhangers of all time. Darth Vader is Luke’s father? Han Solo is frozen? What? It may just be a popcorn film, but it’s popcorn filmmaking at its most fun.

7. Gloria – Gena Rowlands was nominated as a mob moll who discovers her maternal instinct. As directed and written by her husband, indie pioneer John Cassavetes, Gloria has both grit and heart. Its influence can be seen in movies as disparate as Aliens and The Professional. Note: avoid the remake with Sharon Stone.

8. Melvin and Howard – Crazed billionaire Howard Hughes (Jason Robards) bequeathed $156 million to Utah service station employee Melvin Dummar. This seriocomic film purports to understand what that connection might have been, and the effects such a windfall can have. An irreverent social critique on money, family, and the media, it won a well-earned Supporting Actress Oscar for Mary Steenburgen and introduced the world to Jonathan Demme, one of the most unique voices ever to document “ordinary people.”

9. Airplane! – Yeah, that’s right, I said it. If the point of nominating 10 movies is to increase the variety of movies recognized, then this spoof has to make the cut. It’s genius and makes you laugh every time. Bravo to writer-directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker for letting dramatic talent like Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen and Robert Stack use their comedic arsenal – in the case of Nielsen, it launched a second career. My highlight: watching Barbara Billingsley – aka June Cleaver – speaking jive.

10. Inside Moves – Diana Scarwid, best known as Joan Crawford’s terrorized daughter Christina in Mommie Dearest, received a nomination for this movie, but Moves is really about the guys. John Savage plays Roary, a man left partially crippled after a failed suicide attempt. He soon meets other disabled people, including Jerry (David Morse), a bartender with a bad leg. When an operation gives Jerry a second chance, he must choose between his new life and his de facto family. This is one of director Richard Donner’s most personal movies, and it marks a return to the screen for Harold Russell, the real-life disabled World War II veteran who won not one but two Oscars for The Best Years of Our Lives.

The Snubs
9 to 5
The Big Red One
Breaker Morant
Kagemusha
Mad Max
Private Benjamin
Resurrection
The Shining
The Stunt Man

Here’s the thing, though: When two great movies go head to head for Best Picture, it doesn’t matter whether it’s 1980 or 2009; movie lovers are the ones who ultimately win.

The Best Picture Expansion Project: 1982

By DOUG STRASSLER

Happy Friday, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve written a Best Picture Expansion, so I thought I would write about 1982, a year suggested by reader Stacy in the comments to my last Oscar column. See, readers? I truly take everything you guys say to heart!

1982 was a fascinating year, producing several of my favorite movies of all-time. Below are the movies that made Oscar’s final cut:

Actual Best Picture Nominees

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Gandhi (winner)

Missing

Tootsie

The Verdict

In Retrospect: Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi is a fitting tribute to one of the most important world leaders, and pretty much sets the template for standard biopics. Ben Kingsley is terrific in his Oscar-winning role, showing the man’s compassion and discipline.

But is Gandhi the year’s Best Picture? I’ll say no, especially since three of my all-time favorite movies also got nominated that same year. Verdict, about a down-and-out alcoholic lawyer representing the case of his life, marks a high point in the careers of star Paul Newman and director Sidney Lumet.

Tootsie is, to me, the single best comedy I’ve ever seen, better even than that other gender-swapping classic, Some Like It Hot. Dustin Hoffmann is an arrogant actor so impossible to cast that he disguises himself as a woman to play a role on a soap opera. With a superb cast that includes Jessica Lange (who won an Oscar for her performance), Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, and director Sydney Pollack, this movie is not only hysterical, but also makes important statements about relationships and gender equality. Plus, it’s a total love letter to show business and 1980s-era New York City. What’s not to love?

And then there’s the movie that reduces me to awestruck childlike glee every time I see it: E.T.. Make no mistake: this is one of Steven Spielberg’s all-time masterpieces, no matter what other more serious subjects he went on to address. The Golden Globes named this Best Picture, and they got it right. E.T. is, at its very large heart, about the longing to connect to someone else, and the heartbreak of having to say goodbye. Like the titular visitor, E.T. is unforgettable, from John Williams’ brilliant score to the director’s many indelible images. There’s a reason why Spielberg preserved that image of Elliott and E.T. silhouetted against the moon as the logo for Amblin Entertainment. Watching E.T., you soar every time.

