The real Best Picture, 1994
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BigP311084 — 21 years ago(July 30, 2004 11:45 AM)
"Also, for the record, the Academy Awards are a farce."
It seams ironic to me that a film about a farcical TV quiz show gets nominated for a farcical awards show.
In my oppinion the bigest disgrace about the oscas is that Julia Roberts won best actress over Ellen Burstyn. -
Melbrooksfan4702 — 21 years ago(October 10, 2004 06:35 AM)
I am a die hard Quentin Tarantino fan, and if you asked me yesterday who should have gotten best picture, I would have told you Pulp Fiction. But I just saw Shawshank. That movie deserved to have Best Picture. In fact, I'm quite puzzled that a movie of that caliber and power was nominated for 7 awards and didn't recieve any. Quiz Show was extremely good and a unique movie, but pales in comparison to these other two films. I'm just wondering why Gump got Best Picture. They all deserve it, but to say Gump was better than Quiz Show is just untrue.
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federeragassi — 13 years ago(November 13, 2012 01:11 PM)
I havent read every word in this thread, but I just wanted to comment that there was another film released in 94 that may have been better than any of these films: Hoop Dreams
The nominees should have been:
1)Pulp Fiction
2)Hoop Dreams
3)Shawshank Redemption
4)Quiz Show
5)Forrest Gump
All classic films. If you had to force me to pick the weakest of the bunch I would have to say Gump, ironically. The other four have stood the test of time better. I think Pulp Fiction and Hoop Dreams are the two best.
In many, dare I say most, years, Quiz show would be a very worthy best picture winner. -
jgravely — 19 years ago(July 13, 2006 07:59 AM)
"In my oppinion the bigest disgrace about the oscas is that Julia Roberts won best actress over Ellen Burstyn."
It was Julia's time. Plain and simple. In 1974 when Ellen won her oscar Faye Dunaway was robbed I tell you when she lost for Chinatown. That's the way it works though.
It's a dirty job, but I pay clean money for it. -
mykungfuistrong — 16 years ago(July 12, 2009 09:26 AM)
That concept of it being someone's "time" is WHY I hate the Academy Awards! I love movies, so I should love a show dedicated to honoring the best in the field, but it's thinking like that the stains the whole industry. For instance, does anyone REALLY think Denzel Washington won because his performance in Training Day was THAT good? No way! It was his previous performances that led people to say it "was his time"! And let's not EVEN get into the idea that some people might have thought it was simply "time" for a black actor to win.
Why can't we simply appreciate the individual work that's competing against each other at any one time? The awards are complicated enough without having to go up against someone's entire body of work -
kjmack-1 — 18 years ago(July 11, 2007 11:23 PM)
Go back in time a little and check out 1973 for a really good year for movies. "The Exorcist", "The Sting" (won best picture oscar), "The Way We Were", "American Graffiti", "A Touch of Class" and Martin Scorcese's "Mean Streets". What a year.
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hexnfx09 — 12 years ago(October 21, 2013 04:23 AM)
The year after was just as good
1995:
Heat
Casino
Se7en
The Usual Suspects
Leaving Las Vegas
Apollo 13
Braveheart (Won Best Picture)
Toy Story
Twelve Monkeys
Before Sunrise
Rob Roy
The Basketball Diaries
Kids -
!!!deleted!!! (33407653) — 11 years ago(April 21, 2014 12:46 AM)
What do you have against
Four Weddings and a Funeral
? It was a charming comedy with immensely likable performances from Hugh Grant and Andie McDowall. It may not have been the best film of 1994 (I would have voted for
Quiz Show
myself) but it may well have been the most entertaining of the five. -
Hdny42 — 11 years ago(April 21, 2014 12:20 PM)
I have nothing against Four Weddings and a Funeral, but it is unquestionably (in my mind) the weakest of the five nominees for Best Picture. I actually like the movie, but calling a movie weaker than four all-time greats is not calling it a bad movie. I'll give you an example: I am a New York Yankees fan, and my favorite all-time player is Mariano Rivera (who is now retired). I think Mo is the 5th greatest Yankee in history, because the top 4 are Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle. It is not a slight against Mo to point out that he is 5th best (at bestsome have him slightly lower on the list). I personally don't think FWaaF is an all-time great film, nor is it one of my favorites, but I DO like it, and it is quite a good movie. But I don't see a problem with calling it the worst of the five of 1994 when The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, and Quiz Show are the other four. Hell I DO love Quiz Show and it IS one of my favorites, and I personally enjoy it more than Forrest Gump, but I believe Quiz Show is not as good a movie as the top 3 of 1994A top 3 so strong that if you spread it out and released the movies 1994-1996 you might have 3 straight best picture winners.
"Well if you wanted to make Serak the Preparer cry, mission accomplished." -
!!!deleted!!! (33407653) — 11 years ago(April 25, 2014 12:30 AM)
I wrote my post because I was tired of reading such negative comments on
Four Weddings and a Funeral
, which I found entertaining and charming.
I really disliked
Forest Gump
because I found it
anti
intellectual. I guess it was so popular because it showed that any moron can be a huge success.
Pulp Fiction
introduced a major talent and it was undeniably influential, but who really gives a sh*t that they call a Big Mac a La Royale in France?
This
is great writing? Well, not in my book. And why jumble up the narrative? At least it was done for a (very successful) reason in
Irrersible
. Here it is pointless. Still,
Pulp Fiction
is compelling film-making and Tarentino certainly deserved the award for best director.
I like
The Shawshank Redemption
but am somewhat mystified as to why so many of its fans regard it so highly. It is entertaining but, like most Frank Daramount films, it is overlong and I personally do not regard it as any kind of great film. Good, but not great.
For me
Quiz Show
was the best because it was
about something
. In what was undoubtedly the best line of the year Ralph Fiennes says
anyone who thinks money is ever just money couldn't have much
of it
. This was the best script of the year. -
tbickle84 — 11 years ago(July 02, 2014 08:18 AM)
Forrest Gump is anti-intellectual?
That's one of the most philosophical, layered, beautiful films ever made. It also has not lost any of its power over the years. It's as good as it ever was. A true masterpiece. One of few films that actually deserves its oscars.
Whether you like it better than Pulp or Shawshank is purely subjective because they're very different films and all great. -
!!!deleted!!! (33407653) — 11 years ago(July 19, 2014 02:15 AM)
What is so intellectual about
Forrest Gump
? As one critic noted it ia a film in which the character who gets really involved with the important issues of the 60's, Women's Rights etc., Robin, suffers and has an early death, while the character who does virtually nothing substantial, the moonwalk and the smiley face are the two things I remember, is showered with riches. I can't say that I hate this film as much as I did when I first saw it, but I don't like it very much. For me it illustrates the disdain that Americans have for the intellectual (Vote for the man you want to have a beer with, not the smart guy who graduated summa cum laude). As one of those "intellectuals" I personally found the film insulting. What's the advantage of being smart when any moron can be a huge success? -
smoko — 10 years ago(May 31, 2015 01:19 AM)
@nyrunner101
while the character who does virtually nothing substantial, the moonwalk and the smiley face are the two things I remember, is showered with riches.
I agree with the critic's point (though I like
Forrest Gump
anyway) but I think you're confusing Michael Jackson with Elvis Presley: -
kwongers — 21 years ago(April 13, 2004 07:43 PM)
I just watched "Quiz Show" in school, but I haven't seen the other four nominees, although I see bits of "Four Weddings" when I'm channel-surfing. I thought "Quiz Show" was a great movie; reminds me why I like Ralph Fiennes so much. He's a great actor.