Friday, November 14, 2014

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 1983

The Contenders:
The Big Chill
The Dresser
The Right Stuff
Tender Mercies
Terms of Endearment (winner)

What’s Missing

A spin through the top 10 grossing films of 1983 reveals only one of the five nominees. Movies that were passed over from this illustrious money-making group include Return of the Jedi, Trading Places, WarGames, and Risky Business, and I can make a case for a few of these. Some may suggest Scarface, although that wouldn’t make my list. Once Upon a Time in America might, though. Local Hero is a better film than people remember. So is The King of Comedy, but that one might be too dark, while A Christmas Story is probably too light. From foreign shores we got The Ballad of Narayama, and Fanny and Alexander, both of which I could see nominated, and I’m mildly surprised El Norte didn’t get a nod. In the “no way it gets a nomination, but I love it” category, we get Monty Python’s Meaning of Life and Videodrome.

Weeding through the Nominees

5: I hate The Big Chill. While this film might be important and relevant to my older siblings, who are the people it was made for, I have nothing good to say about it. A bunch of whiney, self-obsessed thirty-somethings go hang out at a funeral for one of their loser friends and complain constantly that their lives aren’t perfect and wonderful at all times. It’s navel-gazing Baby Boomer “what about my needs?” bullshit and I hate that it even exists.

4: When I reviewed Terms of Endearment, I called it a very good and well-made movie that simply wasn’t made for me. This was a hard watch for yours truly not because it’s a bad movie, but because it was so obviously not made for someone of my sensibilities to watch. The performances are good, and even the story can be construed as interesting. But I sort of don’t care about a middle-aged woman’s neuroses and I cringe at the thought of Jack Nicholson wearing pastel shirts.

3: The biggest problem with The Dresser is that the story isn’t big enough. It contains two of the great acting performances of the decade from Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay and is absolutely worth seeing for them. But the story itself feels too intimate and small, not greand enough to command the sort of awe and wonder of something nominated for Best Picture. It’s a hell of a movie; it’s just that two great performances aren’t enough to pull it into that rarified atmosphere.

2: No one was more surprised than I that I liked Tender Mercies as much as I did. But in the end, I have the same problems with it that I do with The Dresser. While there’s a lot going on here, this is a sedate film that ends up being little more than a character study of the Robert Duvall character. This was a great year for actor performances, because Duvall’s work joins that of Finney and Courtenay for great male performances of the decade. But again, it just doesn’t feel like enough for the top prize.

My Choices

1: Given the five choices, I’m going with The Right Stuff. Sure, that’s in part a sentimental pick on my part because I’m a space science junkie. Probably a third of the for pleasure reading I do is on one aspect or another of the space program or cosmology. This is a film with a great cast and tells a grand and sweeping story made better by the fact that it’s a true one. If you can watch this and come away not inspired by what these people did, or at least with how totally badass Chuck Yeager was, I feel sorry for you. I can think of other films I might want to nominate for this award, but The Right Stuff would still get my vote. Yes, even over Return of the Jedi.

Final Analysis

20 comments:

  1. I would have gone with The Right Stuff, as well. Wonderful film.

    Didn't you even like the soundtrack to The Big Chill?

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    1. My hatred of The Big Chill supercedes any pleasure derived from its soundtrack.

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  2. I've not seen any of these. Though I have seen a short clip of Terms of Endearment, but only because my grandpa is in it.

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    1. Of them all, I think you might like The Right Stuff. Great cast, great story. It's long, but it's never boring.

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  3. The Right Stuff is such a great movie! I have seen it so many times and I love it every time. From one space junkie to another this is probably the best astronaut movie ever made.
    Did you follow the comet landing this week?

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    1. We had some shake-ups at work this week, so I wasn't able to focus much on it. I've been reading up on it over the past day or so, because I live for that stuff.

      In January, I'm going to see a lecture by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I'm already excited.

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    2. That is awesome! There is a lecture I would love to attend.

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    3. I've been planning it for months. I got it as a Father's Day present this year, so I've been pretty excited since June.

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  4. First of all, I like The Big Chill. And I relate to the contemplative navel gazing as you (accurately, I do admit) put it. But why don't we deal with common ground? That would be The Right Stuff. It's my favorite of that year and might be my favorite film of the decade.

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    1. I'm cool with other people liking The Big Chill as long as they don't make me watch it again.

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  5. A great set of nominees, sorry you could not enjoy the navel gazing, but love The Dresser and Duvall. You got the Right Film at the top. I feel a little like I'm pressing by sharing, but it is in good cause. If the shares are an issue, say so and I will refrain and just keep my comments short.
    http://fogsmoviereviews.com/2013/08/20/movies-i-want-everyone-to-see-the-right-stuff-1983/

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    1. I don't have an issue with the link sharing, particularly for reviews that are older and aren't getting traffic.

      I know I'm in a small minority on The Big Chill. It's just one of those movies that hit me really wrong, and I even watched it at an age where I should have liked it. It's a strange year, though. Not a lot of the films that I like from 1983 feel like Oscar movies. But The Right Stuff really is.

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  6. I've only seen The Right Stuff and The Big Chill, but I'm pretty sure that you made the right choice. There's so much to like about The Right Stuff, including just how epic it feels. I enjoyed the book even more but think they did a great job translating it to the screen. It's the type of movie that deserves to win Best Picture.

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    1. It's funny in that I was actually expecting people to disagree with this choice. I'm happy to see so many other fans of The Right Stuff out there.

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  7. I saw The Big Chill when it first came out ... twice! It's OK, but yeah, it's a better soundtrack than a movie.

    I like it better than Terms of Endearment. The Right Stuff is pretty good. I didn't see The Dresser or Tender Mercies.

    From the other films you list, I definitely think Videodrome, Meaning of Life, A Christmas Story and especially The King of Comedy should have been given a chance to go toe-to-toe with the official nominees.

    Not yet mentioned is my favorite movie of 1983: Rumble Fish!

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    1. When I look at the films of a given year, there is a sense of wanting to pimp my favorite movies, but ones like Videodrome wouldn't have a chance in hell of a nomination even in a perfect year. It sort of is what it is in that respect.

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  8. I don't hate The Big Chill. I'd certainly use that word for Terms of Endearment, though. You were kinder to it than I would have been.

    I agree The Right Stuff is the most epic of the good nominees. I'd consider The Dresser as the best film of the five, though.

    I'd go with Once Upon a Time in America as the best film for the year. I'm amazed it wasn't one of the ones nominated, since it has the epic quality to it and starred a number of well-regarded performers.

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    1. I'm a little surprised it wasn't nominated, too. It has all of the earmarks of an Oscar film, and it's good enough to deserve some consideration. In fact, it hits those beats more fully than does something like The Dresser or even Terms of Endearment.

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  9. First love the hate you throw The Big Chill's way. I would say I was probably part of the demographic that it was aimed at and all I could think while I watched it was SHUT UP! you bunch of babies!! I like all the performers in it but the movie was crap.

    There were a lot of great films this year and aside from Big Chill I liked all the nominees, I especially loved Terms of Endearment which with The Right Stuff would make my list also including A Christmas Story, The Outsiders and The Year of Living Dangerously but I agree with you that Right Stuff is a masterful piece of film making that should have taken the top prize.

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    1. Man, but I hated The Big Chill. Sure, it wasn't made for me--I was in my mid-teens in 1983--but what a waste of a great cast!

      The Year of Living Dangerously is really underrated and underknown. Hell of a good movie, and it's one I should have mentioned at the top. Behind Die Hard, A Christmas Story is my favorite holiday film.

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