As for Missing, it’s a fine political movie, but I’m more partial to the titles below:

The Expansion Pack

6. Blade Runner

Ridley Scott followed up Alien with this sci-fi cult classic, albeit one that has amassed a huge following over time. Harrison Ford is a bounty hunter in a dark, futuristic Los Angeles, who begins to question the corporation for whom he works and, ultimately, himself. It’s a complex movie, worth multiple viewings. Perhaps the scariest part? That setting that once seemed so far in the future is less than a decade away.

7. Sophie’s Choice

Meryl Streep may currently be having a great time singing ABBA songs and digging into sole meunière, but she made her biggest mark in heavy period dramas at the beginning of her career; Sophie (for which Meryl received the Best Actress Oscar) may have been her most harrowing role of all. Alan Pakula was an actor’s director, and gets nuanced work from Streep and Kevin Kline as Holocaust survivors and Peter MacNicol as the Southern naïf who befriends them. It’s a devastating look at difficult choices and consequences – and it’s also the first movie to take viewers inside a concentration camp.

8. Fanny and Alexander

This may be Ingmar Bergman’s final masterpiece. This semi-autobiographical work takes place in a provincial Swedish town about a century earlier. After the death of their father, the two young children of the title get bounced around and have a series of enlightening encounters. This is a long movie (the original Swedish version runs longer than 5 hours), but if you can make the time, it’s worth it.

9. Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Simply put, it’s another one of the great comedies of all time. Writer Cameron Crowe went undercover as a Southern California high school student for a Rolling Stone article, and later turned what he witnessed into a screenplay. Director Amy Heckerling (who later provided the voice of a generation in Clueless) nails both the humor (Sean Penn’s pothead Jeff Spicoli and the heartache (Jennifer Jason Leigh’s lost Stacy Hamilton) of the high school experience. Ridgemont is so sharply observed, it’s a perfect time capsule. Fun fact: co-stars Nicolas Cage, Penn, and Forest Whitaker all went on to win Best Actor Oscars.

10. Shoot the Moon

This is a perfect movie about how divorce is actually a process, and a messy one at that. Albert Finney is a famed author and Diane Keaton, his dutiful wife. After his affair comes to light, both embark on a life without the other, trying to do right by their four young daughters. Alan Parker directs from a script by master Bo Goldman that stings with emotional truth.

The Snubs

48 Hrs.
Diner
Frances
My Favorite Year
An Officer and a Gentleman
Poltergeist
The Thing
The World According to Garp

Let me know what you guys think!

Welcome back to The Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008.

Today I’m taking us back to 1994, a year that inspired one of my perennial Oscar party games.

To view the rest of the Project, please go here

Here’s a list of films that were released in 1994.

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Forrest Gump (winner)

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Pulp Fiction

Quiz Show

The Shawshank Redemption

In Retrospect: So that Oscar party game? It goes like this: When guests fill out ballots, they mark not only what they think will win, but also what they think should win. The winner of the “will” ballot is determined by the actual outcome of the Oscars, and the winner of the “should” ballot is determined by who agrees with me in the most categories. (What? I’m the host.)

For years, I gave the winner of the “will” ballot a copy of Forrest Gump, which actually won Best Picture for 1994, and I gave the winner of the “should” ballot  a copy of The Shawshank Redemption, which should have taken the award.

Because come on. It was a sensation at the time, but does anyone give a damn about Forrest Gump anymore? Isn’t it obvious now that it’s really just a testament to America’s troubling love affair with mediocrity? The message of the film is that people who don’t think, or who aren’t even capable of thinking, are the ones who will succeed. And not only that, their anti-intellectual life will make them morally superior to boot.

Much as I loathe it, this is undeniably a Major American Myth: Thoughtful people are unhappy and possibly evil, while the ignorant are joyous and good.

If you catch me on the right day, I might even say that narratives like Forrest Gump are convenient for a government that wants to control its citizens, since they create the comforting lie that not knowing is the surest way to thrive. Sit still, people! Don’t question! Stay out of the way long enough, and you’ll end up rich and famous. And you’ll sire Haley Joel Osment!

