Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 1998

The Contenders:

Elizabeth
Life is Beautiful
Saving Private Ryan
Shakespeare in Love (winner)
The Thin Red Line

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 1998

The Contenders:

Roberto Benigni: Life is Beautiful
Steven Spielberg: Saving Private Ryan (winner)
John Madden: Shakespeare in Love
Terrence Malick: The Thin Red Line
Peter Weir: The Truman Show

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actress 1998

The Contenders:

Fernanda Montenegro: Central Station
Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth
Emily Watson: Hilary and Jackie
Meryl Streep: One True Thing
Gwyneth Paltrow: Shakespeare in Love (winner)

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Original Screenplay 1998

The Contenders:

Bulworth
Life is Beautiful
Shakespeare in Love (winner)
Saving Private Ryan
The Truman Show

Watching Oscar: Shakespeare in Love

Film: Shakespeare in Love
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

Shakespeare in Love is a film that I’ve consciously not watched, mostly from the intense backlash the film received starting the moment it won Best Picture. For a lot of people, it’s proof positive that a good campaign around Oscar time can work. After all, in the minds of many, this is a frilly period romance that took down Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line. This sort of backlash isn’t really that uncommon. Any film that gets a huge amount of acclaim experiences it at least a little, and when there are other worthy films involved, the backlash is bigger, stronger, and lasts longer.

But that’s hardly the fault of the film. Shakespeare in Love is very much a period piece, and very much a Harlequin romance. I refuse to use the term “chick flick” because I think it’s demeaning, but when that term is used, this is the sort of film that people think of. It’s a film that trades initially on the romance, plyas up the romance throughout, and even contains an additional romance within the romance, since it’s as much about Romeo and Juliet as it is about young Billy the Shake finding an agreeable sheath for his spear.