Discuss: Surprising Oscar Nominees
Filed under: Awards, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Oscar Watch
As the dust settles on the 2008 Oscar nominations, I thought it was time for a look back at some of the eyebrow raising choices the Academy has made in its 81 years of handing out shiny prizes. Actually, that's kind of a lie -- I was bored on Saturday night and decided to watch Thunderbolt and Lightfoot on Hulu. I have this dorky habit of looking up film trivia on IMDB whenever I've watched a movie -- and there I was amazed to learn that a baby-faced Jeff Bridges had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1974 for this offbeat film. That knowledge kind of blew me away. He was good, certainly, but Oscar worthy? It must have been a weak year or something.
Er, no. 1974 gave us Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Murder on the Orient Express, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, The Great Gatsby, and much, much more. Thus, I'm still perplexed as to why Bridges was nominated. He was up against Fred Astaire for Towering Inferno, and the Godfather II triple punch of Michael V. Gazzo, Lee Strasberg, and Robert DeNiro. DeNiro won, obviously and famously -- so was Bridges just thrown in there to make it look fair? Maybe I'm completely missing something, but I'm blown away that the Academy scoured the choices (particularly the comedic ones -- Madeline Kahn was up for Blazing Saddles, why not Gene Wilder?) and said "Jeff Bridges for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot!"
Er, no. 1974 gave us Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Murder on the Orient Express, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, The Great Gatsby, and much, much more. Thus, I'm still perplexed as to why Bridges was nominated. He was up against Fred Astaire for Towering Inferno, and the Godfather II triple punch of Michael V. Gazzo, Lee Strasberg, and Robert DeNiro. DeNiro won, obviously and famously -- so was Bridges just thrown in there to make it look fair? Maybe I'm completely missing something, but I'm blown away that the Academy scoured the choices (particularly the comedic ones -- Madeline Kahn was up for Blazing Saddles, why not Gene Wilder?) and said "Jeff Bridges for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot!"
Another one that shocks me is Pat Morita for The Karate Kid in 1984. A charming role, to be sure -- but fit to be alongside John Malkovich? It wasn't the greatest year for film (a good year for genre ones though), but you'd think even the chopped up Once Upon a Time in America could have garnered an acting nod or two over The Karate Kid.
I thought I'd throw the question out to our brilliant readership. Which nominees, past and present, left your jaw hanging open? Who should have been nominated instead?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-26-2009 @ 1:12PM
Jordan Raup said...
The Reader for best Picture and Daldry for Director.
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1-26-2009 @ 1:53PM
erin said...
I still don't understand Ruby Dee's nomination. While "American Gangster" was a fine film, she was in it for something of a total of... two minutes? And yes, while she was excellent in those two minutes, REALLY? Really. Really? Still, the Academy has their reasons, I suppose.
I'm still a little shocked that RDJ gets an Oscar nod for "Tropic Thunder", yet NOTHING for the fabulous "Zodiac" -- and while I'm at it, no acting nods for "In Bruges"? Shameful.
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1-27-2009 @ 12:48AM
Dan said...
If I sat down and took my time to articulate my grievances, it would sound pretty much exactly like this, so instead of going on a tangent, I'm just going to say (huge!) co-sign!
By the way Elisabeth, I actually look up trivia while or after I'm watching a movie as well! lol
1-26-2009 @ 1:59PM
Key Rick said...
Renee Sellweger's win for Cold Mountain in '03 still baffles me - the phony baloney southern accent, sheesh - especially since she was up against both Holly Hunter AND Patricia Clarkson that year.
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1-26-2009 @ 2:06PM
Landen C said...
I find that usually each year there are one or two spots reserved for the actor who has zero chance of winning, but the Academy wants to recognize them for their collective work that year and by nominating them says that they are keeping their pulse on that actor. Case and point: Robert Downey Jr. this year, Terrance Howard for Hustle & Flow, Felicity Huffman, Paul Giamatti (for Cinderella Man but not American Splendor or Sideways???), Amy Adams, Samantha Morton (In America,) and the list goes on and on. Perhaps this is why Bridges was nominated at his young age, (though it was his second nomination for Lightfoot.)
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1-26-2009 @ 2:33PM
Michael said...
Remember who votes for acting noms: actors. And they don't do it as a collective group but as individuals. I'm guessing a lot of actors circa 1974 really liked Jeff Bridges and gave him a nod because they were friends with him or because they saw THAT film but not some of the other ones (and because they didn't want to be seen as awarding a comedy film like Blazing Saddles too much).
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1-26-2009 @ 3:50PM
lw said...
Count me thrilled about RDJ getting a nomination for Tropic Thunder. I thought he was great. I was pleasantly surprised that every film from the LOTR trilogy was nominated for Best Picture. Not that I don't agree ( I thought they all should have won) but it was the Godfather in reverse. That trilogy had all 3 nominated and the first 2 winning Best Pic, where LOTR had all 3 nominated and the last one winning Best Pic.
Also as I've mentioned before, still can't believe Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love. Pity that...
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1-26-2009 @ 7:38PM
Thomas said...
Beatrice Straight for Network. In the movie for five minutes and she won the Oscar.
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1-27-2009 @ 12:22AM
marshall said...
Don't forget this was Bridges' second Oscar nod, he'd already gotten a Supporting nomination 3 years earlier for LAST PICTURE SHOW. They were clearly just continue to praise someone they considered to be one of the most promising actors of his generation.
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1-28-2009 @ 6:35PM
dara said...
I was shocked by Brad Pitt's nomination, he was so passive and boring. He was way better in Assasination of Jesse James, and Casey was so creepy I loved it.
If there simply giving out nominations for sheer scale of a film, why wasn't Benicio del Toro nominated???
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3-27-2009 @ 1:55PM
Jeff said...
How about these Best Picture nominees?
The Towering Inferno-1974
Airport-1970
Cleopatra-1963
The Alamo-1960
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