Ugh. Meanwhile, The Shawshank Redemption celebrates the redemptive power of thoughtfulness, cleverness, and rebellion against an unfair system. It even features a scene in which classical music inspires an entire community of prisoners. It doesn’t matter where you come from, where you went to school, or what color you are, the movie says. You too can be touched by art. You too can use your mind to make yourself free.

In other news, Pulp Fiction is awesome, Four Weddings and a Funeral is funny (despite Andie “What’s Acting?” MacDowell), and Quiz Show… is a movie I saw one time, fifteen years ago.

The Expansion Pack

6. Ed Wood — One of Tim Burton’s most emotional and humane films, Ed Wood doesn’t just describe the life of one of cinema’s most notoriously terrible directors. It evokes the bizarre yet nurturing family he created for himself and his fellow misfits. It celebrates the power of a home, even if it’s a home that not everyone understands.

7. Hoop Dreams — There’s a reason everyone thought this documentary might be the first to get a Best Picture nomination, and there’s a reason people went apeshit when it didn’t even get nominated in the documentary category. By turns harrowing and inspiring, it follows teenagers trying to make it in the NBA, and it doesn’t look away when their dreams don’t come true. That makes it feel honest and universal, and films like that deserve Oscar nods.

8. Heavenly Creatures — The year after this, Kate Winslet began her Oscar assault with Sense and Sensibility, but I think her gold rush should have started here. As part of a teenage lesbian couple that plots to murder one girls’ mother, she is terrifying because she doesn’t seem like a bad seed. She just seems like a cool, feisty girl you might want to hang out with… and then, whoops. She’s a psycho.

I’ve also got to tip my hat to Peter Jackson’s direction, especially during the scenes where the girls’ fantasy world springs to life. Those clay creatures they imagine are awful and alluring, which tells you a lot about their mental state.

(As a side note, this film did get a well-deserved Oscar nod for its screenplay.)

9. Little Women — Ain’t nothing wrong with a well-acted, confidently scripted and directed adaptation of a classic novel. This isn’t a movie that’s going to change the world, but it’s delightful all the same. Plus, it lets us remember the moment when it seemed like Claire Danes and Winona Ryder would be dominant acting forces forever.

*Note: This slot originally went to Priest, but I have since realized that it was released in the U.S. in 1995, not 1994. Still… it’s an awesome movie.

10. Speed — This movie is three action films in one (elevators, buses, and subways, oh my!), yet it never feels bloated. Director Jan de Bont builds tension like a master, and Graham Yost’s script balances comedy, humanity, and explosions. And let’s not underestimate Sandra Bullock’s career-making performance. She gives the movie an empathetic center that is missing from far too many summer flicks.

The Snubs
1994 wasn’t, like, the greatest year in cinematic history, but it still produced several high quality movies that didn’t make my expansion pack. The River Wild holds up. I also have a soft spot for Bullets Over Broadway, Nobody’s Fool, and Reality Bites.

And you know… the opening sequence of The Lion King almost merits a Best Picture nomination by itself.

The Best Picture Expansion Project: 1989

By DOUG STRASSLER

Mark has been kind enough to welcome me back for another entry in the Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008. (For the rest of the Project, go here.)

For this entry, we travel back twenty years to 1989. It’s a year that holds special meaning for me. Not only is it the year that I started going to the movies regularly, but it is also the year I first discovered the Academy Awards.

This was back when the Oscar ceremony still took place on a Monday night. My family and I happened to go the local mall for dinner, and walked into a video store which was decorated for the occasion. My parents then explained that the Oscars were an honor given to the best film and performances of the year, and then we went home and watched for the first time. I was hooked. (Only later on would I realize the degree of politicking and subjectivity involved.)

Personal memories aside, however, I maintain that 1989 represents a recent apex for movies, before home theater and independent film and franchises splintered the whole industry. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Here’s a list of the movies that were released that year.

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Born on the Fourth of July

Dead Poets Society

Driving Miss Daisy (winner)

Field of Dreams

My Left Foot

In Retrospect: Each of these movies is a new classic in its own way (and I don’t mean the kind of dreck TBS runs in marathon form on Sundays), and would hold its own in any year. July, the Ron Kovic biopic about the Vietnam era, was the front runner with the most nominations and the Golden Globe (and my personal pref), but Daisy had a strong pedigree, having been based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play and starring an epically talented cast (plus Dan Aykroyd). Both are strong movies with statements to make, the former about war and the latter about race, and ultimately split the difference. Oliver Stone won his second Best Director Oscar for July, while Daisy took the top prize, even though director Bruce Beresford was not even nominated.

Meanwhile, Poets and Dreams both achieved a rarity, earning a place in the hearts of female and male audiences alike. These movies are evergreen.

Surprisingly, perhaps, Foot is the movie that had the biggest impact, scoring two major upsets. Brenda Fricker beat Steel Magnolias’ Julia Roberts to win Best Supporting Actress (and anyone who sees her announce to her suicidal, cerebral palsy-afflicted son, “You may have given up, but I haven’t!” will understand why), but an even bigger shock came when Jodie Foster announced that Daniel Day-Lewis had beaten Tom Cruise’s much-lauded performance in July for Best Actor.

Foot, you see, was Miramax’s first big Oscar campaign, and the game would never be played the same again.

The Expansion Pack

6. Do the Right Thing

You can feel the heat in this, Spike Lee’s seminal work about racial conflict, even with the AC turned all the way up. Set on a single block in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, populated mostly by African-American and Puerto Rican residents during the dog days of summer, this is a perfect illustration of how tension can escalate to disastrous effect. It’s an unqualified masterpiece, so much so that in 1999, the Library of Congress deemed it “culturally significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, one of only five films to do so in its first year of eligibility. And if that doesn’t sway you, Kim Basinger herself stood in front of the Oscar crowd to declare the she felt it was the best picture of the year. When Vicki Vale talks, you should listen. (This was the first Oscar ceremony that I watched, too, and I clearly remember feeling awkward on her behalf. — Mark)

7. Crimes and Misdemeanors

In Woody Allen’s tragicomic morality tale, it doesn’t matter whether the Alvy Singers of the world ended up with their Annie Halls or not. Love is not enough, and Alan Alda and Martin Landau, as the film’s super-flawed protagonists—or are they antagonists?—have become riddled with arrogance and greed. I don’t know if this is Allen’s most personal film, but it’s certainly his most polished one, and the idea of Sam Waterston as a rabbi losing his sight (is God really turning a blind eye on his people?) is a masterstroke. Being wrong never looked so right.

8. Heathers

The high school movie to end all high school movies. Unlike most teens, however, Michael Lehmann’s movie knows exactly what it is and makes no apologies for it. You see, a movie should never have to be serious or important to be considered great; it just needs to be rich, and this black comedy about a high school Bonnie and Clyde is one of the richest of all time. Winona Ryder is perfect as Veronica Sawyer, who is equally repulsed by and drawn to both the popular clique and the madman who starts killing them off (Christian Slater). Extra props for naming Westerburg High after Replacements lead singer Paul Westerberg. Daniel Waters’ arch dialogue is so inimitable you might mistakenly think Cameron Crowe wrote it. Jealous much?

9. Glory

Glory didn’t exactly go ignored at the Oscars—it won three awards, most notably for Denzel Washington’s riveting supporting performance—but I wish the Academy had shown some more love to Ed Zwick’s tribute to the the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, one of the first all-black regiments. Andre Braugher and Morgan Freeman (what a year between this and Daisy) are also great, but don’t lose sight of Matthew Broderick in his first mature role.

10. The Fabulous Baker Boys

Steve Kloves never equaled the promise he showed in this underrated drama. It is a tour de force. I’ve written before about how Jeff Bridges is an actor nonpareil, and Kloves brings out the best in him by casting Jeff and brother Beau, an astonishing actor in his own right, to play (what else?) two brothers at the end of their personal and professional ropes. They’re lounge lizards who hire singer Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) to spice up their act, and find their lives forever changed. No one could begrudge Jessica Tandy her Best Actress Oscar for Daisy (fun fact: at 80, she’s the oldest winner of an acting Oscar), but Pfeiffer is brilliant here, and it’s one of the rare instances in which a performer has swept the critics’ awards and won a Golden Globe, only to lose the Oscar. That fact is all the more unfortunate because this incandescent actress never went on to win. Everything about this movie radiates perfection, from the three leads’ chemistry with one another to Dave Grusin’s jazz score to Michael Ballhaus’ smooth cinematography. And let’s not forget That Scene, in which Susie croons “Makin’ Whoopee” atop a piano in fire engine-red dress. It’s instantly iconic, the modern-day equivalent of Scarlett O’Hara standing in front of Tara.

The Snubs

Seriously guys, 1989 was such a great year that I could nominate additional films from every conceivable genre, from action to animation, dark comedy to period drama. These movies also changed my world:

Batman

Cinema Paradiso

Drugstore Cowboy

Enemies, A Love Story

Henry V

The Little Mermaid

Mystery Train

Parenthood

Roger & Me

Say Anything…

sex, lies and videotape

The War of the Roses

…When Harry Met Sally

I will always be grateful that this is the year I fell in love with film.

What does everyone else think?

Awwww snap. It’s time for the first-ever video edition of the Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008.

I’m rocking it camera style to dip into 2007. Can you handle the video goodness? Can you?!?!

Before we start, here’s the list of films that were released in 2007. And if you want to enjoy the rest of the Project, just go here.

And now, on with the show:

Please welcome back Doug Strassler for another edition of The Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008.

Today Doug tackles 1972, which has the distinction of being remembered as one of American cinema’s best years. Why? Read on!

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

The Best Picture Expansion Project: 1972

By Doug Strassler

I’m again much obliged to Mark for giving me some real estate here for another edition of the Best Picture Expansion Project. Last time I was here, I wrote about the movie year that was 1971. This edition finds me doing a quantum leap all the way into…1972. (The full list of movies released that year can be found here)

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Cabaret

Deliverance

The Emigrants

The Godfather (winner)

Sounder

In Retrospect: What’s to say? The Godfather is a masterpiece, that rare movie adored by film lovers and laypeople alike. And what’s not to love? From Brando’s iconic performance to the discovery of a new generation of talent like Duvall and Pacino, from Coppola’s epic opening wedding sequence to the cross-cutting between the baptism of Michael’s niece and the hits he’s ordered on the other families, this was a classic from the day of its release.

But what may come as a surprise is that Godfather was in no way a sure thing at the 1972 Oscars. It tied Cabaret for 10 nominations, and though it won Best Picture, Actor and Screenplay, Cabaret took Best Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, and five other statuettes. Truth to tell, I’m probably as big a fan of Bob Fosse’s movie musical as I am of the mob saga. Both are riveting examples of the medium at its best, and though Cabaret fell victim for a long time to the nation’s up-and-down taste for the musical genre, it remains a towering achievement.

Something that struck me is that while there were several foreign films of note released in 1972, Godfather wasn’t the only Best Picture nominee to chronicle the American experience in some way. Deliverance may best be know for “Dueling Banjos” (fun fact: this won the Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance) and as the movie that launched a thousand Ned Beatty jokes, but at its heart, John Boorman’s thriller shows what “civilized” man can be reduced to when deprived of material possessions. In Sounder, on the other hand, director Martin Ritt quietly and touchingly evokes the life of the sharecropper.

Emigrants, though made in Sweden with a Swedish cast, also takes place on American soil. Jan Troell directed this tale of the trials faced by a group of Swedes on their way to Minnesota in the 19th century. Stars Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman are perfect. What the movie captures best is the portrayal of Native Americans, who we see in equal parts as predator and prey.

The Expansion Pack

6. Solaris

It really takes several viewings to even try to fully grasp what Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky achieves in this psychological drama. Scientist Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) travels to a remote planet, but soon sees his wife, who had committed suicide. Is she real? Is he hallucinating? Have they entered an alternate dimension? Tarkovsky’s version may be difficult, but it’s also deeply rich and evocative. To see how the same story can be done to much clunkier effect, check out Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 version starring George Clooney.

7. The Candidate

This is the first of two Robert Redford movies in the Expansion pack. Peter Boyle plays an election consultant who looks for a Democratic candidate to run against the incumbent California senator Crocker Jarmon(Don Porter). He turns to die-hard liberal Bill McKay (Redford, at his giddiest), the son of a former governor with no political aspirations of his own. Kind of a precursor to Bulworth, Candidate satirizes the state of politics and media at the time. (Fun fact: apparently after viewing the movie, former veep Dan Quayle came to the conclusion that he was not only better looking than Redford, but that he had what it took to enter the White House.)

8. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

This is another example of the strong showings made by foreign movies this year. Charm is an absurdist look at a group of friends. Director Luis Buñuel depicts them over a series of gatherings and through several elaborate dream sequences, all of which revolve around some type of communal meal. The movie is short on plot but heavy on atmosphere. Like Solaris, it may never make total sense, but the end result is unforgettable.

9. Fat City

I’ve mentioned in the past what a shame it is that Jeff Bridges remains un-Oscared, and here’s another reason why. Fat largely revolves around the great Stacy Keach as an alcoholic boxer long past his prime, and how he botches the few relationships he does have, particularly with an up-and-coming fighter played by Bridges. John Huston peppers what could have been extremely dark material with enough of the humor of daily life to make it tolerable. The Academy has been very generous with other movies geared around the sweet science (Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull, Rocky); they should have shown more love to Fat than Susan Tyrell’s supporting actress nomination.

10. Jeremiah Johnson

Here is the second Redford entry in the list, and it’s a marked departure from Candidate. Here, Redford is a reclusive mountain man who fought in the Mexican-American War. All he wants to do is live from day to day, but his quest to survive finds him acquiring a family he never knew he even wanted. This is some of Redford’s quietest acting. Redford’s next year would provide two even bigger hits: The Sting and The Way We Were.

The Snubs

According to Wikipedia, two other contenders, Cries and Whispers and Last Tango in Paris were 1972 releases. But they received their Oscar recognition in 1973, so that knocks them off this list. Other films considered included Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Avanti!; The King of Marvin Gardens; Lady Sings the Blues; and Pete ‘n’ Tillie.

And while it’s not on the list, a personal favorite is The Poseidon Adventure.

What do you guys think?

Direct from his sensational website Only Good Movies, please welcome film critic Shane Rivers. He’ll be taking the lead on the 1979 edition of The Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008.

Take it away, Shane…

(To visit the rest of the project, please go here.)

The Best Picture Expansion Project: 1979

by Shane Rivers

Earlier this year, the Academy Awards announced that 10 movies will receive a Best Picture nomination during the next Oscar telecast. That’s a break from tradition, as only five movies normally receive the honor. Of course, it makes one wonder what the Best Picture race would’ve looked like if this rule were in place from 1943 until 2008. In this edition of The Best Picture Expansion Project, we journey back to the year 1979 and attempt to answer that question.

(Here’s a look at all the films that were released in 1979.)

Actual Best Picture Nominees

First off, let’s take a look at the films which were actually nominated for Best Picture in 1979. They include:

Kramer vs. Kramer (winner) — Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep flex their acting muscles in a film about the emotional consequences of a divorce.

All That Jazz — A director/choreographer (Roy Scheider) tries to simultaneously juggle a Broadway show and Hollywood movie, but the stress is slowly killing him.

Apocalypse Now — During the Vietnam War, Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent deep into the Cambodian jungle to assassinate rogue Special Forces officer Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando).

Breaking Away — Four recently-graduated Indiana teens try to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. Two words: bicycle racing.

Norma Rae — Sally Field plays Norma Rae Webster, a cotton mill worker who tries to unionize her workplace.

In Retrospect:

Kramer vs. Kramer included important social commentary for the era, and the notion of the single parent resounds even more in modern times. It’s still a relevant work, and the powerful performances from Streep and Hoffman have enabled it to stand the test of time. It’s funny to think that Kate Jackson (of Charlie’s Angels fame) was originally offered the role of Joanna Kramer. Thank God she was unable to take the part, or we might’ve been deprived of the joy which was Scarecrow and Mrs. King. (Holy crap! I used to watch that show with my mom! — Mark)

While All That Jazz was nominated for nine Oscars (winning four), it seems largely forgotten by modern-day audiences. (Then again, it’s not as though Kramer vs. Kramer is exactly a household name.) The film is anchored by a charismatic performance from Roy Scheider, and the whole picture is a swirling, pretentious nightmare of ego and libido. It’s lost a bit of its power over the decades, but it’s still worth a look for those who’ve never seen it.

Of all the films on the above list, Apocalypse Now is best remembered by modern audiences. Part of this is no doubt due to the bizarre on-set antics of the cast (including Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper and Martin Sheen), but it also continues to entertain due to its insightful look at the utter madness of war. As long as men continue to kill one another, this Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece will always find an audience.

Since most sports-themed movies are fairly weak affairs, Breaking Away continues to be celebrated. Brimming with inspiration and featuring a young cast of stars (including Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley), it remains a favorite for fans of the coming-of-age film.

Finally, we have Norma Rae, a film for which Sally Field won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. While the film presents a compelling look at the struggles between labor and management, it’s mainly carried along by Field’s spirited performance. The scene of Norma Rae standing above her co-workers and staging a strike has become one of the most enduring cinematic images, and it’s hard to argue that the film didn’t at least deserve a nomination.

The Expansion Pack

Now let’s delve a little deeper and see what things would’ve looked like if the 10 nomination rule was in effect back in 1979. I’ve targeted the following five films as those most deserving of a Best Picture nomination, although your list might look entirely different. Feel free to discuss your thoughts in the comments section.

6. Wise Blood — Based on the novel by Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood tells the story of a U.S. war veteran (Brad Dourif) returning home and looking for a direction to his life. He decides to become a preacher, even though he despises the profession. From there, he’s beset on all sides by a collection of hucksters and charlatans. Directed by John Huston, it can either be viewed as a commentary on the post-war religious crisis in the U.S., or as simply an entertaining tale featuring plenty of crazed Southerners.

7. Alien — While it launched a whole franchise of successful movies, the Ridley Scott original is easily the best film of the bunch. Pitched as “Jaws in space,” Alien combined elements of sci-fi and horror to produce a film unique at that point in cinematic history. It didn’t hurt that it was bolstered by a cast which included Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, John Hurt and Yaphet Kotto. This type of film usually gets no Oscar love, but the impact of Alien certainly warrants a nomination by the vaunted Academy. (I’ve always thought it was intriguing that Weaver got a Best Acrtess nod for Aliens. Was that a belated nod to the first film, do you think? — Mark)

8. The China Syndrome — A reporter (Jane Fonda) and her cameraman (Michael Douglas) are tipped off to possible safety hazards at a nuclear power plant by a concerned employee (Jack Lemmon). Oddly enough, the film was released just 12 days prior to the incident at Three Mile Island, and the subsequent publicity brought in scores of moviegoers. Both Lemmon and Fonda were given Oscar nominations for their roles, and Lemmon won the Best Actor award at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. How can a film with a social/environmental message and this kind of acting firepower not make the list?

9. Manhattan — Woody Allen weighs in on relationships once again, this time using such iconic Manhattan landmarks as the Queensboro Bridge to punch up the visuals. Diane Keaton is solid as usual, while a young Mariel Hemingway earned herself an Oscar nomination for the portrayal of Isaac Davis’s (Allen) 17-year-old girlfriend. Ironically, Allen was reportedly unhappy with the finished product and didn’t want the film to be released. Thankfully, United Artists ignored his pleas.

10. Being There — In the last film released while he was alive, Peter Sellers plays a simple gardener thrust into the middle of high society and viewed as much wiser than he truly is. His role as Chance the Gardner functions as a blank canvas for those around him, allowing them to see and hear what they wish. A fascinating character study and one certainly deserving of a Best Picture nomination.

The Snubs

Most of the deserving films have been covered, although a case could be made for The Great Santini thanks to Robert Duvall’s complex performance. Here are two films, however, which definitely didn’t deserve a nomination:

Skatetown, U.S.A. — Combine roller disco with Scott Baio, Patrick Swayze and Flip Wilson, and you’ll get this stinker of a film. Yikes.

The Villain — Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margret and Arnold Schwarzenegger star in this parody of the western genre. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell them that parodies are supposed to be funny. Poor Kirk Douglas.

—-

Shane Rivers writes for OnlyGoodMovies.com, a website devoted to providing straightforward movie reviews and other cinematic content. When he’s not watching or writing about movies, Shane can often be found listening to 80′s hair metal, playing his Xbox 360, or desperately longing for the NFL season to begin.

Welcome back to The Best Picture Expansion Project, where we imagine that the newly reinstated Oscar rule of nominating ten films for Best Picture applied from 1943 to 2008.

Today I’m taking us back to 2005, the year that produced one of Oscar’s greatest disappointments.

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

Here’s a list of all the films released in 2005.

Actual Best Picture Nominees

Brokeback Mountain

Capote

Crash (winner)

Good Night, and Good Luck

Munich

In Retrospect: Four of these films are really good, though some, like Good Night, and Good Luck, are more respectable than enjoyable. Making an admirable debut as a director,  George Clooney frames elegant black-and-white shots of cigarette smoke blowing just so, and he suggests several layers of newsroom politics just by lingering on the dubious expressions of Patricia Clarkson. Still, I remember thinking the movie was kind of dull, and it certainly hasn’t stuck in my mind like Capote, which boasted Philip Seymour Hoffman’s brilliant performance, or Munich, which benefitted from Steven Spielberg’s knack for building tension. 

Of the five nominees, I’d vote for Brokeback Mountain. Maybe it isn’t the Most Important Movie Ever Made, as so many of us in the media insisted at the time, but it can still take credit for casting major stars in physically expressive gay roles. That trend has continued in Milk and I Love You Philip Morris, which suggests Brokeback did make a real impact. 

More importantly, Brokeback is a beautiful film. It’s nuanced, challenging, and full honest emotion. So… you know…. it’s the opposite of Crash. Whereas all four of the other nominees are really thinking about their themes, Crash is just telling us what we already know. It’s making cliche statements on racism in America and encouraging us to feel enlightened when we agree.

I predict that in twenty years (if not ten), people will just assume that Brokeback won Best Picture.

The Expansion Pack

6. Transamerica — Unfairly dismissed as a trifle that was only saved by Felicity Huffman’s performance, Transamerica is actually a shrewd comedy about outsiders and their uncomfortable relationship to dicks.

If you haven’t seen the movie in a while—or haven’t seen it at all—I encourage you to watch it with that perspective in mind: You’ll see not only a pre-operative transsexual trying to get rid of her penis, but also a young gay hustler who can’t get his penis to work and a sanguine Native American man who thinks white fellas use their penises all wrong. The movie suggests that traditional concepts of American masculinity have screwed everyone up, and that if we want to survive, we may need to abandon dicks altogether. I don’t personally think that’s the answer (nervously adjusting myself), but it’s a wild premise for a  comedy.

7. A History of Violence — Was Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) a gangster before he became a quiet restaurant owner in Middle America, or is Creepy Ed Harris just shouting lies? And now that Stall’s young son just shot Creepy Ed Harris, trying to protect his father, does the truth even matter? And what about the fact that the son was empowered to kill because his dad became a national hero after shooting two burglars at his restaurant? Does that mean there are consequences to our cultural hierarchy of “good violence” and “bad violence?” 

These are great questions, and just asking them makes me realize that A History of Violence could kick Crash’s butt. Not that I’m endorsing movie-on-movie crime.

Fun Fact: This was the last major motion picture to be released on VHS. 

8. Match Point — Thanks to this intricate tale of obsession and murder, I forgave Woody Allen for The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. 

9. The Squid and the Whale —  It got a screenplay nomination, but Noah Baumbach’s dysfunctional family picture deserved much more Oscar love. For one thing, it avoids self-conscious quirkiness. For another, it features amazing performances from Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels. 

p.s. — How do you know you’re watching a movie about sad white people? Follow this link to discover the eight major signs.

10. The 4o Year-Old Virgin — As I wrote last year, I didn’t expect to love this movie, but I did.

The Snubs

Syriana almost made my list. So did Batman Begins and Walk the Line. And what would happen if Roll Bounce got a Best Picture nomination? Would the world implode?